How to compose a team

[Qpunch]

Ok so i'm thinking about making a second team with leona, mai, and possibly kensou (kinda on the edge with him)

What would be the best thing to do?

[Krusiv]

I'm also new to the KoF series. Would a team of Kula/Ash/Vice work out? I haven't looked into Ash (as far as meter use goes) but I want to use Kula to build meter for Vice's EX grab combos. Would Vice second with Ash as my anchor be better?

Ash is on the team just because he's my favorite character so far. :s Is that a bad thing? haha

[currentlemon]

My second KOF game.  I'm thinking of creating the following team:
Kensou/Kula/Flame Iori
Back up: Athena/Terry
Thoughts?  Note I don't have the game yet, but will soon.

[m1x4h]

Hey, so I have some questions. I'm playing KoF 13 and really only got started with KoF recently. I used to play 2k2 a bit, but it's been a long time, and I retained almost nothing from it.

My favorite character in this game is Ash. I understand that he's not a very good character, but I like his playstyle overall. Right now, my team is Saiki / Ash / Terry.

I lose a lot with Terry... and I'm thinking of changing him out for Kyo. Other characters I have fun playing with are Mai, Ryo, Robert, and Kim.

That in mind, any suggestions for my team? As well as order, in mind. I tried Leona and don't really like her play style much, but since she's another charge character, I thought she might be good. I also get too wreckless with Saiki, and lose with him as well.

Thanks in advance!

[Raynex]

Ok so i'm thinking about making a second team with leona, mai, and possibly kensou (kinda on the edge with him)

What would be the best thing to do?

In terms of meter efficiency and character potential, it would be best to run those characters in this order:

1st: Mai
2nd: Kensou
3rd: Leona

Mai: Has one of the most annoying set of normals in the game. st.D is AMAZING both as an AA and as a standard poke. She has versatile specials which are mostly safe on block. She has great combos in the corner which require very little meter. Definitely one of the best point characters in the game, and VERY effective as a battery as most of her strategy requires no bar.

Kensou: Another character that requires not that much bar. At most you should be using 2 with him, which is why he fits perfect on 2nd (he's 2nd on my team as well). His 2 Bar HD combo is simple, hit confirmable, and when combined with his NeoMax does 700+. His fireball zoning game and rekka series into corner pressure requires no bar, but you can use it to up his damage potential off throws or hit confirms in the corner. He's versatile in 2nd position because he can use the bar himself and take out whole teams with his basic, effective strategy, or save the meter for...

Leona: When she's loaded with meter it's impossible to guess. Post knockdown, you can vj.D xx (EX) V Slasher for 35%, or cr.Bx2, st.B, f+B xx (EX) V Slasher for a VERY strong high/low mix-up. She is the queen of air-to-air, and uses her buff j.normals to keep opponents at bay. She comes in on HER terms and uses the bar she has to dispatch the opponent quickly.

I'm also new to the KoF series. Would a team of Kula/Ash/Vice work out? I haven't looked into Ash (as far as meter use goes) but I want to use Kula to build meter for Vice's EX grab combos. Would Vice second with Ash as my anchor be better?

Ash is on the team just because he's my favorite character so far. :s Is that a bad thing? haha

Kula's meterless game is great, so she would probably be your best bet for a point (1st) character. Both Ash and Vice can put in work with meter, but Ash's neutral game is better. Vice has to fish for hits and whiff punishes with her long range specials, and can only work with meter given to her (she has a hard time building it herself). Ash however both use meter effective AND play keep-away to build more meter. The two are interchangeable, and its really up to you because they both work in 2nd or anchor positions. IMO, you should run Kula/Ash/Vice. If you run into problems landing hits, beating zoners, or starting offense with Vice, switch her with Ash and play a mixture of zoning/rushdown until you land your hit. Ash inherent ability to zone and AA effectively allows her to control the pace of the match better than Vice can.

My second KOF game.  I'm thinking of creating the following team:
Kensou/Kula/Flame Iori
Back up: Athena/Terry
Thoughts?  Note I don't have the game yet, but will soon.

You picked great characters! Flame Iori would be the best Anchor in that line-up, hands down. Out of the 5 you listed, he translates meter = damage much more efficiently than the others. A good anchor should not only be able to use lots of meter, but should be able to open up the opponent in order to use it. Flame Iori has an overhead, cross-up, command grab, hit-confirmable rekka series, fireballs, and a DP. He has everything you could want on an anchor. Athena/Kula/Kensou/Terry are all good in either 1st or second. Terry is a tad bit meter reliant though, she he's usually run on 2nd...but that doesn't mean you can't make it work. Start off with what characters you like/interest you most and go from there!

Hey, so I have some questions. I'm playing KoF 13 and really only got started with KoF recently. I used to play 2k2 a bit, but it's been a long time, and I retained almost nothing from it.

My favorite character in this game is Ash. I understand that he's not a very good character, but I like his playstyle overall. Right now, my team is Saiki / Ash / Terry.

I lose a lot with Terry... and I'm thinking of changing him out for Kyo. Other characters I have fun playing with are Mai, Ryo, Robert, and Kim.

