Tier List - Best T9 BBs For Ranked

After my T10 BBs tier list I was asked to make one for T9 Ranked. I don't entirely like the list, I think Delaware is a tier too high and FDG might be a bit better than rated, but it's in the general direction of my thinking.
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Twitter: / flamuchz

[@Flamuu]

After thinking about it for a bit I think FDG is C, not D, and Delaware is A, not S, no way that ship is as good as Kearsarge. Twitter: twitter.com/flamuchz Discord: discord.gg/Flamu Stream: www.twitch.tv/flamuu Insta: instagram.com/flamugram/

[@bella_ciao4608]

Iwami should be higher tbh. That ship has a lot of the benefits of FDG’s guns, notably consistent fast reload. The torps are kinda useless but the armor is pretty good. You should give it a try

[@Galakt_Gamer_YT]

FGD deserved C 👍

[@HP4L16]

This tier list would have been mostly fine except there is one huge mistake, Iwami. The secondaries of this thing just melt everything, one of the tankiest ships provided you don't give flat broadside and great firing angles means it eats very little AP damage, and while it only has 8 guns they reload quickly and are consistent enough to smash everything even without the accuracy mod. The fact that it has high damage torps means anyone that tries to yolo you goes straight to port, and DDs in secondary range don't live long. Along with Ruprecht Iwami is probably the best tier 9 BB for ranked, it lacks the hydro but it would be busted if it had it so it should be strong A tier if not S.

[@ronanwaring3408]

@@Galakt_Gamer_YT It's an ok ship unlike the british ships's it an actual upgrade from last tier, I'm maining it right now doing OK as long as a good team that actually does things back you up

[@Lunar137]

Kinda bothered you didn't want to rank ships you didn't have/haven't played, yet somehow, Iwami was an exception despite it being a beast in ranked.

[@minaxims]

Another tier list, another timestamp thank you flamu for animal research peepoHappy 0:05 Daisen 2:09 Hizen 3:47 Iwami 7:09 Izumo 8:09 Musashi 9:54 Tsurugi & Yuminari 9:59 Sun Yat-Sen 15:37 Delaware 19:03 Kearsarge [19:11 Hybrids Rant] 25:01 Georgia 26:19 Iowa 27:22 Minnesota 27:48 Missouri 29:57 Lion & Marlborough 30:06 Duncan 32:55 Scarlet Thunder [33:35 Marlborough Rant] 35:43 ScarThun's Actual Placement 37:20 Friedrich Der Grosse 40:14 Pommern 44:10 Prinz Rupprecht 47:09 Sovetsky Soyuz 48:57 AL Sovetsky Russia 49:24 Navarin 49:42 Alsace 50:26 Jean Bart 51:23 Giuseppe Verdi 54:27 Lepanto & Marco Polo 56:31 FDG Re-Consideration 57:09 Disclaimer 58:14 FDG Re-Ranking 1:01:39 Karl XIV Johan

[@sameerkharade7750]

Thank you, good Sir.

[@minaxims]

@@sameerkharade7750 No problem sir! Happy to serve ;)

[@sargisshirinyan207]

ANOTHER TIER LIST! Gonna grab my tea and enjoy this fine afternoon. Thanks Flolo.

[@SalahudeenDaudi]

Was thinking the same thing lol, nice way to spend the evening

[@tsu7206]

Schlieffen line in ranked/brawl: -press W -win

[@ShiningDarknes]

W is for Win. Monke understand.

[@sozetsukokai9327]

Haha, he put [Ship] into [Rank]. What a noob

[@xyonix5193]

Iwami has the best firing angles for bbs in the game, 25 degrees, insane accuracy, amazing armor when angled with 50mm deck and small superstructure...

[@henriqmarques_]

Accuracy isn't that good but i do agree with the rest

[@lucidnonsense942]

Iwami murders in ranked. Armour actually works, guns drill holes at secondaries range and ifhe secondaries melt stuff. Plus, Yolo torps

[@henriqmarques_]

Yeah, i love mine at ranked

[@ILoveforGames]

Karl XIV Johann has 10.6km conceal, if you build into secondaries it becomes 10.5 km. Include the torps and you have a really fun "brawler". Sure it doesn't pen but it sets fires really good.

