Would you stop maining a character because they wound up being in a really bad tier?

[Raijinken]

I main by favoritism. Ness and Captain Falcon have been in the list for a very long time (CFalc since the original, Ness since Melee). They've had more than their share of bad games, especially Ness. Doesn't affect my preference (helps that I don't really compete and Marth has been pretty solid in past games).

 

[LasermasterA]

I main by favoritism. Ness and Captain Falcon have been in the list for a very long time (CFalc since the original, Ness since Melee). They've had more than their share of bad games, especially Ness. Doesn't affect my preference (helps that I don't really compete and Marth has been pretty solid in past games).

Favoritism for the win!

 

[jinwhite]

This is a pretty good question & something I'm debating right now. I'm new to Smash, and upon picking up the game the character I was inherently drawn to the most was Charizard.

Sm4sh Charizard is new & different and we don't know exactly where he's going to be in the tiers, but even as a new player I recognize he can be punished easily for every little mistake, so the learning curve is kind of high to excel with him. My online win/loss ratio is abysmal. Even versus the lvl 9 CPU I have a much easier time winning with Duck Hunt, but I love Charizard & I'm trying to learn his options inside and out.

It's hard though. It's going to come down to:
does my for charizard > my hatred of losing

For now I'm going to keep pushing with zard. If he's utterly **** tier, I'll consider picking up a strong second, but I could never drop him. Rather, I want to dedicate myself to making myself a viable player w/ Charizard.

 

[Khao]

I find tiers pretty interesting and fun to follow, but in the end, I don't give a **** when I'm playing the game.

I don't even go to tournaments, so tiers likely don't even apply in my skill level even though I am interested in improving at the game.

In the end, I just go for characters I enjoy playing as, of course, characters I like as characters mostly always get a "special spot" in enjoyability, but other characters just end up having a ****ing fun gameplay style that I can't bring myself to ignore even if I hate them in their own games. The opposite is also true, I might love a character to death, but if they are not fun to play as, I most likely won't play as them too much.

 

[Alfonzo Bagpipez]

Depends on how bad.
If I can still do the things I want to do, I don't really care how bad they are (Roy is my secondary in Melee). If there is hype to be had, and if I can play the character in a fluid manner, then tier placement is just an afterthought.

If I feel extremely limited, only then would I drop a character. (Smash 4 Ike is coming close to that point, even though he's one of my favorite characters in gaming)

 

[djKun]

If I really like a character, I'd stick with em.

I mean, SFIV Sagat is full on S+ Tier, no question. Strong fireball with excellent recovery? Super strong uppercut that does so much damage and at worst, trades in your favor? Tiger knee loops? das mah mayn mang.

But then SSFIV came out. Oh boy. Sagat, you seen better days. Nerf to damage, fireball and TK recovery increased. Sagat at best is B-tier in comparison of others (Guile, got massive buffs you sonuva *****). Couple with some really bad matchups (Guile, Akuma), Sagat ain't so. But I kept with him and to make up for changes, I developed a more aggressive and frame trap heavy kind of Sagat. When I went to locals or whatever major that came up, a lot of people were impressed. TLDR; Character specialist won't drop their characters anytime soon.

Right now I'm in a crisis of playing between Sheik, ZSS, Marth/Lucina, Captain Falcon and Regular Samus. Not because they're high tier but they're so much fun.

 

[Terotrous]

Potentially, if the character stops being fun to play. This happened to me in Divekick with Markman. He was a really fun setup-based character who could put stuff out on the screen and then use it to his advantage to trap the opponent. In the first version, he was A tier. Then Addition Edition came out and he was massively nerfed, down to being F tier. His mobility was so drastically nerfed that he could no longer take advantage of any of his items, (rather, any item he put out would give advantage to the opponents instead!), so playing him was no longer any fun at all.

However, rather than switching to a new character, I basically just dropped the game, because there wasn't anyone else I found really interesting and New Baz was the most broken nonsense that the game had ever seen. This is typically what happens if the character I like gets changed to trash tier, I just move onto another game.

 

[SagaTheMeow]

I always mained Link, and he is still my main alongside Robin.
I think that says enough.

 

[g00dapollo]

Nope. I've learned from past experiences in other fighting games it's better to stick with a character you enjoy than start following Tier Lists. I'd rather get good with my character regardless than, switch to another because they place higher on a list.

 

[SwoodGrommet]

I pick my main based on who my favourite character is. I find it much much more rewarding this way; I could always work on a different character until I can dominate with him/her, but then there'd always be a part of me wishing I worked just as hard with my favourite. So no, even if he ended up in the bottom of the barrel, I'd still go with him.

I think you really need to have some kind of sentimental connection with your main to avoid getting bored or giving up when things aren't going how you envisioned. Or maybe I'm just like that. It's been said, but I think it's a little shallow to throw away your main just because they're not top tier.

