Friend: "So, why did you pick Ramlethal as your main?" Me: "Oh I liked the swords and the zoning potential and cool design" My Soul: "You picked her because of the thighs"
Brother: "why did you waste 100 dollars in both Xrd and Strive?" Me: "Oh, people say that strive is easier than the other games, so i bought xrd too for in case i want to-" My brother: " it was baiken wasn't it?"
Strive Faust really illustrates one of the possible strengths of a low tier, which is no one practices the match up and Faust in particular has a lot of quirks specific to him. He's bad because of unsafe tools. But if the opponent doesn't know or practice the punishes, well then those weaknesses disappear
Ok but sol’s kick is still a frame 3 punish that leads to big damage. This argument implies that in that match up if I’m sol (pot player FYI just using this as an example) and you’re Faust that I’m some sorta fuckin idiot who isn’t gonna try my fastest punish option when you do something and just never get a punish. People are still gonna try.
@@Neogears1312 and I would say: "thanks for using the move I thought you will for sure use" and punish it. That's just matchup knowledge. Faust players play Sol more than what Sol players play Faust.
For the main comment is that it is mentioned the *Low tiers benefit from the opponent not knowing the matchup*, but from that perspective you may have some tricks to confuse your opponent a couple of times, after that they adapt (unless their not that good). But the main thing that actually makes low tiers good is the reverse. *low tiers play the best characters almost all the time that they know how to deal with them better than how they opponent can deal with you* The best characters in the game are the best for a reason, but at least in Strive the characters are rather balanced compared to other fighting games so low tiers aren't that bad.
I'm one of the "Believers", and I know exactly why too. My introduction to competitive games was Overwatch. The first character to be added was Sombra who, at the time, was considered easily the worst character in the game. They said she could do any damage, her teleport and invisibilty were liabilities. I took this as a challenge to prove that she was actually one of the best characters in the game; I believed that a good Sombra could win literally any fight due to Hack being such a crippling ability. I decided to main her. I ran the numbers and found she actually did the same amount of damage as tracer over 3 seconds. I found that the teleport had invulnerability on activation meaning it could hard counter D.Va's Self Destruct and essentially take her out of the fight with Hack. EMP entirely negated Lucio's Sound Barrier and shields meaning offensive pushes were no longer a threat provided Sombra had her ultimate which was among the fastest charging ultimates in the game. Hacking a large health pack gave her better single target healing than Mercy. I had found that this character was BUSTED from a balance perspective. I knew that Sombra would define the meta someday. Lo and behold, she later was the hard counter to the infamous GOATs team composition and considered to be the most broken character in the game. It felt amazing knowing that I correctly predicted the hard counter to the metagame of a massive esport 2 years in advance, and I play low tiers because I want to be along for the ride Sombra went on again someday.
That reminds me; I used to use the SG all the time in CSGO. I got ridiculed constantly for it being a "low skill cod gun", but it was practically just an AK (most popular weapon in the game) with better stats, and despite that, it was never used by the majority... until it got a small price reduction years later and its use skyrocketed, even after the price change was reverted. One outrage and massive nerf later and it's useless now, but it was fun while it lasted!
@@derakino999 BTW, here's my new prediction. Goldlewis is actually mad fucking good. Not the best character in the game, but far better than where people typically place him next to Anji and Faust.
@@remlet3753 The accuracy is only slightly better than the ak, and an easier pattern doesn't make up for the slower ROF. Note how little the SG is used in pro matches.
I feel like a reason you didn't mention is exploiting matchup unfamiliarity by playing a low tier. Most players will be less practiced against these less common characters.
@@valla7644 the thing about low tiers is that not many people play them, so it's EXTREMELY difficult for an entire community to "get used to them", because the only real way is for that to happen is for you to be the best frickin player in the world and play enough against all the pros enough for them to get used to it.
@@Glennjamyyyn I know what you're saying since it's just normal to not play against a good player of every character, but everyone doesn't need to know the matchup of every character. There's also not many good lowtier character players, much less running into them in a match, so the odds of even competing against them is lower.
Also in my opinion for why not everyone needs to know every matchup, it's that if you're not actively competing then there's no need to know the matchup (unless personal satisfaction I guess).
1: playing top tiers is boring and feels unfair even if everyone can pick them 2: losing against a low tier is humilliating 3: i get bored of seing the same character everytime so i rather play unpopular chars
A little tip for anyone getting into a fighting game: Look at the tier lists AFTER you get a favorite character to play. I have seen many friends starting to enjoy a low tier but then not playing it cause they saw the tier list before getting deep into the character.
Panda won a tekken 7 tournament and was considered poop tier. Most of those tier lists are BS, there are games from 30 years ago where people keep changing the list all the time.
Honestly I only play low-tiers because I can blame my character instead of my lack of skill for losing, and double the humiliation for my opponents when they lose to an underwhelming character.
@2d fighter fan Don't know how to articulate it but I like the challenge that comes with getting better but at a certain point frame data/hit boxes don't lie and you can see how much of an uphill battle most matchups are but the climb is what I find fun -With plenty of BM along the way and a protected ego-
I'm never ashamed to lose any match up. It's all about learning to play better. If you rarely play against a character and you are playing a common character, expect a hard time the first couple of games while you adjust to the playstyle and learn counter play. It's just a hobby after all.
@@aaronn.5164 Obviously, it's just a game but the challenge is the best part of using a genuine low tier. Overcoming all odds and knowing you deserved the win because of a sort of soft handicap is much more satisfying than using a character who's toolkit doesn't limit your abilities.
@@IC-23 all I'm saying is that in some cases, depending upon skill levels, it might not be the low tier overcoming the odds. After all, if you have 100 hours as Hakan but your opponent has 2 as Chun Li, then the advantage is still with the Hakan player.
@@aaronn.5164 Obviously experience matters more the majority of time but in ranked when you get matched up with someone of a similar rank you'll notice Meta McGee wins more often the not.
I always pick characters based on how much I enjoy them… and more often than not I find out later that they’re low tier lol. Faust, bowser jr, Enkidu and so on. But I don’t feel like just changing whoever I play just because they’re not necessarily as good, I just want to play whoever’s fun.
I have certain playstyles, aesthetics, and general character things I enjoy about particular game plans, and I pick characters based on those. I'm pretty sure this has led to me playing bottom-tiers in literally every game I've ever touched, with the exception of UNICLR and Melty Blood, where I picked: Gordeau, who's generally pretty good, and Roa, who is considered the best character in the game. Oh, sure _eventually_ I started playung Baiken and Johnny in Xrd, but I'm an Axl main at heart and most people consider him like, Third or fourth worst character in the game. This is a recurring theme. I gravitate to bad characters
@@burgermeister8261 I know the feeling. I managed to do some clean up at a super local college tournament that had some legit competitive players there by playing as Bowser Jr. I basically just ended up taking advantage of the fact that (at the time) Jr. wasn't the easiest to launch and I was spamming up and down specials to make a safe platform for myself while I was using neutral to harass. I ended up with this weird situation where everyone knew what I was doing, I'd park on a platform, keep mechakoopas at the ready, and blow up my car if you got close to me, but nobody could stop it. It was the weirdest feeling because people who actively studied this were just getting baited left and right over a casual player sticking to his one strat and milking that shit for every drop.
I just play characters I think are cool, but I also try to avoid the highest of high tiers cuz I don't like playing characters everyone else is playing.
I agree with this. I've always gone by this mentality that I should do something different because, chances are, there's something that should be done, but is being left out. Also, I just like the challenge
@@Dankreaper124 I personally stopped caring about meta. its more of a guide to tell you how to ease into a game competitively. I think the best way is to play the meta first then experiment because remember that choosing unorthodox characters is a gamble on if you like them or not, risking you`re enjoyment of a game where as a meta choice is safer. in smash ultimate i tried out almost everyone and found that I enjoy Zero Suit Samus over Hero who i originally thought would be my main due to her moveset feeling satisfying and my pace of playing where as before i tried Hero, Bayonetta, Corrin, All of the Links, Kazuya, Pit/Dark Pit, Terry, Ryu and Ken, Marth/Lucina, Min Min (who i may try again), Pyra/Mythra (also may try again), ROB, Cloud, Sephiroth, Ike (my original main) and Little Mac. Out of all of those characters I felt like something was missing, either they weren`t fast enough in attacking/movement or they had movesets that seemed simple and understandable at first only for none of them to "click" perfectly like I wanted it to, no matter how much i practiced with them it just never felt "right" or "my way" until I put my Anti-Meta thoughts aside and chose ZSS and it finally clicked. So for me Meta is like Training wheels for competitive play, use it until you get familiar with the game as a whole then branch out into more unorthodox options like low tier characters.
