Metagame

The metagame refers to the collective decisions that are made outside of a game that affect tournament play. A metagame is said to have a "shape" or "state" which refers to the commonly employed practices and strategies in tournaments. In Smash Bros., the most basic decisions that give form to the metagame are the player's decisions on what characters to use and what stages to practice on. More complex decisions include deciding on what character and stage combinations will counter the most popular characters and styles.

Metagames typically continuously evolve and developing the metagame involves deciding what strategies to use or alter that can most effectively counter others in tournament play. If a metagame does not evolve or becomes overly centralized around few strategies, competitors may start to find the game boring and tournaments will suffer a lower turnout. Competitors tend to be vocally dissatisfied until the tournament rules are remedied. For example, one of the commonly cited reasons to ban Meta Knight from tournament play is the frustration he causes among competitors because of his overwhelming dominance in Brawl tournament results as well as his overuse as a main character.

Decisions that form the metagame generally do not include those on what should be tournament legal, although each usually influences the other. For example, what stages are legal may greatly influence character viability. Stage lists that do not include hazards that hinder less mobile characters, such as the panning camera and obstacles on Rainbow Cruise, may produce tournament results that include more characters that are less agile. If the stage list includes Onett, which greatly favors Fox and Falco in Melee, it may lead to greater use of those characters.

Different levels of skill may feature their own metagame state because the viability of different strategies and decisions depends on how deft and knowledgeable the opponents are. For example, Jigglypuff in Melee may be considered one of the worst characters in the game by less experienced players because of their inability to properly exploit its overpowering aerial game and successfully land Rest, as well as the fact it's KO'd extremely early, making it very difficult for inexperienced players that can't evade properly to survive for long with it. Conversely, Ike in Brawl is considered just a middle tier character by more experienced players because his very slow attacks and inability to handle opposing camping well makes it difficult for him to compete with high tier characters, while less experienced players tend to consider Ike extremely overpowered because their lack of knowledge on how to exploit Ike's slowness and own slower reflexes leads to them getting easily hit and KO'd very early by Ike's extremely powerful attacks.

Routine analysis of the metagame has allowed the community to draw conclusions about the relative performances of playable characters in Smash Bros. games, and publish them in the form of character tier lists. Each tier list evolves alongside the development of the metagame it references, and is updated as significant changes occur.

Examples of changing metagames in the Smash series

Super Smash Bros.

