Tier list

A tier list is a ranking of each character's metagame, based on 1-on-1 battles with tournament settings.

SSB tier list

This list is cited from a GameFAQs post and generally reflects the sentiments of top-level SSB players.

SSB Tiers
Top	High	Middle	Low	Bottom
1. Pikachu 2. Kirby 3. Ness	4. Fox 5. Captain Falcon	6. Jigglypuff 7. Mario 8. Yoshi	9. Donkey Kong 10. Luigi	11. Link 12. Samus

Current SSBM tier list

This is the eighth Smash Back Room NTSC tier list since its inception. This list is current of 7/10/2006, but is subject to change at any time.

SSBM Tiers
Top	High	Middle	Low	Bottom
1. Fox 2. Falco	3. Sheik 4. Marth 5. Peach	6. Captain Falcon 7. Ice Climbers 8. Samus 9. Dr. Mario 10. Jigglypuff 11. Mario 12. Ganondorf	13. Link 14. Luigi 15. Donkey Kong 16. Roy 17. Young Link 18. Pikachu	19. Yoshi 20. Zelda 21. Mr. Game and Watch 22. Ness 23. Bowser 24. Kirby 25. Pichu 26. Mewtwo

Controversy of the Existence of Tiers

Controversy arises periodically over the existence of tiers, most notably during the "tier wars" at GameFAQs and Smashboards. Some smashers, called "anti-tiers," argue that every character can be played equally well. In support of this argument, they claim that the tier list creates a cycle in which players choose only higher-tiered characters, and thus only those characters develop an advanced metagame, thereby reinforcing the tier list.

The unanimous consensus of competitive players, however, is that tiers do exist. They argue that it would be almost impossible to balance a game of unlike characters - without specific redesign, characters would have the tendency to fall into tiers, by dint of their myriad variables (differing attack power, running speed, etc.). Furthermore, the developers cannot foresee top-level strategies, and thus even their deliberate efforts could fail to balance the game at a professional level. Years of empirical results support this conclusion as well; national tournament-winners of Melee almost always use Marth, Fox, Falco and Sheik.

The list itself, of course, is subject to change at any time: the metagame shifts largely, changing the tier list throughout the years. Anti-tiers use this point to argue that the tier list can't be true if it changes. Pro-tiers respond by pointing out that it may be true for a particular, static metagame, and that this argument doesn't weigh against the existence of tiers themselves, but merely against a particular meta-game.

Tiers exist at all levels of play, though the rankings are highly changed from casual play to competitive play, due to different strategies and a different meta-game from the tournament level.

See also

• List of previous NTSC tier lists
• Smash Back Room
• Tires don exits
• PAL Tier List
• The Last Tier War

External links

• Current Tier List Revision