Tier List Ideas for Gaming Communities

Game communities produce tier lists faster than almost any other audience because the roster changes with every patch. That also makes most boards disposable. The ones that get shared are the ones with a clear question and a short roster.

1. Patch-day meta board

Rank the current meta picks by tournament results and matchup spread, not by personal preference. Date the board in the title. When the next patch lands, publish a new one and link the old board for comparison.

Examples: Tekken 8, League of Legends.

2. Role-specific board

One board per role is easier to defend than a single all-role list. A jungler and a support are not competing for the same job, so ranking them together hides the criteria.

Start with a page such as Pokemon Unite and split the roster by role in the maker.

3. Beginner-friendly board

Rank by ease of use, not ceiling. A pick that requires perfect spacing and a dedicated team is not beginner-friendly even if it is strong at the top level. State the assumption in the first line.

4. Build or loadout board

Rank complete builds rather than characters. “Best Elden Ring weapon” is a different question from “best weapon for a strength build with no buffs”. Both are useful; mixing them is not.

See Elden Ring Weapons for a weapon-level board.

5. Boss or matchup board

Rank the tools that solve a specific boss or matchup. This format is especially useful for games where the community already agrees on the hard fights but disagrees on the answer.

6. Community vote board

Start with an editorial board, then let the community vote one item at a time. The disagreement is the content. A board that only shows one opinion gives readers nothing to do.

Every page on this site has a vote table; the community tier appears after three votes on an item.

7. Event or season board

Rank the picks that matter for a limited event, season or tournament. The deadline makes the board timely and gives readers a reason to share it now instead of later.

8. Retrospective board

Rank a historical roster by legacy rather than current power. This works for games that no longer receive patches: the argument is about memory, not balance. Date the board and state that it is retrospective.

9. Draft board. Rank the picks you would take in a draft, in order, with the same roster for every participant. The criterion is scarcity: a pick moves up when the drop-off after it is steep.

10. Beginner versus expert board. Publish two boards with the same roster. The beginner board rewards ease of use; the expert board rewards ceiling. The comparison is more useful than a single compromise list.

Use patch notes as the spine

A game tier list that is not tied to a patch is usually a vibes board. Patch notes give you a defensible boundary: what changed, which characters or weapons were affected, and when the next change is expected.

Read the notes before the board, not after. A buff that looks small in isolation can matter if it fixes a character's worst matchup. A nerf that looks large can be irrelevant if the affected ability was not the reason the pick was strong.

Write the patch number in the title and the first paragraph. When the next patch lands, the old board is still useful as a comparison rather than a stale claim.

State the role and rank assumption

“Best character” means different things in bronze, diamond and tournament play. It also means different things for a support, a carry and a flex pick. A board that does not state the role and rank is asking the reader to guess.

Use a title such as “Best supports for ranked, current patch” or “Tournament picks for a five-stack”. The narrower title is easier to defend and easier to search for.

If you want a general board, say “all roles, solo queue, average rank” and accept that the top row will be a compromise. There is nothing wrong with a compromise as long as it is labelled.

How to handle off-meta picks

Off-meta picks are where most boards lose credibility. A pick can be weak in the general meta and strong in a specific composition, map or matchup. Putting it in F without a note hides the condition that makes it work.

Use the page notes or a short paragraph to name the condition: “strong with a dedicated engage support”, “only on the first pick”, “requires a specific item spike”. That is more useful than moving the pick up a row for everyone.

If the condition is too narrow to explain in one line, the pick probably belongs in a separate board, not in the main list.

Running a community board

A community board needs a seeding pass and a vote, not just a vote. An empty poll produces noise; a seeded editorial board gives readers something to react to. The disagreement between the seed and the vote is the content.

Set a minimum number of votes before a community tier appears. One vote should not move an item. Three is enough to show a direction; more is better for a large community.

Keep the editorial board visible after the vote. Replacing it entirely hides the original argument and makes the page less useful to a new reader.

What to do after the patch

Do not silently edit the old board. Publish a new version with a new date, link the previous one, and note the biggest moves. A reader who shared the old screenshot should be able to find the context for the change.

If only one item moved, say so. If the whole top row changed, say that too. The size of the change is part of the story.

Archive the old board even if it is no longer “current”. The comparison between patches is often more valuable than either snapshot on its own.

A sustainable weekly cadence

Pick one day for the update and one scope for the week. A single role, a single mode or a single patch question is enough. Trying to cover the entire game every week produces a board that is broad and shallow.

Rotate the scope: one week supports, next week carries, then items or maps. The archive becomes a useful series instead of a pile of near-duplicate boards.

The cadence matters more than the size. A small board published every week beats a comprehensive board published once and abandoned.