 

[Mettie7]

I was actually going to make a thread like this yesterday, someone beat me to it though. Using brawl as an example, I would still main Meta Knight even if he was bottom tier

 

[Flareon]

No. I will always stick with my main regardless of where he is on the tier list.

 

[LancerStaff]

If we're talking about Brawl Gannondorf levels of unusability, then yes. Mid Tier? I'll definitely stick, especially since there's hope with patches this time around.

 

[Syrek]

Never. I could care less if Robin, Lucina and Shulk become bottom tier list characters or not, I'm still going to always main them no matter what because I enjoy they're play styles and I love the characters as well. In Brawl I mained Mario and Ike, not because they were competitively viable on the tier list but because I enjoyed using those characters, regardless of where they stood. If I like a character from a respective series, I will play that character in the game no matter what. I feel that limiting myself to choosing top tier characters in not only boring but frankly not my cup of tea. I'm not a competitive player but at the same time, I'm not much of a casual player either, at least in the way I play and how much I play. Essentially though, I will NEVER stop maining a character I enjoy just because they end up in a bad tier or something like that. Even if I lose countless times to many opponents online because I use my mains, I could care less. I will continue to use them, create play styles for each of them, train, learn and grow from my defeats and victories with them. I won't let some tier list tell me who I should play as.

 

[Jerm]

Im going to make it my mission to be part of the reason Shulk is high tier because right now the Japanese are saying he is as bad as Ganon which is disgustingly inaccurate. That's of course assuming Ganon is bad to begin with-from what I've seen he is a carbon copy of his Brawl iteration so who knows.

 

[chipndip]

Yeah, I kind of have to agree with you here. It's not right for your opinion to be bashed on like that. Considering your the only one in this thread so far who has said tiers effect who you play as.

I almost thought I didn't reply to this thread yet, but...

I might, and I might try someone who placed high, but if things don't work out, I switch back. I use tiers as suggestions, but if I can't use it, I can't use it.

...>_>

 

[ソチャラ「Sóchara 」]

Megaman's the reason I play this game so it doesn't matter where he ends up. It may be good if he's low-mid teir. Less other people playing him and I look better for doing it well.

 

[9Blades]

Nope, even though I do play Sheik in SSB4, who is probably gonna be high tiered. I used Link in Melee since forever, even though he sucks and I lose nearly everytime, I still do.

 

[Aninymouse]

I mostly used DK, Ike and Mewtwo up until now.

Tiers mean nothing to me in regards to who I choose to use most of the time. I am not opposed to learning a new character if my main characters suck, though. It feels good to switch it up from time to time.

 

[Terotrous]

I mostly used DK, Ike and Mewtwo up until now.

Tiers mean nothing to me in regards to who I choose to use most of the time. I am not opposed to learning a new character if my main characters suck, though. It feels good to switch it up from time to time.

How do you feel about DK in this game? I've never been a DK main by any means, but I played him occasionally and to me he just feels horrible in Smash 4. Maybe I got too spoiled by PM DK but I really don't recall him being so slow and stiff in Brawl.

 

[Aninymouse]

How do you feel about DK in this game? I've never been a DK main by any means, but I played him occasionally and to me he just feels horrible in Smash 4. Maybe I got too spoiled by PM DK but I really don't recall him being so slow and stiff in Brawl.

DK is still difficult to use, just as he always has been. I love the new roll attack and the improved headbutt, but he hasn't really changed much over the years. He's just gotten some small tweaks here and there, really.

I don't get to play online versus other people all that often right now, so my experience with DK in Smash 4 versus other people amounts to only a few matches. The computers shaking out of grabs instantly is very annoying... versus other humans, DK seems to work better. His aerials are hard to hit versus the computer's stupid tendency to DI directly into you nearly all the time.

@itsaxelol has said that he believes that Giant Punch is strongest on the second-to-last windup, instead of letting it fully charge. I haven't paid much attention to things like that, as I've just been having fun getting used to the game again and unlocking stuff.

edit: this video is beast

 

[LordVacation]

Personally I play characters I like.

Which is why Yoshi's been my main for 15 years, Bowser has the second most play time on most of my games and Falco, Marth, Sheik and Metaknight are amongst the least played characters on many of my save files.

That said I certainly know people who do only main top tier characters IRL. Someone I know who mained Falcon in Melee and 64 dropped him like a lead weight in Brawl due to his nerf, and went to Metaknight instead after talking about how much he was looking forward to Diddy and Pit...I'll never understand that.

Yoshi is a boss.
Furthermore, exactly your point--
I seriously don't get how people don't just play with who feels right and instead gravitate who the general consensus finds "top tier"... like... be yourself...
How does only playing 1-3 characters equal fun? I don't know. Smash community is strange...

