Metagame

The metagame is a commonly used tactic or strategy that is developed and employed in expert play and in the competitive community. In Smash, the metagame is a trend in strategy that is used during expert play inside smash tournaments. Metagames have the ability to change over time as strategies develop or simply become more popular within a community. Through analysis of the metagame, people in the competitive smash community are able to determine the relative performance of each and every character and with this, tier lists are developed. Super Smash Flash 2's metagame is currently determined by character, tactic and strategies on the McleodGaming forum where it is discussed. The current metagame can be decribed as a modern version of Super Smash Bros. due to gravity and hitstun that allows for combos that were performed in Melee and Super Smash Bros. However, now with the edition of Online mode and the annual SSF2 tournaments hosted by SSF2 devs allows for the metagame to be better developed.

Demo v0.9a

 * was already seen as a top tier character due to his amazing mobility, combo ability and great recovery. However, when players noticed how much priority Sonic's Light Dash had, it could be spammed and followed up with aerials while being able to be L-canceled when short hoped close to the ground is when people starting realizing that Sonic was broken. Due to this Sonic can shut down the entire cast and was claimed to be the best character in the demo with being 1st on the tier list.
 * was originally seen as one of the worst characters in the demo due to his sluggish attacks, poor combo ability outside of Kaio-Ken, poor projectiles, he could be combo'ed easily, poor reach in some of his attacks and Kaio-Ken was seen as a risky move to use due to it damaging Goku until he stopped hitting or stopped being hit by the opponent. However, people started to notice that he had great combo potential outside of Kaio-Ken, he had good priority in his attacks, a decent recovery and his combo ability became better when using Kaio-Ken and he could zero-to-death the entire roster. He is ranked 6th on the tier list.
 * was seen as one of the worst characters in the demo, along with Goku, due to his poor mobility, poor range in his attacks, below average combo ability, lack of a projectile and poor approach options. However, players starting taking notice that he had good priority in his aerials, he had ways to deal with projectiles, he had decent combo ability and a powerful finisher in Wario Waft. He is ranked 12th on the tier list.
 * was originally seen as being one of the best characters in demo and was considered S-tier material due to his great combo ability, a great projectile in PK Fire and strong finishers. However, Ness's combo ability was out classed by other characters. Players started to notice his poor reach in the majority of his attacks, his easy to gimp recovery and being easy to KO vertically due to his slow falling speed. He is ranked 22nd on the tier list.
 * , like Ness, was originally seen as being one of the best characters demo. He had good reach in some of his attacks, a great recovery, great combo ability and he great offstage options to gimp his opponents. However, his combo ability was overshadowed by other characters, he was easy to KO vertically and horizontally, he lacks a reliable projectile and ways to deal with them. He is ranked 16th on the tier list.