What Stage to pick?

[Mambo490]

I have 2 characters that I really like in PM, they are Diddy Kong and King DeDeDe. But which should I main? I'm good with both, and I like both equally.

NOW FOR THE QUESTION: I'm new to PM so I don't understand this whole stage selection thing. Ok from what I understand there are starters/counters right? When can you pick a counter stage, and who gets to pick the starter? Also how many bans do you have, and who gets to ban? Lastly for King DeDeDe and for Diddy Kong, what should be my starters/counters/bans?

Thank you for taking time to read this!

 

[Mambo490]

really...does no one know...

 

[Hinichii.ez.™]

It all depends on the following:
The match up
Player preference
Tournament rules
Tactics
Your play style
There is no constant, aside from the first two I mentioned.

 

[zFrost]

I'd also like to add that you can main both diddy and bowser and just pick them for certain matchup's i'm assuming bowser would like small stages since he can get kill earlier. when your banning your stages and choosing where to go try to get rid of disadvantageous stages while picking ones that favor your character and possibly not so much the opponents as well.

 

[Mambo490]

I'd also like to add that you can main both diddy and bowser and just pick them for certain matchup's i'm assuming bowser would like small stages since he can get kill earlier. when your banning your stages and choosing where to go try to get rid of disadvantageous stages while picking ones that favor your character and possibly not so much the opponents as well.

ok thanks, that makes sense now, oh and btw, I play King DeDeDe, not bowser...awkward...

 

[zFrost]

ok thanks, that makes sense now, oh and btw, I play King DeDeDe, not bowser...awkward...

lol my bad, i saw the bowser icon and replaced ddd with him.

 

[EclipseKirby]

For the ban system, ask your TO. As said, it varies from tourney to tourney. The TO will be willing to help.

As for what to counterpick, there are a bunch of factors to consider. Check out the character sub-forums for more info on your character. For the basics, here are some things to consider;

Upper blast zone: Low ceilings benefit characters that are more reliant on star KOs. Floatier characters are more easily killed off the top, and should keep stage ceiling in mind.

Side blast zone: Characters with great horizontal recovery benefit with wider boundaries to take full advantage of this strength, while characters with poorer recovery often prefer closer blast zones since it matters less to them. Characters with strong horizontal finishers also like close bounderies to get low % kills. Lighter characters are more easily killed, particularly off the sides, and may want to avoid close blast zones.

Stage size: Generally, fast characters like larger stages to take advantage of their movement, while a smaller stage gives them less room to stretch, a fact a slower character with good reach can capitalize on. Characters focused on zoning may also like room to set up their defense

Platform arrangement: There's also a lot of factors in this. Consider things like "Do I have a grounded move that reaches up to that platform?" "Can I reach that platform with a short hop? Full hop?" "How do these platform affect my combos, including chain grabs?" "How does the size of these platforms change my options?" "How does this layout change the viability of my recovery?" There are many such things to consider. For you and the opponent

Walls: If your character can wall jump, you benefit from having stages with walls. a wall makes it even easier for someone to survive a meteor too.

Ledges: some are curved. This may affect your edgeguarding options and your opponents greatly.

 

[Exodo]

that Bowser icon tho xD!!!

and from a personal opinion since you main diddy(character i hate the most), Green Hill Zone is a good stage for him, trust me when i tell you, dem bananas get you good there.

 

[Altanic]

Use both characters :D
As for stage banning rules, I'm not totally familiar with them but if you ask someone at a tournament usually they can explain it to you. Most people did whenever I was at a local tournament since I'm pretty new to they tourney scene.
For counterpicking you want to choose stages that give your character more of an advantage than the other person's character, or putting the opponent at a disadvantage. I feel like DDD would be good on small stages because he takes up so much space, but I'm not totally certain on that. Mario doesn't really have any solid stage counters that I know of, but I always feel better on stages that I can space fireballs on to aid my approach.