Spoiler: Breakdown by region USA

Atlantic North: 12

Midwest: 8

Pacific West: 7

Southwest: 4

Atlantic South: 3



International

Europe: 8

Japan: 6

Canada: 3

Australia: 2

Spoiler: Raw voting data Character | Average Placement | Standard Deviation | Gap

Sheik | 20.0 | 0.0 | 0.0

Zero Suit Samus | 19.46 | 0.708 | 0.538

Rosalina | 18.77 | 0.87 | 0.687

Ryu | 17.95 | 1.103 | 0.82

Pikachu | 17.86 | 1.065 | 0.099

Sonic | 17.83 | 1.269 | 0.021

Fox | 17.52 | 1.146 | 0.313

Mario | 17.51 | 1.108 | 0.014

Diddy Kong | 17.43 | 0.998 | 0.082

Meta Knight | 17.12 | 1.489 | 0.307

Villager | 16.52 | 1.614 | 0.597

Cloud | 16.5 | 1.657 | 0.023

Ness | 16.39 | 1.502 | 0.11

Captain Falcon | 15.16 | 1.767 | 1.228

Yoshi | 15.15 | 1.893 | 0.013

Luigi | 14.27 | 1.996 | 0.881

Dark Pit | 13.89 | 2.138 | 0.381

Pit | 13.88 | 2.308 | 0.006

Peach | 13.75 | 2.115 | 0.133

R.O.B. | 13.63 | 2.221 | 0.12

Wario | 13.56 | 1.898 | 0.067

Toon Link | 13.2 | 2.416 | 0.357

Lucario | 12.92 | 2.224 | 0.285

Olimar | 12.47 | 2.452 | 0.454

Greninja | 12.25 | 2.633 | 0.215

Ike | 12.12 | 2.425 | 0.126

Donkey Kong | 11.8 | 2.252 | 0.325

Mega Man | 11.41 | 2.159 | 0.386

Pac-Man | 11.29 | 2.278 | 0.124

Bowser | 10.81 | 2.66 | 0.477

Robin | 10.17 | 2.722 | 0.642

Roy | 9.29 | 3.209 | 0.883

Kirby | 9.1 | 3.388 | 0.183

Bowser Jr. | 8.93 | 2.671 | 0.176

Mr. Game & Watch | 8.72 | 2.47 | 0.21

Lucas | 8.65 | 2.993 | 0.071

Mewtwo | 8.35 | 2.666 | 0.297

Falco | 8.12 | 3.026 | 0.232

Wii Fit Trainer | 8.08 | 2.674 | 0.037

Shulk | 7.75 | 2.926 | 0.325

Marth | 7.72 | 2.237 | 0.038

Link | 7.47 | 2.474 | 0.249

Duck Hunt Dog | 7.18 | 3.11 | 0.283

Little Mac | 7.18 | 2.633 | 0.009

Dr. Mario | 7.14 | 2.437 | 0.033

King Dedede | 6.04 | 2.721 | 1.107

Lucina | 5.59 | 2.547 | 0.447

Mii Brawler | 5.01 | 2.952 | 0.584

Charizard | 4.79 | 2.255 | 0.218

Palutena | 4.78 | 2.199 | 0.008

Samus | 4.12 | 1.942 | 0.656

Mii Gunner | 3.6 | 2.153 | 0.525

Mii Swordsman | 3.32 | 2.054 | 0.282

Ganondorf | 3.23 | 1.675 | 0.082

Jigglypuff | 2.79 | 2.035 | 0.448

Zelda | 1.96 | 1.259 | 0.828 Character | Average Placement | Standard Deviation | GapSheik | 20.0 | 0.0 | 0.0Zero Suit Samus | 19.46 | 0.708 | 0.538Rosalina | 18.77 | 0.87 | 0.687Ryu | 17.95 | 1.103 | 0.82Pikachu | 17.86 | 1.065 | 0.099Sonic | 17.83 | 1.269 | 0.021Fox | 17.52 | 1.146 | 0.313Mario | 17.51 | 1.108 | 0.014Diddy Kong | 17.43 | 0.998 | 0.082Meta Knight | 17.12 | 1.489 | 0.307Villager | 16.52 | 1.614 | 0.597Cloud | 16.5 | 1.657 | 0.023Ness | 16.39 | 1.502 | 0.11Captain Falcon | 15.16 | 1.767 | 1.228Yoshi | 15.15 | 1.893 | 0.013Luigi | 14.27 | 1.996 | 0.881Dark Pit | 13.89 | 2.138 | 0.381Pit | 13.88 | 2.308 | 0.006Peach | 13.75 | 2.115 | 0.133R.O.B. | 13.63 | 2.221 | 0.12Wario | 13.56 | 1.898 | 0.067Toon Link | 13.2 | 2.416 | 0.357Lucario | 12.92 | 2.224 | 0.285Olimar | 12.47 | 2.452 | 0.454Greninja | 12.25 | 2.633 | 0.215Ike | 12.12 | 2.425 | 0.126Donkey Kong | 11.8 | 2.252 | 0.325Mega Man | 11.41 | 2.159 | 0.386Pac-Man | 11.29 | 2.278 | 0.124Bowser | 10.81 | 2.66 | 0.477Robin | 10.17 | 2.722 | 0.642Roy | 9.29 | 3.209 | 0.883Kirby | 9.1 | 3.388 | 0.183Bowser Jr. | 8.93 | 2.671 | 0.176Mr. Game & Watch | 8.72 | 2.47 | 0.21Lucas | 8.65 | 2.993 | 0.071Mewtwo | 8.35 | 2.666 | 0.297Falco | 8.12 | 3.026 | 0.232Wii Fit Trainer | 8.08 | 2.674 | 0.037Shulk | 7.75 | 2.926 | 0.325Marth | 7.72 | 2.237 | 0.038Link | 7.47 | 2.474 | 0.249Duck Hunt Dog | 7.18 | 3.11 | 0.283Little Mac | 7.18 | 2.633 | 0.009Dr. Mario | 7.14 | 2.437 | 0.033King Dedede | 6.04 | 2.721 | 1.107Lucina | 5.59 | 2.547 | 0.447Mii Brawler | 5.01 | 2.952 | 0.584Charizard | 4.79 | 2.255 | 0.218Palutena | 4.78 | 2.199 | 0.008Samus | 4.12 | 1.942 | 0.656Mii Gunner | 3.6 | 2.153 | 0.525Mii Swordsman | 3.32 | 2.054 | 0.282Ganondorf | 3.23 | 1.675 | 0.082Jigglypuff | 2.79 | 2.035 | 0.448Zelda | 1.96 | 1.259 | 0.828

