UltRank Releases First Official Smash Ultimate Tier List!

It’s been over four years, but Super Smash Bros. Ultimate finally got its first official tier list. In the past Smashboards used to make the official community tier lists. However, we lack a backroom for the modern era, so this time it doesn't come from us. Instead it comes from start.gg and UltRank. UltRank gathered seventy one top players in Ultimate to create this tier list together.

Notably, it’s been over a year since the last dedicated balance patch for Ultimate came out. With such a rapidly changing meta it makes sense that it took so long for an official tier list to arrive. The resulting tier list was published earlier today. Go check it out below!

If you’d like to learn more about the methodology for the tier list and the players surveyed, read about it here.

Author’s Note: It is refreshing to finally have some form of an official tier list to redirect people towards. I have a few gripes with it personally. I think Lucina, Bayonetta, Chrom, and Wario for example are too low. Conversely, I think Kazuya and Sephiroth are too high. What do you all think? Please let us know in the comments below!

Credits:
Writing: TCT~Phantom
Editing/Thumbnail: @Zerp

Source: UltRank, start.gg, and Barnard's Loop

 

Everyone who told me Dedede's "fine" in Ultimate like he wasn't gonna end up bottom 5 again by the end of the game's life can eat a load of crow.

 

This tier list feels like a great example of the dangers of misusing statistics.

 

All of the characters that I enjoy playing the most (aside from Mii Brawler) is a low tier.

 

Roy and Wolf in S tier is good enough for me

Steve is WAYYYYYYYY too high

 

I know I’ve been out of the loop a bit on Smash comp scene but how’d Sora get so high?

 

To answer some of your questions on the tier list, I recommend everyone to check out the supporting article. It will give you a good analysis on how the list was constructed, some notable facts about the bottom and top placements, and some regional differences in opinion.

 

This tier list feels like a great example of the dangers of misusing statistics.

How, if I might ask? I read up on the methodology, and nothing looks egregiously off here.

 

This sentence hits harder than any other low tier placements

In the past Smashboards used to make the official community tier lists. However, we lack a backroom for the modern era, so this time it doesn't come from us.

 

I'm still riding the high from correctly predicting Steve two and a half ago (jesus christ how the time flies), him being almost unanimously considered the strongest character in the game is just the cherry on the top. Samus and Hero are also quite high, altogether a good showing for my mains.

 

This tier list feels like a great example of the dangers of misusing statistics.

Who misused statistics?

 

Nice, been waiting for quite a while! Been watching top players and content creators, seems like the list is generally agreed upon, but everyone has a few issues with it. My understanding is (and could be incorrect) that most people at least feel that the tiers are correct, most of the gripes have to do with the ordering of the characters in those tiers (with a few exceptions).
Edit: What do you think is the lowest tier that a character can exist in and win a major tournament? Has any character in B- or below won any?

 

Ong how are people still shulkposting. Character hasn't cooked **** outside of theorycrafting.

 

While I'd probably put him in B-, I'm happy my cat is at least recognized as good enough for C+! I've been telling everyone that Incineroar isn't a bottom tier for years when most others had him bottom 10. I'm glad SkyJay has put in the work to show that the cat is a much stronger character than that

 

I know I’ve been out of the loop a bit on Smash comp scene but how’d Sora get so high?

His lightning is a great pressure tool, Side B is hard to read, also he can Nair-loop you for a really long time and then Usmash. There might be other stuff (I also haven't played Ult in a minute) but those are the main things I remember.

 

What ever happened to Backroom tier lists, anyway?

 

Steve looks naked

 

Ah yes, the official "Who Not to Play for the Sake of your Well-Being" tier list.

Seriously, if you're going to make a character bad, why add them to the game in the first place? That's not smart or competent, and it ruins the game for fans of certain characters. (coughcough)

 

Why is piranha plant so low. I've had lots of success with it. Maybe I'm not up to date on the competitive scene. But the great recovery, ptooie (enough said), and amazing smash attacks, I'd expect B tier at least

 

The fact that Pac-Man and Palutena went from being near the bottom in Smash 4 to being in the top 20 in Ultimate makes me so happy. I’ve been using them since day 1 of Smash 4 so it feels great to see how much they improved from the two games.

 

Why is piranha plant so low. I've had lots of success with it. Maybe I'm not up to date on the competitive scene. But the great recovery, ptooie (enough said), and amazing smash attacks, I'd expect B tier at least

Yeah, you're very out-of-date. Piranha Plant simply hasn't seen much tournament success since Brood's run way back in 2019. Plant is very lacking in range and frame data, so its neutral is rather lacking compared to the rest of the cast. Its recovery is more of a mixed bag than it appears to be at first glance: Plant lacks a hitbox to protect its head, making it very prone to edgeguards and spikes, provided its opponent is aiming for its head rather than its leaves. Plant not having notable runs for such a long time is a red flag, as other, lesser-regarded characters such as Dr. Mario, Little Mac, King K Rool, DK, Incineroar, Jigglypuff, and Ridley have seen multiple top 16s and even top 8s in more recent tournaments, while Plant sadly hasn't.

 

Yeah, you're very out-of-date. Piranha Plant simply hasn't seen much tournament success since Brood's run way back in 2019. Plant is very lacking in range and frame data, so its neutral is rather lacking compared to the rest of the cast. Its recovery is more of a mixed bag than it appears to be at first glance: Plant lacks a hitbox to protect its head, making it very prone to edgeguards and spikes, provided its opponent is aiming for its head rather than its leaves. Plant not having notable runs for such a long time is a red flag, as other, lesser-regarded characters such as Dr. Mario, Little Mac, King K Rool, DK, Incineroar, Jigglypuff, and Ridley have seen multiple top 16s and even top 8s in more recent tournaments, while Plant sadly hasn't.

Well... Maybe I'm just biased but... I've had decent success with plant.

 

Well... Maybe I'm just biased but... I've had decent success with plant.

And I'm glad you've seen success with the character. Has said success been at a tournament with vods to review? If so, how many views do the vods have? Because this tier list is an aggregate of where around 70 PR'd players placed each character. I've only seen the PR'd players talk of Plant's weaknesses as of late, to which I reluctantly agree. Unless you've got vods that have a lot of views that PR'd players either overlooked or ignored, we haven't been given evidence of Plant being all that good of a character. Though it is also worth keeping in mind that Ultimate is a very balanced game, so decent success isn't hard to see with most characters. Someone has to be low tier, so unless you've got some vods of you doing remarkably well with Plant, I also haven't seen much evidence that it isn't low tier.

 

And I'm glad you've seen success with the character. Has said success been at a tournament with vods to review? If so, how many views do the vods have? Because this tier list is an aggregate of where around 70 PR'd players placed each character. I've only seen the PR'd players talk of Plant's weaknesses as of late, to which I reluctantly agree. Unless you've got vods that have a lot of views that PR'd players either overlooked or ignored, we haven't been given evidence of Plant being all that good of a character. Though it is also worth keeping in mind that Ultimate is a very balanced game, so decent success isn't hard to see with most characters. Someone has to be low tier, so unless you've got some vods of you doing remarkably well with Plant, I also haven't seen much evidence that it isn't low tier.

No it is a low tier by all means. It's just that I've had relative success. I think I have been in a few local tournaments but nothing big.

 

Who misused statistics?

I don't think anyone did, I honestly have no idea what OP is talking about. Since they seem to have no evidence, I think we can just ignore them.