Editing Stage legality

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{{ArticleIcons|series=y|competitive=y}}
{{ArticleIcons|series=y|competitive=y}}
{{competitive expertise|This article might not include all reasons why stages are banned/infrequently legal/retired.}}
'''Stage legality''' refers to the playable status of various [[stage]]s in mainstream [[tournaments]].
'''Stage legality''' refers to the playable status of various [[stage]]s in mainstream [[tournaments]].


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'''Banned stages''' cannot be chosen at all. Stages can be banned for several reasons, common reasons including but not limited to:
'''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 [[character]]s (such as allowing the character to utilise excessive, gamebreaking [[camping]], or utilise infinite [[chain throw]]s, as in the case of {{SSBM|Fox}} in [[Temple]] for the former, or {{SSBB|King Dedede}} in [[Shadow Moses Island]] for the latter).
*Especially poor matchup balance by providing a rather extreme advantage for certain [[character]]s (such as allowing the character to utilise excessive, gamebreaking [[camping]], or utilise infinite [[chain throw]]s, as in the case of {{SSBM|Fox}} in [[Temple]] for the former, or {{SSBB|King Dedede}} in [[Shadow Moses Island]] for the latter).
*Intrusive [[stage hazard]]s 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]].
*Powerful [[stage hazard]]s 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 [[glitch]]es in the game.
*Allowing players to abuse [[glitch]]es 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 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 line]]s and walls; the former creates unreasonably powerful camping positions and allows for potential easy [[zero-death]]s 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.
*Possessing permanent walk-off [[blast line]]s and walls; the former creates unreasonably powerful camping positions and allows for potential easy [[zero-death]]s 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.]]).
*Drastically altering gameplay and the strategies needed to win (such as [[Icicle Mountain]] and [[Mario Bros. (stage)|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).
*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.
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 and the series as a whole not necessarily being designed with serious competitive play in mind, very few stages are balanced enough to be legal for professional competitive play, which is why a majority of stages in all games end up being banned.
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]]).
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==
==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 "legal 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.  
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 {{SSBB|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.
The commonality of characters can also play a role in what stages are legal or banned. Again in ''Brawl'', the rising prominence of {{SSBB|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]]''==
==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 {{Trn|GENESIS 5}} or {{Trn|GENESIS 6}}, the stages [[Duel Zone]] and {{SSB|Final Destination}}, which weren't available without hacking, have seen some tournament presence in doubles, though this is generally rare.  
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 {{Trn|GENESIS 5}} or {{Trn|GENESIS 6}}, the stages [[Battlefield]] and [[Final Destination]], which weren't available without hacking, have seen some tournament presence in doubles though this is generally rare. More recently [[Smash Remix]] has allowed for certain hacked stages in regionals such as Zebes Landing (a version of Dreamland without wind,) a 64 version of Smashville/Kalos, and others.
 
More recently, [[Smash Remix]] has allowed for certain hacked stages in tournaments, such as Zebes Landing (a version of Dream Land without wind), and even stages with a different layout, like 64 versions of [[Smashville]], [[Yoshi's Story]], [[Pokémon Stadium]] and others.


{| class="wikitable sortable"
{| class="wikitable sortable"
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! Commonly cited reasons for status
! Commonly cited reasons for status
|-
|-
| [[Dream Land]]
| {{SSB|Dream Land}}
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| A modified version of this stage without [[hazard]]s (the wind) or alternative versions in [[Smash Remix]] such as Zebes Landing is sometimes used as an alternative.
| A modified version of this stage without [[hazard]]s (the wind) or alternative versions in [[Smash Remix]] such as '''Zebes Landing''' is sometimes used as an alternative.
|-
|-
| [[Congo Jungle]]
| {{SSB|Kongo Jungle}}
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired starter<ref name="Apex 2015 Ruleset"/>
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Banned (former Starter)<ref name="Apex 2015 Ruleset"/>
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal<ref name="Apex 2015 Ruleset"/><ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/><ref name="Smash'N'Splash 5 Ruleset">[[Tournament:Smash 'N' Splash 5#Stages|Smash 'N' Splash 5]]</ref>
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Sometimes legal<ref name="Apex 2015 Ruleset"/><ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/><ref name="Smash'N'Splash 5 Ruleset">[https://www.ssbwiki.com/Tournament:Smash_%27N%27_Splash_5#Stages Smash'N'Splash 5]</ref>
| Top platforms are too high (characters such as Ness can have difficulty approaching without double jumping); Lack of ledge DI hurts recoveries; poor lighting; barrel turning is randomized and it removes double jump hurting certain recoveries.
| Top platforms are too high (characters such as Ness can have difficulty approaching without double jumping); Lack of ledge DI hurts recoveries; poor lighting; barrel turning is randomized and it removes double jump hurting certain recoveries.
|-
|-
| [[Hyrule Castle]]
| [[Hyrule Castle]]
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired starter<ref name="Apex 2015 Ruleset">[[Tournament:Apex 2015#Ruleset|Apex 2015]]</ref>
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Banned (former Starter)<ref name="Apex 2015 Ruleset">[https://www.ssbwiki.com/Tournament:Apex_2015#Ruleset Apex 2015]</ref>
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal<ref name="Apex 2015 Ruleset"/><ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/>
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Sometimes legal<ref name="Apex 2015 Ruleset"/><ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/>
| Too large; cave of life/the tent at stage's right side promotes camping and can lead to powerful combos; left slant is hard to approach; Tornado stage hazards are too powerful and disruptive to gameplay and can also randomly be fast or slow.
| Too large; cave of life/the tent at stage's right side promotes camping and can lead to powerful combos; left slant is hard to approach; Tornado stage hazards are too powerful and disruptive to gameplay and can also randomly be fast or slow.
|-
|-
| [[Peach's Castle]]
| [[Peach's Castle]]
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick<ref name="Apex 2015 Ruleset"/>
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Banned (former Counterpick)<ref name="Apex 2015 Ruleset"/>
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal<ref name="Apex 2015 Ruleset"/><ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/>
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Sometimes legal<ref name="Apex 2015 Ruleset"/><ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/>
| Stage lacks grabable 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; lack of ledge DI
| Stage lacks grabable 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; lack of ledge DI
|-
|-
| [[Saffron City]]
| [[Saffron City]]
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Banned (Former counterpick)
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| Too large; Pokémon are too disruptive and can overcentralize matches; helipad and platforms to the left of the stage promote camping; Ness has issues recovering when caught between platforms leading to a specialized ruleset where Ness would have an extra ban.
| Too large; Pokémon are too disruptive and can overcentralize matches; helipad and platforms to the left of the stage promote camping; Ness has issues recovering when caught between platforms leading to a specialized ruleset where Ness would have an extra ban.
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| {{SSB|Yoshi's Island}} (cloudless)
| {{SSB|Yoshi's Island}} (cloudless)
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal<ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/><ref name="Smash'N'Splash 5 Ruleset"/>
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Sometimes Legal<ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/><ref name="Smash'N'Splash 5 Ruleset"/>
| Stage layout promotes circle camping in singles; unavailable without hacks
| Stage layout promotes circle camping in singles; unavailable without hacks


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| {{SSB|Final Destination}}
| {{SSB|Final Destination}}
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal<ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/><ref name="Smash'N'Splash 5 Ruleset"/>
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Sometimes Legal<ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/><ref name="Smash'N'Splash 5 Ruleset"/>
| Lack of platforms hurt movement options and promote camping; unavailable without hacks; Freezes occasionally (presumed due to the game triggering Master Hand.)
| Lack of platforms hurt movement options and promote camping; unavailable without hacks; Freezes occasionally (presumed due to the game triggering Master Hand.)
|-
|-
| [[Duel Zone]]
| {{SSB|Battlefield}}
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal<ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/>
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Sometimes Legal<ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/>
| Platforms are higher than Dream Land preventing certain characters from platform cancelling; Ledge DI can cause an SD by "warping" the character into the bottom due to ledge physics; Unavailable without hacks
| Platforms are higher than Dreamland preventing certain characters from platform cancelling; Ledge DI can cause an SD by "warping" the character into the bottom due to ledge physics; Unavailable without hacks
|-
|-
| [[Meta Crystal]]
| [[Meta Crystal]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| Unavailable without hacks; Too small; slants can alter gameplay
| Unavailable without hacks; Too small.
