First Official 4BR Smash for Wii U Tier List

It is common for fighting game communities to create a tier list for their game as a source of reference and debate regarding the tournament viability of the cast. The Smash scene is no exception to this, and all games in the series have had a tier list posted to SmashBoards. More often than not, the website itself was instrumental to the creation of these lists, mainly through projects organized by the so-called Smash Back Room for each respective game.

Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS finds itself in the unique position of receiving patches, DLC characters and stages for more than a year after release, with two more characters still forthcoming. As a result of this, it made sense to hold off on tier list discussion until a period of relative stability came along. The current patch (1.1.3) left the majority of the cast relatively untouched and had Genesis 3 as a major showcase, so we chose this build as a foundation. With the recent launch of the 4BR, we were in a good position for the official tier list project to finally get underway.

The 4BR acknowledges that tier lists are often controversial and won't be perfect at the first iteration, if ever. We do, however, strive to study the game to the best of our ability and give a sincere opinion on the current state of affairs. As such, a tier list can be an important benchmark to look back on as the game progresses.

To illustrate this, compare the first and last tier lists for Brawl. Over the nearly 5 years separating the two, we saw the fall of top tier threats like King Dedede, R.O.B. and Mr. Game & Watch, the rise of supposed mid tiers like Captain Olimar and Zero Suit Samus and the blatant early misjudgment of Zelda's potential. Despite these major shifts, the majority of the cast did not end up that far from where they initially started.

Our community has pushed Smash 4 hard from day one, and we have more resources at our disposal than ever before, be it complete frame data, tutorials, or tournament footage. It will be interesting to see how this affects our accuracy in rating the cast, something only time will tell. All that being said, we are proud to present you the first official tier list for Smash Bros. for Wii U!

Procedure

In late December 2015, 4BR members were asked to distribute all 56 released characters across 20 tiers, with no differentiation within the same tier. Voters could place gaps wherever they wanted and there were no restrictions on the amount of characters in the same group. They had to assume play under the 1.1.3 patch with no custom moves allowed, while Miis had to be considered with their 1111 moveset only, in accordance with tournament reality at the biggest events. The 4BR at this moment has no official stance or recommendation on ruleset matters.

We agreed to let voting run until after Genesis 3, which would hopefully provide us with insights into especially the more recent additions to the cast, most notably Cloud. During the voting process, there was a separate topic for reasoning and discussion. We also asked a small group of non-members to submit a vote, in order to involve more people at the forefront of the metagame. We ended up with 53 votes, of which 34 were American and 19 were international.

These are the people who submitted a vote:

Spoiler: List of Voters

@AeroLink_the_SoulMaster (AeroLink)
@Alphicans
@Amazing Ampharos
@Ambrose (My Smash Corner)
@ASC | Red Ryu
@Camalange
@CHOMPY
@CYVE
@Dabuz
@DtJ XeroXen
@D1
@earth_tyt (Earth)
@False
@Fox Is Openly Deceptive
@gsmVoiD (VoiD)
@istudying
@John123456
@Katakiri
@k9.
@Liberation
Marc
@Meru.
@Mister Eric
@Mr-R
@Myran
@NAKAT
@NickRiddle
@nietono
@qb9b
@Ranai
@Raziek
@Rayquaza07
@Remzi (VABengal)
@rintarosu10 (RIN)
@san.
@Seagull Joe
@Shaya
@Slice~ (Beefy Smash Doods)
@Spinosaurus
@SS_and_TH (Komorikiri)
@TA~Mav
@The calm tyrant... (Tyrant)
@TheReflexWonder
@Thinkaman
@Trela
@UltimateRazer (GrimTurtle)
@vyQ (Beefy Smash Doods)
@Xiivi
@Xzax Kasrani
@Zan-
@Zigsta
@---
@-6WX-

Spoiler: Breakdown by region

USA
Atlantic North: 12
Midwest: 8
Pacific West: 7
Southwest: 4
Atlantic South: 3

International
Europe: 8
Japan: 6
Canada: 3
Australia: 2

Note that we will not release individual votes, but any voter is free to share his own vote with the public. The most notable abstainee was @TSM ZeRo, who felt it was still too early for a tier list.