 

[redreflect]

Even if my main were at the very, very bottom of the list I'd probably still play him because I enjoy him. I have never been to a tournament anyways.

I would consider trying out a character that was in the top tier though (who wasn't my main) just to see what makes them so good. Plus it's a good way to learn about them.

 

[Aninymouse]

Even if my main were at the very, very bottom of the list I'd probably still play him because I enjoy him. I have never been to a tournament anyways.

I would consider trying out a character that was in the top tier though (who wasn't my main) just to see what makes them so good. Plus it's a good way to learn about them.

I actually really like Falcon in Smash 4! I think I'm going to pick him as my 3rd character. Using him feels very natural to me.

 

[redreflect]

I actually really like Falcon in Smash 4! I think I'm going to pick him as my 3rd character. Using him feels very natural to me.

I'm really enjoying him too! He continues to be solid for me. I can't decide whether to main him or Diddy though.

 

[KurashiDragon]

I played the ever loving crap out of megaman in the demo. I finally got to where I can use him well. I hope to god he wont be low tier but I'll still use him even if he is.

 

[SwoodGrommet]

I played the ever loving crap out of megaman in the demo. I finally got to where I can use him well. I hope to god he wont be low tier but I'll still use him even if he is.

He'll be whatever tier you make him be, bud.

 

[Metal-Ace]

Even if a main of mine ended up in bottom tier I would still play as them.

The tier list, to me shows what characters are viable, not what you must play in smash because in the end, it's not who's the best character in the game, it's who's the most skilled at playing the game IMO.

 

[praline]

Nope cause tiers are stupid.

 

[KiBom]

Especially in a fighting game, playing a character that feels better often means playing a character that is better. Fluidity, a huge characteristic of that good feeling, is a sign of low lag on a characters moves and multiple options for follow-ups, which means that character will also be inherently stronger.

 

[Varadain]

Sonic is love, Sonic is life.

Homing attack could throw me off the stage every time I used it and I'd still main him.

Sincerely
A Dudley Main

 

[Shen_Jehuty]

Nope. I love the way ZSS handles and her move set. She is a blast to play with. And maining a lower tier character in previous Smashes never deterred me from using them.

 

[ミスティック Speed]

I will main whoever I wish to main, regardless of tiers.

 

[D-idara]

This might be a little too deep for this situation but...
Great players aren't changed by stablished tier-lists, tier-lists are changed by great players, remember when Jigglypuff was low tier in Melee? lol...

 

[warionumbah2]

I role with top tiers.

Melee = Fox
Brawl = MK
Sm4sh = Sheik

 

[RascalTheCharizard]

Im going to make it my mission to be part of the reason Shulk is high tier because right now the Japanese are saying he is as bad as Ganon which is disgustingly inaccurate. That's of course assuming Ganon is bad to begin with-from what I've seen he is a carbon copy of his Brawl iteration so who knows.

They said Palutena is as bad as Ganondorf.

This might be a little too deep for this situation but...
Great players aren't changed by stablished tier-lists, tier-lists are changed by great players, remember when Jigglypuff was low tier in Melee? lol...

In general, I agree with this. But remember how Hax succumbed to 20XX?

 

[PND]

I play the character with options.

If a character only has one or two good options, like most low tiers, they become predictable and stale. Having better options means you can have a more dynamic style. Those characters tend to be top tier. So yes, I can, will, and have dropped characters because they don't have enough good options.

It's nice to be known for being great with your character. It's even better to be known as a player who wins.

Too many players use their character's lower tier position as a crutch. Not every low tier main does it, and I have mad respect for the legit low tier mains, but it's a widespread issue and a major pet peeve of mine. I can't stand players who ***** and moan, and spout garbage like "You only won the match 'cuz you tier *****!"

No.

I won the match because I employed better tools and options than you did. I made better decisions than you. If my character has drastically better tools than yours, I'm not bad for picking them. You're bad at selecting characters.

You're not a better player because you don't pick top tiers. You're not showing more "skill" than me by choosing a lesser used character. You show skill by winning. And if you aren't winning, don't ***** at me because I am. There is no dishonour in picking a good character.

If you main a low tier character, own it. Develop your skills and matchup knowledge. Go out, play good players, and win. Don't use it as an excuse for losing.

 

[Pika_Legend]

I always play my favorite character if you can't tell from my name. Pikachu has always been viable (so far) but I do have a high teir character also for tournament play as a back up. Played a lot of peach in melee especially for those pesky falcons

 

[Fathom778]

Hell no!
Tiers have NO impact on how I play.

 

[FloatingMew]

I play who I like, unless I don't like the way they play. I never switch to "A tier characters" and dump my mains