Yes, keyboards are tournament legal. However, it is still good practice to check a specific tournament’s rules. Otherwise, it is mainly because of SOCD cleaning that such controllers are allowed.
What is SOCD?
SOCD stands for simultaneous opposing cardinal directions. SOCD cleaning prevents a controller from registering two opposing directional inputs at the same time.
If you press back and forward at the same time in a game like Street Fighter, you may end up blocking both directions, which is not meant to happen.
But why keyboards?
While keyboards are generally tournament legal, consider stepping up to mixboxes, which are a hybrid between keyboards and arcade sticks. Essentially, you get arcade buttons on the right complemented by WASD keys on the left. Check out our list of the top mixboxes!