Fighting Game Tier Lists: An Objective Look

    Fighting game Tier lists and Tier lists in any game are often a controversial topic. They are hotly debated by top players and casuals alike. Some players like Tier lists, some players hate them. Much of the hate for Tier Lists are based on misconceptions about what Tier lists are and what they are not. I'll try to show some concrete evidence using some modern game Tier lists and some classic game Tier lists as examples. This will demonstrate the importance and uses for tier lists as well as how they are misunderstood.

What Tier Lists Are

    The best definition for Tier lists I can come up with is: a list of current perceived strengths in characters based on objective information and current gameplay applications at a competitive or high level. Perceived is a very important word. Tier lists are fluid, especially in modern games. It's not just because modern games are patched often, it is also because the gameplay application or strategy or meta or however you like to put it is changing regularly. Players are discovering new things all of the time. It is happening at a much more rapid rate than the games before YouTube and the shared resources we have now but new things are discovered regularly. Strategies and meta are changed all of the time. For example, since MenaRD's win at Capcom Cup, Birdie's place on the Tier list has become greatly debated. However, other characters, such as Ryu, FANG, and Juri have stayed toward the bottom of the Tier list for most of the season and Ibuki and Akuma have stayed near the top in the SFV Tier List.
    Older Tier lists change much less frequently. A standard meta is mostly set in stone at a competitive level after 10-20 years of gameplay. That being said, older Tier Lists can be fluid too. Just as an example, the placement of Ken on the Third Strike Tier list can vary from place to place. Not by much, but he can be placed anywhere from Top 3 strongest characters in the game to outside of the top 5 in some areas of Japan. In Super Smash Bros Melee, a 15 year old game, Yoshi has risen up in the Tier list thanks to some new strategies utilized by Amsa. New tools can still be discovered in these games with a generally set meta.
    The other important word used is "objective." Tier lists are subjective, but they are based on objective and observed information. Fighting Games have a vast amount of variables in any given match. However, characters have concrete human designed tools that within the context of a certain way of playing, have more consistent results than others. Therefore, these characters with stronger tools based on the gameplay applications will be perceived higher on the tier list.           
    Without going into too much detail into how Street Fighter V is played, essentially Ibuki and Akuma's "turn" never ends. Part of this is because defensive tools are currently limited within the game. Essentially they have the strongest offense. Much of this has to do with the frame data in their attacks and resources available to them. On another level, the geometry behind their attacks are so that they can can have effective offense at a variety of ranges on the screen. Therefore, the math of the characters is stronger than the math of other characters. Again, this is simplifying things a lot but it is an objective observation that leads to the perceived strength of the characters. A change in the way the game is played could upset this perception and change their place on the tier list, but it is based on objective observation.

What Tier Lists are Not

   Tier lists are not "popularity contests." Many of the strongest characters in a game become popular, but it is not always the case. Ryu is currently very low on the Tier list of SFV characters. However, he is still a very popular character played online. Same with Alex and Chun Li. Their strength is perceived as lower, but online they are extremely popular characters to play.
     At a tournament level, this is very different. These characters are not popular to play because their objective tools are weaker than others making it harder to win. People like winning and there is a lot of money on the line at tournaments. People don't like giving themselves known or perceived disadvantages in match ups. Therefore, the perceived stronger characters are gravitated towards.
    Another misconception is that "the right player hasn't played the character yet" or "the right tech hasn't been discovered yet."  People will often say "If only (place high level player name here) played (place low tier character name here) then they would win and show how good my character is!" Sometimes this is absolutely true. We saw MenaRD win with Birdie against the strongest players in the world at SFV. I still don't think Birdie is that strong but he clearly has the tools. Most of the time however, this is not the case.
    Most of the time top players actually spend a lot of time with many characters and choose their main objectively. They absolutely develope the low tier characters out and decide that their time is better spent on characters that are more likely to win more often and have better tools at their disposal. This is not to say that the lower tier characters don't have the tools to win, but the perceived stronger characters have more consistent or objectively better tools.
  From a personal perspective, I spent maybe a year or two thinking (and hoping) that Ness in Super Smash Bros Melee might be good in my early days of delving into the game. He is not. He literally does not have the tools to compete with the top tier characters. This is just basic geometry too. His limbs are short. Marth essentially erases him from the game. He does very little damage too outside of extremely risky and easy to punish tools. It's not that hard to see if you watch higher level players. You would have to play so much better as Ness against the top tiers that it is not worth the Herculean effort.
    Another great example is Sean in SF Third Strike. He was intentionally designed poorly. He is designed to be weak. A high level player can outplay someone with Sean, but he is literally not designed to be competitive. There is no arguing it either. It was an intention by the designers.
    On the opposite end of the spectrum, Yun and Yang were intentionally designed to be the strongest characters in the game in SFIV Arcade Edition. This is a known fact. They were given better mathematical tools than every other character in the game. Other characters could win against them, but they just had better tools than the other characters.
    These are all extreme examples and modern developers try to make mostly balanced games. I think for the most part the modern ones are. However, they are man made games made by very smart but imperfect people. They can make intentionally and unintentionally strong or weak characters. It happens all the time and it is important for competitive players to have an idea about this going into a competition.
    Thus, tier lists are not meant for everyone. They are based on competitive play. They are not a list of characters with a "win button." If you are super casual, just playing with your friends without implementing strategies used by high level players Tier lists absolutely do not apply to you. This is totally an option. These are video games still, albeit typically punishing ones. You are still allowed to have fun with whatever character you want. You can implement some serious cheese with low tier characters that your friends might not have any idea how to deal with. Don't expect to win a tournament with these strategies but don't get down on yourself if your character just does not have what it takes to win one.

   Finally, I'll end on a bit of a subjective note. Tier lists are a tool and can be used as such. You can choose a top tier character to give yourself the biggest advantage or you can choose a low tier character because you think they are the coolest character in the game or the character has tools that you like to use. Most modern fighting games are really balanced. Many high level players have won tournaments with characters people thought no one could win with against players using the best characters in the game. Many high level players stick with these low tier characters and perfect them because they have tools that they understand the best. They might be low tier because they have to take big risks for low reward but knowing when to take those risks is an incredible skill that can be developed. Sometimes those low tier characters do really well against the high tier characters but poorly against everyone else. Tier lists are much more complicated than my little article could explain and I've left out (for brevity) information that could help you understand them. The point is: Tier lists matter, are fun to debate, but they are an imperfect tool at the end of the day. Use them however you see fit.