What do you think about tiers?

HydroJames

HydroJames

Shining Sea Dragon
I used to be in the "TIERS R 4 QUEERS" camp, believing that tiers didn't matter much and that it all came down to the skill of the player, and that any character can be powerful in the right hands.

However...

When I became more familiar with competitive play, I started to learn the importance of tiers.

While the skill of the player is indeed a strong factor, some characters have an advantage over others. Characters that have an advantage over more characters rank higher on tier lists while characters who have an advantage over less characters rank lower on tier lists. We refer to advantages and disadvantages as match-ups.

I think it would be funny and ironic when someone who shout "TIERS R 4 QUEERS" and "Match-ups are for Fuck-ups" get their butts kicked and complains about a characters being OP...
 
To restate The Sanford™:

If you think tiers matter, pick a top tier.

If you want to make sure the time you spend results in maximum returns, pick a top tier.

If you want to play the game solely to win, and nothing else, pick a top tier.

If you trust the current consensus of a tier list, pick a top tier.



If you don't subscribe to any of these notions, pick who you want, pick who you're attracted to, pick who you like to play, and put in the work like everyone else.

Personally if I don't have an emotional investment in a character, I'm not going to play them. Sorry Xrd, no Johnny, no Baiken, no buy
 
It's impossible to make 30 or more characters equally strong (it wouldn't even be with 2). Simple as that.

But tiers are a method of ranking characters based on their potential and thus are only important for top level players. Any low-tier character can be played on high levels too except for some joke characters like dan in SF but that should be obvious.
 
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There is nothing to like or dislike about it, since there will never be perfect balance. After all, since it's a competitive environment, there are people who want to win and maximize said chances to win so match ups and tiers are a direct result of that.
 
tiers matter more and more as you develop as a player. someone who can exploit the best character to their potential will own your soul if you do the same for a weak character.
 
HydroJamesAqua said:
I used to be in the "TIERS R 4 QUEERS" camp, believing that tiers didn't matter much and that it all came down to the skill of the player, and that any character can be powerful in the right hands.

However...

When I became more familiar with competitive play, I started to learn the importance of tiers.

While the skill of the player is indeed a strong factor, some characters have an advantage over others. Characters that have an advantage over more characters rank higher on tier lists while characters who have an advantage over less characters rank lower on tier lists. We refer to advantages and disadvantages as match-ups.

I think it would be funny and ironic when someone who shout "TIERS R 4 QUEERS" and "Match-ups are for Fuck-ups" get their butts kicked and complains about a characters being OP...
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Hydrojames, you aren't at a level where tiers matter in my opinion. Keep playing the game and focusing on the basics. Learn block punishment, spacing, timing, strategy, and in the future when you get better you can think on who to main. Also, let's play again sometime.
 
Alex.J said:
Hydrojames, you aren't at a level where tiers matter in my opinion. Keep playing the game and focusing on the basics. Learn block punishment, spacing, timing, strategy, and in the future when you get better you can think on who to main. Also, let's play again sometime.
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Maybe you can humiliate me on Pdubs' next stream...
 
I still stand by my claim that tiers never really mattered...not to me anyway, it didn't then, it doesn't now, and won't ever. it all comes down to the players ability
MU's however are a very real thing...you'll often find that one character may hold a certain advantage over another,but with a bit of work and some MU knowledge you can overcome the odds and tip the scales in your favour
 
Party Wolf said:
That's what tiers are based on
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makes sense...still I myself never considered them to be relevant...any low-tier character in the right hands can overcome characters supposedly of higher tier status and any high tier character with lack of knowledge can be made to look absolute garbage in front of other matchups

guys like Oofmatic are a testament to that, taking a character like Damp and making him look like a tourney character
 
Trying to beat a high tier with a low tier in most cases is comparable to winning a NASCAR race with a slower car. Sure, it could happen but the odds are stacked undeniably against you. That is why tiers are relevant since it's a representation of the CHARACTER'S ability, not the player's.
 
Tiers in general matter quite a bit in most games. SCV might fool you somewhat because this game is pretty balanced by comparison. Mostly due to the extra game mechanics that games like Street Fighter or Tekken don't have.

Party Wolf said:
That's what tiers are based on
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Lol, try telling that to those who change their respective games' tier lists every EVO.
 
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Tiers won't matter at a casual level, but when you go to a competitive level, they will because every fighting game has characters that are inherently designed better than others or break the rules in some way that puts them above everyone else in the roster.

ZER0 said:
makes sense...still I myself never considered them to be relevant...any low-tier character in the right hands can overcome characters supposedly of higher tier status and any high tier character with lack of knowledge can be made to look absolute garbage in front of other matchups

guys like Oofmatic are a testament to that, taking a character like Damp and making him look like a tourney character
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Tiers won't matter if you're not competing or just playing for fun, or they can play less of a factor depending on how balanced the game is. SCV has it's tiers, but the game rules and mechanics really allow for you to pick whoever you want, where as you may not be able to do so in other games where the tiers are more apparent or the matchups are more polarizing or the game lacks system mechanics to keep a match competitive.

Tier lists also try to take player skill out of the equation because you can't quantify that.

Oofmatic has done well with Damp, but you can't look at the performance of one person using a rarely used character and say that tiers don't matter because now you talking about an individual matchup and have to factor in who his opponent is, what character they're using, how good are they with that character, how well do they know the matchup, etc. Anyone can say a low tier character in the right hands can win, conversely a better character in better hands will defeat that character.

Tiers are just a guide and not the end all be all when it comes to a fighting game.
 
I'm sure for competitive players who want to do tournaments, it's a big thing and I don't stand in their way. But speaking for myself, I'm more of a casual player. Sure, I like to learn the movesets and come up with strategies but I'm by no means, a competition player so I usually play as everyone. lol
 
Im weird in that I'll only care about tier lists where if they are my favourite character. Eg: I sulked a bit when it turned out Sheeva was low tier.
 
JohnBoyAdvance said:
Im weird in that I'll only care about tier lists where if they are my favourite character. Eg: I sulked a bit when it turned out Sheeva was low tier.
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I'm not entirely convinced that this is so. I mean, the dude has some pretty good stuff. I could be wrong, but he certainly doesn't feel low tier in the sense that Damp, Raphael, and Zwei are low tier, but then again, you might be including more people in that list of low tiers.
 
CaptainHook said:
I'm not entirely convinced that this is so. I mean, the dude has some pretty good stuff. I could be wrong, but he certainly doesn't feel low tier in the sense that Damp, Raphael, and Zwei are low tier, but then again, you might be including more people in that list of low tiers.
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Wait, sorry talking about Mortal Kombat there. Or Im having a complete brain fart now.
 
top tier: Every character that pwnz me easily
mid tier: every character I sometimes win and sometimes lose to
garbage tier: every character I pwn easily
 
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