How do you define winning? By the number of people you kill, or by who lasts the longest? VIETNAM
My problem with timed matches (especially short ones) is that it really all comes down to luck. Just because you're the best player doesn't mean you're going to land the finishing blow. And if a Smash Ball shows up, whoever gets it pretty much wins the match by default. During my average two minute match everyone either dies twice and has very low damage or they die just once and they're over 100% damage at the end of the round. Landing a Smash attack a half a second too late can mean the difference between a win and placing third.
I agree with this.
We often had this problem in Melee where an unskilled Marth player would just C-stick his way to victory by catching two other players locked in combat off guard and basically stealing KOs. Either we hunted him mercilessly or he'd use this tactic every time.
You might say that one player can sit off to the side in stock matches, but the truth is you can do this in time matches and only enter the fray if a player has a high % and hunt them until you KO them, then proceed to be chickenshit until someone else has a high % damage.
In both cases, you're letting someone else do the work for you, but I've seen far better battles in stock matches because it's a test of endurance instead of just dumb luck. It doesn't matter if one player sits off to the side while I fight with someone else if I can outlast their 3 lives and kill them anyway, but it's a world of difference if I have to worry about that player snaking KOs and avoiding conflict to not be KOed themselves when there's a set amount of time that the game will run.
And like Vudu said, one dumb luck KO in a 2-3 minute match typically wins the game. Stock matches are kind of an insurance policy that just because a hammer or smash ball spawns next to someone, they haven't necessarily won the game.
Besides, if you see someone trying to camp on the sidelines, gang up and slaughter them. Add a taunt that says "KILL THE CAMPER!!!". Most players, upon realizing what's going on, will join you in your effort.