~ The Official Stage Guide ~
Battlefield:
Battlefield is always a decent choice for any character, which is why it's such a popular stage. Due to its shape it generally favours characters, who benefit from platforms. Some characters like Marth, MK or G&W can pressure you safely when you're on a platform, while Snake, Olimar or the Ice Climbers can use the platforms to camp. Wolf is decent at both so it's naturally a good stage for him but it's almost never a bad stage for any character so it has only limited use as a counterpick stage.
If you face opponents with good platform pressure games such as Mr. G&W and Marth it's better to stay on the ground. Against platform campers like Snake you're better off abusing your mobility (especially in the air) and juggling the opponent on the platforms.
Final Destination:
No platforms here, just a rather big, flat stage. Avoid this stage against oponnents, who outlive Wolf: Bowser, DK, D3, Wario and Snake in particular. The bigger your weight/KO-power advantage, the more you benefit from the stage. A character with weak KO options or light weight already has the disadvantage on the stage unless he can edgeguard you (like MK) well or is REALLY good at camping (like Olimar or Falco).
This stage takes quite a bit of practise since you have to get used to the ledges first - you'll probably loose a bunch of stocks before you get used to it.
You might want to avoid this stage against the ICs.
Smashville
There's not much to say about this stage tactically or match-up wise. It has almost no impact on any of Wolfs match-ups. It's never a bad choice but never a really good one either. If you have no better stage to go to you should take it and it's often your prefered starter stage.
Yoshi's Island:
This stage has quite a few things to take note of:
- You can make use of the walljump. It gives you additional recovery options
- The uneven ground affects the timing for 0-lag fair
- Attacking Fly Guys affects the staleness of moves
- After certain time interwalls a "ghost platform" appears offstage on one side, which you can land on.
These are the most prominent attributes of this stage and they're quite easy to get used to. The possiblity to use walljumps and the additional platform even increase Wolfs recovery options so you might consider going there if you're getting gimped a lot. Characters with sub-par recoveries benefit from this stage just as much as Wolf does so watch out for Olimar, Lucario, Falco and Pokémon Trainer.
Delfino Plaza:
This is an awesome stage for Wolf, which gives him lots of options. You have problems to KO people? No problem on Delphino Plaza since utilt and fair are very effective on certain parts of the stage. You have issues with Wolf recovery? No problem on Delphino Plaza since you have to recover only about half as much and you can recover from underneath the stage.
Wolf flexibility is really useful here - his mobility can be exploited just as much as his camping abilities. MK players seem to love this stage and D3 has many 0-death options so you should avoid it against these characters.
Castle Siege:
Castle Siege is a rather underused CP stage. It's not actually a bad stage for Wolf as long as you watch out for the ledges. Other than that you can treat it like a different version of Delphino Plaza - the changing layout of the stage improve the game of flexible characters. Thus it's a decent stage for Wolf.
- On stage 1, you should watch out for the ledges. Platform pressure/camping are prominent tactics.
- Stage 2 has walk off "edges" so stay away from the ground against D3, Pikachu und Falco. Most players prefer to camp untilt the stage changes. It's VERY big so you should wait for KOs until the stage changes to pt3.
- The 3rd stage is similar to lylat cruise. You don't get caught underneath the ledge as often though.
Castle Siege is not often used to CP characters so it's not fully "explored". I like to take Olimar there but it's just a question of personal preference.
Halberd:
This is an awesome stage for Wolf! The low ceiling gives Wolf plenty of KO options: Fair, Utilt, Dsmash...even Usmash work fine here. If KOs are your main concern you should give this stage a try. It's also good when you feel uncomfortable with Wolf's recovery: Aside from the usual going for the ledge you can also try to land on the center platform and you can even recover from underneath the stage (and again aim for the platform). If you have recovery issues or if you are predictable this stage is perfect. Personally I love to use this stage against Marth because he's easy to juggle and can be finished off with fair rather early. I tend to avoid it against Snake though because of his broken utilt...it's too dangerous on that stage...
