Introduction
The period since tier list v6 (July 2011) has been a hectic one, with the disbandment of the URC and continuing controversy surrounding Meta Knight and the stage list. Seeing how MK is still often legal and the metagame where he is banned is still young, we opted to once again assume his legality. We’ll keep monitoring the community to decide if and when an additional MK-banned tier list will be necessary.
The tier list is not entirely what it used to be: for the first time ever it was created not just through voting, but a weighted integration of BBR votes, SWF matchup chart v2 (weighted based on tier list v6) and monetary success corrected for popularity. While none of the resources are perfect on their own, combining them hopefully makes for a more factual approach. You can find all data below the tier list. If there are any questions regarding the procedure we will strive to answer them and possibly expand on that section.
We are also willing to include writeups on character movement and over the upcoming weeks will likely explain the biggest movements regardless of public demand, but this is definitely something you all have a say in.
I’d like to thank Ishieymoro, Slhoka, John12346, theeboredone and Krystedez for their much appreciated help in working through the data.
BBR Tier List v7
It was harder than ever to decide whether the characters in D should be grouped with high or mid and we decided to introduce the borderline tier. Whether they should be included in mid tier tournaments or not is up to the individual TO. Low tier has not changed.
Condensed version:
S: Meta Knight
A: Olimar, Diddy Kong, Ice Climbers, Snake
B: Falco, Marth, Pikachu, Wario
C: Zero Suit Samus, Lucario, King Dedede, Toon Link
D: Wolf, Mr. Game & Watch, Fox, Peach, Pit
E: R.O.B., Kirby, Sheilda, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Ike, Sheik
F: Yoshi, Ness, Pokémon Trainer, Luigi
G: Lucas, Mario, Samus, Bowser, Captain Falcon
H: Jigglypuff, Link, Zelda, Ganondorf
[collapse=Sethlon version] Lord Tier
So Good hes not in this game Tier:
Top
Super awesome Tier:
Awesome Tier:
Better than most Tier:
High
Could still win...Tier:
Borderline
Dude, you're pushing it Tier:
Mid
Eh, its your money Tier:
For real? Tier:
Low
GGNOREPaypalPLZ Tier:
Hyrule++ Tier: [/collapse]
Data
Main Excel file: http://www.2shared.com/file/ok_u0l58/TierListv7.html
[collapse=Money and Popularity: July 2011-4/14/2012]
[/collapse]
Character Movement Explained
(#8 to #2)
Previous BBR Tier Lists
v1 (September 1, 2008)
v2 (January 1, 2009)
v3 (June 5, 2009)
v4 (February 26, 2010)
v5 (September 25, 2010)
v6 (July 4, 2011)
Useful Links
SWF Matchup Chart v2
Character Succes and Popularity
European Tier List
The period since tier list v6 (July 2011) has been a hectic one, with the disbandment of the URC and continuing controversy surrounding Meta Knight and the stage list. Seeing how MK is still often legal and the metagame where he is banned is still young, we opted to once again assume his legality. We’ll keep monitoring the community to decide if and when an additional MK-banned tier list will be necessary.
The tier list is not entirely what it used to be: for the first time ever it was created not just through voting, but a weighted integration of BBR votes, SWF matchup chart v2 (weighted based on tier list v6) and monetary success corrected for popularity. While none of the resources are perfect on their own, combining them hopefully makes for a more factual approach. You can find all data below the tier list. If there are any questions regarding the procedure we will strive to answer them and possibly expand on that section.
We are also willing to include writeups on character movement and over the upcoming weeks will likely explain the biggest movements regardless of public demand, but this is definitely something you all have a say in.
I’d like to thank Ishieymoro, Slhoka, John12346, theeboredone and Krystedez for their much appreciated help in working through the data.
BBR Tier List v7
Top
S: (±0)
A: (+6) (-1) (+3) (-2)
B: (-2) (-2) (+1) (-3)
High
C: (+2) (-1) (-1) (+1)
Borderline
D: (+2) (-2) (-1) (±0) (+3)
Mid
E: (+1) (-1) (+3) (±0) (-5) (-1) (+1)
F: (+2) (±0) (+1) (-4)
Low
G: (±0) (±0) (+1) (-1) (±0)
H: (+1) (-1) (±0) (±0)
S: (±0)
A: (+6) (-1) (+3) (-2)
B: (-2) (-2) (+1) (-3)
High
C: (+2) (-1) (-1) (+1)
Borderline
D: (+2) (-2) (-1) (±0) (+3)
Mid
E: (+1) (-1) (+3) (±0) (-5) (-1) (+1)
F: (+2) (±0) (+1) (-4)
Low
G: (±0) (±0) (+1) (-1) (±0)
H: (+1) (-1) (±0) (±0)
It was harder than ever to decide whether the characters in D should be grouped with high or mid and we decided to introduce the borderline tier. Whether they should be included in mid tier tournaments or not is up to the individual TO. Low tier has not changed.
