Tier List Reels: How to Make One People Argue About

What a tier list reel is

A tier list sorts things into labeled rows from best to worst. The rows are usually letters, with S at the top, then A, B, C and on down toward F. The idea started in video game culture, where players ranked characters by how strong they were, according to Wikipedia’s entry on tier lists. It has since spread to food, films, gear and almost anything people compare.

A tier list reel is that ranking on video. You name each item, say which row it goes in and why, and the board fills up as you talk. A ranked list (top 5, worst to best, red flag to green flag) works the same way with positions instead of rows, so this guide covers both.

Rows are forgiving. Two things can share A tier, so you only have to defend the bands. That makes a tier list quicker to plan than a strict top 10, and it leaves the viewer one simple thing to react to: is this in the right row?

Why tier lists get people commenting

Every placement is a small opinion a viewer can check against their own in a second. Putting someone’s favorite in C tier gives them a reason to comment, and the empty rows give them a reason to stay until their pick shows up. That is our reading of the format. The data below shows what winning tier lists did; it does not measure why they won.

Comments matter on Instagram. Its creator FAQ names engagement as one of the most important factors in how reels are distributed, and advises liking or replying to comments in a reel’s first 7 days. A tier list hands viewers something easy to say: “You put that way too low.”

It is also cheap to make. vidIQ’s notes estimate that 14 of the 20 tier lists below could be made within an hour. You need a topic, a list, a reason for each item and a phone.

What 20 breakout tier lists did in October 2026

What we looked at. On 25 October 2026 we ran vidIQ’s Instagram and TikTok outlier search for tier list and ranking videos. It returned 40 posts, 20 from each app, published in roughly the previous 30 days, each with at least 100,000 views and well above its creator’s usual numbers. For each post vidIQ reports the views, the creator’s median views, the multiple between the two and, for most TikToks, the length, plus notes on the opening, layout, on-screen text and sound.

What we kept. We read every record and kept a post only when the creator judges a set of items one at a time and puts each one in a tier, a grade or a ranked place. Countdowns that rank a montage of clips with a caption were left out. That left 20: 15 on Instagram and 5 on TikTok, posted between 29 September and 21 October. We dropped 11 TikTok clip countdowns (10 built from other people’s clips, one from the creator’s own funny moments), 3 recommendation lists with no ranking, a this-or-that quiz, a list of favorite characters with no ranking, a skit, a call-out video, a rant and a story video.

How to read these numbers. This is a picked sample of winners. vidIQ looks for posts that beat their creator’s usual views, so every row is a success. The data shows what winning tier lists had in common. It cannot show that tier lists beat other formats, or how many tier lists flopped. Views were read on 25 October and may have grown since.

Big multiples come easiest to small accounts. All nine posts above 100x came from creators whose median reel had under 8,000 views. Larger accounts had smaller multiples on bigger numbers: @sammyshakiry’s median is 1.7 million and this tier list reached 5.6 million (3.3x); @mariahandbill’s median is 325,000 and this one reached 7.1 million (21.9x).

For the same kind of data across other formats, see the October 2026 outlier reels report.

Twelve examples and what each one did

Twelve of the 20, picked to cover both apps and every way of showing the list. “Opening text” is what vidIQ recorded on screen in the first three seconds; the last column comes from vidIQ’s notes on layout, text and sound. vidIQ gave a length for each TikTok here and for none of these Instagram reels, so only the TikToks show one.

Source: vidIQ outlier search, 25 October 2026. Views and multiples change as posts keep getting views.

Patterns: openings, layouts, length, niches

These counts describe the 20 kept posts, using vidIQ’s notes on each one. They show what winners had in common; none of them guarantees views.

The opening names the list

Of the 20, 18 put the topic on screen in the first three seconds. Ten did it with the words “Ranking”, “tier list” or “Top 10”: “Ranking rain jacket brands”, “Gaslighting Tier List”, “Ranking pens from the career fair”. The two exceptions opened on the first item (“Habits”, a book title) or on the first tier (“Rare”).

