Tier Lists That Age Well: How to Rank Without Regret
Every tier list is a bet about the future, and most lose. Not because the author was lazy — because they ranked power instead of durability. Here is how rankings that survive patches are built.
Snapshot vs. forecast
A snapshot says "X is strong today". A useful ranking says "X will stay strong". Those are different questions. Strength that depends on a specific interaction being unpunished dies with the next patch. Strength that comes from a character's basic kit — mobility, range, resource economy — tends to persist through balance passes.
The three questions we ask
- Does it win at high level? Popularity is not power; the leaderboard is.
- What is the skill floor? An S-tier pick that needs frame-perfect execution is a B-tier pick for most readers. We rate realistically, not theoretically.
- What kills it? If one counterpick or one number change collapses the whole build, it is fragile by definition — it goes down a tier on principle.
Why ours move slowly
You will notice our tier lists update on a delay after patches, not instantly. Day-one rankings are reaction, not analysis. When a list changes, the reason is written next to the change — if we cannot say why something moved, we do not move it. Disagree with a placement? Good. Bring the win rate.