Tier lists and Character Discussion Thread

[t3h mAsTarOth...!]

KOF XIII Tier List:

An overall ranking assigned based on the total number of tools, strengths and weaknesses each character possesses.

S:    Mr. Karate, Hwa, Kyo (XIII), Benimaru, Kyo (EX), Iori (EX), Takuma, Goro

A+:  Kim, Iori (Claw), Yuri, Elisabeth, Robert, Andy, Billy, Saiki, K’, Shen

A:    Duo Lon, Kensou, Chin, Kula, Joe, Mature

B+:  Leona, Ash, Vice, Athena, Ryo, Raiden, King, Terry

B:    Ralf, Clark, Mai, Maxima


Potential Based on Position:

A ranking assigned to each character based on how strong they are when compared to other characters in the same position on the team (first/second/third). Essentially a tier list for each spot on the team.

Andy: A+/A/B+
Ash: B/B+/A
Athena: A/B+/B
Benimaru: A+/S/S
Billy: A/A/A
Chin: A/A/A+
Clark: B+/B/B
Duo Lon: A/B+/B
Elisabeth: A/A/A
Goro: B+/A+/S
Hwa: A+/S/S
Iori (Claw): A/A+/S
Iori (EX): S/A+/A+
Joe: B/B+/A
K’: A/A/A
Kensou: A/A/A
Kim: S/A/A
King: A/B+/B
Kula: A/A/B+
Kyo (XIII): S/A+/A+
Kyo (EX): S/A+/A
Leona: B/B+/A+
Mai: B/B+/B+
Mature: A/B+/B+
Maxima: B/B+/B+
Mr. Karate: S/S/S
Raiden: B+/B+/A
Ralf: A/B+/B+
Robert: S/A/B+
Ryo: A/B+/B+
Saiki: B+/A/S
Shen: B/A/S
Takuma: A+/S/S
Terry: B/B+/B+
Vice: B/B+/A
Yuri: B+/A+/S


Top 10 Batteries:

A list of the characters who both build meter very quickly, while also having many tools and strong damage options with no meter or drive.

Mr. Karate - No bad matchups, amazing at everything.
Kyo (XIII) - Also no bad matchups, good at everything, needs corner more than Karate does.
Kyo (EX) - Very strong normals, safe pressure, auto guard bullshit.
Kim - Safe as hell, fast as hell, strong as hell.
Iori (EX) - Every tool, he’s goddamn Iori.
Duo Lon - Fast fast fast, scary mixups. Hope you like blocking.
Billy - Amazing normals, safe pressure, good meter building and cost-effective combos.
Robert - Every tool in the game, meterless, so why not?
Andy - See Robert, but without grab and with higher damage.
Hwa - Like Kim until he gets a drink in him, then he’s like Mr. Karate + Takuma combined.

Honourable Mentions:

Kensou
Ralf
King
Athena
Mature


Top 10 Anchors:

Characters who have many tools and extremely high damage potential with high resources.

Hwa - Stupid damage, can start 800+ damage combos (non-HD) from any hit, and lands hits well
Mr. Karate - No bad matchups, amazing at everything, and now with high damage!
Benimaru - Throw combos, rekkas, zoning, crossups, he has it all.
Takuma - Touch of death. The end.
Goro - Grab touch of near death. The end is near.
Shen - Don’t jump! Don’t not jump! Don’t get hit! At all!
Saiki - Good zoning and defensive tools; insanely strong HD combo in the corner.
Iori (EX) - Every tool needed to get into HD mode.
Kyo (XIII) - Like EX Iori minus without grab > HD.
Iori (Claw) - Great pressure, great mixups, great damage. Lacks zoning tools.

Honourable Mentions:

Yuri
Chin
Leona
Kim
Elisabeth


Top 10 1 Meter and/or 1 Drive Potential (Ideal Middle Characters):

This is essentially an assessment of a character’s EX and Drive Cancel usefulness alongside their tools with low to medium resources.

Hwa - Who else nearly kills you from a mid-screen invulnerable shoryu?
Takuma - Who else nearly kills you from a mid-screen meterless grab?
Mr. Karate - Have you been paying attention so far?
Benimaru - Every tool needed to land big damage without HD.
Chin - Drunk combos are scary, very strong defense and tricky offense.
Kyo (XIII) - Doesn’t really need meter but can use it to increase his already great damage.
Joe - 1 drive and 1 meter gives him access to ridiculous combo potential in the corner.
Yuri - With meter and drive her offense, defense and combo potential all skyrocket.
Goro - Meter and drive allow him to turn his grabs into amazing damage. Gains an overhead.
Iori (Claw) - High damage mid-screen and even higher damage in the corner.

