Where does your main rank?

Smash Ultimate has had one of the most rapidly evolving metagames since the series’ inception. With the exaggerated roster size, frequent patches, and DLC additions, players are often discovering new strategies to make their characters rise above. Since it’s been officially confirmed that DLC characters and patches are no more, we consider now to be the perfect time to create our official tier list, analyzing the characters for what they are and what they will continue to be throughout the game’s lifespan. 

S tier

As commonplace, S-tier fighters will be the only ones with specific descriptions, as these are the most tournament-relevant and meta-defining characters. These fighters have a plethora of strengths in all important aspects of gameplay. Their weaknesses are either very minimal and difficult to exploit, or so overshadowed by their strengths that they simply do not matter too much. 

1. Pyra/Mythra (S-Tier)

One of the newest additions to the game has instantly climbed the ranks to become the best. Some might think it’s just people being biased towards the shiny new thing, but simply watching one match will make you see how ridiculous their strengths are. Switching between the two sword-fighters on command lets you basically have the best character for both low and high-damage situations, one being unreasonably fast, the other unfairly strong. 

Pyra/Mythra Pros: 

• Change characters depending on situation.
• Sword means good range and disjoints.
• (As Mythra) So fast, she’s unpunishable. 
• (As Mythra) Great Combos and damage output
• (As Pyra) Easy kill options and kill confirms
• (As Pyra) Extremely strong. 
• (As Pyra) Very annoying projectile.

Pyra/Mythra Cons:

• Slightly exploitable recovery.

2. Joker (S-Tier)

Following the trend that you can pay $5.99 to be good at the game, Joker is the 2nd best character in this tier list. This fan-favorite Persona 5 rep has a ninja-like archetype, with acrobatic moves, multi-hit combos, and very quick lag-less moves. He draws a lot of comparisons to classic Zelda rep Sheik. The difference is, unlike Sheik, Joker has his persona, which whenever activated, makes his moves hit twice as hard while still being just as fast. And since his meter builds up passively, as well as when being hit, your opponent will not escape Arsene’s wrath. 

Joker Pros:

• One of the best comeback mechanics in the game. 
• Very hard to punish
• Very hard to hit, with shifting hurtbox
• Great landing tools
• Reliable kill setups
• (With Arsene) High damage output, very strong. 

Joker Cons: 

• Not many approaching options. 

3. Pikachu (S-Tier)

Widely considered one of the best characters since Ultimate came out, the classic Pokemon mascot is at the top of their game still. Like their typing suggests, they’re a lightning-quick character who excels at rushing down their opponent with their spammable projectile, safe aerial attacks and great mobility. They can do some of the best combo-strings in the entire game, and have solid kill-power as well. 

Pikachu Pros:

• Amazing recovery
• Great landing tools
• Great combos and high damage output
• Some of the best out-of-shield options in the game
• Great edgeguarding
• Solid projectile

Pikachu Cons:

• Very light, easier to kill. 
• Few disjoints 

4. Wolf (S-Tier)

Star Fox’s eternal rival, Wolf has proven he shouldn’t have ever been taken out of Smash in the first place. One of the most beloved characters, because of his style and design, he comes in at a surprisingly high place in the tier list. He’s a brawler character that isn’t super fast, and doesn’t have a unique game-changing attribute, however, he does pretty much everything amazingly. His moves are strong and lag-less meaning he can get high-damage combos, then spam aerials and smashes to kill. And if you try to camp him out, he has his own projectile and reflector. 

Wolf Pros: 

• Very lag-less smashes
• Various strong kill moves
• Amazing combo game 
• Projectile and Reflector
• Easy to pick-up and master
• Up-B is difficult to contest when recovering

Wolf Cons: 

• Slow running speed
• Easy to combo him

5. Roy (S-Tier)

From being a much worse Marth in Melee, to the best Fire Emblem character in Ultimate, my man has had quite the glow-up. His echo Chrom had much of the attention at the start of the game, but due to Roy’s better recovery, he steadily climbed the ranks as the better fighter. He’s a swordfighter, which gives him disjointed moves, and he’s as fast as he is strong. This makes his pressure output simply insane! A good Roy can dance around you with so many attacks, it feels impossible to deal with. And if you mess up, you’ll either catch 50% or lose your stock. 

Roy Pros: 

• High aerial and ground speed
• Very strong attacks overall, can kill early
• Swordfighter means disjointed attacks
• Solid kill set-ups
• Good combo game

Roy Cons:  

• Easy to combo him 
• Tipper weak-spot on sword

6. Palutena (S-Tier)

This goddess got a big buff from Smash 4 to Ultimate, and since then, she’s been steady in the top of the metagame. She was initially a contender for best character in the game, but after some DLC additions, characters exploits, and mostly some significant nerfs coming her way, she’s declined ever so slightly. However, she remains an amazing all-around character with fast movement, solid projectiles, decent combos, and safe defensive moves. Her trusty shield lets her use bash-attacks that are uncontestable. 

Palutena Pros: 

• Invincible shield moves
• Good projectiles
• Has teleport, good for landing
• Fast ground speed
• Counter and Reflect

Palutena Cons: 

• Few options up-close

7. Sonic (S-Tier)

Sonic needs no introduction. He’s the fastest thing alive in his own games, and Smash is no exception. Many tend to undervalue just how strong he is in the metagame, because of some players’ linear playstyle, but this character is just ridiculous. His ground speed is the best in the game. His side-special lets him move across the map without consequence. It’s stupid how difficult he is too catch, which is why most people hate playing against him. On top of all that, he actually has decent normal attacks that lead into good combos and early kills. 

