Mii Gunner: Why is Mii Gunner in this tier? Seriously, why is Mii Gunner in this tier? I know I'm not going a whole lot off of results, yet, (due to the lack of results in the lower tiers). However, Mii Gunner has absolutely pitiful results. As I probably have mentioned before, that's not entirely the fault of Gunner mains, but the fact still stands that this character has literally no results or notable representation. How could Gunner not be in bottom tier? Besides, it's not like Gunner has anything going for them. They're essentially just a poor man's version of Samus without anything that actually gives Samus potential in the metagame. Despite having good range, their KO moves all lack range or only have a sweetspot close to Gunner. Their grab game is one of the worst in the game. I still think Cloud's is worse, but it's still pretty darn bad. Their recovery may be the best of the Miis, but that's still not saying a lot considering it's still pretty weak in comparison to the rest of the cast. While their over-reliance on projectiles isn't inherently bad, it does make Rosalina, a very dominant character in the metagame, Gunner's worst nightmare to the point where Rosalina vs. Gunner is probably one of the worst matchups in the entire game. Gravitational Pull literally shuts down this character. Now, I know that's a specific example and Gunner is somewhat saved by the fact that, despite Rosalina being one of the best characters in the game, she's still rather uncommon when compared to the amount of mains of other top tiers like Sheik, Diddy, Zamus, and Cloud. But, it's not like Gunner does much better against any of these characters either. When Miis are counted, the three Miis are the worst three characters in the game. Brawler, in my opinion, is the worst of the three while it's really up to debate whether Swordsman is worse than Gunner or Gunner is worse than Swordsman.
Roy: In my opinion, Roy is the worst designed character in this game. In fact, I would be voting to move Roy down into the bottom tier if it weren't for the fact that Mii Gunner is here are their presence in this tier is a significantly more glaring issue than Roy's. Now, why is Roy the worst designed character in the game, you ask? Well, to answer that question, we need to talk about playstyles. Each character is designed with a specific playstyle in mind. Some are quite simple. Captain Falcon, for example, is designed to be an in-your-face, rushdown type character who often has to take high risks to get the highest reward possible. Marth, on the other hand, is designed to be a spacing type character, who, instead of getting up in his opponent's faces, wants to keep them in a position where he can hit them and they can't hit him (hence the tipper mechanic rewarding optimal spacing). However, in order to keep the game fresh and new, the developers sometimes try combining play-styles when creating characters, which is what they tried to do with Roy. Roy is supposed to be a hybrid of a brawler and sword character. However, all he has is the flaws of both without the strengths of either. Roy can't play like Falcon because, as is with most swordsmen, Roy's attacks have too much endlag to grant him a good approach and combo game. However, Roy can't play like Marth either because, as is with most brawlers, Roy's range is absolutely pathetic and he possesses one of the worst ranges in the entire game despite having a sword. On top of all of that, Roy's reverse tipper mechanic actually punishes the player for the most optimal spacing. This creates a problem when people consider maining Roy. People who want a rushdown character aren't going to main him because there's plenty of rushdown brawlers in this game that have plenty of approach and combo options. On the flipside, people who want a sword character aren't going to main him because there's plenty of swordsmen with significantly more range and who don't get punished for spacing their moves right. In my opinion, Roy, in his current state, will never have any significant impact in the metagame. His blend of two drastically different playstyles works so horribly that Roy can't even be played the ways he was intended to! That is just a sign of poor design right there. To be viable, I believe Roy would have to be completely reworked to cater more towards one archetype rather than the ineffective blend he has going on right now. Making Roy a pure rushdown character by giving him autocancels in a short hop and better frame data would make the character significantly better.
