Rpggames77
Smash Journeyman
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2015
- Messages
- 324
A lot of new players and/or players who have decided to switch main tend to create threads and ask what character they should play. Hopefully players can use this is as a general guide to answer this question.
This first question is why are you playing melee, along with how much time and effort are you willing to put into melee? There are a ton of answers to this question but this is something you need to answer before going forward. Do you want to be a low tier hero, beat a friend who always beats you, place well in locals, get ranked, etc? Determining why you play the game and what you expect out of yourself will make a major difference. For example if your goal is to be going to majors and get out of pools but you aren't willing to go to locals or play netplay to practice and place poorly then you should question yourself on is this the right goal for you. You may have the dream of being the best fox player and beating top players but if you aren't willing to practice as much as you need to and can't get the tech then you may need to rethink your goal. Make sure that your goal is reachable and that you are willing to put in enough effort, don't john to yourself.
Fox:Starting with the highest rated character on the tier list I am going to give some general pros and cons on fox. While fox is known to be the best character in the game he isn't like brawl meta knight, you can't just pick him up and expect to start beating everyone. He does indeed have great speed, recovery, smash attacks and options. Most top players have proven that he is also the easiest to "make a new playstyle with". Unlike other characters like marth and falcon its not just looking at one good player and trying to copy them, he just isn't cookie cutter. There is more freedom and with how good fox is you can definitely put more of yourself into him. Fox doesn't tend to have bad match-ups or bad stages. Sure some match-ups and stages aren't 100% fox favored he still doesn't have any purely bad match-ups. Just like putting yourself into fox and making him how you want, this will also be with match-ups and stages. Some foxes will say how they don't like the marth match-up while others will say that they dislike the falco match-up and the same goes with stages. Most fox players prefer Yoshi 's and like any stages except for fountain of dreams but at the end of the day it comes down to personal preference. Other fox players can give you advice on how to go about certain match-ups but they may prefer so you may need to experiment on what works for you. While fox has a lot of good stuff he has some long term cons. The fact that he is such a technical character may lead to you either picking up a different character or having hand pains and may leaving melee. IMO he definitely needs the most practice because for new players he can be easy to sd with and you can easily get beat if you don't have the mental fortitude and hand eye coordination to handle him. Just because fox is agreed to be the best character in the current meta and pretty much always doesn't mean you should treat him as a crutch and will destroy anyone.
TL;DR
is a very good,technical character, but not very noob friendly
Falco:Going onto the generally agreed 2nd best character falco has some more apparent weakness's and strengths' compared to fox. In the highest level of melee players like mang0 and westballz have made falco famous for being one of the, if not the most, stylish character. He is considered to be one of the many glass canons of melee. While his recovery isn't as good as fox he does a lot of neat tricks that fox doesn't. Pillaring is probally the most infamous thing Falco can do. While is known for his ability to style on people I don't think it should be a main focus for those who are learning falco. The reason why I say this is that if you are too worried about styling with falco as a new player then you may get easily discouraged for not looking as good as the pros. Falco is definitely a character you can practice with and transition to fox if you want to. I see a lot of new players trying to play fox and just getting destroyed, I normally tell them to switch to falco and they get destroyed less. Like fox, falco doesn't have any terrible match-ups but struggles with more match-ups then fox against like marth and peach . Like most fox players, most falco players prefer Yoshi 's and like any stages except for fountain of dreams but some players favor some stages over others. Falco players generally agree more about match ups so it may be easier to ask for help in certain match-ups. While falco does have some weakness's he also has some great pros. He tends to destroy low and mid tiers and is known as one of fox's hardest match ups. He can definitely give anyone a run for their money. Sadly in the current meta has been a dying breed with a lack of PPMD, mang0 using marth and westballz switching to fox for certain match-ups, along with not a lot of new players picking up falco.
