Smash Ultimate's 2nd Official Tier List - Luminosity (2024)

Welcome to our second annual LumiRank tier list. Following up our first tier list from last year, the second tier list reflects new developments in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s ever-evolving metagame, as determined by our 61 panelists ranked globally in 2023. Be sure to read the methodology, analysis, and full list of panelists after the list:

Smash Ultimate's 2nd Official Tier List - Luminosity (1)

S Tier:

S+: Steve, Sonic

S: Mr. Game & Watch, Snake, Pyra & Mythra, R.O.B.

S-: Peach/Daisy, Fox, Diddy Kong, Joker

A Tier:

A+: Kazuya, Min Min, Cloud, Yoshi

A: Samus/Dark Samus, Palutena, Pikachu, Sora, Roy, Wario, Wolf, Mario, Pac-Man

A-: Pokemon Trainer, Shulk, Bayonetta, Corrin, Lucina, Terry, Zero Suit Samus

B Tier:

B+: Sheik, Ryu, Olimar, Greninja, Falco, Mii Brawler, Sephiroth, Young Link, Luigi

B-: Captain Falcon, Pit/Dark Pit, Byleth, Rosalina & Luma, Hero, Ken, Toon Link, Ness, Mega Man, Inkling, Meta Knight

C Tier:

C+: Ice Climbers, Incineroar, Pichu, Chrom, Marth, Link, Lucario, Mii Gunner, Bowser, Jigglypuff

C-: Lucas, Banjo & Kazooie, Wii Fit Trainer, Ridley, Duck Hunt

D Tier:

D+: Mewtwo, Robin, Donkey Kong, Isabelle

D-: Bowser Jr., Ike, Villager, Zelda, Simon/Richter, Kirby, Mii Swordfighter, Piranha Plant, Dr. Mario

E Tier:

E+: King Dedede, King K. Rool, Little Mac

E-: Ganondorf

Methodology

Methodology was largely unchanged from the 2023 tier list. Any player within the top 150 and honorable mentions of LumiRank 2023 Mid-Year or LumiRank 2023 Full Year was eligible to be on the panel for the tier list. Responses were received from 63 panelists in the time frame from January 18th, 2024 to February 1st, 2024, while Tweek’s ballot was filled out from a tier list video released during the time frame. Two ballots were excluded due to either scoring fewer than 5 characters, while another was excluded due to being a troll response. Panelists were asked to rate each character they formed an opinion on from 1–10, with 10 being highest and 1 being lowest. They were also asked to provide an ordered top 5 characters in the game. 95% of panelists evaluated at least three quarters of the cast, with 80% of panelists scoring every character in the game. Bayonetta, Fox, Palutena, Peach/Daisy, Pyra & Mythra, R.O.B., Shulk, Steve, and Wolf were evaluated by all 61 panelists. Once again Mii Swordfighter was evaluated by the fewest panelists, with only 55 panelists scoring the character. Panelist responses were normalized, with their top 5 scored as 10.x (e.g. their #1 was scored as a 10.5, while their #5 was scored as a 10.1). The highest and lowest 3 responses for each character were removed, and the remaining responses were then weighted by region according to each region’s representation on LumiRank 2023, to avoid higher or lower response rates in different regions from biasing the list. Tiers and tier groupings were then determined via K-Means Clustering.

Analysis

  • Steve was once again the consensus number 1 character, with 46 panelists (75%) putting the character in that position. Once again Europe was the only region not to place Steve in the #1 position, putting him 3rd and putting Sonic 1st. Sonic was the only other character with multiple panelists putting them in the #1 spot, with 9 panelists (15%) putting him there.
  • A slight majority of panelists (34, or 56%) also put Sonic in the #2 position. No other character had a majority of panelists putting them in a particular spot in the top 5.
  • Out of 59 panelists evaluating Ganondorf, 55 of them gave Ganondorf the lowest score they gave anyone, with 16 of them giving every other character they evaluated a higher score. For comparison, only 25 panelists gave Little Mac the lowest score they gave anyone, and no panelists gave every character besides Little Mac a higher score.
  • Latin America was once again the only region to place Little Mac higher than the 81st position, putting King Dedede below him.
  • The five characters with the lowest standard deviations were Steve (0.450), Sonic (0.611), Snake (0.733), Terry (0.779), and Pokemon Trainer (0.801). The five characters with the highest standard deviations were Mii Swordfighter (1.798), Mega Man (1.640), Piranha Plant (1.610), King Dedede (1.585), and Ice Climbers (1.584).
  • Palutena was the highest ranked character to have no panelists place them in the top 5.
  • Incineroar was the lowest ranked character to have a panelist place them in the top 5, while Pikachu was the lowest ranked character to have multiple panelists place them there.
  • Bayonetta, Mr. Game & Watch, Corrin, Lucario, Sora, Incineroar, Snake, Pit/Dark Pit, and Samus/Dark Samus all rose at least 10 spots from last year’s tier list, while Chrom, Ken, Roy, Mega Man, Byleth, Sephiroth, and Wolf fell by at least 10 spots.
  • Jigglypuff was the only player to fall on the list despite their score going up. Conversely, Pichu, Palutena, Mii Brawler, King Dedede, Bowser Jr., Ryu, Donkey Kong, and Ice Climbers rose on the list despite their score declining, with Ice Climbers going up 5 spots.

