I always enjoy looking up tier lists made by high leveled players for the fighting games that I play. I love to see opinions that match my own and opinions that may or may not cause me to reconsider my initial thoughts. As it turns out, I find that most tier lists match very accurately with my own, with only a few deviations here and there.
My personal definition of what I think about tier lists is simple: They outline which individual character has the easiest time racking up wins utilizing a playstyle that meshes neatly with what's known as "the metagame". The term "metagame" is the description of the game being played in the communities head, where as the actual game itself acts as a sort of tool to help you play the metagame, not too different from the limbs of a fighter in a mixed martial arts match. Developers often have a metagame in mind, and in the games initial release the metagame slightly at the discovery of new techniques. It is for this reason that post release patches are often issued, so that the metagame could be further reinforced, as well as rebalance the strength and abilities of the roster.
But, I digress.
Tiers take on different meanings depending on the game that they originate from. Generally, a tier list in a two dimensional fighting game is a list that outlines which characters have the smallest amount of bad matchups, if any. Logically, having a discernible advantage over a large fraction of the entire roster would make a strong character. An advantage that tiers can provide would be to show players what to expect from each character in a roster.
Tiers aren't a good reason to choose a main, however. People often forget that choosing a character that holds their interest the longest means having more dedication to improving their skills with that character. I believe that people that truly love/enjoy the characters they use will reach heights in half the time it takes for a player that only uses high tier characters.
Tiers also don't necessarily mean they are the best. While a high tier character has more match ups in their favour, a player that has more experience with a low tier character against a high tier character is practically guaranteed a win over the player that uses the top tier but has next to no experience.
Lastly, tiers DO NOT justify the need for buffs and nerfs! As I said earlier, patches are only there to make steps towards realizing the metagame that the developers had in mind! Giving nerfs and buffs should only be implemented to define and develop characters further.
Tiers can be fun and interesting, but they are all just opinions at the end of the day.
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