Anywho, a tier list based off of my experience, plus basic knowledge. (not organized fully within sections)
some explanations For tiers, It's
organized into the following tiers, because f the number of characters that melee didn't.
Better than Top: The best characters
Top: Extremely good character
High:
Upper:
Mid
Low
Bottom.
Better-Than-Top
MK:
He is quick, has excellent recovery, racks up damage well, and gets to keep his kill moves while doing it. His grab is great as a forcing attack, though not for comboing. because of his quick, lagless aerials he has an easier time edgeguarding. His smashes are only decent, his f-smash is slightly laggy, and his up smash doesn't kill, though again it's a pressure move because now they are above someone with a disjointed hitbox, limiting what they can do. His problems are that he is light, and his range although good, isn't the best. He also has no projectile, but because of his multiple options, that isn't such a problem...
I can see him changing to top/high eventually, but not for awhile.
Snake:
All about control. Even if the opponent knows where the mines are, it still limits what they can do, and you can still force them on to some (throws, tilts, etc) If you treat him as a "normal" character, he isn't so good, as his smashes aren't typical smashes, and you have to instead rely on tilts. His tilts are as good as typical smashes though, especially f-tilt. He is mobile, thanks to boost-dashing, and has a wide variety of versitile projectiles. His aerial game isn't the best, but they have their uses, most noticeably his b-air and up-air. Also, his taunt can spike, how cool is that ^_^
G&W:
Finally as good as he should have been in melee. His f-air is great for spacing, killing, and retreating. His up-air is amazing in this game, as it forces the opponent to react, even if it doesn't hit. His b-air is one of the best approaches in the game, and thanks to RARing it makes it even more useful. His d-throw doesn't combo, but it allows for tech-chasing, AND if I'm pretty sure down-throw to jab does always hit some characters. One of the best throws regardless (behind DDD and IC, and falco). His hammer isn't AS useless, and his f-smash still comes out quick, and has almost no wind-down lag. His UpB is amazing and versatile. His d-air is amazing, and his n-air, although not a kill move is still very useful, especially as it's range is deceptively large. He has a situational projectile, though the situations where it is useable are more frequent than most people realize, and the pan has decent damage and knock-back too. His oil panic was buffed, and makes him one of the best anti-campers in the game (that plus turtle I think take out all projectiles). His only problem is being light. However, as his shield doesn't suck in this game, it isn't as much of a problem as in melee. Plus, he can kill at low percents (especially with his upB-f-air gimp).
Falco:
he has the best viable spam game in Brawl. His lasers are fast, stun, and damage (making them better than fox's, wolf's, and other good projectiles like pit's arrows, or lucario's aura sphere). Add th ereflector and you have another excellent "my camping> your camping" game. His throws combos, and he can gimp off the edge at low percents. He has a decent aerial game, enough ways to kill AND rack up damage. He's pretty much in the God Tier because he is has no cons, and some pros (imagine a stepmania song that was 14/10 steps, and that's falco)
In summation, these 4 characters have the greatest advantages, coupled with the least disadvantages. On top of that, they each of use the "as of now" know facts of brawl in more ways most other characters. This is what separates them from Top tier.
Can anyone argue with this? If so, do it via AIM or something as well as posting, because conversing with people on AIM is easier than doing it over a forum. Anywho, I' won't go into so much detail (yet) with the others, only cause I wanna flesh the rest out.
Top
Marth:
IC:
Look, from a theory standpoint they are the best, because they have guarenteed 0-death combos. Meaning that they would be in God tier except that you can outcamp them, and humans aren't machines.
DDD:
Pit:
His lack of kill moves/short range and size/weight ratio are all that barely keep him from being "God"ly
Pikachu
High
Olimar: People will say he should be higher, but I disagree. he's just novel, and his size/movement/what exactly he's doing confuses people. I don't see him staying top, so I'm not putting him there.
Wolf
Lucas
Lucario
ROB
Toon Link
Zelda
For these 3 tiers, I wanna make something clear: They arent' that separated. Any character from these tiers has an almost even chance of beating any other character,which is why organizing within categories is useless. It's just that some characters have a natural advantage due to slightly better moves, or things like that. Feel free to debate, but don't tell me:
1. x should be higher.
2. x should be lower.
Instead say why you think that, and while doing it show that you are taking more than just your opinion into account. Use fact, not opinion. It makes it easier to discuss, and by basing things in fact you can then submit opinions and they will be more valid.
Upper
Kirby
Diddy:
I'm mixed about him. I want him to be higher, but I just don't think he will be. People just aren't used to him yet.
DK
Sheik
Luigi
Ness
Wario
Fox
Mid
Samus
Link
Ike
Bowser
PT
Low
Jiggz
Mario
Yoshi
Peach
Bottom
Sonic
Falcon
Ganon.
If need be I'll add more explanations.