TL;DR isn't as technical as fox but still technical, also very flashy
Sheik:At some point being the best character in the game and has been argued between 2nd to 4th, and even lower by some player.Sheik has always been a super good character but top players always criticize sheik for being a lame, tech chase character. Sheik, along with fox is a fairly technical character. She has tons of pros and very little cons. Her short hop isn't very good and neither is her dash dance. Her recovery is also pretty bad and extremely predicable. She does have an incredible offense and defense. She can gimp and combo with ease. She has some great tools in her arsenal like her chain, needles and her plethora of good moves. Her tilts, msash attacks and aerial moves all do her wonders. The problem most people have with her is that she excels at being the boring, yet super good character. People who don't play sheik and even some that do despise having to play against her strengths of good tilts, chain grabbing and tech chasing. Sheik players should be able to tech chase and chain grab in order to get the full package with sheik. She has one of the best combo games due to the fact that she can easily transition her ground combos to air combos. While she destroys low and mid tiers she does struggle against some of the high tiers. Sheik players tend to struggles with the ice climbers, jigglypuff and fox match-ups.Some players also feel that peach,marth and falco aren't her greatest match-ups. As for stages she prefers fountain and does well on most stages except for fd. For the most part she is a great character but struggles with some match-ups. As for the current meta she does pretty well but a lot more players are starting to believe and vocalize that sheik is overrated and has a lot more struggles then what most people think.
TL;DR very technical and very well rounded but struggles with some high tier match-ups
Marth:One of best characters to learn the basic fundamentals of the game and has been used by some of the best players to ever touch the game. Marth has been known over the years as the spacey slayer, which has helped him stay within the top 4. He does extremely well when he can play the game the way he wants to play. Marth's great strength his his range. With the longest grab range in the game he can chain grab most fast fallers with ease or juggle anyone else. His tilts are all super good and has great smash attacks. With good spacing he can make it near impossible to get in. While playing with his strength, it is also his weakness. If marth doesn't space well then he has a hard time saving himself, do to his tipper mechanic. He does have great tools to space, like his great dash dance and wave dash. Along with sheik he has a great gimp and ledge game, making it a real challenge for anyone to recover. His tilts and smashes all are good at sending them flying. His aerials are also great, especially his spike. He has great combos that end with his spike, for example the ken combo. The only problem marth has is some of his moves are very predicatlbe and have bad end lag, mainly his counter and his up b but his side b does aid his recovery. Another problem that marth tends to have his is problem to kill once the opponet gets past about 80%. While he does have his tipper he still struggles to close out stocks.When it comes to stages fd tends to be his best friend or any small stage for that matter, pokemon stadium is debatable depending on play style and personal preference but its normally agreed that dreamland is his worse stage, do to the fact that he loses is stage control with his range.Marth doesn't tend to have bad match-ups but marth players will tell you that falcon,puff,peach and sheik are bad for marth. A key thing for marth players to be able to do is convert to kills. As for the current meta he is on a slow upswing seeing that m2k is starting to do better against armada's peach, mang0 using marth and the whispers of a returning ppmd along with other players doing well with marth.
TL:DRgood fundamentals and great range but is very predictable and requires good spacing
Jigglypuff:Normally agreed by the competitive community, Jigglypuff has made huge strides and tends to sit at 5th in most people's tier list but is also one of the most annoying characters in the top 8, next to ice climbers. Puff has a very good air game and air movement but isn't as powerful on the ground. She has a great recovery with her multiple jumps and her side . JP also relies on her rest, which can be fairly easily combed into. While it tends to kill the amount of endlag lets any opponent punish her. Her air game is the best things she has, seeing that she can easily carry people off stage. Her ground smashes can kill but aren't as reliable. Do to the fact that puff is so slow and floaty she doesn't have as much tech compared to a character like fox or falco. While she is easier on the hands she also has her fair share of flaws. She is killed fairly easily, doesn't have a recovery move (up b) and most of her specials have a ton of end lag. As for stages she tends to favor stages with high ceilings or overall big blastzones, so stages like dreamland and fod are good for her. Small stages like yoshis can lead to her dying earlier then usual and stadium's transformations can screw over her quite easily. She does struggle with match-ups against marth,falco and especially fox. She does destroy top tiers like captain falcon and peach. Overall she is a slow character who requires patience and tolerance to play, seeing that she moves pretty slow but with rest and her great aerial game it defiantly helps her out. In the current meta hbox is making HUGE leaps and bounds with her.
TL;DR is known as the least technical character out of the top 8, can combo well but does very quickly.