|}
|}


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! Status (singles)
! Status (singles)
! Status (doubles)
! Status (doubles)
! Commonly cited reasons for status
! Commonly cited reasons for banning
|-
|-
| {{SSBM|Battlefield}}
| [[Battlefield (SSBM)|Battlefield]]
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
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|-
|-
| [[Brinstar]]
| [[Brinstar]]
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned (former counterpick)
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| 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
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|-
|-
| [[Corneria]]
| [[Corneria]]
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned (former counterpick)
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| 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]]
| [[Dream Land N64]]
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
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|-
|-
| [[Final Destination]]
| [[Final Destination]]
| style="background:#efffbf" | Counterpick/starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| Typically a counterpick when used with frozen stadium as a starter; The lack of platforms causes certain characters (such as Yoshi) to struggle and significantly changes the dynamics of certain matchups (such as Fox vs. Marth)
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
|
|-
|-
| [[Flat Zone]]
| [[Flat Zone]]
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|-
|-
| [[Green Greens]]
| [[Green Greens]]
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned (former counterpick)
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| Over-centralizes gameplay on camping; randomly appearing [[bomb]] blocks disrupt normal gameplay
| Over-centralizes gameplay on camping; randomly appearing [[bomb]] blocks disrupt normal gameplay
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|-
|-
| [[Jungle Japes]]
| [[Jungle Japes]]
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned (former counterpick)
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| 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 Falls|Kongo Jungle]]
| {{SSBM|Kongo Jungle}}
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| Powerful camping position on the rock platform on the bottom right of the stage; [[Klaptrap|Klap Trap]] too powerful and difficult to avoid when it enters the Barrel Cannon
| Powerful camping position on the rock platform on the bottom right of the stage; [[Klaptrap|Klap Trap]] too powerful and difficult to avoid when it enters the Barrel Cannon
|-
|-
| [[Kongo Jungle|Kongo Jungle N64]]
| [[Congo Jungle|Kongo Jungle N64]]
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned (former counterpick)
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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)
| 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)
|-
|-
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| Walk-off blast lines; stage is too small; random, disruptive [[stage hazard]] in [[Birdo]]; lack of proper "center" platform hinders gameplay, particularly in doubles
| 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]]
| {{SSBM|Mute City}}
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned (former counterpick)
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| 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]]
| [[Onett]]
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned (former counterpick)
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| 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]]
| [[Poké Floats]]
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned (former counterpick)
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| Irregular terrain; scrolling stage; layout frequently allows circle and run away camping; stalling; potential for stage spikes
| Irregular terrain; scrolling stage; layout frequently allows circle and run away camping; stalling; potential for stage spikes
|-
|-
| [[Pokémon Stadium]]
| [[Pokémon Stadium]]
| style="background:#efffbf" | Counterpick/starter
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick/starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| Transformations can allow for wall infinites and camping, especially for Fox and Falco. Certain transformations have locations where players can clip through the stage both intentionally and unintentionally, and most characters are unable to survive.
| Transformations can allow for wall infinites and camping, especially for Fox and Falco. Certain transformations have locations where players can clip through the stage both intentionally and unintentionally, and most characters are unable to survive.
|-
| [[Pokémon Stadium]] (frozen)
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Sometimes legal
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Sometimes legal
| The lack of transformations make for a more balanced and consistent experience. Unavailable without modding. Used in modern online events due to stage transformations causing desyncs when playing online with [[Project Slippi]] and in some offline locals and major tournaments such as [[Riptide]].
|-
|-
| [[Princess Peach's Castle]]
| [[Princess Peach's Castle]]
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned (former counterpick)
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| [[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]]
| [[Rainbow Cruise]]
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned (former counterpick)
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| 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
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In the past, the following stages have been legal counterpicks, but are now banned:
In the past, the following stages have been legal counterpicks, but are now banned:
*[[Big Blue]], [[Brinstar]], [[Corneria]], [[Green Greens]], [[Jungle Japes]], [[Kongo Falls|Kongo Jungle]], [[Kongo Jungle|Kongo Jungle (N64)]], {{SSBM|Mushroom Kingdom}}, [[Mushroom Kingdom II]], [[Mute City]], [[Onett]], [[Poké Floats]], [[Princess Peach's Castle]], [[Rainbow Cruise]], {{SSBM|Yoshi's Island}}
*[[Big Blue]], [[Brinstar]], [[Corneria]], [[Green Greens]], [[Jungle Japes]], {{SSBM|Kongo Jungle}}, [[Congo Jungle|Kongo Jungle (N64)]], {{SSBM|Mushroom Kingdom}}, [[Mushroom Kingdom II]], {{SSBM|Mute City}}, [[Onett]], [[Poké Floats]], [[Princess Peach's Castle]], [[Rainbow Cruise]], {{SSBM|Yoshi's Island}}
The following stages have never been legal in competitive ''Melee'' history:
The following stages have never been legal in competitive ''Melee'' history:
*[[Brinstar Depths]], [[Flat Zone]], [[Fourside]], [[Great Bay]], [[Icicle Mountain]], [[Temple]], [[Venom]], [[Yoshi's Island (SSB)|Yoshi's Island (N64)]]
*[[Brinstar Depths]], [[Flat Zone]], [[Fourside]], [[Great Bay]], [[Icicle Mountain]], [[Temple]], [[Venom]], [[Yoshi's Island (SSB)|Yoshi's Island (N64)]]
==Stage legality in ''[[Project M]]''==
The following stages are legal in the ''PMBR 2018 Full Recommended Ruleset'' [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g9WicZyRo_TRauu4XfuUjD-itUji2p4SAa1pPHuL0Zs/edit]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Stage
! Status (singles)
! Status (doubles)
! Comments
|-
| [[Battlefield]]
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
|
|-
| [[Pokémon Stadium 2]]
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
|
|-
| [[Smashville]]
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
|
|-
| [[Green Hill Zone]]
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| Entirely redone ''Project M'' version with its rotating platform.
|-
| Delfino's Secret
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| ''Project M'' original stage that replaces [[Delfino Plaza]].
|-
| [[Final Destination]]
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
|
|-
| [[Fountain of Dreams]]
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| Too small for doubles.
|-
| [[WarioWare, Inc.|Wario Land]]
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| Stage design from WarioWare, Inc. without transformations. Textures usually changed to a Wario Land theme. Too small for doubles.
|-
| [[Dream Land (64)]]
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
|
|-
| [[Yoshi's Island (Brawl)]]
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| Stage design from ''Yoshi's Island (Brawl)'' without platform ghosts. Textures usually changed to a Metal Cavern theme.
|}


==Stage legality in ''[[Brawl]]''==
==Stage legality in ''[[Brawl]]''==
:''For finer-grained status descriptions, see [[Tournament legal (SSBB)]].
:''For finer-grained status descriptions, see [[Tournament legal (SSBB)]].
''Brawl'' had a highly fragmented and argumentative community when it came 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 was heavily influenced by {{SSBB|Meta Knight}}'s legality, as he tends to gain even more drastic advantages on many fringe stages. Thus tournaments that banned Meta Knight tend to allow more stages than tournaments that kept him legal.
''Brawl'' had a highly fragmented and argumentative community when it came 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 was heavily influenced by {{SSBB|Meta Knight}}'s legality, as he tends to gain even more drastic advantages on many fringe stages. Thus tournaments that banned Meta Knight tend to allow more stages than tournaments that kept 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.
Most tournaments held after the release of ''Super Smash Bros for Wii U'' have used Tier 0 stages exclusively.