Falco: Falco, in my opinion, is the best of the truly bad characters in this game. The ONLY thing Falco has going for him is that his advantage state is actually pretty decent and he can get a lot off of a grab if he manages to get one. However, the problem with that is that Falco's everything else is horrible. His neutral is, without a doubt, one of the worst in the entire game. He has absolutely no way of approaching opponents safely nor does he have something capable of forcing approaches. Therefore, it's kinda hard for Falco to get the grab with his awful neutral. Falco's disadvantage state is also very poor. Being a light, fast faller like Fox, Falco is extremely easy to combo and KO and he lacks any good "get off me" tools. His recovery, while going a good distance, is easily predictable and easy to intercept. It doesn't help that Fire Bird lacks hitboxes while it charges. Falco's specials are all pretty bad. Because it was so strong in Melee and Brawl, Blaster has been nerfed to the point of being virtually unusable. Side B is good for recovery and nothing else. Up B is good for recovery and nothing else. Reflector is good against projectiles I guess, but you're not going to pick Falco because he can deal with projectiles. Anybody who wants a character who can deal with projectiles is running straight to Rosalina. Falco has nothing outside of a decent grab game. Heck, if Falco's grab combos didn't exist, he would be the worst character in the game by a considerable margin without a doubt, in my opinion. They just didn't give Falco anything here and it totally hurts him. While his grab game is pretty good, his awful neutral and awful disadvantage state make it extremely hard to get that grab. In neutral, if the opponent wants him to, Falco is going to have to approach and Falco doesn't have any approach options. So, he's gotta do something crazy that shouldn't work and pray it works. If it doesn't work, he's going to get comboed hard. All of the effort he has to go to in order to get that grab simply isn't worth the just decent reward he gets off of it. Also, try to think of one notable Falco player aside from Keitaro and he doesn't even get results outside of regionals. That's Falco's next to non existent results in a nutshell. Falco is a character that desperately needs a buff. He either needs a reliable way to approach opponents or a way to make them approach him. I'd prefer the latter in order to separate him from Fox. One Star Fox character could play a more rushdown and aggressive neutral while the other could play a more campy and defensive neutral. Make Blaster great again. I'm not saying it has to be like it was in Brawl or Melee, but please make it good enough so that Falco can reliable force approaches with it.
Zard: Poor Zard... The biggest problem with Zard isn't actually anything about him. His biggest problem is the fact that he exists in the same game as Bowser and Donkey Kong, two super heavyweights who can do more than Zard could ever dream of. They lack all of Zard's weaknesses to the same degree he does while, at the same time, having all of his strengths but better. Zard's mobility is good, but so is Bowser and DK's. Zard's power is decent, but Bowser and DK's moves are bigger, faster, and stronger, too. (I'm so sorry. I had to include that.) Zard has an okay grab game, but Bowser and DK have two of the best grab games in the entire game with the Ding Dong and Bowser's Up Throw to Aerial. Zard also lacks things like a good OOS game that these two have. As a result, Zard falls in an unfortunate spot. Due to being significantly worse than fellow super heavyweights, Bowser and DK, why would somebody who is playing this game competitively main Charizard? There's two, much better super heavyweights to use. Donkey Kong is around mid-tier while many believe Bowser is mid-tier at least and has the potential to climb into the high tiers. Now, Zard still has a few perks that make him significantly better than Ganon and Dedede. His mobility is good and he has both a combo throw in down throw and a kill throw in up throw (which happens to be the strongest up throw in the game). On top of all of that, Zard actually has some degree of results, which proves that, despite being this far down on the tier list, he still is viable to an extent. However, as I started this paragraph with, when it comes to super heavyweights, there's not just one, but two significantly better and more viable options available to use and that really makes people ignore Zard. Overall, Zard is a character whose weaknesses tend to be more prevalent than his strengths. However, like many other characters down here, you can't count Zard out and a good Zard is still capable of competing (to an extent).
Wii Fit Trainer: Wii Fit is just a weird character and not in a good way. First of all, her hitboxes. Wii Fit Trainer's hitboxes are very awkward and poor. Unlike most characters, it's a chore simply to hit with her attacks. This is because her hitboxes lack range and are very thin. Due to the awkward positioning of her attacks, it doesn't give her much in terms of a combo game and, because of her poor range, she'll often find herself in situations where her opponents can hit her, but she can't hit them. Her grab game is one of the worst in the entire game. It may not be as bad as Cloud's, but it's pretty bad. All of her grabs have very little range, her pummel is awful, and her throws don't really do anything. Her specials are nothing to write home about. Sun Salutation pales in comparison to some of the better "charge up finisher projectiles" in the game like Shadow Ball and Charge Shot. Header is decent, due to it's weird trajectory and mindgame potential. Super Hoop is a decent recovery move, but has a huge blank spot above Wii Fit Trainer, making her her prone to attacks while using it. Deep Breathing is literally just a crappy Monado Art. It lasts for a mere seven seconds and takes way too long to recharge. Not only that but, even when it is charged, it still takes a bit to use AND you can't do anything during it. It's not like Shulk's Monado Arts where all you have to do is press the B button 1-5 times and can do any other non-B move while the art is activating. On top of all of that, you STILL have to press B at the right time or the move will fail and you'll get stuck in even more lag. Wii Fit has a few positives including her good mobility allowing for a better approach than most low tiers have to offer. Though, they don't compensate for all of the inherent issues with the character. Finally, I know I haven't really been talking about results that much so far (mostly due to the low and bottom tier characters' lack of them), but Wii Fit Trainer has really dropped off in terms of results. After the buffs she received previously, she did see a bit of a surge in results (especially when customs were legal). However, we don't see anything from this character nowadays and that's what puts her here.
