Summary
Super Smash Bros. Ultimatehas the largest fighting roster viable for tournament play. Every character is designed with excellent stats while being limited with specific flaws. Sometimes, even the worst characters can earn higher placements, though not always consistently.
As the game progresses, some characters adapt within the meta, while others are left behind. While balance patches significantly move characters through the tier lists, others keep their relevancy in the recent competitions. After the ending support ofSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, some fighters continued to show their potential with decent consistency.
12Joker
The Unstoppable Thief
Joker was the first broken DLC character holding relevance throughoutUltimate’s changing meta. His moveset offers several options for both long-range and boxing distance. He can zone decently with his gun and eiha magic to chip the opponent’s health. His combo game is quick and consistent, giving him a strict infinite and KO confirms.
Arsene is debatably one of the best mechanics in the game. Unveiling his mask or glasses greatly enhances every attack, giving extra hitboxes, damage, and range. He still moves nimbly like Sheik, but he hits much harder like Ganondorf. Even his special moves change when releasing his persona.
His peak performance was shown within Evo 2019 by the best player in the world, MKLeo. His broken moveset was hit with several update patches, nerfing his gun’s obscene range, persona meter, and down special counter. These changes were hefty, but they didn’t invalidatethe character and his tools. MKLeo, the best player in the world, still uses him when necessary with his newer mains.
11Roy
Royal Aggression
Roy isthe perfect implementation of an aggressive playstyle. He’s designed with a huge preference for close range with his sweet spot sword hilt. Unlike Marth, who needs to be mid-range for the sweet spot tipper sword, Roy’s greatest damage is within breathing range. His quick speed greatly helps him to maneuver over attacks and projectiles before catching his target with a devastating smash.
His main game plan remains the same at launch, only going through small balance changes to buff his hit consistencies. Despite how many players attempt to zone him out, projectiles mean nothing with his quick speed and reactions. Kola is a great example of Roy’s aggressiveness overtaking top players like Light.
10Palutena
Divine Neutral
Palutena’s design reached its angelic peakat the launch ofSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. Her normal attacks are compatible, linking well together with consistent hits like nair. They cover good areas around her with ranged, quick disjoints, especially her invincible bair and dash attack. Her specials are effective for long range, whether she zones with her neutral-special and side-special or uses up-special to mix up her landings with teleports.
She gained a huge competitive presence within earlier tournaments. Her overwhelming essential moves were toned down through several balance changes, tightening her combo routes while making her attacks risky. Her overall strategy was affected, though it didn’t lower any players’ hope for her. She still excels very well in neutral for people like Chag, who takes high placements in tournaments like S Factor 11 and Battle of BC 6.
9Diddy Kong
Slipping Through Meta
Diddy Kong was a top-tier veteranwho grew over time from mid-tier to his current placement today. Compared to his previous version at launch, he was a lot weaker in KO power. He still has great speed with his mobility special moves, providing mixups with his side-special command grab. Despite his decent damage building, he had trouble finding the fatal blow.
During developer support, Diddy’s main issues of KO options and inconsistent hitboxes diminished. These fixes greatly helped the character reach up to at least a high tier. His potential was seen through several Diddy mains like Ryuoh and Tweek. Tweek even won Get On My Level X this year with just Diddy, revealing his top-tier skills.
8Snake
Brawl Veteran Explosive Power
Snake is a tall, heavy fighter that rarely changes his main game plan between matchups. He retains his advantage state by trapping the stage with his prominent tools, grenades. They are always a concern, since they build great damage while being Snake’s frame-one escape option from combos. Even though Snake damages himself with explosives, his heavier weight lets him survive at higher percents. His play is still complex and risky, since he has to remember his explosive traps and react accordingly.
What’s worse is dealing with Snake’s other tools at a disadvantage. Players like ApolloKage and Hurt reveal how impossible it is to avoid his traps, since they can cover multiple options, like his down-special C4 and up-smash mortar. There are also Snake’s huge, lingering Close Quarter Combat hitboxes to keep in mind. These overwhelmingly advantageous options have kept him in top tier since launch.