{| class="wikitable sortable"
{| class="wikitable sortable"
Line 283: Line 345:
! Stage
! Stage
! Status
! Status
! Commonly cited reasons for status
! Commonly cited reasons for banning
|-
|-
| [[75m]]
| [[75m]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| 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
|-
|-
| {{SSBB|Battlefield}}
| {{SSBB|Battlefield}}
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#bfdfff" | Tier 0
|  
|  
|-
|-
| [[Big Blue|Big Blue (Melee)]]
| [[Big Blue|Big Blue (Melee)]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| 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]]
| [[Bridge of Eldin]]
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | 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.
| 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]]
| [[Brinstar]]
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal
| style="background:#ffffbf" | 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 {{SSBB|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.
| Irregular stage design; acid disrupts gameplay; main platform allows [[sharking]], poor matchup balance, where air based characters gain a significant advantage, most notoriously {{SSBB|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]]
| [[Castle Siege]]
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| style="background:#dfffbf" | 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.
| 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|Corneria (Melee)]]
| [[Corneria|Corneria (Melee)]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| 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]]
| [[Delfino Plaza]]
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| style="background:#dfffbf" | 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.
| 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]]
| [[Distant Planet]]
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | 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
| 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
|-
|-
| {{SSBB|Final Destination}}
| {{SSBB|Final Destination}}
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#bfdfff" | Tier 0
|  
|  
|-
|-
| [[Flat Zone 2]]
| [[Flat Zone 2]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 4
| Randomness of the stage; overly small; numerous damaging and powerful stage hazards; no bottom blast line; walk off blast lines
| Randomness of the stage; overly small; numerous damaging and powerful stage hazards; no bottom blast line; walk off blast lines
|-
|-
| [[Frigate Orpheon]]
| [[Frigate Orpheon]]
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| style="background:#dfffbf" | 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.
| 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]]
| [[Green Greens]]
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Tier 3
| Over-centralises gameplay on camping; randomly appearing [[bomb]] blocks disrupt normal gameplay; blocks allow for wall infinites
| Over-centralises gameplay on camping; randomly appearing [[bomb]] blocks disrupt normal gameplay; blocks allow for wall infinites
|-
|-
| [[Green Hill Zone]]
| [[Green Hill Zone]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| 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]]
| [[Halberd]]
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| style="background:#dfffbf" | 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.
| 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]]
| [[Hanenbow]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 4
| Stage is overly large; irregular stage design forces major gameplay changes; high camping/stalling potential
| Stage is overly large; irregular stage design forces major gameplay changes; high camping/stalling potential
|-
|-
| [[Jungle Japes]]
| [[Jungle Japes]]
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | 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 {{SSBB|Falco}}, to where the stage is seen as an autowin for Falco in most matchups).
| 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 {{SSBB|Falco}}, to where the stage is seen as an autowin for Falco in most matchups).
|-
|-
| [[Luigi's Mansion]]
| [[Luigi's Mansion]]
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Tier 3
| Impassable platforms create caves of life; stage design allows the potential for circle camping
| Impassable platforms create caves of life; stage design allows the potential for circle camping
|-
|-
| [[Lylat Cruise]]
| [[Lylat Cruise]]
| style="background:#efffbf" | Counterpick/Starter
| style="background:#bfdfff" | Tier 0
| Slants at the ledges; tilting can unfairly mess up recoveries
|  
|-
|-
| [[Mario Bros.]]
| [[Mario Bros. (stage)|Mario Bros.]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| [[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
|-
|-
| [[Figure-8 Circuit|Mario Circuit]]
| {{SSBB|Mario Circuit}}
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 4
| High potential for camping/stalling; walk-off blast lines; frequent stage hazard in karts that often disrupt gameplay; no lower blast line
| 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)
| [[Mushroomy Kingdom]] (1-1 and 1-2)
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| 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]]
| [[New Pork City]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| 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]]
| [[Norfair]]
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Tier 3
| Overly powerful, frequent stage hazards that disrupt usual gameplay; stage has many ledges that can be easily abused.
| Overly powerful, frequent stage hazards that disrupt usual gameplay; stage has many ledges that can be easily abused.
|-
|-
|[[Onett|Onett (Melee)]]
|[[Onett|Onett (Melee)]]
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Tier 3
| Irregular stage design; frequent stage hazard in cars disrupt gameplay; walls allow infinites; walk-off blast lines; no lower blast line
| Irregular stage design; frequent stage hazard in cars disrupt gameplay; walls allow infinites; walk-off blast lines; no lower blast line
|-
|-
|[[Pictochat]]
|[[Pictochat]]
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | 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]].
| 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]]
| [[Pirate Ship]]
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Tier 3
| High potential for stalling in the water or under the ship's rudder; overly powerful stage hazards
| High potential for stalling in the water or under the ship's rudder; overly powerful stage hazards
|-
|-
| [[Pokémon Stadium]]
| [[Pokémon Stadium]]
| style="background:#efffbf" | Counterpick/Starter
| style="background:#bfdfff" | Tier 0
| Thin lips at the edges of the stage; water transformation has a solid windmill that can create caves of life; walls in fire and rock transformations can lead to camping
|  
|-
|-
| [[Pokémon Stadium 2]]
| [[Pokémon Stadium 2]]
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal
| style="background:#ffffbf" | 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.
| 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]]
| [[Port Town Aero Dive]]
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | 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
| 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]]
| [[Rainbow Cruise]]
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal
| style="background:#ffffbf" | 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.
| 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]]
| [[Rumble Falls]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 4
| Scrolling stage; gives a disproportional advantage to characters with fast, high jumps; punishes characters who rely on [[Tether|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
| Scrolling stage; gives a disproportional advantage to characters with fast, high jumps; punishes characters who rely on [[Tether|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]]
| [[Shadow Moses Island]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| 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]]
| [[Skyworld]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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 spike]]s, that cause frequent low damage KOs on the stage from what should be a neutral position; potential slowdown in doubles
| 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 spike]]s, that cause frequent low damage KOs on the stage from what should be a neutral position; potential slowdown in doubles
|-
|-
| [[Smashville]]
| [[Smashville]]
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#bfdfff" | Tier 0
|  
|  
|-
|-
| [[Spear Pillar]]
| [[Spear Pillar]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| 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]]
| [[Summit]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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 recovery|tether recoveries]]; lower area provides a cave of life; stage design allows the potential for circle camping
| 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 recovery|tether recoveries]]; lower area provides a cave of life; stage design allows the potential for circle camping
|-
|-
| [[Temple|Temple (Melee)]]
| [[Temple|Temple (Melee)]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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)
| 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.]]
| [[WarioWare, Inc.]]
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| 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
|-
|-
| {{SSBB|Yoshi's Island}}
| {{SSBB|Yoshi's Island}}
| style="background:#efffbf" | Counterpick/Starter
| style="background:#bfdfff" | Tier 0
| Shy guys can disrupt projectiles; The Blarggwich can assist in recoveries, but arrival and departure times are random.
|  
|-
|-
| [[Yoshi's Island (SSBM)|Yoshi's Island (Melee)]]
| [[Yoshi's Island (SSBM)|Yoshi's Island (Melee)]]
| style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal
| style="background:#ffdfbf" | Tier 3
| Rotating block platforms create caves of life; walk off blast lines; marginalizes offstage skills; blast lines are abnormally close to the stage
| 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]].
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 ''[[Project M]]''==
The following stages are legal in the ''PMBR 2018 Full Recommended Ruleset'' [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g9WicZyRo_TRauu4XfuUjD-itUji2p4SAa1pPHuL0Zs/edit]
For counterpicks, the winner of the previous game strikes 2 legal stages after character selection and the loser picks one of the remaining ones.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Stage
! Status (singles)
! Status (doubles)
! Comments
|-
| [[Battlefield]]
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
|
|-
| [[Pokémon Stadium 2]]
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
|
|-
| [[Smashville]]
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
|
|-
| Green Hill Zone
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| Entirely redone ''Project M'' version with a platform rotating in a circle at the center.
|-
| Delfino's Secret
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter
| ''Project M'' original stage that replaces [[Delfino Plaza]].
|-
| [[Final Destination]]
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
|
|-
| [[Fountain of Dreams]]
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| Too small for doubles.
|-
| [[WarioWare, Inc.|Wario Land]]
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned
| Stage design from WarioWare, Inc. without transformations. Textures usually changed to a Wario Land theme. Too small for doubles.
|-
| [[Dream Land]]
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
|
|-
| [[Yoshi's Island (Brawl)]]
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick
| Stage design from ''Yoshi's Island (Brawl)'' without platform ghosts. Textures usually changed to a Metal Cavern theme.
|}


==Stage legality in ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]''==
==Stage legality in ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]''==
Line 519: Line 518:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|-
! Stage !! Status !! Commonly cited reasons for status
! Stage !! Status !! Commonly cited reasons for banning
|-
|-
| {{SSB4|Battlefield}} || style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter ||  
| {{SSB4|Battlefield}} || style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter ||  
Line 551: Line 550:
| [[Brinstar]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| [[Brinstar]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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 GB|Dream Land]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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_(SSB4)|Dream Land]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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)]] || style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick || Wind can alter gameplay; the top platform is closer to the ceiling than battlefield; thus sligtly favoring characters with vertical finishers
| [[Dream Land (64)]] || style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick ||
|-
|-
| [[Corneria]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| [[Corneria]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
Line 561: Line 560:
| [[Prism Tower]] || style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick || Some transformations feature walk-off blast lines.
| [[Prism Tower]] || style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick || Some transformations feature walk-off blast lines.
|-
|-
| [[Mute City SNES|Mute City]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| [[Mute City]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Flying Men are too powerful a stage hazard and overcentralize gameplay on camping on the rightmost platform.
| [[Magicant]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Flying Men are too powerful a stage hazard and overcentralize gameplay on camping on the rightmost platform.
