Do you know what Tier List means? Have you heard people making videos on YouTube or creating images of Tier Lists? In this article, we will clarify everyone’s doubts regarding these preferred lists used in both games and anime and other areas of life.
Table of Contents
Definition – What does Tier List mean?
The term Tier List can be translated as List of Levels. The English word Tier is usually translated as layer, row, or level system. The purpose of these lists is to share opinions about best characters, but they are never 100% accurate.
These are lists with colored layers separated by letter rankings [S+, S, A, B, C, D, E] where a specific item or character is placed in each of the rankings in order to define the strongest or favorites.
Tier Lists exist in most competitive gaming communities, especially among fans of fighting games like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Super Smash Bros. Professionals in fighting games advocate for Tier Lists, but casual players often completely disagree with these lists.
In recent years, these lists have become increasingly popular, often used comically or personally to describe favorite characters, Waifus, and even favorite foods. Generally, these lists end up creating disagreements within the community.
Tier is also considered a global classification standard created specifically for Data Centers by the Uptime Institute consortium, a standard accepted in over 40 countries. It refers to a line or level of a structure, usually one of a series of lines placed one above the other and receding or decreasing successively in size.
Origin – How did Tier Lists come about?
It is not exactly known how the Tier List originated, but it is known that one of the first lists that appeared on the internet was for the game Tekken on March 25, 2005. I believe it was already common for people to talk about their favorite characters or the best fighters in a particular game.
Four years later, on May 8, 2009, an anonymous user from 4chan posted an Idolmaster List on the Japanese forum. This began to spark the desire to make lists of anime characters.
On May 17, Urban Dictionary user Yello River defined the top tier of the Tier List as “God Tier.” They wrote: “Abilities that are almost divine.”
The following year, on August 28, 2010, FunnyJunk user Scrumpulate posted a Tier List of college subjects, thus expanding the use to areas beyond games and anime.
How do Players View Tier Lists?
Fighting game professionals often consider Tier Lists frequently. These lists have become popular even in FPS shooting games, MOBAs like LOL and Dota, or hero games like Overwatch and Paladins.
When a competitive game receives an update, a question that arises is how the changes in the game will affect the tier list. This can also occur with the addition of new characters, abilities, or weapons in the game.
Some players often use low-ranking characters in a Tier List to gain certain advantages in some tournaments. As players are used to playing with the best on the list, others use the worst as a surprise element and master that character’s abilities.
Popular Divisions of the Tier List
Nowadays, letter rankings are widely used to create Tier Lists, but originally there are some divisions worth highlighting:
God Tier – The top of the tier list, usually powerful characters like Gods; fans prefer not to place this type of tier to avoid compromising the game. Generally, these are characters that have power far beyond the others. Some are even banned from tournaments.
Trash Tier – As the name suggests, they are complete trash. The worst of the worst characters, the most hated, the useless ones that shouldn’t even exist. Generally, some get upset seeing a favorite character thrown into this list.
Top Tier – Generally the strongest characters in the game, but not as powerful and abusive as God Tiers. They are usually ranked S or A in current Tier Lists.
Middle Tier – Those who cannot be good in some aspects, unable to reach the top. They are in between Ranking B and C.
Low Tier – These are characters with some serious disadvantages, different from others who end up being overlooked. Generally, they are below Ranking D.
Some lists use different ratings like [S+, S-, A+, A, A-]. Others often use any custom word to classify the layers of a Tier List.
Making Your Own Tier List – How to Create
Nowadays, the ranking from S+ to any letter you wish is used, with S+ being the God Tier or Top Tier. These lists can be created both vertically and horizontally. Generally, the lines follow the direction of a traditional table.
Below we have an example of a Traditional Tier List:
The tier lists can be assembled on sites like:
I usually use the first site on the list above. There you already have all the images of the specific type of list you want to create, and you can also rename the Rankings to whatever words you want. Others prefer to create in the paint or text editor, while some use mobile applications.
You can make a funny list or a serious list. To make a serious list that will be used as an influence for others, it is best to know all the characters and not be biased against any of them. Sometimes you like or are used to a particular character, but you will see a popular Tier List on the internet and find them at the bottom of the ranking.
My Tier Lists
Below I want to share all the Tier Lists that I created to share on my website:
Japan Tourist Attractions Tier List
Anime Tier List
Favorite Waifus Tier List
The Most Searched Tier Lists on the Internet
What do people usually make Tier Lists about? With that in mind, here is a list of Games, Animes, and other things that people most often search for or make Tier Lists about:
- Genshin Impact
- Mobile Legends
- All Star Tower Defense
- Maker
- Genshin
- Dragon Ball Legends
- Tft
- Anime
- Adc
- Afk Arena
- Arena of Valor
- Archero
- Genshin Impact Weapons
- All Star Roblox
- Brawl Stars
- Bleach
- Brawlhalla
- Bijuu Shinobi Life 2
- Boku No Hero
- Brawl Stars 2020
- Boruto
- Blox Fruits
- Creator
- Clash Royale
- Cod Mobile
- Champions Lol
- Lol
- Champions Legion
- Comp Tft
- Champions Lol
- Danganronpa
- Db Legends
- Dragon Ball
- Dota 2
- Dragon Ball Fighterz
- Disney
- Dbd
- Epic Seven
- Elsword
- Exos Heroes
- Eternal Return
- Elements Shinobi Life 2
- Epic Seven Reroll
- Edh
- Exos Heroes Global
- Fnaf
- Fortnite
- Fate Go
- Final Fate Td
- Fire Emblem Heroes
- Fighterz
- for Honor
- Ffbe
- Grand Chase
- Genkai Shinobi Life 2
- Guardian Tales
- Genshin Impact 1.1
- Genshin Impact Reddit
- Genkais Shinobi Life 2
- Hearthstone
- Honkai Impact
- Hots
- Hero Cantare
- Hunter X Hunter
- Haikyuu
- Healer Shadowlands
- Hades
- Illusion Connect
- Idle Heroes
- Identity v
- Injustice 2
- Items Lol
- Injustice
- Items Tft
- Idola
- Jg
- Jojo
- Games
- Jojo Stands
- Jg s10
- Football Players
- Jump Force
- Jojo Parts
- Kekkei Genkai Shinobi Life 2
- King’s Raid
- Kof All Star
- Kof 2002
- Kimetsu No Yaiba
- King Piece
- King’s Raid 2020
- Kg Shinobi Life 2
- Lol 2020
- LOL
- Lost Ark
- Mid
- Mlbb
- Mk11
- Mobile Legends Adventure
- Marvel Future Fight
- Minecraft
To finish, watch a video of how YouTubers usually record these Lists in their videos:
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