An Examination of the Legality of the Stages in Ultimate

Is that title a mouthful enough?

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

INTRO:

ILLEGAL:

LEGAL:

EXPLANATIONS:

CLOSING:

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INTRO:

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Greetings fellow Aminites of the Smash variety.

     Today, I'd like to start a discussion, now that we 100% know every stage that will be in the base game, about what stages should be used in the play of the competitive variety. We should have this discussion early before Ultimate comes out so we aren't in a weird state of purgatory the first few months when we are trying to get a ruleset together. (Looking at you custom moves).

    So, do please keep in mind, this is just my opinion. As well, this is an early opinion formed via analysis of these stages, their past counterparts, and the characters and their capabilities. When the game comes out, we may very well learn some new info that invalidates one or more points I make in this blog. So this is not meant to be an end all, be all.

     I will be starting off with the stages I think should be illegal, then legal. Afterwards, I will explain why my opinion is what it is when the reasoning is not plain obvious or special (or if it's a joking manor).

As well, this is going over the stage set for SINGLES. Also, any stages that ate legal but considered the same will be in the same spot on the list unless stated otherwise.

Also just as a refresher, here is a picture of the stage select screen worth all the stages, as well as a link to the Smash website for you to look at them in greater detail.

https://www.smashbros.com/en_US/stage/index.html

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ILLEGAL:

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(tiny explanation of what makes a stage illegal)

    A stage is illegal when anything about it can lead to broken, unbalanced, or degenerate gameplay. This can be done through multiple things such as the stage being too big,which leads to fast, mobile characters running away for the entire match. However, there are other ways. For example, in Melee, Pokèfloats was originally legal (side note, why does everyone and their mom want this stage to come back?) but it was banned due to Fox, one of the most mobile characters in the game being able to run away the whole match. Another example is camping on the Duck Hunt tree. That stage was banned because character(s) (little mac) was unable to get to characters camping on the tree without being punished.

     Essentially, things are banned when they over centralize the meta, which can be done in multiple ways. So, with that in mind, here is the list. (With brief explanations).

*breathes in*

Big Battlefield (in the name)

Princess Peach's Castle 64 (floating objects getting in the way)

Kongo Jungle 64 (circle camping)

Super Happy Tree (Yoshi 64 stage) (too big)

Saffron City (no central platform/too big)

Peach's Castle Melee (walls)

Kongo Falls (camping on the rock)

Jungle Japes (Blast Zones too close horizontally/water)

Great Bay (circle camping)

Temple (too big)

Yoshi's Island (Melee) (walk off)

Yoshi's Story (too low ceiling)

Green Greens (too low ceiling)

Corneria (uneven main platform/wall)

Venom (wall/circle camp)

Onette (wall/walk off)

Mushroom Kingdom II (walk off)

Brinstar Depths (walls/cave of life)

Big Blue (do I need to explain?)

Fourside (too big/walls)

Delfino (soft stage bottom)

Mushroomy Kingdom (scrolling stage/walk off)

Mario Circuit (Brawl) (walk off)

Bridge of Elfin (walk off)

Norfair (circle camping)

Halberd (soft stage bottom)

Port Town Aero Dive (inconsistent/soft stage bottom/circle camping/walk off)

Distant Planet (walk off)

New Pork City (too big)

Summit (cave of life/circle camp)

Skyworld (cave of life)

Shadow Moses Island (walls)

Luigi's Mansion (cave of life)

Pirate Ship (water)

Spear Pillar (circle camping)

75 M (again, do I need to explain?)

Mario Bros. (Walk off/circle camping)

Hanenbow (no main platform)

Green Hill Zone (walk off)

3d Land (walk off/moving stage)

Golden Plains (walk off/walls)

Paper Mario (walls)

Gerudo Valley (walk off)

Spirit Train (moving stage/wall)

Dream Land GB (moving stage)

Prism Tower (soft stage bottom/janky ledges)

Mute City SNES (inconsistent moving stage/circle camping)

Magicant (circle camping)

Reset Bomb Forest (too big)

Tortimer Island (water)

Balloon Fight (walk off)

Living Room (walk off)

Find Mii (circle camp)

Tomadachi Life (circle camp)

Mushroom Kingdom U (circle camp)

Mario Galaxy (walk off/uneven)