Bowser Jr.: Bowser Jr.'s entire metagame was previously carried by one man: Tweek. Through dropping Bowser Jr. for Cloud, Tweek effectively dropped Bowser Jr. into low tier, where he sits today. Bowser Jr. is a mish-mash of poor design choices that counter the positives of the character and really hinder his potential in a competitive environment. His mobility and grab game, two things that are very important for a character to be viable, are both really bad. His mobility is poor without the use of his Side B and his grab is very laggy for how little range it has. Not only that, but landing the grab yields next to no reward because Bowser Jr.'s grabs are awful. Aside from Side B, his specials leave much to be desired. Cannon Ball is a complete joke and is unarguably one of the worst move in the entire game. His Up B covers a good amount of distance, but has the fatal flaw of being unable to be reused if he is hit by a weak attack, making him extremely vulnerable to gimping. Mecha-Koopa can be good as a projectile, but it can just as easily be used against him. He has disjointed range, but his disjoints range from being only okayish to a Roy level of bad. His moveset is also on Shulk's level of lagginess, except with nowhere near as much range as him. Finally, Bowser Jr, as I mentioned before, has REALLY dropped off in terms of results. We never see Jr. doing anything anymore, much like Wii Fit Trainer. Jr. isn't all bad, though. Even if Bowser Jr. isn't as good as we once thought, Tweek has more than proved that, when played to his strengths, Bowser Jr. is still a character that you have to watch out for because he can and will obliterate you if you are careless. In addition to that, Jr. seems to have proven that he still is viable in the metagame as a counterpick, as evident by Jade's upset over Trela way back when. It's not that Jr. is bad as much as it is that other characters are better. He's still viable, but you're going to need other, better characters to back him up if you plan on maining him. If anything, Jr. proves just how balanced Smash 4's roster is. A character this low on the tier list is still quite viable and even deadly in the right hands.
Samus: Kirby and Samus, I'd say, are more or less tied with one another. However, since I have to choose, I think Samus is very slightly worse. In my opinion, she's not quite sure of what she wants to be. Does she want to be a zoner? Or, does she want to be a combo heavy, melee character? While she can zone, her projectiles all have their flaws. Charge Shot, obviously, can simply be shielded or sidestepped and requires a good amount of time to charge. And, when a Samus has one charged, the opponent is aware and ready to react to her firing it. It's extremely difficult to get opponents into a situation where she can fire the Charge Shot and surprise them because they're expecting it. Missiles are still a shell of their Melee selves as they continue to possess a ton of ending lag. Charge Shot is supposed to be her big, strong projectile. Why do Missiles still have a ton of ending lag, too? Samus' usage of her projectiles is very restricting and limited. Think of better zoners like Mega Man and Villager, who have a much greater flexibility with their projectiles that allows them to be used in a variety of different ways compared to Samus, who really doesn't have many options with her projectiles other than to stand there and shoot. In terms of her Melee game, Samus' combo game is surprisingly decent. She has many options to combo such as FAir, UAir, and the deadly Screw Attack. However, there's two problems with this. One, most of her combos come out of her D-Throw, which requires landing her laggy grab to preform. Two, while her combo game is impressive, it's nothing compared to the likes of Sheik, Bayo, Diddy, etc. Point it, if you want a character with combos, Samus is far from your best bet. However, her zoning game just doesn't have the flexibility and versatility of other, better zoners. Though, I will give Samus the benefit of the doubt. She is one of the harder characters in the game to play and, considering the low tier stigma she has, this scares a lot of people away from picking her up. I feel Samus' maximum potential has yet to be reached, especially considering how infamous she tends to be for causing upsets. Maybe a few years down the line, Samus players will manage to gain more mastery of their character and move her up into the mid-tiers. However, until then, Samus is here in my book.