Peach:A weapon of mass destruction is used by the right player, Peach has been known to hit hard and live long. Most people who don't play peach don't understand her. She has a ton of stuff in her arsenal to destroy everyone. Her smash attacks are all goo, her tilts are good and she has a great projectile. While most people use it just as a projectile it can also be used to rack up some damage on throws. For example if u throw up a turnip and then grab ur opponent and up throw, they can hit the turnip and you can follow up with a nair. Her turnips make her a nightmare to fight against. Not only can she bully you with turnips from afar but if you get in close she can still hold her own.She also has a phenomonial recovery, she has a float which can be used to edgeguard extremely well. She has a great air game due to her float and aerials, a good ground game, good smash attacks and tilts, can chaingrab fast fallers and can edge guard great. Her problems are that she is fairly slow, has a teribble wave dash and her terrible match-ups. She is commonly agreed on to get beat hard by puff,marth,fox and sheik, She also struggles against falco and falcon. Low and mid tiers aren't bad for her though. As for stages most peach players say that it depends on who the other character is. For the most part stages aren't too bad for her. Most people think that peach has pretty much hit her limit at this point but others believe there is still more. In the current meta macD and Armada show that she is still good but armada beliefs, like most others, that she needs to be duel mained with any other character to cover her bad match-ups.
TL;DR is a great character who lives long and can hit hard but can be held back by her bad match-ups and predictability
Captain Falcon:The fastest and one of the strongest characters in the game Captain Falcon has been known to be a fan favorite and generate hype like no ones business. Pro players have taken 2 paths on playing him. Either the super tech chase heavy and slow calculated route of 20GX or his natural fast and explosive route He has a great moveset, his smash attacks, tilts and aerials are all super good. His specials aren't the greatest but that can be useful. His side b can be used to tech chase and his falcon kick and be used to move past his opponent and give him some breathing room. He has the ability to chain grad character like Pikachu and can tech chase pretty well. The only thing that truly holds back falcon his lack of a good recovery. his up b sucks and unlike in project m and smash 4 his side b doesn't clip to the stage which is only useful if he is above the stage, but it can be easily punished. He does have a great combo game and looks super stylish it dong it. Next to falco Captain falcon may be the next stylish character in melee. Falcon defiantly struggles with the top tiers.He can beat icies, and goes even with peach but pretty much gets beat by all the other top tiers. Characters like puff, fox and flaco absolutely destroy falcon.Stages for falcon he generally prefers big stages so he can run around, but its pretty match-up specific.Commoly though falcon players don't like fountain. He can be a great character but is held back by a lot. As for the current meta it seems to be the year of falcon, n0ne beat m2k and wizzy broke the top 5 curse so it seems like if falcon gets a year it will be 2016.
TL;DR has great speed, strength and combo game but had bad match-ups and a poor recovery
Ice Climbers:The most unique character in melee but also the most annoying the ice climbers are the last character that are considered above everyone else. They live in infamy due to the legendary wobbles, along side other players like chu and nintendude. As long as nana is alive then popo can strive for greatness. While they have been known to wobble players like wobbles and fly have shown that you don't need to wobble to win. They can pretty good with just desyncing and can be quite stylish. They do have good throws and good smashes. Their recovery is good while both of them are alive. While Ice climbers are top tier as soon as nana is gone it becomes unfavorable for popo, but doable. They have a good wave dash and have a great punish game. They also have a projectile which can be with edge guarding. Ice climbers do struggle with top tiers and even some mid tiers, when they aren't wobbling for the win. Every top tier besides sheik has a fairly good chance of beating the ice climbers. Characters like peach and fox are with out a doubt the hardest match-up for them. As for stages it seems very match-up based. Ice climbers just need to not rely on wobbling because it can only take them so far. As for the current meta it seems that they are kinda in a rut, with wobbles experimenting and trying to single handily save them.
TL;DR can easily cheese people but can get beat easily if the player isn't good
Secondaries:
for the most part none of these characters truly need a secondary. In fact most people shouldn't have secondaries. The only reason why you should is if you truly enjoy more then one character, if you get bored from the same character or if you are covering bad match-ups. But even then all these characters are good enough to get past their bad match-ups and you should only really play other characters if you plan on switching or in friendlies.
If you still aren't sure on what character to pick then just test them out. Play against friends, people on netplay, tournament players or cpus. Also check out videos of a character and look into that characters boards and ask for advice.