Most of the time, Low Tiers are either joke characters or unorthodox/gimmicky characters, and those are by far my favourites since they always have the most wacky designs and I enjoy playing a different game from everyone else. But it's not always the case, for example I play Arakune in BlazBlue and he is not bad at all. Also, I wanted to play Faust and I knew he was a great top 5 character in almost all the GG games, but when I started playing Strive (my first GG), he just happened to be Low Tier.
I remember when a new game came out, I looked up a tier list and played the ***worst*** character because I like a challange and I thought it would be cool. Some people may call me dumb and say pick a top tier, but I feel it more as being a underdog in an anime. I ended up being more competitive in the game and turned into believer. "If you play near perfectly she has options for everything." Course, while putting in so much time, I kept losing to people who dont even pratice because their options were more consistant. People kept reminding my character sucks and I started wondering if I should pick a top tier. When doing player rankings I got ranked out of the top 10, which makes sense as I lose more than others, but it stung as it felt all my effort was going to nothing. Regardless, now that I'm replaying the game after a couple months, I realize I don't regret the character choice. They were genuinely fun and felt like an extension of me. Maybe I would of won a tourney if I picked a different character but this is the path I chose and I should fine with that. And you should too.
I play Ultimate, and I main Corrin. One of the biggest reasons is because they’re statistically the least played character in the game, I love Fire Emblem and FE Fates, and because they’re a low tier, and you don’t see low tiers that often. (Also to double down on the “least played” part, I play Male Corrin lmao)
Corrin was my main too for the longest time (male btw because I chose male Corrin for Fates), until I discovered Piranha Plant. Now I’m still playing a low tier who you never see online, but it’s plant gang so it’s cool.
Even after season 4 buffs, Frieza is still low tier, but he's so damn fun to play. Also, killing the opponent as Golden Frieza is one of the biggest dopamine rushes ever.
For me it is usually circumstantial. I just pick characters that fit my playstyle and usually my favorites end up being low tiers. Though in my case I am not a Grappler player. I tend to just play small munchkins and people that are zoners. I usually end up hating the higher tier zoners in games I play but with each one I have a specific explanation. The only exception to this funny enough is Smash Bros Ultimate because I like Olimar and THEN they added Min Min and since I love arms I play them too so I got lucky my characters are good in that game.
Personally, I really relate and gravitate towards joke characters. And it just so happens that joke characters are often low tiers. I'm someone who mained Neco-Arc in Melty Blood and (not a FG but) Techies in Dota 2 before the rework ruined him. There's something really cathartic about the small little dumb joke character that appeals to me. The one that makes competitive people rage and get salty. I exclusively play video-games for fun and despise hardline competitiveness and people who don't tolerate having fun, so playing the bottom tier joke character speaks to me on every level. I don't think there's a single PvP or PvE game I can think of that I ever played as anything even slightly meta.
I just play whoever falls into the category of "Who I vibe with" and "Playstyle I can immediately grasp". Statistically, it hasn't really ever been a high tier character, but I'm a fairly low execution player anyway so there's that too.
"I picked the low tier to give you a chance" "If i didn't picked the worst character i would go againts my master's code of not bullying the weak" "I wanted to enjoy fighting and beating you 10 seconds max wouldn't be enjoyable"
Honestly i just play low tiers for the sheer satisfaction of winning with them against people who play better characters Edit: Wow, my first comment to actully get likes, nice :)
Same, I started with Giovanna and am now in love with Faust. I could have went the dirty route and play Sol, but I choose the "wE liVE In A Society" way
I remember after school going to the library to play Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm against kids and everytime one of them insisted that of course their Madara/Naruto/etc would win because they were strong in the show, I would whip out Young Sakura and do my best to stomp them. Obviously, it didnt always work out since some kids are just amazing at games, but when I won it was the greatest feeling.
I love playing low tier characters purely because no one expects them to be good. I strive to see them grow strong. People do love the underdog more often than not don't they?
Honestly, most times it's just circumstancial. I just end up liking low tier characters. Little mac in ultimate, gief in sf5, hugo in sf3, tager in blazblue, etc. But there's also that sick sense of satisfaction knowing that i managed to win with a low tier. My character wasn't the one carrying me, i was the one carrying them to the next level of play by learning how to properly use all of their tools. It feels good to know that you are the sole reason that you've achieved that victory, and this feeling often doesn't come when playing top tiers. I tried playing sol in strive and dear fucking GOD was it boring. I felt like i was getting rewarded all the time for the smallest of risks that i took, and i didn't like that. I gotta just stick with low tiers, cus that's who i am lol
To be fair, some top tiers are also very difficult, like Vatista in Under Night, but I totally know what you mean, top tiers that are mostly just good because their moves are all really safe don't excite me much to play
@@princesssweepzzt5502 bruh vatista is a zoner with good movement, what is difficult about her? Like, i'm not shittalking, i just don't play undernight and am genuinely interested in learning why she is supposedly hard
Some people just like being the underdog and playing around it. Weird example, but _chess_ is actually consistently in the white side's favor because they get to move first, as opposed to black that moves second. However, there's a good number of chess grandmasters who prefer to play black, and many books have been written on the subject. Handing your opponent the initiative gives you a greater opportunity to exploit their weaknesses.
@@Nestix_the_stupid_one her combos are really easy to drop and she's a 4 way charge character who's combos and pressure are very reliant on negative edge and circumstantial based on what you're already holding. If you drop a combo at most points you also eat a punish. This is just what I've heard from vat mains so this might be bs tho
@@slmnemo That's exactly it, that's why a lot of charge characters end up being really good because they have really good moves only held back by inputs
2:10 This is 100% me. Something about Faust's design spoke to me on a personal level. Something about a character that looks like a terrifying monster, but is actually a really nice person who does their best to help people. I liked his design so much that one could even say that Faust is one of the big reasons i got into Guilty Gear Strive in the first place. It also helps that I find him fun to play as, and the feeling of beating a good player with him is so much greater than if i was playing a high tier. Also I REALLY want to know what the hell happened to him. How does one go from a smartly dressed wacky doctor to a silent hill monster in scrubs???
By the way "meta" is not "most effective tactic available", but is short for "metagame", referring to the "game within the game" of figuring out matchups and strategies
It can mean both really. When referring to the "meta" character you mean the best character so the other definition doesn't really fit with the use of the word there.
@@jojak0512 Original definition still stands, if you take all the characters and put them on a tier list outlining all their strengths and weaknesses, understanding their matchups and everything else, you form the "most effective tactic available", which can only be generated because of metagaming. This definition holds even stronger by the fact that the meta can change, people might opt to use strategies that counters the meta, which turns into a mind game only possible if there was a game within a game. Meta being defined as "most effective tactic available" is only possible because of the original sense, and you can extend this to form the other definition.
The reason I gravitate towards the lower tier characters is because I thoroughly enjoy the aspect of being the underdog, and uphill battles are the ones that I generally find to be the most interesting to me.
From years of playing Zangief, I'v learned that, people who say that he is weak, are just a bunch of lazy sissies who dosen't have the balls to pick a 6ft tall Russian that smashs you in the ground while screaming: "CYCLONE!!" using just the power of his muscles and of _Mother Rusia_
I mained Bang Shishigami in Blazblue because he had a badass meme song play when he went off and no other reason, and I would do it again in an instant
Frequently, I find myself either playing one of the best characters, or one of the worst in the game. Funnily enough, it’s always be accident, as I only check tier lists until after I pick a main character. It’s pretty funky if you ask me.
Something I don't think was mentioned is how sometimes Low Tier characters can have tools that make them more useful in certain, specific matchups. If you have a character that has, say, a 3-7 matchup against three of the four top tiers, but an 8-2 against the last, that could lead to a few specialists if that last high-tier is more popular, especially in your local area or online. Contrary to, like, the existence of tier lists as a whole, power is neither linear nor innate: It's all about the tools and what you can do with them.
