As the game stretches into its 25th year since its release, here’s my look at how I’d rank the characters as a player on the line between casual and competitive.

Mid tiers can be found here, high tiers are here.

With me recently falling back down the seemingly endless rabbit hole that is the world of Super Smash Bros. Melee, I began thinking about just how much the perception of characters and stages within the game has changed over its lifespan that has now lasted a quarter century.

While I first picked up the game in January 2004, I wasn’t aware of its competitive scene until more than a decade later, when I was a freshman in college at the University of Missouri. Though I always enjoyed Melee and viewed it to be one of my favorite games ever, I had absolutely no clue just how seriously thousands of people had been taking the game for over 10 years at that point.

That led to some mind-blowing revelations when I did start to learn about the competitive scene and just how in-depth and technical the game could get. After spending years viewing Level 9 CPUs as the pinnacle of play while still playing with items on, I was introduced to all of the things that get people into Smash – The Smash Brothers documentary, character tier lists, tourament rulesets and the importance of having an original model GameCube controller (oh how that has changed).

Perhaps what blew my mind the most though was figuring out that the character I considered to be my favorite and among the best in the game growing up was actually quite dogshit competitively – with the years I spent insisting that Roy was better than Marth making me look especially clueless.

Once figuring out all of this information, it did seem to unlock a new level of enjoyment in the game – almost as if it’s a new game entirely. Figuring out each character’s best moves and optimal methods of movement made the game feel new again – a feeling I’ve gotten when I’ve dabbled back into Melee on the several occasions since.

With myself currently locked into a Smash Bros. heavy phase, I figured it’d be a good time to take a shot at the tier list – solely basing it on my own perspective as both a player who has a basic understanding of advanced techniques, as well as a spectator who has kept an eye on the competitive scene on and off over the past decade-plus.

This tier list is therefore not going to match the most recent official tier list released in March 2021 (seen below courtesy of SmashWiki), looking to account for how the characters would be ranked for players at around my level – those who are familiar with the game, but are either new and/or towards the bottom ranks of online play on the competitive scene.

In this list, I mostly look to take each character’s moveset, movement and recovery heavily into account, while also considering specific matchups, weaknesses on particular stages used in tournament play and the results each character has warranted in competitive play.

Ultimately, I aim for this to be a hybrid tier list of sorts – one to both give a casual player a good idea of what characters are perhaps a bit easier to control and do damage with, while also giving a player looking to get deeper into the game a good starting point for choosing a competitively viable main.

F Tier

26. Kirby

While most competitive players and the official tier list place Bowser in the cellar, I’m firmly of the belief that Kirby is the worst character in the game – from both a casual and competitive standpoint.

Despite being a semi-clone of the top-tier Jigglypuff, Kirby has essentially none of the same tools that make Puff so devastating. Despite having five jumps, Kirby’s air mobility is quite poor and slow, leaving him to be abnormally vulnerable when off-stage – which is further complicated by an extremely vertical Up Special move.

His aerial attacks are also among the weakest in the game, with a short grab range also not doing the character any favors. While a new player can certainly have fun inhaling enemies and even perhaps dumping some off the edge with the trademark Kirbycide move, Kirby’s extremely limited range, slow speed and predominantly weak options for attack make him perhaps the most unviable character in the game.

25. Zelda

While initially created with the intention of Zelda being a true hybrid character with Sheik, who she can transform into, the competitive scene has proven there is a seismic difference between the two characters, who are separated by a shared Down Special move.

For a casual player, I can certainly see the argument that Zelda is worse than Kirby, with her extremely poor mobility and slow speed playing the biggest role in hindering her in what is such a movement-heavy game.

Zelda’s slow falling and dashing speeds make movement often feel clunky when playing faster characters, with Zelda also lacking many of the tools the high-tier Peach has to make up for the poor mobility.

With that said, experienced players can get some mileage out of Zelda thanks to two saving graces – her incredibly potent forward and backward aerial attacks, as well as her long-range recovery, the latter of which is often used by Sheik mains when trying to get back to the stage from very far out.

Similar to Kirby, Zelda has had very little representation on a competitive level throughout the game’s lifespan, with a very small dedicated player base in online Melee.

24. Bowser

The consensus worst character in the game, I’m a bit more of a believer in Bowser than most, despite his incredibly slow speed and poor aerial movement that makes him undoubtedly the easiest character to combo in the game.

However, Bowser has some real tools that can help offset that, especially for casual players – with his Up Special move being among the more powerful in the game. In general, most of Bowser’s attacks are quite strong, which makes him fairly viable for casual players who aren’t zooming around the stage like one would see in online play.

Yet even from a competitive standpoint, Bowser feels like he has a bit more potential than the two aforementioned characters to make some noise in a tournament. Beyond seeing an increased player base in the post-Slippi era of Melee, players such as WarriorKnight have achieved limited offline success in tournaments with Bowser, more so than what is typically seen out of Zelda, Kirby and even a character or two ahead of Bowser.