That in mind, any suggestions for my team? As well as order, in mind. I tried Leona and don't really like her play style much, but since she's another charge character, I thought she might be good. I also get too wreckless with Saiki, and lose with him as well.

Thanks in advance!

Good combinations based on the characters you listed:

Mai, Ash, Kim
Ash, Terry, Robert
Terry, Ryo, Kyo
Mai, Robert, Kyo

A good general rule of thumb:

Mai = amazing 1st character
Kim/Kyo = amazing anchors
Terry/Ryo/Robert = best in 2nd position, but Terry can function well on 1st
Ash = very versatile
Saiki = I'm not sure, but top players these days run Saiki 2nd (Reynald for example)

[m1x4h]

Thank YOU!!!!!!!!!
When I win Evolution, I'll thank you for it. haha

Mai/Ash/Kim, methinks.

[Raynex]

No problem. Just make sure you deviate a little and come up with your own game plan for team synergy. Robert for example, can function well as an anchor because of his high damage, meter intensive combos. Kyo is also an amazing point character; great battery, great meterless confirms, and great zoning tools. I'd rather you take my advice as less of guidelines for where the characters MUST be played, and more of an example of where/how.

Mai/Ash/Kim sounds like a great team. Make sure to practice those Kim combos! When he has bar he's an absolute beast.

[m1x4h]

No problem. Just make sure you deviate a little and come up with your own game plan for team synergy. Robert for example, can function well as an anchor because of his high damage, meter intensive combos. Kyo is also an amazing point character; great battery, great meterless confirms, and great zoning tools. I'd rather you take my advice as less of guidelines for where the characters MUST be played, and more of an example of where/how.

Mai/Ash/Kim sounds like a great team. Make sure to practice those Kim combos! When he has bar he's an absolute beast.

Definitely. I've been dabbling with other characters, and Clark seems like a good anchor as well. I used to run Ash on point, but I love that Mai can conserve meter, so when it's Ash's turn, I have 2.5-3 meters to typically burn through if necessary. I think Ash and Mai are going to be staples in my team until I get a much better feel for it. They seem like easy characters (Ash, I think is easy because I'm used to charge characters)...
Now... to learn those BnB combos... Charging requires a lot less time in this game than in Street Fighter... wow.

[CrazyI505]

I been training with King a lot but i have been having having a hard picking two characters. Does anybody have any idea's.

[m1x4h]

I been training with King a lot but i have been having having a hard picking two characters. Does anybody have any idea's.

A friend of mine runs King (His second KoF game), and he's super picky about the characters that he likes. He claims DuoLon and Robert complement his team very well.

[Gamegenie222]

A team that I'm planning to mess around in here once I get the game is Ash, Terry, Iori in that order.(haven't decided on which Iori yet but I am leaning on flame Iori.) I may swap out one of these characters for Joe later so is this a good team?

[Reight]

Another noobie (to KoF all together) here looking for team comp feedback.

So far I like using Leona and Hwa the best. But I'm unsure on the last character I can use to compliment the team balance. I don't know if Leona or Hwa are good at zoning (at least I'm not haha) so I'm thinking of sticking a zoner in my team. The other characters I'm looking at for my main team are Joe, Ashe, Chin, Robert, and Terry. Just trying to decide which one to use... Any advice is appreciated

[Raynex]

I been training with King a lot but i have been having having a hard picking two characters. Does anybody have any idea's.

I just happen to main King!  

My current team is King / Kensou / Maxima in that order. King is good in first or second position, but not so great on anchor (there are many characters than are better than her in this position imo)

Because her damage relies heavily on whether the opponent is in the corner or not, she can't get big combos easily as anchor. Characters like Iori/Shen/Kyo/Benimaru/Goro/Vice/Kim/Maxima are great at the end of a team because they can turn any hit into big damage ANYWHERE. Not to mention the first few characters I listed have either an overhead, a command grab, or both. This makes their mix-up stronger, and landing a hit easier...something King has problems with (she's primarily a zoning character).

I'd say put King either first or second, and fool around with other characters you like. Pick your favourites first and compose a team. Once you have 3 you like, you can simply rearrange them in an order that makes sense in regards to meter management and team synergy. Once you have a few in mind, post back here and we'll talk it out!

A team that I'm planning to mess around in here once I get the game is Ash, Terry, Iori in that order.(haven't decided on which Iori yet but I am leaning on flame Iori.) I may swap out one of these characters for Joe later so is this a good team?

Great team! Ash is good as a first character: great zoning game complete with projectile+amazing AA and no meter is required to run basic zoning patterns. He's perfect for testing the waters when the match starts; giving you the ability to dictate the pace of the match with a bit of defense, then switching over to rush down if you have a good read on your opponent. Terry is great second, because he doesn't need more than 2 bars to function. His 1 bar 50% drive BnB does almost 400, which is ridiculous! Terry's game is all about rushdown and pushing the guard meter to its limit, but he can definitely play it patient if need be. His best position is second because all he needs is 1 or 2 bar to run his neutral game, which leaves the rest for your anchor. Iori...lol

He's one of the best anchors in the game. Both Claw/Flame Iori can be run on anchor easily...so you're pretty much set.

