I'm relatively new in the community and I don't really know why some stages benefits certain characters and/or gives disadvantages to others.. Is there a thread I can go to that can help me out? Or is there someone that can explain it to me? Thanks
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Why are some stages beneficial to some characters and others not?
- Thread starter Newlife
- Start date
Syprone
Smash Cadet
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- Dec 14, 2018
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Don’t take my word as a professional as I am no where near that level. If someone with more experience wants to correct me please do. I believe that certain stages are beneficial to certain characters because certain layouts of platforms will be better for characters with certain move sets. For example, because of Little Mac’s terrible air game, Final Destination would be a beneficial stage as there are no platforms to ruin his amazing ground game or be camped from.
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leejaybird
Smash Cadet
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- leejaybird
Not only the layouts, but the blast zones can be closer or further from the stage as well. Some stages have a lower ceiling which is beneficial to characters who have an easier time KOing from the top.
FishkeeperTimmay!
Smash Ace
There a some major aspects of stages that tilt the advantage to a certain characters. The most important ones are stage size, blast zones and platforms.
Stage Size
Stage Size is probably the most important metric. Some characters value having lots of space between them and their opponent. Projectile based characters are obvious benefactors; Villager/Isabelle, or the Belmonts are good examples. This gives them time to get their attacks out and allows them the space they need to escape from their opponents and reset the situation. The space also gives them more time to react, allowing them to make better decisions to counter their opponents approach.
On the flip side, aggressive brawlers, such as Fox, prefer to be in their opponents face all the time. A narrow stage reduces the time they need to spend approaching there opponent. Their opponent gets less time to react to them moving. If their opponent does react, the space they have to work with is reduced. They might not the time to use their best option, allowing you to punish them better. Brawlers often need to follow up on punishes, thus a smaller stage reduces the defensive options their opponent has. It is easier to juggle, for example, if your opponent has less airspace to drift in.
Blast Zones
Blast Zones are intuitive. Characters with strong attacks prefer small blast zones. They kill faster this way. It limits how often they need to edge guard by allowing their strong moves to kill outright. Characters with good recoveries are on the other side; they want the extra space so they have an opportunity to recover more often. Characters with bad recoveries will prefer small blast zones since it lessens the importance of recoveries overall.
Platforms
Platforms are the trickiest to explain. Many players prefer having platforms, since it allows them to escape their opponents pressure, or allows them to get the extra height they need to extend combos. On the flip side, you may want to limit your opponents ability to extend combos or dodge your own projectiles. Projectile characters might not like having platforms since it gives their opponents ways to get around their attacks, but it also allows the player to escape their opponents pressure. Its a wash most of the time, since play style heavily influences whether you want platforms. Characters may benefit from platforms yet have disadvantages from those same platforms.
Bringing it Together
Combining these factors together creates small, but compounding factors that influence how a match plays out. This is why Stage discussions are important. Making sure that small stages are also included in stage lists is important to keeping rush down characters viable. The layouts of the platforms is important as well. Layouts like Pokemon Stadium are fundamentally different than Battlefield or Yoshi's Island. This is why diversity is important in stage lists.
What stages you like can be fundamentally different from the character. I hated Dreamland in Melee, despite being a Peach player. I also loved Fountain of Dreams. These were opposed to the consensus for Peach stages, but they worked for me. This is why you should be playing on all legal stages in practice. Its allows you be ready for every stage, including your bad ones that you would usually ban. You might find a pocket counter pick that runs contrary to your opponents expectations.
Stage Size
Stage Size is probably the most important metric. Some characters value having lots of space between them and their opponent. Projectile based characters are obvious benefactors; Villager/Isabelle, or the Belmonts are good examples. This gives them time to get their attacks out and allows them the space they need to escape from their opponents and reset the situation. The space also gives them more time to react, allowing them to make better decisions to counter their opponents approach.
On the flip side, aggressive brawlers, such as Fox, prefer to be in their opponents face all the time. A narrow stage reduces the time they need to spend approaching there opponent. Their opponent gets less time to react to them moving. If their opponent does react, the space they have to work with is reduced. They might not the time to use their best option, allowing you to punish them better. Brawlers often need to follow up on punishes, thus a smaller stage reduces the defensive options their opponent has. It is easier to juggle, for example, if your opponent has less airspace to drift in.
Blast Zones
Blast Zones are intuitive. Characters with strong attacks prefer small blast zones. They kill faster this way. It limits how often they need to edge guard by allowing their strong moves to kill outright. Characters with good recoveries are on the other side; they want the extra space so they have an opportunity to recover more often. Characters with bad recoveries will prefer small blast zones since it lessens the importance of recoveries overall.
Platforms
Platforms are the trickiest to explain. Many players prefer having platforms, since it allows them to escape their opponents pressure, or allows them to get the extra height they need to extend combos. On the flip side, you may want to limit your opponents ability to extend combos or dodge your own projectiles. Projectile characters might not like having platforms since it gives their opponents ways to get around their attacks, but it also allows the player to escape their opponents pressure. Its a wash most of the time, since play style heavily influences whether you want platforms. Characters may benefit from platforms yet have disadvantages from those same platforms.
Bringing it Together
Combining these factors together creates small, but compounding factors that influence how a match plays out. This is why Stage discussions are important. Making sure that small stages are also included in stage lists is important to keeping rush down characters viable. The layouts of the platforms is important as well. Layouts like Pokemon Stadium are fundamentally different than Battlefield or Yoshi's Island. This is why diversity is important in stage lists.
What stages you like can be fundamentally different from the character. I hated Dreamland in Melee, despite being a Peach player. I also loved Fountain of Dreams. These were opposed to the consensus for Peach stages, but they worked for me. This is why you should be playing on all legal stages in practice. Its allows you be ready for every stage, including your bad ones that you would usually ban. You might find a pocket counter pick that runs contrary to your opponents expectations.
Luigifan18
Smash Master
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I feel like we should also mention how a stage's layout can get it banned by offering ludicrously large advantages to certain characters, to the point of completely nullifying the viability of all but a handful of characters. For instance, extremely large stages with complicated layouts such as Temple get banned because it's all too easy for a fast-moving character like Fox or Sonic to get the first hit to secure a percent lead and then spend the rest of the match running away from their foe until the clock runs out. This isn’t entertaining to watch, and it's even less fun to play against.
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