Re: Super Smash Brothers Brawl
First off, the list is based on 1 v 1 competitive play.
Every fighting game has tier list since no game is ever completely balanced. The Street Fighters have one. Guilty Gear has one. Melee has one. It's an inevitability because some characters will just be better at 1 v 1 competitive play than others. As for the five levels thing, I think it's to make the list easier to read and comprehend and it's more aesthetic than anything. Remove the levels and you get a simple ranking list.
That is not to say that bottom tier characters have no shot at winning a tournament. a testament to a game's balance is shown in the relative gap between top tier and bottom tier. Guilty Gear shows Johnny as bottom tier but he is still capable of beasting through a tournament. It just requires a LOT more work and a LOT more mindgaming.
The list based on a few things...
1. Potential
2. Actual success at the tournament level
3. Number of favorable and unfavorable match-ups
Fox and Falco were top tier in Melee because they won a vast majority of tournaments and matched up extremely well against most of the cast. They also had a great level of potential due to a combination of speed, range, power and useful projectiles.
Now I'm not DEFENDING this list at all, but I understand how it came to be based on the current metagame. Like I said, the list I posted is NOT final, official or even 100% correct. The game has been out for a little more than two months (counting the JP release) so building a tier list at this point is a bit much. Melee didn't develop a true list until a few years after it came out and it changed a few times based on changes in the way the metagame developed as players got better and new techniques were discovered. Roy used to be on top until people realized that he was too slow and had no combo potential, thus he was dropped way down the list. Shiek was on top for the longest time until Fox and Falco users started dominating tournies.
Give it about a year and the list should be more accurate. Right now the list is based on mostly theory and the current skill level of competitive players. Keep in mind, also, that the list was compiled by someone in a greater fighting game community as opposed to the dedicated Smash community. I would trust an SWF list over one off SRK, personally.
Also, did ANYONE read the thread I posted where they explain why each character is where they are. It makes sense to me. >_>
Since people are asking, I'll explain to the best of my knowledge why certain characters are where they are....
Snake is top because he can camp all day and his close-range moves have insane power and priority. His f-tilt, b-air, u-air, d-tilt, u-tilt and n-air are all quick and do serious damage. His arms are legs are disjointed hitboxes for some unknown reason, adding to his priority.
Pit, Falco, Toon Link, ROB and Zelda are also amazingly good at camping as well. Notice that all these characters are near the top. This is because Brawl tournies lately are being won by whoever can camp the best.
Pit, in particular, can arrow spam then use his high priority close range attacks to punish anyone who tries to approach. He also has insane recovery and TWO reflectors.
Wario is lower because he lacks range and gets murdered by sword users. Too many bad matchups.
Olimar is up top because of his range, priority and ability to cause a LOT of damage in a short amount of time. The only thing keeping him from being WAY up is his recovery.
Meta Knight has issues with KOing but he still has some decent moves. D-smash works. F-smash works. Shuttle Loop works. He still has to get the enemy to high percentages but he can build damage really quickly. He can also get past campers because he's REALLY good at approaching with just about any move you can think of. his recovery is also amazing and he can use any of his B-moves for that purpose. Plus he can glide twice in midair.
Toon Link is considered better than Link because he's faster and has quicker projectiles. His arrows act a bit like Falco's laser. Link is sluggish and his arrows aren't as useful. Toon Link also has a SICK air game with b-air and f-air.
Zelda can camp easily and can KO reliably with a LOT of moves.
Luigi is like Mario except with a lot of KO moves, amazing recovery and a great approach move.
Diddy is quick and can do a lot of stuff with them nanners of his.
ZSS is quick and has amazing range on normal moves and her Plasma Whip.
Dedede has crazy grab range, a chaingrab, balanced offense (quick weak moves with range coupled with slower power moves), a useful and potentially devastating projectile and insane recovery. His only issues are being big and slow.
And that's the most I've said about Brawl ever. Anyone else need some clarification?
