Opinions on Console-Only Characters

[Rathje]

After playing a fair bit of XI with my brother semi-casually, I'm curious what others think of the inclusion of console-only and mid-boss characters. We don't allow the top row (Mid-bosses plus Shion and Magaki), but we do allow the bottom row (Challenge unlock console-only characters). We couldn't find much information on typical rules applied, so we played a bit with both rows and settled on our decision.

Is there any tournament rules for console-only characters? Are Mid-bosses frowned upon or accepted into a tournament environment?

We aren't planning on playing tournaments for XI or anything, we simply like to know what everyone else is playing.

[Zabel]

All the mid bosses are allowed, the bosses aren't, the console characters aren't either due to not being in the arcade version.

Personally I'd just say allow the console character because with the exception of EX Kyo they're all pretty balanced.

[Mazinkaiser]

All the mid bosses are allowed, the bosses aren't, the console characters aren't either due to not being in the arcade version.

Personally I'd just say allow the console character because with the exception of EX Kyo they're all pretty balanced.

not totally agree with that statment, they are the "copy&paste" with very little tweak from NGBC, and didn't fit very well into the engine, ex kyo is little overpowered, robert and hotaru have really weird hitbox and moves o.O, and tung fu ru... bah -.-, crappy at all.

of course into casual them are ok, but "tournament" or more "pro" competition imho the only allowed are midbosses because they are avaiable into the arcade (otherwise i could ban jyazu and silber too... scary stupid crow/tank, gai and adel are fine at least).

[fiol]

everytime i play this game with my bro we never use console-only chars... i think this game should be played like the arcade so just midbosses and stantard chars

[Rex Dart]

In my opinion, KOF XI is not a game you should be playing if you want a balanced fighter.

But, if you do want the most balanced version of XI there is, you should play the arranged mode and maybe ban certain characters. Or use a ratio system.

If you want to just have fun, play with anyone you want in whatever mode you want. XI isn't balanced, I don't think any character is game-breaking.

(And if you want to play in tournaments: arcade mode, bosses and console-exclusives banned. As was already explained.)

[t3h mAsTarOth...!]

everything should be allowed... nothing needs to be banned in XI... check the 2 videos just posted up... if you are good enough, you don't need to worry about banning anyone...

[desmond_kof]

The only characters that should be banned in XI is Shion and Mageki...All the sub-bosses and other hidden characters aren't cheap as fuck and broken.

[jinxhand]

The only characters that should be banned in XI is Shion and Mageki...All the sub-bosses and other hidden characters aren't cheap as fuck and broken.

Agreed... Tung is actually nerfed in this game, and he wasn't that strong of a character in NBC (NGBC)... Sure he did about 40 hit combos but in XI I don't even think he could come close to it, and plus most of his strats can easily be stopped this time around since there's more evasive options in XI vice NBC such as rolling both forwards and backwards... In NBC you can't roll past the opponent, so you kind of got stuck dashing into his rapid P move if you weren't careful...

The other characters were used in tournaments once they were unlocked as well... I can't tell you how many times I've seen Silver used in teams once he was unlocked- especially in Japan (popy Niigata, a-cho, etc)...

[Cibernetico]

I don't know man, EX Kyo is pretty ridiculous in this game.

[TYRANNICAL]

Why would anyone ban Jyazu and Silber? You got stomped that hard?

I always had the feeling that people would ban Kula but they don't say anything because she's in the arcade version.  Which is why people are so adamant about banning EX Kyo.  Not in the arcade version and stomps a large chunk of the cast easily.  Stress stress stress.  EX Kyo is beast and a decent amount of characters are rather weak this time around.  People just don't want to deal with him which is understandable.

[solidshark]

I don't know man, EX Kyo is pretty ridiculous in this game.

Geese and Tung might have a better chance of being banned over Ex Kyo, to me. Or Kula or Gato for that matter. Jyazu, Silber, and Magaki maybe.

[TYRANNICAL]

Why would you want to ban Tung or Jyazu or Silber?  Geese is strong but eh.  The tops I get since the game sucks on balance and the tops dominate even harder because of it.

[Rex Dart]

The answer to everything should just be a ratio system. Banning people is just boring.

[TYRANNICAL]

People want to ban characters in XI because the balance is horrible.  They want EX Kyo banned because Kula, Oswald, and Gato stomp people hard enough already.  Adding another powerful character akin to them makes their life harder. 

I don't get wanting to ban Jyazu aside from this game being so offensive based and close range combat heavy that a character with a zoning game like Jyazu is a pain to deal with.

You up for a ratio system in OG02 and OG/UM98?  Or are those games balanced enough for you? 

[jinxhand]

They way I see it, console characters in other games were mainly banned for consistancy purposes... Like SC2, Necrid was the only character that was banned because he was op... The other console characters were only banned because they weren't in the other games... I can't say much about SC4 though, because the other characters are available for purchase...

The balance might be horrible, but look at MvC2... That game didn't even have console characters and look how that turned out... 10 years later, its still being played, and was practically the cornerstone and bread maker for EVO, even aside from ST...