Tier list: Difference between revisions

In gaming, a '''tier list''' is a list that ranks all [[character]]s in a game based on the strength of their fighting abilities, as well as their potential to win matches under [[tournament legal|tournament]] conditions, assuming players are of equal skill. An advantage a tier list has over a standard numerical list is that anything within the same tier is considered roughly equal in terms of whatever metrics are being considered, making the differences between tiers much less granular and removing the need to compare characters based on incomparable aspects. Tier lists are most commonly made for fighting games that are played at a high [[competitive]] level, though games with large character pools, such as the {{uv|Pokémon}} series, can also have their [[bulbapedia:Tiers|own tier lists]].

An example of the collective playerbase's metagame affecting the tier lists can be seen in ''Brawl''{{'}}s tier list and its evolution over the years; on the first tier list, {{SSBB|R.O.B.}} was considered among ''Brawl{{'}}''s best fighters, ranking sixth, owing to his long, safe recovery, powerful projectile game, and a number of excellent edgeguarding options. As ''Brawl''{{'}}s metagame began to advance, however, {{SSBB|Meta Knight}}'s incredible potential led to him becoming the most used character in the game's tournament scene by a large margin, with a notable part of each character's metagames involving how well they could handle the near-ubiquitous character. R.O.B. was later noted for having a very unfavourable matchup against Meta Knight, due to being too slow to allow his projectile game to take hold, as well as Meta Knight having an extremely long, safe recovery that is notoriously difficult to intercept. R.O.B. now ranks as 18th on the tier list, with his lowest position being 20th out of a pool of 38 to 39 characters. The increasing prominence of Meta Knight in ''Brawl'' tournaments also affected numerous other characters beyond R.O.B., such as {{SSBB|Pit}} and {{SSBB|Mr. Game & Watch}}, both of whom also struggle in the Meta Knight matchup and fell in the tier lists owing to this issue.

Outside of an individual character's inherent characteristics, responses to a character's metagame can lead to differing tier list placings. In ''Smash 64'''s first tier list, {{SSB|Ness}} was considered the third-best character in the game, due to his powerful [[double jump cancel]] combo potential; later analysis, however, found that despite the potentially high power of his DJC combos, his short range prevented him from easily taking advantage of this. Later tier lists thus ranked Ness considerably lower from his third-place finish, with the current ''Smash 64'' tier list ranking him as tenth in a pool of twelve characters, owing to his low range, difficulty in winning the [[neutral game]] and poor recovery. Conversely, Jigglypuff in ''Melee'' initially started off as a mid-tiered character in the metagame, as it had some powerful attacks, but a slow, unwieldy ground game. Top professional player {{Sm|Mango}}, however, demonstrated that Jigglypuff's air game was among the most powerful in ''Melee'', and he also demonstrated that Jigglypuff had surprisingly powerful combo and pressure games, beyond what most smashers had previously seen or expected. Mango and later Jigglypuff main {{Sm|Hungrybox}} began to take top placings at tournaments with Jigglypuff, with the duo collectively demonstrating how deep Jigglypuff's own metagame was, resulting in it jumping to the top tiers in ''Melee'', including a third-place finish on the tenth tier list and a return to this position in the modern metagame on the current tier list.

A matchup against a single character is generally not enough to significantly change a character's tier standing. In ''Brawl'', for example, {{SSBB|Toon Link}}, who ranks 13th, boasts a slightly favorable matchup against the Ice Climbers, who rank 2nd, owing to his ability to potentially avoid the duo's powerful [[chain grab]]s as a result of his various projectiles and disjointed [[hitbox]]es; despite this, Toon Link ranks 13th out of a pool of 38 characters on the tier list, due to having an unfavourable matchup against almost every other character that ranks higher than him. Conversely, in ''Melee'', {{SSBM|Peach}} possesses an incredibly unfavorable matchup against {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}}, owing to Peach's extreme disadvantage in the [[combo]] game and inability to effectively fight from behind, due to Jigglypuff's ability to disengage from interactions with no risk. Unlike ''Brawl'' Toon Link, this matchup has had noticeable consequences on Peach's viability; due to Jigglypuff's growing presence in the metagame, she has declined slightly, and is seen as a shaky choice for a solo main. However, this is still not enough to single-handedly make Peach unviable overall, as she is still ranked 7th on the current tier list in the high tier.

In general, higher tournament results for characters yield higher tier placings, as winning major tournaments implies that a character has more tools to compete, and thus, a deeper metagame. The top characters in all five tier lists have all maintained large playerbases and excellent results in tournaments, while characters directly below them also generally perform well or have large playerbases. Top-tiered characters are also most often used by the game's top players; the top players on the [[SSBMRank]], [[SSBBRank]], [[Panda Global Rankings]], [[LumiRank]], and other [[power ranking]]s are most often seen using top-tiered and high-tiered characters. Characters towards the bottom of the tier list, however, generally have smaller playerbases and poorer results, with some low-tiered characters lacking any notable representation in tournaments; {{SSBM|Pichu}}, for instance, currently has very few notable players that exclusively main it, and has never finished in the top 96 of any high-level ''Melee'' tournament.