Fifteen were already speaking in those three seconds. Several skipped the setup and started on a pick: @larskoch opens with “5 foot 4 is an A tier…” and @noah.kiv with “First up, we have…”. @d0wen’s Disney princess ranking opens with “Hello, my name is Owen” over a title slide that is on screen from the first frame.

Four ways to show the list

• The board on screen with the creator (8 of 20). Most often a split screen with the creator on top and the board below, or a tier list site recorded while items are dragged in. One used a green screen with the board behind the creator.
• Text or pictures over the video (6). A list that builds down one side, a cover image for each item, slides on a laptop, or a chart over a clip of the creator.
• Physical props (5). Paper notes stuck to a wall in a pyramid, pens held up one by one, two labeled glasses filled with water.
• A faceless animated graphic (1).

When the list is something to read rather than hear, the wall of text reel guide shows how to fill the screen with words instead.

About a minute long

vidIQ gives a length for most TikToks but for few Instagram reels: across our outlier report, only 7 of 117 Instagram reels had one. The five TikTok tier lists here ran 57 to 75 seconds, with a median of 67. That fits the format: each item needs a sentence, and eight items with an opening and a closing question add up to about a minute. The one Instagram tier list with a length was a 6-second chart that loops.

A voice, text from the start, and an order that builds

Sixteen of the 20 had a voice, and 10 were voice only with no music. All 20 had text on screen in the first three seconds. Where vidIQ’s notes describe the order, it tends to climb: books sorted Good, Better, Best (@noahfleming), piercings that get rarer with each step (@serenas_earstacks), and a wall pyramid that finishes on the top-ranked habit (@emily.livespeace).

Any niche with opinions

vidIQ tagged the 20 posts with 15 different niches. The topics ran from rain jackets, iPhone settings and horror novels to zodiac signs, slime, a mobile game and men’s heights. What they share is an audience that already holds a view on the items.

The caption asks for a reply

In the part of each caption vidIQ recorded, 6 posts asked a direct question or asked for comments (“Where do you rank on this list? Comment below”), and one dared viewers to disagree (“If you disagree you are wrong”). Two more asked viewers to share or save.

Plan it: topic, items, reasons, order

Pick a topic your audience has opinions on

Choose things your viewers already use, own, watch or argue about. A gear creator ranks rain jackets, a book creator ranks horror novels by how disturbing they are, a tech creator ranks the uses of one button. The test: could a regular viewer name their own S tier pick in a few seconds? If not, they won’t have anything to say in the comments.

Then set one rule for the ranking and say it out loud: best value, hardest, most overrated, most useful in a war. A rule turns “I like it” into a claim viewers can check, and an odd rule (“languages ranked by their tongue twisters”) can be the whole idea.

Choose 6 to 10 items and your rows

Six to ten items fit in about a minute at one sentence each. Fewer feels thin; more, and each item gets a rushed half-sentence. If you have twenty candidates, make a part 1 and a part 2. @larskoch’s height tier list in the sample was already a part 2.

Use fewer rows than you think. Four rows (S, A, B, C) read larger on a phone than six. Include at least one item almost everyone loves and one most people would rank higher than you do.

Write a one-line reason for each pick

The reason is the content. “B tier” alone is a label. “B tier: easy on the knees and easy to scroll on, which is the problem” is an opinion with a joke in it. Write one sentence per item, start it with the item’s name so the board and your voice line up, and time the whole script with the script timer before you film.

Order the reveal and save the hot take for last

Reveal the items in the order that keeps people watching, which is rarely tier order.

1. Open with a pick most viewers agree with, so they learn your scale.
2. Mix the tiers in the middle, so the order never gives away the next answer.
3. End on the pick that will start the most arguments, or on your number one if you have been building up to it.

The treadmill goes last because a low tier for the machine everyone knows is the placement most likely to start an argument. The downloadable planner below has this example and blank rows for yours.