Results

@Shaya processed the votes and found these average placements, standard deviations and gaps between average placements for the cast:

Spoiler: Raw voting data

Character | Average Placement | Standard Deviation | Gap
Sheik | 20.0 | 0.0 | 0.0
Zero Suit Samus | 19.46 | 0.708 | 0.538
Rosalina | 18.77 | 0.87 | 0.687
Ryu | 17.95 | 1.103 | 0.82
Pikachu | 17.86 | 1.065 | 0.099
Sonic | 17.83 | 1.269 | 0.021
Fox | 17.52 | 1.146 | 0.313
Mario | 17.51 | 1.108 | 0.014
Diddy Kong | 17.43 | 0.998 | 0.082
Meta Knight | 17.12 | 1.489 | 0.307
Villager | 16.52 | 1.614 | 0.597
Cloud | 16.5 | 1.657 | 0.023
Ness | 16.39 | 1.502 | 0.11
Captain Falcon | 15.16 | 1.767 | 1.228
Yoshi | 15.15 | 1.893 | 0.013
Luigi | 14.27 | 1.996 | 0.881
Dark Pit | 13.89 | 2.138 | 0.381
Pit | 13.88 | 2.308 | 0.006
Peach | 13.75 | 2.115 | 0.133
R.O.B. | 13.63 | 2.221 | 0.12
Wario | 13.56 | 1.898 | 0.067
Toon Link | 13.2 | 2.416 | 0.357
Lucario | 12.92 | 2.224 | 0.285
Olimar | 12.47 | 2.452 | 0.454
Greninja | 12.25 | 2.633 | 0.215
Ike | 12.12 | 2.425 | 0.126
Donkey Kong | 11.8 | 2.252 | 0.325
Mega Man | 11.41 | 2.159 | 0.386
Pac-Man | 11.29 | 2.278 | 0.124
Bowser | 10.81 | 2.66 | 0.477
Robin | 10.17 | 2.722 | 0.642
Roy | 9.29 | 3.209 | 0.883
Kirby | 9.1 | 3.388 | 0.183
Bowser Jr. | 8.93 | 2.671 | 0.176
Mr. Game & Watch | 8.72 | 2.47 | 0.21
Lucas | 8.65 | 2.993 | 0.071
Mewtwo | 8.35 | 2.666 | 0.297
Falco | 8.12 | 3.026 | 0.232
Wii Fit Trainer | 8.08 | 2.674 | 0.037
Shulk | 7.75 | 2.926 | 0.325
Marth | 7.72 | 2.237 | 0.038
Link | 7.47 | 2.474 | 0.249
Duck Hunt Dog | 7.18 | 3.11 | 0.283
Little Mac | 7.18 | 2.633 | 0.009
Dr. Mario | 7.14 | 2.437 | 0.033
King Dedede | 6.04 | 2.721 | 1.107
Lucina | 5.59 | 2.547 | 0.447
Mii Brawler | 5.01 | 2.952 | 0.584
Charizard | 4.79 | 2.255 | 0.218
Palutena | 4.78 | 2.199 | 0.008
Samus | 4.12 | 1.942 | 0.656
Mii Gunner | 3.6 | 2.153 | 0.525
Mii Swordsman | 3.32 | 2.054 | 0.282
Ganondorf | 3.23 | 1.675 | 0.082
Jigglypuff | 2.79 | 2.035 | 0.448
Zelda | 1.96 | 1.259 | 0.828

A standard deviation of (close to) 0 means that voters generally placed the character close to the mean, while a higher standard deviation means that the character had a larger range of placements. Most standard deviations are over 1, indicating that we are far from a consensus.

We considered all gaps over .50 as tier separation points and those above .75 for a change in label (Top, High, etc.). However, we decided against single character tiers and the C tier occupying a "High Mid" label with just two characters. Finally, we split F tier into two based on the largest difference within that group of 14 characters.

