Mario Kart Tour: Best Driver Tier List & Reroll Guide (v3.7.0)

Why this driver tier list matters in v3.7.0 (and how I learned the hard way)

After sinking dozens of hours into Mario Kart Tour across multiple phones, the thing that finally changed my scores wasn’t “driving better” – it was understanding how driver tiers and rerolling actually work. I spent far too long levelling random favourites (looking at you, Cat Mario) while other players with fewer hours were outscoring me just because they had smarter driver line‑ups.

The breakthrough came when I stopped thinking “which character do I like?” and started asking “which driver gives me the most top-shelf track coverage and points?” Version 3.7.0 (March 2026) is a good moment to reset your thinking: higher level caps, a tweaked Bubble item, and a very clear group of standout drivers mean you can build a strong account fast if you know what to chase.

This guide is the approach I use now when I start fresh: a practical tier list focused on real performance, plus a reroll routine you can realistically run on mobile in 30-40 minutes per account.

How drivers actually work: favoured courses, items, and why tiers matter

Before talking S-tier names, you need to understand why some drivers feel broken and others feel useless. It’s almost never just about rarity – it’s about how many courses they dominate and how many items they pull.

• Top-shelf (favoured) courses: On these tracks your driver gets 3 items from each Item Box. That’s huge: more Frenzies, more combos, and a points bonus multiplier that can go up to around 2x compared to a bottom-shelf driver.
• Second- and bottom-shelf: Off their favourite tracks, drivers only get 2 or even 1 item. You’ll feel the difference immediately – weaker combo chains, fewer Frenzies, lower scores.
• High-End drivers scale harder: Since the earlier 2.6.0 update, High-End drivers unlock additional favourite tracks at levels 3 and 6. That means a single great driver can cover a huge chunk of the game once you invest tickets.
• v3.7.0 Bubble tweak: The Bubble item can now be tapped to break it early, freeing your item slot and letting you roll for something new. This makes Bubble less of a dead item and slightly buffs drivers that use it.

The takeaway: a driver’s tier is mostly about how many top-shelf tracks they cover and how hard they can exploit those tracks, not just whether they’re shiny and rare. S-tier drivers are the ones that keep showing up as triple‑item favourites across tours.

S-tier drivers – priority pulls you should build around

These are the drivers that, whenever I see them in my box, I immediately funnel tickets into. Their favoured-course coverage and item sets are strong enough that they become anchors for your account.

• Dry Bowser (Gold) – The ultimate “I win the lobby” pull. On his top-shelf tracks he combines huge base points with absurd combo potential. Once I got him on a fresh reroll, I stopped rerolling altogether and just committed; he carried my ranked cups for weeks.
• Gold Mario – Slightly less flashy in some line-ups than Dry Bowser (Gold), but with ridiculously good course coverage. If my account has Gold Mario, I treat him as a long‑term investment – levelling him quickly pays off as he picks up even more favourite courses at driver level 3 and 6.
• Pauline (Cowgirl) – Strong on both classic and city tracks, which is rare. She’s been my safety net when tours rotate in awkward course sets. Her ability to stay relevant across tours is what makes her S-tier.
• Donkey Kong (Gladiator) – Great on a lot of high‑scoring routes and surprisingly flexible with kart/glider pairings. Once I started prioritising him, I noticed my score ceilings jumping on several ranked cups.
• Chargin’ Chuck (Gold) – Think of him as a powerhouse with excellent favoured courses and a punchy kit. On his best tracks, he routinely outperforms other High-Ends I’ve over‑levelled.

If you hit any of these when rerolling, that’s your sign to seriously consider locking in the account. Two or more of them and you’re basically set for a long, competitive climb – especially now that the player level cap is 400 and tier cap is 99 in v3.7.0.

A-tier drivers – versatile workhorses you can rely on

A-tier drivers might not always top raw potential charts, but they cover a lot of important tracks and fill gaps when your S-tier heroes sit out. On my main account, these are the characters that quietly do a ton of heavy lifting.

• Pink Toad (Pit Crew) – Fantastic generalist with a wide spread of favoured courses, especially in ranked. I reach for Pink Toad whenever my S-tier roster doesn’t cover a track.
• Purple Koopa (Freerunning) – Good mix of classic and city coverage. I slept on this one early; after levelling him to 3, he suddenly became top-shelf on far more tracks than I expected.
• Mario (King) – A strong, stylish pick that regained some stability in v3.7.0 when his tour badge appearance was reverted to normal. He shows up on a healthy number of ranked tracks, making him a safe A-tier investment.
• Mario (Aviator) – Great on certain air‑heavy courses and a solid backup on many more. He doesn’t hard‑carry like Gold Mario, but he’s clutch for filling specific gaps.
• Luigi (Classic) – A steady performer with surprisingly useful coverage. I didn’t appreciate him at first, but whenever I sort drivers by favoured courses he’s usually near the top for mid‑game accounts.

My rule of thumb: if an account starts with one S-tier and one or two of these A-tier drivers, I’m comfortable committing. They give you enough flexibility to handle weird tour rotations without feeling forced to pull every new banner.

B-tier and the messy middle (including the Yoshi debate)

B-tier drivers are where opinions start to diverge. They’re not bad – many of them are fun and strong – but they usually have fewer top-shelf tracks or overlap more awkwardly with existing meta picks.

• Toadette (Explorer) – Great specialist on certain tours and a solid upgrade over normals, but not as universally useful as S/A-tier picks.
• Rosalina (Swimwear) – Good coverage on some water‑themed tracks and a strong option if you’re a Rosalina fan, just not account‑defining.
• Mario (Sunshine) – Similar story: iconic, fun, and absolutely usable, but usually a step behind the gold/meta versions in terms of coverage.
• Cat Mario & Cat Toad – The cat crew is better than newcomers expect. When I started, I over‑invested in Cat Mario because I loved his design; he carried early, but eventually I hit walls where S-tier drivers had more and better top-shelf courses.

