1,916
edits
Tier list: Difference between revisions
m
→Controversy over the existence of tiers
| Line 46: | Line 46: | ||
It is a common opinion among some players (mostly new ones) that all the characters in the series are equal and have the same high amount of potential. These players believe that the inherent strengths and weaknesses of characters balance them out, thus eliminating the need for tiers. However, the consensus of competitive players, and knowledgeable but non-competitive players, is that tiers do exist. They argue that it would be almost impossible for developers to balance a game of unlike characters, because the differing properties of each character produce a large number of variables that cannot successfully be monitored and modified for the purpose of perfect balance. Thus, developers may not be able to foresee top level strategies, and even deliberate efforts (i.e. updates in ''Smash 4'') will not perfectly balance a game at a professional level. Furthermore, the developers did not solely intend for games in the ''Smash'' series to be played at high competitive levels under tournament rulesets, which are what tiers are based off of, and their idea of balancing may have been different from that of other competitive games. | It is a common opinion among some players (mostly new ones) that all the characters in the series are equal and have the same high amount of potential. These players believe that the inherent strengths and weaknesses of characters balance them out, thus eliminating the need for tiers. However, the consensus of competitive players, and knowledgeable but non-competitive players, is that tiers do exist. They argue that it would be almost impossible for developers to balance a game of unlike characters, because the differing properties of each character produce a large number of variables that cannot successfully be monitored and modified for the purpose of perfect balance. Thus, developers may not be able to foresee top level strategies, and even deliberate efforts (i.e. updates in ''Smash 4'') will not perfectly balance a game at a professional level. Furthermore, the developers did not solely intend for games in the ''Smash'' series to be played at high competitive levels under tournament rulesets, which are what tiers are based off of, and their idea of balancing may have been different from that of other competitive games. | ||
Years of results from tournaments also support the existence of tiers: national tournament winners of ''Smash 64'' would commonly be using {{SSB|Pikachu}} and/or {{SSB|Kirby}}; winners of ''Melee'' nationals have most commonly used {{SSBM|Marth}}, {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}}, {{SSBM|Fox}}, {{SSBM|Falco}}, and/or {{SSBM|Sheik}}; winners of ''Brawl'' nationals have most commonly used {{SSBB|Meta Knight}}, {{SSBB|Ice Climbers}}, {{SSBB|Olimar}}, {{SSBB|Snake}}, {{SSBB|Diddy Kong}}, and/or {{SSBB|Falco}}; and winners of ''Smash 4'' nationals have most commonly used {{SSB4|Sheik}}, {{SSB4|Zero Suit Samus}} and/or {{SSB4|Diddy Kong}}. [[Power rankings]], such as the [[2014 SSBMRank]], for the games have also demonstrated that the best ''Smash'' players generally use high-tiered characters, with only a handful of outliers; these include {{Sm|Axe}} with {{SSBM|Pikachu}} (then ranked 7th), {{Sm|aMSa}} with {{SSBM|Yoshi}} (ranked 22nd), and formerly {{Sm|Shroomed}} with {{SSBM|Dr. Mario}} (ranked 14th) and {{Sm|Plup}} with {{SSBM|Samus}} (ranked 16th). However, Shroomed and Plup both eventually switched to being Sheik mains (with Shroomed using Marth as a secondary and Plup only occasionally using Samus), and have risen in rankings in the [[2015 SSBMRank]], where they are ranked 10th and 7th respectively, while Axe and aMSa, still maining Pikachu and Yoshi respectively, have slightly dropped to 9th and 24th in the 2015 SSBMRank respectively. Switching to higher tier mains is not exclusive to ''Melee''{{'}}s competitive scene; {{Sm|Vinnie}} switched from {{SSBB|Mr. Game & Watch}} in ''Brawl'' to {{SSBB|Ice Climbers}} and immediately saw better results, eventually being ranked 9th in the [[2014 SSBBRank]]. Despite being touted as the best {{SSB4|Bowser Jr.