@stages:
1. No stages are neutral; therefore, a stage not being neutral is not a good reason for that stage not being starter.
2. I don't think we ever hammered out what actual criteria we want for the starter stages; we just sort of went with the SBR's suggestions and then added those four because the majority of people were in favor of adding them, without delving into the actual reasons. If we're going to discuss starter stages further, I think it would be a good idea to hammer out our criteria for starter stages first.
3. Booker, what are your criteria for starter stages? And why do those four stages not fit your criteria?
@Meta Knight:
As for the MK ban, do you mean in Queensland or globally? In Queensland I think everyone got sidetracked/decided they didn't care enough to continue the discussion further and ban him. Globally, public debate rages, and only members of the SBR know what the SBR is saying about it.
Personally, I think I'm against banning Meta Knight in Queensland until we've had at least one or two of the monthly tournies, and there turns out to be excessive numbers of Meta Knights at those tournies. I don't mean to bash on Queensland/Australian smashers, but I highly doubt if this is the top of the metagame, so we're presumably at the point where everyone who doesn't play Meta Knight has enough room for improvement to be able to defeat the current Meta Knight players (no disrespect intended towards Chris, or anyone else, of course).