I just meant a bad MU is say 40:60. A very bad MU is 30:70.
First off, matchup ratios are bandied about without any statistical basis. It's meaningless, which is why no one specifies if they are talking about stocks, games, Bo3 sets, Bo5 sets, or what stage policies are in effect, or what precise level of play. It's all playing dress up.
Some traditional fighting games have hard data released by the developers, but even this data is very narrow in scope and application. It would be like if Nintendo revealed For Glory win rates.
So with more characters any given character is more likely to have a 30:70 MU solely BC there are more MU's. That's just my hypothesis.
No, this is a matter of density. In a game with a 1000 character, having one "30:70" matchup is not a big deal. In a game with 2 characters, having one "30:70" matchup is horrendous.
A character that's so bad they have a MU that's 30:70 or worse could be considered to not be a viable solo main. If you look at the top tiers in both Melee and Sm4sh I'd argue none of them have a 30:70 MU and are all solo viable
We still haven't defined what that definition of matchup means, what level of play we're talking about, or what "viable" means.
In 17 years of Melee, these characters have won 1st or 2nd at a national tournament solo or essentially solo:







It is also not surprising for solo mains of these characters to also place highly at international events:





...with rare but not unheard of guest appearances in the top 64 by:






Missing:







In the 6 years of Brawl, these characters have won 1st or 2nd at a national tournament solo or essentially solo: (counting only real, MK-legal tournaments)









...with these characters solo placing highly:













...and these characters rarely-but-sometimes placing decently as well:









Missing:




In the 4 years of Smash 4 (not counting release events), these are 1st or 2nd:




















...these surprising no one to place highly:














...and these rarely-but-sometimes making top 64:














Missing:


Where do you draw the line? Are aMSa and T wasting their time playing Melee Yoshi and Smash 4 Link?
Even the "missing" level is hazy. I won almost every area event around St. Louis for 3 years with Brawl Jigglypuff. "Viable?" I mean, my bank always thought the cash I won was viable.
Calling chaingrabs a bug/design failure feels like more of an opinion though. It honestly is coming across as you are projecting what you personally perceive to be issues as a flaw in the game.
I feel like "chaingrabs are degenerate and unintended" is about as mainstream of an opinion as you can get.
Now take Melee Kirby or Sm4sh Ganon. We both agree they are garbage characters.
Whoa, we definitely don't agree on that.
At my very first Melee tourney, a guy in bracket went Kirby and beat me. He looked me in the eye and said:
"Don't worry. If you keep playing, you will never in your life lose to Kirby again."
He was right. Kirby was a special kind of awful. The last time I saw a Kirby played in tournament, it was against XiF's Peach,
who JV 5-stocked him.
Meanwhile, Smash 4 Ganon? Dude, I've picked Ganon unironically in bracket and won. I went all-Ganon, minus a little Ness, when I took a trip to Sweden, and got
2nd in
two Stockholm tournaments. (And the Stockholm boys weren't bad!)
Smash 4 doesn't really have any unplayable, horrendous characters. Smash 4 Ganon is comparable to Melee Link.
Brawl Ganon is the only truly unplayable, horrendous character in Brawl, and he was around the potential of Melee Bowser or Ness. (Brawl Zelda comes close, and is also probably comparable to Melee Link.)
The consistent improvement of the worst characters from Melee -> Brawl -> Smash 4 is entirely due to reductions in systematic issues listed that led to their outlier matchup behaviors.
For what it's worth, I would bet that the worst character in Ultimate will perform no worse (relative to its own top tiers) than Melee Dr. Mario. Additionally, I would bet that no character in Smash Ultimate captures more than 10% of top 64 placings at any single national event, with Pokemon Trainer exempt.