[@stewpidaso7145]

Dayum that conceal

[@Cat_in_The-Box]

Similar deal with JB, you can but for dumb al gun gameplay just go with germans pls

[@ILoveforGames]

@@Cat_in_The-Box unlike jb, Johan has the same conceal as its secondaries range (the secondary range is 10.55km) it also has 85-90 knot torps.

[@themysteriousguy3784]

the hybrid combo could be more potent if you shoot then launch planes then shoot again as your planes are striking, it typically takes ~20-40 seconds to launch a strike anyway. Basically free perma fires

[@virusproofficial1086]

imagine if u could send planes, make them fly idly when u shoot and then come back to the planes lol

[@MartyInLa]

I have the Tier 9 and 10 American Hybrids, plus the Ise. and they all take way longer than 40 seconds to load your next flight. What ship are you playing where you can launch a new attack wave every 20 seconds?

[@nabilzakiron6615]

@@MartyInLa not the plane, but the guns reload

[@MartyInLa]

that would make more sense.@@nabilzakiron6615

[@yuanyuclydechen]

Flamu, you are basically how i learned to play wow. I loved the videos, and I am always surprised how much you know about the game even after 3 years of playing. you know what you are talking about. Lately, it's been a little bit of turn off, because there are so much negatives in the videos, I understood bashing of wow and someone has to voice what's wrong with the game. what I don't understand is bashing "player base"... I am an average player, I enjoy playing, and I watch you to get better...out of the 117k subscribers....how many are unicorns? even with all the CVs, Subs and all the wrongs in the game that I agree with, why is it players' fault? If we are all being honest with ourselves (117k viewers), you are bashing 90% of your viewers if not more, they are all cracking up with you watching the vid, but most of them don't know you are talking about them. If everyone is pro, who's going to be your paid actors for the videos? there will be no more wow, if only the pros can play, the game will be dead. I don't like it when people brings up win rates and stuff in the game? Average players can't play in Random Battles? It's not Ranked, it's not KoS...maybe there should be a battle mode for "Pros" only.., so, rest of us can play in peace. Game is already dying, you def can't grow the game with players being toxic, and it kind of start with you, since you are the biggest name, like I said, I started by watching you, and I am sure I am not the only one. Just wish the channel can be more positive, my 2 cents, keep up the good work.

[@TheUlitamateStunt]

I have the exact same feelings about the WOWS community in general. If you want to play BB, CA, DD, there's a steady skill curve, and a huge amount of content out there of guides and gameplay so your average player can learn. Meanwhile with SS and CV, there's a huge dichotomy between your casual player and the 'unicorns' who have somehow managed to master the types and create huge amounts of damage. The community generally shuns or is disinterested around using these types, so there's not much information out there as to how to get better. Then the CVs and SS are balanced relative to some middle point, which doesn't satisfy casuals nor ranked players. I personally find post-RTS carriers to be frustratingly hard to play, but then again, I am of course not a good CV player.

[@ahemschmeyer]

St. Vincent: S, Duncan: C It was a struggle getting past Duncan, then get Vincent and it was like this is amazing. Made little sense.

[@MrSchwabentier]

well the idea is that you get so frustrated with Duncan that you buy Dubloons to FreeXP it to get to the amazing St. Vincent. Shit T8 and T9 ships and amazing T10 have been a pattern recently. Gotta keep the money comin for WG

[@clmwrx]

​@MrSchwabentier shoot I enjoyed playing Hawke and Duncan. The whole line is decent really

[@atpyro7920]

My opinion on Duncan improved after playing it in ranked a few seasons back. It's like the Germans in that it performs better in smaller environments. read: when there are less guns capable of making it explode from that godawful citadel

[@euphoric2025]

Sun Yat Sen is actually accurate but the AP alpha is the worst for the caliber and sometimes there is dual gun syndrome.

[@mertc8050]

I run a secondary build for the lolz and to be fair its actualy good which is unexpected

[@cody8217]

Giuseppe Verdi is excellent in ranked. Holding a 75% win rate in ranked with it after over 100 battles this sprint.

[@wote2760]

What makes it so good? Please elaborate. What was your play style with it?

