Pokkén Tournament The Stages of Pokkén Tournament - Analysis

[SafCar]

Hello fellow Pokkén fighters! I come to you today to discuss stage selection. Didn't see a topic on this here, so I decided to to make one.

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It's been stated multiple times that each stage is different, but just how different are they? The game gives little else other than the arena size, but I have noticed differences between the Synergy Boost that appears.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...R7a58Yld-kgLjBrAth7j-IU/edit?usp=docslist_api

Here is a bit of a recording I have conducted of each stage. Some are simple, such as Ferrum Stadium, while others are a bit complicated, such as Haunted Mansion.

This isn't finished yet, but I figured that it would be good to have a resource for stages now. Any comments or suggestions for the improvement of the list are appreciated.

 

[Deaga]

One of the in-game tutorial DOES state that the Synergy Drops spawn differently in each stage, giving some examples that I can't remember. It doesn't say anything about the non-example stages, though. I guess the only difference really is in the drops. I'm curious about the criteria used to decide the Banned and CP stages, given that the differences are so minor.

Also, given that LAN Play apparently only supports Ferrum Stadium and Random select, I think it seems fair to assume that Ferrum Stadium will be THE standard stage.

 

[SafCar]

It's mostly the distance and synergy bonuses I took into consideration. Too far a distance can promote campy behavior or spam early on, especially it takes a speed pokemon like Weavile ~140 frames to run across the largest starting distance.

As for Synergy, Shadow Colosseum gives a full Synergy Gauge to whoever is lucky enough to be rewarded with it after the initial seconds. This combined with a temporarily random placement makes it akin to turning Smash Balls on High in 1v1 Smash 4 Battles.

Other than that, none of the other stages immediately have issues. It's still good to have this on hand if you need to know the stage specs ahead of time. Could help you make decisions about different strategies such as going risky at the end of a round "Or holding off so that the opponent's accumulated Synergy is wasted" and "Debating how long it will take to start pressuring that Suicune. It's interesting just seeing what details in the mechanics there are. Even so, FS is a fair choice for LAN play and seems to be a great default, even if DCF is more skill-based.

 

[IsmaR]

As for Synergy, Shadow Colosseum gives a full Synergy Gauge to whoever is lucky enough to be rewarded with it after the initial seconds. This combined with a temporarily random placement makes it akin to turning Smash Balls on High in 1v1 Smash 4 Battles.

In all fairness, Final Smashes aren't exactly comparable to Burst Attacks in the scope of competitive play. I'd say it's more similar to Cloud camping on (temporary) platforms to charge up his Limit Break, but obviously near instantaneously.

Said situation actually happened in a high stakes match (Loser's Finals) during this stream today:

https://www.twitch.tv/datafgc/v/58277603 ~04:39:32

From the testing I've done, it seems the XL Synergy Power only appears once per Field phase (until the phase shifts), and spawns randomly in a location by one of the players (maybe whoever is not in the lead or whoever is less mobile preference?), taking about 5 seconds to fully form from the initial appearance. The moment either player fills up their Synergy gauge, or after ~10 seconds of being left alone, it disappears. While the benefits are obvious, it is actually fairly difficult to secure the boost without getting punished (zoners can gun you down as you move, speed/grapplers can run up and grab you while you're blocking, etc.) especially during constant pressure.

The main reasoning most have for not banning the stage is that other 3D fighters have no precedent for banning stages/not using random (with even more disruptive hazards/elements than anything in this game has to offer, even in Extra Battle). Most also say it's up to players to have knowledge of each stage, and that Nintendo/Bandai Namco themselves have always run random stage (Ferrum Stadium only being introduced in the Wii U's LAN mode). While I don't necessarily mind Ferrum Stadium only, it's not so much the end-all-be-all "balanced" stage (it favors zoners by default given the size/starting distance) everyone makes it out to be so much as it is the only constant, therefore preferred alternative. It's much like Final Destination/Omega form stages in that regard, no hazards =/= "neutral."

 

[Deaga]

As for Synergy, Shadow Colosseum gives a full Synergy Gauge to whoever is lucky enough to be rewarded with it after the initial seconds. This combined with a temporarily random placement makes it akin to turning Smash Balls on High in 1v1 Smash 4 Battles.

oh, just from the Spreadsheet I couldn't tell we had the like of Insta-full Synergy Gauge on Pickups. LLooking at it now, I can see the info is there, so I probably didn't pay much attention the first time around. >_> I'm also pretty sure Shadow Colosseum doesn't show up online, which is why I didn't know that. It seems like a good reason for a ban.

My "Ferrum Stadium"-only comment also really didn't have any balancing in mind, just that it's the only non-random option for LAN mode. I think random is the only option for online play, actually, so the spreadsheet will surely come in handy.