If you have any suggestions or tips I should add please let me know.
This first question is why are you playing melee, along with how much time and effort are you willing to put into melee? There are a ton of answers to this question but this is something you need to answer before going forward. Do you want to be a low tier hero, beat a friend who always beats you, place well in locals, get ranked, etc? Determining why you play the game and what you expect out of yourself will make a major difference. For example if your goal is to be going to majors and get out of pools but you aren't willing to go to locals or play netplay to practice and place poorly then you should question yourself on is this the right goal for you. You may have the dream of being the best fox player and beating top players but if you aren't willing to practice as much as you need to and can't get the tech then you may need to rethink your goal. Make sure that your goal is reachable and that you are willing to put in enough effort, don't john to yourself.
Fox:Starting with the highest rated character on the tier list I am going to give some general pros and cons on fox. While fox is known to be the best character in the game he isn't like brawl meta knight, you can't just pick him up and expect to start beating everyone. He does indeed have great speed, recovery, smash attacks and options. Most top players have proven that he is also the easiest to "make a new playstyle with". Unlike other characters like marth and falcon its not just looking at one good player and trying to copy them, he just isn't cookie cutter. There is more freedom and with how good fox is you can definitely put more of yourself into him. Fox doesn't tend to have bad match-ups or bad stages. Sure some match-ups and stages aren't 100% fox favored he still doesn't have any purely bad match-ups. Just like putting yourself into fox and making him how you want, this will also be with match-ups and stages. Some foxes will say how they don't like the marth match-up while others will say that they dislike the falco match-up and the same goes with stages. Most fox players prefer Yoshi 's and like any stages except for fountain of dreams but at the end of the day it comes down to personal preference. Other fox players can give you advice on how to go about certain match-ups but they may prefer so you may need to experiment on what works for you. While fox has a lot of good stuff he has some long term cons. The fact that he is such a technical character may lead to you either picking up a different character or having hand pains and may leaving melee. IMO he definitely needs the most practice because for new players he can be easy to sd with and you can easily get beat if you don't have the mental fortitude and hand eye coordination to handle him. Just because fox is agreed to be the best character in the current meta and pretty much always doesn't mean you should treat him as a crutch and will destroy anyone.
TL;DR
is a very good,technical character, but not very noob friendlyFalco:Going onto the generally agreed 2nd best character falco has some more apparent weakness's and strengths' compared to fox. In the highest level of melee players like mang0 and westballz have made falco famous for being one of the, if not the most, stylish character. He is considered to be one of the many glass canons of melee. While his recovery isn't as good as fox he does a lot of neat tricks that fox doesn't. Pillaring is probally the most infamous thing Falco can do. While is known for his ability to style on people I don't think it should be a main focus for those who are learning falco. The reason why I say this is that if you are too worried about styling with falco as a new player then you may get easily discouraged for not looking as good as the pros. Falco is definitely a character you can practice with and transition to fox if you want to. I see a lot of new players trying to play fox and just getting destroyed, I normally tell them to switch to falco and they get destroyed less. Like fox, falco doesn't have any terrible match-ups but struggles with more match-ups then fox against like marth and peach . Like most fox players, most falco players prefer Yoshi 's and like any stages except for fountain of dreams but some players favor some stages over others. Falco players generally agree more about match ups so it may be easier to ask for help in certain match-ups. While falco does have some weakness's he also has some great pros. He tends to destroy low and mid tiers and is known as one of fox's hardest match ups. He can definitely give anyone a run for their money. Sadly in the current meta has been a dying breed with a lack of PPMD, mang0 using marth and westballz switching to fox for certain match-ups, along with not a lot of new players picking up falco.
