Data Midgar: Stage Research

[ParanoidDrone]

Dadadadaa da da da dadaaaaa!

Previously Covered
Pirate Ship
Super Mario Maker
Hyrule Castle (64)
Peach's Castle (64)
Miiverse
Suzaku Castle
Dream Land (64)
Final Destination & Ω Forms
PAC-LAND
75M
Skyworld
Flat Zone X
The Great Cave Offensive
Onett
Palutena's Temple
Yoshi's Island
Wily Castle
Gaur Plain
Pyrosphere
Temple
Mario Circuit (Brawl)
Boxing Ring
Port Town Aero Dive
Bridge of Eldin
Pilotwings
Jungle Hijinxs
Wrecking Crew
Halberd
Pokemon Stadium 2
Big Battlefield
Battlefield
Smashville
Lylat Cruise
Castle Siege
Town & City
Duck Hunt
Delfino Plaza
Kalos Pokemon League
Mario Galaxy
Coliseum
Gamer
Wii Fit Studio
Kongo Jungle 64
Windy Hill Zone
Luigi's Mansion
Norfair
Orbital Gate Assault
Woolly World
Skyloft
Garden of Hope
Mushroom Kingdom U
Wuhu Island
Mario Circuit

Layout
Midgar is Cloud's stage. I still can't quite get over Cloud being in the game. Also Bayonetta before too long. But I digress.

Midgar is a Battlefield clone. It has the same platform layout and the same distance to the blast zones. The stage itself is a bit bigger and the underside is shaped differently, but that's basically it. Oh, and every so often a Summon Materia appears that lets a player summon one of 5 different hideously powerful entities to wreak havoc on the stage. So maybe it's not really like Battlefield at all.

Players 1 and 2 start on the left and right platforms. Players 3 and 4 start on the top platform and bottom of the base. The Omega form floats over a void.

Midgar is a hazardous stage thanks to the Summon Materia.

Spoiler: Base Layout

Midgar's base layout. It's pretty close to Battlefield.

The right side of the stage is amazingly generous with respect to recovery.

Summon Materia
Roughly 30 seconds into the match, a Summon Materia appears in the background of the stage with a fun retro sound effect. It floats on an erratic path towards the foreground where it flashes to notify the players that it's active. At this point the Materia floats around a bit but doesn't really move around; it'll stay more or less in the same place until someone picks it up. Players can pick up the Materia simply by touching it, even if they're in hitstun.

Once a player touches the Materia, the same swirling lights and symbols from Final Fantasy VII's summon animation appear, as a nice retro touch. The summon itself happens automatically while the summoning player glows red. With few exceptions, noted below in the Summons section, a summon cannot harm or otherwise affect the player that summoned it.

Once the effects of the summon completely dissipate, the next Summon Materia will appear about 20-25 seconds later.

Spoiler: Summon Materia

The Materia isn't big at all. It also doesn't move around much, although the location it pops in at is random.

Summons
There are a total of 5 possible summons: Ifrit, Ramuh, Leviathan, Odin, and Bahamut ZERO. Which one you get is random, but the game will cycle through all 5 before repeating any. Their effects vary, but generally make the stage a hazardous place to be for everyone but the summoner.

Name|Pictures|Notes
Ifrit|

|A colossal jet of flame hits the stage from offscreen with enough force to push it around. Standing near the point of impact does 1% DPS with no hitstun. Touching the flame jet does 26% damage, or 12% if you only touch the tip of the jet where it hits the stage. The knockback from hitting the flame is sufficient to kill Mario from around 125% near the ledge. Flame jets can hit either ledge from the side (pushing the stage sideways) or from the bottom (tilting the stage at a roughly 45 degree angle), or they can hit the stage at the center from the bottom, pushing the whole stage up. The flame jet dissipates and the stage returns to normal after about 15 seconds.
Ramuh|

|The three floating platforms become charged with electricity that deal rapid 1% DOT hits to players that touch it, even when airborne. Players that land on the platform, or are standing on it when it first becomes charged, take an additional 15% with a stun effect. The hit plus the DOT while stunned adds up to 22% damage. After the platforms become charged, they move into one of several possible new configurations. The three platforms then take turns being charged for a few seconds each, flashing to indicate an imminent charge. After each has had a turn, they return to their original triangle configuration. The whole process from initial charge to reassembly takes about 25 seconds.
Leviathan|

|The area underneath the stage becomes flooded with water, preventing players from falling to their death normally. A powerful current carries players to the left. Players carried into the stage take 9% damage with vertical knockback, but if the player has over 100% damage they will instead explode on the spot for an instant KO, like the Danger Zones in The Great Cave Offensive or the acid in Master Fortress. Players killed in this manner or swept offscreen by the current have their kills attributed to the summoner. Unlike most summons, the summoner is not immune; they can be swept by the current and take damage if it rams them into the stage, although they will not explode if over 100%. The flood lasts for around 25 seconds.
Odin|

|Odin slashes down the middle of the stage, dealing an incredible 100% damage. While not an instant KO, it is capable of killing Mario off the top at 20% from the base of the stage. After the slash, the stage splits in two with a large gap in the middle. The new ledges formed are grabbable. After 15 seconds, the two halves of the base release a harmless wave of sparks and merge back together. Players caught between the halves at this point are crushed and instantly KOd, including the summoner.
Bahamut ZERO|

|A laser sweeps from the background to the foreground, which takes about 5 seconds. Roughly halfway there, a large red targeting reticule appears to indicate where it will hit the stage. Players caught by the full blast take a whopping 39% damage, which registers as a 196 hit combo in training mode. Despite the raw power, the base knockback of the attack is poor and the knockback growth is average at best. Kill percent varies depending on where a player is when hit and which direction they get launched.

Summary

• Touch the Summon Materia to summon 1 of 5 different entities. Summoner is generally immune.
• Ifrit releases a flame jet that does 26% damage and pushes the stage around.
• Ramuh charges the platforms with electricity that do 15% and rapid DOT. Platforms also move around.
• Leviathan creates a raging flood that can carry players offscreen or into the stage.
• Odin slices the stage in two and can kill players at shockingly low percents.
• Bahamut ZERO attacks with a massive laser with surprisingly bad knockback for its power.
• For additional images, because it really is pretty, see this album.

 

[SaltyKracka]

Stuck on the ban list, methinks.

 

[ParanoidDrone]

Stuck on the ban list, methinks.

I don't think this was ever really in question since Cloud's reveal trailer showed off the summons. Unless the Materia was tied to the item switch. Which it isn't.

 

[Xeze]

Even without the summons, this stage is just another Battlefield. At best, it would be an alternate like Miiverse.

 

[Splebel]

How is this stage any worse than Delfino or Halberd? Bahumut is like the laser, Ifrit doesn't hit on the top of the stage, Leviathan is a little like Delfino's water sections and Odin does do that OHKO but it's super easy to avoid. I'm not sure about Ramuh though he hasn't come up yet when I play this stage.

 

[Leonyx]

I realize this is just for the Wii U version of the stage (I assume...), but the 3DS version doesn't seem to have Leviathan or Ifrit appear at all. Thought I should mention it.

 

[Splebel]

I realize this is just for the Wii U version of the stage (I assume...), but the 3DS version doesn't seem to have Leviathan or Ifrit appear at all. Thought I should mention it.

They do because that's all I have. It doesn't look as good though.

 

[Leonyx]

They do because that's all I have. It doesn't look as good though.

Hmm, strange. They never appear when I've played on there.

 

[Wintropy]

ParanoidDrone , something I want to touch on briefly, since I have yet to download the stage for myself (I'll have it done sometime today):

Do the Summons have a bias towards the player that uses the Materia, i.e. rendering them immune to the Summon's effects? You mentioned that the Materia makes the player briefly invincible if they use it - does that just mean the moment the Materia itself is touched, or for the entire duration of the summoning (I'm going to presume this is represented by the red glow and spinning orb effects)?

