Dr.Jets
Smash Rookie
In tournament I still cannot decide on Dr. Mario's best stages! I came here wondering if you guys would help me!
-
Welcome to Smashboards, the world's largest Super Smash Brothers community! Over 250,000 Smash Bros. fans from around the world have come to discuss these great games in over 19 million posts!
You are currently viewing our boards as a visitor. Click here to sign up right now and start on your path in the Smash community!
It appears that you are using ad block :'(
Hey, we get it. However this website is run by and for the community... and it needs ads in order to keep running.
Please disable your adblock on Smashboards, or go premium to hide all advertisements and this notice.
Alternatively, this ad may have just failed to load. Woops!
Please disable your adblock on Smashboards, or go premium to hide all advertisements and this notice.
Alternatively, this ad may have just failed to load. Woops!
Stages that makes Dr. Mario great
- Thread starter Dr.Jets
- Start date
Roostertone
Smash Rookie
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2015
- Messages
- 11
I've played quite a bit of Doc in tournaments, and the following wall of text is my analysis of how he fares on each stage.
Starters
TL;DR: Strike to Smashville or Lylat; avoid Battlefield
Battlefield - While this stage might seem good on paper - lots of platforms for you to shark with your quick aerials - it really doesn't suit Doc very much in practice. Doc's awful horizontal air speed makes it difficult to manoeuvre around the stage, and the platforms have a tendency to screw up your dthrow/dtilt followups. The large horizontal blastzones are also bad for Doc, since it makes it harder for your (primarily horizontal) kill moves to finish a stock, while making your poor recovery a bigger factor. Additionally, the platforms on this stage are too high for you to hit through with upsmash, and they stop you from using pills to effectively harass your opponents or force them to approach you. The only real benefit to this stage is that the platforms allow you to use your up B more liberally, since you can land on a platform to make the move safer. Despite that, you'll usually want to be striking this.
Final Destination - This stage isn't horrible for Doc, but it isn't great either. Compared to Battlefield, it's at least a lot easier to pull off your strings and throw out pills with no platforms getting in the way. However, it's also extremely unsafe to ever use up B as a kill option on this stage, as you will never be able to land on a platform - as a result, the only safe-ish time to use up B is when you're close enough to the ledge to snap to it. Short horizontal blastzones and a decently high ceiling is nice. Not much else to say about it - I typically strike it in game 1, then leave it open for the counterpick if I win, there are other things more worth striking.
Smashville - The ideal stage for Doc. Short horizontal blastzones allow for early KOs, while minimizing the impact of your poor recovery. The moving platform makes it possible to safely use up B onstage (depending on its positioning) while rarely getting in the way of your movement or pills. With a bit of luck, it can also be a godsend while you are trying to recover. The only real drawback I see to this stage is that it doesn't have long walls below it, which means you can't use your walljump to aid in recovery. Regardless, this stage is otherwise so good for Doc that you should never strike it, and almost always pick it when possible.
Lylat Cruise - This stage is actually surprisingly good for Doc, which is great because nobody expects the Lylat pick. The janky ledges aren't too much of an issue due to how easy it is to sweetspot the ledge using Doc's up b (even though it's short), and with a couple minutes of practice you really shouldn't be ledge-SDing on this stage, ever. The platforms are short enough that, depending on positioning and the stage's sloping, you can sometimes hit through them with your upsmash. There are also open gaps for your to fire pills through or make an aerial approach if needed, and the stage is quite small, so Doc's poor mobility isn't much of an issue. Personally, I prefer Smashville for general use, but against characters or players who really dislike Lylat, it's a good choice.
Town & City - Workable, but not ideal. Has similar issues to Battlefield regarding its size, with lots of platforms for opponents to make use of against you. However, unlike Battlefield, the platforms are generally not too obtrusive, and shouldn't be getting in the way of pills or dthrow combos except on specific transformations. The low ceiling is another drawback - Doc has very few vertical KO moves, so chances are other characters will make more use of it than you will. At least its horizontal blastzones are the same size as Smashville/FD.
With that said, your striking "priority" for game 1 should usually be:
1. Battlefield
2. Town & City
3. Final Destination
4. Lylat Cruise
5. Smashville
Counterpicks
TL;DR: Avoid Halberd; the others are okay, especially Duck Hunt.
Castle Siege - Transformation 1 is great, as it's tiny, has two unobtrusive platforms for up B usage, and has walls making your recovery easier. Transformation 2 is awful - while the walkoffs are nice for a character with primarily horizontal KO moves, good opponents will abuse its massive size against your awful ground and air speed. Transformation 3 is FD, but with slight tilting, so it's not too bad.
Delfino Plaza - Most transformations are reasonably small, and many of them have walkoffs for you to net early kills with your multitude of horizontal kill moves. However, recovering on this stage can sometimes be an issue, since you usually won't go high enough to actually make it through the stage, which means you must go for the ledge every time on the "moving platform" transformations. The platforms are also somewhat intrusive. Another thing to watch out for is the extremely low ceiling while the stage is transitioning from one transformation to the next.
Duck Hunt - Same favorable blastzone sizes as FD/Smashville, except with platforms on the right, left, and occasionally center which allow for safe up B usage. Nice long and flat walls below the stage allow you to consistently use walljumps in your recovery. As long as you get used to the dog and "fog of war" bushes, it's a solid stage to play on if Smashville is banned or DSR'd.
