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Stage legality

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Stage legality refers to the playable status of various stages in mainstream tournaments.

Categories

In general, all stages fall into one of three categories:

Neutral stages may be chosen in any game of a set, including the first game. These are also referred to as starter stages (not to be confused with the term for stages that do not need to be unlocked to be used in-game).

Counterpick stages may be chosen only after the first game of a set, such as games 2 and 3 of a best-of-3 set. Stages in this category tend to give a slight, though not overwhelming, advantage for certain characters over others, such that it would not be fair to include them in the neutral list. These stages may often (though not always) be chosen for counterpicking purposes, hence the name of the category.

Banned stages cannot be chosen at all. Stages can be banned for several reasons, common reasons including but not limited to:

  • Especially poor matchup balance by providing a rather extreme advantage for certain characters (such as allowing the character to utilise excessive, gamebreaking camping, or utilise infinite chain throws, as in the case of Fox in Temple for the former, or King Dedede in Shadow Moses Island for the latter).
  • Powerful stage hazards that can easily KO players who are knocked into them, or force players to give up an advantage to avoid them. An extreme example of this is Gamer.
  • Allowing players to abuse glitches in the game.
  • Possessing one or more "caves of life," allowing characters to survive much longer than feasibly possible under usual circumstances, and creating a general over-centralisation on the ability to tech.
  • Possessing permanent walk-off blast lines and walls; the former creates unreasonably powerful camping positions and allow for potential easy zero-deaths that wouldn't occur normally, as well as marginalizing or completely eliminating offstage play (nullifying the value of a good recovery), while the latter also creates powerful camping positions and allow for zero-death or otherwise heavily damaging combos that wouldn't be possible otherwise. Walk-offs and walls that occur only temporarily on a stage are considered detrimental, but acceptable enough to usually not result in a stage's banning by themselves.
  • Drastically altering gameplay and the strategies needed to win (such as Icicle Mountain and Mario Bros.).
  • Possessing elements that causes the stage to be too strenuous on the system's CPU and thus being capable of reducing the game's frame rate mid-match (such as Fountain of Dreams in Melee doubles play).

The term legal stage can also be used to describe any neutral or counterpick stage, or equivalently, any non-banned stage.

In general, due to the wide variety between stages and stage types, almost all of the stages within any given game are banned and very few are balanced enough to be legal for professional competitive play.

Despite the banned stages list, most tournaments feature some variation of the "gentleman rule", a rule that allows players to choose any stage they want, including banned stages, if all players in the match agree to it. This is usually the only way for banned stages to see serious tournament play. However, even with this rule in effect, it rarely sees use to play on banned stages outside a much higher-skilled player letting an opposing more casual or very young player choose any stage they want, as most competitive players never want to willingly play on the banned stages for the same reasons the ruleset had them banned. Even with the rule in effect, TOs may still ban some stages from being played on via the gentleman rule, if the stage has a propensity to delay the tournament by causing much longer matches (such as Temple, New Pork City, and The Great Cave Offensive).

Major differences in communities

There are many community preferences in terms of stage choices, with there being no agreed-upon standard across all regions on what exactly constitutes a "proper stage", so a stage's legality can be dependent on the region the tournament is in; this is especially true in Brawl and Smash 4, due to a lack of an officially standardized stage list. Pokémon Stadium 2 in Brawl, for instance, was generally banned in the Tristate Area, while tournaments in Texas usually allowed the stage to be a legal counterpick choice.

The commonality of characters can also play a role in what stages are legal or banned. Again in Brawl, the rising prominence of Meta Knight in the metagame led to stage lists in most regions becoming more restrictive. In the Tristate region, Meta Knight was not banned from tournaments, and as a result, the Tristate tournament scene banned or otherwise restricted stages such as Delfino Plaza, Halberd, and Rainbow Cruise due to Meta Knight's overwhelming power on such stages. In some regions, however, Meta Knight was not as widely used as the Tristate Area; as such, some of the aforementioned stages have differing legalities, with Halberd sometimes being a starter stage and Frigate Orpheon going from a banned stage to a counterpick. WHOBO 4, the first American MK-banned major, featured an expansive stagelist that included Delfino Plaza, Halberd, Rainbow Cruise, and Brinstar as counterpicks, even though most of these stages were banned in MK-legal tournaments at the time.

Stage legality in Smash 64

The following is Smash 64's banlist for stages in tournaments. Until mid-2015, four stages — Dream Land, Hyrule Castle, Congo Jungle, and Peach's Castle — were legal. Currently, Dream Land is the only stage that can be used in tournaments. However, with tournaments switching from the vanilla version of the game to the 19XX mod, in some tournaments like GENESIS 5 or GENESIS 6, the stages Battlefield and Final Destination, which weren't available without hacking, have seen some tournament presence in doubles.

Stage Status (singles) Status (doubles) Commonly cited reasons for status
Dream Land Starter Starter
Kongo Jungle Banned (former Starter)[1] Banned/Counterpick[1][2] Too large; Barrel Cannon can artificially prolong games; potentially disruptive aesthetics, due to poor lighting
Hyrule Castle Banned (former Starter)[1] Banned/Counterpick[1][2] Too large; cave of life at stage's right side promotes camping and can lead to powerful combos; Tornado stage hazards are too powerful and disruptive to gameplay
Peach's Castle Banned (former Counterpick)[1] Banned/Counterpick[1][2] Stage lacks grabbable edges, unfairly punishing characters with short recoveries; irregular geometry, especially due to triangular platforms, sliding main platform, and Bumper; too small to properly accommodate doubles
Final Destination Banned Banned/Counterpick[2] Unavailable without hacks
Battlefield Banned Banned/Counterpick[2] Unavailable without hacks
Meta Crystal Banned Banned Unavailable without hacks, also too small.
Mushroom Kingdom Banned Banned Pipes can promote camping and stalling; walk-off blast lines; POW Block is too disruptive a stage hazard
Planet Zebes Banned Banned Acid is too disruptive a stage hazard and can promote camping and stalling; distracting aesthetics, due to poor lighting and awkward camera angles
Sector Z Banned Banned Too large; Arwing lasers can disrupt gameplay; Great Fox's fin at the right side of the stage promotes stalling
Yoshi's Island Banned Banned Clouds can promote camping and stalling, especially if characters with poor recoveries become stuck on them; right blast line is too far from the stage
Yoshi's Island (cloudless) Banned Banned/Counterpick[2] Unavailable without hacks
Saffron City Banned Banned Too large; Pokémon are too disruptive and can overcentralize matches; helipad and platforms to the left of the stage promote camping

Despite an official ban being placed on Hyrule Castle, the stage is still a rather common pick by players who often invoke it via the gentleman's clause.