Line 581: Line 580:
| [[Gaur Plain]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Too large; promotes camping and circle camping; walk-off blast lines; grants advantage to characters with good aerial mobility
| [[Gaur Plain]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Too large; promotes camping and circle camping; walk-off blast lines; grants advantage to characters with good aerial mobility
|-
|-
| {{b|Duck Hunt|stage}} || style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick || Tree on left side of stage can promote camping and stalling; Duck Hunt Dog can be disruptive; blast lines are close to stage. Banned on December 19, 2016.<ref>https://www.smashladder.com/rankings/smash-3ds/59/2016-part-4/1</ref><ref>https://www.smashladder.com/rankings/smash-3ds/64/2017-opening-season/1</ref>
| {{b|Duck Hunt|stage}} || style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Walk-off blast lines; Fish and other stage hazards are too disruptive and powerful; lower blast line is difficult to utilize
| [[Balloon Fight]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Walk-off blast lines; Fish and other stage hazards are too disruptive and powerful; lower blast line is difficult to utilize
Line 601: Line 600:
| [[Pac-Maze]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
| [[Pac-Maze]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Right side of the stage features a walk-off blast line.
| [[Suzaku Castle]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Walk-off blast lines on right side of the stage
|-
|-
| [[Umbra Clock Tower]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Some stage transformations feature walk-off blast lines and caves of life; aesthetics can disrupt regular gameplay
| [[Umbra Clock Tower]] || style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Some stage transformations feature walk-off blast lines and caves of life; aesthetics can disrupt regular gameplay
Line 613: Line 612:
!Stage
!Stage
!Status
!Status
!Commonly cited reasons for status
!Commonly cited reasons for banning
|-
|-
|[[Ω form]]s
|[[Ω form]]s
|style="background:#C0C0C0" | 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
|style="background:#C0C0C0" | 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
|-
|-
|{{SSB4|Battlefield}}
|[[Battlefield]]
|style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter ||  
|style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter ||  
|-
|-
Line 633: Line 632:
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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]]
|{{SSB4|Mario Circuit}}
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Some transformations of the stage can block off blast lines; Shy Guy racers too powerful a stage hazard
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Some transformations of the stage can block off blast lines; Shy Guy racers too powerful a stage hazard
|-
|-
|[[Delfino Plaza]]
|[[Delfino Plaza]]
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick || 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
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
|-
|-
|[[Figure-8 Circuit|Mario Circuit (Brawl)]]
|[[Mario Circuit (SSBB)|Mario Circuit (Brawl)]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Stage has constant walk-off blast lines and lacks a lower blast line; Shy Guy racers too powerful and disruptive a stage hazard
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Stage has constant walk-off blast lines and lacks a lower blast line; Shy Guy racers too powerful and disruptive a stage hazard
|-
|-
Line 649: Line 648:
|-
|-
|[[Skyloft]]
|[[Skyloft]]
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick || The underside of stage can meteor smash players
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || The underside of stage can meteor smash players
|-
|-
|[[Bridge of Eldin]]
|[[Bridge of Eldin]]
Line 673: Line 672:
|-
|-
|[[Dream Land 64]]
|[[Dream Land 64]]
|style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick || Wind can alter gameplay; the top platform is closer to the ceiling than battlefield, thus slightly favoring characters with vertical finishers
|style="background:#ffffbf" | Counterpick ||  
|-
|-
|[[The Great Cave Offensive]]
|[[The Great Cave Offensive]]
Line 679: Line 678:
|-
|-
|[[Halberd]]
|[[Halberd]]
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick || 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
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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]]
|[[Orbital Gate Assault]]
Line 685: Line 684:
|-
|-
|[[Lylat Cruise]]
|[[Lylat Cruise]]
|style="background:#efffbf" | Counterpick/Starter || Slants are located at the ledges of the main stage; unpatched glitch allows characters to fall through the ship at the edges.
|style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter||  
|-
|-
|[[Kalos Pokémon League]]
|[[Kalos Pokémon League]]
Line 700: Line 699:
|-
|-
|[[Castle Siege]]
|[[Castle Siege]]
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick || 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
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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]]
|[[Flat Zone X]]
Line 706: Line 705:
|-
|-
|[[Palutena's Temple]]
|[[Palutena's Temple]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Too large; promotes circle camping; spikes and hazards too powerful and disruptive; frequent caves of life; promotes characters that can easily maneuver the stage
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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]]
|[[Skyworld]]
Line 727: Line 726:
|-
|-
|[[Boxing Ring]]
|[[Boxing Ring]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Walk-off blast lines; no lower blast line; too large; hanging lights are too strong of a stage hazard and can promote camping
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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]]
|[[Gaur Plain]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Too large; walk-off blast lines; stage unfairly benefits characters with good aerial mobility; Metal Face is too strong and disruptive a stage hazard
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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 (stage)|Duck Hunt]]
|[[Duck Hunt (stage)|Duck Hunt]]
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick || Tree on left side of stage can promote camping and stalling; ducks can block projectiles and influence neutral play; 2D mechanic affects hitbox/hurtbox behavior
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned (former counterpick) || Tree on left side of stage can promote camping and stalling; ducks can block projectiles and influence neutral play; 2D mechanic affects hitbox/hurtbox behavior
|-
|-
|[[Kongo Jungle 64]]
|[[Kongo Jungle 64]]
Line 748: Line 747:
|-
|-
|[[Wuhu Island]]
|[[Wuhu Island]]
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick || Some transformations feature walk-off blast lines; disruptive stage hazards, such as the fountain and balloon  
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Some transformations feature walk-off blast lines; disruptive stage hazards, such as the fountain and balloon  
|-
|-
|[[Miiverse]]
|[[Miiverse]]
Line 763: Line 762:
|-
|-
|[[Suzaku Castle]]
|[[Suzaku Castle]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Right side of stage features a walk-off blast line.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Right side of stage features walk-off blast line
|-
|-
|[[Peach's Castle|Peach's Castle (64)]]
|[[Peach's Castle|Peach's Castle (64)]]
Line 787: Line 786:
==Stage legality in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''==
==Stage legality in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''==
<!-- Keep in mind that 1) hazards are turned off for tournament play and 2) this list is based on rulesets of competitive tournaments and not by what you consider to be "playable stages" 3) Being similar to a legal stage does not make a stage a legal alternative or affect 2) -->
<!-- Keep in mind that 1) hazards are turned off for tournament play and 2) this list is based on rulesets of competitive tournaments and not by what you consider to be "playable stages" 3) Being similar to a legal stage does not make a stage a legal alternative or affect 2) -->
''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', having the most stages in the series and the option to turn stage hazards off, has the most potentially legal stages of any ''Smash'' game. Since the stage list and hazard toggle were revealed, players and TOs have been debating the stage list for the game, and have yet to come up with a definitive answer. Major tournaments have largely erred on the side of having relatively large (eight to ten) stage lists, but some regional tournaments have already cut back to four to six legal stages.
