Moveset Tier List

[adom4]

Top:
Dark fists (Seriously this move is insane, it makes Ganondorf so much scarier than he already is)
F-tilt
Flame choke
Uair
Dash attack (was previously in high, had a change in mind so i edited it in top)

High:
D-tilt
Bair
U-smash
N-air
Wizkick
Wizard dropkick

Mid:
F-smash
Dair
Fair
Flame chain
Warlock blade

Low:
Jab
Warlock punch
U-tilt
D-smash
Flame wave
Dark dive

Bottom:
Warlock thrust
Wizard assault
Dark vault

 

[Radical Larry]

Ganon Smash!:
F-Tilt
D-Tilt
F-Smash
U-Smash
F-Air
B-Air
U-Air
D-Air
Flame Choke/Flame Wave
Dark Fists
Wizard's Dropkick
Wizard's Foot

Amazing:
Jab
U-Tilt
Aerial Reverse Warlock Punch
Warlock Punch
Warlock Blade
Flame Chain
Grab and Throw

Decent:
N-Air
Warlock Thrust
Dark Dive

Not the Best:
Dark Vault
D-Smash

Don't Use It Under any Practical Circumstance:
Wizard's Assault

 

[Blobface]

Triforce Tier:
U-air
No explanation necessary
U-smash
Strongest U-smash in the, absolutely silly IASA frames, baits, combos, etc. It basically does everything, except it doesn't kill as early as F-smash.
F-tilt
Ganon's most reliable kill move. Can followup off of Flame Choke on a lot of characters, is frame 10, and it completely destroys certain characters.
N-air
Tons of uses. Builds damage (21% if both hits connect), edgeguards, defends against stuff from below, and actually allows Ganon to pretend to approach.
Dash attack
Crazy fast (frame 10), covers a ton of distance, and dumps the opponet into the air for followups. Can be a kill move at really high %'s.

Flame Choke (in most matchups)
Even when teched, Flame Choke still creates scary traps except for a few characters who both A, don't have any guaranteed followups, and B, have ridiculously good tech rolls. Ganoncide is always fun.
Wizards Dropkick (in a few matchups)
WDK is almost necessary if a few matchups (Rosa is the first that springs to mind) to prevent getting gimped. It's useful simply because of how helpful it is against certain matchups. Usually Foot is better.


High Tier
D-Throw
Excellent Combo openings, plus the awkward position it dumps people in at higher %'s allow for some serious mindgames (D-Throw to F-smash is the best).
D-tilt
Ganon's best spacing move, plus it bounces people up into the air for followups and kills at higher %'s.
F-air
It has a big fat hitbox, does 17%, and can kill offstage at stupid %'s
D-air
This thing can literally kill some characters from 0%, and the combo opportunities it opens onstage off a read are phenomenal.
F-smash
Ganon's strongest KO move. It doesn't do much besides that, but it does it well.
B-air
Does 17% and is super powerful, but it's small hitbox is fairly limiting.


Mid Tier
Wizards Foot
It's a great way to punish laggy attacks and is excellent against juggles from below, but it is a pretty big commitment.
Dark Fists
It's still not a great recovery, but it's almost always better, plus it adds yet another kill move to Ganon's list.
B-throw and F-throw
Both basically have the same uses, knocking the opponent off the stage. Once again, they do it well, but onstage, there's really no reason to not use D-throw.
Warlock Blade
Good shield pressure, good range, and can deter projectiles, but it's still pretty slow, and you lose your best shield break move (Reverse Warlock Punch) to get it.
Flame Chain
It's mainly for matchups where Flame Choke isn't an option, not to say it's bad, but Flame Choke is usually better.
D-smash
It's not without it's uses, but it doesn't have a lot of them, and it knocks people at an angle Ganon has trouble following up on.
Jab
Nyeh, it gets people off of you, but F-tilt is almost always better.

Niche Tier
Dark Dive
It's better against Dedede. That's pretty much it.
U-tilt
Is great at edgeguarding certain recoveries and can punish airdodges hard, but it doesn't do much else.
Warlock Punch
Certain specific moves can be punished hard by a normal grounded version (Flare blitz, Kong cyclone), and if you're in a very specific position offstage, you can Reverse Aerial Warlock punch to deter edgeguarders. Doesn't do anything else though.
U-throw
Screws over shield Shulk. That's basically all it can really do.

