List of NTSC tier lists

The Smash Back Room tier list has changed many times since its inception. Previous versions of the list are as follows. In later tier lists, characters are broadly ranked by their tier, and further ranked by the order in which characters are listed within the tier list. For instance, Falco is ranked above Samus in the fourth Melee tier list. Earlier tier lists use numerical rankings, and characters with the same numerical value are listed alphabetically.

Super Smash Bros.
For the purposes of low tier tournaments, those characters in tiers B and C are classed as "low tier" characters.

First tier list
The first list was created by the Super Smash Bros. community on GameFAQs, unlike the tier lists of other games, which were created on SmashBoards by the Smash Back Room.

Second tier list
The second SSB tier list was created by the N64 community on SmashBoards. It is the more recent one, so it can be considered "current".

First tier list (October 8, 2002)
Though this was the first tier list, Smash World Forums was rife with discussion about tiers long before the Melee Back Room released its "MBR Tier Averages." The term "F/F/S" (short for "Falco, Fox and Sheik") was popular as a quick reference to Melee's top tier. Members on Smashboards, perhaps in backlash against novice sentiment towards Roy and Link, generally disdained those characters, and generally favored the game's fastest characters.

Members on Smashboards largely contested this tier list's placement of Mewtwo, which they felt to be too low. Many Smashboarders considered Mewtwo a low or even middle tier character and were bothered that it, despite its great recovery and powerful throws, was placed at the bottom of bottom tier, where most people believed Bowser belonged.

Second tier list (December 19, 2002)
For the second tier list, the Melee Back Room created two tier lists: one made from the average (mean) of votes, and another from the mode.

Third tier list (June 23, 2003)
This tier list was released soon after Ken Hoang won Tournament Go 4. Before Ken, Marth strategy largely encompassed rolling and C-stick smashing symptomatic of low-level play today, but Ken introduced to the community the uses of dash-dancing, chain throwing and aerial attacks, all techniques that largely improved Marth's metagame and moved him to top tier for years to come.

This is the first tier list that officially ranks characters into tiers.

April Fools Sixth tier list (March 31, 2004)
This tier list doubled as an April Fools joke and a lesson to the community to not blindly swallow the Melee Back Room tier list as the truth. Though most people suspected this tier list was a hoax, it set a precedent to criticizing the tier list that had not existed before.

To "defend" this hoax during the two tumultuous days it was the official tier list, Melee Back Room members argued that Marth was too slow to remain in the top two tiers, that Link had untapped aerial prowess, and that Jigglypuff, through speed and the Wall of Pain, ruled the air to the point of domination. Ironically, the latter prediction would come true in the post-Brawl metagame.

The Melee Back Room forgot to include Yoshi in this tier list; once people realized he was missing (six hours after the list was posted), the MBR put him in.

Eighth tier list (July 8, 2006)
The names of these tiers were originally called God Tier, Top Tier, High Tier, Middle Tier, and Low Tier; these names were changed to the ones shown above on July 10th, two days after the tier list was released.

This tier list marks the first time Sheik was not in top tier, and contains the biggest bottom tier of any tier list thus far. The balance of the tier list was a point of contention amongst many Smashers, who felt that it was too bottom-heavy and that the lower tiers should themselves be split, or the high tiers merged (particularly the top two).

Ninth tier list (October 14, 2008)
This is the current SSBM tier list. For the first time since June 2003, the Smash Back Room published each character's numerical scores.

First tier list (September 1, 2008)
While many players wanted to have a tier list a month or 2 after Brawl's release, the SBR decided (and with good reason) to wait at least a couple of months before making the first tier list. The idea was that making a tier list too early would result in it becoming quickly outdated, forcing the SBR to make a second one. The SBR made the correct decision. Players' perception of the tier list changed dramatically between the game's release and September. The most noticeable fluctuation was Snake's placing, who was first about mid tier, then sky rocketed to the #1 spot above Meta Knight. Snake was considered the best character in the game for quite a while, this opinion being backed up by tournaments where Snake took almost all the top spots (in one case, the top 5 placings were all Snake). It wasn't until around when Mew2king started dominating with Meta Knight that players realized Meta Knight was better.

Second tier list (January 5, 2009)
By this time no player doubted Meta Knight's placing in the old tier list. In many players' opinions, Meta Knight wasn't just better than every other character, but better by a noticeable gap. Meta Knight was considered so good that it caused a huge debate on whether Meta Knight should be allowed in tournaments. After many heated discussions, the SBR decided by vote that Meta Knight should be left alone and no one should be banned.

Snake was also elevated above other characters to a similar degree, though not to the point of being considered banned. This resulted in both of these characters having their own tiers. Diddy Kong also received a huge bump up the tier list after NinjaLink successfully beat Mew2king by abusing Diddy's bananas to a level not seen before.

Third tier list (June 4, 2009)
The first tier list to not have Captain Falcon last on the list. Instead, Ganondorf is last because of his slow attacks, bad recovery, and lack of mobility.

In this list, Wario and Sonic made a large jump. Wario's change is due to the newly found usefulness of his great air mobility, coupled with great recovery and heavy weight, making him a very defensive character that is hard to KO. While most of the community perceived Sonic as a bad character, dedicated mains continued to defy the tier list of Jan 1, 2009 by placing high in tourneys. In this tier list, their efforts were finally recognized.

Fourth tier list (February 26, 2010)
This is the current SSBB tier list. It was made in February 26, 2010 by the Smash Back Room.