DLC Dominance: The Future of Smash 4?

Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta: the three most recent DLC characters. They join Ryu, Roy, Lucas, and Mewtwo as DLC in Smash 4 and the last additions to the roster. The latest three DLC characters already have been making splashes in events, and pros and new players alike are praising their strengths. How strong are these characters really? Do they have the chance to overthrow Sheik and dominate the game? Let's take a look at the data.

Cloud​

Cloud came out of the gate running after his release. Komorikiri was able to take 3rd place at the Sumabato NicoNico Qualifiers shortly after his release. According to the Smashboards Ranking System, within one week of Cloud's release he was the number one character seen within the top 16 and the third most-seen character, taking first in only one week.

Bayonetta​

Last night, Nairo had his worst Smash 4 placement ever as well as his worst overall placement ever since Apex 2010. The harbinger of this was Salem's Bayonetta, who sent him to the loser's bracket.

Bayonetta has already begun to make a serious impact in Japan, with Komorikiri winning Sumabato 7 and Nyanko taking 5th at Umebura 21. Even on the lighter side of things, Pink Fresh has already taken a first-place finish at Xanadu using Bayonetta. The ranking system on Smashboards shows that within a week of her release, she is already the 4th most-seen character within the top 16 of tournaments.

Corrin​

Here is the number that may be more surprising. Corrin has taken more first-place finishes than Bayonetta since release according to the Smashboards rankings. These placements are tied with Cloud for first as well. While many discuss the power of Witch Time, Corrin seems to be taking more events in general. However, Bayonetta's first-place results seem to be at much more stacked tournaments, so they can't be counted out.

Other DLC​

So were the older DLC characters just as popular at release? While Ryu made many waves at the start, he never showed the levels of dominance or even popularity of the other DLC characters, though he is ranked 4th on the first Official Smash 4 Back Room Tier List. Roy, Lucas, and Mewtwo also never saw similar surges. Currently, the most-seen character in the top 16 as of the latest patch is Ryu at 18th, and Lucas, Roy, and Mewtwo only have 3 first-place finishes combined.

Questions To Be Answered​

This makes for an interesting question: is the success we are seeing from Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta just a surge in popularity bringing them forward? Looking at the past data, even with many people trying out DLC characters as their new mains, none took hold quite so strongly as the newest ones. Will they lose their hold once people learn the matchups?

Could Bayonetta overtake Sheik? Possibly, but she has a long way to go. Sheik is 8 places higher than Bayonetta when it comes to first-place wins, and Sheik still outranks Bayonetta for top 16 placements. While it's not impossible that she could rise or at least become one of the largest tournament threats, trying to take Sheik's number one place on the tier list may be tough.

Will we possibly see more DLC characters in the top 8 than base characters soon? It seems unlikely, but not altogether impossible if the amount of top placements for Corrin, Cloud, and Bayonetta keeps climbing. However, do not underestimate adaptation: Marss was able to take down Salem with Zero Suit Samus in a best of five later in the same tournament Nairo fell. It could just be that people need to learn the matchup.

How do the readers feel about the newest DLC characters' splash in tournaments? Sound off in the comments below, and be sure to check out the Smashboards Rankings System: much useful data can be found there!

 

While I don't believe they will dominate Shiek, some of them have earned their spots in the tier list (according to v.1 Smash BR list).

It is weird that some of the best characters can only be obtained by feeding the game your wallet.

 

Lol Nairo was kinda messing around at KTAR xvii, I don't consider it a big deal that he lost. He played Bayonetta for most of his losses, and he looked like he was just having a good time.

 

While I don't believe they will dominate Shiek, some of them have earned their spots in the tier list (according to v.1 Smash BR list).

It is weird that some of the best characters can only be obtained by feeding the game your wallet.

It's called pay2win and there's a reason it's despised among gamers. Or it was until about 6 years ago, now it's defended by legions of shills and fanboys who swear against all evidence that it's truly extra content.

 

It's called pay2win and there's a reason it's despised among gamers. Or it was until about 6 years ago, now it's defended by legions of shills and fanboys who swear against all evidence that it's truly extra content.

It's not pay2win, Mr. Internet Cool Guy, it's pay2getnewcharacters. Which is what DLC is. We can't even gauge yet how good they are; did you even read the article before you came in here and started ranting?

I'm not a shill or a fanboy; I'm just sick of your terrible, adversarial attitude.

 

It's called pay2win and there's a reason it's despised among gamers. Or it was until about 6 years ago, now it's defended by legions of shills and fanboys who swear against all evidence that it's truly extra content.

Except that it is extra content. Similar to how expansion packs work, in a game like Smash there is always the possibility of having more characters in the roster even after it's finished, the DLC in this case functions as some kind of add-on, post release content that they work on to expand on the game's features, they even took into consideration fan input for adding Bayonetta and Cloud. Or unless you are going to wear a tin hat and tell me that evil Nintendo were holding back both of those characters since before October 2014 when the game was released, back when Sakurai didn't even know he would be adding these guys.

Do you have an actual counter argument for this matter or are you going to ignorantly resort to call everyone else who doesn't agree with you a fanboy/shill? One of the previous guys earlier wrecked you with his response, so I guess your best answer now is to desperately avoid addressing the point, in a petty attempt to stay relevant and downplay others' rebuttals.

 

It's called pay2win and there's a reason it's despised among gamers. Or it was until about 6 years ago, now it's defended by legions of shills and fanboys who swear against all evidence that it's truly extra content.

I never saw people paying to use Sheik....

 

I love how there is whining about the DLC being Pay2win despite Sakurai obviously not giving a **** about tournaments, including his recent jab at the competitive scene who only use the same characters

 

It's called pay2win and there's a reason it's despised among gamers. Or it was until about 6 years ago, now it's defended by legions of shills and fanboys who swear against all evidence that it's truly extra content.

It actually is extra content because :

Spoiler

It was made after development on the game had wrapped up.
The secret to beating all of the characters?

Spoiler

 

I can see Bayonetta getting big if people are willing to optimize and put in the lab time with her. We might get a few more balancing patches in the future that may influence how these characters play but I see most of the DLC fighters as still viable in tournaments

 

I can see Bayonetta getting big if people are willing to optimize and put in the lab time with her. We might get a few more balancing patches in the future that may influence how these characters play but I see most of the DLC fighters as still viable in tournaments

This is the last patch. There will be no more patches, as confirmed by Sakurai. It was stated on another front-page thread that...
"Sakurai did confirm that development for Smash for Wii U/3DS was finished."

 

It's called pay2win and there's a reason it's despised among gamers. Or it was until about 6 years ago, now it's defended by legions of shills and fanboys who swear against all evidence that it's truly extra content.

Your "abloobloo PAY 2 WIN" argument doesn't work when you look at the fact that there are tons of "top tier" characters that are not DLC.

If Bayonetta, Corrin, Cloud, Roy, Ryu, Lucas and Mewtwo were all super-ultra-SS tier characters that could wreck anyone, then yes, THAT would be "pay 2 win". But they're not, so you're wrong.

Cry sum moar.

 

This is the last patch. There will be no more patches, as confirmed by Sakurai. It was stated on another front-page thread that...
"Sakurai did confirm that development for Smash for Wii U/3DS was finished."

Ah I see, I was a bit confused at first but it makes sense. My bad,