Could somebody explain to me what stage control is?

[Bluekirby2]

I wish to play a better Mega Man, but I hear the key to victory for Mega Man is stage control.

Only, I don't know what that is.

So if somebody could explain that would be great.


inb4 this is moved to a much larger thread that I had no idea existed

 

[ParanoidDrone]

Stage control is when your presence, or the threat of your imminent presence via projectiles and the like, makes a significant portion of the stage dangerous for your opponent to be in. Alternatively, it's the combination of incentives/disincentives to be at any given point on the stage and whoever has the net advantage has stage control.

Consider a hypothetical situation where you're on FD and the opponent is firmly grounded on the stage but basically an inch in front of the ledge. You're a distance away, say just outside of lemon range. You have stage control in this situation.

 

[Big-Cat]

Stage control is essentially putting you in an advantageous spot while putting the opponent in a bad one. Thing is that both of these are extremely broad in definition.

A good spot in general is closer to the center of the stage. There are less risks involved for you. With the case of zoning, it's making them scared of getting hit by projectiles so they'll try to go another way to counter them, making their movement predictable.