Tier Lists
Due to the many changes fighting games can go through, tier lists are especially volatile. But a few pros and high-level content creators have already been sharing what they think of the roster, and we're collecting both their initial tier lists, and their various thoughts about the roster here. We'll also be linking their YouTube channels, so make sure to check them out as well!
Keep in mind that everyone tends to use different tier names, so make sure to reference back to the images if you're having trouble keeping them straight.
Tweedy's Tier List (Ordered Within Tiers)
Tweedy is a pro tournament player, with several Top 8 finishes to his name. Here's where he currently places the main roster characters.
S Tier | Kenshi | Raiden | Baraka | Johnny Cage | Scorpion |
A+ Tier | Liu Kang | Geras | Ashrah | Smoke | Kung Lao | Sindel | Shang Tsung | Reiko |
A Tier | Havik | Kitana | Li Mei |
B Tier | Reptile | Sub-Zero | Nitara | Rain |
Unsure | Mileena | Tanya | Shao |
Kenshi, Raiden, Baraka, and Johnny Cage are extremely common top-tier picks, but Tweedy rates Scorpion a little higher than most, due to his fantastic 2, 1 launcher, and synergy with Kameo Cyrax. He believes that Kenshi could very well be the strongest character in the game because of his insane block pressure and nearly game-breaking loopable winning conditions.
For the A+ Tier, he thinks Shang Tsung could move higher (remember these are always subject to change), but needs more development as he's a complicated character. Smoke initially seems very strong, but will weaken over time as people wise up to his shenanigans, and Liu Kang has a ton of strong tools such as a 6 frame punish, but he's very Kameo-dependent.
For the A Tier, Tweedy believes all three characters have really good strengths, just not quite as good as the A+ and S Tiers. Havik has a great unblockable launcher setup, Li Mei has fantastic projectiles and good setplay, and Kitana's buttons have been buffed from the beta, and she retains her great projectiles and setups.
The B Tier characters are still viable, but definitely have to work harder to be successful, according to Tweedy, and almost all of them have solid, well-established counterplay. Sub Zero has some gimmicky stuff, but got nerfed hard since the beta, making him all around a much weaker character than before. Reptile is a fine all-rounder, but can't really do much that other characters can't do better, and Rain and Nitara are character archetypes (zoner, and aerial-focused, respectively) that don't work as well in a game with MK1's specific mechanics.
Tweedy currently hasn't had much time with Mileena, Tanya, or Shao, and didn't feel that he could render an educated opinion quite yet.
If you want to check out Tweedy's full thoughts, check out his YT channel here.
K7 Showoff's Tier List (Ordered Within Tiers)
Z Tier | Kenshi | Johnny Cage | Raiden | Ashrah | Baraka |
S Tier | Reiko | Tanya | Mileena | Scorpion | Shang Tsung | Havik | Sindel | Nitara | Kung Lao | Geras | General Shao |
A Tier | Liu Kang | Smoke | Kitana | Reptile | Rain | Li Mei |
B Tier | Sub Zero |
Here's where tier list discussions get interesting, as you can start to see some of the differences of opinion. K7 also has four tiers; they mean basically the same thing as Tweedy's, just named a bit differently, with Z being the highest instead of S.
Rather than putting Scorpion in the highest tier like Tweedy, he's moved him down to the middle of S, and Ashrah has been moved up. K7 Showoff notes Ashrah's insane damage and space control, and agrees that Scorpion's 2, 1 is a fantastic mid launcher. He also thinks all characters are currently viable, some are just easier to win with than the rest.
Rain, Reptile, Li Mei, and Sub Zero remain near the bottom, for similar reasons that Tweedy cited. Where K7 differs in the low tiers however, is that he places Nitara much higher, mainly off the back of her ability to lifesteal with her bite.
K7 also places the three characters that Tweedy did not, namely Mileena, Shao, and Tanya, placing them all in S Tier. He believes Mileena has one of the best strike/throw guessing games and sports fantastic overheads, Tanya has ridiculous reach and most likely the best neutral in the game with her movement buff, and Shao is a fantastic character once he puts down his axe, but it can be hard to do that sometimes.
If you want to see K7 Showoff's full thoughts, make sure to check out his channel here.
Diaphone and K7 Showoff's Ease-of-Use Tier List
Great For Beginners | Liu Kang | Sub Zero | Scorpion | Baraka | Reptile | Raiden | Mileena |
Good For Beginners | Johnny Cage | Kung Lao | Li Mei | Havik | Smoke |
Intermediate | Kitana | Tanya | General Shao | Sindel | Ashrah | Nitara | Reiko |
Hardest | Rain | Shang Tsung | Kenshi | Geras |
This tier list, composed by pro fighting game player Diaphone with assistance from K7 Showoff, isn't a list of how good each character is, but rather how easy they are to play.
It's interesting to see where this list overlaps and differs from the more standard tier lists. While Baraka, Raiden, and Scorpion are regarded as top tier, they are also Great For Beginners, according to Diaphone and K7. Conversely, while Sub Zero may be very easy to pick up, once you start climbing the ranks he may be more difficult to win with, as other characters just have better tools.
On the opposite end, you have Rain, who is not very highly regarded in the game's current meta, but is also difficult to get a handle on, making him a good pick for character specialists only. But Shang Tsung, Kenshi, and Geras are characters with very high ceilings who will reward the work you put in.
If you want to check out Diaphone and K7 Showoff's full thoughts on the current roster's ease-of-use, make sure to check out Diaphone's channel here.
Hopefully you found this page helpful! We'll continue to update it as the game evolves.