List of SSBM tier lists (NTSC)

The Smash Back Room tier list has changed many times since its inception. Previous versions of the list are as follows. In later tier lists, characters are broadly ranked by their tier, and further ranked by the order in which characters are listed within the tier list. For instance, Yoshi is ranked above Samus and Luigi in the newest Melee tier list. Earlier tier lists use numerical rankings, and characters with the same numerical value are listed alphabetically.

First tier list (October 8, 2002)

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #1
	1	2-3		4	5	6-8			9	10	11-12
	4.9	4.8		4.4	4.1	4.0			3.9	3.8	3.5
13-14		15-16		17-18		19-20		21	22	23	24-25		26
3.4		3.2		3.1		2.9		2.8	2.1	1.8	1.6		1.3

Though this was the first tier list, SmashBoards was rife with discussion about tiers long before the Melee Back Room released its "MBR Tier Averages". The term "F/F/S" (short for "Falco, Fox and Sheik") was popular as a quick reference to Melee's top tier, and likely because coincidentally, it was also used as a term to display anger. Members on Smashboards, perhaps in backlash against novice sentiment towards Roy and Link, generally disdained those characters, and generally favored the game's fastest characters.

Members on Smashboards largely contested this tier list's placement of Mewtwo, which they felt to be too low. Many Smashboarders considered Mewtwo a low- or even middle-tier character and were bothered that it, despite its great recovery and powerful throws, was placed at the bottom of the tier list, where most people believed Bowser or Pichu belonged.

Second tier list (December 19, 2002)

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #2
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10-11		12-13
2.2	2.3	3.9	4.4	4.7	8.5	8.8	9.6	10.0	11.0		13.0
14-16			17	18-19		20-21		22-24			25	26
15.0			16.0	17.0		20.0		21.0			23.0	24.0

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #2 (Mode)
1	2	3	4	5-6		7	8	9	10-11		12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21-22		23-24		25	26

For the second tier list, the Melee Back Room created two tier lists: one made from the average (mean) of votes, and another from the mode.

Third tier list (June 23, 2003)

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #3
	Top					Upper
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Middle									Bottom
13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26

This tier list was released soon after Ken Hoang won Tournament Go 4. Before Ken, Marth strategy largely encompassed rolling and C-stick smashing symptomatic of low-level play today, but Ken introduced to the community the uses of dash-dancing, chain throwing and aerial attacks, all techniques that largely improved Marth's metagame and moved him to top tier for years to come. Ken's focus on aerial combat also caused significant movement for some characters; Zelda, for instance, fell from 6 to 20.

This is the first tier list that officially ranks characters into tiers.

Fourth tier list (July 1, 2003)

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #4
	Top				Upper
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Middle								Low			Bottom
13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26

This tier list has an interesting property: had the number of tiers and number of characters in each tier remained the same as the previous list, no characters would have moved from one tier to another. The fourth tier list was released only 8 days after the third one.

Fifth tier list (September 29, 2003)

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #5
	Top		Upper			High
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Middle							Low				Bottom
13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26

In this list, Captain Falcon jumped up four places. This remains the only official tier list where Fox is not in the top 2 of the list. Ice Climbers and Donkey Kong dropped to 18th and 22nd respectively, the lowest they have ever been.

April Fools' Sixth tier list (March 31, 2004)

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #6 (April Fools)
		Top		Upper				High
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Middle							Low					Bottom
12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26

This tier list doubled as an April Fools' joke and a lesson to the community to not blindly swallow the Melee Back Room tier list as the truth. Though most people suspected this tier list was a hoax, it set a precedent to criticizing the tier list that had not existed before.

To defend this hoax during the two tumultuous days it was the official tier list, Melee Back Room members provided rebuttals to most criticisms of the list: Marth and Peach were too slow to remain in the top tiers; Link, Roy, and Luigi had untapped aerial prowess; and that Mewtwo's throwing game was too effective to keep it in the bottom tiers. Most notably, the Back Room claimed that Jigglypuff, through its aerial speed and the Wall of Pain, ruled the air to the point of domination. Years later, this then-outrageous claim would become true in the post-Brawl metagame.

The Melee Back Room forgot to include Yoshi in this tier list; once people realized he was missing (six hours after the list was posted), the MBR put him in at 16th.