Stage legality in Melee

In the current Smash Back Room rule set, all stages are listed definitively as a starter, counterpick, or banned stage, as follows:

Stage Status (singles) Status (doubles) Commonly cited reasons for banning
Battlefield Starter Starter
Big Blue Banned Banned Random terrain; scrolling stage; typical stage layout allows for circle and run away camping; stalling; track that the cars move on carries characters in contact with it extremely quickly towards walk-off blast lines
Brinstar Banned (former counterpick) Banned Acid disrupts gameplay; breakable platforms distort already-awkward stage structure; over-centralization of the aerial game, causing many characters with poor aerial games to have an unfair disadvantage
Brinstar Depths Banned Banned No ledges to grab; irregular stage design and frequent rotating of the stage causes drastic changes in gameplay; contains caves of life; abnormally low ceiling gives a disproportional advantage to vertical finishers; various, unreasonably strong camping and stalling positions
Corneria Banned (former counterpick) Banned Overly large; excessive camping/stalling behind the big fin; fin allows for wall infinites; random, powerful stage hazards in Arwing lasers; several positions from which characters cannot recover which they can easily be forced into, especially by characters with good aerial games; overall gives unfair advantages to fast characters on the stage and aerial-based characters off of it
Dream Land N64 Starter Starter
Final Destination Starter Starter
Flat Zone Banned Banned Extremely disruptive stage hazards (such as falling, damaging materials, appearing and disappearing platforms, and oil slick); stage is overly small; no bottom blast line; walk-off blast lines
Fountain of Dreams Starter Banned Potential for lag during doubles play
Fourside Banned Banned No large, stable platforms for fighting, especially in doubles; stalling; walls allow infinites and stalling; UFOs can allow early vertical KOs
Great Bay Banned Banned Solid, middle platform above two lower platforms allows for easy, low-risk, no-edge-guarding-required stage spikes that result in frequent low-percent KOs and gimps that would not occur in usual circumstances; stage design allows for the potential of circle camping and stalling; left blast line is too close to the stage; too small to accommodate more than 2 players
Green Greens Banned (former counterpick) Banned Over-centralizes gameplay on camping; randomly appearing bomb blocks disrupt normal gameplay
Icicle Mountain Banned Banned Randomly moving stage; disproportional advantage to characters with high, fast jumps; over-centralizes gameplay on keeping up with the stage's scrolling
Jungle Japes Banned (former counterpick) Banned Overly powerful stage hazard in Klap Trap; unusually high ceiling gives a disproportional advantage to horizontal finishers; high potential for camping and stalling; very poor matchup balance, giving a disproportionate advantage to characters with projectiles and those that can traverse the stage well
Kongo Jungle Banned Banned Powerful camping position on the rock platform on the bottom right of the stage; Klap Trap too powerful and difficult to avoid when it enters the Barrel Cannon
Kongo Jungle N64 Banned (former counterpick) Banned (former counterpick) Above average size gives an advantage to fast or projectile-bearing characters; higher ceiling forces characters to rely more on horizontal KOs; disruptive aesthetics, especially in one-on-one play (pitch-black background, camera errors)
Mushroom Kingdom Banned Banned Irregular stage design forces major gameplay changes; bricks create caves of life, camping spots, and can block hitboxes; walk-off blast lines
Mushroom Kingdom II Banned Banned Walk-off blast lines; stage is too small; random, disruptive stage hazard in Birdo; lack of proper "center" platform hinders gameplay, particularly in doubles
Mute City Banned (former counterpick) Banned Lack of ledges on main platform; main platform poorly accommodates doubles play, being too small and potentially causing slowdown in gameplay; car hazards are overly powerful against fast fallers
Onett Banned Banned Unusual geometry; overly powerful and frequently appearing stage hazards in cars, which deal in excess of 30% damage and can KO at low percents; no lower blast line; permanent walls promote camping and infinites; walk-off blast lines
Poké Floats Banned (former counterpick) Banned Irregular terrain; scrolling stage; layout frequently allows circle and run away camping; stalling; potential for stage spikes
Pokémon Stadium Counterpick/starter Starter Transformations can allow for wall infinites and camping, especially for Fox and Falco.
Princess Peach's Castle Banned (former counterpick) Banned OHKO stage hazard in Banzai Bill; walls allow infinites; permanent walls promote camping; separation of large portions of the stage through a castle tower, making it difficult to traverse
Rainbow Cruise Banned (former counterpick) Banned Several ungrabbable ledges; disappearing platforms; scrolling stage, giving disproportional advantages to characters with good aerial games, and punishing those which have sluggish aerial speed; over-centralizes gameplay on keeping up with the stage rather than actually fighting; extremely skewed character matchups
Temple Banned Banned Overly large; large cave of life in lower area over-centralizes gameplay on teching; multiple areas allow for run away and circle camping; stalling; over-reliance on vertical KOs due to sheer horizontal size; gives an extreme advantage to fast characters or characters who can circle camp around the stage with horribly skewed character matchups, most notoriously towards many already-top/high tier characters (such as Fox, Jigglypuff, and Samus)
Venom Banned Banned Slowdown; walls allow for infinites; several, unreasonably strong camping positions; disruptive and powerful stage hazards; separation of portions of the stage by the Great Fox body makes it difficult to traverse; Jigglypuff notably gains a huge advantage here, as the small blast lines make it easier for it to KO opponents, and then infinitely camp below the Great Fox.
Yoshi's Island N64 Banned Banned Camping on clouds to the stage's right and left hand sides; run away stalling; characters with poor recoveries who are lured to the clouds, such as Link and Falco, cannot recover
Yoshi's Island Banned Banned Rotating block platforms create caves of life; walk-off blast lines; marginalizes offstage skills; rotating blocks in the middle pit can block recoveries; left and top blast lines too close to stage; potential for easy and inescapable shine combos from Fox
Yoshi's Story Starter Starter

