This is a very hot topic and has been for years since its conception. Brawl's upcoming release only adds fuel to the fire. The concept of "tiers" is a very sensitive topic for many smashers. Even I never had a very warm welcoming from the tier-worshiping community.
I purchased Melee in the summer of 2002. My favorite characters for years were Young Link, Roy, and Kirby (you can see where I am headed with this). One day, I stumbled across the almighty official tier list of Smashboards. How are my favorite characters ranked? Low, low, and bottom. (Actually, the list was different back then, but the positions were essentially the same.) Needless to say, I was quite skeptical of the character rankings. How could characters I use and win with be considered so bad? Well, it took a year or two of tournament attendance to discover my answer, but I did finally accept the tier list for what it was.
There is one key thing that everyone needs to understand: the tier list does not dictate the winner of any given match. The winner of multiple matches dictates the tier list. However much people don't like it, Fox is #1 right now. Is it all just a big popularity contest? Sort of. The more people that use Fox, the more likely he is to win, no? This is one unfortunate side effect of the tier list, but it stems much deeper than this. Players take great offense at seeing their favorite characters so low on the tier list, but they do nothing to rectify the problem outside of debating the issue in forums. The tier list was only partially determined through discussion. The vast majority of tier list decisions arise in the Smash Back Room from observations of tournament results.
It is also important to understand that the tier list does not always apply on a personal level. I win far more matches with Young Link than Marth, but that is not some testament that Young Link is "better" than Marth. It just goes to prove that hard work offsets the implication that higher tier characters will absolutely, positively always defeat a lower tier character. As noted in my recent SmashTV article, there are players out there who demonstrate amazing feats with extremely "bad" characters. While lone legends are not enough to push characters up the tier list, they are important examples of hard work (hence the "blood" and "sweat"). ChuDat is one of the best players in the world, but Ice Climbers are still #7 on the current tier list (though, they probably would be lower without his influence).
The tier list is nothing more than a tool. It is not there to mock players who prefer low tier characters. There are several members in the community who use the tier list as ammunition for insults against anyone who dare supports low tier characters. Everyone should play with whom they want to play. If winning tournaments is important, the higher tier characters provide some good options. The tier list is not a source for excuses when losing a match. Players choose their characters fully aware of the consequences.
So, what does this mean for Brawl? Well, this is a rare opportunity to play smash without a tier list breathing down everyone's neck. Play to win, but also play to develop a favorite character. If everyone plays only Meta Knight, then naturally he will be top tier. Branch out and discover hidden talent amongst the other characters!
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4 comments:
Johnson and Johnson's No More Tiers Shampoo
I'm so witty and clever.
I think the tiers are also heavily influenced by movesets. Fox is much higher than say Mewtwo because his moveset is clearly better. I think more people play with Fox because it is easier to win with him and that's what makes him top tier.
Jason, I agree to a limited extent. Move sets do influence character ranking but not more than tournament performance. Imagine for one moment that Mewtwo started winning tournaments everywhere. Despite our scrupulous analysis stating that Fox's move set is better than Mewtwo, Mewtwo just seems to win more often. Obviously, we would be forced to reexamine the move sets to see where we are confused, but the results speak louder than efforts. I have seen people make very convincing arguments that Link should be higher than Fox, but that does not change the fact that Fox is #1 while Link is low tier. You have to step outside the tier discussions and focus on what is actually taking place.
The problem I see is that people put way too much stock in the tier system. It's useful data for professional Smash players but it really has little to no bearing on our actual playing the game at all. Yet people find themselves locked in heated arguments about something that, as you've demonstrated, they don't understand.
SWF should post a disclaimer next to the tier list disclosing exactly how little it means to those of us who don't analyse tournament results. It would save a lot of misunderstanding and resultant frustration.
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