Fox's Stages.

[M@v]

Hey all. We've had a good few weeks with smash 4 so far, and I wanted to get some discussion going in regards to what stages are good and bad for Fox in this one so far(Those two words are important; things can definitely change.)
I'm going to be liberal here and include stages that are banned in some regions too, so the list below is pretty big.

Stages that are likely to be seen somewhere or another are listed below. Their likely legality (IMO) is lesser the further down you go down the list. Its not perfect obviously, lol. I'll be editing in my own thoughts/replying when I get more time.

FD
BF
SV
Town and City
Lylat Cruise
Omega FD Forms
Castle Siege
Duck Hunt
Delfino Plaza
Halberd
Skyloft
Kongo Jungle
Wuhu Island
Pilot Wings
Big Battlefield
Mario Circuit
Port Town
Norfair

 

[RPK]

Battlefield is still a great stage for him because of the platforms that allow for a number of recovery options, then we have Duck Hunt and good ol Halberd because of the close blast zones for both stages. There are probably some omega stages that we can definitely abuse if they have low ceilings.

 

[Mindles]

mixed feelings about lylat...

 

[Robin1613]

Foxes best counter pick i'd have to say is halberd, the low ceiling gives him a huge advantage.
Uair, Upsmash will be killing a lot earlier than usual so expect a smart player to ban it.
Worst I'd say is Castle siege. The transformations (specifically transformation 2) mess with his lazer game too much.
Ban this stage/any stage with inclined surfaces or notable high ceilings.

 

[luke_atyeo]

^I agree with all of that except that against certain characters, (slow characters) you can camp pretty hard on transformation 2, and it gives you a few platform tricks, but against a fast character I dont want to be there.

 

[jr22]

I heard the duck hunt stage is good counter pick for fox. idk anything about the stage at all since I haven't played the Wii u version yet; I also heard Palutena's temple omega has a high ceiling, I really don't for sure if these are true, but I would appreciate if someone can confirm this for me.

Best counter pick I'd have to say is good 'ol halberd, the low ceiling helps his Upsmash and uair kill earlier than expected. Battlefield is still a good stage for him, the platforms gives him more options for his recovery.

 

[M@v]

Alright, I can do a brief post for now, and elaborate more later. Despite how fox plays differently in this game than brawl, Halberd is still a solid stage for him. His main killers are still vertical (Upair is his best/most reliable kill move in this iteration IMO), so the lower blast zone helps. I also like Duck hunt a lot. Even though its ceiling is a tad high, its basically FD in length, giving Fox plenty of room to move around, but it also has platforms fox can utilize to gain ground on his opponents. He also has no trouble getting to the top of the tree fast, so someone trying to camp the tree won't be able to. Lastly, don't forget you can control where the Dog pops up based on where you hit ducks/don't hit any at all, so don't be afraid to use lasers or aerials to make that platform appear. P.S. Jank hitbox extension kills happen sometimes too. (Ex. They air dodge your upair, but a duck is there, extending the time the hitbox is out and they get hit anyway.) I don't think any stage is -awful- for fox except castle siege since its forms are really close quarters. Lylat isn't as bad as it was before because its harder to get stuck underneath, but it still has a high ceiling. Kongo Jungle would be the 3rd so-so stage. I think the only bad thing about that stage is the insanely high blast zone making it hard to get upair/ upsmash kills unless you catch them on the top platforms. Fox has an easy time moving all over that stage though and outmaneuvering people there though. Personally, I tend to switch to Falcon if I get CP'd there, just because hes as mobile as fox, and his main killing power is off the sides, not the top, so he doesn't have that weakness there like Fox. If anything, the large amounts of open space make it easier for falcon to juggle people

 

[DEHF]

Fox's best stage is easily Battlefield.

 

[Robin1613]

How so? I'm curious as to why that stage specifically beats out any other as a potential counter pick choice.

 

[jr22]

I Think fox best stages are probably halberd (we should probably know why it is.) and Duck hunt because it's just as long as FD, giving him plenty of space to move around, the strangely place platforms can utilize to gain the ground. If someone tries to camp the tree they won't be able to because fox as no problem getting to the top of the tree very fast.

 

[DavemanCozy]

Battlefield easily, Fox plays off the platforms really well. Final Destination depends on who you're fighting against. Smashville is even against everyone else in

Duck Hunt is pretty good too as long as the dog doesn't mess you up. Pokemon Stadium 2 (that stage should be legal IMO, the transformations are no longer intolerable like before) is also good, you can use the Ice at your advantage and Ground is good too if you use the hill to your advantage.

 

[luke_atyeo]

I like duck hunt too, it feels like the celing blastzones are closer then the side blast zones so it should help you survive a bit against other characters without harming most of your own kill options.
Also the tree gives you a good recovery option if you are knocked off the left, you can side b to it and most characters cant do much about it (unless they are already there waiting for you in which case recover low)

 

[Skarfelt]

Gonna go through some of the potential Neutrals.

Battlefield - SH Bair hits the platforms and autocancels giving you pretty real pressure to anyone above you on this stage. Having people above you is obviously pretty good for us. I've faced some issues against characters like Rosalina on this stage, though, as her Uair outprioritises pretty much all of our options besides airdodging so we're forced off stage to stop juggling.
Town and City - SH Bair hits the platforms on the second part but I think that Fox chases with Nairs/Fairs really well on the second part and can score some surprisingly early KOs with pressure on the platforms for the first part, so I'd say this is better than Smashville.
Smashville - You can't SH Bair this platform which is pretty tragic and I've generally found myself getting stage spiked more often on this stage than on others. That said, recovery isn't really an issue here with loads of options which is what Fox wants with generally linear recovery so this stage is still awesome.
Duck Hunt - I personally dislike this stage in general due to its jankiness but it's still a pretty good stage for us. Smaller blastzones on the side give us more KO options which is always nice and the stage is pretty much just a gimmicky FD at the end of the day. The platforms don't really encourage use.
Final Destination - Laser game is incredibly strong here, not really much to say aside from that. Walled Omegas are also really good but avoid those floating Omegas with awkward edges. Recovering can be hell on those.
Lylat Cruise - On-stage is fine, the ledge is an absolute nightmare. I personally just go ROB on this every time because I can't stand SD'ing due to random tilting as I go to Side B.

I haven't had much experience on the other Counterpicks but I found Delfino Plaza absolute hell to play on. We can't abuse any of the walkoffs, we have no spike of offstage options for the water and so on. Kongo Jungle's frustrating because the platforms are all too far away to follow up on easily and it's really easy to gimp Fox on this stage with the awkward ledge sweetspotting off Side B. Aside from those, though, I haven't really played any stage that's been particularly bad for Fox, so I personally strike Delfino/Lylat/Kongo most games assuming I don't need to strike anything for the matchup.

Speaking of matchups, what stages do you prefer against the top tiers? I like FD for Diddy, Battlefield for Sheik and Town and City for Yoshi specifically.