While a fun character in casual play, Bowser remains largely unviable on a competitive level with a significant learning curve.

23. Pichu

Literally added to the game as a more inferior clone of Pikachu, Pichu is likely the first character that comes to mind for a casual player when thinking of who the worst character in the game is – with its frequent self-inflicted damage being the most obvious drawback.

Yet in a game where a good recovery and quick movement is paramount, Pichu ultimately is not the worst player in competitive play, though casual players will likely have a tough time getting around almost all of its moves doing damage.

Despite a poor range, Pichu possesses a great aerial and grab game, with its lightning-quick speed and solid recovery likely throwing off other players who are unfamiliar with the matchup. While Pichu has a similarly high learning curve as its superior clone in Pikachu, the infrequency of the matchup for most other players often plays to the benefit of those who dedicate Pichu as their main.

Arguably the worst character in the game for casual players, Pichu’s still limited applications have led to a very small competitive presence, often smaller than that of Bowser and even Kirby.

D Tier

22. Ness

The first character in the D tier, I think it’s fair to say that Ness has more tools and potential than the characters below him, but remains wildly unviable on a competitive level in the game.

Similarly bad to both casual and competitive players, Ness’ drawbacks are plentiful and obvious, with none more hindering than his extremely poor recovery. While Ness possesses a floaty and high double jump, his Up Special move is incredibly hard to execute correctly, making him perhaps the easiest character in the game to edgeguard.

Ness also has a poor grab range, slow speed and rather weak smash attacks – though this is somewhat made up for with an excellent aerial moveset, with Ness being among the better characters for vertical juggling combos.

His upsides have not been enough to make Ness a fixture on the competitive scene, with a very small dedicated player base and little-to-no success in tournaments over the course of the game’s lifespan.

21. Mewtwo

Perhaps the character I was most excited to unlock as a kid, Mewtwo is truly a mixed bag and perhaps still the most unexplored character in the Melee metagame.

Previously considered the worst character in the game, it’s now clear that’s nowhere near the case. While Mewtwo’s slow speed, large size and floatiness make it rather susceptible to combos, it possesses many more tools than a character like Bowser to counteract these problems.

In addition to having one of the game’s best recoveries, Mewtwo also possesses a long grab range and good chaingrabbing potential while having better edgeguarding tools than any character below it on the list. With Mewtwo remaining an uncommon matchup for many competitive players while having a unique movement set, it has the potential to throw players used to facing high-tier characters off of their rhythm.

While it wouldn’t at all surprise me to see Mewtwo’s player base and tournament success increase in the coming years, it remains a largely unviable option with rather limited competitive representation throughout the game’s history.

20. Mr. Game & Watch

In many ways the most unique character in the game, Mr. Game & Watch is the last character to be unlocked through VS. matches, serving as a representation of the old Game & Watch handheld titles of the 1980’s.

A 2D figure, there are some obvious drawbacks with Game & Watch, most notably being an ineffective shield that fails to cover his entire body and his inability to L-cancel his aerial moves – the latter being a standard advanced technique for every other character in the game.

With that said, there are plenty of tools at Game & Watch’s disposal – a decent projectile attack with his neutral special move, the possibility of a one-hit KO with his side-special move, along with a long wavedash and excellent forward aerial – the latter of which also makes him a decent edgeguarder.

Most of these tools will likely only be discovered and used by competitive players however, making Game & Watch one of the characters with a higher learning curve in the game. Still, the potency of his neutral special and strong aerial game make him better than some others on the roster for casual players.

Though not a competitive stalwart by any means, Mr. Game & Watch has achieved more tournament representation than anyone below him on this list, with players like Qerb and glock in my toyota placing in the top 64 at supermajor tournaments.

19. Roy

The highest of the low-tier characters, Roy was my go-to until I discovered the competitive scene, and remains my most-used secondary character to this day.

The reason I and many others believed Roy to be better than Marth on a casual standpoint revolve around the same characteristics that serve as his highlights in today’s metagame – his movement is decent, his neutral special is incredibly powerful when charged up and his grab range, while not as disjointed as Marth’s, is solid.

Yet all it takes is landing one long-range forward smash with the tip of Marth’s sword to spell out just how inferior Roy is in comparison. Roy’s limited range with his sword makes combos quite difficult to achieve, especially in comparison to Marth, while his poor recovery and plethora of weaker moves that struggle to reliably KO serve as his greatest hinderances.

With that said, Roy still has some potential beyond it all, particularly in matchups against fast-falling characters that can help compensate for Roy’s relative inability to combo. For casual players, he remains one of the more enjoyable characters to play, with all of his Special moves being relatively easy to execute in a slower-paced setting.

On the competitive end, Roy’s highlight remains in the “Golden Age” of the game, when NEO achieved a top 10 retrospective yearly ranking with Roy in 2006. While top player Zain has showcased incredible ability with Roy as a secondary, his dedicated player base and tournament representation remains rather small.