Official 4BR Smash for Wii U Tier List v1.0 (1.1.3 patch)

It is common for fighting game communities to create a tier list for their game as a source of reference and debate regarding the tournament viability of the cast. The Smash scene is no exception to this, and all games in the series have had a tier list posted to SmashBoards. More often than not, the website itself was instrumental to the creation of these lists, mainly through projects organized by the so-called Smash Back Room for each respective game.Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS finds itself in the unique position of receiving patches, DLC characters and stages for more than a year after release, with two more characters still forthcoming. As a result of this, it made sense to hold off on tier list discussion until a period of relative stability came along. The current patch (1.1.3) left the majority of the cast relatively untouched and had Genesis 3 as a major showcase, so we chose this build as a foundation. With the recent launch of the 4BR , we were in a good position for the official tier list project to finally get underway.The 4BR acknowledges that tier lists are often controversial and won't be perfect at the first iteration, if ever. We do, however, strive to study the game to the best of our ability and give a sincere opinion on the current state of affairs. As such, a tier list can be an important benchmark to look back on as the game progresses.To illustrate this, compare the first and last tier lists for Brawl. Over the nearly 5 years separating the two, we saw the fall of top tier threats like King Dedede, R.O.B. and Mr. Game & Watch, the rise of supposed mid tiers like Captain Olimar and Zero Suit Samus and the blatant early misjudgment of Zelda's potential. Despite these major shifts, the majority of the cast did not end up that far from where they initially started.Our community has pushed Smash 4 hard from day one, and we have more resources at our disposal than ever before, be it complete frame data, tutorials, or tournament footage. It will be interesting to see how this affects our accuracy in rating the cast, something only time will tell. All that being said, we are proud to present you the first official tier list for Smash Bros. for Wii U!In late December 2015, 4BR members were asked to distribute all 56 released characters across 20 tiers, with no differentiation within the same tier. Voters could place gaps wherever they wanted and there were no restrictions on the amount of characters in the same group. They had to assume play under the 1.1.3 patch with no custom moves allowed, while Miis had to be considered with their 1111 moveset only, in accordance with tournament reality at the biggest events. The 4BR at this moment has no official stance or recommendation on ruleset matters.We agreed to let voting run until after Genesis 3, which would hopefully provide us with insights into especially the more recent additions to the cast, most notably Cloud. During the voting process, there was a separate topic for reasoning and discussion. We also asked a small group of non-members to submit a vote, in order to involve more people at the forefront of the metagame. We ended up with 53 votes, of which 34 were American and 19 were international.These are the people who submitted a vote:Note that we will not release individual votes, but any voter is free to share his own vote with the public. The most notable abstainee was @TSM ZeRo , who felt it was still too early for a tier list. @Shaya processed the votes and found these average placements, standard deviations and gaps between average placements for the cast:A standard deviation of (close to) 0 means that voters generally placed the character close to the mean, while a higher standard deviation means that the character had a larger range of placements. Most standard deviations are over 1, indicating that we are far from a consensus.We considered all gaps over .50 as tier separation points and those above .75 for a change in label (Top, High, etc.). However, we decided against single character tiers and the C tier occupying a "High Mid" label with just two characters. Finally, we split F tier into two based on the largest difference within that group of 14 characters.TopS:HighA:B:MiddleC:D:E:LowF:G:BottomH:I:J:Text version:S: Sheik, Zero Suit Samus, Rosalina & LumaA: Ryu, Pikachu, Sonic, Fox, Mario, Diddy Kong, Meta KnightB: Villager, Cloud, NessC: Captain Falcon, YoshiD: Luigi, Dark Pit, Pit, Peach, R.O.B., Wario, Toon Link, LucarioE: Captain Olimar, Greninja, Ike, Donkey Kong, Mega Man, Pac-Man, Bowser, RobinF: Roy, Kirby, Bowser Jr., Mr. Game & Watch, Lucas, Mewtwo, Falco, Wii Fit TrainerG: Shulk, Marth, Link, Duck Hunt, Little Mac, Dr. MarioH: King Dedede, LucinaI: Mii Brawler, Charizard, PalutenaJ: Samus, Mii Gunner, Mii Swordfighter, Ganondorf, Jigglypuff, ZeldaGraphic version:The first year of Smash 4 has been an absolute rollercoaster, with players flocking from Bowser to Diddy Kong to Sheik to Luigi to Donkey Kong to Sheik again. With the completion of the cast on the horizon and the nerfs and buffs slowing to a halt, the game can be expected to come to full fruition in 2016. We can't wait to see the Smash 4 tier list evolve over the years as Smashers all over the world rise to the challenge -- and with them, their respective characters.What do you think of the tier list? Would you have placed any characters differently? Let us know what your thoughts and questions are and we will try to address the most common ones in a followup article, which will also include a more in-depth analysis of the results with statements by 4BR members.