Halberd - This stage is terrible for Doc. A constant, ridiculously low ceiling gives Doc almost no advantage, while giving tons of help to many common tournament foes such as Rosalina and Diddy. Transformation 1 has the same recovery problem that Delfino's platform transformations have. Transformation 2 isn't as bad, but campy opponents such as Rosalina and Megaman can use it make your life hell, with stage hazards and a generally massive size making it hard to approach. Just ban it.
Generally, when striking in game 2 or 3, you want to ban Halberd and Battlefield.
When picking in game 2 or 3, you want to choose Smashville, Lylat, or Duck Hunt.
All other stages are situational.
Starters
TL;DR: Strike to Smashville or Lylat; avoid Battlefield
Battlefield - While this stage might seem good on paper - lots of platforms for you to shark with your quick aerials - it really doesn't suit Doc very much in practice. Doc's awful horizontal air speed makes it difficult to manoeuvre around the stage, and the platforms have a tendency to screw up your dthrow/dtilt followups. The large horizontal blastzones are also bad for Doc, since it makes it harder for your (primarily horizontal) kill moves to finish a stock, while making your poor recovery a bigger factor. Additionally, the platforms on this stage are too high for you to hit through with upsmash, and they stop you from using pills to effectively harass your opponents or force them to approach you. The only real benefit to this stage is that the platforms allow you to use your up B more liberally, since you can land on a platform to make the move safer. Despite that, you'll usually want to be striking this.
Final Destination - This stage isn't horrible for Doc, but it isn't great either. Compared to Battlefield, it's at least a lot easier to pull off your strings and throw out pills with no platforms getting in the way. However, it's also extremely unsafe to ever use up B as a kill option on this stage, as you will never be able to land on a platform - as a result, the only safe-ish time to use up B is when you're close enough to the ledge to snap to it. Short horizontal blastzones and a decently high ceiling is nice. Not much else to say about it - I typically strike it in game 1, then leave it open for the counterpick if I win, there are other things more worth striking.
Smashville - The ideal stage for Doc. Short horizontal blastzones allow for early KOs, while minimizing the impact of your poor recovery. The moving platform makes it possible to safely use up B onstage (depending on its positioning) while rarely getting in the way of your movement or pills. With a bit of luck, it can also be a godsend while you are trying to recover. The only real drawback I see to this stage is that it doesn't have long walls below it, which means you can't use your walljump to aid in recovery. Regardless, this stage is otherwise so good for Doc that you should never strike it, and almost always pick it when possible.
Lylat Cruise - This stage is actually surprisingly good for Doc, which is great because nobody expects the Lylat pick. The janky ledges aren't too much of an issue due to how easy it is to sweetspot the ledge using Doc's up b (even though it's short), and with a couple minutes of practice you really shouldn't be ledge-SDing on this stage, ever. The platforms are short enough that, depending on positioning and the stage's sloping, you can sometimes hit through them with your upsmash. There are also open gaps for your to fire pills through or make an aerial approach if needed, and the stage is quite small, so Doc's poor mobility isn't much of an issue. Personally, I prefer Smashville for general use, but against characters or players who really dislike Lylat, it's a good choice.
Town & City - Workable, but not ideal. Has similar issues to Battlefield regarding its size, with lots of platforms for opponents to make use of against you. However, unlike Battlefield, the platforms are generally not too obtrusive, and shouldn't be getting in the way of pills or dthrow combos except on specific transformations. The low ceiling is another drawback - Doc has very few vertical KO moves, so chances are other characters will make more use of it than you will. At least its horizontal blastzones are the same size as Smashville/FD.
With that said, your striking "priority" for game 1 should usually be:
1. Battlefield
2. Town & City
3. Final Destination
4. Lylat Cruise
5. Smashville
Counterpicks
TL;DR: Avoid Halberd; the others are okay, especially Duck Hunt.
Castle Siege - Transformation 1 is great, as it's tiny, has two unobtrusive platforms for up B usage, and has walls making your recovery easier. Transformation 2 is awful - while the walkoffs are nice for a character with primarily horizontal KO moves, good opponents will abuse its massive size against your awful ground and air speed. Transformation 3 is FD, but with slight tilting, so it's not too bad.
Delfino Plaza - Most transformations are reasonably small, and many of them have walkoffs for you to net early kills with your multitude of horizontal kill moves. However, recovering on this stage can sometimes be an issue, since you usually won't go high enough to actually make it through the stage, which means you must go for the ledge every time on the "moving platform" transformations. The platforms are also somewhat intrusive. Another thing to watch out for is the extremely low ceiling while the stage is transitioning from one transformation to the next.
Duck Hunt - Same favorable blastzone sizes as FD/Smashville, except with platforms on the right, left, and occasionally center which allow for safe up B usage. Nice long and flat walls below the stage allow you to consistently use walljumps in your recovery. As long as you get used to the dog and "fog of war" bushes, it's a solid stage to play on if Smashville is banned or DSR'd.
Halberd - This stage is terrible for Doc. A constant, ridiculously low ceiling gives Doc almost no advantage, while giving tons of help to many common tournament foes such as Rosalina and Diddy. Transformation 1 has the same recovery problem that Delfino's platform transformations have. Transformation 2 isn't as bad, but campy opponents such as Rosalina and Megaman can use it make your life hell, with stage hazards and a generally massive size making it hard to approach. Just ban it.
Generally, when striking in game 2 or 3, you want to ban Halberd and Battlefield.
When picking in game 2 or 3, you want to choose Smashville, Lylat, or Duck Hunt.
All other stages are situational.
Last edited:
Dr.Jets
Smash Rookie
Thanks for the input! I cant wait to put this newly gained knowledge into my matches!