I like the surprise element that playing time instead of stock adds as well. You're not entirely sure who has won until the guy announces it.

Well, like I said, I like violence, and time puts the emphasis on beating the shit out of everyone. And yeah, people can steal kills from you. That can happen in any good multiplayer game. You're in the middle of a gun fight with someone in an FPS, then some guy snipes you both. Or you get the deathblow on a boss in Diablo 2, and someone else grabs the best item he dropped. These things happen.

The whole point of Melee is that it's just that; a melee. In stock all too often the game splits into two 1 on 1 matches, with players only switching their aggressions when a Bob-Omb is lobbed their direction or when the fighting gets too close together and players switch sparring partners out of convenience. In timed matches, this does not happen. Everyone is looking for KOs, so if decide to go after a particular guy, you are setting yourself up for disappointment and failure. Once someone's damage gets into KO territory, everyone else is going to go after them. In order to succeed in timed matches, you need to simultaneously wage war on all three opponents and to do so in opportunistic fashion.

Timed matches also allow you to take risks. In stock matches, there is the constant threat that anything you attempt to do will horribly backfire and result in you being KO'd, thereby bringing you one step closer to losing. In timed matches, you are free from such worries. No matter how many times you are KO'd, you will respawn. You might dig an insurmountable hole for yourself and render the match unwinnable for yourself, but you will still being fighting right up to the buzzer.

How can I tell which revision of SSBM I have?

I don't mind Assist Trophies. They're basically the same thing as Poke Balls. But I am so fucking done with Smash Balls. I hate that shutting off Smash Balls doesn't disable Pity Smashes.

Agreed.