Then there are the Yoshi variants. Community lists and Tiermaker averages often rank certain colours (like Light‑Blue or Yellow Yoshi) extremely high because they have a huge number of top‑shelf tracks. In practice, I’ve found they can feel S-tier on accounts that happen to line up with their routes, but only B/A-tier on others.

My advice: treat B-tier as nice-to-have, not reroll goals. If you pull them alongside an S-tier, they’re great. But I wouldn’t lock in an account just because I got Cat Mario or a single Yoshi variant unless their top-shelf list lines up with current ranked cups.

Reroll routine for strong early accounts (v3.7.0 friendly)

I’ve rerolled more Mario Kart Tour accounts than I’d like to admit, both for myself and friends. Here’s the streamlined process that consistently gets me 1–3 S/A-tier drivers in about 30–40 minutes per run.

Step 1 – Start a fresh account

On your device, clear app data or install fresh, then launch and create a new Nintendo account or use a throwaway login. Go through the initial introduction and accept all prompts just to reach the main menu.

Step 2 – Blaze through the tutorial races

You need to clear the starting tour segments to unlock the shop and gacha pipes. Don’t waste time going for perfect scores here – just hold drift, use items, and finish. I usually skip any non‑essential pop‑ups and don’t worry about challenges yet.

Step 3 – Claim every free reward you can

• Tap through Gifts and claim all login and tour rewards.
• Clear any ultra‑easy challenges that give rubies (like “land 1 hit with a shell”).
• Check the Shop for any free pipe pulls or tickets.

In v3.7.0 the higher level cap (400) doesn’t change your first hour much, but it does mean your early rubies and levels matter more long‑term. Getting strong drivers now pays off later as they keep picking up more favoured courses.

Step 4 – Spend rubies on driver-focused pipes

Once you’ve got a decent stack of rubies, head to the current spotlight pipe that features drivers, especially any with the S/A-tier characters listed above. Avoid splitting your rubies across multiple pipes; commit to one until you’ve emptied your initial stash.

My personal reroll rule set:

• Keep the account if you pull:
  • Any two S-tier drivers, or
  • One S-tier plus two or more A-tier drivers, or
  • One S-tier and a standout Yoshi variant that currently appears as top-shelf on ranked tracks.
• Reroll the account if you end up with only B-tier or lower drivers, even if you like the characters.

Step 5 – Reset and repeat if needed

If you’re not happy with your pulls, log out, clear data, or reinstall and repeat the process. It’s a bit mind‑numbing, but if you batch it (e.g., a few evenings of rerolling while watching something), you can end up with an account that would otherwise take months of unlucky pulls to match.

The key is to set a hard time limit for rerolling so you don’t burn out. For me, that’s usually 2–3 evenings max; if I haven’t hit a dream start by then, I just commit to the best account I rolled and trust that skill and smart ticket use will do the rest.

Picking karts and gliders to complement your drivers

Drivers matter most, but pairing them with good karts and gliders will squeeze out extra points on top-shelf tracks. In v3.7.0, I’ve found a few standouts that pair especially well with S-tier drivers:

• Pink Dozer – A top‑tier kart that shows up on many of the same courses as popular High-End drivers. If I see a Pink Dozer and an S-tier driver sharing coverage, I prioritise levelling both.
• Green Speeder – Great for raw speed and useful coverage. It’s one of the first karts I consider spending tickets on once my key drivers are at a healthy level.
• Chargin’ Truck and Roadster Royale – Solid B-tier karts that match well with mid‑tier drivers. I treat these as “good enough” when I don’t have the perfect S-tier kart for a track.

Still, don’t make my early mistake of dumping tickets into a kart just because it looks cool. Always check how many of your ranked tracks it’s top-shelf on this tour and how it overlaps with your best drivers.

Common mistakes to avoid (learn from mine)

• Chasing favourites over coverage: I spent weeks over‑levelling Cat Mario and ignoring my Gold Mario because I liked cats more. My scores suffered badly for it.
• Ignoring city tracks entirely: City courses rotate in and out, but certain S/A-tier drivers shine there. Dismissing them means missing easy ranked wins when those tours roll around.
• Endless rerolling: Rerolling can be powerful, but it’s a trap if you never commit. Set a clear goal (e.g., “one S-tier and two A-tiers”) and stop once you hit it.
• Neglecting driver levels: High-End drivers gaining extra favoured courses at levels 3 and 6 is huge. Sitting on tickets instead of pushing key drivers over these breakpoints leaves points on the table.
• Misusing Bubble: With the v3.7.0 change, Bubble drivers are less of a liability – but you still want to tap and break Bubble early to roll for better items, not float around wasting time.

Putting it all together

Once you start thinking in terms of favoured-course coverage, S/A/B tiers suddenly make a lot more sense. S-tier drivers like Dry Bowser (Gold), Gold Mario, Pauline (Cowgirl), Donkey Kong (Gladiator), and Chargin’ Chuck (Gold) aren’t just rare – they’re long‑term engines for your account that keep gaining value as you level them.

Use rerolling to secure at least one of those anchors, back them up with a couple of strong A-tier workhorses like Pink Toad (Pit Crew) or Mario (King), and then let your karts and gliders fill in the remaining gaps. With v3.7.0’s higher level and tier caps, that foundation will comfortably carry you through ranked cups and beyond.

If I can recover from my early “Cat Mario main” mistakes and build competitive accounts with this approach, you can absolutely do the same. Commit to one good start, invest smartly, and let the scores – and rubies – roll in.