Kagaribi #13 shines light on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Pikachu S-tier debate

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Major Kagaribi #13 has wrapped up with Mashita ‘acola’ Hayato, to the surprise of nobody, claiming victory in his home country of Japan while using the much-hated Steve.

What was more interesting, however, was the amount of characters that were used throughout the tournament.

Kagaribi #13 was the largest Ultimate tourney in history, featuring an incredible amount of top players and Major winners. Over 3,350 competitors turned up to fight for glory on May 4th-5th, and almost every character on Ultimate’s massive roster of 90-plus characters was used to compete.

Ultimate’s tagline for a while was “everyone is here,” as the roster continued to grow throughout the game’s active lifetime. DLC came from almost every Nintendo game imaginable as well as some third-party IPs, creating an expansive roster of characters to choose from.

Of course, not every character is equal. The official tier list shows which characters are a lot more viable in competitive settings, due to their speed, recovery, power and abilities. In the S-tier, you’ll see Pikachu, known for its quickness and insane attack chains. However, Pikachu only showed up once at Kagaribi #13 when it reached the Top 200.

Seeing the S-tier fighter only once in the Top 200 was quite shocking to many in the FGC, since Pikachu can be a real terror to deal with on Final Destination.

While Pikachu is a top-tier character, he has a few drawbacks. One thing to note is how difficult Pikachu is to master compared to other S-tier characters. To reach Pikachu’s true potential, players need to be precise, master edgeguarding, learn his combos, and keep in mind Pikachu’s weaknesses and light weight.

A lot of characters have gimmicks that give them an advantage during certain parts of the match or versus certain types of fighters. However, Pikachu is seen as pretty straightforward, with a lack of kill power and no hidden advantages. This has made him difficult to master at a high level for many.

There have been some pros who still take on the challenge, like Eric ‘ESAM’ Lew. Watching top players take advantage of Pikachu’s out of shield options, stage setup, and technical combos is always insanely hype. However, you won’t see Pikachu too often.

This has led to an interesting debate in the Super Smash Bros. community: Can Pikachu really be considered S-tier based on his potential yet lack of results?

It’s an interesting debate since Smash tier lists rely heavily on pro players’ results with characters to determine the meta. Yet Pikachu remains at top tier due almost solely to his potential. Pikachu isn’t played a lot at any level, but when he is played he will often make it to the top of the tournament. So the rare times he shows up, he’s getting results.

At Kagaribi #13, the real stars of the bracket were Steve, with 12 players bringing him into the Top 192. This was followed by R.O.B., Diddy Kong, Kazuya, Snake and Fox — the usual suspects. Interestingly enough, Pikachu is ranked higher on the tier list than some of these fighters despite not really doing much to prove it at big tournaments.

But that’s the thing about Ultimate that remains exciting — almost all characters are viable in the right hands. Top players who master surprising characters continue to excite the FGC, giving us a break from the likes of Steve and Sonic in the Top 16.