Real Sixth tier list (April 2, 2004)

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #6
	Top			Upper					High
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Middle							Low					Bottom
13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26

The real 6th tier list, released after April Fools' Day. Compared to the fifth tier list, Jigglypuff rose three places, Yoshi fell six places, the Ice Climbers rose three, and Pichu replaced Bowser as the lowest-ranked character.

Seventh tier list (March 19, 2005)

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #7
	Top			Upper				High
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Middle						Low						Bottom
13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26

Five significant changes: the Ice Climbers rose from 15th to 12th, Pikachu fell from 14th to 17th, Donkey Kong rose five places from 21st to 16th and Dr. Mario rose to 9th, ranking higher than the character he is a clone of, Mario, and Mewtwo replaced Bowser as the second-to-lowest ranked character.

Eighth tier list (July 8, 2006)

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #8
	Top		High			Middle
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Low						Bottom
13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26

The names of these tiers were originally God Tier, Top Tier, High Tier, Middle Tier, and Low Tier; these names were changed to the ones shown above on July 10, two days after the tier list was released.

This tier list marks the first time Sheik was not in the top tier, and contains the biggest bottom tier of any Melee tier list thus far. The list also marked the first time Mewtwo had fallen back to the bottom of the tier list. The balance of the tier list was a point of contention amongst many smashers, who felt that it was too bottom-heavy and that the lower tiers should themselves be split, or the high tiers merged (particularly the top two).

Ninth tier list (October 14, 2008)

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #9
Top				High				Middle
1	2	3	4	5	6-7		8	9	10	11	12	13	14
9.88	9.85	9.69	9.15	8.35	8.00		7.88	6.77	6.23	6.04	5.81	5.38	5.34
	Low						Bottom
	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
	4.69	4.31	4.15	3.60	3.04	3.00	2.50	2.46	2.17	1.77	1.50	1.15

For the first time since December 2002, the Smash Back Room published each character's numerical scores. This tier list was originally intended to be the final tier list for Melee, with the expectation being that players would move over to Brawl and result in the Melee metagame becoming static, similar to the tier lists for the original Super Smash Bros. (which ironically eventually ended up happening for Brawl instead). However, Melee's tournament scene remained strong even as Brawl's tournament scene grew and Melee's metagame experienced drastic changes (such as Jigglypuff dominating as well as or more than the top-tier characters); as a result, the tier list ultimately did change several times even after this supposed "final" revision.

Original tenth tier list (September 14, 2010)

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #10 (Beta)
		Top			High		Upper		Middle
		1-3			4	5	6	7	8	9-10		11
Low					Bottom					Negligible
12-13		14-15		16	17	18	19-20		21	22-26

This list was originally publicized as the tenth tier list despite having qualities that made it seem incomplete or rushed in some way. It was heavily criticized for its very large number of ties - it has not only the most ties of any tier list, but the biggest tie, involving the entire Negligible tier. In addition, this list was claimed to have been mostly the work of the single user KirbyKaze, which was then slightly modified by the Back Room. Likely spurred by the topical Master Hand glitch (which was discovered between the creation of the ninth tier list and this one), the Back Room also included a "Gengar" tier in the list below the Negligible tier as a joke, where "Master Hand and other glitches" were placed.

In this list, Mewtwo and Jigglypuff have risen significantly from the previous tier lists, with Jigglypuff now in the top tier alongside both Star Fox characters (marking the first appearance of a floaty character in the top tier of Melee's metagame since Peach in the fourth tier list) and Mewtwo being a whopping 5 places above its previous best. This is the only tier list to include a tier below the Bottom tier.

Tenth tier list (December 31, 2010)

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #10
		S				A			B	C
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
		1.47	2.50	3.03	3.47	4.86	5.92	6.77	8.12	9.65	9.96	10.57
D				E		F					G
12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25-26
12.94	13.00	13.25	14.81	16.03	17.45	19.42	19.76	19.85	20.59	20.73	22.94	23.67	25.02

This is the first Melee tier list that uses lettered tiers instead of words. Sheik is once again placed in the highest tier with Fox, Falco, and Jigglypuff. The Ice Climbers and both Links are also placed in their own tiers, and Kirby and Pichu are placed at the bottom of the tier list. Both Pikachu and Mewtwo also rose 4 spots in this tier list from the previous ninth version.

