The Crustacean Tier List

Footage:
Biopixel
Jam's Germs
Getty Images
Shutterstock
Pond5

Music:
Gloom Spawn - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom OST
Eyewitness Intro
Black Ops 2 Theme
Super Mario Sunshine - Delfino Plaza Original Soundtrack OST (HD)
Azure Blue World (Emerald Coast) - Sonic Adventure [OST]
Main Menu OST - Part 1 Wii Sports Resort
Crash Bandicoot Soundtrack - N.Sanity Beach
Donkey Kong Country Returns Music; Sunset Shore
Ricco Harbor - Super Mario Sunshine
Treasure Trove Cove - Banjo Kazooie
Underwater - Super Mario World OST Extended
Windy and Ripply (Emerald Coast) - Sonic Adventure [OST]
The Trade Parade - Old School Runescape
Eyewitness Outro

[deadlydingus]

Something that I think is worth mentioning is that shrimp have the unexplainable ability to fry rice.

[gamemeister]

"Solid matchup against frogs"

Here's a fun story. In 10th grade biology, when we were dissecting frogs, my partner and I were trying to cut open our frog's stomach, but kept running into something inside, and were quite confused. Eventually, we managed to pull out an entire severed crawdad claw, which had likely killed the frog.

[cleanshowcases]

The dude at 11:51 got absolutely clipped by the crab's slide cancels and third partied by a seal. Rough day.

[LordCrate-duzm]

That opening where the Mantis Shrimp punches the crab and then a few seconds later its arm flies off is something pulled straight out of an anime sword duel.

[smartperson]

I feel coconut crabs should be put in their own tier like A tier because they are smart enough to avoid the water and they put on enough size to not get bullied by birds. Also no mention of the Japanese spider crab they'd probably be mid tier because they look scary but arent all that dangerous but still didn't mention the biggest crustecean.

[ruggedlemmings]

I know it's just a gimmick build, but I still love the Pistol Shrimp. Breaking the game engine as a means of offense is just too awesome to not appreciate. :^)

[leonardoromanelli]

One thing that should be noted is that crustaceans did unlock eusociality. The Synalpheus shrimps, the pistol shrimps, not only have an amazing weapon, they also create true eusocial colonies inside marine sponges.

[Molester_]

11:55 Octopus: "Let me grab ya and touch ya!"

Crab: "WITH THIS TREASURE I SUMMON SEAL-HORAGA!"

[PurpleShift]

Love how the trapdoor spider is like "nope, not dealing with this" and just kicks the whole isopod out of its hole at 6:36

[Isometrix]

I think what makes crabs such a good build is that they are never bad. It doesn’t matter what the meta is, you can always crab. You can come back to the game after not playing for a decade, use the same exact build as you did before, and still be viable. Yeah, maybe it’ll be slightly better or slightly worse, but the fact that it’s _always_ viable is sort of insane. I think the only other builds like this are sharks and crocodiles, but those have significantly more skill required to play decently.

[Shhmevan]

The Crayfish build deserves more credit. Though they may be incredibly weak in some aspects, this is simply because they are min-maxing. They have put all their stats into poison resistance, allowing them to survive places most other aquatic builds cannot. Some CF players simply dig incredibly deep burrows and only surface when it rains to collect supplies. A notable glitch utilized by some users allows for cloning of themselves without need of a mate, leading to server crashes and game bugs. Louisiana crayfish, signal crayfish and the marbled crayfish are particularly strong CF builds.

[tehdmanvids]

The clip of that isopod running out of the fish's mouth MESSED ME UP

[DeadFieldofFlowers]

That eagle getting tic damaged into oblivion really shows how powerful crustaceans are

[ascapedgoat]

I would honestly love to see a series on Theory-Crafting, where TierZoo discusses a hypothetical “Perfect” version of certain types of animals.

[GanyuSimpingDegenerate]

You forgot to mention the Giant Enemy Crab. Being in the same weight class as elephants while only being vulnerable when its weak point is attacked for massive damage should've placed it in S tier.

[nicholasstamford]

14:32
"Among the free-roaming zooplanktons, I alone am the honored one"

[Theology.]

Crab Design is, as we all know, the Perfect Creature

[masky]

This is exactly what I wanted for christmas

[somelurker]

Former planktonic main here with a fun fact! You don't have to be microscopic to be plankton, you just have to be bad at swimming. (The word "plankton" even comes from the Greek word for "drift" or "wander.") For example, some jellies are considered plankton because - just like the tiny guys we usually think of as plankton - they can't swim against a current.
Planktonic gameplay is pretty fun, honestly. It can be RNG-heavy because you don't really control where you're going, but it's a seriously unique meta if you're used to playing nekton.

[krysmun]

Carcinization is the process of Convergent evolution in which many previously non-crab crustaceans have evolved from different paths into the shape of a crab, implying that one of the most ideal forms a crustacean can take is that of the crab.

It's such a meta pick that even other players end up choosing to spec into similar stat ranges and builds as the crab build itself.