Which characters are the strongest and which are the weakest?
S Tier
An S-tier character has all the right proportions of the ability to follow up with combos, kill power, and control from the neutral game to a better extent than everyone else. Winning a major tournament with one of them comes as no surprise.
- 1. Fox
- 2. Marth
- 3. Jigglypuff
- 4. Falco
A Tier
A-tier characters do occasionally find their time in the spotlight, but their victory over S-tier characters has more to do with the players’ skill disparity at the time than character ability itself. Tournament victory with an A-tier stands out as newsworthy in the Smash scene.
- 5. Shiek
- 6. Captain Falcon
- 7. Peach
B+ Tier
B+ tier includes characters which have the potential to overwhelm better characters if they’re piloted by players who have dedicated a huge amount of time to mastering them, but there’s something to be said for most players not having as much experience against the B+ tier . Winning a major with one of these is just about a once-in-a-career achievement.
- 8. Ice Climbers
- 9. Pikachu
- 10. Yoshi
- 11. Samus
B- Tier
This tier may be small, but we come to the best characters that you will probably never see in the upper echelons of tournament play. Their flaws begin to outweigh their advantages enough that the community can punish them well without even having to be familiar with the matchup.
- 12. Luigi
- 13. Dr. Mario
C+ Tier
Another two-man tier, C+ includes characters that have “clones” in higher tiers which are strictly better (Captain Falcon and Luigi, respectively). They’re not good enough to be any higher but can still exploit the gimmicks of the characters below them.
- 14. Ganondorf
- 15. Mario
C- Tier
Here we start seeing characters that may be decent at one or two things, or have a unique enough moveset to require special attention from their opponents, but their size, speed, or lack of options just make them too easy to abuse.
- 16. Donkey Kong
- 17. Young Link
- 18. Link
- 19. Mr. Game & Watch
D Tier
There are simply too many disadvantages preventing anyone from succeeding in competitive play with a D-tier character. That is to say, doing what these characters are built to do forces them to be played in ways that expose them to easy punishment.
- 20. Mewtwo
- 21. Roy
- 22. Pichu
- 23. Ness
- 24. Zelda
F Tier
Far and away the worst characters in the game. They don’t do anything particularly well, including utilizing the techs and game physics unique to Melee that make it such a thrilling game to watch in the first place.
- 25. Kirby
- 26. Bowser
Fox (S-Tier)
Fox takes the highest position on the list for two simple reasons: he has plenty of options for accomplishing whatever he needs at any point in a match, and speed. Playing the neutral game at the beginning in the center? Fox is great at that. Need to land some finishing move before you get too damaged? Fox is great at that. He’s just got the longest list of pros outweighing his few flaws.
Most of Fox’s moves fall into one of two categories: they send the enemy somewhere that he’s fast enough to follow up on with another attack, or they kill. His Fire Fox and Fox Illusion are great, long-distance recovery options and his fall speed makes him resilient against vertical KO’s. Watching a pro Fox at play also means you’ll constantly see his Reflector, which comes out to deal damage on frame 1, making it the fastest attack in the game.
What makes Fox S-Tier:
- Incredible mix of speed and kill power
- Great recovery and better survivability than other characters at his “weight”
- Has the versatile Reflector (or “Shine”) to punish enemies that are too close
- Safe method of dealing damage from neutral with short-hopping Blaster
- Is very effective at edge guarding, ensuring the enemy falls to their death
- Has flaws which can be compensated for largely through his speed
Fox Guide:
https://youtu.be/g9JZFlqSFm8?si=EHSDQ8fA2tM_87uw&t=19
Marth (S-Tier)
If Fox rewards perfect play by being able to position himself where he needs to quickly, Marth rewards players for always being able to keep opponents at arm’s length. Marth’s most powerful attacks come from “tipper” attacks, stronger blows at the end of his blade. This means that Marth is at his most threatening while he is at his most defensive.
Marth feels very effective to play because his moves mostly involve fast startup, long range to space well against enemies, and large, disjointed hitboxes to cover a wide area. His special tipper tool elevates many of his moves into kill moves with the right spacing. He doesn’t really have a variety of tools like lasers or reflectors, but his rather ordinary moveset means that his learning curve is more navigable than one like Fox’s.
What makes Marth S-Tier:
- “Tipper” attacks to perfectly blend offense and defense
- Disjointed hitboxes to cover wide areas
- A disjointed grab just to slightly increase the chances of catching your opponent
- An up-throw that’s very good at juggling many popular characters
- A long wavedash and dash dance that make him very mobile
Marth Guide:
https://youtu.be/eQ8ObZcKbXI?si=x8Ll6VqiTM5Jh0tt&t=58
Jigglypuff (S-Tier)
Professional players Mang0 and Hungrybox can both take a lot of credit for bringing Jigglypuff into the upper tiers of play. Many people had even claimed that she was so broken–arguing that because her recovery was so good and her floatiness prevented so many combos–that she fundamentally changed the game for the worse. The metagame has developed enough to disprove these as major problems, but she remains a consistent top-level threat.
Jigglypuff is the best character with a gimmick: her aerial game is so potent that she doesn’t have to rely as much on dashdancing and wave dashing and can pursue her enemies at her pace. The so-called “wall of pain” is the scariest example of this–an aerial kick of hers knocks enemies away and right into the exact spot that she can float over and deliver another one until they’re off screen. This dynamic, combined with Rest (an incredibly strong move if it lands), means that Jigglypuff forces her opponents to play around her.
What makes Jigglypuff S-Tier:
- Incredible recovery
- Extremely dangerous edgeguarding
- Rest, and several moves that combo into it
- Great aerial game
- Floatiness makes it hard to juggle her
Jigglypuff Guide:
https://youtu.be/8nK2ya0qmUs?si=rPM3y8wjyVlltN9b&t=62
Falco (S-Tier)
Fox and Falco’s moveset and advantages are so solid that it’s no surprise the two of them are both considered S-tier. Falco differs by being even more effective at starting combos because his attacks have different built-in knockback properties. These may come at the cost of a little mobility, but where Fox may be better at finding opportunities for dealing damage, Falco is scarier when beginning his string of attacks.
When you watch a professional Falco play, you’ll notice a special relationship between his Reflector and his down-aerial as they feed into each other over and over again, juggling enemies and stacking damage. His Blaster is also one of the best neutral game options out there, dealing more damage than Fox’s and actually inflicting a little bit of knockback. Most of his moves, in fact, have higher kill potential than Fox’s
What makes Falco S-Tier:
- Strong combo game
- Strong non-commital pressure with Blaster
- Reflector and down-aerial are safe, bread-and-butter sources of dealing lots of damage
- A plethora of kill moves
- A spiking down-aerial with no sour spot and a long duration
- Decently ranged grab with multiple viable options for throw direction
Falco Guide:
https://youtu.be/Hu3T25TDlWw?si=mM5glqUgTJw6zFJ1&t=19