''Smash Bros.'' characters are often placed into different groups of "viability", which rates their potential and empirical ability to perform in tournaments. At the top of this grouping are characters considered to be able to consistently win major tournaments. In ''Melee'', this list generally includes four characters: {{SSBM|Fox}}, {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}}, {{SSBM|Marth}}, and {{SSBM|Falco}}, all of whom have been able to consistently able to win large tournaments against a variety of opponents. Below these four are the characters who are considered to have the potential to win a major, but have one or more especially problematic matchups which makes this much more difficult. This grouping includes {{SSBM|Sheik}}, {{SSBM|Captain Falcon}}, {{SSBM|Peach}}, {{SSBM|Ice Climbers}}, {{SSBM|Pikachu}}, {{SSBM|Yoshi}}, and {{SSBM|Samus}} (the lower end of this list is subject to significant debate). It is acknowledged that a player winning a major with one of these characters is usually the result of a favorable bracket or a player using [[counterpick]] characters against their most troublesome matchups. For example, although Peach saw large amounts of tournament success under {{Sm|Armada}}, he switched to his secondary characters when facing {{Sm|Hungrybox}}'s Jigglypuff, against whom he was unable to take a single game off of as Peach. Most of solo Peach's tournament victories have come when Armada avoided Hungrybox in the bracket. Sheik, despite being considered top tier for much of the game's competitive lifespan, had never won a major tournament as a solo main until {{Trn|GENESIS 9}} in 2023, as Sheik players, such as {{Sm|Mew2King}} and {{Sm|Plup}}, have always switched to counterpick characters against certain matchups and players, such as Jigglypuff. Conversely, although Pikachu has won a major earlier (when {{Sm|Axe}} placed first at {{Trn|Smash Summit 8}}), Pikachu still remains lower-tiered than Sheik, as Pikachu's matchup spread against the other top tiers is considered worse than Sheik's. Sheik has had more sustained top 8 success, while Axe's tournament results have been less consistent.

That said, tournament results do not necessarily equate to higher or lower tier standings, nor do larger playerbases yield higher tier standings. In ''Melee'', {{SSBM|Yoshi}} has attained a large amount success at large tournaments, having appeared in the top 32 of several major international tournaments; the character's success, however, has primarily been buoyed by {{sm|aMSa}}, and as such, Yoshi only ranks 10th in a pool of 26 characters despite aMsa's incredible performance. Similarly, in ''Brawl'', {{Sm|Salem}}'s surprise victory with {{SSBB|Zero Suit Samus}} at [[Apex 2013]] did not move her into the top tiers. While Salem used Zero Suit Samus's [[Power Suit Piece]]s to a level that was never seen before, his victory has been attributed to a lack of matchup experience from his opponents, rather than Zero Suit Samus being one of the best characters in the game. This was supported by the fact that Salem was unable to replicate his Apex 2013 level of dominance, failing to place in the top eight of any other ''Brawl'' major before the release of ''Smash 4''. As such, Zero Suit Samus remained a high-tier character following Salem's victory, since she was still considered less competitively viable than the characters above her.

It should be noted that tournament results are not necessarily the same as tournament representation or popularity. While a general rule of thumb is that high tier characters will be more common in tournaments due to players naturally wanting as many advantages as possible, exceptions to this have existed throughout the competitive history of the ''Smash'' series. Some characters that are otherwise considered low-tier may have a single powerful tool that gives them good matchups and thus are not an uncommon sight in tournaments, such as {{SSB|Donkey Kong}} in ''Smash 64'' or {{SSBU|King K. Rool}} in ''Ultimate''. Other characters have been considered high-tier, but incredibly difficult to use and not considered worth learning, leading to low tournament representation relative to their tier list position, such as [[Pikachu]] in every game except ''Smash 64''.

It is a common opinion among new or casual players of a fighting game that all the characters in the series are equal and have the same amount of potential. These players believe that the inherent strengths and weaknesses of characters balance them out, thus eliminating the need for tiers. However, the consensus of competitive players and knowledgeable spectators is that tiers do exist. In reality, it would be almost impossible for developers to balance a game of unique characters, because the differing properties of each character produce a large number of variables that cannot be constantly monitored and modified on the spot for the purpose of perfect balance. Thus, developers may not be able to foresee top level strategies before their game's release date, and even deliberate efforts (i.e. updates to ''Smash 4'' and ''Ultimate'') will not perfectly balance a game at a professional level. Furthermore, [[Masahiro Sakurai]] did not solely intend for the ''Smash'' games to be played at high competitive levels under tournament rulesets, which are what tiers are based off of, and his idea of balancing may have been different from that of other competitive games.  

The main disadvantage to having a tier list is that it may eventually become outdated or obsolete as a metagame progresses, or when new characters are introduced and updates bring gameplay-altering changes. Additionally, tier lists that are not based solely on statistics and community results will always contain some bias based on the experiences and opinions of the tier list maker. In casual play, the tier list is basically useless, as items, stage hazards and Final Smashes skew the game balance. For example, {{SSBU|Zelda}}’s zoning tools and powerful Final Smash make her a better user of items.

It is important to note that every smasher mentioned above has put in a greater or equal amount of effort into their lower-tiered characters compared to top players who main higher-tiered characters, and has single-handedly pushed their characters' metagames to around the same level. However, barring a breakthrough in new tech that is useful and reliable (as seen with aMSa's Yoshi and Axe's Pikachu in ''Melee''), or balance updates that positively affect a character's viability (such as {{SSB4|Mewtwo}} in ''Smash 4'' since version [[1.1.3]]), lower-tiered characters by themselves are generally too inconsistent to survive in the long run against other top players who use higher-tiered characters; occasionally, such as with {{SSB|Ness}} in ''Smash 64'', there is even a chance that a character can drop significantly in the tier list as a result of being much less effective than initially perceived. Thus, there is an inclination to simply use better characters. Tier lists are deliberately ever changing to reflect individual character performances in tournament, and as a result, only a few characters will ever see significant shifts in placement, while the remaining characters will rarely shift from the general position they are in now.