[@cody8217]

@@wote2760 Tankiness. 406mm for overmatch. Run a full secondary build. Its SAP secondaries tear up everything. When you have spotting, you push, pop your smoke, and let your secondaries do their work, then you either keep pushing, or you turn and kite out. It's a jack of all trades.

[@wote2760]

@@cody8217 how is the guns reliability? Colombo levels?

[@jakebarnes9018]

Seconded, Verdi absolutely chews up cruisers, and Italian 406 AP is ballistically pretty insane. Kind of a shotgun, but when they hit they absolutely hit.

[@729060]

G Sippy is just a BB Napoli which is why its good.

[@DanArmani]

This fellow most probably is better and more knowledgeable player than me, but he is a human after all, and humans are not always right and most of the time biased even when they think they are not. Or should I simply say he is just expressing his personal understanding/experience about those ships, and I respect that. Although I agree with almost 80% of his list, I strongly disagree with having Ruprecht above Georgia and Musashi. As a person who owns and plays with Musashi, Georgia and Rupprecht, I tell you Musashi and Georgia should go to S and those 3 ships already in S should go down to A. Nothing is easier than sinking Rupprecht when you are in Georgia (my second choice) or Musashi (first choice). All you need to do is to keep a 13 KM distance to ensure you're out of her torpedo and secondaries. Then Rupprecht is nothing but a sunken ship. BTW, I assume this list was out before T9 Premium BB Karl XIV Johan was available (Fast, good number of HIGH SPEED, but LOW DAMAGE torpedos x8 each side, EXCELLENT SECONDARY but poor main battery). I personally prefer Karl over Rupprecht (Karl was available in Trade in section a while ago, but not anymore).

[@nicz7694]

I really love Rupprecht. Such a fun ship to play. Schlieffen Line in General is a blast

[@MrMimole]

Can't wait for more tier lists, love 'em

[@dullen2810]

I want to mention that Minnesota is covered in 38mm plating which protects it from a lot of HE spam and also makes it harder for AP to get through, along with being able to mount APRM2 which solves the accuracy issue of kansas, on top of having an underwater citadel

[@glr4764]

Great list! Hope to see you expanded on it and put all tier 9s on a tier list for ranked battles!

[@IntelCorei-KProcessor-go2to]

Marco Polo AP pen is insane. If you love Izumo guns, Marco's will also feel pretty good.

[@jarrodhroberson]

FDG can kill 1/2 team at start and you team will still throw the game. That is the problem.

[@robbie9723]

Giuseppe Verdi is is great in ranked imo. The tankiness, extended duration smoke, speed of 37kts with brisk, AP overmatch with italian ballistics (while having better accuracy than the other italian bbs), the SAP secondaries are brutal to everything they pen, all combine to make a surprisingly flexible and consistent t9 BB. Added benefit is the majority of the playerbase has absolutely no idea how to deal with it 🙌

[@S.ASmith]

Hybrid ships are unbelievably OP in the hands of a good player. The amount of pain they can dish out, the annoying plane bomb drops & the attrition they can do to a ship is just...unmatched..maybe apart from a torpedo cruiser with good HE (IJN cruisers).

[@sargisshirinyan207]

Iwami has same hull as Hizen but better armor. The deck has thicker armor.

[@thegreenfather1978]

Yeah Iwami has carried me through this season. It's better than Daisen for sure.

[@sargisshirinyan207]

@@thegreenfather1978 in my opinion iwami is best of t9 IJN BBs, except Musashi of course, Musashi is out of question

[@xAyAxx]

I Like Iwami aswell

[@Lunar137]

It's really sad seeing the Iwami placed so low.

[@abdinata9273]

Based on my experience, its easier to climb with Delaware, Ruppretch or even Duncan than Kearsarge. I believe Kearsarge should be at A tier coz it eat damage alot compared to Delaware that can just nose in to use 2/3 of its fire power & it has better plane to hunt DD too.

[@mertc8050]

Nope kearsarge compared to delaware has more guns, waaaay better gun angles,god tier armor (except the tumor of course),and better planes. Sooo no its s tier. And also just for the lolz you can have a secondary build on it since it has the highest amount of secondary guns compared to any us bbs.

[@729060]

Not mentioned but PR having its rear turret be 360 degrees means as long as you're driving at something you can reliably keep 3 turrets on target while taking aggressive maneuvers.