Sonic Pros:

• Speed and movement is out of this world
• Side-special lets him play very defensive
• Great edgeguarding
• Good recovery
• Great combos

Sonic Cons: 

• Can struggle versus projectile characters. 

8. ROB (S-Tier)

ROB has had a lot of powerful tools since the start of the game, and his traditional playstyle can be so oppressive that many are prone to rate him as one of the top 5 or even top 3 characters in the game. Though he’s not quite there in my eyes, he’s not too far off. ROB has huge, strong, long-lasting hitboxes and unlike most heavy characters that share this, ROB also has several quick, lag-less moves, and great landing tools. And we’re not done yet! He also has one of the best projectiles in the game. This lets him put an insane amount of pressure on you, and kill you when you slip up. 

ROB Pros: 

• Amazing combos
• Many great landing tools
• One of the best projectiles in the game. 
• High pressure output with quick, big moves
• Far-reaching recovery

ROB Cons: 

• Big hurtbox, easy to hit
• Easy to combo

9. Pac-Man (S-Tier)

It’s kind of cool to say that one of the first truly iconic video game characters is one of the best in Smash Ultimate. However, many actual pro Smash players would rather he wasn’t. Pac-Man has a solid keep-away game, with his trusty hydrant that pushes you away, his good aerial movement and large pool of projectiles. Thus, he can be quite frustrating to play against, but that only makes him better. His normal attacks are pretty good as well, letting him string together some combos, and kill with really powerful smash attacks. 

Pac-Man Pros:

• Amazing recovery, various options
• Great keep-away game
• Amazing projectiles, and lots of them
• Good combos
• Good Kill set-ups

Pac-Man Cons:

• Few quick moves to escape pressure when cornered
• Countered by reflector 

10. Pokemon Trainer (S-Tier)

Fighters that can change their form seem to be pretty good in this game. Similar to Pyra/Mythra, Pokemon Trainer can change Pokemon at will, which lets him adjust to the situation at will. Each pokemon has weaknesses, such as Charizard having slow moves, or Squirtle being light, but with intelligent switching one can change at the right times in order to obscure these weaknesses, and highlight their strengths. In this case, the three Pokemon are so different, you end up with an overall fighter that has so many tools, it’s impossible to deny how good they are. 

Pokemon Trainer Pros: 

• Can switch characters
• (As Squirtle) Very quick lag-less moves
• (As Squirtle) High combos
• (As Charizard) Good recovery 
• (As Charizard) Various strong kill moves
• (As Ivysaur) Good range
• (As Ivysaur) Good projectile

Pokemon Trainer Cons:

• Ivysaur and Charizard have kinda slow moves (slow start-up and lag), and in high damage situations you have to either deal with one of these issues, or risk using Squirtle, who is one of the lightest characters in the game.

A Tier 

These characters are still very powerful, and very relevant in the Meta. They are characters with which you can confidently enter a tournament and try to win due to their abundance of strengths, and overall solid match-up spread. They fall behind S-tier due to a slightly higher presence of exploitable weaknesses, that makes them fall just a bit short of being the the best. 

11. Mr. Game & Watch

12. Mario

13. Peach

14. Daisy

15. Wario

16. Steve

17. Chrom  

18. Diddy Kong

19. Zero Suit Samus

20. Olimar 

21. Shulk

22. Min Min

23. Cloud

24. Terry

25. Snake

26. Sephiroth

27. Ken

28. Greninja

29. Kazuya

30. Byleth

B Tier

We consider this B tier as the last stretch of the really solid tournament characters. These are characters with really competent kits, and a few stand-out great attributes, however their weaknesses are much more prevalent, and against a bad match-up (usually one of the S tiers), these can be exploited, and the player will have a much harder time using their good tools. 

31. Dark Samus

32. Samus

33. Yoshi 

34. Bowser

35. Luigi

36. Young Link

37. Sheik

38. Link

39. Toon Link

40. Pichu

41. Ike

42. Falco

43. Inkling

44. Sora

45. Ness

46. Captain Falcon

47. Mii Brawler

48. Meta Knight

C Tier

Here is where the majority of the characters lie. C tier is kind of a limbo space with a pretty big variety of character quality. Smash Ultimate is a very balanced game, and you can find many players doing amazing things that make these characters look top tier. They all have at least a few stupendous tools/attributes, however, here, the weaknesses are much more pronounced and the lower down this tier you go, the unlikelier it is for you to reach far in a tournament without finding someone that will exploit them. 

49. Ryu

50. Bayonetta

51. Richter

52. Simon

53. Jigglypuff

54. Robin

55. Marth

56. Corrin

57. Hero

58. Lucas

59. Mii Gunner

60. Dark Pit 

61. Pit

62. Wii Fit Trainer

63. Rosalina & Luma

64. Zelda 

65. Banjo & Kazooie

66. Villager

67. Mega Man

68. Duck Hunt

69. Kirby

70. Donkey Kong

71. King K Rool

72. Lucario

73. King Dedede

74. Mii Swordfighter

75. Ice Climbers

76. Mewtwo

77. Incineroar

78. Ridley

79. Piranha Plant

80. Bowser Jr.

81. Isabelle 

D Tier

And finally, here we are, at the bottom of the barrel. Like we said before, Ultimate is very balanced. Even these bottom tiers have their sauce. But the weaknesses are straight horrendous. Though they vary between them, the common link is their straight awful recovery. If you can tap these characters off stage, they lose, so it almost doesn’t even matter what else they can do. 

82. Dr. Mario

83. Little Mac

84. Ganondorf

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