Early stage impressions for tournament play

[Dr Sexual]

With so much shit going on in these stages now what do you guys think about which stages may or should be banned in tournament play.

We all know about experimental playground in DOA4 but I always believed that Ninja Hideout should have been banned too. I always felt disadvantaged when playing a Busa knowing that every punch hold I got hit with would set me up for a ceiling Izuna.

So far HOME is one that really stands out to me. While playing a Bass earlier I realized that there was almost no possible way to use positioning or movement to avoid being in situations where I wasnt open to being slammed through a wall or into the ceiling and losing half of my life.

I understand that alot of characters have tools to do this as well but it seems like every other move from Bass has properties that will either send you into the ceiling or through a wall. To include a bunch of his grabs and holds as well.

 

[d3v]

I recall alot of matches were played on HOME at the GVN Summer Jam pre-release tournament and I haven't heard anyone complain so far. In fact, I'm pretty sure a certain crowd within the FGC would actually prefer playing in it.

IMO, what has to be looked at are stages that might give an advantage to one player over another. For example, HOT ZONE seems to favor player 1 and they can easily throw player 2 into the RPG danger zone right at the start of the round. Same with SCRAMBLE, the danger zone (which triggers all the stage destruction) is behind player 2 as well. Off course, danger zones can be turned off, so this might end up being a non issue.

 

[virtuaPAI]

I dont see it as much of an issue. Players just need to be aware of their environment and be prepaired to reposition themselves.

 

[Rikuto]

Home definitely gives an advantage to characters... but it seems to give an advantage across the board.

Bass/Busa excel with ceilings. Bayman excels at the wall. Jann Lee excels with walls/breakable objects.

I don't think you can write the stage off as an unfair advantage to any one character, because it amps up the risk/reward for just about everybody.