Blogpost 5: Understanding the Tier list

     So you're in the right track studying your game and you've decided to take the action on the road.You won some matches and lose some. You're just about ready for another round when a new challenger pops out. To your astonishment, you're suddenly in a bout against a player who plays a team almost similar to the other who you've played before and asked yourself, why on earth these people pick the same characters over and over again when there's like a bunch of characters in the character pool. Well they're probably just picking the ones that nets them easier wins. Who are these characters and how does my character do in this game? Well you might be needing the help of Tier lists for that.

Justin Wong's UMVC3 Tier lists

Let's take a look at what are Tier lists and its role in a game in an article titled "Why do Tier list exist?What do they mean? Do they matter?" written by player Diablo Interceptor. He gave an interesting explanation on how tier list came to be and what does it mean in a competitive community. Why some people hate seeing tier lists in their games.

"In any competitive game there are tiers. No really, every game. Most of the time tiers are a way to break down which characters will give you a higher probability of winning."

Tier lists are there so that players will see what characters do exceptionally well in the current meta compared to the rest of the cast. These are mostly data collected from tournaments and competitive level events that are agreed upon by most of the top level players of a certain game making it easier to tell which character has a better chance of taking home the victory in tournament matches.

EventHubs' UMVC3 Tier list (Chart Form)

But as good characters own the current meta, we don't know what the future holds. We don't when a relatively unknown player comes out of the woods rolling a bottom-tier character and starts owning everyone giving way into a new meta. An anonymous writer urges people to reevaluate their thinking when it comes to these lists in an article titled "On Fighting games: Balance is theory,tiers aren't facts"


"They aren't going to quit using a character that they feel an affinity for just because that character is "low tier," just like a good actor isn't going to turn down a script they relate to just because its subject matter isn't necessarily known to make money, or like a Jujitsu expert isn't going to drop their style just because kick boxers have been winning a lot of matches lately. Like any artist, a real athlete sticks with the tools they feel they understand the most, and spends their time and energy attempting to utilize those tools to the fullest. Competitive fighting game players should be no different."

Just like what the writer said, you shouldn't stop playing a character that you have the grooves on just because he isn't a top tier character. Tier lists are there to help you cope up with the current meta and give you an easier time predicting match-ups. These aren't solid facts and maybe changed from time to time following the current meta situations. So with that being said, use these said lists to your advantage but never abuse it and treat it like times will never change.