Another noobie (to KoF all together) here looking for team comp feedback.

So far I like using Leona and Hwa the best. But I'm unsure on the last character I can use to compliment the team balance. I don't know if Leona or Hwa are good at zoning (at least I'm not haha) so I'm thinking of sticking a zoner in my team. The other characters I'm looking at for my main team are Joe, Ashe, Chin, Robert, and Terry. Just trying to decide which one to use... Any advice is appreciated

Leona is one of the best "air" zoners in the game. High priority jumping normals and her regular/EX V Slasher DM beats EVERYTHING in the air as well. Once she controls the skies she can push and force a knockdown, then mix-up with her instant overhead or cr.B hit confirms into 1/3 of your opponents life. She's a bit execution heavy, but a solid zoning character. Her objective is to pin the opponent down and use her strong high/low/grab mix-up game to sneak damage in...essentially its an elaborate hit&run/zoning style. She's best played second, but can be used on anchor position as well because of how much damage she can do with 3+ meter. Hwa is one of the best point (first position) characters in the game, with great meter build, safe blockstrings and high damage.

Good 1st: Joe, Hwa, Ash, Terry
Good 2nd: Chin, Robert, Terry
Good 3rd: Leona, Robert, Hwa

(This is only my advice, you can mix around your teams at will and it will almost always work. That's the magic of KoF!)

Teams that could work well:

Hwa / Leona / Robert
Joe / Terry / Leona
Hwa / Terry / Leona (Imo the strongest combination)
Ash / Chin / Robert (Another strong combination)

Just go with your gut, and I'm sure you'll make the right decision.

[Reight]

Another noobie (to KoF all together) here looking for team comp feedback.

So far I like using Leona and Hwa the best. But I'm unsure on the last character I can use to compliment the team balance. I don't know if Leona or Hwa are good at zoning (at least I'm not haha) so I'm thinking of sticking a zoner in my team. The other characters I'm looking at for my main team are Joe, Ashe, Chin, Robert, and Terry. Just trying to decide which one to use... Any advice is appreciated

Leona is one of the best "air" zoners in the game. High priority jumping normals and her regular/EX V Slasher DM beats EVERYTHING in the air as well. Once she controls the skies she can push and force a knockdown, then mix-up with her instant overhead or cr.B hit confirms into 1/3 of your opponents life. She's a bit execution heavy, but a solid zoning character. Her objective is to pin the opponent down and use her strong high/low/grab mix-up game to sneak damage in...essentially its an elaborate hit&run/zoning style. She's best played second, but can be used on anchor position as well because of how much damage she can do with 3+ meter. Hwa is one of the best point (first position) characters in the game, with great meter build, safe blockstrings and high damage.

Good 1st: Joe, Hwa, Ash, Terry
Good 2nd: Chin, Robert, Terry
Good 3rd: Leona, Robert, Hwa

(This is only my advice, you can mix around your teams at will and it will almost always work. That's the magic of KoF!)

Teams that could work well:

Hwa / Leona / Robert
Joe / Terry / Leona
Hwa / Terry / Leona (Imo the strongest combination)
Ash / Chin / Robert (Another strong combination)

Just go with your gut, and I'm sure you'll make the right decision.

This forum is awesome. Thanks a bunch for the advice Raynex.  I think I will be going to the Hwa/Terry/Leona team comp. I for sure want Hwa and Leona on my team simply because they're my favorites. I love how difficult Leona is and rewarding pulling of combos. That's not to say I'm not having trouble though. I've been playing "practice" about 1-2 hours a day getting executions/combo's down and still have trouble. But I'm progressing slowly.
With leona I'm able to cr. b, st. b, f+b, hcb+P about 4 out of 5 times. It's actually more difficult for my to X-slash than v-slash (if I have stock) due to how I use the joy stick on my controller. That's something I'm working on though. I can typically execute the v-slash in mid air as well 3 out of 5 times. But like I said, this is all in practice. Once I learn Terry better my new practice will be the net haha.

[Gamegenie222]

A team that I'm planning to mess around in here once I get the game is Ash, Terry, Iori in that order.(haven't decided on which Iori yet but I am leaning on flame Iori.) I may swap out one of these characters for Joe later so is this a good team?

Great team! Ash is good as a first character: great zoning game complete with projectile+amazing AA and no meter is required to run basic zoning patterns. He's perfect for testing the waters when the match starts; giving you the ability to dictate the pace of the match with a bit of defense, then switching over to rush down if you have a good read on your opponent. Terry is great second, because he doesn't need more than 2 bars to function. His 1 bar 50% drive BnB does almost 400, which is ridiculous! Terry's game is all about rushdown and pushing the guard meter to its limit, but he can definitely play it patient if need be. His best position is second because all he needs is 1 or 2 bar to run his neutral game, which leaves the rest for your anchor. Iori...lol

He's one of the best anchors in the game. Both Claw/Flame Iori can be run on anchor easily...so you're pretty much set.

Thanks for the advice I'm gonna learn these characters once I get the game and what not.