Best stages?

[E.G.G.M.A.N.]

So now that the very first stage lists are starting to trickle out, what are we thinking Ridley's most favorable stages are? I'm partial to Battlefield myself; sharking people on the platforms with disjointed up-tilts/up-airs and sometimes f-airs is currently my bread and butter for racking damage. I think WarioWare would even better because of how much easier it is to kill with b-air/f-smash/side-b, and his lacklster recovery is somewhat less of a factor when everyone's dying earlier. Unfortunately, TOs seem to being getting cold feet about testing that one. I would only choose FD against characters with a relatively poor long range game, where I could play the zoner instead with Plasma Breath/f-air/etc.

 

[Luigi Linguine]

Battlefield is definitely his best stage imo. In addition to the other moves you mentioned, his up-smash is amazing at going through platforms, possibly his best move overall in those situations due to its massive range and power. The low bottom blastzones also allow you to mix up your throw timing with Space Pirate Rush (side-special) when you get them offstage so they're less likely to tech. WarioWare is good, but the vertical walls prevent you from stage spiking and the small blastzones hinder Ridley's ability to edgeguard with Plasma Breath. I think Pokemon Stadium 2 can also be great for Ridley against fellow big bodies because the wide space and platform layout can allow him to camp pretty effectively with Plasma Breath while also having a relatively safe way to retreat that FD doesn't provide.

 

[E.G.G.M.A.N.]

I was think of going more for straight kills up than gimping on WarioWare. Side-b in particular kills much earlier than usual because of the smaller blastzones. You can feign a sh aerial and then snatch them up for a nice kill confirm, especially on the lighter characters. I hadn't considered PS2, though. How useful are the platforms against superheavies? Since we have the projectile + disjoints to bully them directly, I could see them being used against us, to get over our fireballs more easily.

 

[Luigi Linguine]

I was think of going more for straight kills up than gimping on WarioWare. Side-b in particular kills much earlier than usual because of the smaller blastzones. You can feign a sh aerial and then snatch them up for a nice kill confirm, especially on the lighter characters. I hadn't considered PS2, though. How useful are the platforms against superheavies? Since we have the projectile + disjoints to bully them directly, I could see them being used against us, to get over our fireballs more easily.

Yeah, that's why I say WarioWare is still good, just not as good as Battlefield in my experience. There's also a lack of a platform on the midstage for Ridley to harass with his disjoints, but it ultimately depends on the matchup and what you value more in Ridley's kit. As for Pokemon Stadium 2, the platforms allow Plasma Breath to cover a more vertical area which can make it even more troublesome for other big bodies to deal with in a lot of situations. Ridley is the only big body with a projectile that covers such a wide space besides maybe Gordo. That being said, Ridley can just hit those back with SH nair pretty easily and his speed and frame data overall is much better than Dedede's, so he has a much easier time using the platforms to escape compared to other characters in his weight class. Theoretically, this strategy can be effective on anyone who isn't especially fast or doesn't have a great projectile, but we'll have to wait for Ridley's meta to develop more before we can say so definitively.

 

[E.G.G.M.A.N.]

I see, seems like it's worth choosing over FD against DK/Bowser/K. Rool. I do hope WarioWare becomes legal as a counterpick, though. Castle Siege doesn't really do it for me vs Pichu and Pikachu.

 

[Luigi Linguine]

I see, seems like it's worth choosing over FD against DK/Bowser/K. Rool. I do hope WarioWare becomes legal as a counterpick, though. Castle Siege doesn't really do it for me vs Pichu and Pikachu.

Yeah, WarioWare is a much better small stage for Ridley compared to Castle Siege. He really hates being on the left side because the slant denies his Plasma Breath pretty hard and he doesn't have a great option to challenge opponents diagonally above him. I really don't understand why that stage is allowed as a counterpick and not WarioWare. Ideally, they should both be legal, but that's a topic for another day.

Edit: I was mistaken, the slant doesn't actually stop Plasma Breath. I was confusing him with someone else, but it's still not a great stage for him at the end of the day.