Marc and I were having a really interesting discussion the other night about who is the best character in Melee.
It's been argued for years whether or not Fox, Sheik, or Marth is the best character in Melee. I've gone from thinking Sheik.....to Marth....to Fox. Honestly though Marc brought up some really good points the other night about a possability for Jigglypuff to be the best character in the game. Yes, I laughed at first myself but
Jigglypuff is the best off stage
Has an amazing grab game against Falco and Fox
CAN do fairly well against Marth IF she gets inside him
She's not exactly easy to edge guard
Has an instant KO if spaced properly
The best player in the world CURRENTLY is a jigs player and the second best player in the world (who uses a character who is "supposed to" dominate the match up struggles with jigs)
Can wall of pain
Is equally as effective on both neutrals and counter pick stages.
Maybe shes not the best character in the game, but I think Jigglypuff is better than Falco. Definitely. She can't be chain throwed by characters (Mario, Doc, Marth, Roy, Peach?) and she is much more difficult to edge guard and her recovery is better than Falcos.
I also think that the Fox Vs Sheik match up is not as **** as everyone says it is. Fox has an advantage and there is no doubt about that but I don't think its anywhere along the lines of 70-30 or whatever people say it is. I give it a 60-40.
In terms of figuring out who the best character is I look at a few things
Stages
Grabs
Off Stage performance
On stage pressure
and finally, match ups
Stages-Fox takes stages, hands down. Fox is the most versatile character in the game in terms of what stages he's effective on.
Hes amazing on Corneria VS anyone
Hes amazing on YS VS anyone INCLUDING MARTH
Hes good VS everyone on Battlefield aside from Marth and MAYBE Falco
Hes good vs everyone on dreamland aside from him being even with Falco
Hes good on Rainbow cruise vs everyone
Hes respectable on Green Greens
Hes good on Poke Floats
You get the idea.
Grabs-
Marth has the best grab game in the entire game, no doubt. His grab range is ******** and can easily get Falcon, Fox, Falco, Sheik off the stage and take away most if not, all options. He can f/d throw to d tilt near the ledge against most of the cast at certain %'s for quick easy edge guard setups.
Off Stage-
This is a cross between Fox, and Marth. Fox has a lot of options while recovering with his illusion, down B, and fire fox. Marth on the other hand is extremely floaty and can delay his recovery and punish edge hoggers and aggressive edge guarders. Marth can also defend from dropzone kill attempts nicely as well too. Fox can't do this because if he attempts an attack....he'll fall to his death due to his fall speed. Also, Marth can go down intro drop zone much more effectively and recover as well. He also has a lot more options from a ledge hop than Fox does. Fox can only really nair or bair. Marth is better off stage in my opinion.
On stage pressure-
This one goes to Fox. Fox's on stage pressure is ********. I don't need to ellaborate. Him, Falcon, and Falco have the best on stage pressure in the entire game. I give Falco second and Falcon third.
Match ups:
These match ups are based on if a character dominates on MORE stages than the other character would dominate on.
Example-Marth defeats Falco on more stages than Falco dominates Marth so Marth has an advantage
Marth VS Fox=Even
Marth Vs Sheik=Sheik
Marth VS Falco=Marth
Marth VS Falcon=EVEN
Marth VS Jigs=Marth
2 wins
2 evens
1 disadvantage
Sheik VS Falco=EVEN
Sheik VS Fox=Fox
Sheik VS Falcon=Sheik
Sheik VS Marth=Sheik
Sheik VS Jigs=Even? If not, Jigs
2 wins
2 evens
1 disadvantage
since both characters are even in terms of match ups here, we'll use another character to help determine who prevails better in most typical match ups that appear in tournament
Sheik VS Peach=EVEN
Marth VS Peach=Marth
We could also use Ice Climbers in this situation as well. Since Sheik can be chain grabbed by IC's and Marth cannot and is better at the match up.....Marth is a better character than Sheik.
Now, lets look at Fox.
Fox VS Marth=EVEN
Fox VS Sheik=Fox
Fox VS Falco=Fox
Fox VS Falcon=Fox
Lets stop right there.
Fox is the best character in the game followed by Marth....followed by Sheik and thus this concludes the debate that has been going on for seven years and it's all right here in front of your eyes. The Final Tier List is accurate as can be.
This is the final tier list for Super Smash Bros. Melee. Completed October 2008. Approved by M3D. All values are conclusive and finalized.
Better than Top
Captain Falcon's Sexy Manliness 11.0
Top
Fox 9.9
Marth 9.9
Sheik 9.7
Falco 9.2
High
Peach 8.4
Captain Falcon 8.0
Jigglypuff 8.0
Ice Climbers 7.9
Middle
Samus 6.8
Dr. Mario 6.2
Ganondorf 6.0
Luigi 5.8
Donkey Kong 5.4
Mario 5.3
Low
Link 4.7
Pikachu 4.3
Young Link 4.2
Roy 3.6
Zelda 3.0
Game and Watch 3.0
Bottom
Ness 2.5
Yoshi 2.5
Bowser 2.2
Mewtwo 1.8
Kirby 1.5
Pichu 1.2
There are a couple of things in this list that are definitely incorrect I think. For one, Pichu is DEFINITELY not the worst character in the game. That goes to Kirby. I also have thought about this lately as well and do think Ness is NOT THAT BAD. Ness is one of the more technical characters in the game and can do combos and CAN recover....it's just extremely hard to do. Mewtwo definitely deserves to be higher because I've seen some good Mewtwos around who can hang with higher tier characters and he has a great recovery as well.