In the past, the following stages have been legal counterpicks, but are now banned:

The following stages have never been legal in competitive Melee history:

Stage legality in Project M

The following stages are legal in the PMBR 2018 Full Recommended Ruleset [1]

Stage Status (singles) Status (doubles) Comments
Battlefield Starter Starter
Pokémon Stadium 2 Starter Starter
Smashville Starter Starter
Green Hill Zone Starter Starter Entirely redone Project M version with its rotating platform.
Delfino's Secret Starter Starter Project M original stage that replaces Delfino Plaza.
Final Destination Counterpick Counterpick
Fountain of Dreams Counterpick Banned Too small for doubles.
Wario Land Counterpick Banned Stage design from WarioWare, Inc. without transformations. Textures usually changed to a Wario Land theme. Too small for doubles.
Dream Land (64) Counterpick Counterpick
Yoshi's Island (Brawl) Counterpick Counterpick Stage design from Yoshi's Island (Brawl) without platform ghosts. Textures usually changed to a Metal Cavern theme.

Stage legality in Brawl

For finer-grained status descriptions, see Tournament legal (SSBB).

Brawl has a highly fragmented and argumentative community when it comes to which stages should be legal. As a result, the stage legality list is significantly messier than the previous two games, with most stages being disputed in one way or another. Additionally, a stage's legal status is heavily influenced by Meta Knight's legality, as he tends to gain even more drastic advantages on many fringe stages. Thus tournaments that ban Meta Knight tend to allow more stages than tournaments that keep him legal.

This table shows the status of each stage using a four-tier system.