Eleventh tier list (July 26th, 2013)

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #11
S								A
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
1.39	1.68	3.43	4.68	4.79	5.11	7.00	8.14	9.21	10.79	11.07	11.25	13.18	13.68
	B								F
	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
	16.11	16.50	16.86	17.82	19.93	20.39	20.75	21.00	22.61	23.54	24.96	25.14

This is the eleventh Melee tier list, based on votes from various smashers. The tiers are split into groups: Top (S), Upper (A), Middle (B) and Bottom (F).

The biggest rise on the list was Yoshi moving up three places. Pikachu and Young Link both moved up two places. Young Link now ranks higher than Link for the first time, joining Dr. Mario as clones who are ranked higher than their original characters. Jigglypuff, Ganondorf, and Donkey Kong each dropped two places. Kirby is now at the very bottom of the list.

The MBR decided to organize the characters into more general categories instead of rigid tiers. The S tier consists of characters who are generally always tournament viable and can consistently place high in significant tournaments. The A tier consists of semi-viable characters who can place high in very competent hands, but have significant disadvantages that keep them from consistently placing high in significant tournaments. The B tier consists of characters who may have situational use, but are generally not viable for tournament use and will probably never place high when used alone, even in minor tournaments. Lastly, the F tier consists of characters who are never viable in tournament play.

Twelfth tier list (December 10th, 2015)

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #12
SS	S			A		B		C		D
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
1.13	2.38	3.04	3.92	5.42	5.83	7.33	7.54	9.33	10.04	11.88	11.96	12.08
E					F					G
14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
13.88	15.00	16.08	17.17	17.83	20.33	20.88	21.04	21.75	22.17	23.88	23.96	25.17

This is the twelfth Melee tier list, being based on votes from various smashers like other recent Smash tier lists. The tier list was once again split into numerous rigid tiers, although the tiers were placed in groups: Top (SS & S), High (A & B), High Mid (C), Mid (D), Low Mid (E), Low (F), and Bottom (G). Fox gained his own tier on the top of the list. The biggest rise on the tier list was Yoshi, who moved up six places, the largest gain throughout any NTSC Melee tier list, followed by Mr. Game & Watch, who moved up three. Pichu no longer ranks at the bottom two placements but it still ranks very low on the tier list. For high tier changes, Captain Falcon dropped below Ice Climbers, breaking the trend of him being placed directly below Peach in every tier list since the eighth, and Marth rose one space above Sheik. Zelda fell three places, putting her in the bottom five of the tier list.

Thirteenth tier list (March 29th, 2021)

Super Smash Bros. Melee Tier List #13
S				A			B+				B-
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
1.68	2.36	3.18	3.56	4.66	5.82	6.84	8.74	9.62	9.69	10.11	12.23	12.61
C+		C-				D					F
14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
14.83	15.53	16.42	17.31	17.66	17.95	20.22	21.63	22.07	22.78	23.49	24.26	25.74

This is the thirteenth Melee tier list, which is the first not to be produced by Smashboards, instead being produced by PG Stats. The tier list was based on the tier lists of 63 2019 MPGR-ranked players, as well as Armada. Ryobeat initiated the project by asking top players for their personal tier lists, from which he got 64 responses. The subsequent math was done by PracticalTAS.

This is the first tier list to use sub-tiers (B+/B-, C+/C-). The clustering algorithm that split up the tiers produced good results with both six tiers or eight tiers. The extra two splits would have been where B and C tier are split. The only other difference with eight tiers would have been that the split for F tier would have moved to above Ness and Zelda. The creators believed the six tier version to be a better representation, but decided to split the B and C tiers in order to show that they encompassed a greater range of viability than the other tiers. The voters were additionally told to assume the Ice Climbers could wobble, although wobbling is frequently banned at tournaments.

Jigglypuff rose into the top 3 for the first time since the tenth tier list. Similarly, Captain Falcon and Red Yoshi both rose 2 spots due to advancements in their metagames as well as efforts from players such as Wizzrobe and aMSa. Conversely, both Falco and Dr. Mario fell two spots, the former due to the rise of Jigglypuff and Marth, and the latter due to a stagnant metagame. In the lower tiers, Pichu rose 2 spots and is no longer a bottom 3 character, while Zelda dropped 2 spots into the bottom 3. For the first time since the fifth tier list (not counting the April Fools sixth tier list), Bowser fell back to the bottom of the list.