TL;DR
isn't as technical as fox but still technical, also very flashySheik:At some point being the best character in the game and has been argued between 2nd to 4th, and even lower by some player.Sheik has always been a super good character but top players always criticize sheik for being a lame, tech chase character. Sheik, along with fox is a fairly technical character. She has tons of pros and very little cons. Her short hop isn't very good and neither is her dash dance. Her recovery is also pretty bad and extremely predicable. She does have an incredible offense and defense. She can gimp and combo with ease. She has some great tools in her arsenal like her chain, needles and her plethora of good moves. Her tilts, msash attacks and aerial moves all do her wonders. The problem most people have with her is that she excels at being the boring, yet super good character. People who don't play sheik and even some that do despise having to play against her strengths of good tilts, chain grabbing and tech chasing. Sheik players should be able to tech chase and chain grab in order to get the full package with sheik. She has one of the best combo games due to the fact that she can easily transition her ground combos to air combos. While she destroys low and mid tiers she does struggle against some of the high tiers. Sheik players tend to struggles with the ice climbers, jigglypuff and fox match-ups.Some players also feel that peach,marth and falco aren't her greatest match-ups. As for stages she prefers fountain and does well on most stages except for fd. For the most part she is a great character but struggles with some match-ups. As for the current meta she does pretty well but a lot more players are starting to believe and vocalize that sheik is overrated and has a lot more struggles then what most people think.
TL;DR
very technical and very well rounded but struggles with some high tier match-upsMarth:One of best characters to learn the basic fundamentals of the game and has been used by some of the best players to ever touch the game. Marth has been known over the years as the spacey slayer, which has helped him stay within the top 4. He does extremely well when he can play the game the way he wants to play. Marth's great strength his his range. With the longest grab range in the game he can chain grab most fast fallers with ease or juggle anyone else. His tilts are all super good and has great smash attacks. With good spacing he can make it near impossible to get in. While playing with his strength, it is also his weakness. If marth doesn't space well then he has a hard time saving himself, do to his tipper mechanic. He does have great tools to space, like his great dash dance and wave dash. Along with sheik he has a great gimp and ledge game, making it a real challenge for anyone to recover. His tilts and smashes all are good at sending them flying. His aerials are also great, especially his spike. He has great combos that end with his spike, for example the ken combo. The only problem marth has is some of his moves are very predicatlbe and have bad end lag, mainly his counter and his up b but his side b does aid his recovery. Another problem that marth tends to have his is problem to kill once the opponet gets past about 80%. While he does have his tipper he still struggles to close out stocks.When it comes to stages fd tends to be his best friend or any small stage for that matter, pokemon stadium is debatable depending on play style and personal preference but its normally agreed that dreamland is his worse stage, do to the fact that he loses is stage control with his range.Marth doesn't tend to have bad match-ups but marth players will tell you that falcon,puff,peach and sheik are bad for marth. A key thing for marth players to be able to do is convert to kills. As for the current meta he is on a slow upswing seeing that m2k is starting to do better against armada's peach, mang0 using marth and the whispers of a returning ppmd along with other players doing well with marth.
TL:DR
good fundamentals and great range but is very predictable and requires good spacingJigglypuff:Normally agreed by the competitive community, Jigglypuff has made huge strides and tends to sit at 5th in most people's tier list but is also one of the most annoying characters in the top 8, next to ice climbers. Puff has a very good air game and air movement but isn't as powerful on the ground. She has a great recovery with her multiple jumps and her side . JP also relies on her rest, which can be fairly easily combed into. While it tends to kill the amount of endlag lets any opponent punish her. Her air game is the best things she has, seeing that she can easily carry people off stage. Her ground smashes can kill but aren't as reliable. Do to the fact that puff is so slow and floaty she doesn't have as much tech compared to a character like fox or falco. While she is easier on the hands she also has her fair share of flaws. She is killed fairly easily, doesn't have a recovery move (up b) and most of her specials have a ton of end lag. As for stages she tends to favor stages with high ceilings or overall big blastzones, so stages like dreamland and fod are good for her. Small stages like yoshis can lead to her dying earlier then usual and stadium's transformations can screw over her quite easily. She does struggle with match-ups against marth,falco and especially fox. She does destroy top tiers like captain falcon and peach. Overall she is a slow character who requires patience and tolerance to play, seeing that she moves pretty slow but with rest and her great aerial game it defiantly helps her out. In the current meta hbox is making HUGE leaps and bounds with her.