If it favours the summoner, then there's absolutely no question for it to be banned. If it doesn't...well, I guess there's a 99% reason for it to be banned instead of 100%, haha~

EDIT: Never mind, missed that bit in the OP. In that case, yeah, I don't think there's any debate here. There is a distinct difference between egalitarian hazards and hazards that favour one player over others (I don't count the laser on Halberd as the latter, it can still effect players not directly targeted by it). I'm getting a very Kalos Pokémon League vibe from this stage, except replacing the RNG elements of Legendary Pokémon turning up with player bias. Either way, it seems great as a "for fun" stage~

 

[~Skelly~]

ParanoidDrone , something I want to touch on briefly, since I have yet to download the stage for myself (I'll have it done sometime today):

Do the Summons have a bias towards the player that uses the Materia, i.e. rendering them immune to the Summon's effects? You mentioned that the Materia makes the player briefly invincible if they use it - does that just mean the moment the Materia itself is touched, or for the entire duration of the summoning (I'm going to presume this is represented by the red glow and spinning orb effects)?

If it favours the summoner, then there's absolutely no question for it to be banned. If it doesn't...well, I guess there's a 99% reason for it to be banned instead of 100%, haha~

The summons are favorable to the summoner and the summoner IS immune to most of their attacks with the exception of the standard stage KOs (i.e. you can get crushed by the stage when it comes back together after Odin cuts it in half, get spiked by the stage if you get caught in Leviathan's current on the right side of the stage or go off screen if caught on the left side, etc.)

 

[Deleted member]

I kindof want Midgar to be a janky counterpick. The hazards are predictable and the default layout is nice. The position the Materia goes to is random, but I don't really see how that's worse than the fact that all 3 of Halberd's weapons are as well.

 

[SaltyKracka]

I kindof want Midgar to be a janky counterpick. The hazards are predictable and the default layout is nice. The position the Materia goes to is random, but I don't really see how that's worse than the fact that all 3 of Halberd's weapons are as well.

Because then you get one of the classic item problems, in that the faster and more mobile character is always at an advantage on the stage.

 

[RIP|Merrick]

This gives me nostalgia for Brawl Minus and that mods stages like Final Frustration as well as Lavaville. Been working on a purely jank only type stage list for a chaotic tourney I have in the works, and this will be the perfect starter for it.

 

[ParanoidDrone]

The summons are favorable to the summoner and the summoner IS immune to most of their attacks with the exception of the standard stage KOs (i.e. you can get crushed by the stage when it comes back together after Odin cuts it in half, get spiked by the stage if you get caught in Leviathan's current on the right side of the stage or go off screen if caught on the left side, etc.)

Nitpick, but the stage doesn't spike you if Leviathan sweeps you into it. If you have less than 100% damage, you take 9% and are hit up. If you have 100% or more, you die on the spot. No knockback or anything, you just explode like if you touched a danger zone in TGCO or something. The person who summoned Leviathan is the exception -- they'll always take the 9% even if they're heavily damaged.

Getting squished by the stage when it comes back together after Odin slices also explodifies you. This is regardless of who summoned him.

 

[Deleted member]

Because then you get one of the classic item problems, in that the faster and more mobile character is always at an advantage on the stage.

You have a point there, in the case that neither person predicts where the Materia will go, but the I realized that the point of a counterpick is to give yourself the advantage... Still, though, it IS an issue, but I think the stage would be neat. At the very least, I might gentleman's pick it.

 

[John12346]

A few notes to add on about the summons:

Leviathan:
- If the water pushes you into the stage while you're at 100% or higher, you'll be instantly KO'd. (This one is mentioned by the ingame tips)
Odin:
- When the stage comes back together, players caught between the two halves of the stage will be instantly KO'd.
Ramuh:
- When a platform is electrified, characters who make contact with it while airborne will take constant damage without flinching. The 15% + knockback thing only happens if you actually land on the platform.

This stage is really fun, but alas, there's no way this is going to be legal, oh well

 

[ParanoidDrone]

A few notes to add on about the summons:

Leviathan:
- If the water pushes you into the stage while you're at 100% or higher, you'll be instantly KO'd. (This one is mentioned by the ingame tips)
Odin:
- When the stage comes back together, players caught between the two halves of the stage will be instantly KO'd.
Ramuh:
- When a platform is electrified, characters who make contact with it while airborne will take constant damage without flinching. The 15% + knockback thing only happens if you actually land on the platform.

