User blog:Redfork2000/IaLR: Tier Lists - Are Crabs OP?

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"Quoted from The Amulet of the Dark Seas"

''Suddenly, the entire pyramid starts shaking violently, as the amulet starts opening a dark portal. Everyone looks amazed and terrified, as someone is coming out of the dark portal. It's a crab about Captain Red Shell's size, but instead of red, he's dark gray. The mysterious crab also has a scar on his left eye.'' The dark crab wields a black sword, and with one slash, knocks both Captain Red Shell and Akasha into the wall. ''Captain Red Shell tries to slash at Captain Dark Shell with his sword, but the dark crab blasts him away with a shadow blast. Then he levitates the amulet towards him.'' ''Akasha levitates the amulet towards her, fighting Captain Dark Shell for it. Captain Dark Shell slashes his sword, sending a powerful shadow blast to Akasha, sending her to the wall again. This time, the impact was so powerful, Akasha literally crashed through the wall, and ended on the other side, leaving a large hole in the wall.'' ''Captain Red Shell stares at Captain Dark Shell, while pointing his sword at him. Captain Dark Shell slashes his sword, sending a powerful shadow wave at Captain Red Shell. Captain Red Shell stands up after being knocked into the wall again.'' Captain Dark Shell quickly takes away Captain Red Shell's sword, and laughs at him. ''Captain Dark Shell slashes at Captain Red Shell with both the shadow sword and the sword of Crabbagnon, hurting him heavily. Captain Red Shell in knocked into a wall, and barely moves anymore.''
 * ???: I am free!
 * Akasha: What the, who are you?
 * ???: They call me by many names, but you can call me, Captain Dark Shell.
 * Captain Dark Shell: I have to thank you, young shadow ninja. You have freed me from my imprisonment. Now I can finally claim what is mine!
 * Akasha: What?
 * Captain Red Shell: No, you won't!
 * Captain Dark Shell: Oh, and who are you, young crab soldier?
 * Captain Red Shell: Captain Red Shell is what you should call me. I'm the current captain of the crab army. So stop your evil machinations at once. I will seal you back to where the ancient shadowfish had sealed you away centuries ago!
 * Captain Dark Shell: You think you can defeat the most powerful crab warrior of all time? Tearing you apart will be sheer delight.
 * Captain Dark Shell: This is the end. Prepare for a death more painful than you could ever conceive!
 * Akasha: Oh no you don't!
 * Captain Dark Shell: I might get rid of you first.
 * Captain Red Shell: Don't even think of it!
 * Captain Red Shell: You, and me. Let's have a fair and honorable duel!
 * Captain Dark Shell: Honorable? Who cares about honor?
 * Captain Red Shell: What are you doing? Don't you have any honor?
 * Captain Dark Shell: Honor? As long as I win in the end, it doesn't matter if I have to use dishonorable methods to destroy you. Power is what really matters!
 * Captain Red Shell: How... could you...

Introduction
Crabs are one of the most well-known aquatic classes in the entire game. They've been in the meta since the  first ponian explansion patch, the one that introduced a lot of new interesting characters such as Red Fork, Captain Red Shell and Blast. Since then crabs have had an important place in the meta, being a specialized aquatic build that has access to some high level defense and offense. But lately, with the newer expansion patches we've seen, specially during the Shadow Dimension expansion patch, we've seen some new crab builds join the meta, and rise into the top tiers very quickly, something crabs hadn't ever done before.

Now, there aren't as many crab characters to discuss as with other classes, such as ponies, inklings or humans. But it would be a huge mistake to overlook the crab class. Some of the most powerful aquatic characters to ever exist in the game belong to the crab class. However, despite being radically different in terms of power and tier positions, most crabs stay true to the typical crab build. This is good, because it's actually a very effective one in IaLR.

Abilities
One of the crab class's most well-known traits is their high defense stat, which is provided by their shells. This armor lets them shrug off hits easier without taking too much damage, so when they're fighting someone in their same rank, they can usually outlast their opponents easily thanks to this defense. However, their armor isn't by any means unpenetrable, so crab characters can sometimes struggle against characters that can dish out way too much damage quickly. One common weakness to the crab class are the well-rounded powerhouse characters, that have the hp to endure as much as the crab can, and has a powerful enough attack to get past the crab's defenses. This is why Red Fork is a good counter to Captain Red Shell.

