Bringing the conversation back to Smash Bros, here's something I'm always curious about....... how/why did you choose your main character?
Let me expand upon that: When choosing a main, do you simply pick from the top of the 'tier list'? Do you main a character whose series you're a fan of? Does your main have a playstyle that fits your personal preference? Something else entirely?
I always feel that with any game that has numerous characters, people should use the character they like or have a connection to and never play solely based on tiers or best options (unless, of course, you're a high level tourney player and money is a stake). Sure, winning is great, but fun should always come first. I have no connection with Sheik so I wouldn't have fun playing as her, even if I was winning every match. On the flip-side, I've always been a huge fan of the Dr. Mario series and immediately mained him in Melee. Even when I lose as Doc, I'm having fun and would have it no other way.
My alt is Charizard (another considerably 'low tier' character). When I first played Pokemon Red, I chose Charmander. He eventually evolved into Charizard, thus I have a 'personal connection' with the character. He's not the easiest character to use and is overwhelmed in many match-ups, but I have fun trying to win and find it far more satisfying than using a character for which I have no connection with.
When I see so many Diddy, Sheik, ZSS, Ness, Rosalina, etc, I always wonder if people just enjoyed their games or chose them based on their ease of use in Smash. My guess is that many of the Ness players I've come across have never played an Earthbound game.
Anyway, just something I often ponder, feel free to share your thoughts if you wish.
From a competitive player:
I try a bunch of characters initially that appeal to me (whether it be me liking them outside Smash or being interested in their playstyle/what they bring in Smash), and then trim them off while gravitating towards those that are most intuitive, fun, and successful for me. Their tier list position isn't a factor for me in itself, but since I gravitate towards those I win more with, characters that are inherently better end up getting favor as I inevitably do better with them with all other factors near-equal.
In Smash 4 I initially started with a combination of Ganondorf, Dedede, Bowser, Lucario, R.O.B., Captain Falcon, Charizard, Yoshi, Jigglypuff, Little Mac, and Bowser Jr, in about that order of priority.
I ended up getting down to Dedede, Ganon, and Rob within a month (while still seriously fooling around with Zard and Falcon), though when Dedede's terribleness became more apparent (while not getting any sort of buffs through patches) and I was starting to do better with other characters, I ended up dropping him while fully picking up Charizard (who I was beginning to really improve with, and who I thought was criminally underrated, which has only gotten better with patches).
Nowadays I'm still maining Rob, Zard, and Ganon, though I'm beginning to feel a phase out of Ganon into a "fun character" like he was in Brawl for me, as the patches haven't been addressing his most serious issues (seriously, why is Dark Dive still such an atrociously useless move after a whole game rebalancing and four patches), and he really needs his customs to be remotely viable (which unfortunately seem to be losing the legality battle).
In Brawl I ended up getting down to a comain duo of Dedede and Wolf, with a Snake secondary. Getting Snake back will be nice, but I feel his success was mostly a product of Brawl's environment (in addition to some significant overturning), and thus a Smash 4 Snake would end up much worse. I really want Wolf back however, who I feel really confident in adapting well to Smash 4's environment (especially after seeing how faithful Lucas is to his Brawl self).