I play Little Mac in Smash Ultimate who for those who haven't played the game is dead bottom tier. What I love about him is not only does he fit my footsies whiff punish playstyle so perfectly, he *plays* like a low-tier. He's a regular boxer dude fighting against literal gods, wizards and humans with super human strength and giant swords. Fighting as him makes you feel like an underdog fighting against the odds which is exactly how you feel in his original game in Punch-Out. Him being a low-tier really fits the personality and feeling of the character and I absolutely love the aesthetic. There's just something so satisfying about winning with a true underdog character, not out of some sense of "haha you got beat by a low-tier" but actually for a love of the character and their style of play.
Very minor thing at 5:43 that doesn't matter at all: While I'm not sure there's a _definitive_ answer on this, I'm fairly sure the acronym Most Efficient Tactic Avaliable is actually a retroactive explanation for where "meta" comes from that isn't true. "meta" can be used to mean "something within itself", hence the "metagame" is "the game within the game". The "main game" is the actual fighting, the "metagame" is which character you choose to select or other choices you might make. So, the community's overall conception of which characters are best to pick is "the meta".
I can say right now I play Faust and Anji in strive because their kits are an absolute blast because of how unique they are, they're hot, winning as an underdog is typically more rewarding (though I will not complain if I lose against a high tier) and they have the best themes.
I remember becoming a Cloud main in Smash 4 just because he looked cool. Won a couple of very local tourneys during video game club with him. I always thought he was meh competitively, but holy SHIT, was I wrong. Turns out he was basically a contender for second best character in the game, iirc.
he was by far the best character at mid level, unbeatable in doubles, 2nd in singles at high level etc etc. bayonetta was far better in theory yeah, but she really only RUINED high and top level play heres a few of the things that made cloud INSANE he had very good airspeed, a wall jump, and a fast dash dair autocancels so effortlessly, and combos into everything (including fair spike) his upair is arguably the best juggling tool in the entire game, its hitbox is insanely disjointed and safe, (and it autocancels) his nair only had one main thing going for it, but still managed to be a MONSTER. it was, to but it lightly, INSANELY BIG. it took up an unreasonable amount of space and was super safe to just spam. basically his entire moveset is SUPER disjointed and safe his projectile was medicore, his recovery was bad, and his throws were only decent. this sounds like a pretty good, if balanced character right? WRONG BECAUSE OF LIMIT BREAK cloud just had to camp and press down b occasionally, which was NOT hard with how insane and safe his disjoints were and then BOOM he has limit, now you LOSE every physical attribute is cranked up to 11, whether is be his traction, run speed, dash speed, walk speed, and and the fastest airspeed IN THE ENTIRE GAME ON TOP OF his normals become far better, and his specials can be supercharged to UNGODLY levels of power which make killing a breeze, combing and camping super easy and effective, remember how he had a bad recovery? with limit, not anymore. remember how his projectile was mediocre? its top 5 now remember how his side b was all right? now its the best side b in the entire game the worst part was there was no limit on how long he could have full limit, and if you messed up once you died at >90 this character was unreasonably powerful, and was even more opressive in sm4sh doubles than BRAWL META KNIGHT WAS IN SINGLES AND WAS BANNED.
@@LloydTheZephyrian his upthrow went a pretty fair distance up, and considering how unreal his juggling was he generally got a good bit from grab. his dthrow was pretty bad though, uniquely bad i daresay. his bthrow and fthrow had good angles and got you stage control so they were just all right. (also his pummel did 3% for some reason?) mediocre throws, yeah, but they werent useless for certian
Another reason to pick low teirs is due to lack of matchup knowledge. Everyone is more likely to know how their character fights against high tier characters but they might have gaps against lower tier characters. In non-competitive settings this lets low tier characters get away with some of the dirtiest jank setups in the universe simply because their opponent hasn't vsed their character enough to know the counter and I find that stuff super fun to use.
Painwheel is an amazing example of low tier. Pain wheel isn’t bad by any means, she’s just not as strong as the other characters. She is super strong though and the hardest to pick up and play. And she struggles with zoners but can murder you with super armor, being small, and mix ups
Low tier doesn't mean the character can't win. It just means they have weaknesses that can be exploited more easily. A smart player knows how to make it past these weaknesses and make good use of the strengths.
This channel is basically video essay parody material but on the off chance it's actually serious I'll drop one other reason you didn't list for why someone might play low tiers. A lot of top tiers are strong because they have core normals/specials/tools/etc that are just good and have little to no downsides to using them. They might be hard to whiff punish, safe/plus on block, do lots of damage, not need to hitconfirm/have easy hitconfirms etc. Essentially they might just be very easy to play correctly, and not require much thought to play effectively. This might also appeal to the more casual competitor who just wants to see more W's than L's on their screen, but might not appeal to someone who wants to spend time practicing combos, labbing out situations and learning character specific tech.
Usually it happens that my favorite characters tend to be low tiers without my knowledge. Twelve scratches that itch of that weird shapeshifter I like a lot. Q just looks cool as hell. Of course this is case specific. I’m in love with Muay Thai and crazy muscle proportions so I naturally gravitated from king and AK straight to fahkumram. Turns out he was top one when he came out. I also like Abigail despite him not being horrible. I tend to go towards characters that I find visually/personality appealing. It’s why my absolute main in any game that has him is Dudley. A solid high-mid tier mix up rushdown character with a heavy focus on oki. If you like a characters look or personality just play them man.
Somehow, in every fighting game I play, I end up playing the low tier characters. I don't try to, but I tend to gravitate towards a playtime that tends to have lower tier characters. Giovanna is probably the highest tier character I play.
I've had this exact same thing happen lmao. It's probably an archetype thing but at this point I just look at the tier list and immediately go to the bottom for new games
I'm an archetype guy personally. Ever since I picked Carl as my main in BlazBlue I fell in love with puppet characters. Though they usually aren't low tier.
For me it's entirely about the feeling of the character, as well as how hard it is to hit those satisfying hits. For example, I mained Ganondorf for the majority of smash 4, and he's still my most played character in ultimate (quickly being overtaken by DDD and mii gunner tho) mostly because of how it feels to land schnice offstage shenanigans where the risk is so much higher for me than my opponent, usually. Ganon in particular is very meaty and despite being slow in almost every way still has a couple tools that are enough to carry the rest of his kit. Also, just because a move is bad, doesn't mean people won't get hit by it. I've landed Ganon up-tilt more times than I can count, and the same goes for DDD F-smash and up-B. Honestly what I've learned is that speed makes a character good. Frame data, small size, and easy movement make for a high-tier (Pika, Joker). But, that's just not fun for me. Besides, low-tier mains gotta have better fundies than everyone else. They don't really get to be carried by good character design.
I think that one major factor to picking a low tier character is the concept. A character could be the worst character in the game but could still drive a loyal base of players who like that characters concept . An example i know of is (debatably) Lawbringer from For Honor. He's slow and doesn't really have many ways to approach the fight but people like the character so much that they will keep playing him.
Well, if there's a wacky/uncanny character in the roster, I'd pick 'em without a second thought. Also all item archetype characters, like Faust, Teddie from P4AU, and Konohamaru team from PS2 era of Naruto fighting games. Those are always the treat for RNG junkie like me
Same for my case when it comes to Platinum in Blazblue and I suppose Meitenkun in KOF 14. Teddie, Jack-O and Faust I also use along with Mr. Game and Watch.
I play almost exclusively big body characters in every game I play (Smash, GGST, GBVS, Overwatch, League, even D&D), so I’m used to being a low tier player in fighting games. Strive is a nice change of pace because Potemkin is shaping up to be a pretty strong character and even though he has glaring weaknesses, I don’t think Goldlewis is as bad as people say he is.
Definitely character loyalty for me. I rarely look at a tier list before I pick my character so I often don't pick very good characters but actually liking my character gives me the motivation to improve that picking a character just because they're good never will and I'm better off being decent at a bad character than bad with a good character most of the time. I used to almost always pick a low tier by pure chance but thankfully that happens less often recently although it still does happen now my curse seems to be that I'll always pick a character people seem to hate and it's rarely for the same reason.
