[Bonus] EXO Tier List

This week(end) is all about gaming: Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Hearthstone, and Runescape DXP. As you can see this has been reflected in blog activity. So I'll drop a quick pilot for a new series in Tier Lists. These have been exploding in popularity from all reaches of the Internet so it's only natural I join in. Especially with my obsession of trying to link Kpop to videogames. The inaugural episode will be my EXO Tier List, including the ex-members. Audible gasp!

Like always, the formatting and whatever will change over time so we'll start with this structure. Tier List posts will substitute for Power Ranking posts when I simply can't decide between a specific order, and or when the number of participants is too damn high. The post that immediately comes to mind will be the next Girl Group Vocalist Power Rankings, and also allows for some mega posts too. I'm pretty excited for these prospects. Anyway let's get into the group.

In C Tier we have Lay, Luhan, and Sehun. These are ordered from left to right within each tier, so that's cool. Sehun and Luhan have long been the two least outstanding members for me (shoutouts to "What Is Love" when I thought Luhan was Chen and got excited for that) so that's easy. I have nothing against Lay, but the other members offer more in other aspects, though Lay has the benefit of being the single remaining Chinese member with some funny variety antics to his name.

B Tier houses the most members and could also be called the personality tier. Given how little I've actually seen this group in variety action, it means these guys have stood out given their limited opportunity. Kris is probably the exception but I've seen a couple movies he's been in and they were okay so there's that. Xiumin, Chanyeol, and Kai are all strong dancers but you know given the choice between a singer, rapper, or dancer, the dancer usually takes a backseat.

Our lord and savior Satan resides in A Tier. He's one of those members that have benefited from outside exposure as my sisters are huge fans, not to mention he has legendary facial expressions and meme power. I shouldn't even put Tao here considering he hasn't been with the group for years but I liked him a lot during their debut times. A martial artist in a Kpop group? Sign me up. Suho is extremely consistent as an individual and back in the early 2010's the leader role had more weight to it. As such, I gravitated towards the leaders the same way I did to vocalists.

To no one's surprise, two strong vocalists comprise S Tier. Baekhyun and Chen have always been the top members of the group ever since the earliest years with "What Is Love." Combined with D.O, they are the foundation of all of EXO's music with their versatile, powerful voices. Chen was my top male vocalist from a month ago and while I've likely never make an extended version for boy group vocalists (perhaps a Tier List would be possible though), Baekhyun would also rank highly. They are a little lacking in variety from what I've seen compared to other members and folklore, but I'll always be the sucker for great singers so that's why they share the top spots.