My opinion of the SSB3DS tier list.
Hello, my name is Shiny Mewtwo! Some of you may know me from my posts in the Super Smash Bros. Brawl Tier List discussion threads over the last few years. Thanks to the advice and support of my mentor, @
JMF | pidgezero_one (formerly known as Xx_JiGgLyPuFf_DuDe_420_xX), I became a master of analyzing Smash Bros games and creating accurate and informative tier lists which appeal to the general population of competitive Smashers, eventually achieving a PhD in Smash Community Studies (my dissertation is located here
http://smashboards.com/threads/official-bbr-tier-list-v7.321738/page-381#post-15393648 if any of you are interested). Now that the Brawl boards and their tier list threads have died, I’ve decided to focus my energies on the new game.
This tier list is based on my initial impressions from playing each character for
only a brief period of time, and as such I'm not fully aware of some of the finer points or more technical abilities of some characters (For example, I've noticed recent Palutena discussion about her being really good thanks to some sort of advanced technique that I was not aware of. I have her at the bottom of my tier list, but maybe with more knowledge of what that technique does my opinion will change). The character traits I valued most are speed, ability to rack up damage, ability to easily land kills and ability to recover. I will provide
in depth explanations for high tier characters, and s
horter explanations for the rest of the cast. I did not take equipment or custom moves into account. I am not splitting the list into lettered tiers (i.e. A, B and C tiers), as at this point the metagame is too volatile to go beyond simple Top, High, Mid, Low and Bottom tiers. Without further ado, here is the tier list:
God Tier
1. Mewtwo – Mewtwo is the most powerful Pokemon in the Pokemon series (Arceus doesn’t count because God doesn’t exist). Sakurai and his team took that into account. Knowing that Mewtwo would be by far the most powerful character in Smash Bros 3DS, they delayed his release until the Spring in order to hinder his metagame development, putting it approximately 6 months behind the metagame of all other characters.
Top Tier
2. Sheik – Sheik is a fantastic character. Her movement speed and the speed of her attacks work extremely well together to allow her to easily raise her opponent’s damage very quickly. Her kill power, which was her only major flaw in the previous game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, has been significantly buffed, in thanks to her new Down Special attack. Her recovery is also very safe.
3. Rosalina – Rosalina is unique in the sense that she outnumbers you, thanks to her companion, Luma. This gives her 2 distinct advantages in gameplay. First, she can control a much larger amount of the stage thanks to being able to position Luma away from her, and still be in control of what he does. Second, she can use Luma to protect herself from being grabbed, as even while Rosalina is grabbed she can still make Luma attack the opponent to save her. Luma also gives Rosalina great kill power. Rosalina doesn’t have to worry very much about camping, because she is able to simply absorb any projectile sent her way. Her recovery is also fantastic.
4. Bowser – Bowser has been a very bad Smash character for a long time. But in Super Smash Bros for 3DS that finally changes. Bowser now has much more speed than he had in other games, making it much easier to damage his opponent. He also retains his fantastic kill power, and his recovery is much better than it used to be and is no longer a major hindrance to the character. His heavy wait also allows him to survive much longer than any character will be surviving against him.
5. Diddy Kong – Diddy Kong remains an extremely good character following his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His bananas were slightly nerfed, but are still extremely useful and his other attributes remain top tier as well. He moves link into each other well at low percent, and bananas are extremely good at setting up kills at high percent. His recovery is also fairly good as well.
6. King Dedede – Gordos. Gordos are a fantastic tool for D3, and the myriad of ways he can use him makes him an excellent character. That’s not all he has though, his recovery is very good, and he is also able to effectively rack up damage on his opponent through the use of tilts and throws. Smashes can also be an effective kill tool.
7. Greninja – Greninja is similar to Sheik, in that it is very good at using its speed to rack up damage. Its kill moves aren’t quite as good as Sheik’s are, but they are still very useful. Its recovery is excellent as well.