7Cloud
Soldier At His Limits
Cloud is one of the best swordsmen inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatethanks tohis giant Buster Sword and impressive techniques. His moves are more nerfed compared to his past top-tier iteration, though they’re still very effective. His attacks are quick with decent range and low risk, especially his bair and fair. Although limit is nerfed, it’s still his strongest utility since it buffs his stats and one of his specials when maxed out. It greatly assists him at his harder matchups like Snake and Donkey Kong.
Cloud started off worse at launch due to a few issues, including getting KOs and recovering to the ledge. Over time, he has been buffed with better ledge recovery and more fatal options like dash attack and up smash. Spargo was one of the pro players who gained traction during the online tournaments before he participated in the offline scenes. Though he still uses other mains, Cloud still has a place to challenge the current meta.
6Kazuya
Hell Incarnate
Kazuya is whatevery ideal DLC characterwants to be, designed to instill fear when he closes in. He has the largest array of normal attacks, having over 15 grounded moves. Since he’s a fighting game character, he has auto turnaround, making him always face his opponent, even when spamming an attack. His attacks hone several properties, including invincible attacks, paralysis, high shield damage, and tripping. He even has super armor attacks like forward smash, including Bowser’s tough guy passive.
One move that every player loathes is his infamous Electric Wind God Fist, a strict yet rewarding combo starter. If performed right, it grants Kazuya so much time to combo, which results in various zero-to-death routes. The move can’t be challenged since Kazuya is invincible during it. Despite his overwhelming advantage, his complexity forces players to practice earning experience. He requires tight-frame inputs and proper approaching methods to achieve his winning strategy. The most ideal Kazuya is seen from mains like Riddles, showcasing his dominating role in the meta with high placements in Riptide 2024 and Get On My Level X.
5Mr. Game & Watch
Rise Of 2D Fighter
Mr. Game & Watch was confused as a mid-tier at launch compared to his previous version inSuper Smash Bros. For Wii U. His previous alteration could spam his foward-air while having up-air as a consistent KO option. His new version weakened both options with low priority and knockback. He seemed to have bad neutral until players like Maister and Miya revealed the character’s true strengths.
What makes him strong from launch to the current day is his lag-free, retro moves. Despite his small size, his attacks, like hammers, turtles, chairs, keys, and others, offer him a decent range with little risks. These attacks aren’t only safe; they can trap the opponent for damaging juggles or KO confirms like his up-air, neutral-air, and down smash. He has the most simple and effective ledgetraps in the game, with his neutral special and foward-air limiting the opponents’ decisions.
4R.O.B.
Spin To Win
R.O.B. is one of the best heavy zoners that wins neutral in any desired playstyle. His zoning relies on two simple projectiles that cover horizontally on stage and in the air, laser and gyro. Approaching R.O.B. can be difficult since he can choose when to protect himself while charging. If things get too heated, he can fight up close with his quick rotor arm. He even has a simple zero-to-death that works on the entire cast.
None of his essential moves got significantly touched during developer support. The only major patch removed his instant gyro cancel, which improved his mixup potential. Another small change raised his side-special consistency, making the hits connect better. This made his zero-to-death combo even better to use without the opponent falling out. In the current meta, he’s still a menace to face in tournaments. Players like Zomba and MKBigBoss earned high placements with R.O.B. in crowded tournaments like Kagaribi 12 and Riptide 2024.
3Sonic
Not Too Slow Hedgehog
Sonic shows the whole roster whyhe’s the fastest hedgehogwith his diverse playstyle. He can be overwhelmingly aggressive with his hit-and-run tactics or defensive with his astounding bait-and-punish game. His attacks are quick and cartoonishly big, letting him challenge various disjointed moves. His specials always concern the opponent, as he can choose when to approach. One whiff mistake could result in the opponent’s stock.
Sonic only improved within the balance patches, resulting in him earning consistent damage and less lag on his quick attacks. Very few matchups can challenge his speed, making him almost untouchable when he takes the match lead. He can’t take so much damage due to his low weight, though his hitbox shifting helps minimize the concern. Sonic mains like Sonix and Wrath reveal his threatening prowess in both offline and online tournaments, taking sets off powerful players like Spargo and Esam.