  • Tier 0 stages are legal in all rulesets.
  • Tier 1 stages are usually legal, but may be banned in restrictive rulesets such as some Japanese rulesets.
  • Tier 2 stages are the most contentious; they may be legal, or they may be banned.
  • Tier 3 stages are usually illegal, but may be legal in experimental rulesets.
  • Tier 4 stages are completely illegal.
Stage Status Commonly cited reasons for banning
75m Tier 4 Overly large; camera has zooming issues and difficulty following characters; excessive stalling potential; random, powerful stage hazards; too difficult to move around the stage; walk off blast lines; very poor matchup balance, where characters with powerful and flexible air games, as well as those who can camp with projectiles, have a disproportional advantage
Battlefield Tier 0
Big Blue (Melee) Tier 4 Random terrain; scrolling stage; ground too close to the cars; gives a disproportional advantage to faster moving characters; stage moves too fast for usual gameplay; too much emphasis on platforming
Bridge of Eldin Tier 3 High potential for camping/stalling; walk off blast lines; overly powerful stage hazard in the bomb thrown by King Bulbin; bottom blast line is not always available; abnormally high ceiling and walk-offs give a disproportional advantage to horizontal finishers. Has only seen legal usage in some Japanese doubles tournaments; banned elsewhere.
Brinstar Tier 2 Irregular stage design; acid disrupts gameplay; main platform allows sharking, poor matchup balance, where air based characters gain a significant advantage, most notoriously Meta Knight. Meta Knight's advantage on the stage is so large that it's universally banned nowadays in Meta Knight legal tournaments, but it may see legality in Meta Knight banned tournaments.
Castle Siege Tier 1 Second stage transformation and the transition between stage transformations have walk offs; second stage transformation has no access to a bottom blast line and thus does not allow offstage gameplay; second transformation is very large and allows ease of platform camping.
Corneria (Melee) Tier 4 Close blast lines and an abnormally low ceiling, which gives a disproportional advantage to vertical finishers; excessive camping/stalling behind the big fin; fin allows for wall infinites
Delfino Plaza Tier 1 Several stage transformations have walls and/or walk offs; primary section of the stage on the hovering platform allows sharking. Meta Knight legal tournaments that don't intend to be as limited as the Japanese ruleset may ban the stage, solely due to Meta Knight's prowess on the stage.
Distant Planet Tier 3 Walk off blast line; a dangerous stage hazard in the Red Bulborb, which can KO players by dragging them off screen; unreasonably powerful camping position at the bottom of the ramp underneath the platform; stage design allows the potential for circle camping
Final Destination Tier 0
Flat Zone 2 Tier 4 Randomness of the stage; overly small; numerous damaging and powerful stage hazards; no bottom blast line; walk off blast lines
Frigate Orpheon Tier 1 The stage flipping between its two transformations is susceptible to causing what is commonly seen as unwarranted self destructs; the first stage transformation has no grabbable ledge on the right side of the stage, giving a disproportional disadvantage to characters with tether recoveries and other characters who heavily rely on the ledge to recover. Meta Knight legal tournaments that don't intend to be as limited as the Japanese ruleset may ban the stage solely due to Meta Knight's prowess on the stage.
Green Greens Tier 3 Over-centralises gameplay on camping; randomly appearing bomb blocks disrupt normal gameplay; blocks allow for wall infinites
Green Hill Zone Tier 4 Excessive camping near checkpoint hazard; walk off blast lines; bottom blast line is not always available; horizontal blast lines that are close with walk-offs and a high ceiling give a disproportional advantage to horizontal finishers
Halberd Tier 1 Stage has a rather low ceiling, giving a disproportional advantage to vertical finishers; the hovering platform portion of the stage allows sharking; the Halberd Bridge portion of the stage has powerful stage hazards. Meta Knight legal tournaments that don't intend to be as limited as the Japanese ruleset may ban the stage solely due to Meta Knight's prowess on the stage.
Hanenbow Tier 4 Stage is overly large; irregular stage design forces major gameplay changes; high camping/stalling potential
Jungle Japes Tier 3 Overly powerful stage hazard in Klap Trap; unusually high ceiling gives a disproportional advantage to horizontal finishers; high potential for camping and stalling; very poor matchup balance, giving a disproportional advantage to characters with projectiles and those that can traverse the stage well (most notoriously Falco, to where the stage is seen as an autowin for Falco in most matchups).
Luigi's Mansion Tier 3 Impassable platforms create caves of life; stage design allows the potential for circle camping
Lylat Cruise Tier 0
Mario Bros. Tier 4 Gameplay is vastly altered by stage enemies; overly powerful stage hazards; impassable platforms create caves of life; walk-off blast lines; no lower blast line
Mario Circuit Tier 4 High potential for camping/stalling; walk-off blast lines; frequent stage hazard in karts that often disrupt gameplay; no lower blast line
Mushroomy Kingdom (1-1 and 1-2) Tier 4 Scrolling stage; stage moves too fast for usual gameplay; bricks create caves of life, especially in 1-2; ledges are not grabbable; walk-off blast lines
New Pork City Tier 4 Stage is overly large; walls allow for wall infinites; excessive stalling/camping potential; camera has zooming problems; OHKO stage hazard in the Ultimate Chimera; stage is abnormally difficult to traverse, disrupting gameplay
Norfair Tier 3 Overly powerful, frequent stage hazards that disrupt usual gameplay; stage has many ledges that can be easily abused.
Onett (Melee) Tier 3 Irregular stage design; frequent stage hazard in cars disrupt gameplay; walls allow infinites; walk-off blast lines; no lower blast line
Pictochat Tier 3 The order in which the drawings appear on the stage is random, and the time to prepare for each drawing is minimal; some drawings can cause a player to be KO'd or fail a recovery against their control (such as the Eyes drawing preventing a recovering character from grabbing the left ledge, or the Gusty Gus drawing appearing and stage spiking a character after they have been knocked back); some drawings create walls, allowing wall infinites; some drawings promote camping; overly powerful stage hazards; numerous glitches can occur on the stage, such as the Earthquake glitch and the Spin glitch.
Pirate Ship Tier 3 High potential for stalling in the water or under the ship's rudder; overly powerful stage hazards
Pokémon Stadium Tier 0
Pokémon Stadium 2 Tier 2 Stage transformations can cause what many players see as large, disruptive gameplay changes; wind transformation reduces gravity; ice transformation has slippery terrain; electric transformation has large, fast-moving conveyor belts that disrupt usual gameplay; all transformations but ice have powerful camping positions and high potential for stalling. One of the most heavily debated stages, as many players have vouched for the stage and argue its transformations to not be as disruptive as commonly claimed, or in some cases that its transformations are even beneficial to gameplay. Many other players, however, adamantly refuse to touch the stage, and thus it remains commonly banned.
Port Town Aero Dive Tier 3 Randomness of the stage; overly powerful stage hazards in the cars (which can KO under 50%); cars can be difficult to see coming due to the colors and their speed; main platform has no grabbable ledges
Rainbow Cruise Tier 2 Scrolling stage; some portions of the stage have no grabbable ledges; some portions of the stage have walls, allowing wall infinites or walk-off blast lines, creating an over-centralisation on horizontal KO moves; poor matchup balance, where air-based characters have a significant advantage, most notoriously Meta Knight. Meta Knight's advantage on the stage is so large that it's universally banned nowadays in Meta Knight legal tournaments, but it may see legality in Meta Knight banned tournaments.
Rumble Falls Tier 4 Scrolling stage; gives a disproportional advantage to characters with fast, high jumps; punishes characters who rely on tether recoveries; first spike is an OHKO stage hazard if not teched; irregular stage design forces major gameplay changes, given an emphasis on keeping up with the stage instead of fighting
Shadow Moses Island Tier 4 No lower blast line; walls block access to side blast lines when not destroyed; over-centralisation on teching; game mechanics change too quickly when walls are destroyed or up, giving a disproportional advantage to vertical finishers when the walls are up, and giving that advantage to horizontal finishers when they're down; walls allow for wall infinites; walk off blast lines when the walls are destroyed; a glitch can allow characters to stay on the other side of the walls when they rebuild, allowing the character to safely camp there until the wall is destroyed again
Skyworld Tier 4 Impassable platforms; cave of life in centre of stage creates an over-centralisation on teching; the combination of "supersoft platforms" and the aforementioned impassable platforms results in frequent onstage stage spikes, that cause frequent low damage KOs on the stage from what should be a neutral position; potential slowdown in doubles
Smashville Tier 0
Spear Pillar Tier 4 Randomness of Pokémon attacks; overly powerful stage hazards caused by Pokémon; Pokémon can cause disruptive changes in gameplay, such as slowing down time, reducing gravity, and reversing control; stage design allows the potential for circle camping; lower area of the stage provides a large cave of life
Summit Tier 4 Terrain is slippery; lower gravity occurs at one point of the stage; one-hit KO stage hazard of the fish, which quickly drags characters beneath the lower blast line with no hope of survival; ledges are not grabbable, giving a disproportional disadvantage to characters who rely on ledges to recover, especially those with tether recoveries; lower area provides a cave of life; stage design allows the potential for circle camping
Temple (Melee) Tier 4 Overly large; large cave of life in lower area over-centralises gameplay on teching; multiple areas allow for run away and circle camping; excessive stalling potential; gives an extreme advantage to fast characters (most notably Fox)
WarioWare, Inc. Tier 4 Random bonuses from Microgames have an over-centralising effect, to where someone can win by being luckier with the bonuses; walk off blast lines during microgames; overly powerful stage hazards during microgames
Yoshi's Island Tier 0
Yoshi's Island (Melee) Tier 3 Rotating block platforms create caves of life; walk off blast lines; marginalizes offstage skills; blast lines are abnormally close to the stage

Additionally, the community at large has never considered the sample stages in the Stage Builder as official stages, and as a result, they are all considered banned. Despite this, none of the three stages would be theoretically legal in any ruleset: Hole has no grabbable ledges from the outside and contains a powerful camping location in the lower-left spikes; Bath frequently lacks the lower blast line and has walls that block the horizontal blast lines and allow for infinites; and Maze's irregular design promotes camping, circle-camping, and stalling, and the stage's architecture creates caves of life. Arguably, a large number of setups also often lack the stages, as they interfere with the loading of mods via the Smash Stack.