Blech Tier
Wizard's Assault
Never any reason to use this move. Foot or Dropkick are always better.
Flame Wave
It's a kill throw, and a good one at that, but it's just too slow to be useful.
Dark Vault
The extra height is nullified by the way it kills your horizontal momentum. Pass.
Warlock Thrust
Kills later than jab, slower than F-smash, does barely any damage. Blech.

META-DEFINING
Getup-attack
UNSTOPPABLE. THE NEW WAVEDASH. BETTER THAN MELEE FOX'S SHINE.

 

[Xinc]

I would now put N-air above U-air, because after landing lag buffs, it's just a GODLIKE move. Use it to approach, cover spotdodge/rolls, juggle, edgeguard, after D-throw. It's very hard to go wrong with this move if you ask me, and you can even kill with it in this game.

agreed. It's far safer now. Aerial choke earned a place in the high mid tier now due to its ability to be very unpredictable and reset situations

 

[Wintropy]

Very informative analyses. I really admire the 'Dorf community's dedication, makes me think a similar approach would be beneficial for other characters' communities.

 

[Z1GMA]

Hey, A2ZOMG , you think you'd be able to get Gungnir to make a list?

 

[A2ZOMG]

Hey, A2ZOMG , you think you'd be able to get Gungnir to make a list?

I'll ask him I guess.

 

[MGK]

Top:

Up Smash: One of the best smash attacks in the game, IASA is amazing, baiting, combos, just amazing to throw out when you feel like you have a read, pretty safe of shield now and you can frame trap opponents coming from above.

Down tilt: I personally love this move, It combos into itself at low %, comes out the same as Forward Tilt (Frame 10), puts opponents in a awkward / read position, does 13%, has the most range of all attacks, has amazing disjoint, quite safe on shields (Very hard to punish if spaced correctly) and kills at higher %.

Up Air: This move pretty much has it all, auto cancel from SH, baits, kills, fastest move ganondorf has (6 frame), Great for edge guarding, jab reset, Tip ' n ' slip, can get the sweet spot from a FH air dodge out of it and fade back Up Air SH is really safe.

Flame Choke: Hard for opponents to tech, destroys more then half the cast with Down Tilt and Forward Tilt, more reliable grab, can beat rolls, tech chase but it can be baited out and punished.

High:

Forward Tilt: So close to making it in Top Tier but doesn't because it's unsafe against shields, even if you space it. It's still an amazing move, kills early, comes out frame 10, little disjoint, solid range, run away pivot Forward Tilt is amazing to catch opponents off guard and best move to go for when your opponent got baited.

Back Air: Auto cancel from a SH, kills early, great for baiting, great at edge guarding, can hit and kill ground opponents (Need to test if crouching opponents goes under it) from a FH air dodge out of it, hits most of the cast from a SH but it's range is it's weakness.

Forward Smash: This move kills so early, 1 read and that's a dead opponent! Amazing range, quite safe on shields now since the patch, shield damage / pressure is huge now but of course, it's laggy, so use it wisely.

Neutral Air: This move is one of Ganondorf's most trickiest moves to master as it can do a lot of neat things. Huge range, First hit can lead to a grab / dash attack / puts opponent in a very bad situation, 22% if both hits now, lowest aerial landing lag (18 frames), kills early with sweet spot, amazing at edge guarding because of lingering hit boxes, 30% combo from a down throw, can hit grounded opponents from a SH, auto cancels from a FH and that's where it's weakness is, landing with it can hit ground opponents but you will have landing lag with it most times and is ok against shields.

Down Throw: Combo throw at low % and puts opponents in a bad situation where you can read them and get an amazing punish.

Aerial Wizard Foot: This move can stop juggling, kills very early, gives Ganondorf a landing option and can get inside your opponents heads from fear (The fear this move creates is why I love it so much), huge shield damage / pressure and is an amazing mix up from a FH air dodge as the opponents most likely wants to shield your aerial and all the hits connects, so shield damage at it's fullest! ..... landing lag and can be baited and punished hard.

Dash Attack: This attack just gets in to high tier as it has follow ups, comes out frame 10, kills at higher %, covers a huge amount of distance and can beat some projectiles but it loses to shields quite badly.

Mid:

Forward Air: Great killing power, decent range and does cover above, in front and below Ganondorf, pretty safe on shields now and good off stage game. It's weaknesses are a bit too strong for it too be in High tier as it's ok on stage, Can't FH auto cancel but can B-Cancel it for mix ups and has 23 frames of landing lag.

