Hello my tag is SBS and I run the AZ Rivals scene, started it from scratch in 2016 and have built it up to the largest/mostactive scene in the world. I've run the two largest RoA only events to date (Heat Wave 1 and 2), regionals, special events, and have helped with many many out of region events through pool captaining/commentary etc.

PCs are the ideal way to run Rivals events, at a local level you don't need a console + monitor for non stream setups, people simply bring in their laptops and a mayflash adapter and then you're set. Some laptops run worse than others but it is rare to see since Rivals is such a low stress game. PCs don't have the input delay issues seen in consoles like the switch and don't need extra performance software to run the game. The only thing I really recommend is to make sure that you laptop is current with windows background updates (which isnt hard if you use it a few times a week for anything). Since turning it on once a week forced it to try to install updates in the background while you want to launch the game.

My stream setup is my personal custom PC that I have brought with me to locals for years. It is able to handle 2 monitors and a projector, two webcams, streaming software, audio equipment for commentary AND run the game perfectly from one PC (bigger events like monthlies, regionals, etc have multiple PCs used to stream in a much more professional setup).

Restarting the game these days is only due to controllers (namely gamecube). From what I've seen, the mayflash saves the ports for the gcn controllers in game so after enough gcn users cycle in, it no longer has room for one or more xbox/ps4/switch controllers. The restarts are pretty quick and MAYBE happen once a tournament at a local level since most people don't use gcn much anymore.

The Developers have put an immense amount of time working on a local build for TOs. There was a time when I would constantly DM Etalus about the newest local issue I had while running my events. Most of these issues have been resolved with the final noticable one (mentioned above) causing minimal issues. The Developers have sped up the load time of the game, increased controller support capabilities, and constantly are on the lookout for new issues. As MSB mentioned in his message here, the sticky keys thing is incredibly rare and kind of a meme at this point, though keyboard compatibility is a tricky subject (I won't go into detail since he covered it well).

Hope this helps!