Stage legality in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Since the release of its home console counterpart, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS has had minimal tournament presence. The following stage list is used by Anther's Ladder for 3DS netplay and most online 3DS tournaments:

Stage Status Commonly cited reasons for banning
Battlefield Starter
Final Destination Starter
3D Land Banned Occasional hazards; scrolling favors characters with good mobility; several areas of the stage have walk-off blast lines
Golden Plains Banned Coins have an overcentralizing effect due to the buffs they can grant; walk-off blast lines
Rainbow Road Banned Shy Guy stage hazards are too strong; several stops on the stage have walk-off blast lines
Paper Mario Banned Too large; walls can allow for powerful combos; all three transformations of the stage have disruptive elements
Super Mario Maker Banned Unpredictable and randomized stage layout; stage hazards are too powerful; walls allow for powerful combos
Peach's Castle (64) Banned Too large; promotes camping; bumper creates too much random chance regarding vertical KOs; walls can allow for powerful combos
Mushroomy Kingdom Banned Scrolling overcentralizes gameplay on keeping up with the stage and unfairly benefits characters with good mobility; frequent walls can allow for powerful combos; bricks can create caves of life and inhibit mobility; walk-off blast lines constantly present
Yoshi's Island Starter
Jungle Japes Banned Right side of stage promotes camping; windbox underneath the stage is too powerful and can lead to early deaths; Klaptrap stage hazard is too powerful and can result in OHKOs; overly high upper blast line overcentralizes gameplay on horizontal KOs
Gerudo Valley Banned Koume and Kotake create stage hazards that are too powerful; walk-off blast lines; frequent absence of lower blast line
Spirit Train Banned Distant blast lines; train stage hazards and train tracks are too powerful; lower blast line is absent; potential for walk-off blast lines in some transformations
Hyrule Castle (64) Banned Too large; blast lines are too distant from stage; tornadoes are too powerful and can easily KO opponents at low percentages; Tent at the stage's right side can promote stalling and camping, as well as create a cave of life
Brinstar Banned Lava stage hazard is too powerful, especially against fast-fallers; stage creates significant reliance on aerial games, punishing characters that need to stay on the ground; irregular, disruptive design that can frequently change
Dream Land Banned Scrolling overcentralizes gameplay on keeping up with the stage, giving a strong benefit to characters with good mobility; frequent walk-off blast lines; lower blast line is frequently absent
Dream Land (64) Counterpick
Corneria Banned Too large; upper blast line is too close to stage; Arwings and Wolfen can disrupt gameplay; back fin of the stage can promote camping and wall combos
Unova Pokémon League Banned Pokémon hazards are too disruptive and powerful.
Prism Tower Counterpick Some transformations feature walk-off blast lines.
Mute City Banned Lack of bottom blast line; road is too powerful a stage hazard; potentially random placement of F-Zero racers; provides significant advantage to characters with good aerial mobility
Magicant Banned Flying Men are too powerful a stage hazard and overcentralize gameplay on camping on the rightmost platform.
Arena Ferox Counterpick Some transformations feature caves of life.
Flat Zone 2 Banned Stage features no lower blast line and has walk-off blast lines; Game & Watch hazards are too powerful and disruptive
Reset Bomb Forest Banned Lurchthorn stage hazard too disruptive; second transformation of stage features numerous walls that create caves of life; mid-transformation stage features walk-off blast lines.
WarioWare, Inc. Banned Microgames have overcentralizing effect due to granting buffs; buffs can be random in nature; all microgames feature walk-off blast lines; stage hazards in microgames are too powerful and disruptive
Distant Planet Banned Left side of stage features walk-off blast line; slope just underneath the main platform creates a powerful camping position; Bulborb stage hazard can lead to OHKOs; pellets can act as items and benefit characters who pick them up first
Tortimer Island Banned Randomized layout; too large; no lower blast line.
Boxing Ring Banned Too large; no lower blast line; walk-offs; upper light fixture is too powerful a stage hazard and can promote camping and stalling.
Gaur Plain Banned Too large; promotes camping and circle camping; walk-off blast lines; grants advantage to characters with good aerial mobility
Duck Hunt Banned Tree on left side of stage can promote camping and stalling; Duck Hunt Dog can be disruptive; blast lines are close to stage
Balloon Fight Banned Walk-off blast lines; Fish and other stage hazards are too disruptive and powerful; lower blast line is difficult to utilize
Living Room Banned Walk-off blast lines; some transformations can promote camping and/or stalling; blocks are too powerful and disruptive a stage hazard
Find Mii Banned Dark Lord is too powerful and disruptive a stage hazard; stage can grant buffs to some players
Tomodachi Life Banned Too large; stage can promote camping
Midgar Banned Overcentralization of gameplay on collecting Materia; stage hazards from the Materia are too powerful and disruptive
PictoChat 2 Banned Hazards are too disruptive and powerful for gameplay
Green Hill Zone Banned Walk-off blast lines; signposts create powerful camping positions; frequent lack of lower blast line
Wily Castle Banned Yellow Devil too powerful and disruptive a stage hazard
Pac-Maze Banned Cave of life potential; high upper blast line overcentralizes gameplay on horizontal finishers; ghosts too powerful and disruptive a hazard; overcentralization on collecting pellets, which can grant buffs to players
Suzaku Castle Banned Walk-off blast lines on right side of the stage
Umbra Clock Tower Banned Some stage transformations feature walk-off blast lines and caves of life; aesthetics can disrupt regular gameplay

Stage legality in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Like Brawl, there is no uniform stagelist for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, with some differences and disagreements on stage categories between areas. The table below generally uses the most commonly accepted legality for each stage.