Honourable Mentions:

Billy
Shen
Iori (EX)
Terry
K’





This is a well thought-out tier list of the entire cast based on which position on the team that they are most effective in, how their gameplay changes based on the amount of meter/drive they have and how they compare to one another in the team placement scenario. The tier list was mainly done by Sami (t3h mAsTarOth...!) and Matt Alder over the course of roughly the last 6 months.

[bigvador]

wow what a list the only thing i would question is goro but then maybe i wouldnt he could just stand still and wait for people to come at him....

it sucks 2 see my 2 characters (Ralf and Clark) at the bottom of the list but thatjust gives me more of a reason 2 use them..

And i do have to ask y is it that Ralf is the only 1 who starts of at an A and moves down when it comes to his position???that blew me away

[souf]

And i do have to ask y is it that Ralf is the only 1 who starts of at an A and moves down when it comes to his position???that blew me away

im curious about this as well. i play mature 2nd...she seems a lot stronger with meter so i never put her on point. does she go down in tier on 2nd and 3rd because of the execution needed for some of her longer/meter burning combos or...?

[Tikok]

That's a pretty well thought tier list~

[t3h mAsTarOth...!]

And i do have to ask y is it that Ralf is the only 1 who starts of at an A and moves down when it comes to his position???that blew me away

im curious about this as well. i play mature 2nd...she seems a lot stronger with meter so i never put her on point. does she go down in tier on 2nd and 3rd because of the execution needed for some of her longer/meter burning combos or...?

When they move down in tiers as middle/anchor, it's because they are being compared to other characters in the same position. They obviously become a better character with more meter, it's just that other characters might gain more utility from having extra meter/drive.

In Mature's case, she only gains a bit of extra damage and an invincible shoryu. Her HD is also not that great. Where if you would compare her to someone like Yuri with a bit of meter, Yuri gains stronger reversals, a combo off of a 1 frame throw, an invincible + safe hcb+BD and a damaging HD.

[LouisCipher]

I don't agree with Clark and Ralf's placement in the slightest but I realized that this is based on character usage at Evo. It really disappointed me to see so few Clark and even Billy players aside from Bala.

[Tikok]

Unless I'm mistaken, this is a general tier list and it's not based on character usage at Evo. They just waited for Evo to be over to release their list.

[Matt Alder]

Yeah it's just a general tier list. We were kinda waiting for Evo to maybe move some characters around. The only thing we changed as a result of Evo was Kim's placement. We had him still listed as one of the best batteries, but not quite as high as he is now. Lacking any zoning or grappling tools whatsoever really don't hold him back from being one of the best characters in the game. His rushdown is just ridiculous.

Since this is XIII, even the characters on the lowest tier have competitive viability. Even Maxima or Mai (who are generally agreed upon as being the worst characters) have some unique tools and can potentially wreck people.

[nightmoves]

I have to say, that is a very thorough and well thought out tier list. I'm also impressed how you ranked characters based on team position, and how you gave descriptions on some characters' abilities/strengths.

You and whoever else made this list did a great job.

[Hungry Color]

Awesome list, but I have two questions.

Number 1, why didn't you do the same for points and only anchors and batteries? I'm not sure if by batteries you mean points, (what I use for the word first) or mids (2nd) maybe my terminology is wrong or something.

Number 2:

Benimaru - Throw combos, rekkas, zoning, crossups, he has it all.

Since when does Beni have rekkas? Do mean defense against rekkas?

[Running Wild]

That knee into flip kick is essentially a rekka.

[Tikok]

By batteries he means point characters, characters that can build meter well/fight well without meter.

[giga_d]

I don't think Hwa should be in the top tier category. He has some great stuff but also some flaws. Maybe in the category below the top tiers (Mr Karate etc.)

[LouisCipher]

No, he's definitely a top character. His footsies are amazingly good for the most part and when he's Drunk, forget about it. If he's got you in the corner and he's Drunk, good luck to ya'.

[t3h mAsTarOth...!]

Thanks guys... Anyone can post regarding character positioning in the tier list... I myself am probably going to move Raiden up... His damage potential is too high...