Wolfii
Smash Rookie
Look, everyone's seen the M2K/ZeRo video, and most people are going to take their word as law. However, I'm here to give my own opinion for each stage that I would consider to be legal from the information we know right now.
Good, now with that out of the way, some guidelines to go off of:
Starter Stages
Counter-Picks
Good, now with that out of the way, some guidelines to go off of:
1. The list was determined based off of the assumption that we will keep the 1-2-1 stage banning process
2. Stage hazards being on/off are NOT universal (i.e. stages that are legal with hazards off does not mean all legal stages need hazards disabled.)
3. This list has not taken into account doubles.
4. A main goal was to have as little "triple stage" layouts as possible as starters
4. Green text means the base stage is considered legal
5. Orange text means the stage is considered legal with hazards disabled
6. Purple text means that it is very possible for the stage to be considered legal but there are some issues that could prevent it from being considered so in the long run.
7. Red text means that a stage is considered both an orange and purple stage, and have a much lower likelihood of being considered a legal stage.
2. Stage hazards being on/off are NOT universal (i.e. stages that are legal with hazards off does not mean all legal stages need hazards disabled.)
3. This list has not taken into account doubles.
4. A main goal was to have as little "triple stage" layouts as possible as starters
4. Green text means the base stage is considered legal
5. Orange text means the stage is considered legal with hazards disabled
6. Purple text means that it is very possible for the stage to be considered legal but there are some issues that could prevent it from being considered so in the long run.
7. Red text means that a stage is considered both an orange and purple stage, and have a much lower likelihood of being considered a legal stage.
Starter Stages
Battlefield - Uniform platform layout and balanced killzones makes this stage a perfect starter.
Final Destination - Perfectly flat, no obtrusion, and still large enough for a balanced neutral/punish game.
Pokemon Stadium 2 - A unique platform layout with decently balanced killzones with no transformations makes this stage a great starter.
WarioWare, Inc. - Reasons similar to Pokemon Stadium 2, a unique platform layout with balanced killzones make this stage a great starter. (Hazards off disables the minigames.)
Smashville - Most likely the most popular starter stage of all time, the moving platform moves in a constant rate and is unobtrusive of most interactions.
Final Destination - Perfectly flat, no obtrusion, and still large enough for a balanced neutral/punish game.
Pokemon Stadium 2 - A unique platform layout with decently balanced killzones with no transformations makes this stage a great starter.
WarioWare, Inc. - Reasons similar to Pokemon Stadium 2, a unique platform layout with balanced killzones make this stage a great starter. (Hazards off disables the minigames.)
Smashville - Most likely the most popular starter stage of all time, the moving platform moves in a constant rate and is unobtrusive of most interactions.
Counter-Picks
Yoshi's Story (64) - While this does provide interesting platform interactions and changes how players would approach the neutral, however this fact could also cause problems
Yoshi's Story - While the layout and size of the stage is similar to Battlefield, the stage's smaller size (in both killzones and surface area), along with Randall moving around makes this stage a counter-pick rather than a starter.
Dreamland - Similar to Yoshi's Story in the fact that the layout of the stage is similar to battlefield, what sets this stage apart from a starter is the difference in size, the layout of the stage (the infamous pineapple stocks) and how whispy could effect someone's combo/punish.
Fountain of Dreams - Again, although this stage has a similar layout to Battlefield, the moving platforms could alter one's experience mid-match.
Pokemon Stadium - Though being near identical to Pokemon Stadium 2, the transformations for this stage are much less intrusive and don't intrude much on the gameplay, and the stage only has four transformations with proper warning as to which transformation the stage is going into. This allows it to be a counterpick with hazards on.
Town and City - While at first this stage seems very similar to Smashville, the moving and transforming platformers change and have much more variation between them, making this stage a counter-pick.
Castle Siege - It is unclear what transformation the stage will be in with hazards turned off. If it is in the more legal form (seen here) then it could be considered a counter-pick. If not, then this stage would most likely be banned.
Mario Circuit - It is unknown what the platform layout would look like with hazards disabled
Skyloft - Same as Mario Circuit, it is unknown what the platform layout would look like with hazards disabled.
Delfino - While most transformations of this stage would be considered legal, the uncertainty of how water will work with characters (for example, Incineroar takes a small amount of damage in water) makes this stage an uncertainty.
Lumiose - A mixture of the issues with Delfion and Skyloft/Mario Circuit. While most platform layouts on this stage are considered legal, we just don't know what the layout with hazards off would look like.
Yoshi's Story - While the layout and size of the stage is similar to Battlefield, the stage's smaller size (in both killzones and surface area), along with Randall moving around makes this stage a counter-pick rather than a starter.
Dreamland - Similar to Yoshi's Story in the fact that the layout of the stage is similar to battlefield, what sets this stage apart from a starter is the difference in size, the layout of the stage (the infamous pineapple stocks) and how whispy could effect someone's combo/punish.
Fountain of Dreams - Again, although this stage has a similar layout to Battlefield, the moving platforms could alter one's experience mid-match.
Pokemon Stadium - Though being near identical to Pokemon Stadium 2, the transformations for this stage are much less intrusive and don't intrude much on the gameplay, and the stage only has four transformations with proper warning as to which transformation the stage is going into. This allows it to be a counterpick with hazards on.
Town and City - While at first this stage seems very similar to Smashville, the moving and transforming platformers change and have much more variation between them, making this stage a counter-pick.
Castle Siege - It is unclear what transformation the stage will be in with hazards turned off. If it is in the more legal form (seen here) then it could be considered a counter-pick. If not, then this stage would most likely be banned.
Mario Circuit - It is unknown what the platform layout would look like with hazards disabled
Skyloft - Same as Mario Circuit, it is unknown what the platform layout would look like with hazards disabled.
Delfino - While most transformations of this stage would be considered legal, the uncertainty of how water will work with characters (for example, Incineroar takes a small amount of damage in water) makes this stage an uncertainty.
Lumiose - A mixture of the issues with Delfion and Skyloft/Mario Circuit. While most platform layouts on this stage are considered legal, we just don't know what the layout with hazards off would look like.