KOF XIII 7th General Thread: Evo 2012 countdown edition

[Amedø310]

Holy shit! Romance fucking raped Mago with Hwa!

You mean Mago raped Romance...?

Pretty much. df+B to st. B frametrap was crazy.

[NissanZaxima]

Personally I consider Billy, Hwa, and Karate to be the best characters in the game. I'm sure some people will gripe over Billy, but whatever it's just my opinion.

Not at all man. Recently I have put Billy into my top 5 with Karate, Benimaru, Kyo (13), and Iori (Claw). The guy is the best character in the game imo when the first round of the game starts. At 0/0 Billy's neutral game is so dominant. Then when he gets meter he has access to EX Elevator one of the best moves in the game. He can't really get insane damage like some can with a lot of meter and HD but he doesn't need it. If he did Claw, Kyo, or Shen damage he would probably be the best character in the game imo.

Since picking up Hwa I think Hwa might kick Claw out of the top 5 for me too. Not that I think Iori has been getting weaker or anything, just Hwa is so strong. Drunk mode might be the most effecient use of meter in the entire game.

Yesterday during a very long and boring continuing education Insurance Class I zoned out and tried to think of my personal top 10 in this game and here is what i came up with (not necassarily in order)

1. Karate
2. Kyo (13)
3. Benimaru
4. Iori (Claw)
5. Billy
6. Hwa Jai
7. NESTS Kyo
8. Saiki
9. Kensou
10. Clark

a lot of arguments can be made for the last 4 slots imo for who should be in the top 10 but this is what i personally came up with.

[LouisCipher]

Fixed.

[Killey]

Yes, definitely agree Billy is contender for top 10 in the game but he's basically only good as a starting character maybe 2nd and never anchor. I think that kind of limitation affects his placement on a tier list in comparison to some of the other characters.

Hwa Jai is definitely climbing the ranks because of how Reynalds, Romance, Tokido, Mago, and other notable players have been using him. He definitely wasn't slept on at the release of the console version because there were several people (including Mr.KoF) who were calling Hwa Jai top tier after the console changes. It just took a while to exploit all of the new changes.

CEO Day 2 Summary:

The top 4 for CEO is the usual suspects with only a few upsets, primarily Mago sending Romance to losers.

Mago is definitely a lot stronger then Tokido in KoFXIII and it's just the way he fundamentally spaces himself, imo. Tokido seems very jump happy with his characters and that was one of the things that Romance picked up on during their sets, which eventually led to his victory over Tokido at MLG. Xiaohai also picked up on this at SS2k11 and started to utilize Billy's normals more to dominate Tokido after the reset.

Mago on the other hand, while still aggressively jumping in, spaces himself out better and mixes his ground approaches better than Tokido. His Hwa Jai was also on a very different level from Tokido's who seemed to fall into certain patterns. Overall, the two of them (Mago and Tokido) suffer from a lack of match up experience since KoF is not their main game.

Mago vs Bala in winners finals - I'm pretty certain Bala will end up beating Mago. Will it be convincingly? I'm leaning towards yes but I think the key point will be how quickly Mago's Hwa Jai is dealt with.

Romance vs The Answer in loser semis - The favorite seems to be Romance mostly because Romance has been in the spotlight a lot lately. However, I think it can be a toss up between the two and The Answer had a really nice showing against Bala in winner semi's. Character selection is going to be really important in this.

[Kane317]

Let's make sure we keep the Tier Discussion in the correct thread.

[LouisCipher]

Bala vs Mago is going to be the Hypest Shit!

[FataCon]

The DP with the Brake doesn't have as much invincibility as the A version, and isn't safe on block no matter what (well...in HD, you could cancel to palm).

Counter is only safe/advantaged from medium range and closer.  Any further and any savvy player will blow up said Karate player for trying it, and very few ever try using it on physical attacks.

I never said the DP was safe. It's overall just really good. Midscreen counter-hit DP gets you combos and the brake opens up combo possibilities that normally would cost drive meter.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure you can block immediately after a countered projectile.Makes it a strong option to close gaps/shut down zoning. Plus, even if it isn't used often vs physical attacks, the fact is, simply having that option is still a good thing.

Which is why it's interesting that we don't see Robert very often, considering that he has practically all the tools minus a counter. Though people bring up the combo/dmg output argument.

[Saitsuofleaves]

I've yet to see a single Karate block after countering a projectile from long range when the opponent baits it out.

And I'm saying C DP isn't that invincible, hence why just saying it's brakeable doesn't mean all too much other than for combo options.  It's great for combos, I'm just saying that outside of that, it's nothing to go crazy over.

And as for Robert, he HAS all the tools...they just don't flow together very well.  Honestly, he'd be much better if they made the C DP [DC] j.QCB+K a bit more lenient in terms of actually connecting.

But compare Robert to Normal Kyo.  They're essentially similar in the fact that they have all the tools short of counter, but Kyo is MILES better.

[KLSADAKO]

I've just finished watching the top 4 at CEO.. what can I say BALA is da man.. didn't drop a single game in top 4..
The match with BALA and Mago started great but BALA then took control..
I never saw the whole Romance Vs Mago cos the Stream kept messing up..
And the Grand Final I believe Romance did a ChrisG and gave up.. which is a shame..

[Saitsuofleaves]

I'm pretty sure no one that wasn't at CEO saw Romance/Mago.  Sad times :'(

[Gimnbo]

If KOF at Evo has even a 50% turnout I hope it gets a sizable chunk of stream time. The only problem is that KOF suffers from Boring Pot Monster Syndrome, which also affects AE. Still, the main stage hype for top 32 or so will be ridiculous.

At this point I really hope BALA finds an opponent that can give him a real challenge. I don't want another foregone conclusion grand finals.

[LouisCipher]

I just hope KOF at Evo will inspire a trickle-down effect and more scenes will embrace the game.

[solidshark]

At this point I really hope BALA finds an opponent that can give him a real challenge. I don't want another foregone conclusion grand finals.

I just hope KOF at Evo will inspire a trickle-down effect and more scenes will embrace the game.

I hope both these things happen, plus a few things, like a relative unknown comes in and gives the regular pros some competiton (American non-SoCal if possible).

[nightmoves]

I hope both these things happen, plus a few things, like a relative unknown comes in and gives the regular pros some competiton (American non-SoCal if possible).

American AND non-SoCal? Seems unlikely.

[LouisCipher]

Never count out Mexico in KOF.