''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', having the most stages in the series and the option to turn stage hazards off, has the most potentially legal stages of any ''Smash'' game. Since the stage list and hazard toggle were revealed, players and TOs have been debating the stage list for the game, and have yet to come up with a definitive answer. Major tournaments have largely erred on the side of having relatively large (eight to ten) stage lists, but some regional tournaments have already cut back to four to six legal stages. Thus, the following list is separated into tiers, based roughly on how widely the stage is seen as legal. Reasons for stages being excluded from some or all stage lists are also given for each stage except the five 'universal' starter stages.
   
   
{|class="wikitable sortable"
{|class="wikitable sortable"
Line 793: Line 792:
!Stage
!Stage
!Status
!Status
!Commonly cited reasons for status
!Commonly cited reasons for banning
|-
|-
|[[Battlefield form]]s
|[[Battlefield form]]s
|style="background:#C0C0C0" | Varies ||Treated the same as Battlefield and struck alongside Battlefield when either is chosen. Some Battlefield forms are banned due to distracting stage effects or gameplay-altering differences, such as 2D stages altering hitboxes.
|style="background:#C0C0C0" | 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 form]]s
|[[Ω form]]s
|style="background:#C0C0C0" | Varies || Treated the same as Final Destination and struck alongside Final Destination when either is chosen. Some Ω forms are banned due to distracting stage effects or gameplay-altering differences, such as 2D stages altering hitboxes.
|style="background:#C0C0C0" | 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 2D stages altering hitboxes.
|-
|-
|{{SSBU|Battlefield}}
|{{SSBU|Battlefield}}
|style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter ||
|style="background:#dfffbf" | Tier 0: Starter ||
|-
|[[Small Battlefield]]
|style="background:#efffbf" | Counterpick/Starter || Stage layout is similar to Pokémon Stadium 2, albeit with a smaller stage size and larger platforms. Thus, there has been some debate on where Small Battlefield stands in the current stage list, with some tournaments having it replace PS2 as a starter, while others put it as a counterpick.
|-
|-
|{{SSBU|Big Battlefield}}
|{{SSBU|Big Battlefield}}
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned  || Too large; promotes circle camping due to abundance of platforms
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned  || Too many platforms; too large.
|-
|-
|{{SSBU|Final Destination}}
|{{SSBU|Final Destination}}
|style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter ||  
|style="background:#dfffbf" | Tier 0: Starter ||  
|-
|-
|{{SSB|Peach's Castle}}
|{{SSB|Peach's Castle}}
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned  || Disruptive geometry; offstage triangles and walls can block K.Os and promote camping.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned  || Disruptive geometry; offstage triangles and walls can block K.Os and promote camping.
|-
|-
|[[Kongo Jungle]]
|{{SSB|Kongo Jungle}}
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned  || Too large; high ceiling; platform layout promotes stalling and circle camping.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned  || Too large; high ceiling; platform layout promotes stalling.
|-
|-
|[[Hyrule Castle]]
|[[Hyrule Castle]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned  || Too large; green tent creates cave of life.  
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned  || Too large; green tent creates cave of life.
|-
|-
|[[Super Happy Tree]]
|[[Super Happy Tree]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned  || Clouds off right side of the stage highly favor camping; right blast zone is extremely far away from the main body of the stage.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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]]
|{{SSB|Dream Land}}
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned  || Too similar to Battlefield, omitted from most rulesets to reduce redundancy.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned  || Too similar to Battlefield, omitted from most rulesets to reduce redundancy.
|-
|-
|[[Saffron City]]
|[[Saffron City]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned  || Too large; contains walls; helipad and platforms to the left promote camping.  
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned  || Too large; contains walls; helipad and platforms to the left promote camping.
|-
|-
|{{SSB|Mushroom Kingdom}}
|{{SSB|Mushroom Kingdom}}
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned  || Contains walk-off blast zones; pipes can be used for stalling and camping.  Lower blast zones practically nonexistant.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned  || Contains walk-off blast zones; pipes can be used for stalling and camping.
|-
|-
|[[Princess Peach's Castle]]
|[[Princess Peach's Castle]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned  || Walls allow for infinites and promote camping; disruptive geometry makes the stage difficult to traverse.  
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned  || Walls allow for infinites and promote camping; disruptive geometry makes the stage difficult to traverse.
|-
|-
|[[Rainbow Cruise]]
|[[Rainbow Cruise]]
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick<ref name="Smashadelphia Ruleset"/>  || Contains slopes and walls, top platform is extremely close to the blast zone.
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Tier 4: Almost always Banned<ref name="Smashadelphia Ruleset"/>  || Contains slopes and walls, top platform is extremely close to the blast zone.
|-
|-
|[[Kongo Falls]]
|[[Kongo Falls]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned  || Rock off the right side of the stage promotes camping; sharking is possible underneath the main platform.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned  || Rock off the right side of the stage promotes camping; sharking is possible underneath the main platform.
|-
|-
|[[Jungle Japes]]
|[[Jungle Japes]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned  || High ceiling; platforms off both left and right sides promote camping; water current unfairly punishes characters with poor recoveries.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned  || High ceiling; platforms off both left and right sides promote camping; water current unfairly punishes characters with poor recoveries.
|-
|-
|[[Great Bay]]
|[[Great Bay]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Solid middle platform above two lower platforms allows for easy, low-risk [[stage spike]]s that result in frequent low-percent KOs and [[gimp]]s 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
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Solid middle platform above two lower platforms allows for easy, low-risk [[stage spike]]s that result in frequent low-percent KOs and [[gimp]]s 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]]
|[[Temple]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Far too large and promotes circle camping; very large cave of life in lower half of the stage.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Too large and promotes circle camping; very large cave of life in lower half of the stage.
|-
|-
|[[Brinstar]]
|[[Brinstar]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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 (SSBM)|Yoshi's Island (Melee)]]
|[[Yoshi's Island (SSBM)|Yoshi's Island (Melee)]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Features walk-off blast zones; caves of life; uneven geometry which allows characters to live far longer than they would otherwise.  
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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]]
|[[Yoshi's Story]]
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal<ref name="Smashadelphia Ruleset">[[Tournament:Smashadelphia Ultimate#Ruleset|Smashadelphia Ultimate]] (December 9th, 2018)</ref><ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/> || Features slopes on the ledges; blast zones are rather close to the main stage. Also features a low ceiling, which can lead to early kills, making this stage banned in some tournaments.
|style="background:#ffffbf" | Tier 2: Often Counterpick<ref name="Smashadelphia Ruleset">[https://www.ssbwiki.com/Tournament:Smashadelphia_Ultimate#Ruleset Smashadelphia Ultimate (December 9th, 2018)]</ref><ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/> || Contains slopes at the ledges, horizontal blast zones are close to the body of the stage.
|-
|-
|[[Fountain of Dreams]]
|[[Fountain of Dreams]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Water effects (particularly from effect-heavy moves such as [[Wario Bike]] or [[Power Geyser]]) can cause performance issues, even in Battlefield and Ω forms; too similar to Battlefield with hazards off.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Water effects can cause performance issues, even in Battlefield and Ω forms.
|-
|-
|[[Green Greens]]
|[[Green Greens]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Blast zones are very close to the stage; layout generally promotes camping.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Blast zones are very close to the stage; layout generally promotes camping.
|-
|-
|[[Corneria]]
|[[Corneria]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Too large; upper blast line is too close to stage; gun and back fin promote camping.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Too large; upper blast line is too close to stage; gun and back fin promote camping.
|-
|-
|[[Venom]]
|[[Venom]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Walls allow for infinites; several unreasonably strong camping positions; separation of portions of the stage by the Great Fox's body makes it difficult to traverse.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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]]
|[[Pokémon Stadium]]
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal || Often excluded in favor of Pokémon Stadium 2: Top and side blast zones are the same, stage is a bit smaller, platforms a bit lower, camera is angled differently.
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Tier 3: Rarely Legal || Often excluded in favor of Pokémon Stadium 2: Blast zones are the same, platforms a bit higher, camera is angled differently.
|-
|-
|[[Onett]]
|[[Onett]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Irregular stage design; houses allow for infinites; contains walk-off blast zones and generally disruptive geometry.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Irregular stage design; contains walk-off blast zones and generally disruptive geometry.
|-
|-
|[[Mushroom Kingdom II]]
|[[Mushroom Kingdom II]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Too small; walk-off blast zones; no proper center platform.  
