What does S-tier mean?

S tier is the rank above A. On a typical list the rows run S, A, B, C, D and F, and S is the bucket for things that are not merely good but in a class of their own. The letter is not a word: it does not stand for Super, Special, or Supreme as a matter of history, even though English speakers often read it that way.

Where the S came from

Japanese schools and exams have long used S as a grade above A. Arcade games and fighting games picked the same extra letter up so a result could go past a perfect A, and the convention moved from score screens into internet ranking lists in the 2000s. By the time tier lists were a regular argument on forums and later on Reddit and YouTube, S through F was the shape everyone recognized, which is why a blank board still opens that way.

English report cards stop at A. That is the whole point of S: it is the rank that exists because A was not enough. Treating S as "A but enthusiastic" flattens the scale. If everything you like is in S, the list has stopped ranking and started cheering.

The usual ladder

Read top to bottom. The labels are a convention, not a scoring system.

• S: the few things that define the set. If you can only pick one, it is here.
• A: excellent, and the right pick most of the time. Not a slight.
• B: solid. You would use it, watch it, or eat it without a speech.
• C: fine, forgettable, or good only in a specific situation.
• D: below the middle on purpose. There is a reason it is this low.
• F: the bottom of the default board. Skip it, bench it, or joke about it.

Some lists add SS, S+, or a God row above S when the top is crowded. Some drop F and stop at D. Some rename every row to a joke. The letters are a starting point, not a rule the picture has to keep.

How tier debates actually work

A competitive-game tier list is usually an argument about results: what wins in the current patch, in the current ruleset, against the current field. A movie list, a snack list, or a "characters in this show" list is an argument about taste. Both use the same rows. Mixing them on one board is how a list turns into a fight about definitions rather than about the entries.

The useful test is whether two people could swap an entry between S and A and still be talking about the same question. If they cannot, the labels drifted. Rename the rows before you keep ranking.

Make one

The tier list maker opens with S through F already labeled. You can rename any row, recolor it, add more, or delete F if you do not want a bottom. Add pictures or text, drag entries into the rows, and export a PNG. Publishing is the one step that needs an account, because a published list is a public page with a name on it.

For a board that is already stocked, browse tier list templates and make your own copy. For what people in one fandom have already ranked, start from a topic page such as Pokémon or NFL.