[@gstormcz]

Thanks to your ranking. I picked Kearsarge, which I buyed for coal during Anniversary, but didn't played it yet till now. This ship hilariously opressing. I am about to try Delaware too. I expect S. Soyuz to work well too. I just could not enjoy german battlecruisers much, although I see some guys can make it shine. My old love - Pommern really seems to loose bit breath. Again, thanks for recommendation.

[@mihaitha]

I killed a Marlborough from almost 100% in Agir in ranked last week. Then went on to finish of their FDG and Jager to win the battle.

[@Stealthassin135]

You could throw the Marlborough into tier 7 and it'd still suck Donkey balls

[@anamnesls]

If i am Correct, AL Sovetskaya Rossiya does have have fast DCP, it just has American Dispersion, A Hull of Soyuz and something with turret traverse and rudder i believe.

[@Manol6325]

i think illinois also needs no brain to play cause you just park nose into an island and farm everyone without getting overmatched or citadelled, also claps a lot of cruisers and dds

[@mattin5850]

I think kearsarge even in randoms is S tier

[@xolove0024]

the main problem is mostly playerbase are using her (all Hybrid BB tbh) as CV, not as BB with free attack planes

[@CommandoFighterPilot]

Ah yes, big flolo video. Wednesday fixed

[@kaollachan]

There should be a M tier for marlborough

[@bustermorley8318]

The secret with the Kersage is to just keep reminding yourself that it is a battleship first. Don't get too carried away with the aircraft.

[@rickb6694]

Average KM BB enjoyer: what is google? Flamu: -_-

[@BattleshipMan_]

Iowa and Missouri irl: Can smash almost every other battleship in existence Iowa and Missouri in wows: weak mid tier ships. 4 of 30 ships here were actually built and finished. See where I'm going with this?

[@mattsimnitt1420]

I would enjoy more of these.

[@alexander3364]

Dude, Alsace is very versatile since you have 32mm plating, a low citadel, and good speed, not to mention 8 barrels of 15 inch at the front, even if you cannot citadel people 8 pen at close / medium range where you shoot at other's people guns / upper belt still deal more consistent damage than 4 or 6 barrels of bigger caliber, the only thing that can over match 32mm is Musashi which if you get into a match could be difficult to fight but not impossible. I can't count how many time where in Ranked and it turned into a rock throwing contest the 8 barrels in the front deal more consistent pen damage than bigger caliber but low shell density, If you can disable one or 2 of their barrels in the front you can then use speed boost to flank and get those 4+ citadel at close range. Putting her at C is a mistake man Alsace must be at B at least

[@KronStaro]

Flamu make more lists with more tiers and more game modes. These are very useful for players and not alot of them on youtube. YOu can also update them every half a year as game changes over time, surely good youtube content for you.

[@Lunar137]

Actually sad to see Iwami get disrespected like that. She is a beast in ranked. Some of the best secondary hitting dpm with ifhe, the gun angles are amazing and decent deck armor and yolo/zoning torps.

[@SebaX92]

It’s so underrated and because of that people think it’s not a big deal, they get smashed and then they’re mad in chat.

[@mertc8050]

Yeah i say let them think its bad ill just go uptier in ranked

[@SebaX92]

@@mertc8050 Iwami B is coming and some guys might get it in crates, they'll play and see that it's pretty decent. Flamu also has such bad opinion because of those Iwami players that go full broadside to launch the torps. And he rated the Daisen so high even though it's such a brick that doesn't turn.

[@atpyro7920]

@@SebaX92 secondary build daisen shreds secondary build iwami any day of the week. the guns are also superior and the torp angles are much better. it's one of the bbs where running rudder mod over propulsion is the better choice.

[@mrgrey91]

Funny... during that season I smashed every Rupprecht with my Pommern easily. Pommern was so much better imo, but I understand why Flamu put them in S and B respectively

[@Qiiwwii]

Hybrids are not that strong cause the ones using them always play so far back that you often get a 3v2 advantage against their other bbs around the cap.

