Ideal Stages for the Good Doctor

[NotEvenAmatueR]

Hello fellow Dr. Mario players. I have noticed that there is no thread on Dr. Mario's stage selection, so I have took it upon myself to make said thread.This thread is intended to inform Dr. Mario players on what stages they should go to, as to avoid picking the wrong stage that could cost them the game. What are our ideal stages for Dr. Mario? For reference, here is the usual stage selection for tournaments. I will add a general consensus for each stage as we go.

Color checklist:

Green- This is a stage that Dr. Mario can depend on and will almost always be a good stage choice for optimal play.

Yellow- This is a stage that is neutral for Dr. Mario but it can sometimes benefit him depending on the matchup.

White- This is a stage is absolutely neutral for Dr. Mario. You are most likely banning this stage because it is your opponent's best stage. (Or, it is the filler color for stages not fully discussed yet.)

Orange- This stage is sometimes bad for Dr. Mario but can be neutral depending on the matchup. You may want to ban these stages.

Red- This stage is bad for Dr. Mario in most to all matchups, and it is reccomended that you ban these stages.

Stagelist:

Starter:
Battlefield/Miiverse
Final Destination
Smashville

Starter or CounterPick (usually starter):
Town and City
Lylat Cruise

CounterPick:
Dreamland 64
Duck Hunt

CounterPick or Banned (usually banned):
Delfino
Halberd
Castle Seige

I have a poll created for which stage we will discuss first. The choices you have currently are Battlefield, Smashville, and Final Destination since they are practically guranteed to be starter stages. For the next week, feel free to talk about your opinion on any of the legal stages before we decide which starter stage we will discuss. Enjoy the discussion folks!

 

[CasteHappy//]

Doc needs small stages where he can get to the opponent as fast as possible to get the punishes, but at the same time lets him play deffensive.

Green:
Lylat Cruise
Smashville

Lylat lets Doc be more aggressive because the platforms are low enough to pressure and juggle opponents with his aerials. He can land more safely on this stage and get easier edgeguards.

Smashville is just the best stage in my opinion, so Doc does great because it's a small stage and he wants to get horizontal kills.

Yellow:
Battlefield/Miiverse
Dreamland 64

Doc doesn't really want platforms because his jumps are low and he gets predictable trying to land, but in some matchups ( When the opponent has the same problems landing ), you have better frame data and probably better juggling tools.

White:
Town and City

Big stages are not good for doc, but the high platforms in this one helps him landing and he can stay safer when getting juggled.

Orange:
Delfino
Castle Seige
Halberd
Duck Hunt ( I think Duck Hunt should be Red as well but whatever )

Duck hunt is huge, some of Delfino's / Castle Seige's / Halberd's transformations are huge as well.

Red:
Final Destination

Doc can't approach and he will get juggled for days.

What do you think guys?

 

[BasedGamerAce]

Doc needs small stages where he can get to the opponent as fast as possible to get the punishes, but at the same time lets him play deffensive.

Green:
Lylat Cruise
Smashville

Lylat lets Doc be more aggressive because the platforms are low enough to pressure and juggle opponents with his aerials. He can land more safely on this stage and get easier edgeguards.

Smashville is just the best stage in my opinion, so Doc does great because it's a small stage and he wants to get horizontal kills.

Yellow:
Battlefield/Miiverse
Dreamland 64

Doc doesn't really want platforms because his jumps are low and he gets predictable trying to land, but in some matchups ( When the opponent has the same problems landing ), you have better frame data and probably better juggling tools.

White:
Town and City

Big stages are not good for doc, but the high platforms in this one helps him landing and he can stay safer when getting juggled.

Orange:
Delfino
Castle Seige
Halberd
Duck Hunt ( I think Duck Hunt should be Red as well but whatever )

Duck hunt is huge, some of Delfino's / Castle Seige's / Halberd's transformations are huge as well.

Red:
Final Destination

Doc can't approach and he will get juggled for days.

What do you think guys?

Dang...that's basically exactly my opinion. I would put delfino as neutral though (That's just my preference. It's one of my favorite counter-picks period). Before doc got his new Usmash, I would always go Halberd, but now I don't like it much.

 

[Dokokashira]

I voted Final Destination because that's where I believe Dr. Mario, like most characters, has to change his strategy the most from his normal strategy. FD's also a really bad stage for Dr. Mario too, so it'd be important to discuss how to deal with this first.