PG Stats also released a 2021 Melee Community Tier List, compiled from 1,077 survey responses from members of the Super Smash Bros. Melee competitive community. On this community list, Jigglypuff and Falco switch spots, Young Link and Donkey Kong switch spots, and Ness and Pichu switch spots. Otherwise, the ordering is the same.

Tier list chart

This table shows the ranks of each character through all of the tier lists, as well as a numbered description of their change in rank each time. "Change" lists how much a character's position changed between the two tier lists it is in between. "Highest" represents a character's highest position, "Lowest" represents their lowest position, and "Difference" lists the difference between the highest and lowest position. "Overall change" represents a character's change between the first tier list and the current tier list. The mode version of the 2nd tier list, the April Fools tier list, and the original 10th tier list are not included in this chart.

Character	1st tier list	Change	2nd tier list	Ch.	3rd tier list	Ch.	4th tier list	Ch.	5th tier list	Ch.	6th tier list	Ch.	7th tier list	Ch.	8th tier list	Ch.	9th tier list	Ch.	10th tier list	Ch.	11th tier list	Ch.	12th tier list	Ch.	13th (current) tier list	Highest	Lowest	Range	Overall change
Fox	2 (,3*)	±0 (,+1*)	2	±0	2	±0	2	-1	3	+1	2	±0	2	+1	1	±0	1	±0	1	±0	1	±0	1	±0	1	1	3	2	+1 (,2*)
Marth	4	-1	5	+1	4	+1	3	+1	2	-1	3	±0	3	-1	4	+2	2	-3	5	+1	4	+1	3	+1	2	2	5	3	+2
Jigglypuff	17 (,18*)	+6 (,— 8*)	10 (,11*)	±0 (,+1*)	10	+1	9	-2	11	+3	8	±0	8	-2	10	+3 (,4*)	6 (,7*)	+3 (,4*)	3	-2	5	±0	5	+2	3	3	17 (,18*)	14 (,15*)	+14 (,15*)
Falco	2 (,3*)	±0 (,-1*)	3	±0	3	-2	5	±0	5	+1	4	-1	5	+3	2	-2	4	+2	2	±0	2	±0	2	-2	4	2	5	3	-1 (,-2*)
Sheik	1	±0	1	±0	1	±0	1	±0	1	±0	1	±0	1	-2	3	±0	3	-1	4	+1	3	-1	4	-1	5	1	5	4	-4
Captain Falcon	15 (,16*)	+2 (,— 4*)	12 (,13*)	+1 (,2*)	11	±0	11	+4	7	+1	6	±0	6	±0	6	±0 (,-1*)	6 (,7*)	±0 (,-1*)	7	±0	7	-1	8	+2	6	6	15 (,16*)	9 (,10*)	+9 (,10*)
Peach	9	+5	4	-1	5	+1	4	±0	4	-1	5	+1	4	-1	5	±0	5	-1	6	±0	6	±0	6	-1	7	4	9	5	+2
Ice Climbers	11 (,12*)	±0 (,— -2*)	12 (,13*)	±0 (,-1*)	13	-2	15	-3	18	+3	15	+3	12	+5	7	-1	8	±0	8	±0	8	+1	7	-1	8	7	18	11	+3 (,4*)
Pikachu	13 (,14*)	-3 (,4*)	17	+1	16	+3	13	-3	16	+2	14	-3	17	-1	18	+2	16	+4	12	+2	10	+1	9	±0	9	9	18	9	+4 (,5*)
Yoshi	19 (,20*)	±0 (,+1*)	18 (,19*)	+4 (,5*)	14	±0	14	+1	13	-6	19	-2	21	+2	19	-3	22	+1	21	+3	18	+6	12	+2	10	10	22	12	+9 (,10*)
Samus	6 (,— 8*)	±0 (,— -2*)	8	-1	9	+3	6	±0	6	-1	7	±0	7	-1	8	-1	9	-2	11	±0	11	+1	10	-1	11	6	11	5	-3 (,— 5*)