5:44 meta does not mean "most efficient tactic available" it just means the game outside of the game, the unwritten rules or ideals that make up a game whether it be something on a large scale like the option select described defining the meta, or something smaller and more personal like learning an individuals playstyle and patterns to counter them, changing the meta of that specific fight
its a funny thing but it *_actually_* is supposed to mean "most efficient tactic available" and has been used as that since its origins in game communities, it's just a coincidence that you can give it the metagame meaning as well
I've been playing Faust since XX, so if you think I'm gonna drop him because he sucks then you're wrong! He still has his items and weird moments that tricks top players
1) an option select is specifically a situation where you do one, unchanging sequence of inputs and cover multiple options depending on what your opponent does, like blocking if your opponent presses a button within a certain timing and breaking a throw if they try to throw you instead- however they do not cover every option and will lose to alternative timings or option that the sequence is not designed to counter 2) meta isn't an acronym it's short for metagame, as in the "game within the game" 3) 7-3 matchups don't really exist in modern games, the worst character in strive has winnable yet volatile matchups they'd rather avoid whereas the worst character in melty is virtually unplayable in a number of matchups sidenote: everybody kouma is a mid tier not a low tier don't be afraid to play him
I mained Satsuki despite her being pretty low rated back the old Melty Blood days because I'm old with dull reactions and her bread and butter combo was essentially about chaining a command grab into another command grab for a total of maybe 9 hits tops. That I could execute, and remember how to; no frame perfect inputs needed and didn't need me to memorize multiple 35+ input combos that carry from the ground to the air and travel across the arena.
Low tier is only a state of mind. Unless of course the character was straight up designed to be terrible or they play like they don't belong in the game in which case yikes good luck.
I honestly pick characters purely off of design and feel. Its the reason I picked up Bridget when she dropped. Not only am I a sucker for trans rep, I genuenly loved her design, and when I started playing her, I just kinda clicked with her playstyle. Same with Dead Apostle Noel in TL. She looks cute as hell, has some weird lore, and refuses to let anyone near her because fuck you pin go brr.
Whenever i pick a character in a fighting game i haven’t played before, i just go by “Yo this guy looks cool” and then most of the time that character becomes my main…
i dont really play fighting games that often but im generally pretty good at dodging stuff, so i just think its hilarious i can actually truthfully pull out the "you lost to a low tier character against somebody who doesnt even play this game that often, nice job" card everytime i actually win
I find my reason for playing lower tier characters is a combination of liking a character enough to remain loyal to them, and the catharsis of feeling like I won because I worked harder for it.
Now I'm far from being a prominent fighting game player but when I play I usually go for the characters that I like the look of and/or have a funky moveset. Yoshimitsu and voldo in soulcalibre, Ms fortune in skullgirls, the fucking lolipop head guy from that one dodgeball fighter I forgot the name of just now. It's always fun to get good with a character few play seriously as it kinda gives you the advantage against your opponent who doesnt know wtf to do when yoshimitsu just pogo hops against them at mach 4. It's one hell of a crutch sure since once the opponent knows then the jig is up and you'll have to resort on you actual skill. Another flavor of the same style is playing the mid tier entry characters. I used to play a lot of Battlerite and I almost only played Pestulus and Aska. Aska since he's just good no matter what and Pesti because, as my duo friend and I used to say "Pesti is Besti" we just happened to find playstyles where my pesti could comp really well with his style making us win games we had no reason to.... Fuck now I miss playing these games
After a short reflection I can think two main reasons outside of simply enjoying the character 1. The challenge. There is a great enjoyment to be found in thoroughly out playing your opponent. In knowing that a win was yours completely, that you worked hard for it, and that your work may have been more then theirs. Achieving victory with handicaps grants a feeling of great satisfaction and personal mastery, a hype moment for yourself and the crowd. To achieve victory against all odds by your own hands is a great pleasure like no other. 2. Masochism
this convo applies to WoT to a certain extent too: -there are metas in the community -tanks that aren't meta are known to be disgustingly good in the hands of a competent player (underdogs) -there are no actual "best" tanks. it's all depending on your playstyle -there's always that one Tiger fanboy who thinks he's invincible ("tank waifus" are a thing and we are all guilty of lusting for that Kruppstahl) -some tanks are situationally bad but have massive meme factor that makes them even better (KV2 152mm gun lmao)
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
the virgin tier list vs The Chad “This character is cool lol”
Tier Lists aren’t real, we already know this.
If the character is cool and they have really cool combos then of course I'm playing them
Screw tier list, im gonna play twelve and y'all cant stop me
Puyo
@@sigjuju1649 poyo
Friend: "So, why did you pick Ramlethal as your main?"
Me: "Oh I liked the swords and the zoning potential and cool design"
My Soul: "You picked her because of the thighs"
Brother: "why did you waste 100 dollars in both Xrd and Strive?"
Me: "Oh, people say that strive is easier than the other games, so i bought xrd too for in case i want to-"
My brother: " it was baiken wasn't it?"
Honest Me : "Because I want her on my bed."
Reading my mind I see
The moment they say they heard it's easier without even mentioning GBVS it's probably Baiken
I play low tier characters because of the "underdog" feeling of defeating a fan favorite!
Strive Faust really illustrates one of the possible strengths of a low tier, which is no one practices the match up and Faust in particular has a lot of quirks specific to him. He's bad because of unsafe tools. But if the opponent doesn't know or practice the punishes, well then those weaknesses disappear
That really works more on bad players. Normally those quirks work maybe 2 times and that's it. You showed your cards and maybe won 1 match.
Also helps that Strive is a game with balance worth a shit so even "low" tiers are not unplayable garbage.
Ok but sol’s kick is still a frame 3 punish that leads to big damage. This argument implies that in that match up if I’m sol (pot player FYI just using this as an example) and you’re Faust that I’m some sorta fuckin idiot who isn’t gonna try my fastest punish option when you do something and just never get a punish. People are still gonna try.
@@Neogears1312 and I would say: "thanks for using the move I thought you will for sure use" and punish it. That's just matchup knowledge. Faust players play Sol more than what Sol players play Faust.
For the main comment is that it is mentioned the *Low tiers benefit from the opponent not knowing the matchup*, but from that perspective you may have some tricks to confuse your opponent a couple of times, after that they adapt (unless their not that good).
But the main thing that actually makes low tiers good is the reverse. *low tiers play the best characters almost all the time that they know how to deal with them better than how they opponent can deal with you*
The best characters in the game are the best for a reason, but at least in Strive the characters are rather balanced compared to other fighting games so low tiers aren't that bad.
I'm one of the "Believers", and I know exactly why too.
My introduction to competitive games was Overwatch. The first character to be added was Sombra who, at the time, was considered easily the worst character in the game. They said she could do any damage, her teleport and invisibilty were liabilities. I took this as a challenge to prove that she was actually one of the best characters in the game; I believed that a good Sombra could win literally any fight due to Hack being such a crippling ability. I decided to main her.
I ran the numbers and found she actually did the same amount of damage as tracer over 3 seconds. I found that the teleport had invulnerability on activation meaning it could hard counter D.Va's Self Destruct and essentially take her out of the fight with Hack. EMP entirely negated Lucio's Sound Barrier and shields meaning offensive pushes were no longer a threat provided Sombra had her ultimate which was among the fastest charging ultimates in the game. Hacking a large health pack gave her better single target healing than Mercy. I had found that this character was BUSTED from a balance perspective. I knew that Sombra would define the meta someday.
Lo and behold, she later was the hard counter to the infamous GOATs team composition and considered to be the most broken character in the game. It felt amazing knowing that I correctly predicted the hard counter to the metagame of a massive esport 2 years in advance, and I play low tiers because I want to be along for the ride Sombra went on again someday.
That's right. Tiers are ever changing and are not set in stone.
That reminds me; I used to use the SG all the time in CSGO. I got ridiculed constantly for it being a "low skill cod gun", but it was practically just an AK (most popular weapon in the game) with better stats, and despite that, it was never used by the majority... until it got a small price reduction years later and its use skyrocketed, even after the price change was reverted. One outrage and massive nerf later and it's useless now, but it was fun while it lasted!
@@cassidy8307 tappers still benefit from the accuracy, not to mention its easy af recoil pattern
@@derakino999 BTW, here's my new prediction. Goldlewis is actually mad fucking good. Not the best character in the game, but far better than where people typically place him next to Anji and Faust.
@@remlet3753 The accuracy is only slightly better than the ak, and an easier pattern doesn't make up for the slower ROF. Note how little the SG is used in pro matches.
I feel like a reason you didn't mention is exploiting matchup unfamiliarity by playing a low tier. Most players will be less practiced against these less common characters.
So when people get used to that character you turn to the next low tier until you have no more low tiers to play?
@@valla7644 yes.
@@valla7644 the thing about low tiers is that not many people play them, so it's EXTREMELY difficult for an entire community to "get used to them", because the only real way is for that to happen is for you to be the best frickin player in the world and play enough against all the pros enough for them to get used to it.
@@Glennjamyyyn I know what you're saying since it's just normal to not play against a good player of every character, but everyone doesn't need to know the matchup of every character. There's also not many good lowtier character players, much less running into them in a match, so the odds of even competing against them is lower.
Also in my opinion for why not everyone needs to know every matchup, it's that if you're not actively competing then there's no need to know the matchup (unless personal satisfaction I guess).
1: playing top tiers is boring and feels unfair even if everyone can pick them
2: losing against a low tier is humilliating
3: i get bored of seing the same character everytime so i rather play unpopular chars
So fucking true
4. Being top tier does not mean you suit my play style either
smash in a nutshell
5. the top tire is looks bad
true
I play Anji in Strive and he just clicked for me. Now I'm addicted to hopium and the sound of heavy counter hits.
I'm addicted to raw Kachoufuugetsu. There's just something appealing about breaking someone's mental when I hit 50 meter.
SPIN TO WIN BAYBEEE LET’S GOOOO
YEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH LETS GOOOOOOO
BASED AND ANJIPILLED
The only times I play strive is at a friends house cause I don’t have a PS5 but oh my god I picked up Anji and he’s so fucking fun.
BATTLE CRY!
(BATTLE CRY!)
A little tip for anyone getting into a fighting game: Look at the tier lists AFTER you get a favorite character to play. I have seen many friends starting to enjoy a low tier but then not playing it cause they saw the tier list before getting deep into the character.
Nah, look at the tier lists then pick the very top tier
@@bilbobaggins7075 Bilbo Baggins how could you
@@bilbobaggins7075 Lawful evil move
Panda won a tekken 7 tournament and was considered poop tier. Most of those tier lists are BS, there are games from 30 years ago where people keep changing the list all the time.
@@bilbobaggins7075 that's lame tho
Honestly I only play low-tiers because I can blame my character instead of my lack of skill for losing, and double the humiliation for my opponents when they lose to an underwhelming character.
@2d fighter fan Don't know how to articulate it but I like the challenge that comes with getting better but at a certain point frame data/hit boxes don't lie and you can see how much of an uphill battle most matchups are but the climb is what I find fun
-With plenty of BM along the way and a protected ego-
I'm never ashamed to lose any match up. It's all about learning to play better. If you rarely play against a character and you are playing a common character, expect a hard time the first couple of games while you adjust to the playstyle and learn counter play. It's just a hobby after all.
@@aaronn.5164 Obviously, it's just a game but the challenge is the best part of using a genuine low tier. Overcoming all odds and knowing you deserved the win because of a sort of soft handicap is much more satisfying than using a character who's toolkit doesn't limit your abilities.
@@IC-23 all I'm saying is that in some cases, depending upon skill levels, it might not be the low tier overcoming the odds. After all, if you have 100 hours as Hakan but your opponent has 2 as Chun Li, then the advantage is still with the Hakan player.
@@aaronn.5164 Obviously experience matters more the majority of time but in ranked when you get matched up with someone of a similar rank you'll notice Meta McGee wins more often the not.
“Why do people play low tiers”
Uhhh they can be fun
From the wise words of a FGC boomer legend: "Just pick a top tier".
I remember rangchu beating the shit out of Qudans Devil jin with panda.
@@user-ov2kx8ql5i well the game is very balanced so no wonder , also i rearly played against panda probebly he 2
“Ya wanna win, yo? Pick a top tier.”
"I want the money to work for me im tired of working for the money'
@@Caine187 Ah a fellow Potemkin main
Man, as someone who hasn't played it for many years, Melty Blood suddenly being everywhere thanks to a meme is quite something.
I always pick characters based on how much I enjoy them… and more often than not I find out later that they’re low tier lol. Faust, bowser jr, Enkidu and so on. But I don’t feel like just changing whoever I play just because they’re not necessarily as good, I just want to play whoever’s fun.
I have certain playstyles, aesthetics, and general character things I enjoy about particular game plans, and I pick characters based on those. I'm pretty sure this has led to me playing bottom-tiers in literally every game I've ever touched, with the exception of UNICLR and Melty Blood, where I picked: Gordeau, who's generally pretty good, and Roa, who is considered the best character in the game.
Oh, sure _eventually_ I started playung Baiken and Johnny in Xrd, but I'm an Axl main at heart and most people consider him like, Third or fourth worst character in the game. This is a recurring theme. I gravitate to bad characters
Bowser jr is low tier?
@@monkeyman7332 Yeah. Not bottom tier, but def low. At the highest he's on the lower side of mid tier.
@@burgermeister8261 I know the feeling. I managed to do some clean up at a super local college tournament that had some legit competitive players there by playing as Bowser Jr. I basically just ended up taking advantage of the fact that (at the time) Jr. wasn't the easiest to launch and I was spamming up and down specials to make a safe platform for myself while I was using neutral to harass. I ended up with this weird situation where everyone knew what I was doing, I'd park on a platform, keep mechakoopas at the ready, and blow up my car if you got close to me, but nobody could stop it. It was the weirdest feeling because people who actively studied this were just getting baited left and right over a casual player sticking to his one strat and milking that shit for every drop.
Bowser Jr? I think you mean Roy
I like that when the character loyalty segment started you started playing Adachi’s theme. Adachi is the antithesis of low tier
I just play characters I think are cool, but I also try to avoid the highest of high tiers cuz I don't like playing characters everyone else is playing.
i like high tiers because usually they're good but they have a big flaw u have to work around or I think I just like having to work for my win lol idk
I agree with this. I've always gone by this mentality that I should do something different because, chances are, there's something that should be done, but is being left out. Also, I just like the challenge
Yeah same my least favorite thing in video games is META
@@Dankreaper124 I personally stopped caring about meta. its more of a guide to tell you how to ease into a game competitively. I think the best way is to play the meta first then experiment because remember that choosing unorthodox characters is a gamble on if you like them or not, risking you`re enjoyment of a game where as a meta choice is safer. in smash ultimate i tried out almost everyone and found that I enjoy Zero Suit Samus over Hero who i originally thought would be my main due to her moveset feeling satisfying and my pace of playing where as before i tried Hero, Bayonetta, Corrin, All of the Links, Kazuya, Pit/Dark Pit, Terry, Ryu and Ken, Marth/Lucina, Min Min (who i may try again), Pyra/Mythra (also may try again), ROB, Cloud, Sephiroth, Ike (my original main) and Little Mac.
Out of all of those characters I felt like something was missing, either they weren`t fast enough in attacking/movement or they had movesets that seemed simple and understandable at first only for none of them to "click" perfectly like I wanted it to, no matter how much i practiced with them it just never felt "right" or "my way" until I put my Anti-Meta thoughts aside and chose ZSS and it finally clicked.
So for me Meta is like Training wheels for competitive play, use it until you get familiar with the game as a whole then branch out into more unorthodox options like low tier characters.
@@Dankreaper124 your least favorite thing is being effective?
I'm a dedicated Yoshimitsu in Tekken 7. He has the lowest win rate in the game, but somehow no one knows what to do against him
Can't know what the yoshimitsu is doing if he doesn't know as well
POGO SWORD ACTIVATE!
probably don't know how to make his kit work either.
Most of the time, Low Tiers are either joke characters or unorthodox/gimmicky characters, and those are by far my favourites since they always have the most wacky designs and I enjoy playing a different game from everyone else. But it's not always the case, for example I play Arakune in BlazBlue and he is not bad at all. Also, I wanted to play Faust and I knew he was a great top 5 character in almost all the GG games, but when I started playing Strive (my first GG), he just happened to be Low Tier.
Yeah. Faust is now the way to detect if people only know Strive if they call him Laust
No one likes arakune except arakune mains
I too use Faust in both XRD Revelator/Rev 2 and Strive. Same I could say for Platinum, Teddie in P4AU, Mr. G&W, etc...
@@bnashtay2278 his design is funny tho. Sad that his gameplay is basically "stall for curse and then go apeshit" :(
CHAD Yoshimitsu being a mid tier unorthodox character
I remember when a new game came out, I looked up a tier list and played the ***worst*** character because I like a challange and I thought it would be cool. Some people may call me dumb and say pick a top tier, but I feel it more as being a underdog in an anime.
I ended up being more competitive in the game and turned into believer. "If you play near perfectly she has options for everything." Course, while putting in so much time, I kept losing to people who dont even pratice because their options were more consistant.
People kept reminding my character sucks and I started wondering if I should pick a top tier. When doing player rankings I got ranked out of the top 10, which makes sense as I lose more than others, but it stung as it felt all my effort was going to nothing.
Regardless, now that I'm replaying the game after a couple months, I realize I don't regret the character choice. They were genuinely fun and felt like an extension of me. Maybe I would of won a tourney if I picked a different character but this is the path I chose and I should fine with that. And you should too.
I play Ultimate, and I main Corrin. One of the biggest reasons is because they’re statistically the least played character in the game, I love Fire Emblem and FE Fates, and because they’re a low tier, and you don’t see low tiers that often.
(Also to double down on the “least played” part, I play Male Corrin lmao)
I play corrin too, only because she's cute lmao
Ice climber mains would love to argue that they’re the least played, but they don’t exist
@@bigcurly3881 lucario also
I've seen more lucarios and ices than corrins combined
Corrin was my main too for the longest time (male btw because I chose male Corrin for Fates), until I discovered Piranha Plant. Now I’m still playing a low tier who you never see online, but it’s plant gang so it’s cool.
Even after season 4 buffs, Frieza is still low tier, but he's so damn fun to play. Also, killing the opponent as Golden Frieza is one of the biggest dopamine rushes ever.
Killing an opponent with sorbet is a transcendent experience.
"I swear it was planned"
HIT EM WITH THE GOOD OL' TF2PAN.MP3
hitting a gogeta blue with that "All according to plan lord frieza!" is the best
For me it is usually circumstantial. I just pick characters that fit my playstyle and usually my favorites end up being low tiers. Though in my case I am not a Grappler player. I tend to just play small munchkins and people that are zoners. I usually end up hating the higher tier zoners in games I play but with each one I have a specific explanation. The only exception to this funny enough is Smash Bros Ultimate because I like Olimar and THEN they added Min Min and since I love arms I play them too so I got lucky my characters are good in that game.
i main toon link and me friends might need anger management afterwards
Personally, I really relate and gravitate towards joke characters. And it just so happens that joke characters are often low tiers. I'm someone who mained Neco-Arc in Melty Blood and (not a FG but) Techies in Dota 2 before the rework ruined him. There's something really cathartic about the small little dumb joke character that appeals to me. The one that makes competitive people rage and get salty. I exclusively play video-games for fun and despise hardline competitiveness and people who don't tolerate having fun, so playing the bottom tier joke character speaks to me on every level. I don't think there's a single PvP or PvE game I can think of that I ever played as anything even slightly meta.
I just play whoever falls into the category of "Who I vibe with" and "Playstyle I can immediately grasp". Statistically, it hasn't really ever been a high tier character, but I'm a fairly low execution player anyway so there's that too.
"I picked the low tier to give you a chance"
"If i didn't picked the worst character i would go againts my master's code of not bullying the weak"
"I wanted to enjoy fighting and beating you 10 seconds max wouldn't be enjoyable"
Twelve mains, rise up and tick throw
I will forever main the "I just think they're neat" option.
Honestly i just play low tiers for the sheer satisfaction of winning with them against people who play better characters
Edit: Wow, my first comment to actully get likes, nice :)
smart, so when you lose you can blame the character, that’s like a real life option select!
The grind lmao
this is me playing PU in Ubers
Same, I started with Giovanna and am now in love with Faust.
I could have went the dirty route and play Sol, but I choose the "wE liVE In A Society" way
I remember after school going to the library to play Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm against kids and everytime one of them insisted that of course their Madara/Naruto/etc would win because they were strong in the show, I would whip out Young Sakura and do my best to stomp them.
Obviously, it didnt always work out since some kids are just amazing at games, but when I won it was the greatest feeling.
I love playing low tier characters purely because no one expects them to be good. I strive to see them grow strong. People do love the underdog more often than not don't they?
Honestly, most times it's just circumstancial. I just end up liking low tier characters. Little mac in ultimate, gief in sf5, hugo in sf3, tager in blazblue, etc. But there's also that sick sense of satisfaction knowing that i managed to win with a low tier. My character wasn't the one carrying me, i was the one carrying them to the next level of play by learning how to properly use all of their tools. It feels good to know that you are the sole reason that you've achieved that victory, and this feeling often doesn't come when playing top tiers. I tried playing sol in strive and dear fucking GOD was it boring. I felt like i was getting rewarded all the time for the smallest of risks that i took, and i didn't like that. I gotta just stick with low tiers, cus that's who i am lol
To be fair, some top tiers are also very difficult, like Vatista in Under Night, but I totally know what you mean, top tiers that are mostly just good because their moves are all really safe don't excite me much to play
@@princesssweepzzt5502 bruh vatista is a zoner with good movement, what is difficult about her? Like, i'm not shittalking, i just don't play undernight and am genuinely interested in learning why she is supposedly hard
Some people just like being the underdog and playing around it. Weird example, but _chess_ is actually consistently in the white side's favor because they get to move first, as opposed to black that moves second.
However, there's a good number of chess grandmasters who prefer to play black, and many books have been written on the subject. Handing your opponent the initiative gives you a greater opportunity to exploit their weaknesses.
@@Nestix_the_stupid_one her combos are really easy to drop and she's a 4 way charge character who's combos and pressure are very reliant on negative edge and circumstantial based on what you're already holding. If you drop a combo at most points you also eat a punish.
This is just what I've heard from vat mains so this might be bs tho
@@slmnemo That's exactly it, that's why a lot of charge characters end up being really good because they have really good moves only held back by inputs
My two reasons for sticking with Android 16 are 1: I want to give 16 more love than DB ever did, and 2: Dunk
Go on and slam! Welcome to the Jam!
3: I have no other options
Um 16 is not low tier bro he may not be god like when the game first game out but he's still p good
im a hardcore raditz main, i've beaten the sweatiest rose gokus
2:10
This is 100% me. Something about Faust's design spoke to me on a personal level. Something about a character that looks like a terrifying monster, but is actually a really nice person who does their best to help people. I liked his design so much that one could even say that Faust is one of the big reasons i got into Guilty Gear Strive in the first place.
It also helps that I find him fun to play as, and the feeling of beating a good player with him is so much greater than if i was playing a high tier.
Also I REALLY want to know what the hell happened to him. How does one go from a smartly dressed wacky doctor to a silent hill monster in scrubs???
And these days, there's always the possibility that your low tier character will get buffed in the next patch.
Such was the wonderful power awaiting those who believed in DBZ Broly in DBFZ
By the way "meta" is not "most effective tactic available", but is short for "metagame", referring to the "game within the game" of figuring out matchups and strategies
Depends on the game
Was hoping to see this comment :)
It can mean both really. When referring to the "meta" character you mean the best character so the other definition doesn't really fit with the use of the word there.
@@jojak0512 Original definition still stands, if you take all the characters and put them on a tier list outlining all their strengths and weaknesses, understanding their matchups and everything else, you form the "most effective tactic available", which can only be generated because of metagaming. This definition holds even stronger by the fact that the meta can change, people might opt to use strategies that counters the meta, which turns into a mind game only possible if there was a game within a game. Meta being defined as "most effective tactic available" is only possible because of the original sense, and you can extend this to form the other definition.
The reason I gravitate towards the lower tier characters is because I thoroughly enjoy the aspect of being the underdog, and uphill battles are the ones that I generally find to be the most interesting to me.
From years of playing Zangief, I'v learned that, people who say that he is weak, are just a bunch of lazy sissies who dosen't have the balls to pick a 6ft tall Russian that smashs you in the ground while screaming: "CYCLONE!!" using just the power of his muscles and of _Mother Rusia_
He's 7ft tall lol
What is this capitalist measure unit? If you mention height, you use actual ones! 2,14 m tall Russian!
He is weak? I thought he was a good grappler, I am new to street fighter tho. I find Zangief really hard to play, especially because I use Keyboard.
Weak?!
That guy could literally win a round with 2 hits if he gets you!
I mained Bang Shishigami in Blazblue because he had a badass meme song play when he went off and no other reason, and I would do it again in an instant
Frequently, I find myself either playing one of the best characters, or one of the worst in the game. Funnily enough, it’s always be accident, as I only check tier lists until after I pick a main character. It’s pretty funky if you ask me.
When you roll dice you must always get either 1 or 6 and nothing else
Skull girls: "perfectly balanced as all things should be"
playing dan in sfv is my ultimate guilty pleasure its a full combination of low tier with high execution as well as "you lost to dan!?!? broooo"
Something I don't think was mentioned is how sometimes Low Tier characters can have tools that make them more useful in certain, specific matchups. If you have a character that has, say, a 3-7 matchup against three of the four top tiers, but an 8-2 against the last, that could lead to a few specialists if that last high-tier is more popular, especially in your local area or online. Contrary to, like, the existence of tier lists as a whole, power is neither linear nor innate: It's all about the tools and what you can do with them.
A Believer Loyalist for Marie Rose
In-game: Being a Marie Rose Main is suffering
Out-game: Look in all of this fan art
My best friend picks low tiers because "I´m a low tier main" and after one loss he goes back to the top tiers
Me who plays Faust because he has the funny super
"above the heavens and below, i alone am the honored one"
I play Little Mac in Smash Ultimate who for those who haven't played the game is dead bottom tier. What I love about him is not only does he fit my footsies whiff punish playstyle so perfectly, he *plays* like a low-tier. He's a regular boxer dude fighting against literal gods, wizards and humans with super human strength and giant swords. Fighting as him makes you feel like an underdog fighting against the odds which is exactly how you feel in his original game in Punch-Out. Him being a low-tier really fits the personality and feeling of the character and I absolutely love the aesthetic. There's just something so satisfying about winning with a true underdog character, not out of some sense of "haha you got beat by a low-tier" but actually for a love of the character and their style of play.
Same
Very minor thing at 5:43 that doesn't matter at all: While I'm not sure there's a _definitive_ answer on this, I'm fairly sure the acronym Most Efficient Tactic Avaliable is actually a retroactive explanation for where "meta" comes from that isn't true.
"meta" can be used to mean "something within itself", hence the "metagame" is "the game within the game". The "main game" is the actual fighting, the "metagame" is which character you choose to select or other choices you might make. So, the community's overall conception of which characters are best to pick is "the meta".
Other Low Tiers: My kit bad :(
Neco Arc: *I am using only a mere 0.01% of my power*
I can say right now I play Faust and Anji in strive because their kits are an absolute blast because of how unique they are, they're hot, winning as an underdog is typically more rewarding (though I will not complain if I lose against a high tier) and they have the best themes.
0:47 Technically speaking even old tier lists were made from feelings.
I don't need a tierlist, all I need is someone who looks fun like susano'o, or ramlethal('s thighs).
Based
*Laughs in potemkin and his... plot*
@@GarkKahn mmm...Potemkin is the best waif-I mean best grappler. Yeah.
"For shits and giggles" it's a double edged sword for the gimmick main.
I remember becoming a Cloud main in Smash 4 just because he looked cool. Won a couple of very local tourneys during video game club with him. I always thought he was meh competitively, but holy SHIT, was I wrong. Turns out he was basically a contender for second best character in the game, iirc.
he was by far the best character at mid level, unbeatable in doubles, 2nd in singles at high level etc etc. bayonetta was far better in theory yeah, but she really only RUINED high and top level play
heres a few of the things that made cloud INSANE
he had very good airspeed, a wall jump, and a fast dash
dair autocancels so effortlessly, and combos into everything (including fair spike)
his upair is arguably the best juggling tool in the entire game, its hitbox is insanely disjointed and safe, (and it autocancels)
his nair only had one main thing going for it, but still managed to be a MONSTER. it was, to but it lightly, INSANELY BIG. it took up an unreasonable amount of space and was super safe to just spam.
basically his entire moveset is SUPER disjointed and safe his projectile was medicore, his recovery was bad, and his throws were only decent.
this sounds like a pretty good, if balanced character right?
WRONG
BECAUSE OF LIMIT BREAK
cloud just had to camp and press down b occasionally, which was NOT hard with how insane and safe his disjoints were and then BOOM he has limit, now you LOSE
every physical attribute is cranked up to 11, whether is be his traction, run speed, dash speed, walk speed, and and the fastest airspeed IN THE ENTIRE GAME ON TOP OF his normals become far better, and his specials can be supercharged to UNGODLY levels of power which make killing a breeze, combing and camping super easy and effective,
remember how he had a bad recovery? with limit, not anymore.
remember how his projectile was mediocre? its top 5 now
remember how his side b was all right? now its the best side b in the entire game
the worst part was there was no limit on how long he could have full limit, and if you messed up once you died at >90
this character was unreasonably powerful, and was even more opressive in sm4sh doubles than BRAWL META KNIGHT WAS IN SINGLES AND WAS BANNED.
@@FrostburnICS Weren't his throws really bad with almost no use? I am FULLY aware, but I don't remember anything in terms of throw utility.
@@LloydTheZephyrian his upthrow went a pretty fair distance up, and considering how unreal his juggling was he generally got a good bit from grab.
his dthrow was pretty bad though, uniquely bad i daresay.
his bthrow and fthrow had good angles and got you stage control so they were just all right.
(also his pummel did 3% for some reason?)
mediocre throws, yeah, but they werent useless for certian
Another reason to pick low teirs is due to lack of matchup knowledge. Everyone is more likely to know how their character fights against high tier characters but they might have gaps against lower tier characters. In non-competitive settings this lets low tier characters get away with some of the dirtiest jank setups in the universe simply because their opponent hasn't vsed their character enough to know the counter and I find that stuff super fun to use.
Painwheel is an amazing example of low tier. Pain wheel isn’t bad by any means, she’s just not as strong as the other characters. She is super strong though and the hardest to pick up and play. And she struggles with zoners but can murder you with super armor, being small, and mix ups
0:58 I love how between all the tier list or FGC videos there is a TNM video that has nothing to do with tierlist or fighting games and I love it!
Low tier doesn't mean the character can't win. It just means they have weaknesses that can be exploited more easily. A smart player knows how to make it past these weaknesses and make good use of the strengths.
This channel is basically video essay parody material but on the off chance it's actually serious I'll drop one other reason you didn't list for why someone might play low tiers. A lot of top tiers are strong because they have core normals/specials/tools/etc that are just good and have little to no downsides to using them. They might be hard to whiff punish, safe/plus on block, do lots of damage, not need to hitconfirm/have easy hitconfirms etc. Essentially they might just be very easy to play correctly, and not require much thought to play effectively. This might also appeal to the more casual competitor who just wants to see more W's than L's on their screen, but might not appeal to someone who wants to spend time practicing combos, labbing out situations and learning character specific tech.
"Believers"
Oh, so Marth mains in Smash Ultimate.
They really don't like that his clone is considered stronger than him.
really apreciate the LLB ost you used in the background
that game is amazing and is soundtrack is just fire
Usually it happens that my favorite characters tend to be low tiers without my knowledge. Twelve scratches that itch of that weird shapeshifter I like a lot. Q just looks cool as hell.
Of course this is case specific. I’m in love with Muay Thai and crazy muscle proportions so I naturally gravitated from king and AK straight to fahkumram. Turns out he was top one when he came out. I also like Abigail despite him not being horrible.
I tend to go towards characters that I find visually/personality appealing. It’s why my absolute main in any game that has him is Dudley. A solid high-mid tier mix up rushdown character with a heavy focus on oki. If you like a characters look or personality just play them man.
Neco arc is by far the most powerful being in all of existence
Somehow, in every fighting game I play, I end up playing the low tier characters. I don't try to, but I tend to gravitate towards a playtime that tends to have lower tier characters. Giovanna is probably the highest tier character I play.
I've had this exact same thing happen lmao. It's probably an archetype thing but at this point I just look at the tier list and immediately go to the bottom for new games
I'm an archetype guy personally. Ever since I picked Carl as my main in BlazBlue I fell in love with puppet characters. Though they usually aren't low tier.
People play fun characters and don’t care about tiers, that’s it
>sees neco arc
>clicks immediately
I love how he keeps hinting that strive potemkin is a top tier, even though pretty much everyone puts him in midtier.
"so who's this character"
"she has a gun but is pretty low tie-"
"DEAL"
For me it's entirely about the feeling of the character, as well as how hard it is to hit those satisfying hits. For example, I mained Ganondorf for the majority of smash 4, and he's still my most played character in ultimate (quickly being overtaken by DDD and mii gunner tho) mostly because of how it feels to land schnice offstage shenanigans where the risk is so much higher for me than my opponent, usually. Ganon in particular is very meaty and despite being slow in almost every way still has a couple tools that are enough to carry the rest of his kit.
Also, just because a move is bad, doesn't mean people won't get hit by it. I've landed Ganon up-tilt more times than I can count, and the same goes for DDD F-smash and up-B.
Honestly what I've learned is that speed makes a character good. Frame data, small size, and easy movement make for a high-tier (Pika, Joker). But, that's just not fun for me. Besides, low-tier mains gotta have better fundies than everyone else. They don't really get to be carried by good character design.
I think that one major factor to picking a low tier character is the concept. A character could be the worst character in the game but could still drive a loyal base of players who like that characters concept . An example i know of is (debatably) Lawbringer from For Honor. He's slow and doesn't really have many ways to approach the fight but people like the character so much that they will keep playing him.
Well, if there's a wacky/uncanny character in the roster, I'd pick 'em without a second thought.
Also all item archetype characters, like Faust, Teddie from P4AU, and Konohamaru team from PS2 era of Naruto fighting games. Those are always the treat for RNG junkie like me
Same for my case when it comes to Platinum in Blazblue and I suppose Meitenkun in KOF 14. Teddie, Jack-O and Faust I also use along with Mr. Game and Watch.
I’m well known for playing bottom tiers and my response to this question is: “I’m just stupid”
I play almost exclusively big body characters in every game I play (Smash, GGST, GBVS, Overwatch, League, even D&D), so I’m used to being a low tier player in fighting games. Strive is a nice change of pace because Potemkin is shaping up to be a pretty strong character and even though he has glaring weaknesses, I don’t think Goldlewis is as bad as people say he is.
Ganondorf and Reinhardt are my all time favorite big body characters, but I haven't played many big bodies in other games, might have to try it out.
this video essentially sums up the entirety of all competitive matchmaking games ever
Yo, guess who made it in!!! 3:02
I used to main Dan in SSF4. Mostly because I loved him, romantically.
But also for that sick option select.
I always main low tiers cuz i find no satisfaction in winning with higher tier characters cuz it just straight up feels like cheating which i hate.
I can't unseen Potemkin's absolute queen everytime I hear Ordinary Days V2..
is only low-tier if you let it be.
Definitely character loyalty for me. I rarely look at a tier list before I pick my character so I often don't pick very good characters but actually liking my character gives me the motivation to improve that picking a character just because they're good never will and I'm better off being decent at a bad character than bad with a good character most of the time. I used to almost always pick a low tier by pure chance but thankfully that happens less often recently although it still does happen now my curse seems to be that I'll always pick a character people seem to hate and it's rarely for the same reason.
Neco arc chaos is actually getting me into melty. He/it/she is so funny to me
I always play Kirby in Smash Ultimate and I still remember when I managed to beat a Hero main.
5:44
meta does not mean "most efficient tactic available"
it just means the game outside of the game, the unwritten rules or ideals that make up a game
whether it be something on a large scale like the option select described defining the meta, or something smaller and more personal like learning an individuals playstyle and patterns to counter them, changing the meta of that specific fight
its a funny thing but it *_actually_* is supposed to mean "most efficient tactic available" and has been used as that since its origins in game communities, it's just a coincidence that you can give it the metagame meaning as well
“Oh, hey you’re the guy who mains a bottom tier? I’m love to hear more about that… Maybe over dinner?”
I've been playing Faust since XX, so if you think I'm gonna drop him because he sucks then you're wrong! He still has his items and weird moments that tricks top players
1. People choose to have fun over be the best
2. Lack of preparedness from the opponent
3. Suffer
1) an option select is specifically a situation where you do one, unchanging sequence of inputs and cover multiple options depending on what your opponent does, like blocking if your opponent presses a button within a certain timing and breaking a throw if they try to throw you instead- however they do not cover every option and will lose to alternative timings or option that the sequence is not designed to counter
2) meta isn't an acronym it's short for metagame, as in the "game within the game"
3) 7-3 matchups don't really exist in modern games, the worst character in strive has winnable yet volatile matchups they'd rather avoid whereas the worst character in melty is virtually unplayable in a number of matchups
sidenote: everybody kouma is a mid tier not a low tier don't be afraid to play him
The chad "this character's fun" vs. the virgin "I play low tiers to protect my ego when I lose"
Ah character loyalty
Being a Jigglypuff main is rough
Especially because I don't play Melee
I mained Satsuki despite her being pretty low rated back the old Melty Blood days because I'm old with dull reactions and her bread and butter combo was essentially about chaining a command grab into another command grab for a total of maybe 9 hits tops. That I could execute, and remember how to; no frame perfect inputs needed and didn't need me to memorize multiple 35+ input combos that carry from the ground to the air and travel across the arena.
Low tier is only a state of mind.
Unless of course the character was straight up designed to be terrible or they play like they don't belong in the game in which case yikes good luck.
“Brace yourself. Because what you’re about to see is absolutely terrifying.”
ED SHEERAN AD PLAYS RIGHT THEN
In melty i main Neco Arc Chaos, and i can slap top tier around carelessly
After all its not the character that sucks, its the player
uh no, that logic is dumb and doesnt always work. characters like that are often called niche
Hey, taxi?
Footage of Potemkin fight while Ordinary Days V2 plays... I see you are a man of culture.
I honestly pick characters purely off of design and feel. Its the reason I picked up Bridget when she dropped. Not only am I a sucker for trans rep, I genuenly loved her design, and when I started playing her, I just kinda clicked with her playstyle. Same with Dead Apostle Noel in TL. She looks cute as hell, has some weird lore, and refuses to let anyone near her because fuck you pin go brr.
Whenever i pick a character in a fighting game i haven’t played before, i just go by “Yo this guy looks cool” and then most of the time that character becomes my main…
i dont really play fighting games that often but im generally pretty good at dodging stuff, so i just think its hilarious i can actually truthfully pull out the "you lost to a low tier character against somebody who doesnt even play this game that often, nice job" card everytime i actually win
I find my reason for playing lower tier characters is a combination of liking a character enough to remain loyal to them, and the catharsis of feeling like I won because I worked harder for it.
Now I'm far from being a prominent fighting game player but when I play I usually go for the characters that I like the look of and/or have a funky moveset. Yoshimitsu and voldo in soulcalibre, Ms fortune in skullgirls, the fucking lolipop head guy from that one dodgeball fighter I forgot the name of just now.
It's always fun to get good with a character few play seriously as it kinda gives you the advantage against your opponent who doesnt know wtf to do when yoshimitsu just pogo hops against them at mach 4.
It's one hell of a crutch sure since once the opponent knows then the jig is up and you'll have to resort on you actual skill.
Another flavor of the same style is playing the mid tier entry characters. I used to play a lot of Battlerite and I almost only played Pestulus and Aska. Aska since he's just good no matter what and Pesti because, as my duo friend and I used to say "Pesti is Besti" we just happened to find playstyles where my pesti could comp really well with his style making us win games we had no reason to....
Fuck now I miss playing these games
After a short reflection I can think two main reasons outside of simply enjoying the character
1. The challenge. There is a great enjoyment to be found in thoroughly out playing your opponent. In knowing that a win was yours completely, that you worked hard for it, and that your work may have been more then theirs. Achieving victory with handicaps grants a feeling of great satisfaction and personal mastery, a hype moment for yourself and the crowd. To achieve victory against all odds by your own hands is a great pleasure like no other.
2. Masochism
That would explain why I play so much Rain World
Having the extra challenge of making a low tier successful is probably something big
this convo applies to WoT to a certain extent too:
-there are metas in the community
-tanks that aren't meta are known to be disgustingly good in the hands of a competent player (underdogs)
-there are no actual "best" tanks. it's all depending on your playstyle
-there's always that one Tiger fanboy who thinks he's invincible ("tank waifus" are a thing and we are all guilty of lusting for that Kruppstahl)
-some tanks are situationally bad but have massive meme factor that makes them even better (KV2 152mm gun lmao)