I'll explain in more detail only about the stages I have any interesting opinions about. A lot of this is going to be heavy personal opinion and experience, and not truly backed up by fact. I'd listen more to Caste if you want a solid idea on what stages are viable for Dr. Mario, but maybe I can bring up some decent points. Either way, he's my personal list of Dr. Mario's stages (ordered in each category from best on top to worst on bottom):

• Lylat Cruise - Platforms are excellent for pressuring and the small size makes it easy to quickly move around.
• Smashville - When in doubt, go to Smashville!
• Battlefield - Platforms make for good offense, but your space can be easily taken from you if you're in a tight spot.
• Dream Land (64) - Same as Battlefield, but I think Battlefield is better for Doc in every way.
• Town & City - Interesting juggle options off the platforms.
• Duck Hunt - Each side supports different aspects of Dr. Mario's play, but he can get zoned out.
• Castle Siege - The first transformation is pretty good, but the others kill this stage.
• Delfino Plaza - Not a horrid stage, but Dr. Mario gets nothing too special from it.
• Halberd - Maliciously low ceiling with nothing to make up for it.
• Final Destination - The only thing Dr. Mario gets from this is pill spam.

Spoiler: Stage Ramblings

Delfino Plaza is my favorite stage against super heavyweights, especially Bowser. Some of the transformations, like the island and the harbor transformations aren't too useful against heavyweights, but most of them are the antithesis of heavyweights and let Doc combo them to oblivion, or zone them with pills. Another cool thing to mention is the transformations with walls! I like to sit in the hatch of them against heavyweights, and repeatedly SHFF up air or use pills to pressure them into approaching, and then hit them with a forward aerial or up B. Against more mobile opponents, this is a bad stage to go to, as your opponents will be able to navigate the stage faster than you can and get more damage in. It's definitely a workable stage, but unless you're specifically counterpicking something slow, you're better off fighting on a different stage.

Town & City is by far my favorite stage to go to, but I'll admit it's more of a comfort pick than anything else. It's a decent stage for Dr. Mario, I guess. The platforms are really good in helping Dr. Mario get back on his feet, and the ones in the second transformation are good for recovering if they happen to be offstage when you're knocked off. In the first transformation, one of my favorite moves to use is up tilt. It's quick and it sends them upward towards the platforms. The center platform can be low enough that Dr. Mario can jump on it after an up tilt to continue a string onto the other platforms. It's not the most optimal stage, but I love it and it's my most common neutral pick.

I don't have much to say about Battlefield or Dream Land that isn't obvious, but I'll say I hate Dream Land with a passion and I never go there. For Dr. Mario, the lower ceiling just makes it a worse Battlefield. ...The underside is total jank, too. >_>

Duck Hunt is actually my favorite counterpick as Dr. Mario, and just my favorite overall. The stage doesn't benefit the character in any real way, but there's a few attributes about it that are kinda neat. For one, the relatively high ceiling is pretty beneficial to Doc, as it helps him live longer against other characters' vertical KOs, which he himself has very few of. I tend to pick this stage against characters I want to camp or zone against, like Marth or Ganondorf. The bush on the right end of the stage can create of interesting ledge play and opportunities for early forward air KOs, while the tree on the left side and the walls can help diversify your recovery. You can even use the dog to assist with both your offense and defense! I tend to shift the momentum of the match to the left side when I'm on the defensive, and to the right side when I want to be aggressive. However, you'll want to ban this stage against anything that can outcamp you, or any characters with up throws that send them flying up, like Kirby, Meta Knight, and ESPECIALLY Charizard. Never take a Charizard to Duck Hunt! Another thing I want to point out is that a lot of what I like about this stage relies on your opponent not having knowledge of the stage. When your opponent knows just as much or more than you do about it, it becomes a mediocre counterpick.

I'm probably very biased, but I think Halberd is a really bad stage for Dr. Mario. He gets little benefit from the low ceiling (the only thing I can think of is earlier up tilt KOs, at around 135-ish%), while other characters get so much more... sometimes quite a bit more. The stage layout itself isn't bad for him at all, actually, but the blast zones just totally kill this stage for me. The first transformation is much better than the second one, as the platform is just the perfect height for a short hop forward air to sweetspot, but not too low where other most up smashes can hit you from below, unlike the second transformation's platform. The second transformation also gives your opponent tons of breathing room and chances to escape, with no benefit to yourself. It's not a horrible stage, but I feel like with a few exceptions, the opponent will always benefit more from this stage than Dr. Mario will. Depending on the matchup, you should consider switching to a secondary who can better handle the stage. Sonic, Peach, Meta Knight, Rosalina & Luma, Donkey Kong, and Fox are some matchups where I would absolutely stay away from this stage.