8. Duck Hunt – Duck Hunt is fantastic at racking up damage thanks to his extensive toolbox of projectiles. Duck Hunt may have a bit of trouble killing at times, but smart use of his projectiles can put the opponent in prime position to be hit by one of his strong aerials or smashes. His recovery is also very good.
9. Yoshi – Yoshi has excellent mobility and strong moves that link together well, making him very good at both racking up damage and killing. His Up B can also function well as a camping tool. His recovery is not as safe as other top tier characters (a simple footstool completely screws him over), but that does not hinder him too much as his stage control and aerial mobility makes it easy for him to avoid those situations.
High Tier
10. Lucina – Lucina is very fast, has very strong moves that are easy to land is very good at keeping her opponents away from her. Killing can be a tad difficult, as she doesn’t have a reliable way to set up kill moves, but her moves are fast enough that landing them raw shouldn’t be difficult. Her recovery is also good.
11. Robin – Robin is very strong at controlling space around him with Arcfire, and smart usage of the Levin Sword. Shkle is a bit slow in the air, which keeps shklim from being top tier. Landing kill moves shouldn’t be a problem, as the Levin Sword is very strong and regenerates quickly after breaking. Shkle also has the ability to heal shklerself with Nosferatu, which can be extraordinarily useful when used at the right times. Shkler recovery is also very good.
12. ROB – ROB is excellent at racking up damage, as it’s very easy for him to combo out of his throws. He controls space well, with a combination of lasers, gyro and his huge Nair. He also has good kill moves with his Smashes and Up Throw. His recovery is also fantastic.
13. Marth – Marth is a very similar character to Lucina. The thing that makes him worse than her is the higher precision needed to play Marth, as his sword is more powerful at the tip. 3DS controls limit the ability to space Marth’s attacks to their most effective range, making him worse than Lucina for now. However, the difference is not very large and the release of the Wii U version giving players more control options could very easily increase his spot on the tier list. I'm definitely
not just putting Marth in high tier to appease @
Shaya
. Not at all.
14. Captain Falcon – After a poor showing in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Captain Falcon returns to high tier to show his moves once more! Falcon is very good at racking up damage, with a great ability to follow up on his throws with multiple aerials, as well as a very strong Jab combo. His kill power is also very good, with the Knee of Justice and Raptor Boost both being capable of killing opponents very early, as well as his powerful Smash attacks. His recovery is able to cover a long distance, and the grab attack can catch careless opponents unawares.
15. Jigglypuff – Jigglypuff is unrivaled in the air, being able to manoeuvre in and out of her opponent’s attacks with ease. Her Bair is extremely good for both racking up damage and killing, and Rest is an omnipresent threat that can kill very early. Her recovery is one of the very best in the game, being able to return to the stage from almost any point.
16. Zero Suit Samus – Zero Suit Samus is very good at racking up damage, as she is able to set up guaranteed combos thanks to her paralyzer attacks (netural B, Down Smash). She is also good at killing with her strong Forward Smash and Aerials. Her recovery is also very good.
17. Lucario – The combination of Rage and Aura make Lucario a lethal threat at high percent. His recovery is also very good, meaning he will live for a long time as well. Lucario’s ability to kill the opponent while at high percent is completely unrivaled, although he is limited while he is at low percent, which hurts his tier position.
18. Sonic – Sonic’s speed is completely unrivaled, and this allows him to rack up damage better than almost every other character. However, his kill power, while better than it was in Brawl, is still a minor weakness. His recovery is also somewhat linear, though it is still very good.
19. Donkey Kong – Donkey Kong has loads of pure power. He is also fairly fast, making it easier for him to land hits than some other powerful characters, such as Ike and Ganondorf. His Side B is a very useful tool, as it almost completely breaks shields with just one hit. His down B spike in the air is also very strong, and can allow him to get some quick kills on recovering characters. His recovery is very strong horizontally, but mediocre vertically.
20. Pikachu – Pikachu is very fast and is able to rack up damage fairly quickly. His kill potential is somewhat limited, but his edgeguarding game is very strong and makes up for it easily. His recovery is also fantastic, among the best in the game.
Mid-Tier
21. Mario – Good ability to link moves together to rack up damage. Good kill power. Decent recovery
22. Dark Pit – Decent ability to link moves together. Decent kill power. Fantastic recovery
23. Metaknight – Decent ability to link moves together. Fairly good kill power. Great recovery
24. Wario – Good aerial mobility. Strong kill power. Fairly good recovery.
25. Villager – Effective stage control. Good anti-camping game. Somewhat struggles to kill. Great recovery.
26. Toon Link – Good camping game to rack up damage, hard to kill. Average recovery.
27. Wii Fit Trainer – Fast. Average recovery. Killing does not come easily
28. Luigi – Great at racking up damage. Solid kill power. Good recovery.
29. Olimar – Good stage control with Pikmin. Average recovery. Kill power depends on Pikmin, too random to be reliable.
30. Link – Decent camping game. Strong kill moves, but not easy to land. Mediocre recovery.
31. Falco – Landing lag on lasers limits camping game. Decent recovery. Decent at killing. Bair is amazing, other aerials not so much.
32. Fox – Lag on lasers makes camping ineffective. Decent at racking up damage and killing. Decent recovery.
33. Bowser Jr. – Decent stage control. FSmash very good for killing. Recovery is too linear and predictable.
34. Megaman – Solid camping game. Kills are hard to come by. Decent recovery.
35. Mr. Game and Watch – Decent at racking up damage. Decent at killing. Decent recovery.
36. Pit – Decent projectile, struggles to rack up damage. Struggles to kill. Fantastic recovery.
37. Dr. Mario – Decent camping game. Fairly good low percent combos. Decent at killing. Mediocre recovery.
38. Ness – Struggles racking up damage, decent at killing. Decent recovery
39. Shulk – Slow moves. Difficult to rack up damage. Good at killing. Mediocre recovery.
40. Peach – Unique pressure game with Float. Decent at killing. Poor at racking up damage. Great recovery.
41. Zelda – Mediocre at damaging and racking up damage. Decent defensive game. Decent recovery.
Low Tier
42. Kirby – Attacks do very little damage, very few kill moves. Decent recovery, but not as good as it should be for a character with so many jumps
43. Pac-Man – Powerful, but very little ability to link moves together and rack up damage. Recovery is predicable, making it mediocre at best. He avoids being lower because I like saying "Waka Waka Waka"
44. Ike – His strong moves are slow and hard to hit with, and his moves that are easy to hit with do little damage and have no kill power. Mediocre recovery. No friends in the game to fight for.
45. Samus – No kill power, too much lag on projectiles. Decent recovery but not good enough to make up for her flaws.
46. Charizard – Good kill power, but no way to reliably rack up damage. Kill moves are difficult to land. Mediocre recovery.
47. Mii Swordfighter – Decent speed on his moves, alright at racking up damage. Okay kill power. Horrible recovery.
48. Mii Gunner – Difficult to link moves together and rack up damage. Camp game weak for a projectile based character. Bad recovery.
49. Mii Brawler - Good at racking up damage. Kill moves are difficult to land. Horrible recovery.
Bottom Tier
50. Ganondorf – Very strong, but slow. Moves are hard to land. Poor recovery
51. Palutena – I have no ****ing clue what this character is trying to do. Everything about her seems extremely bad.
52. Little Mac – No recovery or aerial game. Little Mac is completely ignoring half of the game. There’s no way to win when you’re only playing half the game. Little Mac should really work on jumping.
Overall, I believe the game is very well balanced. The difference between the best characters and the worst characters is not nearly as large as it was in Melee and Brawl. I would compare this game more to Smash 64, where even bottom tier characters can be deadly tournament threats in the hands of a skilled player.
Remember, this tier list is based on my initial impressions from a brief period of time playing each character, not any sort of in depth analysis of the game. There are probably going to be some huge discrepancies with reality.
I hope you all enjoyed reading my Tier List. This was my 3000th post on Smashboards, and I put a lot of work into it, neglecting my schoolwork for much of the past 3 days. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an essay (or 3) to write.
