To reiterate the point in my previous post, I think some variant of the adjusted FLiPS ruleset is the way to go. However, for a balanced neutral pick to happen in game three, the remaining stages pretty much need to be 4n+1, so probably 13 (1-2-2-2-2-2-1), or maybe 9. The alternative, is to still follow a 1-2-1 striking system, but end up with a pool of stages, instead of just one, and pick randomly.

Taking this into account, I've included some optional bans into the steps below. Wether they should be implemented or not depends on our legal stage count, and on wether you want to avoid the random pick or not. All bans are permanent throughout the entire set.

- Both players ban 0-2 stages from the list
- P1 wins RPS
- P1 picks 3 stages, P2 picks one out of the 3 for game one. There are obviously alternatives here, such as the 3-2-1 system which people seem to like. Essentially the reason I'm going with this 3->1 is to weaken the counterpick further, which is a good thing particularly for this system (to avoid the first two games being predictable)
- After game one, both players ban 0-1 more stages from the list
- P2 picks 3 stages, P1 picks one out of the 3 for game two.
- If 1-1 after game two, proceed to strike using the 1-2-1 system until either A) one stage remains, or B) multiple stages remain, and the stage is picked randomly.

If you want to avoid the random pick in game three, essentially the only requirement is that the starting number of stages be an odd number, and no larger than 19 (without DSR), or 21 (with full DSR).

I've left out some details, such as character counterpicks, and wether DSR should be in effect, as I'd rather leave that to someone more experienced and capable. I do think though that this is the best currently proposed system, at least in my opinion.

Credits to DeLux for the original proposition, as well as Amazing Ampharos. Thoughts welcome!