}} player in the world, {{Sm|Tweek}} dropped him in favor of {{SSB4|Cloud}}, who | Years of results from tournaments also support the existence of tiers: national tournament winners of ''Smash 64'' would commonly be using {{SSB|Pikachu}} and/or {{SSB|Kirby}}; winners of ''Melee'' nationals have most commonly used {{SSBM|Marth}}, {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}}, {{SSBM|Fox}}, {{SSBM|Falco}}, and/or {{SSBM|Sheik}}; winners of ''Brawl'' nationals have most commonly used {{SSBB|Meta Knight}}, {{SSBB|Ice Climbers}}, {{SSBB|Olimar}}, {{SSBB|Snake}}, {{SSBB|Diddy Kong}}, and/or {{SSBB|Falco}}; and winners of ''Smash 4'' nationals have most commonly used {{SSB4|Sheik}}, {{SSB4|Zero Suit Samus}} and/or {{SSB4|Diddy Kong}}. [[Power rankings]], such as the [[2014 SSBMRank]], for the games have also demonstrated that the best ''Smash'' players generally use high-tiered characters, with only a handful of outliers; these include {{Sm|Axe}} with {{SSBM|Pikachu}} (then ranked 7th), {{Sm|aMSa}} with {{SSBM|Yoshi}} (ranked 22nd), and formerly {{Sm|Shroomed}} with {{SSBM|Dr. Mario}} (ranked 14th) and {{Sm|Plup}} with {{SSBM|Samus}} (ranked 16th). However, Shroomed and Plup both eventually switched to being Sheik mains (with Shroomed using Marth as a secondary and Plup only occasionally using Samus), and have risen in rankings in the [[2015 SSBMRank]], where they are ranked 10th and 7th respectively, while Axe and aMSa, still maining Pikachu and Yoshi respectively, have slightly dropped to 9th and 24th in the 2015 SSBMRank respectively. Switching to higher tier mains is not exclusive to ''Melee''{{'}}s competitive scene; {{Sm|Vinnie}} switched from {{SSBB|Mr. Game & Watch}} in ''Brawl'' to {{SSBB|Ice Climbers}} and immediately saw better results, eventually being ranked 9th in the [[2014 SSBBRank]]. Despite being touted as the best {{SSB4|Bowser Jr.}} player in the world, {{Sm|Tweek}} dropped him in favor of {{SSB4|Cloud}}, who he perceived to be a better choice in becoming the best ''Smash 4'' player, and following the switch, he has seen consistent top 8 placings in [[Shots Fired 2]], [[Do or DI]], and most notably [[Pound 2016]]. | ||
It is important to note that every smasher mentioned above has put in the same amount of, if not, more effort into their lower tier mains than other top players of higher tier mains, and has single-handedly pushed their characters' metagames to around the same level. However, barring a breakthrough in new tech that is useful and reliable (as seen with aMSa's {{SSBM|Yoshi}} and Axe's Pikachu in ''Melee''), or updates in ''Smash 4'' that drastically affect a character's viability (such as {{SSB4|Marth}} and his clone, {{SSB4|Lucina}}, in version [[1.1.4]]), lower-tiered characters are generally not consistent enough to survive in the long run against other top players who use higher-tiered characters, and thus, there is an inclination to simply use better characters. Tier lists are deliberately ever changing to reflect individual character performances in tournament, and as a result, only a few characters will ever see significant shifts in placement, while the remaining characters will always stay in the general position they are in now, give or take a couple of places. | It is important to note that every smasher mentioned above has put in the same amount of, if not, more effort into their lower tier mains than other top players of higher tier mains, and has single-handedly pushed their characters' metagames to around the same level. However, barring a breakthrough in new tech that is useful and reliable (as seen with aMSa's {{SSBM|Yoshi}} and Axe's Pikachu in ''Melee''), or updates in ''Smash 4'' that drastically affect a character's viability (such as {{SSB4|Marth}} and his clone, {{SSB4|Lucina}}, in version [[1.1.4]]), lower-tiered characters are generally not consistent enough to survive in the long run against other top players who use higher-tiered characters, and thus, there is an inclination to simply use better characters. Tier lists are deliberately ever changing to reflect individual character performances in tournament, and as a result, only a few characters will ever see significant shifts in placement, while the remaining characters will always stay in the general position they are in now, give or take a couple of places. | ||