Down Air: Amazing stomp off stage that kills at 0%, pretty good at baiting, has some double jump onto platform auto cancels that are amazing fun to play around with, does 19%, can put your opponent in bad situations and great for tech chasing. It's range, 28 frame land lag and can't do SH auto cancel hurts it a bit.

Wizard Foot: Amazing for punishing rolls, good surprise move, ledge cancelling makes Ganondorf very scary and can go over some projectiles. Weaknesses are that it has lag, some characters can duck under it and doesn't kill until 180% but the start up can kill earlier but hard to get that sweet spot as you have Forward tilt that does that job for you.

Jab: This move does get out shined by Forward Tilt but it comes out 2 frames faster (Frame 8), has follow ups at low %, has more range and disjoint then Forward Tilt and is pretty safe against shields if spaced.

Aerial Flame Choke: Does 15%, if you get a read, you can get a shield grab if the opponent get up attacks and if the opponent has a weak roll, you can get a Down Smash from a roll away and can be used against opponents who shield on platforms too much. Problem is, you are at a frame disadvantage, so nothing is guaranteed.

Forward Throw: The second best throw but not by much. It's great for getting opponents off stage but also does 13%, which is huge.

Back Throw: Same as the Forward throw but does 10% but can kill at very high % at the ledge.

Down Smash: Fastest Smash attack Ganondorf has, nearly kills as early as Forward Smash but When shielded, both hits suck the opponent towards Ganondorf, the first hit doesn't always connect with the second kick and it has lag.

Low:

Up Tilt: Breaks shields in 1 hit pretty much and is great for fear when opponents are recovering or on the ledge.

Dark Dive: Decent % (11% I think?) which is better then back and up throw, can get opponents on platforms that shield too much and the attack can hit opponents at roll distance from under the stage with the upper cut.

Warlock Punch: Kills very early and has super armor.

Up Throw: Not much with this throw other then it's good against character that can't land or are weak in air. (Bowser mainly)

Bottom:

Aerial Warlock Punch / Reverse warlock punch: Style points.

 

[Theosmeo]

With the new patches making dsmash and nair pretty useful, here's my list:

A:
Uair-crazy good kills, combos, spikes, jablocks, what does it not do?
Dtilt-such amazing range, kills, combos, missed tech followup on 2/3s of the cast(many high tiers aswell)
Ftilt- fast, great angle for edge guards, missed tech follow up on 1/3 of the cast(some high tiers aswell)
Gerudo-goes through shields, sets up reads + missed tech followups on 3/4 the cast

B:
Usmash-Fast, REALLY lethal, way less end lag than expected so it's good for punish hungry opponents(usmash>dtilt mindgames OP)
Fair-great kill power, good range, 18%, generally makes challenging ganon in the air scary
Nair-combos, SHFF nair is great for neutral, 22%, lowest lag of any air action
Darkfists-amazing kill power, solid OOS, hold down while recovering to the edge to put what is essentially a smash attack there, generally amazing.
Dropkick-good for recovery and approach, I'd like it more if I had more practice with it though.
Aerudo-GANONCIDE, keeping people off you while you recover, punishing shield breaks at low %s

C:
Fsmash-extremely deadly, something like 40+% fully charged, so good for shields break punishes at low%, catches spotdodges if they're conditioned to spotdodge dtilts and ftilts, good for reads(roll behind after missed tech gerudo)
Dash attack(Ganon Truck): has super armor, gets in, sets up combos, solid move
Bair-edge trumps, combos, solid 16%, wish it had more range for RARing short dudes like pika
Dair-best meteor, sets up for combos
Dsmash-good now, better than most fsmashes, risky OOS but rewarding, catches rolls
Wizkick(Ganon Train)-meteors, vague recovery mixup, scares people, lotsa %, catches rolls/landings
Flame Chain-Great for rosa(kills luma), but gerudo's probably better for everyone else

D:
Warlock Blade-the SWORD! Breaks shields too

E:
Grab-crap range, some follow ups from dthrow, but not enough...
Ganon punch-fun, but only for punishing rests/shield breaks, suck to do on accident
Utilt-fun, breaks shields, kinda good for edgeguards...

Z:
Dark Dive-EEECCCCCCHHHHHH, less damage than nair , never ever kills

 

[Swoops]

I'm bored, and I've always loved move tier lists, so I figure I'll throw mine in here. It's interesting to see all the variance between Ganondorfs.