Another important trait of the crab class is their ability to use sharp melee weapons, such as swords and spears. This makes them an ideal melee character, that can potentially spell doom for characters that are weak in melee combat. This makes the crab class a great counter to snipers, since their defense can also protect them from the long-ranged shots snipers tend to use to take out enemies. Characters like Johnny McSplat or Alice, that rely on long-ranged attacks to fight, and are weak in melee combat, are terribly at a disadvantage against crabs.

Another important ability crabs possess comes with the previous one. Some of the weapons they wield can also give them elemental powers. This allows them to use high-level elemental powers, without having to spec into the elemental ninjas ability tree.

Now, not all crabs are made equal, and while some are able to take advantage of the strengths of the crab class to their maximal potential, some others fail to capitalize on this, and as a result they stay on the lower ranks.

Now, there's four main crab characters I want to discuss in this tier list. I'm going to have to start a bit higher on the list than usual, since there's no crab characters I could consider at F or E tier. The lowest ranking crab is on D rank.

D Rank
So at D rank we have Coconut Crab, the smallest and weakest crab character. He's also the only crab character that's meant specially for being a support class. Coconut Crab doesn't have the offensive power that other crab characters do, his abilities are more tailored to defense. He wields a spear as his main weapon, but this spear doesn't have any elemental powers, so he's stuck using basic attacks. Not to mention, spears don't deal nearly as much damage as swords do, so overall his offensive output is low.

He also wields a shield, this elevates his defense stat a bit higher, to the point where he's on par with other mid-to-high defensive characters. His playstyle reflects his abilities very well. Coconut Crab functions more as a squire, supporting Captain Red Shell in his battles. Coconut Crab helps defend Captain Red Shell from attacks, while Captain Red Shell is the one doing the most damage.

A pretty good combo for Coconut Crab is when he's teamed up with Gary Guppy, since both of them complement each others weaknesses. Gary Guppy has high attack stats and mobility, but has very low hp and defense, a typical glass cannon, while Coconut Crab has the opposite of those stats, so combining the two together makes for a very good team strategy, that can potentially take down some C or even B tiers.

However, relying on other characters to be relevant in combat is not a top tier strategy, and there's other crab characters who capitalize on the strengths of the crab class a lot better, so let's get moving.

B Rank
Skipping to B rank, we have Captain Red Shell, the most iconic crab character in the entire meta. He has the typical stats of the crab character, having high defense, and a powerful offense due to his sword. The sword he wields, the Sword of Crabbagnon, has light powers, meaning that Captain Red Shell can access abilities that are usually only limited to the light ninja subclass. This, combined with his speed and high defense, as well as excellent melee combat skills, makes him a very powerful contender. He's a great counter to the shadow ninja class due to his light powers, which can render shadow abilities useless. He also has a high intelligence level, one of the highest between the crab class, and as a result he's able to coordinate a team and plan out powerful tactics to use in combat.

All of this is great, but he still has a few weaknesses. The main one being his vulnerability to powerhouses that surpass his defenses, such as Red Fork, Ace or Kyoji. There's several crabs that can do much better in combat, so we'll check them out.

S Rank
There are no crabs currently ranking in A rank, so we'll have to skip to S rank from here.

Our first S rank on this list is Captain Galactic Shell, a powerful crab build that takes a class that's normally suited to aquatic playstyle, and takes it to a much more challenging and unforgiving biome: outer space. Captain Galacticl Shell calls himself the greatest swordfighter in the galaxy, and his stats reflect that. Incredibly high attack and defense, and very high speed. He's a very powerful force to be reckoned with. There isn't too much known about him, as we've only seen his prowess in combat once, but considering his abilities, he'd probably have a very good matchup spread against most of the top-tiers on Earth. The only characters I could see giving him some trouble are the reality-benders, such as Discord, the super forms, such as Sun Fork or the Legendary Rainbow Gem, or the #1 contender on this list.