Kirby: Kirby and Samus, I'd say, are more or less tied with one another. However, since I have to choose, I think Kirby is very slightly better. He's a lot like Doc in that he has a good combo game for a low tier, but everything else is pretty meh. If Kirby can start a combo on you, he'll surely tack on a load of percent with up tilts, forward airs, and up airs. However, there's one tiny flaw in that statement: IF Kirby can start a combo on you. Kirby's mobility is poor to say the least. While his dashing speed has been significantly improved from Brawl, it still is merely average at best. His air speed is pretty bad, though. So, we have average at best dashing speed and poor air speed. However, in addition to that, Kirby also has what has to be one of the worst overall ranges in the entire game, due to it being nerfed from Brawl. Despite having pretty solid frame data overall, Kirby's attacks cover so little space that you're never going to hit an opponent unless they're literally in his face. Considering a majority of characters got a buff in their range in transition from Brawl to Smash 4, this is a HUGE problem for Kirby. While he can be very deadly if he can get in on you, the fact that his overall mobility is below average at best AND he has what is arguably the worst overall range in the entire game means that it's extremely easy to wall Kirby out. It's very hard for Kirby to get in against many characters in the cast due to the fact that Kirby has next to no viable approach options. This allows the opponent to completely dominate neutral against Kirby because they can do pretty much whatever they want while Kirby has to worry about getting in and not getting punished, a problem that his kit does not offer an easy solution to. In addition to that, while Kirby can recover from very far away with his multiple jumps and solid recovery move, he's so slow and easy to telegraph that he's actually much easier to edgeguard than one would expect. His grab game is pretty solid though. He has a combo throw in F-Throw, a damage racking throw in D-Throw, and two situational kill throws in B-Throw and U-Throw. Kirby's special moves range from okay to absolutely useless. Hammer and Stone are absolutely useless against any player that's remotely good. Final Cutter is decent as a recovery move, but pitiful as an actual attack. Inhale is, by far, Kirby's best special, considering it allows him access to his famous copy ability. Through copy abilities, Kirby can actually become a ton better if he's fighting against a character with a good neutral B. For example, as outrageous as it may sound, Monado Art Kirby, in my opinion, is the best character in the game, as the arts basically negate a majority, if not all, of Kirby's main weaknesses and allow his strengths to really shine. However, the only way to get that ability in tournament play is to play against a Shulk main (or team with one), sooo... Kirby is an example of a character that, with one change, would skyrocket into the higher tiers. If Kirby had good mobility (and maybe a less laggy dash attack), he would be high tier at least. Unfortunately, though. His poor mobility confines him to the lower tiers yet again. I'll never get why they nerfed him from Brawl...
Dr. Mario: Doc is the best character in this tier without question. Does that mean I think he should move up into the lower mid tier? Absolutely not. Doc is and will always be held back by three major things. One, his mobility is bad. Mobility is a VERY important thing in not just the Smash 4 metagame, but in Smash in general. You don't need amazing mobility to be good (ex. Brawl Snake is top tier) and having good mobility doesn't guarantee you a spot as one of the best in the game (ex. Brawl Sonic was mid-tier). However, nearly all of the top tiers have above average mobility at least. The worst mobility in the top tier of Smash 4 is probably Rosalina, who still has a very slightly above average dashing and air speed. Mobility contributes to a good combo game because you can get places faster to continue hitting your opponent. Doc's mobility is below average at best. While his combo game is surprisingly decent, especially for a character that's this low down on the tier list, his lack of mobility absolutely hinders the potential his combo game would have if he were faster. Second, his recovery sucks. It's not as bad as say Roy or Ganon, but it's pretty far down there. In a game where most characters can go extremely deep and get back no problem, this is an extreme problem for Doc. You can just fight him like Cloud where you simply throw him offstage, hit him, and watch as he falls to his death. Unlike Cloud, however, Doc doesn't have anything that makes Cloud a good character, meaning it's significantly easier to get Doc in a position where you can do this. Finally, is the biggest reason why Doc isn't and will never be a good character: Mario exists. Why would anybody who is playing Smash to win think about choosing Doc as their main when Mario exists? Mario can do everything Doc can and much, much more. His mobility is significantly better and shows the potential Doc's combo game would have if the good doctor weren't so slow. His recovery, while not the best in the game, is actually surprisingly difficult to edgeguard and is LEAGUES ahead of Doc's. The only thing Doc arguably has over Mario is a better Down B, but Mario Tornado isn't worth giving up mobility, one of the best combo abilities in the entire game, a decent recovery, etc. Doc is simply a worse Mario and, when Mario is easier to play and one of the best characters in the game, that definitely doesn't spell a good future for Doc. However, despite all of this, Doc still is the best low tier without question. His frame data and combo game are godly for a low tier and he can handle any character below him pretty well. It's when you start going up that he starts having a lot of trouble. Though, he still has a little niche of his own as a counterpick in certain matchups.
Note: None of these statements are written with the intent of offending mains of these characters. I'm just trying to say it how it is. If you want to play one of these characters, then, by all means, play them! I more than respect your devotion to your character and commend you for continuing to remain loyal to them, despite them not being an optimal pick in the current metagame.