I tried to order within tiers best I could. I mostly based mine off the amount of use I think each move should get against high level opponents, in high-tier matchups:

TOP
DTilt
UAir
Dash Attack

HIGH
NAir
BAir
FTilt
Grab
FAir

MID
USmash
Wizkick (Ground & Air)
DAir
Gerudo
Jab
DSmash
FSmash

LOW/SITUATIONAL
UpB
__________
UTilt
Paunch

Honestly FAir and USmash are right on the cusp for me and I'm debating on putting them in their own tier in between high and mid. They both have strong application vs a certain playstyle but once the opponent respects them and finds their holes they become much easier to exploit. I can extrapolate on any of the other places if any one is interested.

 

[King9999]

My list as of the latest patch (1.1.1). Only covering the default moves since the community doesn't do customs anymore.

Top:
U-air: Any Ganon worth their salt should be using this move all the time.

F-tilt: One of my favourite moves to follow up with after a Flame Choke (character dependent though). It's also great on its own, and I use it regularly. I can't count the number of times I caught people with this move after a whiffed u-air/b-air at the stage edge.

U-smash: Best u-smash in the game IMO. Very little end lag, so you can follow up with anything afterwards. The tip does a bit more damage (24%).

High:

D-air: One of the best spikes in the game. Can KO the opponent with this at low % when they're off stage. His entire body is a hitbox, so even if you don't get the spike, they still take big damage.

D-tilt: Its greatest strength is that it has more range than it looks, and is also one of Ganon's faster moves. Can combo into itself at low%.

Wizard Foot (air): Wrecks shields. The trick is to not damage the shield too much, or else you might end up hitting the shielding opponent. Besides being a great shield breaker, it can also kill at ~60% if the opponent tries to meet you in the air and they're light enough. The non-spike frames sends the opponent straight up.

B-air: I like this move a lot. I would place it in the top tier if it had a hitbox big enough to hit smaller characters on the ground. As it is, you risk suffering end lag trying to hit smaller opponents. Great move after a successful trump.

D-smash: This move got a whole lot better after the previous patch; so much so that I think it's preferable over F-smash when you want to punish high-lag moves. The only issue (still) with this move is that the first hit tends to knock the opponent in the wrong direction but it appears to be situational.

Dash attack: Can negate projectiles, which is handy. The late hit is a good combo starter.

F-air: Great for killing off-stage opponents if you can read their recovery.

Mid:

U-tilt: I rate this move a bit higher than most of you. I find it to be a useful tool for when the opponent is recovering back to the stage. The trick is to use it at the correct timing & range to punish roll recoveries and getup attacks, and at a point where it's difficult for the opponent to punish you if you miss. Even if you don't land it, you can use u-tilt as a way to gauge/control how the opponent recovers back to the stage. If they end up in range and they panic, the best they can hope for is a perfect shield.

Wizard Foot (ground): Works best when the opponent is at mid-high %. DO NOT use this at low % or you'll get punished on hit. If you hit an off-stage opponent with this as they're recovering, chances are they'll die.

F-Smash: Does good damage to shields, and can KO early, but you have to be on point with them since the end lag is high.

Flame Choke: I like Flame Choke a lot. I'm always on the lookout for anyone foolish enough to hang around at the stage edge. On the ground, if the opponent is able to tech roll it, you can follow up with another Flame Choke if you know which way they're going. Basically keep doing that as long as they tech roll. At the stage edge, the opponent will likely roll away from the edge, so that's an easy punish. Just make sure you're close enough to actually land a choke.

N-air: Much better move than before. Getting the full damage is more consistent now, but still not guaranteed.

Jab: A quick 10% off of one hit if you hit with the tip. Can be used in combos. I still wish he had his jab from Melee though.

Low:

All of Ganon's throws

Warlock Punch: Best time to use this is after a shield break (the reversed version). Otherwise you better be reading the opponent like a library.

Dark Dive: This move seriously needs to do more damage and knockback.

Bottom:
None.

 

[ILOVESMASH]

TOP
Nair
Uair
Dash Attack
Up Smash
F-tilt
D-Tilt

HIGH
Back air
Dair
Fair
D-Smash

MID
Jab
Wizkick
Flame Choke
Back throw
f-throw
Down Throw
F-Smash

LOW
Dark Dive
U-Throw
Grab

BOTTOM
U-Tilt
Warlock Punch