Official 4BR Smash for Wii U Tier List v1.0 (1.1.3 patch)

Top
S:

High
A:
B:

Middle
C:
D:
E:

Low
F:
G:

Bottom
H:
I:
J:

Text version:

S: Sheik, Zero Suit Samus, Rosalina & Luma
A: Ryu, Pikachu, Sonic, Fox, Mario, Diddy Kong, Meta Knight
B: Villager, Cloud, Ness
C: Captain Falcon, Yoshi
D: Luigi, Dark Pit, Pit, Peach, R.O.B., Wario, Toon Link, Lucario
E: Captain Olimar, Greninja, Ike, Donkey Kong, Mega Man, Pac-Man, Bowser, Robin
F: Roy, Kirby, Bowser Jr., Mr. Game & Watch, Lucas, Mewtwo, Falco, Wii Fit Trainer
G: Shulk, Marth, Link, Duck Hunt, Little Mac, Dr. Mario
H: King Dedede, Lucina
I: Mii Brawler, Charizard, Palutena
J: Samus, Mii Gunner, Mii Swordfighter, Ganondorf, Jigglypuff, Zelda

Graphic version:

Conclusion

The first year of Smash 4 has been an absolute rollercoaster, with players flocking from Bowser to Diddy Kong to Sheik to Luigi to Donkey Kong to Sheik again. With the completion of the cast on the horizon and the nerfs and buffs slowing to a halt, the game can be expected to come to full fruition in 2016. We can't wait to see the Smash 4 tier list evolve over the years as Smashers all over the world rise to the challenge -- and with them, their respective characters.

What do you think of the tier list? Would you have placed any characters differently? Let us know what your thoughts and questions are and we will try to address the most common ones in a followup article, which will also include a more in-depth analysis of the results with statements by 4BR members.

Major thanks go out to @Shaya for processing the votes, @Zigsta and @Liberation for helping with the release and @Xiivi, @Shaya, and @Camalange for collecting outside votes and various odds and ends. Finally, a shoutout to all the voters for their time and input. I was proud to spearhead this project and receive help from so many dedicated people.

 

Well, RIP: Smash 4 online. Suffered the same fate as Melee and Brawl. Now I will only be playing with friends.

Remember when this game was balanced and you could play as who you loved? I miss those days.

What are you talking about? When was it that balanced? Every game starts off balanced until the meta game develops.

 

DeDeDe needs to be way higher

 

I find his current position very generous.

 

Love how pika is in 5th because I've played him since melee, he is my favorite pokemon ever and my most favorite video character ever so i would be called a tier ***** for using him. Also my other two mains, Kirby and puff are actually big sleepers especially kirby! He has ridiculous combos if you can get in

 

I feel like Duck Hunt should be higher. Mainly due to them being having possibly the best defensive, non custom moveset and is able to exploit characters with below average recovery like Roy, Little Mac, Ganondorf, Mii Brawler and Swordfighter, Dr. Mario, Marth and Lucina, Ike, Captain Falcon, Luigi and even Ness.

 

What are you talking about? When was it that balanced? Every game starts off balanced until the meta game develops.

Well now you'll be forced to pick ZSS, Corrin or Shiek or simply lose. And as someone who just wants to play as Pac-Man and have a fair fight: this upsets me. Tiers count as cheating because it should be how good a player is. Not how good a character is. Being "S" tier only personifies cheapness.

 

Well now you'll be forced to pick ZSS, Corrin or Shiek or simply lose. And as someone who just wants to play as Pac-Man and have a fair fight: this upsets me. Tiers count as cheating because it should be how good a player is. Not how good a character is. Being "S" tier only personifies cheapness.

???????? What are you talking about?

Anybody wishin HIGH MID is viable.

Tiers aren't cheating, they're just a ranking based on popular consensus.

Nothing is cheap.

Player skill is expressed through the character. How much of it that can be expressed depends on how good the character is.


Please stop with the misconceptions :/

 

Well now you'll be forced to pick ZSS, Corrin or Shiek or simply lose. And as someone who just wants to play as Pac-Man and have a fair fight: this upsets me. Tiers count as cheating because it should be how good a player is. Not how good a character is. Being "S" tier only personifies cheapness.