For a long time, Ness was considered one of the best characters in the original Smash Bros., being ranked 3rd in the final spot of top tier in the first universally-recognised tier list. Ness dominated, with his double jump cancelled aerials allowing very fast combo starters and deadly combos (able to rack up huge damage and finish with a down aerial meteor smash), while also possessing some of best hitbox placement in his attacks, and great power in his moveset (with his throws being especially powerful). As the metagame progressed however, Ness' terrible recovery became more prominent and exploitable, and his short range also caused his DJC combos to lose recognition. This led to him dropping from 3rd all the way to 8th in the second tier list, dropping again to 9th in the third list, and dropping once more to 10th the fourth (and current) tier list. This is also currently the proportionally largest tier list drop of any character in any Smash Bros. game.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Marth was initially seen as relying too heavily on C-stick spamming and roll dodging, traits that led to a negative low-level image of him despite a high tier placing. Ken, however, is often credited with single-handedly bringing him to a top tier level of the tier list, particularly with the introduction of tactics such as dash dancing and utilizing wavedashing, as well as a greater focus on aerial combat in matches (including innovating the infamous Ken combo).
Captain Falcon was initially a middle tier character, being ranked 15th on the first tier list tied with Young Link. With the discovery and innovation of Falcon's potent aerial and combo potential, as well as how deadly and effective his knee smash was as a combo finisher, Falcon jumped up the tier list to high tier, where he has since perpetually hovered around 8th place in top-high tiers.
Jigglypuff was initially a lower middle tier character, being ranked 17th on the first tier list tied with Ness, who then jumped up to middle tier, and hovered around the 8th-11th spot in middle/high tier from the 2nd tier list to the 8th. With the advent of Mango, who has shown how dominant Jigglypuff was in the air, and how powerful its pressure game and combo abilities were, saw Jigglypuff jump to high tier at 6th tied with Captain Falcon. Then with the continued dominance of Melee tournaments with Jigglypuff from Mango and the rise of another nationally dominant Jigglypuff player in Hungrybox, Jigglypuff jumped up to top tier in the 10th tier list, being ranked 3rd under Fox and Falco. Currently, Jigglypuff is ranked 5th in the tier list.
Mario was initially a high tier character, being ranked as high as 5th in the first tier list, which can be attributed to his relatively low learning curve and simple yet effective combos. As the metagame advanced, the discovered abilities of other characters surpassed the rather standard abilities of Mario, and Mario's rather low KO power became more problematic. This led to Mario gradually dropping with each tier list, reaching a low of 15th in the low-mid tier in the most recent tier list, and his clone Dr. Mario being recognized as the superior character (who, on the most recent tier list, is four spots higher than Mario at the top of middle tier) primarily in part due to his much superior KO power.
For the first five years of Melee's existence, Sheik was considered well and beyond the best character (with her chain throw being especially powerful in the early metagame), and at some points, she was considered so good that players contemplated banning her. With the incredible potential of Fox and Falco being recognized, as well as the aforementioned surges of Marth and Jigglypuff, Sheik was later dethroned as the best character in Melee. Despite her fall, she's still seen as one of the best characters, and is currently ranked 4th in the top tier in the most recent tier list.
Pikachu all time low on the tier list was 18th on the eighth tier list, barely close to the bottom tier. However, Axe's dominance made opinions change more positively about Pikachu, as it has shown its effective KOing moves, edge-guarding game, and pressuring were powerful, even against some high tiers. Pikachu eventually rose in the tier list, now ranked ninth.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Among the most well-known changes of the metagame for Brawl came with the growing dominance of Meta Knight. While Meta Knight was always recognized as the best character since the first tier list, the gap between Meta Knight and the rest of the characters has continued to grow. Amid his unmatched speed, transcendent priority and disproportionally long reaching hitboxes, surprisingly high KO power for a character of his speed and weight, possessing a recovery that is widely seen as unstoppable, and unrivaled edge guarding and gimping abilities, Meta Knight is widely seen as a broken character in the metagame. Pikachu is the only other character that has a matchup considered even with Meta Knight but even this is debatable, with many believing that Meta Knight's matchup with Pikachu is also in the former's favor. The metagame for Brawl has been criticized for becoming too centralized on Meta Knight, which became the driving point behind those pushing to ban Meta Knight from tournaments. A significant part of a character's tier placement is based on their matchup against Meta Knight, and characters such as Pit and R.O.B. fell because of their inability to deal with him. The use of Meta Knight himself also came under scrutiny, particularly after KTAR 6, where 5 players out of the final 8 used Meta Knight, and when John12346 began documenting the amount of money each character won from tournaments, which showed that Meta Knight wins around half the money won from tournaments.
ADHD is often credited with bringing Diddy Kong from a high tier character into the top tiers, eventually usurping the long time number two character Snake by the sixth tier list and now ranks 4th on the current tier list; ADHD had used Banana Peels to an extent never seen before, causing Diddy Kong to quickly dominate the ground game in matches, which some observers claimed led to Diddy Kong having an even stronger control of the ground than Snake.
