Looking at my roster, there were a couple that I definitely unlocked from earlier tiers, for the purpose of tackling higher ones, but just didn't use in the end. Some notable ones for me:

• Tifa: unlocked her from Tier 4 when her FR came out, I thought I'd use her for Tier 16 since it's single target but went with Astos instead

  • In the same vein, Rinoa & Squall too, but for multi target-fights

• Garnet & Cor: Our GL 1st, back in the day. Didn't want to use them in early DE Tiers when they were released in GL, cuz the fights (in JP) didn't take them into consideration, so wanted to keep them for "harder" fights

• Lunafreya: staple for gauge charger and setting up BT phases, but I used her LDCA more than herself lol

  • Iris too - thought she'd do well for Tier 16 but Aerith fits the bill better for me

• Jack Garland & Neon: they didn't get the spotlight like their latest counterpart, sadly