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Too small; walk-off blast zones; no proper center platform.  
|-
|-
|[[Brinstar Depths]]
|[[Brinstar Depths]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Contains walls and caves of life; unusual geometry; strong camping position under the main body of the stage; low ceiling.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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]]
|[[Big Blue]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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; unusual camera.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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; unusual camera.
|-
|-
|[[Fourside]]
|[[Fourside]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Buildings can be used for wall combos and infinites; unusual geometry favors circle camping.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Buildings can be used for wall combos and infinites; unusual geometry favors circle camping.
|-
|-
|[[Delfino Plaza]]
|[[Delfino Plaza]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Various transformations include walls, walk-off blast zones, water, and generally uneven geometry. Main transformation's main platform can be sharked. Transformations cannot be turned off.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Various transformations include walls, walk-off blast zones, water, and generally uneven geometry. Main transformation's main platform can be sharked.
|-
|-
|[[Mushroomy Kingdom]]
|[[Mushroomy Kingdom]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Scrolling stage with walk-offs; bricks can be used for caves of life.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Scrolling stage with walk-offs; bricks can be used for caves of life.
|-
|-
|[[Figure-8 Circuit]]
|[[Figure-8 Circuit]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Stage features walk-off blast zones. No bottom blast line.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Stage features walk-off blast zones.
|-
|-
|[[WarioWare, Inc.]]
|[[WarioWare, Inc.]]
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal<ref name="Glitch 6 Ruleset">[[Tournament:Glitch 6|Glitch 6]] (January 20th, 2019)</ref><ref name="Smashadelphia Ruleset"/> || Horizontal blast zones are extremely close to the main body of the stage; unusual camera.
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Tier 3: Rarely Legal <ref name="Glitch 6 Ruleset">[https://www.ssbwiki.com/Tournament:Glitch_6 Glitch 6 (January 20th, 2019)]</ref><ref name="Smashadelphia Ruleset"/> || Horizontal blast zones are extremely close to the main body of the stage; unusual camera.
|-
|-
|[[Bridge of Eldin]]
|[[Bridge of Eldin]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Features walk-off blast zones; the bridge remains intact with hazards off, covering the lower blast zone.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Features walk-off blast zones; the bridge remains intact with hazards off, covering the lower blast zone.
|-
|-
|[[Norfair]]
|[[Norfair]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Too large; abundance of ledges and strange layout can promote stalling.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Too large; abundance of ledges and strange layout can promote stalling.
|-
|-
|[[Frigate Orpheon]]
|[[Frigate Orpheon]]
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick<ref name="Smashadelphia Ruleset"/> || 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.
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Tier 4: Almost always Banned<ref name="Smashadelphia Ruleset"/> || 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.
|-
|-
|{{SSBB|Yoshi's Island}}
|{{SSBB|Yoshi's Island}}
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal || Slopes at the ledges, horizontal blast zones are close to the body of the stage, layout is similar to Smashville.
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Tier 3: Rarely Legal<ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/> || Slopes at the ledges, horizontal blast zones are close to the body of the stage.
|-
|-
|[[Halberd]]
|[[Halberd]]
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick || Opening transformation has walk-off blast zones; potential for sharking the main platform of the main transformation. Narrow blast zone on second transition can benefit horizontal attackers.
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Tier 4: Almost always Banned || Opening transformation has walk-off blast zones; potential for sharking the main platform of the main transformation. Narrow blast zone on second transition can benefit horizontal attackers.
|-
|-
|[[Lylat Cruise]]
|[[Lylat Cruise]]
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal || Slants can alter gameplay and mess up projectiles; certain recoveries had difficulties grabbing the ledge prior to 8.0.0.
|style="background:#ffffbf" | Tier 2: Often Counterpick<ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/> || Ledges can cause problems for recovering; uneven geometry. Features long slopes on the outer platforms and near the ledges.
|-
|-
|[[Pokémon Stadium 2]]
|[[Pokémon Stadium 2]]
|style="background:#efffbf" | Counterpick/Starter || Sometimes deemed as a counterpick, with Small Battlefield replacing it as a starter, and other times excluded in favor of the original Pokémon Stadium in certain regions of the world.
|style="background:#dfffbf" | Tier 0: Starter ||
|-
|-
|[[Port Town Aero Dive]]
|[[Port Town Aero Dive]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Various transformations feature walkoff blast zones and unusual geometry; touching the track when on the flying platform may damage players.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Various transformations feature walkoff blast zones and unusual geometry; touching the track when on the flying platform may damage players.
|-
|-
|[[Castle Siege]]
|[[Castle Siege]]
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal<ref name="Smashadelphia Ruleset"/><ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/> || The camera may be blocked by a wall in the bottom right corner of the stage; contains a slope in the center of the stage; asymmetry affects how stage control operates.
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Tier 4: Almost always Banned<ref name="Smashadelphia Ruleset"/><ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/> || The camera may be blocked by a wall in the bottom right corner of the stage; contains a slope in the center of the stage; asymmetry affects how stage control operates.
|-
|-
|[[Distant Planet]]
|[[Distant Planet]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Features walk-off blast zones.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Features walk-off blast zones.
|-
|-
|[[Smashville]]
|[[Smashville]]
|style="background:#dfffbf" | Starter ||  
|style="background:#dfffbf" | Tier 0: Starter ||  
|-
|-
|[[New Pork City]]
|[[New Pork City]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Too large; promotes circle camping; contains walls and caves of life.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Too large; promotes circle camping; contains walls and caves of life.
|-
|-
|[[Summit]]
|[[Summit]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Slippery floor can be disruptive and give the {{SSBU|Ice Climbers}} an unfair advantage, as 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.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Slippery floor can be disruptive and give the {{SSBU|Ice Climbers}} an unfair advantage, as 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]]
|[[Skyworld]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Cave of life in center stage, generally disruptive geometry.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Cave of life in center stage, generally disruptive geometry.
|-
|-
|[[Shadow Moses Island]]
|[[Shadow Moses Island]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Contains walls which block access to side blast lines when not destroyed and allow for infinites; walk-off blast lines; stage has no access to a bottom blast line.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Contains walls, only top blast zone is accessible.
|-
|-
|[[Luigi's Mansion]]
|[[Luigi's Mansion]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Lower levels of the stage have caves of life; stage geometry can promote circle camping.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Lower levels of the stage have caves of life; stage geometry can promote circle camping.
|-
|-
|[[Pirate Ship]]
|[[Pirate Ship]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Water negatively affects edgeguarding; instant-K.O hazard in front of the ship.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Water negatively affects edgeguarding; instant-K.O hazard in front of the ship.
|-
|-
|[[Spear Pillar]]
|[[Spear Pillar]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Promotes circle camping; large cave of life on the lower level.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Promotes circle camping; cave of life on the lower level.
|-
|-
|[[75m]]
|[[75m]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Platforms are too small; features a walk-off blast zone; contains hazards (even with hazards turned off); stage promotes circle camping due to extreme size.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Platforms are too small; features a walk-off blast zone; contains hazards (even with hazards turned off). Stage promotes circle camping due to extreme size.
|-
|-
|[[Mario Bros.]]
|[[Mario Bros.]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Contains caves of life, walk-off blast zones, unusual horizontal blast zone behavior, and no lower blast zone.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Contains caves of life, walk-off blast zones, unusual horizontal blast zone behavior, and no lower blast zone.
|-
|-
|[[Hanenbow]]
|[[Hanenbow]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Layout promotes stalling; unfairly benefits characters with high aerial mobility; 2D property results in unusual hitbox behavior.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Layout promotes stalling; unfairly benefits characters with high aerial mobility; 2D property results in unusual hitbox behavior.
|-
|-
|[[Green Hill Zone]]
|[[Green Hill Zone]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Features walk-off blast zones; no lower blast zone; uneven terrain favors short characters.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Features walk-off blast zones; no lower blast zone; uneven terrain favors short characters.
