Rate NRS's Balancing Job of Your Main Character(s)!

[M2Dave]

Rate NRS's balancing job of your main character or characters using the letters A, B, C, D, and F. Include a brief rationale if you wish. Please refrain from ranking characters using the letters. Keep post patch tier list discussions in this thread. However, you may still discuss your main character's or characters' tier status in this thread.

Shang Tsung (Warlock) - A
Rationale - Ground eruption does less damage, which affects all combos. Considering all previous top tier characters received some type of damage reduction, this change is fair. Frame data remains the same across the board. Shang Tsung's gameplay remains the same, but he has to hit you more one time to win the round.

Scorpion (Reborn) - B
Rationale - Scorpion received a controversial adjustment to the teleport. The move remains an exceptional anti-zoning and whiff-punishing tool so I approve of the change. However, I dislike less hit advantage on d+4 when other d+4s were not altered.

Erron Black (52 Kard Pickup) - D
Rationale - Not only did significant changes to fatal blow, scud shot cancels, and d+1 affect various aspects of Erron Black's gameplay, they also affected combos, damage, and set ups. Previous top five characters such as Geras and Sonya also received far less changes than Erron Black. This inconsistency as well as the arguable fact that the character might have dropped a tier or even two leads me to believe that the developers did a poor balancing job in this case.

 

[Blewdew]

Kabal - A+ lol

 

[Vslayer]

Cassie - S
They didn't kill her, wich is good. SO many people were complaining I was legit scared. They normalized her F4 making it impossible to spam which is perfect. You also can't reversal some moves with nut kick now, but the hurt box changes and restand fix also sort of helped her. I think they did a good job in making her more honest, but she still has some guesswork involved and a proper combo vortex now. The changes enforce her as THE rushdown queen and they did that well.

Kano - C
Even if they made Dirtbag usable, Ripper is still shit since he has no advancing mids that you can confirm into a combo. I guess they just want him to be a risky character but I don't see how that adds up since the reward in both variations is pretty low - Dirtbag especially. I don't know if they really know what they want to do with him as a character.

 

[Eldagrin]

Cetrion - S (Not really sure if it’s S-F or what). They provided counterplay to boulder that requires skill and makes it where in general she can jail Geyser from boulder at less distances. They made it where close tele vs far tele is no longer some pseudo mix up which is also good. Her normals are totally unchanged and her shimmy game is still fantastic. 10/10 from me.

Sonya-A+ She doesn’t do absolutely absurd midscreen damage anymore off b1 or an AA d1 which is good. Less health is fine I guess, honestly kind of a weird change but we’ll see how it shapes out. She honestly got wrist slapped, was expecting much worse. Her zoning is still too good tho.

 

[kcd117]

Shang: C.

His first variation need dmg scaling, not gonna complain about that as that’s pretty much all they changed here. But his second variation is terrible and got nothing to help him handle bas matchups better. They could have done him better imo.

Kano: C.

Dirtbag finally has a place in the game, but ripper and even base Kano still have some glaring inconsistencies. F21... hello?? Probably the most useless string in the game and received no tweaks. 11 second hit still whiffs on random instances, he still has no reliable anti airs, has to risk his life to open people up... I can’t understand how they look at him and a character like Liu Kang and believe they did a good job at balancing the game.

Noob: S.

Noob is pretty much perfect now, aside from his useless B3 KB, but since leaving KBs that we’ll never see at a high level alone seems to be a trend I’d say he is perfect.

Jade: A.

They also nailed it on Jade’s second variation, but punishing people for a huge 14% on BnBs is still there lol.

 

[TheJaxLife]

Jax - A+
Jax skated away with the babiest of baby nerfs. He plays MK 11 the same way that he has played it since day one. Was kind of hoping that he might get a new option for a tick throw like S1...but whatever, will always take no change over unnecessary nerfing or buffing.

 

[Eldriken]

Kabal - S.

They didn't change a single thing with him. I was seriously expecting b1 to get normalized. Perhaps before the end of the game's life.

I was also expecting some of his safety to get normalized since most of the cast does not have an answer for a lot of what he bullies you with (safe on block, gapless, etc).

