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Official BBR Tier List v5

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Marc

Relic of the Past
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Introduction
-----------------------------------
Below you will find the fifth official BBR tier list. Members were asked to take the latest BBR ruleset (3.1) into account for as much as possible, but ultimately votes were very much individual products as experiences differ. The exact voting procedure and data, as well as comments on specific character movements, can be found further down this article.

Thanks go out to:
-Ankoku, for his work on the data
-Shaya, for his work on the presentation
-Crow!, The Real Inferno and .joel for their help with the writeups

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tier List Version 5
-----------------------------------

Condensed Version
S: Meta Knight
A: Snake, Diddy Kong, Falco, Wario, Marth, Ice Climbers
B: Olimar, Pikachu, King Dedede, Mr. Game & Watch, Lucario, Zero Suit Samus
C: Toon Link, Kirby, Fox, R.O.B., Pit, Peach, Donkey Kong
D: Luigi, Wolf, (Zelda/Sheik), Sonic, Ike, Sheik, Ness, Pokémon Trainer
E: Yoshi, Lucas, Mario, Bowser
F: Captain Falcon, Samus, Jigglypuff, Link, Zelda
G: Ganondorf

Low tier tournaments have now officially lost Ike and gained Bowser.

Previous Tier Lists
v1 (September 1, 2008)
v2 (January 1, 2009)
v3 (June 5, 2009)
v4 (February 26, 2010)

Individual Character Movement
-----------------------------------
Please note, that with the inclusion of "Zelda/Sheik" as a character, obviously all characters below her would have a technical drop. However, all listed movements take this new inclusion into consideration.
e.g. Ike was 29th last tier list, and is now 25th - but he has moved above 5 characters.
:metaknight:
1. Meta Knight ±0

:snake:
2. Snake ±0

:diddy:
3. Diddy Kong ±0

:falco:
4. Falco ±0

:wario:
5. Wario +2

:marth:
6. Marth ±0

:popo:
7. Ice Climbers -2

:olimar:
8. Olimar +2

:pikachu2:
9. Pikachu ±0

:dedede:
10. King Dedede -2

:gw:
11. Mr Game & Watch +1

:lucario:
12. Lucario -1

:zerosuitsamus:
13. Zero Suit Samus +2

:toonlink:
14. Toon Link ±0

:kirby2:
15. Kirby +1

:fox:
16. Fox +4

:rob:
17. R.O.B. ±0

:pit:
18. Pit -5

:peach:
19. Peach ±0

:dk2:
20. Donkey Kong -2

:luigi2:
21. Luigi ±0

:wolf:
22. Wolf ±0

:zelda:/:shiek:
23. Zelda/Sheik *new*

:sonic:
24. Sonic +2

:ike:
25. Ike +5

:shiek:
26. Sheik -2

:ness2:
27. Ness ±0

:pt:
28. Pokémon Trainer -3

:yoshi2:
29. Yoshi +2

:lucas:
30. Lucas -1

:mario2:
31. Mario +1

:bowser2:
32. Bowser -5

:falcon:
33. Captain Falcon ±0

:samus2:
34. Samus ±0

:jigglypuff:
35. Jigglypuff ±0

:link2:
36. Link +1

:zelda:
37. Zelda -1

:ganondorf:
38. Ganondorf ±0
Voting Procedure & Data
-----------------------------------
For the voting procedure we kept it simple this time: we had individual members order all 38 entries and averaged out the posted lists. This is how tier lists were often handled in the past, the drawback being that it requires extensive knowledge of the cast. Considering it’s been more than two years since Brawl’s release, we felt able to do it again. Based on the voting we had several ways to place the gaps after the characters were ordered and polled four of them, with the spread presented coming out victorious.

Snake, Diddy Kong and Falco (more so the first two) were extremely close in terms of achieving second spot; a lot closer than it was during v4. There is a noticeably growing train of thought towards Snake not being the second best in the game.

Code:
RANK	CHARACTER		AVERAGE	STDEV	MODE
1	Meta Knight		1	0	1	

2	Snake			3.13	1.31	2
3	Diddy Kong		3.33	1.55	3
4	Falco			3.71	1.78	4

5	Wario			5.76	1.96	5
6	Marth			5.85	1.92	5
7	Ice Climbers		6.62	1.18	7

8	Olimar			8.71	1.45	8
9	Pikachu			8.98	2.31	9
10	King Dedede		10.36	2.27	10

11	Mr. Game & Watch	12.05	2.32	12
12	Lucario			12.29	2.18	11
13	Zero Suit Samus		12.75	2.25	11
14	Toon Link		15.00	3.16	14
15	Kirby			16.05	2.61	17
16	Fox			16.55	3.38	18
17	R.O.B.			17.00	2.60	16
18	Pit			17.91	3.53	18
19	Peach			18.05	3.15	15
20	Donkey Kong		19.13	2.72	19

21	Luigi			21.56	2.67	21
22	Wolf			22.36	3.09	22
23	Zelda/Sheik		23.35	2.59	24
24	Sonic			23.82	3.34	26
25	Ike			25.22	2.79	25
26	Sheik			25.33	2.54	28
27	Ness			25.75	2.43	26

28	Pokémon Trainer		27.40	2.10	26

29	Yoshi			29.71	2.07	29
30	Lucas			29.78	2.35	30
31	Mario			30.47	3.48	32
32	Bowser			31.69	4.04	34

33	Captain Falcon		33.45	2.02	33
34	Samus			33.78	1.65	35
35	Jigglypuff		33.98	4.66	36
36	Link			35.44	1.48	36
37	Zelda			35.49	1.92	37

38	Ganondorf		37.91	0.35	38
The New Zelda/Sheik Entry<hr size="1" style="color:; background-color:" />The BBR has decided to introduce the combination of Zelda and Sheik as a character into the tier list's fifth iteration. There are several reasons for this decision.

