Blast Network is impossible to win if you die EVEN ONCE. Like, the moment you die you can't even win, so just make it so that you only have one life and no timer. That'd be the end of it. Get Maximum Blast? You can cover EVERY SINGLE TILE YOUR OPPONENT DOES. Got Maximum amount of bombs? You can block people in regardless. Got maximum speed early in the game? You can evade anything if you can get out of the way.
There literally is nothing you can do to even win the moment you die. In Lockdown, it's not the case; it's more about points. But in Blast Network? No. There are no comebacks, and there is absolutely nothing you can do against your opponent once they achieve maximum Blast, Speed, and Bomb Count unless you have the exact same.
What I'd suggest is that you keep your stats and aren't forced to start from square one because that imbalances the gameplay and you immediately lose the moment you die. If you wanted to do it that way, just make it so that there's only one life and the winner is whoever survives.
I'm sure that's true. Dying and then returning as a skrub to die over and over again. Not like the io series where it's 'mostly' easy to rise up and kill enemies.
I can't do anything useful as if I accidentally step on my own bomb I'm dead, and then an opponent boxes me in as I'm too slow to dodge anything.
Maybe you can do that Last Man Standing thing. But I don't know about that as matches would be about one minute with the cramped space and killing yourself.