AI Style Preset

Tier List Ranking Thumbnail Generator

Tier list thumbnails with the classic S / A / B / C / D rows — the format that owns ranking videos, gaming meta breakdowns, and 'I ranked every X' content.

2 credits / image

About this style

What you get with Tier List Ranking

Tier lists are a visual format that's outlasted their meme origin (TierMaker, 2017) because the structure does the work: colored row labels in a fixed order (S red, A orange, B yellow, C green, D blue, F gray), item cards in each row sized roughly equal, and the rows stacked top to bottom.

  • S/A/B/C tier rows with locked TierMaker color palette
  • Square item card layout
  • Built-in title slot above the tiers
  • Works with multiple subject items in a single frame
  • Outputs at 1280×720 by default
  • Multiple variants per batch for tier ordering tests
Tier List Ranking example output
Pro tips

What makes this style work

TIP 01

Stick to the classic S-A-B-C-D-F color order. Reordering or renaming tiers (Tier 1, Tier 2) loses the cultural shortcut that makes the format read instantly.

TIP 02

Show only 3-4 rows in the thumbnail, not all 6. The full tier list belongs in the video; the thumbnail shows enough to imply structure.

TIP 03

Pack S tier with the controversial pick. If the recognizable item is in S, viewers click to argue; if it's the obvious item, no click.

TIP 04

Title belongs above the tiers, not over them. Overlapping the title with rows breaks the format's readability.

TIP 05

Item cards should be square. Tier lists are built on square thumbnail-sized cards — rectangles or circles read as 'random ranked list,' not 'tier list.'

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between tier list and iceberg?
Tier list is horizontal rows of items ranked by tier — discrete categories. Iceberg is vertical depth metaphor showing items from 'common knowledge' at the top to 'deep lore' at the bottom — a continuum, not categories.
Which channels does tier list fit?
Gaming (best characters, best builds, best maps), pop culture (best movies, best songs), tech (best phones, best laptops), and any 'I ranked everything in X' format. The video should actually be a tier ranking — using the thumbnail when the video is a top-10 list is a bait-and-switch.
Can I include real product or character art?
For commentary purposes, yes. For full-image reproduction of copyrighted character art, fair use depends on transformation. Many creators use stylized placeholders in the thumbnail and the real art in the video proper.
How many items per row in the thumbnail?
Three to five. More than five becomes unreadable at thumbnail size; fewer than three looks like rows weren't filled out.
Should I show all six tiers (S-A-B-C-D-F)?
In the video, yes. In the thumbnail, show 3-4 — usually S, A, B, and either C or F. Showing all six shrinks each row too small to read.
What aspect ratio?
1280×720 default. Tier lists scale gracefully to 1:1 (Instagram) and 9:16 (Shorts) because the rows just stack — the format is naturally responsive.

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