Seeing how tight the tier spread is, do you guys think our time would be better used constructing a Giant Collective Matchup Chart?
Once people have significantly developed some characters, we use the character subforum to discuss matchups and bring consensus data to a chart. Each matchup needs a brief paragraph describing the numbers (50:50, 60:40) and why. Only include known/developed MU with evidence (frame data, match statistics). Higher skill play should take precedence of over lower skill play, and if there's a known discrepancy between to players and not necessarily the characters, note it. This is about characters, not their players.
As the Metagame grows and changes, so will the chart. New tech, Changes in thinking, and Tournament Results will be intergrated as time goes on. The chart would act as a dynamic entity that could identify discrepancies in character viability relative to the cast and predict how character popularity skews tournament balance (I.e. if a tourney has a lot of Mario mains, then characters with an advantageous MU will do better). This chart could also point out good choices for pocket characters to avoid bad MUs should one choose a secondary. That's the sort of helpful information Tier lists don't provide.
It would be a lot of work (a LOT) debating 1681 matchups, gathering evidence to support arguements, putting all the data in one place and accounting for player skill, but it's a community-wide project. Project M-U, if you will. As a community project, if the community lacks a strong G&W player to weigh in on MUs, don't feel pressured into baseless speculation to fill chart space. Emptiness means unexplored territory, which is a good way to describe this game ATM.
If it's easier making Tier Lists then feel free to continue. They do take much less work and aren't trapped in such obscure details like a MU chart would, and as lists are published the wisdom of the crowd provides a census over perceived viability, which accidentally accounts for an individual's knowledge of the cast. The Collective MU chart is just a thought that sounds incredibly hard to pull off and I personally lack the experience, time, wisdom and merit to attempt such a thing, but I thought I'd share my idea with you guys.
tl;dr I think focusing on a giant MU chart would help the community in the long run, but I'm a noob so feel free to shut me down.