>Corrin

>OP

Like... What? If Corrin's OP then you'll be flabbergasted by what Pit can do.

 

I'm a shame for mocking this tier list...

 

I think it's hilarious, how many "tiers" there are. Each iteration of Smash that comes out, the competitive scene feels a need to add more tiers to differentiate more and more negligible character balance. There are only 3 tiers that matter; Viable (High), Semi-viable (Mid), and Non-viable (Low).

Sm4sh is an incredibly well balanced game compared to the predecessors. Adding more tiers accomplishes nothing.

 

Lots of different opinions...all I can say is, take this with a grain of salt...no pun intended...look at this list as a 2015 list, pre "complete" game. And by "complete" I mean it's not taking 2016 into account yet...and it does t have to. This is just a list so far. Anything after this will be "post" 2015, for a legitimate list will call for constant variables.

I'm assuming the tiers took into account the relative change-per-patch over the past year as a variable to determine these tiers.

Maybe there should be a system of equations and **** to determine tier placement. Everyone ******* about who is where on the List.

...the questions you should be asking are, what do tiers mean to you? What are they based on? Why do they matter? What does "good" and "bad" mean?

If there was a quantifiable way to do tier lists, by giving each character a numerical value based on the mean average of all the characters tier-values, we could base tiers placement not by letters, but by how different one value is from the next.

Does that make sense? Probably not. I've forgotten a lot from my stats class. I have a bachelors degree in psychology and hope to one day do research, which will require math, similar to the math you could apply to a potential quantifiable tier list.

Or there could be a system of labeling and categorizing characters, as opposed to giving them a spot on a list from bad to good. Kinda like a personality type for each character...because it really doesn't matter what tier a character is in, but instead how a certain character plays. The characters own intrinsic "play style" or "personality" could be used to separate characters into groups, none of which judge a character as good or bad.

 

Can't Arcthunder be rolled out of when shielded?

If Robin reads you rolling back, you're gonna get grabbed either way.

 

If Robin reads you rolling back, you're gonna get grabbed either way.

With a FAF of 55 and 55th running speed? Not unless you have the worst roll and CQC in the game you're not.

 

With a FAF of 55 and 55th running speed? Not unless you have the worst roll and CQC in the game you're not.

If you're getting hit by an arcthunder on shield while robin is right near you and you immediately roll back, there is plenty of time to get grabbed, not to mention the end lag on the roll before you can take an action with ANY character in the roster accounts for it. It's a 50/50 situation.

 

If you're getting hit by an arcthunder on shield while robin is right near you and you immediately roll back, there is plenty of time to get grabbed, not to mention the end lag on the roll before you can take an action with ANY character in the roster accounts for it. It's a 50/50 situation.

Forgive me if I'm still skeptical. For example, the FAF on Tink's backroll is 27, whereas if he blocks Arcfire on its active hitbox frame 12, his backroll would take 26 frames while Robin would only be able to act 14 frames later, much less dashgrab. Unless there's something I'm missing here.

 

Well now you'll be forced to pick ZSS, Corrin or Shiek or simply lose. And as someone who just wants to play as Pac-Man and have a fair fight: this upsets me. Tiers count as cheating because it should be how good a player is. Not how good a character is. Being "S" tier only personifies cheapness.

Are you mad at the high level players or the game? I can't tell. No game is so balanced that you can use whoever you want to win. Eventually it boils down that some characters just have better tools than others. And I will not use those 3 characters. I'll keep using Ryu, actually.

 

Well now you'll be forced to pick ZSS, Corrin or Shiek or simply lose. And as someone who just wants to play as Pac-Man and have a fair fight: this upsets me. Tiers count as cheating because it should be how good a player is. Not how good a character is. Being "S" tier only personifies cheapness.

Also, no one is forcing you not to pick other characters. Just don't bring them to tournaments.

 

Mii braller is a good character, little mac is way better, aleast high tear alot of the low tears have lots of potential

 

Mii braller is a good character, little mac is way better, aleast high tear alot of the low tears have lots of potential

Your potential to do well boosts you up in the tier list the same amount that your potential to be exploited sinks you down.