[@mertc8050]

Man i play kearsarge and its super easy to win unless your team is just bots. So to have fun i run a secondary build on it and brawl when i know i will win anyway and its just pure fun to watch the lightshow of the highest amount of secondaries in all US ships just melt ships

[@mertc8050]

I play it like its a german ship after my team gains momentum (ez with all the plane spotting) so not all people are one of those you speak of.

[@captainworstpirateiveheard9842]

The new IJN BC T9 is Adatara, not Yumihari. Tsurugi is a tragedy btw

[@bastienbassalettibeaule7618]

man as a kearsage player its SUCH a good ship i can consistently do well over 100k damage in it the plane are AMAZING but really hard to master

[@ShiningDarknes]

Marlborough is a tier unto itself, let's be honest. Worst t9 BB honestly if you could take a T8 BB into T9 ranked it would probably do better. It is not even any better in random battles, arguably it is worse because there is more to shoot at you. It's accuracy makes the GK blush.

[@xAyAxx]

I "accidently" went with Marlborough into a Ranked Round, Karma Punished me directly with a Pommern DevStruck (71k DMG Salvo) over 18km :) What a Piece of Crap

[@Cat_in_The-Box]

Damn one singular situation, truly changes everything

[@eragonrank5303]

I’m actually on a 17 win streak in ranked on Kearsarge. That ship is stupid busted, people just can’t deal with the dmg output.

[@chrismackenrodt6202]

Sun yat sen is fun sometimes. If anyone shows you broadside at 17/18 you can crush them but the dispersion is terrible for a t9 and only 6 guns bad dispersion is hard to destroy ships. It’s easy to get damage but can’t really finish anyone off without cits

[@hadriench3402]

French BB is the first line i grinded. Alsace sucks terribly in random. Your guns have no accuracy. Compared to Richelieu that have a good dispersion and can bow tank easily, going to Alsace feels like a punishment and a downgrade. Plus you've a bad concealment, it's a big ship that easily takes fire. In ranked it's slightly better. With a lower number of players you're less likely to be cross fired, and in brawling situation the 16 guns are unrivalled.

[@xristoofdeath]

7 mins in and I’m already triggered putting iwami same tier as Hizen. You should play the Iwami - I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!

[@Telashar]

Tbh, I feel like Illinois eats crapton of damage, regardless of angling. And since she has lower health and worse heal than Iowa (or at least comperatively worse since her hp pool is lower), it often feels like she melts faster than is melting others. I mean yeah, I am not really that good of a player, but I feel like she is way more fragile than people think.

[@Bane_Diesel]

Question for the ppl. In ranked would you rather have an ok player who doesn’t listen at all or a average player who will do whatever you ask of him?

[@bella_ciao4608]

Just fyi the yumihari is the new T8, Adatara is the t9

[@silent_wikus]

My bad... I did this tierlist, it's not Flamu's mistake

[@NotLakeline]

I bought Kearsarge with my birthday coupon and then sold it for the credits a couple months later -_- Dumbest thing I’ve ever done

[@Gundolf300]

I mean.. Georgia ftw cause most dd player get so damn confused when a Iowa sized ship catches up with them and its secondaries goes BRRRRR. 😅

[@yamato-zi7yk]

Delaware is definitely not S tier. It only works best when your team is smart enough to shoot the DD you are spotting and/or don't die in a couple seconds. Otherwise it's guns feel kind of weak. Plus most of the time you can only bring 6 guns to bear without giving full broadside. I'd say it fluctuates between A and B depending on how smart your team is.

[@Oniontrololol]

Johan is another S tier in my book

[@clanDFS]

LMAO iwami D tier and daizen better than him in B tier LOL iwami have beter gun angle (one of the best for T9) , better secondaries and more accurate , better protection for the citadel and the torp are more protected because on the back of the ship Stop underestimate a ship that you dont know the power , iwami should be in A tier or probably S tier

[@Lunar137]

A strong B if not A for sure. Being in the same tier as Hiezen is bullcrap.

[@mertc8050]

Man i play kearsarge and its super easy to win unless your team is just bots. So to have fun i run a secondary build on it and brawl when i know i will win anyway and its just pure fun to watch the lightshow of the highest amount of secondaries in all US ships just melt ships

[@atroll8821]

Iowa should be in B. Better than Pommern, that's for sure.