Stage Status Commonly cited reasons for banning
Ω forms Varies Sometimes banned due to being identical to Final Destination; sometimes legal as an alternative to Final Destination due to Ω forms sometimes having different blast line distances or main platform shapes
Battlefield Starter
Big Battlefield Banned Too large; promotes circle camping due to abundance of platforms
Final Destination Starter
Mushroom Kingdom U Banned Transformations feature disruptive elements; stage hazards such as Nabbit are too powerful and disruptive
Mario Galaxy Banned Stage has constant walk-off blast lines and lacks a lower blast line; unusual curvature and gravity of the stage can also impact gameplay physics
Mario Circuit Banned Some transformations of the stage can block off blast lines; Shy Guy racers too powerful a stage hazard
Delfino Plaza Banned Stage transformations can have walk-off blast lines or no lower blast line; some potentially powerful camping spots; strongly benefits characters with good air mobility
Mario Circuit (Brawl) Banned Stage has constant walk-off blast lines and lacks a lower blast line; Shy Guy racers too powerful and disruptive a stage hazard
Luigi's Mansion Banned Lower levels of the stage have caves of life; stage geometry can promote circle camping; breakable columns can be disruptive to characters that rely on projectiles
Jungle Hijinxs Banned Stage's two "planes" are disruptive to gameplay; background of stage creates a powerful camping position; parts of stage can collapse, creating a randomized layout
Skyloft Banned The underside of stage can meteor smash players
Bridge of Eldin Banned Stage features walk-off blast lines and frequently lacks a lower blast line; upper blast line is too high; King Bulbin and his bombs are too powerful and disruptive a stage hazard
Temple Banned Too large; enables circle camping; walls create caves of life and promote powerful combos
Pyrosphere Banned Too large; Ridley is too powerful and disruptive a stage hazard
Norfair Banned Lava on all sides of the stage are too powerful and disruptive; abundance of ledges can promote stalling; overcentralization of gameplay on the capsule
Port Town Aero Dive Banned F-Zero racers are too powerful and disruptive, as well as difficult to predict; ground hazard is too powerful
Woolly World Banned Stage frequently features walk-off blast lines; creates overcentralization on navigating the stage in its second transformation.
Yoshi's Island Banned Stage is too small and features blast zones that are too close to the stage; spinning blocks can create caves of life; right side of the stage features walk-off blast line
Dream Land 64 Counterpick
The Great Cave Offensive Banned Too large; promotes circle camping; frequent walk-offs; Danger Zones and mine carts too powerful and disruptive stage hazards
Halberd Banned Opening transformation features walk-off blast lines; Halberd's armaments are too powerful and disruptive to gameplay; low upper blast line creates overreliance on vertical finishers
Orbital Gate Assault Banned Unconventional layout; stage can be difficult to transverse; Arwing stage hazards are too powerful and disruptive
Lylat Cruise Starter
Kalos Pokémon League Banned Stage hazards too powerful and disruptive, particularly the Flood and Ironworks Chambers; platforms can quickly cross upper blast line and KO players
Pokémon Stadium 2 Banned Transformations can disrupt normal gameplay, particularly the electric and wind segments
Onett Banned Stage features walk-off blast lines and no lower blast line; walls promote powerful combos; low ceiling; cars are too powerful and disruptive a stage hazard
Coliseum Banned Walk-off blast lines; no lower blast line
Castle Siege Banned Second stage transformation and transitions feature walk-off blast lines; first and third transformations are too small to accommodate doubles; second stage transformation is too large and potentially promotes camping, circle camping, and stalling
Flat Zone X Banned Walk-offs blast lines, alongside a low ceiling; stage's transformations and hazards are too powerful and disruptive; stage's aesthetics are disruptive, due to the fixed camera
Palutena's Temple Banned Too large; promotes circle camping; spikes and hazards too powerful and disruptive; frequent caves of life; promotes characters that can easily manuver the stage
Skyworld Banned Breakable platforms can create caves of life, as well as cause stage spikes that can lead to early KOs
Gamer Banned Randomized layout; 5-Volt overcentralizes gameplay on avoiding her gaze and forcing opponents to take damage
Garden of Hope Banned Stage hazards are too disruptive and powerful; stage layout promotes camping
Smashville Starter
Town and City Starter
Wii Fit Studio Banned Walk-off blast lines; randomized layout
Boxing Ring Banned Walk-offs blast lines; no lower blast line; too large; hanging lights are too strong a stage hazard and can promote camping
Gaur Plain Banned Too large; walk-off blast lines; stage unfairly benefits characters with good aerial mobility; Metal Face too strong and disruptive a stage hazard
Duck Hunt Banned (former counterpick) Tree on left side of stage can promote camping and stalling; Dog can be disruptive; blast lines are close to stage
Kongo Jungle 64 Banned Too large; several potentially powerful camping positions; high ceiling causes over-reliance on horizontal finishers; disruptive gameplay elements due to the stage's poor lighting and generally zoomed-out camera
75m Banned Too large; walk-off blast lines; disruptive aesthetics due to camera being zoomed out; promotes stalling and camping; Donkey Kong, Trouble Bugs, and jacks are too powerful and disruptive; unfairly benefits characters with good aerial mobility
Wrecking Crew Banned Too large; hazards are too powerful and disrupt gameplay
Pilotwings Banned Irregular geometry due to stage being able to tilt; planes feature powerful camping positions; damaging terrain can disrupt regular gameplay
Wuhu Island Banned Some transformations feature walk-off blast lines; disruptive stage hazards, such as the fountain and balloon
Miiverse Varies Sometimes banned due to being a near-exact clone of Battlefield and potentially having distracting background images; sometimes legal as a cosmetic alternative to Battlefield. However, due to Miiverse shutting down, the possible distracting background no longer shows up which could make this stage legal.
Windy Hill Zone Banned Too large; promotes camping and stalling, especially on the right side of the stage; unusual gravity mechanics and physics due to stage being curved
Wily Castle Banned Yellow Devil is too powerful and disruptive a stage hazard
PAC-LAND Banned Stage has walk-off blast lines and frequently lacks a lower blast line; autoscrolling overcentralizes gameplay on navigating the stage and avoiding obstacles; unfairly benefits characters with good mobility
Suzaku Castle Banned Right side of stage features walk-off blast line
Peach's Castle (64) Banned Disruptive geometry, especially on the lower part of the stage and the triangular platforms; Bumper hazard is too disruptive
Hyrule Castle (64) Banned Too large; high ceiling creates over-reliance on horizontal finishers; Tent creates a powerful camping position and has a cave of life; tornadoes are too powerful and disruptive
Super Mario Maker Banned Unpredictable stage layout; potential for walk-offs; disruptive stage hazards
Pirate Ship Banned Cannonballs and catapult are too powerful and disruptive as stage hazards; frequent absence of lower blast line; King of Red Lions and the area underneath the ship on the island create powerful camping positions
Midgar Banned Overcentralizes gameplay on Materia, which can summon powerful and disruptive stage hazards
Umbra Clock Tower Banned Some transformations feature walk-offs and caves of life; stage aesthetics can be distracting

Stage legality in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

The list below shows the tournament legality for all stages in Ultimate. With the option to turn off stage hazards (which also turns off transformations) stages like Pokémon Stadium 2, Castle Siege and many more stages are potentially viable tournament stages. Note that this list assumes that hazards are turned off. For other stages that are not viable, here are their reasons:

Stage Status Commonly cited reasons for banning
Battlefield forms Varies Treated the same as Battlefield and struck alongside Battlefield when either is chosen. Some Battlefield forms are Tier 5: Banned due to distracting stage effects or gameplay-altering differences, such as 2D stages altering hitboxes.
Ω forms Varies Treated the same as Final Destination and struck alongside Final Destination when either is chosen. Some Ω forms are Tier 5: Banned due to distracting stage effects or gameplay-altering differences, such as the 2D stages altering hitboxes.
Battlefield Tier 0: Starter
Big Battlefield Tier 5: Banned Too many platforms; too large.
Final Destination Tier 0: Starter
Peach's Castle Tier 5: Banned Disruptive geometry; offstage triangles and walls can block K.Os and promote camping.
Kongo Jungle Tier 5: Banned Too large; high ceiling; platform layout promotes stalling.
Hyrule Castle Tier 5: Banned Too large; green tent creates cave of life.
Super Happy Tree Tier 5: Banned Clouds off right side of stage highly favor camping; right blast zone is extremely far away from the main body of the stage.
Dream Land Tier 5: Banned Too similar to Battlefield, omitted from most rulesets due to redundancy.
Saffron City Tier 5: Banned Too large; contains walls; helipad and platforms to the left promote camping.
Mushroom Kingdom Tier 5: Banned Contains walk-off blast zones; pipes can be used for stalling and camping.
Princess Peach's Castle Tier 5: Banned Walls allow for infinites and promote camping; the separation of the wall makes the stage difficult to traverse.
Rainbow Cruise Tier 4: Almost always banned[3] Contains slopes and walls, top platform is extremely close to the blast zone.
Kongo Falls Tier 5: Banned Rock off the right side of the stage promotes camping; sharking is possible underneath the main platform.
Jungle Japes Tier 5: Banned High ceiling; platforms off both left and right sides promote camping; water current unfairly punishes characters with poor recoveries.
Great Bay Tier 5: Banned Solid middle platform above two lower platforms allows for easy, low-risk stage spikes that result in frequent low-percent KOs and gimps that would not occur in usual circumstances; water promotes camping and negatively affects edgeguarding; left blast zone is too close to the stage; stage design overall promotes camping
Temple Tier 5: Banned Too large and promotes circle camping; lower part of the stage has a cave of life.
Brinstar Tier 5: Banned Blast zones are very close to the main body of the stage and all 3 soft platforms; uneven geometry favors short characters; main body promotes sharking
Yoshi's Island (Melee) Tier 5: Banned Features walk-off blast zones; caves of life; uneven geometry which allows characters to live far longer than they would otherwise.
Yoshi's Story Tier 2: Often Counterpick[3][2] Contains slopes at the ledges, horizontal blast zones are close to the body of the stage.
Fountain of Dreams Tier 5: Banned Processor-intensive reflections and water effects can cause frame drops.
Green Greens Tier 5: Banned Blast zones are very close to the stage; layout generally promotes camping.
Corneria Tier 5: Banned Too large; upper blast line is too close to stage; gun and back fin promote camping.
Venom Tier 5: Banned Walls allow for infinites; several unreasonably strong camping positions; separation of portions of the stage by the Great Fox body makes it difficult to traverse.
Pokémon Stadium Tier 5: Banned Too similar to Pokémon Stadium 2: Blast zones are the same, platforms a bit higher. The camera is the reason Pokémon Stadium 2 is considered superior.
Onett Tier 5: Banned Irregular stage design; contains walk-off blast zones and walls.
Mushroom Kingdom II Tier 5: Banned Too small; walk-off blast zones; no proper center platform.
Brinstar Depths Tier 5: Banned Contains walls and caves of life; unusual geometry; strong camping position under the main body of the stage; low ceiling.
Big Blue Tier 5: Banned The road at the bottom of the stage will move players very quickly to the blast zone; no bottom blast zone; main body of stage is very small.
Fourside Tier 5: Banned Buildings can be used for wall combos and infinites; unusual geometry favors circle camping.
Delfino Plaza Tier 5: Banned Various transformations include walls, walkoff blast zones, water, and generally uneven geometry. Main transformation's main platform can be sharked.
Mushroomy Kingdom Tier 5: Banned Scrolling stage with walk-offs; bricks can be used for caves of life.
Figure-8 Circuit Tier 5: Banned Stage features walkoff blast zones.
WarioWare, Inc. Tier 3: Rarely Legal [4][3] Horizontal blast zones are extremely close to the main body of the stage.
Bridge of Eldin Tier 5: Banned Features walk-off blast zones; the bridge remains intact with hazards off, covering the lower blast zone.
Norfair Tier 5: Banned Too large; abundance of ledges and strange layout can promote stalling.
Frigate Orpheon Tier 4: Almost always banned[3] Unusual, shifting semisoft platform on right side can prevent successful recoveries, as the ledge on the main body of the stage disappears when it is at equal height or lower; creates accessible wall, which can promote camping until the platform rises.
Yoshi's Island Tier 1: Usually Counterpick Slopes at the ledges, horizontal blast zones are close to the body of the stage.
Halberd Tier 5: Banned Opening transformation has walk-off blast zones; potential for sharking the main platform of the main transformation.
Lylat Cruise Tier 2: Often Counterpick/Starter[2] Ledges can cause problems for recovering; uneven geometry.
Pokémon Stadium 2 Tier 0: Starter
Port Town Aero Dive Tier 5: Banned Some parts of the stage are too close to the blast zones; touching the track when on the flying platform may damage players.
Castle Siege Tier 3: Rarely Legal[3][2] The camera is blocked by a wall in the bottom right corner of the stage; contains a very slight slope in the center of the stage; is asymmetrical.
Distant Planet Tier 5: Banned Features walk-off blast zones.
Smashville Tier 0: Starter
New Pork City Tier 5: Banned Too large; promotes circle camping; contains walls and caves of life.
Summit Tier 5: Banned Slippery floor can be disruptive and give the Ice Climbers an unfair advantage since they are immune to the ice physics; cave of life in the center; damaging hazard as the stage slides down the mountain, covering the bottom blast zone; water in one of the transformations can promote stalling and negatively affect edgeguarding.
Skyworld Tier 5: Banned Cave of life in center stage.
Shadow Moses Island Tier 5: Banned Contains walls, only top blast zone is accessible.