Captain Dark Shell is without a doubt the most high-ranking crab character in the entire game. Just take a look at his stats. He has the highest defense stats of any crab, being able to shrug off attacks from other top-tiers, such as Ink Splash or PHX-001. Not to mention, his insane range of offensive skills. He has access to the full tree of shadow powers, which is known to be one of the most overpowered classes in the entire game as a whole. He can summon black crystals, which in themselves contain inmense power, enough to turn low tiers into high tiers. In fact, this crystals are so overpowered that many plots and adventures the gang have had recently were all centered around gaining these crystals to use their power to their advantage.

Captain Dark Shell can cause inmense pain to anyone in a range around him due to his well-developed shadow abilities. He even managed to get Discord to leave him alone, and defeated PHX-001, another high-ranking S tier, as we've seen in previous entries. With the amount of power Captain Dark Shell has, he's no doubt one of the most powerful characters in the entire game. A crab that's so powerful that he took over the multiverse, invading multiple dimensions, and defeating many S tiers on the way. That's your S Tier on this list.

Conclusion
And that's all for today! I hope you enjoyed this episode of IaLR: Tier Lists. Remember to stay alert for new entries in the series. If there's any set of characters or any aspect of the game you'd like us to analyze, feel free to request it in the comment section below. Have a great day!

"Quoted from Shadows of War"

''Red Fork takes out the Elements of Harmony, and uses his magic to make them rotate around the gang. The gang comes together and begins to glow.'' ''Captain Dark Shell, powered by the Amulet of the Dark Seas, lifts his sword in the air, and creates a black aura around himself. Suddenly, everything turns darker than before, and the entire gang falls to the ground, tortured by an insufferable pain.'' ''No one in the gang manages to stand up due to the pain Captain Dark Shell is inflicting on them. However, the gang sees Captain Red Shell as he struggles to get up, and slowly make his way towards Captain Dark Shell.'' Captain Red Shell falls to the ground, but grabs onto Captain Dark Shell while doing so. ''Before Captain Dark Shell even understands what's going on, Captain Red Shell leaps away, and a massive building falls on Captain Dark Shell, burying him in the ruins of the building. This interrupts Captain Dark Shell's power. The dark goes away, and the gang stops feeling the pain. They look up, to see that Ace has returned, and was in fact who tosses the building on Captain Dark Shell.'' ''The pile of ruins starts shaking. Suddenly, Captain Dark Shell manages to break free from the pile of ruins, and looks at the gang with a death stare.''
 * Captain Dark Shell: I know what you're trying to do. But it doesn't matter, either way, you'll fail!
 * Blue Ocean: Aah!
 * Alice: What is this!?
 * Electra: I know this feeling! It feels just like when Ace forced us to follow his orders!
 * Tommy: Make it stop!
 * Toby Topaz: This really hurts! Aah!
 * Sean Sapphire: But none of us has shadow powers! How is this even possible?
 * Red Ruby: Whatever the reason is, I sure hope we can blow that crab up anytime soon!
 * Amelia Amethyst: Anyone else has any better ideas?
 * Red Fork: I... ugh...
 * Captain Red Shell: Captain Dark Shell! You have been causing problems to the world for too long.
 * Captain Dark Shell: And you think you can do anything to prevent it. Just look at you!
 * Captain Red Shell: *struggling to walk towards Captain Dark Shell* It doesn't matter. I will fight through whatever conditions are necessary. No matter the danger, no matter the pain, a true Captain Red Shell will always stand up to defend those he cares for. That's what my old brother used to say, and I'll stand up to the challenge. You couldn't scare me back at the shadowfish pyramid, and you're not going to scare me now.
 * Captain Dark Shell: You have a strong will, but you can't do anything.
 * Captain Red Shell: Argh! This is our home!
 * Captain Dark Shell: You plan to defeat me, by clinging to my feet?
 * Captain Red Shell: I only needed to keep you from taking three steps to the right.
 * Captain Dark Shell: What!?
 * Blast: Jason, you're back!
 * Ace: I sent my students somewhere safe. They'll be fine.
 * Red Fork: Whoa, that was something.
 * Ace: Well, if we're going to confront a evil shadow warrior that took over the multiverse, we might as well do it together, right?
 * Blast: *hugs Ace*
 * Ace: *hugs Blast*
 * Boom: Save the hugs for later, look ahead!