Lylat Cruise:
This stage was once considered Wolfs worst stage but it's actually not too bad. The ground moves slightly from time to time so watch out for the timing of the auto cancel. You can get stuck underneath the ledge when you recover but due to the angle of your side B it doesn't happen too often. The limited use of blaster and opponents with good platform pressure or edgeguarding abilites (Marth, MK) are your biggest issues when fighting on this stage.
Pokémon Stadium 1:
This is the same Pokémon Stadium as the one from Melee. It starts as a regular starter stage with two small platforms but changes every minute or so. It favours campy characters so it's not a bad stage for Wolf especially since flexibility is yet again a rather important factor. You can get stuck underneath the ledges if you're careless but once you get used to it it shouldn't happen. Other than that it's pretty much a starter stage and a pretty solid one for Wolf.
Brinstar:
Another Melee stage one and again quite a good one for Wolf. It is not too big so dsmash is very good to use and platform camping works quite nicely as well. The lava can hurt you but you won't get hit by it as much as back in the Melee days. It's more notable for other things like the uneven ground and the irregular platform structure and is generally used as a CP stage against Diddy Kong and the Ice Climbers. I also think Wolf does well against Marth and leight characters here so it's quite a good stage for Wolf.
Frigate Orpheon:
Frigate Orpheon can be a difficult stage for Wolf. The right side has no ledges to hold on to - something Wolf heavily depends on. For that reason you'll never use it as a CP stage. However, Wolf doesn't do horribly bad either so you don't need to ban it. Once in a while the stage flips upside down so you fall down until you reach the floor again - sometimes you fall to your doom but it doesn't happen a lot. Usually you'll find a way back to the stage unless you fight a character with good edgeguarding abilites - they like this stage for a reason!
Rainbow Cruise:
This stage is very unpopular among Wolf players, who prefer to ban it. Wolfs aerial mobility and his strong aerial game in general are helpful but the characters, who use this stage as their prefered CP stage **** him mercilessly; King Dedede, MK, G&W and Wario in particular. Olimar, Snake and ICs have strong platform camping so they also have massive advantages on Rainbow Cruise.
Against those characters it's an auto-lose stage and all of them are used quite a lot so you'll find yourself banning this stage most of the time.
Battlefield:
Battlefield is always a decent choice for any character, which is why it's such a popular stage. Due to its shape it generally favours characters, who benefit from platforms. Some characters like Marth, MK or G&W can pressure you safely when you're on a platform, while Snake, Olimar or the Ice Climbers can use the platforms to camp. Wolf is decent at both so it's naturally a good stage for him but it's almost never a bad stage for any character so it has only limited use as a counterpick stage.
If you face opponents with good platform pressure games such as Mr. G&W and Marth it's better to stay on the ground. Against platform campers like Snake you're better off abusing your mobility (especially in the air) and juggling the opponent on the platforms.
Final Destination:
No platforms here, just a rather big, flat stage. Avoid this stage against oponnents, who outlive Wolf: Bowser, DK, D3, Wario and Snake in particular. The bigger your weight/KO-power advantage, the more you benefit from the stage. A character with weak KO options or light weight already has the disadvantage on the stage unless he can edgeguard you (like MK) well or is REALLY good at camping (like Olimar or Falco).
This stage takes quite a bit of practise since you have to get used to the ledges first - you'll probably loose a bunch of stocks before you get used to it.
You might want to avoid this stage against the ICs.
Smashville
There's not much to say about this stage tactically or match-up wise. It has almost no impact on any of Wolfs match-ups. It's never a bad choice but never a really good one either. If you have no better stage to go to you should take it and it's often your prefered starter stage.
Yoshi's Island:
This stage has quite a few things to take note of:
- You can make use of the walljump. It gives you additional recovery options
- The uneven ground affects the timing for 0-lag fair
- Attacking Fly Guys affects the staleness of moves
- After certain time interwalls a "ghost platform" appears offstage on one side, which you can land on.
These are the most prominent attributes of this stage and they're quite easy to get used to. The possiblity to use walljumps and the additional platform even increase Wolfs recovery options so you might consider going there if you're getting gimped a lot. Characters with sub-par recoveries benefit from this stage just as much as Wolf does so watch out for Olimar, Lucario, Falco and Pokémon Trainer.
