From SmashWiki, the Super Smash Bros. wiki
- Even if a pawn becomes a queen, it is still just a playing piece. -President James Johnson, MGS2
Introduction
I've been playing Smash on and off for the past few years as well as frequenting this wiki. Due to a lack of game consoles (my parents did not wish to buy any until the Wii), I have played the original SSB and SSBM on my laptop via emulators. Going to a friend's house once in middle school and playing some casual Brawl was what first exposed me to this game series. From that point on, I was captivated by the innovative gameplay, and I started by playing Super Smash Bros. on the Project64 emulator. I was fairly decent at it, although I found it to be a little too simple and combos to be unnecessarily long. I was impressed by Isai's competitive ability, and I soon found that Melee had a much bigger competitive scene. After watching many videos of Ken, Isai, Bombsoldier, Captain Jack, and countless other professionals, I finally got a computer capable of running Gamecube games on the Dolphin Emulator. After many months, I became pretty good at Melee despite having to play on a keyboard (which to me is now as natural as using an actual controller). In high school, my parents finally relented and bought a Wii for my brother and me, and naturally my first game was Brawl. It was in many respects easier than Melee, but nevertheless I found it to be extremely fun and better than Melee as far as competing against others is concerned. I first mained Marth due to my experience with him in Melee (and the fact that Ken was my Smash role model), but I soon grew to know the moveset of each character pretty well and I can play at a decent level with many characters (and I have a few mains now). I've never had the chance to attend a real tournament due to school-related time constraints, but in competitions against my classmates I've usually come out on top. Also, as you might be able to tell from my username, I'm a Metal Gear fan. I like the stealth gameplay, and the storyline is better than that of many novels.
About me
I live in Nevada, and currently I'm a high school senior. I am currently ranked first in my class according to weighted GPA, and I have earned numerous academic awards and gotten a 5 on eight AP exams. That said, I am not at all averse to video games (as many of my classmates initially thought I would be). Smash is probably my favorite series, and I play it at home on the computer and Wii. There's also a Senior Lounge at my school where there's a TV and a Wii, and I've gone in there a few times as a junior and I plan to frequent the place as a senior. I'm better than most of my classmates/relatives at Brawl, even with "bad" characters like Ganondorf. Since I focus a lot of time on academics and sports, I don't have time to go to any Smash tournaments but I follow them pretty closely and I have a pretty extensive knowledge of Brawl's mechanics as well as every character's moveset. Finally, as far as contributions on this wiki go, I am keenly aware of the importance of proper grammar and spelling. I strive to do my best to make myself logical and clear, but of course, I am not perfect (English is actually not even my first language, my parents taught me Chinese first), and I will occassionally make mistakes while typing. Please feel free to correct me if that occurs.
Melee vs. Brawl
Considering how controversial the topic sometimes is, and as a player of both games and lover of the SSB series, I feel compelled to make a short statement on the subject. I play these games primarily because I find them fun and innovative, and although I care about talent and ability and am not a bad player myself, I believe that dedicating too much of one's life to a game is a bad thing. Thus, I find Brawl to be more fun to play than Melee against classmates and family and in general because it is friendlier to new players and technical skill is not as big of a deciding factor as it was in Melee. That said, I also believe that as far as skill and intense competition go, Melee is the superior game. The existence of techniques such as wavedashing makes Melee much more difficult to play at a high level, and as such, I find Melee tournaments more interesting to watch. When playing by myself against the CPU, I also find Melee to be more interesting than Brawl because I can practice more advanced techniques that are not present in Brawl. As such, I do not consider either Melee or Brawl to be "better" than the other as a whole - rather, they each have attributes that make them more likable for certain situations. There is no need to impose your view of which is "better" on people who disagree because there is no unquestionable "right" or "wrong".
Tiers are there to show which characters are most successful in tournaments and have the most potential when put in the hands of a skilled player. Characters were never designed to be "balanced" from the start simply because it is not possible to perfectly balance such varied characters in a game where the metagame is determined by the players are not the designers. As a result, some characters will inevitably end up inherently better than others (e.g. Meta Knight's clear dominance over the rest of the cast). The tier list does indeed change, but that does not make it wrong - it simply reflects the changing nature of the metagame and the development of the best players around the world. For more information, Treatise on the Existence of Tiers provides a much more comprehensive argument.
One thing I would like to note, however, is that individual player skill can often trump differences on the tier list. Since no two players are exactly alike, a better player using a worse character can overcome a worse player using a better character - that is to say, tier list placement in itself does not determine the outcome of a match, but instead provides a good benchmark for the relative strengths of two characters. Additionally, just because a character ranks higher than another on the tier list doesn't make that character better; individual character matchups means that a lower-ranked character can very possibly have an advantage against a higher-ranked character.
Competency tier lists
Simple table of the characters I use most/best. Hover over the character's image for a short blurb.
People who are currently online
Who's online: Alex the weeb, ThunderRaptor, Lore, CaptainJJ, Elitetweet, Reehanay, Thegameandwatch
Userboxes
Naked Snake
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Dispute Handling
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80%
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Smash Skill
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65%
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Smash Knowledge
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95%
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Spelling/Grammar
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100%
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Typing Speed
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90%
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Wikipresence
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90%
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Wikiskill
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60%
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Basic Attributes
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I R Seeing You
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This user uses the IRC.
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Icy Head
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This user cannot use Flame attacks.
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Mr. Vulcan
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This user's Logic attacks deal 33% more damage.
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Photographer
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This user can upload screenshots.
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Rock Head
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This user is immune to Troll attacks.
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Scene Team
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This user can contribute videos.
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Other Attributes
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Natural Ability
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This user has an IQ of over 150.
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Sherlock Holmes
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This user employs logic when dealing with people or things and is very observant.
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Pragmatic
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This user tends to be rather practical.
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This user enjoys old games.
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This user is tall, slim, and has a younger brother.
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This user aspires to be a scientist.
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This user wonders why Peach entered the SSB series.
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This user can get very angry sometimes.
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This user runs quickly.
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This user can be lazy at times.
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This user has to wear a tie to school.
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This user likes Journey to the West.
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This user wants to be a hero.
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This user is still young.
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This user can't draw.
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This user has an online alter ego.
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This user likes ninjas.
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This user has hidden potential.
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This user thinks heavyweights and slow fallers don't mix.
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This user keeps forgetting how to start a match as ZSS.
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This user is innocent.
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This user is sometimes anti-social.
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This user likes to be in power.
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This user thinks that summoning Landmaster on Pirate Ship is a bad idea.
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This user thinks doesn't think chaingrabbing is "cheap".
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This user has a rather deep voice.
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This user likes Pikachu's down smash.
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This user likes to rest.
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This user sometimes accidentally hurts himself (d'oh!).
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This user is solitary at times.
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This user has played Pokémon.
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This user drinks a lot of water.
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This user likes to exercise.
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This user likes dragons.
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This user is more dangerous when he's angry.
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This user has the power of the pawnch.
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This user likes sports.
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This user is a kid at heart.
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This user likes to have a good partner.
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This user is slim but strong.
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This user likes to set things on fire.
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This user fights for his friends.
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This user is good at math.
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This user wishes he could fly.
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This user has no idea how to play Olimar.
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This user shoots eye lasers.
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This user finds Sonic annoying.
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This user is very sneaky.
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