Despite its limited roster, Mario Strikers: Battle League offers a surprising amount of variety when it comes to team composition. The characters players choose can have a huge impact on the way that their team plays, and, against the very best opponents, can often be the difference between success and failure. As such, figuring out who the best players in Mario Strikers: Battle League are can be incredibly important.
Each team is made up of five players, though players will only be able to select the four outfielders. They'll need a defender, two midfielders, and an attacker, with each position requiring very different traits and qualities. As a result, certain characters in Mario Strikers: Battle League are much better than others despite the fact that they all share the same stat totals (63). What follows is every character in the game rated from worst to first.
10 Yoshi
Strength | Speed | Shooting | Passing | Technique |
---|---|---|---|---|
10 | 10 | 17 | 17 | 9 |
Yoshi would actually make for a great attacking midfielder in a traditional 11v11 match. However, with teams limited to just five players in Mario Strikers: Battle League, it's very difficult to justify his selection. He's far too slow for a midfield spot and lacks the technique needed to be a deadly striker. Players desperate to use him up top could use gear to trade some of his passing for more technique, but, even then, his lack of strength would likely cause problems.
9 Luigi
Strength | Speed | Shooting | Passing | Technique |
---|---|---|---|---|
11 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 17 |
Much like his older brother, Luigi is a bit of a jack of all trades. Sadly, however, he ends up being a master of none. His high technique is wasted by his poor shooting stat, while his mediocre strength and speed mean that there are much better options for the two midfield berths. Using gear to trade either technique for better speed and passing or passing for a higher shooting stat would help, but not by much.
8 Wario
Strength | Speed | Shooting | Passing | Technique |
---|---|---|---|---|
17 | 9 | 15 | 13 | 9 |
Like several of the other playable characters in Mario Strikers: Battle League, it's difficult to find a place in the team for Wario due to his mismatched stats. His strength and passing accuracy make him ideal for defense, but then a lot of points are being left on the table due to his 15 shooting stat going to waste. Players could address this using gear, but why bother when there are better options available?
7 Waluigi
Strength | Speed | Shooting | Passing | Technique |
---|---|---|---|---|
15 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 14 |
Although strength and speed are always useful attributes to have, Waluigi's poor shooting and passing stats really hamper his usability in matches. His passing isn't good enough for a spot in defense or midfield, while his poor shooting makes him an abysmal attacker. Those who really want to squeeze him in could use gear to trade shooting and technique for better passing, but this won't fix his janky hitbox.
6 Mario
Strength | Speed | Shooting | Passing | Technique |
---|---|---|---|---|
11 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 16 |
Though he is a little slow for a midfielder and his passing stat isn't great, Mario's high technique and shooting stats mean that he's able to chip in with a goal or two in the event that the main striker is getting marked out of the game or has been temporarily incapacitated. To this end, some players will appreciate having a well-balanced player in the center of the pitch and so probably won't want to alter his stats too much with gear.
5 Peach
Strength | Speed | Shooting | Passing | Technique |
---|---|---|---|---|
9 | 17 | 9 | 13 | 15 |
Thanks to her high speed and passing stats, Peach is a solid option for the midfield, even if she is a little lightweight for the position. To get the very best out of her, players should consider boosting her strength and passing stats using gear, with technique and shooting being the best things to sacrifice.
4 Toad
Strength | Speed | Shooting | Passing | Technique |
---|---|---|---|---|
9 | 17 | 11 | 15 | 11 |
Toad is effectively a slightly better version of Peach, though once again suffers from a noticeable lack of strength. Admittedly, this isn't quite as important as it would be were he playing as a defender or a striker, but, given that he's tied for the position of the game's weakest player, it really wouldn't hurt to give him a few extra points using gear.
3 Bowser
Strength | Speed | Shooting | Passing | Technique |
---|---|---|---|---|
17 | 9 | 17 | 11 | 9 |
Bowser's poor technique lets him down a little, but both his strength and shooting stats are best in class. This ensures that he won't get knocked off the ball very often and will be able to steal the ball back from opposition defenders right after a goal kick. If players were to use gear to improve his technique just a little, he'd arguably be the best striker in the game.
2 Donkey Kong
Strength | Speed | Shooting | Passing | Technique |
---|---|---|---|---|
16 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 9 |
Though games like FIFA typically require players to have a fast defense, Mario Strikers: Battle League favors strength and passing. These are two things that DK has in abundance, with each of the two stats being only one point below the highest in the game. Those looking to get the very best out of him can use gear to further boost his strength and passing at the expense of shooting and technique.
1 Rosalina
Strength | Speed | Shooting | Passing | Technique |
---|---|---|---|---|
14 | 9 | 17 | 10 | 13 |
Rosaline is both the best striker and the best playable character in Mario Strikers: Battle League. Her high strength, technique, and shooting stats make her perfect for the position and the latter two can be further boosted using gear for a little extra oomph if needed. Her Hyper Strike is one of the best in the game too; freezing any enemies that it comes into contact with.
Mario Strikers: Battle League is available now for the Nintendo Switch.