Ike was initially a middle tier character, being ranked 25th in middle tier on the first tier list. As the game advanced however, Ike gradually kept declining, with many deriding him as a "noob character" that was far too slow to do anything worthwhile. Ike fell to low tier in the fourth tier list at 29th, and many speculated that he would fall farther and get stuck in the bottom tiers. San however, caused an immediate reversal for the character by innovating use of his incredible jab and jab cancelling abilities, as well as utilization of his surprisingly potent aerials and incredible reach for good spacing. San shocked the community when he got 9th at Apex 2010, which was then the most prestigious Brawl national tournament, defeating several top players such as UltimateRazer and Gnes, using the then low tier Ike. Ike saw a jump back into the middle tiers, an increase in general respect towards the character, and even surpassed his original tier placement, currently ranking 23rd. Today, Ike is a stable middle tier character, that despite some still seeing in a negative light due to his past perception, still manages to do damage in tournaments, such as Ryo getting 5th at a national tournament, WHOBO 4 (although it was MK-banned).
Sonic was initially a low tier character that was the butt of many derogatory jokes, being ranked as low as 33rd in the first tier list. Sonic was ridiculed for his terrible KOing power, as well as his poor moveset, and his poor range and perceived "low priority" (as his attacks had small or poor hitboxes). Dedicated players of Sonic however, became dead-set on proving that Sonic was criminally underrated, and with this saw the advent of extreme exploitation of Sonic's unmatched movement and unrealized combo potential. Sonic players started placing well beyond that of low tier characters at tournaments, and Sonic's capabilities were recognized when he jumped up to 23rd of middle tier in the third tier list. Sonic was beginning to decline after this jump, but then the Sonic players Espy and X made another major splash with Sonic, when they took 5th and 6th respectively at the final MLG Brawl event, MLG Dallas 2010. Like Ike, Sonic still gets seen in a negative light by some players, but he's a stable middle tier character that's currently ranked 22nd in middle tier.
Olimar was initially a middle tier character ranked 18th on the first tier list, that many did not think much of. But as the metagame advanced, Olimar players began overcoming his extreme learning curve, and shown Olimar's incredibly strong camping and damage racking capabilities, as well as his very favorable hitboxes and disproportionally high KOing power. Olimar hovered around high tier in the 8th to 10th spot for the next few years, but after years of Olimars doing very well at nationals (including Japanese Olimar players Brood and Nietono taking second at Apex 2010 and Apex 2012 respectively), Olimar was finally placed in top tier, in the number two position. While most players see Olimar as being ranked a bit too high, he's seen as a top tier character with one of the most infamous reputations for being a highly frustrating character to fight for many players. Olimar is now 3rd in the current tier list.
Wolf was initially a high tier character ranked 16th on the first tier list, who then saw a large drop and hovered around the 22nd spot in middle tier for the next few years. Wolf was derided for his extreme vulnerability to chain throws (some of which were infinites and zero deaths), as well as possessing what many saw to be a poor recovery, and some even saw him as a low tier character. Around 2010, Wolf players started doing well in tournaments, making full utilization of Wolf's strong movement, aerial capabilities, and general strong all around abilities (Kain was noted for being one of the most dominant players in the American Midwest). Wolf was also discovered to have one of the best matchups against the overly dominant Meta Knight (as well as near-even to even matchups against all the other top tier characters), and to have strong matchups overall outside the few who could severely exploit his chain throw vulnerability. Wolf's abilities were finally recognized in the sixth tier list, where he jumped up to 16th near the top of middle tier, and after a banner year in 2011 where he was the 10th most successful character in tournaments (in total tournament earnings), Wolf was bumped up even farther in the most recent tier list to 14th in Upper-Mid tier.
R.O.B. was initially considered a top tier character, being ranked 6th in top tier on the first tier list. He was dominant in the very early metagame, as his fast attacks with great hitboxes were difficult for the then inexperienced players to get by. As players became more experienced, they learned how to get through the blind spots of these attacks, as well as discover the greater potential of other characters. Meta Knight was also becoming more and more dominant, the character which countered R.O.B. the most. As the metagame progressed, R.O.B. continued to grow less effective in tournament play, resulting in a large drop through the tier list, and is currently ranked 18th before the bottom of the upper-mid tier.
Zelda was initially seen as a solid middle tier character, being ranked 20th in middle tier on the first tier list. As the metagame advanced, the severe flaws in Zelda's character design began to emerge (such as her poorly balanced moveset, her poor damage racking capabilities, and her near inability to approach). Zelda began gradually dropping with each tier list, and with the fourth tier list, Zelda took a dive and fell all the way to bottom tier at 35th. Zelda's standing in competitive play has gotten even worse since then, as she has been ranked the second worst character in each successive tier list just above Ganondorf, and some players even believe Zelda is the worst character, rather than Ganondorf.

External links

David Sirlin's Advanced Player's Guide