Official 2015 Melee Tier List & Community Lists Released

Over the past few years top players have pushed the metagame for Melee to new heights. As new techniques have been discovered and old techniques have been perfected and applied more consistently; match-ups have been taken into new directions and the dominant characters have changed. Smashboards polled played ranked in the Top 40 of either the Smashboards or MeleeItOnMe rankings during 2015 and complied the data to create the next official update to the tier list for Super Smash Bros Melee. The previous release can be found here for reference.

Official 2015 Melee Tier List​

Top
SS
S
High
A
B
High Mid
C
Mid
D
Low Mid
E
Low
F
Bottom
G

The full details for the 2015 Melee Tier List can be found here. Statistics for the character placements and separations are available, with individual votes from the top players to be posted individually over time. Please note that this list is for NTSC. Earlier this year the third official PAL tier list was released on SmashEurope.

In addition, two other lists have been created as well. While the main tier list only features the votes and opinions of top level players, the other lists highlight a more broadened community opinion. The official tier list uses votes of twenty-four players ranked in the Top 40 of either the Smashboards or MeleeItOnMe rankings. The "Community Panel" list is less restrictive and utilizes the votes of sixty players who appeared ranked in the top thousand on the Smashboards rankings. This generally means they are at minimum tournament goers of a moderate skill level, but also includes high level talent not quite up to the Top 40. The final list is an all-inclusive "Community" list where lists from the community at large were accepted, regardless of tournament results or attendance. This means that viewers and theorists could have their opinions weighed in as well. This list features the votes of over one thousand smashers. The full release for the community lists can be found here thanks to the efforts of @Sveet.

Official | Community Panel | Community
SS | SS | SS
S | S | S
A B | A | A
C | B | B
D | C | C
E | D | D
F | E | E
G | F | F

Despite these differences in methodology, the lists are quite similar. What this means is that after fourteen years of experience with the game the community at large has a well-informed understanding of how characters operate in the metagame. Despite this the game has continually seen more techniques come into play over the past few years in the current era and an important part of understanding the metagame is understanding that there is still more to learn and discover. Will this be the last update to the Melee tier list? Likely not as the scene continues to grow and match-ups that once appeared set in stone have been shaken up. Top Tier characters and lower tiered characters alike have seen advancements and we are likely to see changed to our current understanding of the metagame in the future as strategies evolve.

 

WHY IS FOX IN HIS OWN TIER

 

My only complain about this list is Fox being in his own tier. I don't think he's that far from Falco or the whole S tier. But other than that I agree with the list.

 

why is zelda so low? her down b is really good.

 

I... uh... didn't talk about Fox in my post. Like, at all. I mentioned Falcon loses to Fox, but I did not talk about Fox being placed in his own tier. Are you sure you responded to the right person?

You said Zelda had the best down-b in the game, so I said Fox had a better one jokingly, idk maybe it's just my autism messing with me, thinking it made sense.

 

Yeah Sheik is so overrated, she has the worst down-b in the game. Glad it got buffed in Smash 4.

 

20XX... more like 20SS

 

Put Sheik lower than Jiggs, put Yoshi above Doc and put Pichu higher. For me that would be perfect.

 

Put Sheik lower than Jiggs, put Yoshi above Doc and put Pichu higher. For me that would be perfect.

Sheik does better against spacies and everyone after spacies, jiggs gets destroyed by marth and fox at top level play (which is what the list is referring to) and the falco matchup is also in falco's favor. Tafo claims she beats puff if I remember correctly, and the only time puff does better is against the rare ic's. So I don't personally agree.

Everything else though, I can understand.

 

Sheik does better against spacies and everyone after spacies, jiggs gets destroyed by marth and fox at top level play (which is what the list is referring to) and the falco matchup is also in falco's favor. Tafo claims she beats puff if I remember correctly, and the only time puff does better is against the rare ic's. So I don't personally agree.

Ok that seems reasonable. I asked in an earlier post what made Sheik better than Jiggs, so I guess that's the reason.

 

Tournament viable characters end at C tier.

Not really, luigi is somewhat viable

 

Tournament viable characters end at C tier.

No, it ends at E tier, actually. Tournament viable encompasses characters that can win or place consistently well in tournaments.

SS-A are chararacters which can win tournaments, B-E is characters which can at least consistently place in tournaments and F and G are characters that literally cannot place consistently.

Thus, SS-E are tournament-viable characters, because everyone in those tiers can place consistently in tournaments.

 

No, it ends at E tier, actually. Tournament viable encompasses characters that can win or place consistently well in tournaments.

SS-A are chararacters which can win tournaments, B-E is characters which can at least consistently place in tournaments and F and G are characters that literally cannot place consistently.

Thus, SS-E are tournament-viable characters, because everyone in those tiers can place consistently in tournaments.

I thought this article was long dead. Anyway, I see what you're saying. I guess when I think of viable characters in Melee, I think of ones that can win tournaments.

 

Actually, there are 26 tournament-viable characters in Super Smash Bros Melee. Some are easier than others though.
Also Roy should be way higher

 

Also Roy should be way higher

Why? There's next to no results for him and Marth is so much better.

Only person I remember actively playing Roy in Melee is Sethlon.

 

Why? There's next to no results for him and Marth is so much better.

Only person I remember actively playing Roy in Melee is Sethlon.

I agree that Marth is usually better than Roy. But I think Roy is, AT LEAST, a mid tier. His movement is just too good to be a low tier - very high falling speed like falcon and spacies, long dash dance, good grab game, and his combo game is much better than people think. Not to mention literally every special move he has is better than marth's version. If you play Zelda or bowser or Kirby, it just feels so clunky- the characters are slow and ply weirdly in ways that don't seem workable. But when you play Roy you can just feel how fast his SHFFL is and how much potential he has. At least that's what I think.

 

Actually, there are 26 tournament-viable characters in Super Smash Bros Melee. Some are easier than others though.
Also Roy should be way higher

This is a funny opinion.

 

This is a funny opinion.

Melee Roy has a sword that's like a pool toy attached to a cinder block

 

marth over sheik. lol k

Salty sheik main is salty

 

So I guess Im the only one who believes Bowser is worse than Kirby

Good thing, too. Bowser is better than Kirby, have you seen his up b out of shield?

 

Good thing, too. Bowser is better than Kirby, have you seen his up b out of shield?

Nah actually a lot of people think Kirby is better than bowser. Kirby does alright in MUs that are impossible for bowser.

 

Mario should be rank 2 Spots Higher 13th & Yoshi should be rank 3 Spots Lower 15th:

The only reason why I think Yoshi is ranked 12 on the Tier List is because Amsa Never uses Yoshi's Flaws that I can think of.