Regional Differences

Once again, different regions sometimes differed wildly in evaluating different characters. The most notable differences are as follows:

The US and Canada were high on Mega Man (+17) and Ness (+12), and were low on Yoshi (-12).

Latin America was high on Mega Man (+21), Kirby (+15), Sheik (+14), Pikachu (+13), Marth (+13), Ness (+10), and Mii Gunner (+10), and was low on Samus/Dark Samus (-15), Ice Climbers (-15), Shulk (-14), Captain Falcon (-13), Falco (-11), and Banjo & Kazooie (-10).

Europe was high on Mii Brawler (+13), Pichu (+13), Piranha Plant (+13), Donkey Kong (+12), Pac-Man (+10), Toon Link (+10), Ridley (+10), and Zelda (+10), and was low on Captain Falcon (-25), Kazuya (-18), Lucario (-18), Ice Climbers (-10), and Robin (-10).

Japan was high on Captain Falcon (+17), Isabelle (+14), Falco (+13), Toon Link (+13), and Banjo & Kazooie (+11), while they were low on Lucina (-12), Mega Man (-11), Pikachu (-10), and Mii Brawler (-10)

Spreadsheet with summary data for each character

Panelists

US & Canada:

AC

Anathema

ApolloKage

Armadillo

BassMage

BeastModePaul

Chronos

Dabuz

DDee

Epic_Gabriel

Geist

H4

IcyMist

Ikan

JDV

Kiyarash

Kola

Lima

Ling

MuteAce

Onin

Peabnut

Rivers

Scend

SHADIC

Tilde

Tweek

WebbJP

Zomba

Latin America:

EKing

MKBigBoss

MkLeo

ShinyMark

WaKa

Europe:

crêpe salée

Flow

Luugi

Mezcaul

NaetorU

OwlBBs

Space

Supahsemmie

Tarik

Japan:
Carmelo

Eik

Futari no Kiwami Ah~!

Gorioka

Harasen

Hero

Jagabata

Luminous

Metara

Raki

Rarukun

Ryuoh

Senra

Sin

Suinoko

Tsubaki

Tsuna

Yamanaction

Yoko#


Article Written by: Stuart "Stuart98"Hepworth

Smash Ultimate's 2nd Official Tier List - Luminosity (2024)

FAQs

Smash Ultimate's 2nd Official Tier List - Luminosity? ›

Steve Remains the Best Character

Steve, the second character released in Fighter's Pass 2, has remained unmoved in the top spot of the tier list, as more top players have been able to use him to gain results. As there are no more patches coming to Smash Ultimate, it is unlikely to see him be dethroned from this spot.

Who is the best character in Super Smash Bros.'s tier list? ›

Steve Remains the Best Character

Steve, the second character released in Fighter's Pass 2, has remained unmoved in the top spot of the tier list, as more top players have been able to use him to gain results. As there are no more patches coming to Smash Ultimate, it is unlikely to see him be dethroned from this spot.

What are the tiers of tournaments in Smash Ultimate? ›

The most authoritative ranking of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate players is the Panda Global Rankings Ultimate (PGRU). The PGRU groups tournaments into one of four tiers – S, A, B, and C – based on the number of entrants, with S being the most prestigious tier and C the least.

Who is the hardest Smash character to play? ›

According to Riddles, the fighters with the steepest learning curves are Peach, Ice Climbers, Rosalina & Luma, Kazuya, Duck Hunt, Pikachu and Sheik. They've all been ranked as "S tier" as a result.

Who is statistically the best smash Ultimate character? ›

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate stats - Most popular characters, teams and more
#Character nameScore
1Cloud469
2Bayonetta315
3Terry301
4Joker252
56 more rows

Who is the king of smash? ›

Hoang's dominance in the game earned him the nickname "The King of Smash".

What character does the most damage in Super Smash Bros? ›

By Nintendo Unity's calculations, this would take the damage well into six figures, making Sephiroth the character with the highest potential damage output in a single hit in all of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Super Smash Bros.

Who is the greatest Smash player of all time? ›

  • Mew2King is often considered the greatest player across all Smash titles due to his success in multiple Smash titles. ...
  • Isai is widely considered to be the greatest Smash 64 player of all time.
Feb 25, 2024

Who does MkLeo main? ›

Smasher:MkLeo
MkLeo "Leo"
Ultimate mainJoker
Other Ultimate charactersByleth, R.O.B., Pyra, Mythra
Retired Ultimate charactersCorrin, Ike, Lucina, Marth, Wolf
Project M mainMewtwo
23 more rows

Who is the easiest Smash Bros character? ›

Mario, Captain Falcon, and Ganondorf are great starter characters for new players due to their balanced gameplay mechanics and easy-to-learn movesets. Each character offers a unique playstyle, whether it's through combos (Mario), speed and power (Captain Falcon), or heavy hitting (Ganondorf).

Who is the strongest Smash Bros. character? ›

Bowser can effortlessly beat almost anyone who isn't Mario in a straight fight. Bower's base level makes him among the strongest Super Smash Bros. characters, even before the immense power-ups he gets in most games.

Who is the slowest in smash Ultimate? ›

After all speed penalties are applied to Shulk, it turns out that he can only move at a speed of 0.000197.

Who is the lightest character in Smash Bros Ultimate? ›

Pichu (62)

With a weight value of 62, Pichu is the lightest character in Ultimate.

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