Lucas is obviously higher on the tier list.
As for who is better, though... it's all preference in this case. Lucas and Ness are balanced and neither are outright better than the other. HOWEVER, Lucas has an easier time in Brawl's fighting environment than Ness does. Lucas has the right tools to survive and kill in Brawl. Ness has these too, but they aren't in-your-face enough or as easy to execute to grant him a higher spot on the tier list.
Ness needs to work harder than Lucas does for his tier placement.
Sorry if that was pooly worded. It's hard to explain.
Example: Mario and Luigi are very good characters, but they have a chance in hell at being high/top tier because they're basically balanced fighters. Ness is pretty similar. Ness has a lot of neat tricks and an awesome moveset, just like Luigi, but Lucas is higher on the tier list because he has what it takes right off-the-bat.
I'm not saying Lucas is easier to play, I'm saying he has an easier time at advancing in the tier lists at the moment. There are hardly any good arguments as to why Ness is better than Lucas, largely because he isn't (on a tier list level). Ness requires the same amount of edication he did in melee, but he's definately improved since then.
Also, arguing about whose PKTis better is silly. They do different things. Ness's juggles, is quick, very hard to airdodge if you know how to use it. It's tail is also easy to use to block second jumps, forcing people to use their upB.
Lucas's sends people in different directions, which is useful for acting like a remote-controlled aerial attack to edgeguard people. It's easier to avoid because you can usually simply DI in the air so the PKT cannot catch up with you. It's just as hard to airdodge as Ness's PKT, but for different reasons. Lucas needs to twirl his PKT a couple of times to hit with the bolt, and Ness neds to twirl his once and rely on the tail-to-bolt hit.
They're both pretty awesome, and I've done some nasty edgeguarding with Ness's PKT that Lucas's cannot do, and likewise with Lucas's PKT.
As for PK Fire, Lucas's is useful for Lucas's playstyle, but useless if Ness had it. Ness's fits his playstyle more. They're both different and do different things. Lucas's is better for tier placement because it's easy to land and is very useful, while Ness's PK Fire is harder to land, yet just as useful (or more useful, depending on how you utilize it).
No big deal. They're both good side Bs. Use them wisely, and they'll do what they're meant to do.
PK Flash versus Freeze. Well, they just require diferent usage. They're both just as useless and just as useful. They aren't, however, tier-placement breakers, so drop the argument about flash versus freeze.
Lucas has some good moves, Ness has some good moves. Both lead to different playstyles. The gap, however, isn't big enough between the two and I doubt they'll be a tier apart.
Heck, Lucas will be guaranteed a higher spot for his recovery alone.