Write the opening line

Your first line should say what you are ranking and give a reason to stay. Instagram’s creator FAQ advises making the first 3 seconds engaging so people don’t move on, and 18 of the 20 tier lists above put their topic on screen in that window. Four openings that match what they did:

• Title the ranking: “Ranking every cardio machine in the gym.”
• Add a stake: “I ranked every cardio machine, and the last one is going to upset people.”
• Ask the question the list answers: “What should the Action Button actually do?”
• Start on the first pick: “Stair climber. S tier. Here’s why.”

Put the same words on screen as you say them, over the empty board, so a viewer watching with the sound off sees the rows waiting to be filled.

Film it: four ways to show the list

Make the board first. Our free tier list maker builds one in your browser and exports a 9:16 PNG you can use in any of the setups below. For the camera itself (eye level, face lit, microphone close) the talking head video guide covers the basics.

1. The board under you (split screen)

The most common setup in the sample. Film yourself in the top part of the frame and place the board below. Leave room at the bottom: that part of the screen sits under the app’s caption and buttons, as the next section shows in pixels.

2. The board behind you (green screen)

Stand in front of the board image and talk to the camera, as @teezzys.vids did. TikTok and Instagram both offer a green screen effect in the camera that puts an image behind you. The menus change between app versions, so search the effects for “green screen”. Stand to one side so you don’t cover the rows.

3. A screen recording of a tier list site

Record your screen while you drag each item into its row, then put your face above or over the recording, as @finnmickk, @sammyshakiry and @doomlingo did. Small screen text gets hard to read on a phone, so zoom in on the row you are filling.

4. Physical props

Write the tier letters on paper, stick them to a wall and place each item as you talk, as @emily.livespeace did, or hold each item up to the camera like @noah.kiv. Props need no graphics at all. Make the letters big enough to read on a phone and light the wall evenly.

Edit it so each item lands on its word

Make each item land on its word

Cut so each item drops into its row on the word you say it. A card that lands early gives away your next pick; one that lands late leaves the viewer staring at an unchanged board while you talk. Cut the pauses between items, leave a beat after the arguable picks, and hold the finished board for a second or two at the end so viewers can screenshot it.

Keep the board inside the safe zone

App buttons and captions cover the edges of the frame. Meta’s Reels ad specs suggest keeping the top 14%, the bottom 35% and 6% of each side free of text and key elements. They are written for ads, but they make a useful layout check. On a 1080 × 1920 frame that leaves a band from about 270 to 1,250 pixels down and about 950 pixels wide. Our own rough estimate: if your face takes the top of that band, the board gets about 600 pixels, enough for four rows of large text or six of smaller text. Check your layout in the Reels safe zone checker before you export.

Color, captions and sound

Give each row its own color so a glance tells the tier. Keep your spoken captions short and away from the board, near your face; the guide to captions people can actually read covers line breaks and timing. Most of the 20 tier lists had a voice and half were voice only, so keep any music low under your voice or leave it out.

Write the caption that starts the argument

End the reel and the caption with the same question, and ask for the argument directly:

• “Which one did I get wrong?”
• “What’s your S tier?”
• “Do you disagree with any of my picks?” (@outdoorjackson’s caption)

Then answer the best disagreements. Instagram’s creator FAQ advises liking or replying to comments in a reel’s first 7 days. On YouTube you can reply to a comment with a Short that shows the comment as a sticker, and a “you ranked this wrong” comment is a ready-made part 2.

Making a tier list reel with EditorOP

EditorOP’s start screen has a Tier list format: “Rank things S to C. Each one drops into its row as you say it.” Its filming tip is one line: “Say each thing and its tier: ‘Notion is S tier.’”

So plan four rows, S to C, and say each item with its tier, as in the example. Each one then lands in its row on your words. See how the AI reel editor works.

Tier list reel mistakes

Run through this list before you post.

• A topic your audience has no opinion on.
• More than ten items, so each one gets half a sentence.
• Placing items with no reason.
• A long introduction before the first pick.
• Showing the finished board at the start, so there is nothing left to wait for.
• Cards that appear before or after you say them.
• Rows under the app’s buttons or caption, or tier letters too small to read on a phone.
• Images you aren’t sure you can use. Your own photos or plain text labels work.
• Ending without a question.

Tier list reel questions