TL;DR
is known as the least technical character out of the top 8, can combo well but does very quickly.Peach:A weapon of mass destruction is used by the right player, Peach has been known to hit hard and live long. Most people who don't play peach don't understand her. She has a ton of stuff in her arsenal to destroy everyone. Her smash attacks are all goo, her tilts are good and she has a great projectile. While most people use it just as a projectile it can also be used to rack up some damage on throws. For example if u throw up a turnip and then grab ur opponent and up throw, they can hit the turnip and you can follow up with a nair. Her turnips make her a nightmare to fight against. Not only can she bully you with turnips from afar but if you get in close she can still hold her own.She also has a phenomonial recovery, she has a float which can be used to edgeguard extremely well. She has a great air game due to her float and aerials, a good ground game, good smash attacks and tilts, can chaingrab fast fallers and can edge guard great. Her problems are that she is fairly slow, has a teribble wave dash and her terrible match-ups. She is commonly agreed on to get beat hard by puff,marth,fox and sheik, She also struggles against falco and falcon. Low and mid tiers aren't bad for her though. As for stages most peach players say that it depends on who the other character is. For the most part stages aren't too bad for her. Most people think that peach has pretty much hit her limit at this point but others believe there is still more. In the current meta macD and Armada show that she is still good but armada beliefs, like most others, that she needs to be duel mained with any other character to cover her bad match-ups.
TL;DR
is a great character who lives long and can hit hard but can be held back by her bad match-ups and predictabilityCaptain Falcon:The fastest and one of the strongest characters in the game Captain Falcon has been known to be a fan favorite and generate hype like no ones business. Pro players have taken 2 paths on playing him. Either the super tech chase heavy and slow calculated route of 20GX or his natural fast and explosive route He has a great moveset, his smash attacks, tilts and aerials are all super good. His specials aren't the greatest but that can be useful. His side b can be used to tech chase and his falcon kick and be used to move past his opponent and give him some breathing room. He has the ability to chain grad character like Pikachu and can tech chase pretty well. The only thing that truly holds back falcon his lack of a good recovery. his up b sucks and unlike in project m and smash 4 his side b doesn't clip to the stage which is only useful if he is above the stage, but it can be easily punished. He does have a great combo game and looks super stylish it dong it. Next to falco Captain falcon may be the next stylish character in melee. Falcon defiantly struggles with the top tiers.He can beat icies, and goes even with peach but pretty much gets beat by all the other top tiers. Characters like puff, fox and flaco absolutely destroy falcon.Stages for falcon he generally prefers big stages so he can run around, but its pretty match-up specific.Commoly though falcon players don't like fountain. He can be a great character but is held back by a lot. As for the current meta it seems to be the year of falcon, n0ne beat m2k and wizzy broke the top 5 curse so it seems like if falcon gets a year it will be 2016.
TL;DR
has great speed, strength and combo game but had bad match-ups and a poor recoveryIce Climbers:The most unique character in melee but also the most annoying the ice climbers are the last character that are considered above everyone else. They live in infamy due to the legendary wobbles, along side other players like chu and nintendude. As long as nana is alive then popo can strive for greatness. While they have been known to wobble players like wobbles and fly have shown that you don't need to wobble to win. They can pretty good with just desyncing and can be quite stylish. They do have good throws and good smashes. Their recovery is good while both of them are alive. While Ice climbers are top tier as soon as nana is gone it becomes unfavorable for popo, but doable. They have a good wave dash and have a great punish game. They also have a projectile which can be with edge guarding. Ice climbers do struggle with top tiers and even some mid tiers, when they aren't wobbling for the win. Every top tier besides sheik has a fairly good chance of beating the ice climbers. Characters like peach and fox are with out a doubt the hardest match-up for them. As for stages it seems very match-up based. Ice climbers just need to not rely on wobbling because it can only take them so far. As for the current meta it seems that they are kinda in a rut, with wobbles experimenting and trying to single handily save them.
TL;DR
can easily cheese people but can get beat easily if the player isn't goodSecondaries:
for the most part none of these characters truly need a secondary. In fact most people shouldn't have secondaries. The only reason why you should is if you truly enjoy more then one character, if you get bored from the same character or if you are covering bad match-ups. But even then all these characters are good enough to get past their bad match-ups and you should only really play other characters if you plan on switching or in friendlies.
If you still aren't sure on what character to pick then just test them out. Play against friends, people on netplay, tournament players or cpus. Also check out videos of a character and look into that characters boards and ask for advice.
If you have any suggestions or tips I should add please let me know.
Last edited:
