One of the most common topics of discourse related to Super Smash Bros. Melee surrounds the game's characters — which characters are the best? Which characters have favorable matchups against other characters? Which characters can compete at the top levels and which cannot? Which characters are viable?

The question I am most interested in is that last one — which Super Smash Bros. Melee characters are competitively viable?

Before we can answer that question, though, we need to answer a different one — what does "viable" mean?

For me, "viable" means that the character, when used by an elite player, is capable of winning a major tournament against other top players using top-level characters. Using this definition, we have a list of characters that are undeniably viable: Fox, Falco, Marth, Jigglypuff, Peach, Captain Falcon, Sheik, Pikachu, and Yoshi. All of these characters have won at least 1 major tournament, and therefore must be viable, according to the definition that I identified. There is one other character that has won a major, however, due to rule changes, there is still a debate about that character's viability.

ChuDat won Pound 2 and Battle of BC 2 with Ice Climbers. Therefore, Ice Climbers should be considered viable, right? Well, maybe. When ChuDat won those tournaments, wobbling (an infinite grab that cannot be escaped unless the Ice Climbers player messes up) was considered a legal technique. Now, in most major tournaments, wobbling is banned. Are Ice Climbers still a viable character without wobbling? SluG seems to think that they are, and he may have a case. Although he has never won a major, he is currently ranked 9th in the world as a solo Ice Climbers main.

Samus is another character that has an interesting case. There have been high-ranking Samus players throughout Melee history, such as HugS86 and Plup (before he switched to Sheik/Fox). As far as current players, TheSWOOPER is making a push. Samus has never won a major, and is a far less popular character in competitively Melee than she used to be, but she has come close. She has had success. In the hands of the right player, could she win a major?

Luigi, Dr. Mario, and Ganondorf are some other characters that have a case, but I think their case is substantially less strong than Ice Climbers and Samus. There have been top players that have used Luigi, Dr. Mario, and Ganondorf with success, but none of them have come particularly close to winning anything substantial — especially not on a consistent basis.

My opinion is that the list of viable Melee characters is as follows: Fox, Falco, Marth, Jigglypuff, Peach, Sheik, Captain Falcon, Pikachu, Yoshi, Ice Climbers, and Samus.

What are your thoughts? What is your definition of viable? What characters do you think are viable based on that definition?

tgags123 : Clearly Kirby and Pichu are absolutely S-tier, hands down best characters in game.

MrKokoPudgeFudge : I don't know, Pichu has a really bad matchup against Bowser. He can destroy characters like Fox and Marth, but if he comes up against a Bowser in bracket, it's game over.

I honestly don't see Jigglypuff as viable, for the same reason as Pichu. Being so extremely light and dependent on just a couple of attacks means it can have bad matchups against heavy characters and hard-hitting foes. Kirby is a more viable option due to his versatility and great aerials while still enjoying the benefits of a light character.

I'd rather put Roy before Marth, though. Hits harder while keeping all other stats at a similar level, unless my memory of Melee is extremely blurry. And I wouldn't put Ganondorf on that list, it's kind of a 50/50 having the hardest hits but being so slow and with terrible jump, meaning great potential that can only be exploited if used near perfection.

I think that Fox, Yoshi and Samus are the best picks. They each have their own strengths, but overall they're above average in every stat and thus allow for a wide array of tactics. Captain Falcon isn't as balanced, a bit worse jump while excelling at speed and hitting harder, but still a force to be reckoned with.

I'm no expert player as I don't even grasp advanced techniques, but I don't think my opinion is that off the charts. We'll see if I don't get bombarded by a reply from someone who has a lot more knowledge than me

Guy's it's clearly Young Link, I mean... did you know that he destroys Jigglypuff in Matchups???

Clearly means he's the best character in game, better then Fox, better then Falco, Better the Sheik. There's no arguing this and if you do I'll throw my Gamecube controller in Frustration.

Slyshiyoshi : Fair point. Aramada had some success against HBox with Young Link, so clearly he must be a viable character.

EX Palen : Hungrybox exclusively plays Jigglypuff, and with Jigglypuff he has won numerous majors and supermajors, and has cemented himself as one of the greatest Melee players of all-time. In addition to Rest, Jigflypuff's aerial mobility and back air make him very hard to get in on. Kirby, on the other hand, is arguably the worst character in the game lol. He doesn't have a single decent move.

tgags123 : See, I have no knowledge about competitive gaming

Surprising to hear Kirby is one of the worst in competitive gaming, it was one of my main when playing solo because of how good I fared with it whereas I couldn't exploit the greatness other characters apparently have seeing this thread. You never stop learning, I guess.

I'm glad at least the rest of my post after the first paragraph makes sense unless you decided not to read any further because of how badly it started which is perfectly understandable

EX Palen : I mean... Marth is definitely better than Roy. Zain, the number one ranked player in the world, occasionally uses Roy in less serious events and he has had some success, but he could never compete against the top level of players with Roy. Roy just has far less combo potential and fewer kill confirms.

tgags123 : Admit I'm saying this as a joke more so for the fact HBox is the best Jigglypuff and everyone hates him lmao. I love HBox honestly but I don't think Jigglypuff is the best character in the game and never really was, more just the overblown hatred for his playstyle cause it was doing so well against people.

Slyshiyoshi : Yeah I was also joking, but I realize now reading it back that the sarcasm was not as clear as I intended lol.

tgags123 : Nah I get ya, dry sarcasm and all. I was just explaining my own self haha

It sucks seeing him get dogged on for so long by a majority of the community of smash players all cause of his playstyle and all. I never really saw it much as disrespectful as it is people acting like they have a stick up their ass at all times. Makes me really feel for the guy.

Slyshiyoshi : Yeah I agree. It's a competition. You play to win. There is money on the line. What's the issue with his play style if it is effective? It is on you, as the opponent, to adapt. It is not on him to use a less effective style because you think the way that he plays is "lame."

In short, "git gud."