Luigi's Mansion Tier 5: Banned Lower levels of the stage have caves of life; stage geometry can promote circle camping.
Pirate Ship Tier 5: Banned High potential for stalling in the water or under the ship's rudder.
Spear Pillar Tier 5: Banned Promotes circle camping; cave of life on the lower level.
75m Tier 5: Banned Platforms are too small; features a walk-off blast zone; contains hazards (even with hazards turned off).
Mario Bros. Tier 5: Banned Contains caves of life, walk-off blast zones and no lower blast zone.
Hanenbow Tier 5: Banned Layout promotes circlecamping; unfairly benefits characters with high aerial mobility.
Green Hill Zone Tier 5: Banned Features walk-off blast zones; uneven terrain favors short characters.
3D Land Tier 5: Banned Scrolling stage with walk-off blast zones.
Golden Plains Tier 5: Banned Features walk-off blast zones and walls.
Paper Mario Tier 5: Banned Features walk-off blast zones and walls.
Gerudo Valley Tier 5: Banned Features walk-off blast zones; bridge remains closed with hazards off, covering the lower blast zone.
Spirit Train Tier 5: Banned Uneven terrain; front of train is a damaging hazard; portions of stage may intrusively carry players offscreen.
Dream Land GB Tier 5: Banned Scrolling stage with walk-off blast zones.
Unova Pokémon League Tier 2: Often Counterpick[2] Similar to Pokémon Stadium 2; visually dark; teleport recoveries don't 'hug' against the sides of the stage.
Prism Tower Tier 5: Banned Transforming stage with a form featuring walk-off blast zones.
Mute City SNES Tier 5: Banned Bottom blast zone is covered by a damaging hazard; unusual layout promotes camping.
Magicant Tier 5: Banned Extremely powerful camping spot under the main body of the stage; generally unusual layout can promote camping.
Arena Ferox Tier 5: Banned Randomized layout; often includes caves of life.
Reset Bomb Forest Tier 5: Banned High top platform; disruptive geometry in split main platform.
Tortimer Island Tier 5: Banned Water negatively affects edgeguarding; very large size.
Balloon Fight Tier 5: Banned Features walk-off blast zones.
Living Room Tier 5: Banned Features walk-off blast zones and falling hazards (even with stage hazards off).
Find Mii Tier 5: Banned Cage blocks K.Os and creates a small cave of life; rock column on right promotes camping.
Tomodachi Life Tier 5: Banned Blast zones are extremely close to all areas of the stage; layout unfairly inhibits characters with poor vertical movement.
PictoChat 2 Tier 5: Banned Steep slopes at the ledges; too similar to Final Destination, omitted from most rulesets due to redundancy.
Mushroom Kingdom U Tier 5: Banned Main body of the stage is extremely large, and reaches very close to the horizontal blast zones.
Mario Galaxy Tier 5: Banned Features walk-off blast zones. Gravity can cause accidental KOs, and inhibits horizontal projectiles.
Mario Circuit Tier 5: Banned Various transformations include disruptive geometry, including walls, ceilings, caves of life, and walkoff blast zones.
Skyloft Tier 3: Rarely Legal [4][3] Main platform promotes sharking, blast zones are very close to the main body of the stage.
The Great Cave Offensive Tier 5: Banned Too large; too many caves of life; Danger Zones are too significant a departure from normal gameplay; blast zones are only accessible in small areas; walkoff blast zones.
Kalos Pokémon League Tier 1: Counterpick/Starter
Coliseum Tier 5: Banned Features walk-off blast zones; no lower blast zone.
Flat Zone X Tier 5: Banned The stage is randomized and features walk-off blast zones; stage affects hitbox behavior.
Palutena's Temple Tier 5: Banned Too large and promotes circle camping; lower part of the stage has a cave of life; several spike hazards that damage players.
Gamer Tier 5: Banned Layout is randomized; often includes caves of life.
Garden of Hope Tier 5: Banned Too large; very unusual layout with multiple accessible walls, and two offstage platforms which can encourage camping.
Town and City Tier 1: Starter/Counterpick[2]
Wii Fit Studio Tier 5: Banned Layout is randomized; features walk-off blast zones.
Boxing Ring Tier 5: Banned Features walk-off blast zones; extremely powerful camping spot on the light fixture.
Gaur Plain Tier 5: Banned Features walk-off blast zones; unusual layout and large size promote camping.
Duck Hunt Tier 5: Banned Tree on left side of stage can promote camping; blast zones are close to stage; stage affects hitbox behavior.
Wrecking Crew Tier 5: Banned Platforms are too close to the top blast zone; unusual layout; ladders intrusively affect movement.
Pilotwings Tier 5: Banned Unusual layout with accessible walls can promote camping.
Wuhu Island Tier 5: Banned Main platform promotes sharking, slopes at the ledges; horizontal blast zones are very close to the main body of the stage.
Windy Hill Zone Tier 5: Banned Large size and layout promote camping; platforms are very close to the blast zones; unusual gravity as with Mario Galaxy.
Wily Castle Tier 4: Almost always Banned[3] Too similar to Final Destination, omitted from most rulesets due to redundancy.
Pac-Land Tier 5: Banned Extremely intrusive layout includes walls and walkoffs; scrolling can be unfairly detrimental to slower characters.
Super Mario Maker Tier 5: Banned Randomized stage layout, often including damaging hazards, caves of life, and walkoff blast zones.
Suzaku Castle Tier 5: Banned Features walk-off blast zones on the right, and a powerful camping spot on the left.
Midgar Tier 5: Banned Too similar to Battlefield, omitted from most rulesets due to redundancy.
Umbra Clock Tower Tier 5: Banned Distracting background; too similar to Final Destination, omitted from most rulesets due to redundancy.
New Donk City Hall Tier 5: Banned Transformations feature strong camping positions, and walkoff blast zones.
Great Plateau Tower Tier 5: Banned Top of tower creates massive Cave of Life in center stage.
Moray Towers Tier 5: Banned Large size and unusual geometry promote circle camping; large block on left side creates cave of life.
Dracula's Castle Tier 5: Banned Very unusual geometry; large size and slope on far right can promote camping.
Mementos Tier 4: Almost always Banned Slope in center of stage, asymmetrical layout, top platform can promote camping, stage altogether is extremely large.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Apex 2015
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k GENESIS 6
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Smashadelphia Ultimate (December 9th, 2018)
  4. ^ a b Glitch 6 (January 20th, 2019)
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