|-
|-
|[[3D Land]]
|[[3D Land]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Scrolling stage with walk-off blast zones and walls.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Scrolling stage with walk-off blast zones.
|-
|-
|[[Golden Plains]]
|[[Golden Plains]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Features walk-off blast zones and walls.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Features walk-off blast zones and walls.
|-
|-
|[[Paper Mario]]
|[[Paper Mario]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Features walk-off blast zones and walls.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Features walk-off blast zones and walls.
|-
|-
|[[Gerudo Valley]]
|[[Gerudo Valley]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Features walk-off blast zones; bridge remains closed with hazards off, covering the lower blast zone.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Features walk-off blast zones; bridge remains closed with hazards off, covering the lower blast zone.
|-
|-
|[[Spirit Train]]
|[[Spirit Train]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Uneven terrain; front of train is a damaging hazard; portions of stage may intrusively carry players offscreen.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Uneven terrain; front of train is a damaging hazard; portions of stage may intrusively carry players offscreen.
|-
|-
|[[Dream Land GB]]
|[[Dream Land GB]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Scrolling stage with walk-off blast zones; 2D property results in unusual hitbox behavior.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Scrolling stage with walk-off blast zones; 2D property results in unusual hitbox behavior.
|-
|-
|[[Unova Pokémon League]]
|[[Unova Pokémon League]]
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal<ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset">[[Tournament:GENESIS 6#Ruleset|GENESIS 6]]</ref>|| Similar to [[Pokémon Stadium 2]]; visually dark; teleport recoveries don't 'hug' against the sides of the stage; lightning effects can cause issues with certain colorblind players.
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Tier 3: Rarely Legal <ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset">[https://www.ssbwiki.com/Tournament:GENESIS_6#Ruleset GENESIS 6]</ref> || Similar to [[Pokémon Stadium 2]]; visually dark; teleport recoveries don't 'hug' against the sides of the stage.
|-
|-
|[[Prism Tower]]
|[[Prism Tower]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Some transformations have unusual geometry; walkoff blast zones in initial transformation.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Some transformations have unusual geometry; walkoff blast zones in initial transformation.
|-
|-
|[[Mute City SNES]]
|[[Mute City SNES]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Bottom blast zone is covered by a damaging hazard; unusual layout promotes camping; stage flattens the hitboxes of characters.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Bottom blast zone is covered by a damaging hazard; unusual layout promotes camping.
|-
|-
|[[Magicant]]
|[[Magicant]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Extremely powerful camping spot under the main body of the stage; generally unusual layout promotes camping.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Extremely powerful camping spot under the main body of the stage; generally unusual layout promotes camping.
|-
|-
|[[Arena Ferox]]
|[[Arena Ferox]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Randomized layout; often includes caves of life, walls, and ceilings.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Randomized layout; often includes caves of life.
|-
|-
|[[Reset Bomb Forest]]
|[[Reset Bomb Forest]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || High top platform; disruptive gap in center stage.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || High top platform; disruptive gap in center stage.
|-
|-
|[[Tortimer Island]]
|[[Tortimer Island]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Water negatively affects edgeguarding; very large size.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Water negatively affects edgeguarding; very large size.
|-
|-
|[[Balloon Fight]]
|[[Balloon Fight]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Features walk-off blast zones; unusual horizontal blast zone behavior.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Features walk-off blast zones; unusual horizontal blast zone behavior.
|-
|-
|[[Living Room]]
|[[Living Room]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Features walk-off blast zones and falling hazards (even with stage hazards off).
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Features walk-off blast zones and falling hazards (even with stage hazards off).
|-
|-
|[[Find Mii]]
|[[Find Mii]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Cage blocks KOs and creates a small cave of life; rock column on right and aforementioned cage promote camping.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Cage blocks KOs and creates a small cave of life; rock column on right and aforementioned cage promote camping.
|-
|-
|[[Tomodachi Life]]
|[[Tomodachi Life]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Blast zones are extremely close to all areas of the stage; layout unfairly inhibits characters with poor vertical movement.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Blast zones are extremely close to all areas of the stage; layout unfairly inhibits characters with poor vertical movement.
|-
|-
|[[PictoChat 2]]
|[[PictoChat 2]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Too similar to Final Destination, omitted from most rulesets to reduce redundancy.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Steep slopes at the ledges; too similar to Final Destination, omitted from most rulesets to reduce redundancy.
|-
|-
|[[Mushroom Kingdom U]]
|[[Mushroom Kingdom U]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Main body of the stage is extremely large, and reaches very close to the horizontal blast zones.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Main body of the stage is extremely large, and reaches very close to the horizontal blast zones.
|-
|-
|[[Mario Galaxy]]
|[[Mario Galaxy]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Features walk-off blast zones. Gravity inhibits certain horizontal projectiles.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Features walk-off blast zones. Gravity inhibits certain horizontal projectiles.
|-
|-
|[[Mario Circuit]]
|[[Mario Circuit]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Fighters can be damaged by the track, various transformations include disruptive geometry, including walls, ceilings, caves of life, and walkoff blast zones.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Various transformations include disruptive geometry, including walls, ceilings, caves of life, and walkoff blast zones.
|-
|-
|[[Skyloft]]
|[[Skyloft]]
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Retired counterpick<ref name="Glitch 6 Ruleset"/><ref name="Smashadelphia Ruleset"/> || Main platform promotes sharking, blast zones are very close to the main body of the stage.
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Tier 3: Rarely Legal <ref name="Glitch 6 Ruleset"/><ref name="Smashadelphia Ruleset"/> || Main platform promotes sharking, blast zones are very close to the main body of the stage.
|-
|-
|[[The Great Cave Offensive]]
|[[The Great Cave Offensive]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Extremely large; too many caves of life; Danger Zones are too significant a departure from normal gameplay; blast zones are only accessible in small areas; walk-off blast zones.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | 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; walk-off blast zones.
|-
|-
|[[Kalos Pokémon League]]
|[[Kalos Pokémon League]]
|style="background:#efffbf" | Counterpick/Starter || Walls located on the ledges of the stage; overall rather large blast zones.
|style="background:#efffbf" | Tier 1: Counterpick/Starter ||  
|-
|-
|[[Coliseum]]
|[[Coliseum]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Features walk-off blast zones; no lower blast zone.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Features walk-off blast zones; no lower blast zone.
|-
|-
|[[Flat Zone X]]
|[[Flat Zone X]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || The stage is randomized and features walk-off blast zones; stage affects hitbox behavior.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || The stage is randomized and features walk-off blast zones; stage affects hitbox behavior.
|-
|-
|[[Palutena's Temple]]
|[[Palutena's Temple]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Too large and promotes circle camping; lower part of the stage has caves of life; several damaging spike hazards.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Too large and promotes circle camping; lower part of the stage has caves of life; several damaging spike hazards.
|-
|-
|[[Gamer]]
|[[Gamer]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Layout is randomized; often includes caves of life. Its Battlefield and Ω forms are often banned due to the camera angle differing from other stages and the blast zone walls being concealed.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Layout is randomized; often includes caves of life. Its Battlefield and Ω forms are often banned due to the camera angle differing from other stages.
|-
|-
|[[Garden of Hope]]
|[[Garden of Hope]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Too large; very unusual layout with multiple accessible walls, and two offstage platforms which can encourage camping.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Too large; very unusual layout with multiple accessible walls, and two offstage platforms which can encourage camping.
|-
|-
|[[Town and City]]
|[[Town and City]]
|style="background:#efffbf" | Counterpick/Starter || While in early years of Ultimate the stage was consistently considered a starter<ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/>, views of the stage have changed as more competitively viable stages (including competitively viable Hazards On stages) were added to the game. This is mainly due to Town and City usually being the only transformative stage in most competitive stage lists, as well as having a transformation which is duplicative of Final Destination. When the platforms return during transformation, there is technically a walk-off, which can lead to unfair KOs at extremely low percentages as the platforms move to the blastzones.
|style="background:#dfffbf" | Tier 0: Starter<ref name="GENESIS 6 Ruleset"/> ||
|-
|-
|[[Wii Fit Studio]]
|[[Wii Fit Studio]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Layout is randomized; features walk-off blast zones.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Layout is randomized; features walk-off blast zones.