This stage is really fun, but alas, there's no way this is going to be legal, oh well

I mention all of these in the OP. I tried looking for ingame tips but it was late and I can only spend so long looking through them all before I get bored.

EDIT: It appears Firefox handles embedded images much differently than Chrome does. On Chrome, which I have at home, the images shrink themselves to fit the table. On Firefox, they...don't. And the table becomes scrollable. I find this annoying and slightly embarrassing.

 

[KuroganeHammer]

Still a better stage than Halberd tbh

 

[Masonomace]

Some brief notes for Shulk in Training Mode:

• Odin's slash becomes a OKHO at 0% on Smash Shulk if he stands on the upper top platform without applying DI. However, at 1% Smash Shulk dies to Odin's slash showing the Deadly Blow effect even when applying DI.

 

[ForteX]

Still a better stage than Halberd tbh

I agree with this statement no matter what that emote might imply.

Despite easily avoided, incredibly telegraphed hazards that pose very little threat to the player actually affected by them, I'm (sadly) certain everyone will write this one off as completely nonviable.

 

[SaltyKracka]

Even if people were willing to look past the hazards (and why the hell would they?) the stage is still a Battlefield clone.

We have enough people complaining when Dreamland is legal. Why would we add this to the mix?

 

[Linq]

the faster and more mobile character is always at an advantage on the stage.

How do you figure? You have plenty of time to react to the magicite after it spawns before it becomes collectible, so movement speed is largely irrelevant. In fact, heavier/slower characters would likely be more difficult to knock away from the magicite, in addition to packing more punch to get opponents away from where the magicite will become collectible. This is a far cry from being "always" in favor of the faster character.
Additionally, not sure if anyone else has felt this, but I'm more afraid of the claw on Halberd than my opponent summoning something on Midgar. Once the claw starts moving, it becomes "I'm not allowed to combo my opponent until it stops", rather than at worst "my opponent outplayed me to collect the magicite, so I need to be a bit more careful for the next 15 seconds or so".

 

[Masonomace]

So uhhh, a local tournament around my area actually had this stage played in Winners Finals for Doubles. We all gentlemen'd to it for Game 5, & it didn't really seem like it was too big of an issue. I got a summon (Leviathan), my partner got a summon (Ifrit), the opposing team got a summon or two (Odin and or Bahumet ZERO), & it basically felt like Battlefield with a more interesting twist.

The only thing that radically changed the stage layout imo was from Ramuh or Ifrit. But to be honest, the majority of the community will still probably ban this stage from ever getting a chance. The hilarious thing about it was when my Little Mac partner got Ifrit, the flame bursting from below shot up to tilt the stage, & me being Shulk edge-guarding a Yoshi / Wario was kinda cheesy XD. But anyway, good times.

 

[ParanoidDrone]

So uhhh, a local tournament around my area actually had this stage played in Winners Finals for Doubles. We all gentlemen'd to it for Game 5, & it didn't really seem like it was too big of an issue. I got a summon (Leviathan), my partner got a summon (Ifrit), the opposing team got a summon or two (Odin and or Bahumet ZERO), & it basically felt like Battlefield with a more interesting twist.

The only thing that radically changed the stage layout imo was from Ramuh or Ifrit. But to be honest, the majority of the community will still probably ban this stage from ever getting a chance. The hilarious thing about it was when my Little Mac partner got Ifrit, the flame bursting from below shot up to tilt the stage, & me being Shulk edge-guarding a Yoshi / Wario was kinda cheesy XD. But anyway, good times.

I'm not hopeful since you mentioned it's a local, but is there a video of this match?

 

[Masonomace]

I'm not hopeful since you mentioned it's a local, but is there a video of this match?

Nah it wasn't recorded. I guess I should of had it played on my Wii U setup that I brought so that I could of saved it & uploaded it for stage discussion purposes. Ahwell.

 

[teluoborg]

One thing that should be noted with the Ifrit summon is that even if the fire pushes the stages the blastzones stay the same, making KOs easier towards where the stage is pushed.