Next up, the second mid-boss and troll's favorite, Ash Crimson!
Second: Ideal position in my opinion. Gets the meter he needs to maximize his threat and tools, and if he messes up, at least all the meter he built for the opponent will (hopefully) go into killing him.
Gave me a solid chuckle.
I was going to disagree with you on Billy's defense, but then I realized when I'm pressuring the Billy players I play against the only thing that gets them out of trouble (aside from my execution errors) is his EX DP. That 45 degree gap he has is my usual way in on him too.
Keep'em coming! It's certainly great getting an overview of how these characters are generally played, and sometimes you point out weaknesses which might help some of us with our problem matches.
Glad to be of help, and also shoutouts to having my favorite KOF lady as your avatar! :D
Time to finish off the mid-bosses with
Saiki!Reward Assessment: S- Rank
To get the negatives out of the way, Saiki's meterless damage, particularly off lows and especially midscreen, is subpar. That being said, Saiki's rewards for hitting are one of the scariest aspects of this character. Midscreen jumpins land him good corner carry, and his corner damage for relatively little resource usage is very good, especially when optimized with accurate and frequent air back B juggles. This is before we get into his terrifying corner HDs, which stand among the highest damaging overall in the game, and are Saiki's biggest threat, even being capable of 2-meter kills given the right starter. Admittedly his midscreen HDs won't do as much damage, but he can typically carry into the corner to make that up a bit. With just a bit of tweaking Saiki could have been the game's biggest damage threat.
Neutral Viability: S- Rank
How does Saiki score higher here than Ash despite having fewer projectile options? It's kinda simple: His options beyond the projectile tend to be superior. His DP reaches farther, his QCFx2+K super is an incredible anti air that reverses corner positioning and grants a hard knockdown, his crouch C is faster so it can anti air earlier, and on the ground he gains standing D, which is an a very powerful poke and is neutral on block to boot. Saiki also has his C projectile, which cannot be reacted to when looking for the A version and will anti air errant jumps as well. This grants him a longer anti air range overall to serve his zoning game behind his large A fireball. Add his air command normals into the mix as well, as they can alter his jump arc to help him approach and/or bait anti airs from the opponent. For when it may be needed for it, his Neomax is a screen nuke that can punish errant actions and/or chip the opponent to death. What prevents him from S ranking are two things. First, when a character with stronger pokes gets into their range, Saiki can struggle to keep up even with how good standing D is. Second, against other zoners, Saiki doesn't have a full-screen EX projectile to contend with theirs. Still a very strong neutral presence, and winning neutral grants him chances to try and score hits for his strong damage.
Offensive Viability: B- Rank
This may seem odd when looking at his possible rewards, but here we are examining how well Saiki maintains an offense and scores hits, not what happens after he hits. While Saiki can get some nice frame situations between his crouch A (+3 on block) and stand D, his hitconfirm game is rather weak, usually limited to two crouch Bs or one close heavy at most. Linking off crouch A doesn't help his case as it has to be done rather close. He has some nice jump normals for approaching (A, D, CD), with the former two being solid crossups that he doesn't get to set up very often. His throw is a soft knockdown that only gets him back to neutral (except in the corner). His C fireball is a bit of a wild card here, as it can prevent opponents from jumping out and (depending on screen positioning) land Saiki a combo. Stand can also deter any lows. Deterrence is Saiki's MO on offense, but he will have to work for his hits, and that is probably his biggest shortcoming.
Defensive Viability: B Rank
Another potentially odd ranking here, but let's examine Saiki's options. Reversal-wise, his fastest are his two command grab DMs (both 1 frame), and his anti air super (4 frames). All those options will lose to a 4-frame safe jump. For punishing, his AA super does the job thanks to its range, but the command grabs have rather mediocre reach, especially the level 1 version. His DPs are a bit on the slow side (6-frame B version, 11-frame D version) and only the D version has invincibility. They will do their job when anti airing hops/jumps on defense, but as reversals only the D version is functional and it is slow. His DPs also carry a lot of forward momentum, which can make them miss at certain spacing. On a more positive note, landing his AA super or a D DP will help Saiki reverse positioning and momentum, alleviating the pressure. His close C and crouch C can snipe hops if he sees them in time as well. He has some solid options, but each comes with its shortcomings.
One Chance: A+ Rank
Simply put: The damage. Despite Saiki not being the best at landing his big hits, his damage threat factor is huge and will always keep him in any round he is a part of. His strong neutral can help close out rounds on the off-chance he doesn't kill outright.
Team Flexibility: A Rank
Point: Decent choice for his zoning capabilities, but he is a much more ordinary character here and he loses his best anti air options and, more importantly, his damage. Can be good depending on the matchup.
Second: The ideal choice. Here he will typically have the resources he lacks on point. His damage will more frequently come into play here.
Anchor: Also capable here, but if you have an anchor that wants this spot more second is enough for Saiki to do his work. It's not that he isn't capable here, but that he doesn't gain anything from it that other characters can't make more use of.
Current Assessment: A rank
Saiki is an extremely dangerous threat, but one that is not always capable of realizing said threat. His lack of good confirms, tight offense, and more dependable defense hurt his cause, but his strong neutral and excellent damage make him an ever-present danger capable of turning matches around very quickly.