Custom Variant Gamerule Tier List

So, yesterday @ChessMasterGS and @jackityjackjack both made a variant tier list, but what is the most important part of a variant (aside from the position)? The game rules, of course! So here is my Variant Gamerule Tier List.

Before I start, I'll classify what I'm counting as a "gamerule."

1. Rules that do not change the looks/gameplay don't count, except for textures (eg. Anonymous, Rooks are Sailboats)

2. Rules that are not present in the "Rules" window don't count (eg. PawnBaseRank, Spell Cooldown)

3. Promotion options don't count.

4. Rules are seen from a potential 14x14 4PC FFA Custom Variant's perspective.

This is my opinion. You can have different thoughts than mine.

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Okay, let's get this over with.

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F Tier

Chess960/Paridigm30 - Don't we just love it when there's a rule you can't even use?

Pieces Face Center - This rule not only has no effect on gameplay, but also makes the pieces look uglier.

Ghostboard - It's only purpose is to hide invisible bricks.

1st=... - How do you even promote on the first rank?

Ox10000 - I doubt this will ever get used. Just capturing an opposing pawn gives you more points than a checkmate.

Opposite Castling - Maybe it's just me, but I just don't feel like this kicks in very often.

Allow Passing - This is the perfect recipe for shuffling.

1+, 2+, 3+ - Too few lives, in my opinion.

30+ and up - Too many lives. And no, Counterturn is not 99+, White has 23 (?) lives.

No En Passant - But En Passant is my favourite part of chess!

Setup 40 and up - Too much setup material.

D Tier

Blindfold - This makes variants a lot harder, but the main issue is nobody knows if you made the game balanced or not.

Diplomacy - This isn't really that useful, except for in testing. It doesn't have much of an effect on gameplay, but that's coming from someone who has never drawn an arrow ever.

Fatal Capture - It's useful. Sometimes. It weakens strong pieces, and now your king can't capture. Yay!

Stonewall - Fatal Capture, but capturing makes moving grasshoppers easier and XiangQi horses harder. Personally, I haven't experimented with this yet.

Any Capture - There are situations where Any Capture is useful, but I feel like it's mostly to stop premovers.

Self-Check - We all know players should be awarded for blundering their king.

+1, +3, +5 - Too few points. So few that you can't even turn on No Zombies.

+40 - Too many points. If you wanted for players to try to checkmate, you could've just turned on Play4Mate.

C Tier

Seirawan - I don't hate Seirwan, it's just that I don't find it very useful, but I'm sure it'll come in handy.

Atomic - The only thing I hat about atomic is the first-move advantage.

16-30+ - It's a decent amount of lives, but maybe less, please?

Torpedo - I've only used this once, and it was because I couldn't get the pawnbaserank to work.

Sideways - It's another source of shuffling, but I kind of have to put this here because my first accepted variant uses this.

Takeover - Great, the first person to checkmate gets a huge advantage.

Play4Mate - Personally, I prefer GoP, but it's okay.

Regicide - I like it when you know that you didn't move your king into check.

Checky - It's like Blindfold, but easier because you know where the pieces are. But it shares the same problems as Blindfold.

Ox3, Ox4, Ox5, Ox6 - If it's really that hard to capture opposite-coloured pieces, then yeah.

Setup 1-39 - It's C tier only because I'm not a fan of setup chess.

B Tier

Giveaway - A great twist on classic chess, not sure why Granulated Sugar hates it so much.

Crazyhouse - Every piece stays on the board, so you need to be more careful. Only issue is that you can drop a pawn 1 rank from promotion.

Taboo - You can't check, which is pretty cool. The only thing is that you need either bare piece or KotH to help it reach its purpose, otherwise it's just a forced draw.

Ox2 - Award players for rare opposite-coloured captures. Only if they are rare, though!

2nd-14th - Pass. Glass Labyrinth, I forgot to turn on Allow Passing.

Duck - This rule is underrated, but mostly because makes games last too long. Check out The Lake (https://chess.com/variants/the-lake) to see how I countered this! (definitely wasn't shamelessly doing a self-promotion)

Fog of War - Another underrated rule, but mostly because it allows shuffling. Check out Sparks of Hope (https://chess.com/variants/sparks-of-hope) to see how I countered this! (definitely wasn't shamelessly doing another self-promotion).

Bare Piece - A quick way to end an otherwise drawish game.

A Tier

Stalemate Win/Loss - One of the most important factors of any 4PC game.

+10, +20 - +20 is default, and rightfully so, while +10 is for fewer/cheaper pieces.

No Zombies - Random king moves are annoying.

Spell Chess - One of the greatest rules to ever be added.

Crazywan - It's like Crazyhouse, but less chaotic.

S Tier

King of the Hill - Almost every FFA variant has this.

Self-Partner - Makes testing easier, waiting shorter, and gameplay less bland (e.g. Golden Ratio is SP so that you or your teammate doesn't need to play regular chess.)

4+-15+ Just the right number of lives. Depending on the situation, of course.

S+ Tier

All Presets - If you want me to name all of them,  it's: 2PC, 4PC, Ambush, Amazon Jungle, Antitower, Arena of Legends, Ashtandrez, Battle of Castles, Behind the Mirror, Behind the Scenes, Best Friends Forever, Blackletter Chess, Blind Box, BlindGold, Castle on a Hill, Caught in a Snag, Chaturaji, Chaturaji Alt Teams, Chaturanga, Chaturdrez, Collateral Worlds, Colour Blinds, Counterturn, Courier Chess, Crazy Cavalier, Cross Derby, Detour, Diamond Wall, Emperor's Tomb, Enchanted Woodland, Euler's Game, Every End, Find the Path, Giveaway UW, Glass Labyrinth, Gothic Chess, Grasshopper Arena, Gustav's Box, Inferno, Infiltration Danger, King Safety, King Safety 9+11, Labyrinth 82, Mini Forest, Minihouse, Phalanx, Pit Racer, Racing Kings, Rookmate, Rubicon, Salvation Bastions, Sergeants' Checkers, Sergeants' Laboratory, Simplicity, Sparks of Hope, Stone Gravitation, Storming the Castle, Surprise Attack, Tag Team, The Eyes of Horus, The Four Horsemen, The Hive, The Lake, The Triune Wasp, The X of Tricks, Thermopylae, Throne War Mini, Together, Trapped Queens, Underground War, Unique, Unison, Villagers' Chess, Villagers' Chess II, War for Throne, Warp Speed, Warui-Shogi, XXL Chess, and 𝕏 F̷i̷l̷e̷ ☣.

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Okay, Grammarly, stop saying I have 15 errors.