Condensed version:
S: Meta Knight
A: Olimar, Diddy Kong, Ice Climbers, Snake
B: Falco, Marth, Pikachu, Wario
C: Zero Suit Samus, Lucario, King Dedede, Toon Link
D: Wolf, Mr. Game & Watch, Fox, Peach, Pit
E: R.O.B., Kirby, Sheilda, Sonic, Donkey Kong, Ike, Sheik
F: Yoshi, Ness, Pokémon Trainer, Luigi
G: Lucas, Mario, Samus, Bowser, Captain Falcon
H: Jigglypuff, Link, Zelda, Ganondorf
[collapse=Sethlon version] Lord Tier
So Good hes not in this game Tier:
Top
Super awesome Tier:
Awesome Tier:
Better than most Tier:
High
Could still win...Tier:
Borderline
Dude, you're pushing it Tier:
Mid
Eh, its your money Tier:
For real? Tier:
Low
GGNOREPaypalPLZ Tier:
Hyrule++ Tier: [/collapse]
Data
Main Excel file: http://www.2shared.com/file/ok_u0l58/TierListv7.html
[collapse=Money and Popularity: July 2011-4/14/2012]
Character Movement Explained
(#8 to #2)
(#7 to #4)Olimar made the biggest jump in this edition of the tier list, moving up six spots to claim second. His recent tournament results are probably the biggest determinant of his rise: when monetary success over the period since tier list v6 is corrected for popularity, Olimar is the best performing character in the game. The results for APEX had four Olimars in the top 16, those being Nietono at second place, RichBrown at 9th and dabuz and Brood at 13th. All four of these players are consistent tournament threats, be it at a regional or (inter)national level.
Olimar has the third best unweighted and fourth best weighted matchup spread. His four (arguably) disadvantaged matchups are Meta Knight, Marth, Falco and Ice Climbers and these are not as bad as they were perceived to be roughly six months ago:
-While MK is common, he is beatable. Stage lists shifting to the APEX 10 or even smaller Japanese selection make Olimar’s life easier, as he no longer has to worry about Rainbow Cruise and Brinstar. He actually does well on other counterpick stages, not in the least part because they can affect the colors he pulls.
-Marth is a relatively rare character at top level play in the US and Japan, and can be argued to be even.
-Falco has some solid counters of his own to worry about with Ice Climbers and Pikachu and as a result is not as dominant as he was before.
-Recent results make the matchup with ICs seem significantly closer to even than the matchup spread’s current -2. This is mostly due to advancements in Olimar's metagame in both the US and Japan: Pikmin management, followups, spacing and overall stage control make it so that Olimar doesn't get shut down as hard as he used to.
Olimar goes even with or has the advantage against the rest of the cast, making him an extremely strong solo main, with results to back it up.
(#18 to #23)The Ice Climbers have been a potent tournament threat since the game's release, though for the longest time this was mostly as a secondary to make up for bad matchups. In today's metagame, players like Vinnie, 9B, Kakera and ESAM consistently have good performances with them and they are the third best performer when monetary success is corrected for popularity, slightly beating out Diddy in that department.
Their theoretical matchup spread is very good as they only have a small disadvantage against Meta Knight, Zero Suit Samus, Toon Link and Peach, the latter three of which are not that common in tournaments. This easily gives them the second best matchup spread in the game, though players will have to put time into their technical skill to make the most out of this. The current tendency towards smaller stage lists significantly favours Ice Climbers, as they excel on neutrals with no distractions for their desync and grab game.
(#25 to #29)The biggest drop in this iteration can be ascribed to Donkey Kong, who dropped five spots. A major reason for this is his overall bad matchup spread: with the exception of Snake and Marth, every top tier has at least a solid advantage on him and he is easily hard countered by Dedede (small step and infinite chain grab). Tournament success is mostly dependent on outlier players like Will, who seem to not do as well as they used to either.
Losing Brinstar in many rulesets makes DK's life harder as well, as in those scenarios he only has Yoshi's Island left as a strong counterpick, which tends to be banned by the opposing player. His blind spots and lack of projectiles make him not a great performer on most other stages as he easily gets camped on neutrals.
Luigi dropped four spots to become the worst mid tier character. Since v6, he has experienced the second worst tournament success after a correction for popularity and is currently being greatly outclassed by his peers in that department. His matchup spread is lacking and consensus is that he has huge difficulties getting in on most characters. Because his punishment game is still good when he does manage to get in, he was deemed to be a little too powerful for low tier.
The relatively large discrepancy between Sheilda and Sheik is due to the fact that a lot more monetary winnings were reported for the combination, rather than Sheik or Zelda on their own. Sheilda's matchup spread is only marginally better than Sheik's and the two were significantly closer in votes as well. We will reconsider the inclusion of Sheilda for next time.
Previous BBR Tier Lists
v1 (September 1, 2008)
v2 (January 1, 2009)
v3 (June 5, 2009)
v4 (February 26, 2010)
v5 (September 25, 2010)
v6 (July 4, 2011)
Useful Links
SWF Matchup Chart v2
Character Succes and Popularity
European Tier List
Discuss.