[@itwoznotme]

who cares what ship you take, when MM will dump you with the ripest turds it can find and (in their OP premium ships) they can all hide at the back and farm their way to a solid 3rd place and whinge why they didnt save a star. this game is so broken (i went afk from a random game for the first 10 mins earlier and still top scored by a mile! i was almost double the second place score). i honestly just laugh and log out of a lot of games.

[@chiracultrainstinct3d629]

I hope you have been reported and you’re gonna lost your account then

[@aznfoo]

sun yat sen can't dev strike itself too btw, not enough ap alpha

[@dislikecounter5191]

What's French vertical dispersion my jb always has 2/8 salvos with 1km gaps between the shells

[@federox86]

JB is A

[@nicz7694]

2nd this Sure, the fact about Georgia braking its turrets might be true but man... I have clapped so many Georgia Citadels in this thing, its unbelievable. JB is probably my personal "Georgia Terminator 9000" in this game lol

[@rikudora1215]

There is only TWO ships in WoWS which have lower sigma than Marlborough tier 6 USSR BB novorossisk and tier 4 USSR BB gangut yeah, Marlborough is absolute tragedy The Most Horrible Ship in WoWS

[@jakubslavik5595]

Pommern is overrated imho, but it can certainly work... sometimes. I rather have Iwami, Georgia, even Lepanto. Rupprecht is just ez win.

[@Dik131WZD]

Daisen could be good ranked BB, but his giant citadel

[@Dik131WZD]

Iwami has great MG angles, so I think it's on C or B

[@flounder2760]

Delaware is farmable to 8inch ap.

[@renown16]

I’m a mintour player and when in see a hybrid. Hoho free damage.

[@ryankings6755]

Georgia is S tier, no doubt in my mind.

[@ericodermatt5669]

random opnion Fdg is better then iowa

[@AddumEnied]

Im usually A DD or CA player, but nooprecht is si broken in rnaked that i have way better wr in it that kita, zf, alaska ect.

[@bruce3579]

How is lion e?

[@50calpudding46]

Marlborough is a bit too high ngl

[@Pentagram666mar]

Fdg is a B behind izumo, really, just spam 406

[@aronpro2065]

Tsurugi E tier, awful af tried to love it but is it really bad

[@jam9309]

I enjoy the Iwami and Lion, have good games in them in ranked.

[@raidergame4161]

musashi tier 9.5 = s

[@R4ZORLIGHT]

Minnesota is aColorado 2.0, meh.

[@mcgee9777]

I have actually smashed a Delaware with citadels in Yamato. It was broadside at like 23km so I definitely had some shell impact angle to have a better chance to cit that thing but I took him from full HP to about 8k in one salvo, I think I whacked him with 4 cits and a few pens and overpens. You basically have to shoot short and hope the shells don’t just dunk into the water a little too far away. Anyways the Delaware’s cit is way too hard to hit and it needs to be at the same level as Iowa so it can be punished regularly for being an idiot hybrid player.

[@xxxthwagdrakexxx4672]

Imo musashi has toilet paper armor, me in an iowa i citadeled this thing through the back DECK while it showed its stern to me and proceeded to drain its hp while the other guy was wondering why i had gotten so many citadels (for reference i citadeled him twice with the back turret and the first one was through the deck as well after I chonked him with two cuts and forced him to turn). It honestly never scared me much unless im in a cruiser and too drunk to have self awareness. Sun yat sen at the very least has a MUCH better armor structure and is pretty tanky especially considering that you don't have a limited amount of charges for damage con and can overmatch nearly any cruiser with it. Especially if played like a secondary bb the shells are a bit more accurate than I used to think and fairly enjoy it more than I thought I would

[@shipness]

Diasen 4 min spotter plane with low cooldown also torps

[@indra8188]

ive used marlborough in ranked, its kind of fun and ive had some good games. you are for sure trolling though.

[@Danyal_aka_Amagibestfox]

Why would anyone want an Iwami? Because she’s a pretty boat XD

[@berserker4940]

Z

[@vicamu541]

all tier 9 is trash because tier 11 exist and people play tier 10 and above always

[@MrSchwabentier]

did you read the title?! Explain to me how people play T10 in T9-ranked?

[@vicamu541]

@@MrSchwabentier fair enough

[@ruskiessuck3337]

rupert smashes