'Smash Ultimate' Tier List: Leffen Reveals the Best and Worst Characters

It’s been just over a month since Super Smash Bros. Ultimate first launched and the debate over which characters are best (and worst) rages on. Now, one of the most formidable Smashers in the world (and the top-ranked Melee player) is offering their latest tier list for the game, and it comes with some pretty big surprises.

William Peter Hjelte (aka, Leffen) has already ranked the Smash Bros. Ultimate lineup a few times in the past month. However, his latest tier list, released this week on YouTube, offers an updated take on the sprawling roster of fighters. Peach fans will be pleased to learn that the princess is now Leffen’s top-ranked character, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s tried playing her in the game — Princess Peach is as overpowered as ever in Ultimate.

Even more surprising, Leffen now ranks King K. Rool dead last (alongside Charizard). The Donkey Kong villain ranked highly early on, but in a follow-up tier list he was demoted to the middle of the pack. Now this oversized crocodile is at the very bottom of the rankings, according to Leffen.

This abrupt change is likely due to the fact that as a new character, it took players a few weeks to figure out the best way to counter King’s powerful attacks. Now that enough time has passed, the Smash community is apparently less impressed. The same can’t be said for Inkling, another new character that’s maintained a spot in the top tier, while Richter was demoted just one tier in Leffen’s latest list.

The new tier list takes an interesting approach, organizing the roster on a graph where the X-axis designates how well-rounded a fighter is while the Y-axis simply shows their tier. Check it out below in this visual form along with a regular list.

Top Tier/Well-Rounded:

• Princess Peach
• Pokémon Trainer
• Wario, Yoshi, Pikachu, Cloud, Palutena, Inkling
• Mewtwo, ROB, Marth, Link, Lucina
• Ivysaur, Greninja
• Shulk, Sonic
• Jigglypuff, Ness, Ken
• Mii Gunner, Ryu
• Pit

Top Tier/ Has Faults:

• Pichu, Donkey Kong
• Ike
• Chrom, Richter, Fox, Mega Man
• Luigi, Roy, Falco, Young Link
• Wolf
• Snake, Dr. Mario, Olimar, Diddy Kong, Zero Suit Samus
• Lucario, Meta Knight, Mii Swordfighter, Bowser, Ridley
• Toon Link, Mario, Pac-Man

Low Tier/Well-Rounded

• Corrin
• Lucas, Captain Falcon, Villager
• Zelda, Isabelle

Low Tier/ Has Faults

• Squirtle, Sheik, King Dedede, Bayonetta
• Incineroar
• Ice Climbers, Duck Hunt, Samus
• Ganondorf, Rosalina
• King K. Rool, Charizard

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now for Nintendo Switch.