-Flatzone 2-
A new stage will be selected every week. The neutrals and counterpicks have all been discussed. Stages that would possibly need a refresh or more info will be given a new week. If at some point no legal stage needs work I will continue with the rest of the banned stages.
If anyone wants to make a writeup of an undiscussed stage (or suggest changes to an excisting one) feel free to post or PM.
Everyone can say anything they want about a stage, be it about specific matchups or just generally how Wario performs on the stage. At the end of each week I'll add a summary about the stage.
Backtracking is always allowed. If what I put up is bullsh*t, please feel free to correct me.
In the end I hope to have an easy accesible full list of all legal stages (hell, I'll even throw the banned ones in) and how they affect Wario.
-Battlefield-
-Lylat Cruise- [/FONT]
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Wario has some clear pros and cons on this stage. Wariociding and stagespiking is improved and the short sides help him with lots of his primary kill moves. Although he is mostly unneffected by the tilting stage while recovering, it also means that he can be forced into his jump release by characters that normally wouldn't be able to do that on-stage. Much like battlefield, fast character with long range attacks can abuse the platforms better than you can, think Marth, MK, ROB and such. Also, picking this against a Falco: bad bad Wario. The (pretty lousy) platforms don't really help when he can just grab release spike (near the edge) or Usmash you when he needs an opening for a kill.
When it comes to grab release infinites, this stage helps avoid them quite well. Lylat Cruise also makes a great Diddy Counterpick, probably the best.
Recommended ban: ...
Recommended counterpick: Diddy Kong, Ganondorf
-Yoshi's Island-
A 'neutral' stage that can be a pain against lots of characters when playing with Wario. People can (and will) camp under the center platform making it very hard to approach them. The platform can mess up some grab release followups but it's dependant on the angle it's sitting at, so other stages tend to do better in that regard.
The support ghosts generally help characters with lesser recoveries or extremely floaty recoveries (think Peach or Mr G&W) more than they help Wario and the sides allow opponents who can to walljump/cling. It is also advised not to stand on the slopes on the side of the level, they're like the Bermuda triangle of Brawl. If you bike into them you might wipe-out.
Recommended ban: ...
Recommended counterpick: Ganondorf
-Final Destination-
It's flat, it has zero save spots for any grab release infinite mojo, and helps projectile spammers. Wario doesn't have a whole lot of trouble handling projectile spam, so this will not hurt him too much. Aside from the infinites, Wario doesn't like this stage very much anyway. It gives you lots of free airspace to work with but faster characters can just run away and camp you. Against the characters that do great on Battlefield, this stage is actually better for you (Snake!). Banning this stage is advised if Luigi's Mansion isn't on the stage list.
Recommended ban: Falco, Diddy Kong, Yoshi, Ganondorf Bowser, Ice Climbers, Ike, Zero Suit Samus, Peach, Sheik/Zelda
Recommended counterpick: ...
-Smashville-
For starters Smashville is small, and Wario likes cramped places. Then there's the floating platform, it might not always be where you want it to be, but Wario has an easier time spacing himself around it due to his air speed. The biggest bonus of this platform though is that it completely ruins any grab release infinites. And because the infinites take forever to rack up damage the opponent won't get too much percent on you before he has too abort (probably with a grab release-> attack, but at least you're out).
Snake's like to put a mine on the moving platform, and Wario has no way of safely disarming them (except throwing the bike or wheels at it, which could be a problem) so watch out for that. Chances are he's going to hit/throw you into them unless you do it to him first.
Probably Diddy's second best stage. If you ban FD this will most likely be his counter. Falco on the other hand has trouble killing here because of the reasonably high ceiling.
Recommended ban: ...
Recommended counterpick: Yoshi, Ike, Bowser, Zelda, Zero Suit Samus, Ganondorf
-Delfino Plaza-
Delfino Plaza is no ordinary stage, more of an extreme version of Pokemon Stadium 1. It can have walkoffs, water, solid ledges, walls and more. The variations of platforms in the neutral form work quite well for Wario (see other simple platform levels) and his recovery makes sure that the stage won't leave him behind. Watch out for characters that can use the shark tactic under the stage (Metaknight comes to mind), Wario lacks a spike to properly punish this tactic.
The walk-off sections and wall sections favor characters with chaingrabs (specifically Dedede) and or wall infinites (Dedede again), so be sure not too get stuck against a wall, and for the love of god don't play Dedede here.
For the water sections (especially the island): if you get someone in the water and you have a fart stored, it's pretty much a free kill. However for any character that has a powerful spike it's even easier to get a reliable kill on you, so you don't want to be doing too much swimming yourself.
Delfino Plaza is considered a good stage for Wario against anyone but Dedede (and perhaps MK, but he doesn't have many weak stages).
Recommended ban: Dedede (although aircamping works well here and can make it more in your favor)
Recommended counterpick: Ganondorf
-Frigate Orpheon-
Frigate Orpheon is a stage with two faces. You have the starting setup, with no ledge on the up and down moving right side. This part of the stage really benefits those with good nonlaggy recoveries, like Wario, because if 'you must recover' on that side you can't avoid your recovery lag (if you have any). This means a free hit for the edge guarder on a lot of characters. The movement of the right side can also screw opponents over, rising just out of reach to land on when they're off the stage And of course just the lack of an edge means anyone who would normally be able to sweetspot the ledge and still recover will now just outright die. All of the above attributes help Wario against anyone with a traditional recovery, and destroy anyone with a tether recovery. Also note that the blast-zones on the side are farther away than you might expect so with good DI you can live for a long time.
But then the stage flips. It becomes kinda like Yoshi's Island, uneven main platform, one platform above the stage, and things that will save opponents on either side. This part isn't really in Wario favor, you don't need the things on the side to recover, and thus they are going to end up saving your opponent more than they will save you. And because both sides have edges all advantages that you had are gone. During the flip you should try to take advantage if your opponent is screwing around, with a waft for instance.
I'm not 100% sure how the flip mechanic works. But the stage doesn't seem to flip at given moments. Sometimes it'll flip pretty early and just stay that way. You have to hope that the first part of the stage is the main battleground for it to really give you an advantage. This makes it a risky counterpick, but still a good one.
Recommended ban: ...
Recommended counterpick: Fox, Falco, Wolf, Marth, Link, Toon Link, Ganondorf, Falcon, Ike, Olimar, Samus, Zero Suit Samus, Sheik/Zelda, Lucario (note that this only counts for the first stage)
-Rainbow Cruise-
The only scrolling stage that is generally allowed in tournaments, and a great Wario stage. Anyone with a tether or low vertical recovery will be in a world of pain. Characters that prefer the ground (Snake) also dislike this stage because they'll have to do a fair amount of jumping to keep up. Wario does well on this stage against pretty much anyone, with Dedede (and to a lesser extend MK) being the exception. Dedede get's an semi-infinite on the boat and some walkoffs for easy chaingrabbing to death. But even against the hated royal pinguin this stage isn't that bad.
Note that during the boat section and the left platform section MK and Kirby can suicide kill you with an uptrow. If you're a stock behind or quite a bit ahead in percentage you should watch out for that.
On the ascending parts it will be key to keep your opponent above you, if it's the other way around you should keep your distance, because attacking from above with all those platforms is just asking for it.
Another positive asset of Cruise is the fact that it disturbs campy tactics, because you have to keep moving. Taking a spammy campy opponent to RC is generally a good idea. Although clap kills quite easily here, because the ceiling is low, you might want to watch out for other strong vertical killers (Snake's/Dedede's uptilt).
Cruise is generally considered one of the best Wario counterpicks.
Recommended ban: docter mario guy
Recommended counterpick: Snake, Ganondorf, Link, Olimar, Falco
-Pokemon Stadium 1-
The good old Pokemon Stadium from Melee. Only thing that changed was the windmill, which is now solid instead of fall-through. Wario doesn't really need to fear this place. But when counterpicking you have better options. Make sure not to get stuck against a wall or in the pit of some of the transformations, and watch out for the glitchy edges.
The basic stage shouldn't give Wario any problems, nor should any of the transformations as long as you watch your step around walls.
-Brinstar-
Recommended ban: Donkey Kong
Recommended counterpick: Snake, Dedede, Lucario
-Pirate Ship-
One of my personal favorites is Pirate Ship. You basically have 3 hazzards on this stage: the catapult, the boat spike and the canonballs. The catapult and boat spike should be avoidable by any character easily enough (plus the catapult doesn't kil with DI). The canonballs are immensely powerfull so be sure to pay attention to them. The only totally safe place for the canon is the top of the mast. All the tilting can screw up autocanceling and might give your opponent some free grab releases, which is unfortunate. Wario also lacks is a spike to reliably crush people landing in the water, and has to make due with the waft.
The flying part isn't so much a hazzerd but more a distraction. Floating down slowly towards your opponent isn't really ideal, so limit your jumping during this part. And generally just be sure that you're on the boat when it takes off (although standing in the other boat is pretty cool to, for a short while).
Something you don't want to fall for is Ganon boatspiking you with side-B. When he's recovering on the left, simply don't stand on the wood. He will go through it and give you a spiking you'll never forget.
Overall this isn't Wario's best stage, but it isn't his worst either.
-Jungle Japes-
Jungle Japes is viewed as one of Wario's best stages. One guy you might want to avoid on this stage is Falco, as he can chaingrab you to the edge and spike you in the water, nasty stuff. Another thing to watch for is Donkey Kongs standing stagespike where he just cargo down throws into the left platform, killing you unless you:Jungle Japes is my new Wario counterpick. Lots of edges to play around with, and Wariocide has an odd twist on this stage.
Tech that ****!
...if you can >_>
I spend most of my time on right side, performing aerials and then snapping to various edges. It's risky business though because you can get Klapped if you're on the edge of the lower platform. What I like to do is grab the edge of the rightmost platform, when ledgehop an aerial and grab the edge on the other side. And sometimes move back and forth beneath that platform. Such as letting go, then jumping below it and grabbing the other edge. Just lots of edge games to mess around with. Take advantage of the ledge invincibility when you can.
It's almost impossible to die in the water, no matter where you are. Even if you fall in from the left side. Just jump twice really fast and bike to safety. It's hard to edgeguard an opponent who falls into the water, but do your best to pester them as much as possible. Run over and grab onto an edge that you think they might grab. This usually forces them to try and grab a certain edge because it's the only one available. Then try to exploit it from there. Basically make them go where you want them to go.
Whenever you're fighting on the middle platform, try to get them on the higher middle platform so you can land a few claps from below. The left side of the stage is risky because there's less time to recover, however you can get some easy gimps on your opponent if you play your cards right. Also, try not to ever have the bike laying around. It's extremely important because you're basically screwed without it. If you do bike, make sure you break it ASAP or just ghostride it into the water. Remember, one of the fastest ways to get a bike on the ground is to run off the stage, then almost immediately bike in the opposite direction. The bike crashes into the stage and lands on the ground, so now you can break it quickly for tires.
You probably won't be getting any vertical kills on this stage. So feel free to spam the clap to your heart's content
Remember when I said Wariocide has an odd twist on this stage? What I mean by that is you can often score a kill by "Wariociding" them into the water. I usually just ledgehop a bite and take them down with me. Now that you're both in the water, you can royally screw your opponent over. Land a footstool, steal the edge they try to grab or just hit them when they try to jump. Also, some characters just plain suck at recovering on this stage, so all you have to do is get them into the water. A bite is usually the easiest way to do so. Your opponent is released first. The work is usually done for you. =]
It's my favorite stage-Halberd-
-Castle Siege-
Make sure Dedede doesn't get a grab on you at a dangerous place (like during the change between parts 1 and 2) because it's quite lethal. Otherwise this stage is fine for Wario, although you probably don't want to counterpick it. On the other hand nobody except Dedede is really going to pick this stage against you, so it shouldn't be much of a problem.
When the house is still standing your range of movement is somewhat limited. Characters with strong ground games benefit from this. Wario's ground game isn't exactly stellar, so you can see the problem. Breaking down parts of the house and luring them out in the open can help with this, but in a tourney you might need to have the lead to acomplish this. Breaking down the entire house is also possible to turn it into FD but the house will respawn pretty quickly, meaning you have start all over again.
Recommended ban: OLIMAR(!), MK, note: banning this is never a bad idea
Recommended counterpick: Hahaha
-Norfair-
Also note in high level play that the person who enters the capsule is usually screwed because dodging the lava wave by standing under a platform is easy, and so is hitting a Wario stuck inside a small capsule.
Recommended ban: ...
Recommended counterpick: Snake
-Pictochat-