Mario Circuit (soft stage bottom)

Skyloft (soft stage bottom)

Great Cave Offensive ("actually, this stage is fine" is what I would say if I was insane)

Coliseum (walk off)

Flat Zone X (walk off)

Palutena's Temple (too big)

Gamer (cave of life/inconsistent)

Garden of Hope (too big/circle camp)

Wii Fit Studio (walk off)

Boxing Ring (circle camp/walk off)

Gaur Plain ( :( ) (too big)

Duck Hunt (tree)

Wrecking Crew (circle camp)

Pilot Wings (walls)

Wuhu Island (soft stage bottom)

Windy Hill Zone (uneven/windmill off)

Pac Land (moving/walk off)

Mario Maker (random, the stage)

Suzaku Castle (walk off)

Umbra Clock Tower (cave of life/hard secondary platforms/platforms under stage)

New Donk City Hall (walk off)

Great Plateau Tower (cave of life)

Moray Towers (too big/circle camping)

Dracula's Castle (walls/staircase on right side)

*breathes out*

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LEGAL:

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(I'm gonna be man handled by political comments aren't I?)

    So, a legal stage is pretty much the exact opposite of am illegal stage. They're mostly flat, and don't over centralize the meta in one or more characters favor.

(I'd be good at holding my breath huh?)

*breathes in*

Battlefield/Dream Land 64/Midgar

Final Destination/Pictochat

Rainbow Cruise (Hazardless Counterpick, if it's only the ship)

Brinstar (hazardless)

Fountain of Dreams

PKMN Stadium 1

Wario Ware Inc. (Hazardless)

Frigate Orpheon (Hazardless Counterpick)

Yoshi's Island Brawl

Lylat Cruise (hazardless)

PKMN Stadium 2/Unova PKMN League (hazardless)

Castle Siege (hazardless)

Smashville (the supposed holy grail of competitive stages)

Arena Ferox (hazardless)

Kalos PKMN League

Town & City

Wily Castle (hazardless [if platforms are also gone worth hazards, then add this stage top the FD list])

    In the end, this would bring the total number of competitive stages to 17. Not as much as some would think, but it easily sures any legal stage set in any other Smash game.

     So, I think it's about time I gave some more in depth explanations.

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EXPLANATIONS:

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If you're reading this, thank you for not immediately going to the comments to all why such and stick stage isn't legal or illegal.

    This section is to explain exactly that, so I better not see someone comment "Why no Yoshi's Story?". So let's go through what I think will be the asked ones in order of the select screen.

Rainbow Cruise:

("Oof, forgot about the wall" I hear you think)

    Well, actually, the wall is quite a low one, so unless a character has a very short crouch, they aren't gonna be hiding below it like on Princess Peach's Castle in Melee. The main reason this stage was banned originally is because of the fact it was a moving stage.

     However, I do recognize some jank could happen on this stage, which is why I think it should be a counter pick. This possibly being low angle knockback moves making a character hit the wall for a tech or flying the opposite direction then intended.

     Honestly, this stage would probably be first on the cooling block if it is deemed unfit. And I probably wouldn't mind. However this is also only in the case the hazard toggle works perfectly for this stage to make it as viable as possible.

Yoshi's Story

(RIP Randal)

    I'm sure the majority of you are wondering why this stage should be illegsl, and all I need is one word.

Bayonetta.

    For those that don't , Bayo still had her insane ladder combos. However, they do not go as high. But, there are some stages where the ceilings are low enough to not matter, and for her to take purple off the top instantly.

I'd like to bring back Plup vs MKLeo.

(Also why the Final Smash meter SHOULD NOT be legal)

    Granted, Yoshi's Story does not have as low of a ceiling as Green Greens, it still had quite a low ceiling. As well, one also has to consider he fact that Yoshi's Story is a Tri plat stage. This allows Bayo to start her ladder combos easily at a higher point on the stage.

I love this stage as much add the next guy, but it can't be a thing with Bayonetta.

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CLOSING:

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    I'd just like to repeat to please do keep in mind that this is just my own opinion. As well, these are mainly just thoughts, and first impressions. November can't end sooner so Ultimate can release.

    If you have any other questions on why a stage is legal or not, then I'd be more then happy to answer them. As I said, this is to start a discussion.

So, until the next one, I bid you all adieu.