Definition of the Zelda/Sheik entry:
Zelda/Sheik describes using both characters to the best of their abilities. This includes transforming mid-battle and choosing either of them on the character selection. Basically, Zelda/Sheik is defined as using both sides of the character as a single entity, rather than exclusively maining one of them.

Reasoning:
Zelda and Sheik can be played separately, but also in tandem. A player can decide to use either Zelda, Sheik or the combination. Unlike with Pokémon Trainer, a player is not penalized for using one of the characters for a longer time and they are also not forced to switch after a stock loss. Using the second character can improve the first one’s performance, as there are match-ups where one character has severe problems, but the other one has an easier time. You also can use tactics with the combination you couldn't use with the characters alone, for instance switching to Zelda with fresh KO moves after racking up damage with Sheik. The only drawback is needing to find a good time to switch, which isn’t helped by the fact that the Wii’s loading times determine how long it will take.

Now, one could say "Why don't you just have Zelda/Sheik as one character and remove the single entries?" Well, there's a few reasons for that, as well. As already mentioned, you can play each of the characters. You aren't forced to play the combination, and many people actually don't. Additionally, Zelda by herself is low tier, so removing her would cut down the options for low tier events at tournaments.

Individual Character Movement Explained
-----------------------------------
Note: This section might be updated in the future.

Winners

Fox
Fox is a reasonably viable, though difficult to use, tournament character who can hold his own against several top tiers. Watching TKD's performances against other top players, many BBR members are of the opinion Fox was underrated and might still be, despite bad matchups against Sheik and Pikachu, which goes to show a few bad matchups don't completely invalidate a character. It can even be argued that most characters in the game, including top tiers, have matchups they rather wouldn't stay in against. That said, Fox' bad matchups are on the extreme side and time will tell if he can live up to his potential.

Ike
It became readily apparent during the character discussion for Ike that he would be moving up on this tier list. Most of the BBR agreed that Ike has no business with the rest of low tier, especially with the performances of San in tournament, and on a smaller scale, players like Mr. Doom & Ryo. Aggregate tournament data also bears this out, with Ike outperforming many characters more traditionally considered to be low tiers. It is our opinion that Ike, while still having large weaknesses, is a character perfectly capable of operating in the lower sections of mid tier, much like Sonic has before him. Ike is no longer to be considered just a WiFi Noob character.

Losers

Bowser
No, Bowser's drop in placement is not because of the removal of the special pro-Bowser rule. The simple fact of the matter is that Bowser is a linear character that hasn't been successful at tournaments - even less so than most low tiers. Bowser still has some good options, but being a large target with a not particularly flexible game plan does not bode well for him as players continue to develop the metagame.

Pit
Pit's placement in the previous tier list was mostly formed based on speculation of yet-unrealized potential, but that potential (if it exists...) still has yet to materialize in regions other than Japan, where the stage selection heavily favors him. As such, he is moving down to a place which more closely corresponds to his present abilities in the US, Europe and Australia.

Pokémon Trainer
It is the opinion of the BBR that while Pokémon Trainer has the tools to keep himself from dropping back to Low Tier, he rarely performs well in tournaments outside of Reflex. It seems to us that Reflex is a massive outlier in terms of results for his character, which data seems to support. Reflex has several times the number of placings of the second best Pokémon Trainer and is close to being the character's metagame on his own. Because of this, Pokemon Trainer rounds off the bottom of the mid tier characters.


Discuss away!
 

lordhelmet

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First !

I have slightly different opinions on only a few characters. I'd like to see Falcon rise above Mario but that's not really justifiable yet.
 

#HBC | J

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woooooow :O so cool eh I wish it was a bit dif but still cool

*first page wow*

wow Ike boost.....lol +5
 

Yink

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Interesting.

DANG IKE. Shoot up! Man...Ness should've gone up. At least one or two but oh well.
 

Juushichi

sugoi ~ sugoi ~
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I have no qualms about this list, everyone I thought deserved a rise-fall is just about there. Even Fox's jump seems sort of reasonable.

Good job guys.
 

Kinzer

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Not a lot of extreme changes aside from a handful of characters...

Does that means the BBR feels like they're getting closer to an accurate finalized list?

*Ponder.*
 

HeroMystic

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Most accurate tier list thus far. Zelda being in low tier still seems iffy but that's the only complaint.

GJ Ike mains. +5 spots is no small feat.

How the hell did Mario move up a spot? :lol:
 

Spelt

BRoomer
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Ganon Tier Hype.


I also really like that both zelda and sheik have placements separately and together.
 

z00ted

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Peach should move up NEXT tier list.

(smirk)
 

Kewkky

Uhh... Look at my status.
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Once again, I main both a high tier and a mid tier. I'm okay with this... Although i would've liked seeing Kirby in high tier instead (character bias). But hey, at least he's above Fox!
 

Umby

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Zelda/Sheik entity is interesting. How does her placing take tournament results into account? I'm not sure of how many people enter/place without using either one exclusively.

And though it's been addressed, would there be potential for ranking Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Charizard individually? I understand that Pokemon Trainer is forced to switch into a different matchup during the match but I'm curious as to if there is any reasoning that would support adding them to the tier list individually.
 

MetalMusicMan

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I really think Peach should have moved up too, but oh well, there's always next time. This list definitely turned out great overall, I have a few quams with it but mostly I'm very happy with it :)
 

rm88

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I still think Zelda is at least on par with Mario.
 
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