Delfino Plaza:
This is an awesome stage for Wolf, which gives him lots of options. You have problems to KO people? No problem on Delphino Plaza since utilt and fair are very effective on certain parts of the stage. You have issues with Wolf recovery? No problem on Delphino Plaza since you have to recover only about half as much and you can recover from underneath the stage.
Wolf flexibility is really useful here - his mobility can be exploited just as much as his camping abilities. MK players seem to love this stage and D3 has many 0-death options so you should avoid it against these characters.
Castle Siege:
Castle Siege is a rather underused CP stage. It's not actually a bad stage for Wolf as long as you watch out for the ledges. Other than that you can treat it like a different version of Delphino Plaza - the changing layout of the stage improve the game of flexible characters. Thus it's a decent stage for Wolf.
- On stage 1, you should watch out for the ledges. Platform pressure/camping are prominent tactics.
- Stage 2 has walk off "edges" so stay away from the ground against D3, Pikachu und Falco. Most players prefer to camp untilt the stage changes. It's VERY big so you should wait for KOs until the stage changes to pt3.
- The 3rd stage is similar to lylat cruise. You don't get caught underneath the ledge as often though.
Castle Siege is not often used to CP characters so it's not fully "explored". I like to take Olimar there but it's just a question of personal preference.
Halberd:
This is an awesome stage for Wolf! The low ceiling gives Wolf plenty of KO options: Fair, Utilt, Dsmash...even Usmash work fine here. If KOs are your main concern you should give this stage a try. It's also good when you feel uncomfortable with Wolf's recovery: Aside from the usual going for the ledge you can also try to land on the center platform and you can even recover from underneath the stage (and again aim for the platform). If you have recovery issues or if you are predictable this stage is perfect. Personally I love to use this stage against Marth because he's easy to juggle and can be finished off with fair rather early. I tend to avoid it against Snake though because of his broken utilt...it's too dangerous on that stage...
Lylat Cruise:
This stage was once considered Wolfs worst stage but it's actually not too bad. The ground moves slightly from time to time so watch out for the timing of the auto cancel. You can get stuck underneath the ledge when you recover but due to the angle of your side B it doesn't happen too often. The limited use of blaster and opponents with good platform pressure or edgeguarding abilites (Marth, MK) are your biggest issues when fighting on this stage.
Pokémon Stadium 1:
This is the same Pokémon Stadium as the one from Melee. It starts as a regular starter stage with two small platforms but changes every minute or so. It favours campy characters so it's not a bad stage for Wolf especially since flexibility is yet again a rather important factor. You can get stuck underneath the ledges if you're careless but once you get used to it it shouldn't happen. Other than that it's pretty much a starter stage and a pretty solid one for Wolf.
Brinstar:
Another Melee stage one and again quite a good one for Wolf. It is not too big so dsmash is very good to use and platform camping works quite nicely as well. The lava can hurt you but you won't get hit by it as much as back in the Melee days. It's more notable for other things like the uneven ground and the irregular platform structure and is generally used as a CP stage against Diddy Kong and the Ice Climbers. I also think Wolf does well against Marth and leight characters here so it's quite a good stage for Wolf.
Frigate Orpheon:
Frigate Orpheon can be a difficult stage for Wolf. The right side has no ledges to hold on to - something Wolf heavily depends on. For that reason you'll never use it as a CP stage. However, Wolf doesn't do horribly bad either so you don't need to ban it. Once in a while the stage flips upside down so you fall down until you reach the floor again - sometimes you fall to your doom but it doesn't happen a lot. Usually you'll find a way back to the stage unless you fight a character with good edgeguarding abilites - they like this stage for a reason!
Rainbow Cruise:
This stage is very unpopular among Wolf players, who prefer to ban it. Wolfs aerial mobility and his strong aerial game in general are helpful but the characters, who use this stage as their prefered CP stage **** him mercilessly; King Dedede, MK, G&W and Wario in particular. Olimar, Snake and ICs have strong platform camping so they also have massive advantages on Rainbow Cruise.
Against those characters it's an auto-lose stage and all of them are used quite a lot so you'll find yourself banning this stage most of the time.