 

[Underhill]

Lylat Cruise- Best stage for Dr Mario to run around with less room, to jiggle, combo, and pressure under platforms. Plus, being small helps too, but bigger than , though; Also, especially good against characters like ,,, , and.
Smallville- Good starter for Doc, but so as everyone else.
Battlefield- Good stage to start combos, jiggles, and pressure under platforms. Also, easier for you against characters who like space such as ,,,and.
Dreamland- Same as Battlefield, but with more room so BF is better for Doc.
Town & City- Ok, nothing more
Duck Hunt- Good for wall jump mix ups, but against fast characters and zoning ones, troublsome.
Delfino Plaza- I stay away from this stage because of the low ceiling and Doc doesn't get anything special. Not bad, but horrible if you're going up against characters with good vertical kills and can kill early from up top such as and.
Halberb- Same as Delfino Plaza, but alittle worse.
Final Destination- Avoid this stage against camping characters such as ,,& and spacing & zoning characters such as and.

 

[BasedGamerAce]

So...are we starting this discussion or...? Looking at the votes, Battlefield/Miiverse would be first on our list.

 

[CasteHappy//]

I'm gonna start, I don't want this thread to die~

Okay so,

I think Doc players should never go to Battlefield unless they know a certain matchup really well.
Personally, I don't feel comfortable playing with Doc in battlefield, but I often go there against Wario or Sonic players (My training partner is a Wario main and he always says that battlefield is horrible for Wario against Doc).
I feel like Battlefield will help us in matchups where we HAVE to play aggresive and constantly pressure opponents. That's the point of Lylat, so If the matchup is good in BF, it should be better in Lylat.

You need to always have stage control here, as long as you are between the 3 platforms, Doc will be safe. Try to stay grounded and don't go for flashy stuff, you need to play solid and keep the opponents above you. If you end up getting juggled, Doc will struggle a lot at landing in this stage, so keep in mind that you should only go BF to counterpick.

Just imagine you are Little Mac.

Here's some of the destacable matchups in this stage (This is just my personal opinion / experience )

Bad stage against:
Sheik, Rosalina, Mario, ZSS, CFalcon, DK, ROB, MK, Pikachu, Falco.

Good stage against:
Sonic, Luigi, Bowser, Wario, Mega Man, Bowser Jr.

Characters I haven't played against in BF (?): ( I'd like to know what do you think about this matchups in battlefield )
Pit/Dark Pit, King Dedede, Ike, Fox, Ness, Peach, Yoshi, Diddy, Link.

I'm not very experienced in this stage so please help with this thread guys!

 

[BasedGamerAce]

On this stage, you're going to always be under your opponent, applying constant platform pressure. I like to keep my opponent on the lower 2 platforms, and not the top one (Doc's pressure is weaker when your opponent is on the top one). Battlefield's platforms can also be useful for extending combos. Also, because of the large blastzone, we live longer. On the other hand, the second we get into the air/on a platform, it's hard to get down. If I could call any stage a high risk/high reward stage for doc, it would be this one (as well as Town and City, but that's another post.

If the rule-set you're playing with considers Lylat a counter-pick, and your opponent bans Smashville, this stage is a good second choice. Also, if we're considering characters, I'd go battlefield against any character with a bad juggle game and/or bad platform pressure (usually bad juggle game = bad platform pressure though.

Characters I haven't played against in BF (?): ( I'd like to know what do you think about this matchups in battlefield )
Pit/Dark Pit, King Dedede, Ike, Fox, Ness, Peach, Yoshi, Diddy, Link.

I'm not very experienced in this stage so please help with this thread guys!

DO NOT BRING PIT/DARK PIT HERE. YOU WILL GET JUGGLED FOR DAYS (Well...at least try to avoid it)

I would only bring Fox, Ness, Ike Diddy, or Yoshi here if you're super comfortable with this stage or you're choosing starters Doc's better stages we banned. (Link could also fit in this category, but it's debatable)

I'm not 100% on Peach and DDD, but it should be fine bringing them there. Both their Uairs kill, so you need to be careful (Especially DDD)

Also, I guess we'll change the stage being discussed every Wednesday. So, this Wednesday coming up, we'll discuss Smashville.

 

[Capt. Tin]

Some tournaments I've been to only have or allow omegas, so I'd recommend any walled omega stage (excluding pac-land and kalos) and any other stage that are easy to wall-jump on. Some stages like battlefield are a bit tricky.

 

[BasedGamerAce]

Oh woops, I forgot lol. This week we'll be discussing smashville. (I'll add my input some time this weekend).