It's been some time since the last of these has been posted, and i've never done one, so I thought i'd post my thoughts on tiers. But unlike a regular tier list I won't do set positions within tiers. So basically the characters within the tiers are un-ordered, but I think they should be somewhere in that tier. I can't explain all of my choices because some characters i've virtually heard nothing from and won't know much for their capabilitiies, but hey I might as well try my best right?
I did it with the assumption that customs were on, but not all characters may use/need them. Basically my attempt at an overall viability list, which may or may not be insane
And I am trying to reflect post-patch, yup.
So, without further ado...
Top tier!
(Yoshi and ness have waited oh so long for this day)
High tier!
(basically the characters that everyone's like 'could be top 10/15' but are just out of top 7, also the two that fell out of top in my eyes)
Low high tier!
(Palutena and Ike may or may not be slightly higher)
High mid tier!
(not sure if the links should be lower or here)
Mid tier!
(pacman might deserve high mid, considering his results in japan)
Low mid tier!
(these guys can still be pretty decent but I think they'll have to work for it just a tad harder)
Low tier!
(Definitely need a buff, but they're totally playable and should still have some positive match-ups)
This list is based on the limited resources I have and what I currently know, but there may be characters that I just haven't seen. Do let me know if you think some characters deserve to be in different tiers but try to give me some evidence if ya can as well. ^_^
To give some explanation for my choices:
- no surprise that I love this character. We knew he was significantly better this time around with a game that stayed very potent in the face of nerfs to many of his counters. With the most recent patch, Rosalina and Sheik have become slightly more viable match-ups for him (moreso sheik I think). I believe with his intense grab game which while having an average grab in itself, gets incredible combos and a kill from two different throws, he's a very strong character that racks up damage and kills early without being too ridiculously light as well. He has good aerial mobility and solid OoS options and generally is hard to pin down. Finally his recovery has been buffed in 3 ways from Brawl: Lucas properties on start-up, bolt travels faster, can be used twice if he bounces into a wall and whilst it's still fragile, I think it's a different beast than what it used to be. He stays potent whether customs are on or off.
- A character who has a very solid close-range game that has been reasonably buffed and now I believe his lasers allow him to have some more potency at long range. Not actually sure on his results but I think it was a mistake to instantly label him 'bad tier' when his lasers got nerfed. People forgot how good he was and still is at close range (didn't he keep his frame 1 jab?)... even with the removal of the chain grabs. Also Bair kills guys. GUYS. Bair freaking kills!
- I actually think Chibo's work with Rob has paid off quite well. Rob actually has kill power now, which really rounds out his ability to camp. Very solid character with a good set of options and his recovery is only bad if he's forced to use it twice in close succession.
- He's such a precarious character in terms of where he is on the tier list. The removal of vectoring probably buffed him more than anyone in the current 2-stock ruleset and his on-stage game is just way too potent to ignore. However there are characters out there that will flat out exploit his weaknesses if they get the chance and he has very few answers to that. Little Mac is a character that with very few changes could go anywhere on the list lol. In some ways that's a good thing! In others... hmm, not so much.
- as much as I love this character, he finds it difficult to stand out in the meta. His early meta game is being found out about and circumvented and while he has decent tilts i'm not so sure whether they'll be able to support him. Additionally, his grab game worries me, both because it's a dangerous grab to land and he doesn't get much out of it. Finally, his specials aren't really fast enough for him to camp with and take time to set up, time he rarely has. That said, his aerials linger for some time (especially the Fair) and he has a quick Uair that's good for juggling and forces a situation where he has the advantage, and his upB is two ways to kill in one move which is pretty cool. He can also afford to go offstage with a very good set of moves that lend to recovery and a Nair that I believe he can space quite well. Shouldn't be slept on. He's also cute as hell. Not too shabby. <3
- Oh how the might have fallen... ish. I do feel bad for our beloved king, gordos add little to his moveset that he needs and can be a hindrance to him just as much as an asset. His grab game is a shadow of its former seolf for obvious reasons, and his Bair has been replaced with... a singificantly less exciting one. His Ftilt is still solid and so is his jab, but he needs more and I think struggles against quite a few of the higher-tiered characters.
- I don't know whether kirby should be in low or low mid to be totally honest. I feel he has real trouble getting in and even when he does, he's like... Okay, I guess? I don't think he's luigi-level of potent when he's actually in, so maybe that's why he's there... I definitely think kirbster could use a good buff to his range so he could actually be safe on... nearly everything.
I just chose 1 from each tier I thought might be questionable, but I can try to explain more if needed. Just a reminder that the characters aren't ordered within tiers and could be anywhere within that tier.
Oh and this is pre-tournament. Can't wait to see what I think of this list after the 23rd.
san. today, Ike with customs is every bit as beastly as I thought (having played Ike only two days myself). I had a very hard time gimping Ike as multiple characters, and f-air is just so massive, I wasn't sure what to do besides try to shieldgrab it, but if Ike lands perfectly with it he can put you in his d-tilt range but outside of your grab range, and his d-tilt is disjointed so he'll win against your own. It's very difficult to recover high, too, and I almost felt forced to recover high because whenever I tried to recover low, Tempest was there to blow away my recovery. One read from Ike kills you, as it always has in the past, only now on top of having devastating reads he also has quite a few combos and strings that he can use on you.