 

For everyone asking why they're releasing this right before a major patch... they explained that in the post. They're releasing this now because it's the longest period of time we've gone without major balance changes for some time now. They have a lot of data, they just formed the team, and they have to start somewhere. This tier list isn't invalidated by 1.1.4, it's just outdated. Outdated tier lists still contain useful and interesting information, as can be seen by the Brawl comparison mentioned in the post.

On another note, as a Marth main, this tier list IS kind of depressing. Here's hoping the changes in 1.1.4 are a solid boost, though from personal experience they aren't that major.

 

Tthis Tier List is pretty well made but now with characters like Marth who got amazing buffs to his tipper range and the inclsusion of Bayo and Corrin, definitely gonna need to rework it.

 

For everyone asking why they're releasing this right before a major patch... they explained that in the post. They're releasing this now because it's the longest period of time we've gone without major balance changes for some time now. They have a lot of data, they just formed the team, and they have to start somewhere. This tier list isn't invalidated by 1.1.4, it's just outdated. Outdated tier lists still contain useful and interesting information, as can be seen by the Brawl comparison mentioned in the post.

On another note, as a Marth main, this tier list IS kind of depressing. Here's hoping the changes in 1.1.4 are a solid boost, though from personal experience they aren't that major.

It still doesn't make sense to me. Now we won't see any changes ever again.

 

It still doesn't make sense to me. Now we won't see any changes ever again.

Due to glitches caused by 1.1.4, there will likely be another patch.

 

Due to glitches caused by 1.1.4, there will likely be another patch.

Source?

 

Source?

For the glitch? Here's one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGz5AFbbK8o

As for the possibility of another patch, there isn't a source for that, hence "probably." I just doubt they'll neglect giving the game another once-over when they find this.

 

This tier list is questionable at best. And with the recent update, Roy and Toon Link will definitely be a little higher.

 

Honestly I think this tier list should have been postponed till after the recent patch. I think it's safe to say that this tier list should be redrafted. (Though it was bound to be redrafted eventually anyways, also adding Corrin and Bayonetta.) Characters like Marth might see a decent boost in tier, while Roy, Falco, and Lucina may move up a couple of spots with their new buffs. That being said it's still too early in the patch to make concrete conclusions, but this is what I expect to happen.

 

i'm sorry, but why the heck are shulk and roy so low?!

 

i'm sorry, but why the heck are shulk and roy so low?!

Shulk had multiple high level players playing him for months but still couldn't secure any real results. No significant matchups either.

Roy also lacks results and also doesn't have any notable matchups. Most people want Roy lower because he's currently above characters with decent results.

 

On another note, as a Marth main, this tier list IS kind of depressing. Here's hoping the changes in 1.1.4 are a solid boost, though from personal experience they aren't that major.

Marth has practically gotten every kind of buff imaginable besides mobility.

 

This is what happens when you put your faith in something so arbitrary...

 

Come on!, Zelda has at least more options than jigglypuff... And can we all agree that Olimar/Alph with no pikman is the worst character XD

 

Do I have to beat 25,000 try-hard Olimars to prove that there is no way in hell that Lucas is that low while Olimar is chillin' in that middle tier rank?

 

Zelda is worst.....lol

 

How is Ike E tier??? Has anyone heard of Ryo?
And with the recent(and steady flow of) buffs, he should be higher on the tier list...

 

I like how Zelda is the worst and the best character in the game at the same time

 

How the hell is Roy better than Marth

 

How the hell is Roy better than Marth

DLC
Edit: With only a total of 53 voters, there isn't much accuracy
I think this one is a much better one

 

SO MANY LETTERS, i know the cast is way bigger right now but some many tiers makes it kinda misleading.

I'm not a pro player, i just like to play with competitive rules but personally i dont think Roy is low i put him in middle, just personal opinion he is only being represented by sethlon and making the jump from Roy PM to Sm4sh its a hard gap

 

It's sad to see my main man Duck Hunt as a low tier, oh well.