Over the past few years top players have pushed the metagame for Melee to new heights. As new techniques have been discovered and old techniques have been perfected and applied more consistently; match-ups have been taken into new directions and the dominant characters have changed. Smashboards polled played ranked in the Top 40 of either the Smashboards or MeleeItOnMe rankings during 2015 and complied the data to create the next official update to the tier list for Super Smash Bros Melee. The previous release can be found here for reference.
Top
SS
S

High
A

B

High Mid
C

Mid
D


Low Mid
E




Low
F




Bottom
G


The full details for the 2015 Melee Tier List can be found here. Statistics for the character placements and separations are available, with individual votes from the top players to be posted individually over time. Please note that this list is for NTSC. Earlier this year the third official PAL tier list was released on SmashEurope.
In addition, two other lists have been created as well. While the main tier list only features the votes and opinions of top level players, the other lists highlight a more broadened community opinion. The official tier list uses votes of twenty-four players ranked in the Top 40 of either the Smashboards or MeleeItOnMe rankings. The "Community Panel" list is less restrictive and utilizes the votes of sixty players who appeared ranked in the top thousand on the Smashboards rankings. This generally means they are at minimum tournament goers of a moderate skill level, but also includes high level talent not quite up to the Top 40. The final list is an all-inclusive "Community" list where lists from the community at large were accepted, regardless of tournament results or attendance. This means that viewers and theorists could have their opinions weighed in as well. This list features the votes of over one thousand smashers. The full release for the community lists can be found here thanks to the efforts of @Sveet.
Official | Community Panel | Community
SS
|
SS
|
SS

S
|
S


|
S



A
B 
|
A



|
A




C
|
B

|
B


D

|
C



|
C




E



|
D



|
D




F



|
E



|
E





G

|
F



|
F



Despite these differences in methodology, the lists are quite similar. What this means is that after fourteen years of experience with the game the community at large has a well-informed understanding of how characters operate in the metagame. Despite this the game has continually seen more techniques come into play over the past few years in the current era and an important part of understanding the metagame is understanding that there is still more to learn and discover. Will this be the last update to the Melee tier list? Likely not as the scene continues to grow and match-ups that once appeared set in stone have been shaken up. Top Tier characters and lower tiered characters alike have seen advancements and we are likely to see changed to our current understanding of the metagame in the future as strategies evolve.

Official 2015 Melee Tier List
Top
SS
S
High
A
B
High Mid
C
Mid
D

Low Mid
E
Low
F
Bottom
G
The full details for the 2015 Melee Tier List can be found here. Statistics for the character placements and separations are available, with individual votes from the top players to be posted individually over time. Please note that this list is for NTSC. Earlier this year the third official PAL tier list was released on SmashEurope.
In addition, two other lists have been created as well. While the main tier list only features the votes and opinions of top level players, the other lists highlight a more broadened community opinion. The official tier list uses votes of twenty-four players ranked in the Top 40 of either the Smashboards or MeleeItOnMe rankings. The "Community Panel" list is less restrictive and utilizes the votes of sixty players who appeared ranked in the top thousand on the Smashboards rankings. This generally means they are at minimum tournament goers of a moderate skill level, but also includes high level talent not quite up to the Top 40. The final list is an all-inclusive "Community" list where lists from the community at large were accepted, regardless of tournament results or attendance. This means that viewers and theorists could have their opinions weighed in as well. This list features the votes of over one thousand smashers. The full release for the community lists can be found here thanks to the efforts of @Sveet.
SS
S
A
C
D



E
F
G
Despite these differences in methodology, the lists are quite similar. What this means is that after fourteen years of experience with the game the community at large has a well-informed understanding of how characters operate in the metagame. Despite this the game has continually seen more techniques come into play over the past few years in the current era and an important part of understanding the metagame is understanding that there is still more to learn and discover. Will this be the last update to the Melee tier list? Likely not as the scene continues to grow and match-ups that once appeared set in stone have been shaken up. Top Tier characters and lower tiered characters alike have seen advancements and we are likely to see changed to our current understanding of the metagame in the future as strategies evolve.
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