First off, the list is based on 1 v 1 competitive play.
Every fighting game has tier list since no game is ever completely balanced. The Street Fighters have one. Guilty Gear has one. Melee has one. It's an inevitability because some characters will just be better at 1 v 1 competitive play than others. As for the five levels thing, I think it's to make the list easier to read and comprehend and it's more aesthetic than anything. Remove the levels and you get a simple ranking list.
That is not to say that bottom tier characters have no shot at winning a tournament. a testament to a game's balance is shown in the relative gap between top tier and bottom tier. Guilty Gear shows Johnny as bottom tier but he is still capable of beasting through a tournament. It just requires a LOT more work and a LOT more mindgaming.
The list based on a few things...
1. Potential
2. Actual success at the tournament level
3. Number of favorable and unfavorable match-ups
Fox and Falco were top tier in Melee because they won a vast majority of tournaments and matched up extremely well against most of the cast. They also had a great level of potential due to a combination of speed, range, power and useful projectiles.
Now I'm not DEFENDING this list at all, but I understand how it came to be based on the current metagame. Like I said, the list I posted is NOT final, official or even 100% correct. The game has been out for a little more than two months (counting the JP release) so building a tier list at this point is a bit much. Melee didn't develop a true list until a few years after it came out and it changed a few times based on changes in the way the metagame developed as players got better and new techniques were discovered. Roy used to be on top until people realized that he was too slow and had no combo potential, thus he was dropped way down the list. Shiek was on top for the longest time until Fox and Falco users started dominating tournies.
Give it about a year and the list should be more accurate. Right now the list is based on mostly theory and the current skill level of competitive players. Keep in mind, also, that the list was compiled by someone in a greater fighting game community as opposed to the dedicated Smash community. I would trust an SWF list over one off SRK, personally.
Also, did ANYONE read the thread I posted where they explain why each character is where they are. It makes sense to me. >_>
Since people are asking, I'll explain to the best of my knowledge why certain characters are where they are....
Snake is top because he can camp all day and his close-range moves have insane power and priority. His f-tilt, b-air, u-air, d-tilt, u-tilt and n-air are all quick and do serious damage. His arms are legs are disjointed hitboxes for some unknown reason, adding to his priority.
Pit, Falco, Toon Link, ROB and Zelda are also amazingly good at camping as well. Notice that all these characters are near the top. This is because Brawl tournies lately are being won by whoever can camp the best.
Pit, in particular, can arrow spam then use his high priority close range attacks to punish anyone who tries to approach. He also has insane recovery and TWO reflectors.
Wario is lower because he lacks range and gets murdered by sword users. Too many bad matchups.
Olimar is up top because of his range, priority and ability to cause a LOT of damage in a short amount of time. The only thing keeping him from being WAY up is his recovery.
Meta Knight has issues with KOing but he still has some decent moves. D-smash works. F-smash works. Shuttle Loop works. He still has to get the enemy to high percentages but he can build damage really quickly. He can also get past campers because he's REALLY good at approaching with just about any move you can think of. his recovery is also amazing and he can use any of his B-moves for that purpose. Plus he can glide twice in midair.
Toon Link is considered better than Link because he's faster and has quicker projectiles. His arrows act a bit like Falco's laser. Link is sluggish and his arrows aren't as useful. Toon Link also has a SICK air game with b-air and f-air.
Zelda can camp easily and can KO reliably with a LOT of moves.
Luigi is like Mario except with a lot of KO moves, amazing recovery and a great approach move.
Diddy is quick and can do a lot of stuff with them nanners of his.
ZSS is quick and has amazing range on normal moves and her Plasma Whip.
Dedede has crazy grab range, a chaingrab, balanced offense (quick weak moves with range coupled with slower power moves), a useful and potentially devastating projectile and insane recovery. His only issues are being big and slow.
And that's the most I've said about Brawl ever. Anyone else need some clarification?
Comment