|-
|-
|[[Boxing Ring]]
|[[Boxing Ring]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Features walk-off blast zones and accessible walls; extremely powerful camping spot on the light fixture.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Features walk-off blast zones and accessible walls; extremely powerful camping spot on the light fixture.
|-
|-
|[[Gaur Plain]]
|[[Gaur Plain]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Features walk-off blast zones; unusual layout and large size promote camping.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Features walk-off blast zones; unusual layout and large size promote camping.
|-
|-
|[[Duck Hunt (stage)|Duck Hunt]]
|[[Duck Hunt (stage)|Duck Hunt]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Tree on left side of stage can promote camping; blast zones are close to stage; stage affects hitbox behavior.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Tree on left side of stage can promote camping; blast zones are close to stage; stage affects hitbox behavior.
|-
|-
|[[Wrecking Crew]]
|[[Wrecking Crew]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Platforms are too close to the top blast zone; unusual and randomized layout; ladders intrusively affect movement.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Platforms are too close to the top blast zone; unusual layout; ladders intrusively affect movement.
|-
|-
|[[Pilotwings]]
|[[Pilotwings]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Unusual layout with accessible walls can promote camping. Terrain in the background can damage fighters.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Unusual layout with accessible walls can promote camping. Terrain in the background can damage fighters.
|-
|-
|[[Wuhu Island]]
|[[Wuhu Island]]
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal || Main platform promotes sharking, large slopes at the ledges; horizontal blast zones are very close to the main body of the stage; very high ceiling makes it difficult to KO vertically.
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Tier 4: Almost always Banned || Main platform promotes sharking, slopes at the ledges; horizontal blast zones are very close to the main body of the stage; very high top blast zone makes it difficult to KO vertically.
|-
|-
|[[Windy Hill Zone]]
|[[Windy Hill Zone]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Large size and layout promote camping; platforms are very close to the blast zones; unusual gravity as with Mario Galaxy. Its Battlefield and Ω forms are usually banned due to the dense grass hiding traps set by Isabelle, Snake, and Steve
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Large size and layout promote camping; platforms are very close to the blast zones; unusual gravity as with Mario Galaxy. Its Battlefield and Ω forms are usually banned due to the dense grass hiding traps set by Isabelle and Snake.
|-
|-
|[[Wily Castle]]
|[[Wily Castle]]
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal<ref name="Smashadelphia Ruleset"/> || Too similar to [[Final Destination]], omitted from most rulesets to reduce redundancy.
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Tier 4: Almost always Banned<ref name="Smashadelphia Ruleset"/> || Too similar to [[Final Destination]], omitted from most rulesets to reduce redundancy.
|-
|-
|[[Pac-Land]]
|[[Pac-Land]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Extremely intrusive layout includes walls and walk-offs; scrolling can be unfairly detrimental to slower characters, flattened hitboxes significantly alters gameplay.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Extremely intrusive layout includes walls and walk-offs; scrolling can be unfairly detrimental to slower characters.
|-
|-
|[[Super Mario Maker]]
|[[Super Mario Maker]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Randomized stage layout, often including damaging hazards, caves of life, and walk-off blast zones, flattened hitboxes significantly alters gameplay.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Randomized stage layout, often including damaging hazards, caves of life, and walk-off blast zones.
|-
|-
|[[Suzaku Castle]]
|[[Suzaku Castle]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Features walk-off blast zone on the right, and a powerful camping spot on the left.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Features walk-off blast zones on the right, and a powerful camping spot on the left.
|-
|-
|[[Midgar]]
|[[Midgar]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Too similar to Battlefield, omitted from most rulesets to reduce redundancy.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Too similar to Battlefield, omitted from most rulesets to reduce redundancy.
|-
|-
|[[Umbra Clock Tower]]
|[[Umbra Clock Tower]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Distracting background; too similar to Final Destination, omitted from most rulesets to reduce redundancy.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Distracting background; too similar to Final Destination, omitted from most rulesets to reduce redundancy.
|-
|-
|[[New Donk City Hall]]
|[[New Donk City Hall]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Transformations feature strong camping positions, and walk-off blast zones.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Transformations feature strong camping positions, and walk-off blast zones.
|-
|-
|[[Great Plateau Tower]]
|[[Great Plateau Tower]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Top of tower creates massive cave of life in center stage.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Top of tower creates massive cave of life in center stage.
|-
|-
|[[Moray Towers]]
|[[Moray Towers]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Large size and unusual geometry promote circle camping; large block on left side creates cave of life, which can also KO extremely early if the tech is missed.  
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Large size and unusual geometry promote circle camping; large block on left side creates cave of life.  
|-
|-
|[[Dracula's Castle]]
|[[Dracula's Castle]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Very unusual geometry; large size and slope on far right can promote camping.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Very unusual geometry; large size and slope on far right can promote camping.
|-
|-
|[[Mementos]]
|[[Mementos]]
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal || Slight slope in center of stage, asymmetrical layout, top platform can promote camping, stage altogether is large and paired with large blast zones.
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Tier 4: Almost always Banned || Slope in center of stage, asymmetrical layout, top platform can promote camping, stage altogether is large and paired with large blast zones.
|-
|-
|[[Yggdrasil's Altar]]
|[[Yggdrasil's Altar]]
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal || Some of its layouts promote camping. The beginning layout is also too similar to Final Destination.
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Tier 3: Rarely Legal || Some of its layouts promote camping. The beginning layout is also too similar to Final Destination.
|-
|-
|[[Spiral Mountain]]
|[[Spiral Mountain]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Accessible wall on the right promotes inescapable infinites. Bottom blast zone is very low.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Accessible wall on the right promotes inescapable infinites. Bottom blast zone is very low.
|-
|-
|[[King of Fighters Stadium]]
|[[King of Fighters Stadium]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || The stage has large walls on either side which can allow for infinites. The stage is fairly large. Finally, the mechanic of the walls requiring a fighter to be launched into them with sufficient horizontal speed strongly favours fighters with vertical KO options and horizontal moves with high base knockback.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || The stage has large walls on either side which can allow for infinites. The stage is fairly large, and it has walk-off blast zones. Finally, the mechanic of the walls requiring a fighter to be launched into them with sufficient horizontal speed strongly favours fighters with vertical KO options and horizontal moves with high base knockback.
|-
|-
|[[Garreg Mach Monastery]]
|[[Garreg Mach Monastery]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || Features walk-off blast zones; no lower blast zone. The chandeliers as platforms in the reception hall promote camping. The shops, although breakable, serve as walls which allow for infinites.
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Tier 5: Banned || Features walk-off blast zones; no lower blast zone. The chandeliers as platforms in the reception hall promote camping. The shops, although breakable, serve as walls which allow for infinites.
|-
|-
|[[Spring Stadium]]
|[[Spring Stadium]]
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal || Ceiling strips causes living longer and teching situations.
|style="background:#ffdfbf" | Tier 4: Almost always Banned || Ceiling strips causes living longer and teching situations - cannot be turned of with stage hazards. Side blast zones quite close to stage.
|-
|[[Minecraft World]]
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal || The stage randomly chooses between one of six different layouts, but each one can be manually selected with button inputs. Provides a home-stage advantage to {{SSBU|Steve}} due to it being designed with his [[Mine]] mechanic in mind; stage is overall rather large paired with large blast zones
|-
|[[Northern Cave]]
|style="background:#ffefbf" | Infrequently legal || Stage layout is static and laid out similarly to Kalos Pokémon League without side walls but background is visually busy.
|-
|[[Cloud Sea of Alrest]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || The right side of the stage is irregularly slanted, and the angle of the slope occasionally changes. The area starting immediately below the stage is obscured by clouds, making edgeguarding difficult. The meteor blast zone is also very close to the stage.
|-
|[[Mishima Dojo]]
|style="background:#ffbfbf" | Banned || The stage has large walls on either side and a ceiling which can allow for infinites. While the walls and ceiling are destructible, the blast zones beyond them are close to the stage.
|-
|[[Hollow Bastion]]
|style="background:#efffbf" | Counterpick/Starter || Stage layout is static and laid out identically to Smashville with hazards off.
|}
|}


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==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
 


[[Category:Competitive play]]
[[Category:Competitive play]]

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