Hello, so I've been playing Smash competitively since the end of 2012, starting with Brawl, and since then I've been aware of the problems that can come out of not maining a top tier character. I picked Olimar ever since watching Nietono in tournament videos, despite barely knowing the character back then, but ever since, I have sticked with him as my definite main in Brawl and I found myself adopting a likeness to characters that not many people use and unconventional characters in general. I also picked Jigglypuff out of admiration for Hungrybox in Melee and found out I really enjoyed playing Puff, even in Brawl, even though she was probably the worse character in the game. When Sm4sh came out I immediately went out to try Olimar, my old main, but was kind of disappointed with his major nerfs, so I opted for Duck Hunt, who was a perfect fit for me, a heavy-zoning, camping-based player. I placed all my hopes in him, since he was considered top tier early in the days, and I really liked his quirky design and unconventional style; however, he was quickly dropped down a couple of tiers because of his laggy aerials, extremely unreliable smashes and a steep learning curve. Nonetheless, I sticked with him. I also picked Jigglypuff just as some sort of "gate guardian" at the start, just to switch to DH once my Puff was beaten, I enjoyed playing with her a lot, especially since she was considerably buffed from Brawl and was made much more viable; however, she's still, in my opinion and a lot of Puff mains or secondaries as well, an unreliable and gimmicky character.
Just when the nerfs to Rosalina and Sheik were made, and Diddy rose up to the top of the tier list, I was seriously considering taking him, as tons of players did, but I decided that it was way cooler to be loyal to your characters and win with the characters you like, even if they are very tough to use well and not as good as top tiers, so I stayed maining DH and Jiggly, adding Olimar later since Dabuz demonstrated he was still viable and I already had tons of experience with him from the Brawl days. I have 3 mains (actually only DH and Olimar when playing serious matches, unless I think a matchup is favorable for Puff) that are not very well placed in the tier list, that are much harder to use effectively than, say, Diddy or Rosalina, and that, when facing top tier characters, I'm forced to practically outsmart them in order to win. I have fared quite well in my local competitive scene, rising up to top 3 in my state ( a place that is kind of inexistent in Mexico's national scene at first, although it's slowly but surely rising to fame) and becoming known because of not using conventional and popular characters, like Diddy and Falcon, and even placing 3rd in a regional using only Jigglypuff, a character that was deemed "the worst" and "very bad" by almost every player here prior to the tournament. After that, I have consitently placed in top 3 at regionals with Olimar and DH, and I'm kind of proud of many local players starting to use Jigglypuff, Olimar and DH because of me.
All of that aside, I have recently been sponsored by a local gaming brand, altogether with the other top players in my state in order to create a competitive team that represents my region in national and other major tournaments, so I've had the urge to step up my game, especially since my training partners (the other top players in my region) have become considerably better and now I feel that I'm the weakest link in the team. They all use top or high tier characters, like Falcon, Diddy, Luigi, Mario and Fox and I'm torn between staying with my 3 mains to the bitter end or finally opting for a top tier that may help me become better. I've tried Rosalina, who is a heavy zoning character, just like Olimar, that kind of suits my style, but for some reason I just can't feel comfortable playing with her, and I SD a lot when trying to recover. In the other hand, I feel very inspired to start using Sheik, but she's quite a change in playstyle from my gimmicky/campy/zoning-based characters. I don't really know which top tier would be the best suited for my style and also be one I enjoy playing with. Also, I feel that attempting to try and learn a new character from the very beginning at this point kind of represents a disadvantage in comparison to other top players that have used top tier characters since the start and are now quite familiar with them.
So, in summary, should I stick with my mid-tier mains and just try to rough it out against top tiers, or start anew and take a top tier character in order to stay competitive?
TL;DR: My mains are not that good, and I can't decide between being character-loyal and take the loses or switching to a top tier, and in that case, which top tier I should switch to.