Luigi	6 (,— 8*)	-1 (,— 3*)	9	+1	8	-4	12	±0	12	±0	12	-1	13	-1	14	+2	12	-2	14	+1	13	±0	13	+1	12	6 (,— 8*)	14	6 (,— 8*)	-4 (,— 6*)
Dr. Mario	10	+3	7	±0	7	-1	8	-2	10	-1	11	+2	9	±0	9	-1	10	+1	9	±0	9	-2	11	-2	13	7	13	6	-3
Ganondorf	11 (,12*)	±0 (,— +2*)	10 (,11*)	-1 (,2*)	12	+2	10	+2	8	-1	9	-1	10	-2	12	+1	11	+1	10	-2	12	-2	14	±0	14	8	14	6	-2 (,3*)
Mario	5	-1	6	±0	6	-1	7	-2	9	-1	10	-1	11	±0	11	-3	14	+1	13	-1	14	-1	15	±0	15	5	15	10	-10
Donkey Kong	19 (,20*)	±0 (,— -2*)	20 (,21*)	±0 (,-1*)	21	±0	21	-1	22	+1	21	+5	16	+1	15	+2	13	-2	15	-2	17	±0	17	+1	16	13	22	9	+3 (,4*)
Young Link	15 (,16*)	-2 (,— 4*)	18 (,19*)	±0 (,-1*)	19	±0	19	+2	17	-1	18	-2	20	+3	17	±0	17	±0	17	+2	15	-1	16	-1	17	15	20	5	-1 (,-2*)
Link	13 (,14*)	±0 (,— -3*)	14 (,— 16*)	-2 (,— 4*)	18	±0	18	+4	14	+1	13	-1	14	+1	13	-2	15	-1	16	±0	16	-2	18	±0	18	13	18	5	-4 (,5*)
Mr. Game & Watch	23	+1 (,— -1*)	22 (,— 24*)	±0 (,— +2*)	22	±0	22	-2	24	+1	23	±0	23	+2	21	+1	20	-2	22	±0	22	+3	19	±0	19	19	24	5	+4
Mewtwo	26	+1	25	+1	24	±0	24	+1	23	-1	24	-1	25	-1	26	+2	24	+4	20	-1	21	±0	21	+1	20	20	26	6	+6
Roy	21	±0 (,+1*)	20 (,21*)	+3 (,4*)	17	-3	20	+5	15	-1	16	+1	15	-1	16	-2	18	-1	19	-1	20	±0	20	-1	21	15	21	6	±0
Pichu	24 (,25*)	-1 (,2*)	26	+1	25	±0	25	±0	25	-1	26	±0	26	+1	25	-1	26	±0 (,+1*)	25 (,26*)	±0 (,+1*)	25	+1	24	+2	22	22	26	4	+2 (,3*)
Ness	17 (,18*)	+1 (,— 4*)	14 (,— 16*)	-1 (,— +1*)	15	-2	17	-3	20	±0	20	+1	19	-3	22	+1	21	-2	23	±0	23	±0	23	±0	23	14 (,— 16*)	23	7 (,— 9*)	-5 (,6*)
Zelda	6 (,— 8*)	-6 (,— 10*)	14 (,— 16*)	-4 (,— 6*)	20	+4	16	-3	19	+2	17	-1	18	-2	20	+1	19	+1	18	-1	19	-3	22	-2	24	6 (,— 8*)	24	16 (,— 18*)	-16 (,— 18*)
Kirby	22	±0 (,— -2*)	22 (,— 24*)	-1 (,— +1*)	23	±0	23	+2	21	-1	22	±0	22	-2	24	-1	25	±0 (,-1*)	25 (,26*)	±0 (,-1*)	26	±0	26	+1	25	21	26	5	-3
Bowser	24 (,25*)	±0 (,— +3*)	22 (,— 24*)	-2 (,— 4*)	26	±0	26	±0	26	+1	25	+1	24	+1	23	±0	23	-1	24	±0	24	-1	25	-1	26	22 (,— 24*)	26	2 (,— 4*)	-1 (,2*)

* = tie

See also

• List of SSB tier lists (NTSC)
• List of SSBM tier lists (PAL)
• List of SSBB tier lists (NTSC)
• List of SSB4 tier lists
• List of SSBU tier lists
• Metagame

External links

• First Melee tier list
• Second Melee tier list
• Third Melee tier list
• Fourth Melee tier list
• Fifth Melee tier list
• Sixth Melee tier list (April Fools')
• Sixth Melee tier list (real version)
• Seventh Melee tier list
• Eighth Melee tier list
• Ninth Melee tier list
• Tenth original Melee tier list
• Tenth actual Melee tier list
• Eleventh Melee tier list
• Twelfth Melee tier list
• Thirteenth Melee tier list
• Thirteenth Melee tier list