Oh well! I'll happily sit atop this perch until I get knocked off of it.

 

[JSF]

Frost: D

She was (arguably) the worst character before the patch with 1 competitively usable variation.
Post patch her usable variation got a much needed buff but most problems werent fixed and the other variation was relatively untouched and is arguably the worst variation in the game.

 

[FoughtDragon01]

Johnny: B
Since it looked like the main purpose of this patch was to increase the viability of most characters' second variation, I can't say that they've done a poor job with Showstopper. In fact, now that Say Cheese connects off of his B34 and F4 now, they've made Showstopper genuinely scary if it opens you up.

Thanks to the change to his Shades KB, he can touch you for over 40% unbreakable damage, and 50% optimal. They also addressed some of his whiffing issues, and I think jailing into S1 and S2 off of D1 is significant. If the next patch finally changes the requirements for his more impractical KBs (Mime Time and Say Cheese come to mind), I think I'll be content with where Johnny will land afterwards.

 

[ABACABB]

Cetrion - S (Not really sure if it’s S-F or what). They provided counterplay to boulder that requires skill and makes it where in general she can jail Geyser from boulder at less distances. They made it where close tele vs far tele is no longer some pseudo mix up which is also good. Her normals are totally unchanged and her shimmy game is still fantastic. 10/10 from me.

.

You forgot about dmg nerf to geyser but its barely noticable . Normals ARE changed for better , 21 better hitbox , better frames on sweep But yeah i must say they balanced her perfectly . FoN buffs are nice too , I dont play this var much but tried it last night and it felt ok . Groundpound cancels provide some nice mind games and pressure .

 

[M.D.]

Johnny Cage: F

You can't be a professional game developer and still have forceballs whiffing on crouch block.

 

[Nortnauq]

I'm generally pleased with all changes made to my characters.

Raiden (Raijin) - A
Rationale - Obviously, giving Raijin his DB4 launcher is great but on the other hand, adding 2 frames to QC is kinda rough. It still re-stands so that's good but, I'd like to know why they chose to do that specifically. Overall, Raijin Raiden has great damage, is now very fun to play and you actually have to work hard.

Shang Tsung (Warlock) - A
Rationale - Ground Eruption now does a lot less damage, which affects all of his combos. I don't think being able to get 30% for 1 bar would be OP but he really only gets like 28% now. Most characters got frame data changes on their pokes and Shang's frame data changes are favorable. Overall, Shang needed his damage adjusted and while they might have went a little overboard, I still agree with them 100%.

Sub-Zero (Dead of Winter) - S
Rationale - Remember that one time when everyone cried for nerfs? lol
50/50 or not, SZ is still a very balanced character. I don't really use him that much any more because he's getting a bit boring to play at this point but still a fair character.

Noob Saibot (Seeing Double) - A
Rationale - Seeing Double is actually in a lot of ways better than Dark Sabbath now imo. Everyone will always breakaway from amp tele so, in that case his damage can be more consistent in SD. Also, his clone KB is a bit more realistic with having amp slide. Overall, Noob's changes are positive and am glad I can use Seeing Double more.

 

[M2Dave]

Shang: C.

His first variation need dmg scaling, not gonna complain about that as that’s pretty much all they changed here. But his second variation is terrible and got nothing to help him handle bas matchups better. They could have done him better imo.

You bring up a great point about Shang Tsung's second variation, which I completely forgot about for very obvious reasons. LOL.

 

[MrArcher15]

Jax is S in terms of the patch cuz he didn’t really need anything. My only wish is that his plus frames were a little more plus, instead of +1 maybe +2. At the moment if I use my plus frames people can still trade with me. f43U3 man is +3 when he does his 12 so I think being +2 isn’t crazy especially cuz 6 framers can still trade

 

[DixieFlatline78]

Kung Lao - C
I still think Lotus Fist is a useless variation, only marginally stronger now. The F1 dead zone seems fixed which was my only actual complaint about him. I think he was a really well balanced character to begin with and hes probably crept up the tier list a little just by being unchanged. I'm getting a little tired of playing him tbh so I'm looking for a new main

Other characters I have played in the past:

Shao Kahn - B
I see a lot of the same difficulties still when I play him but I might just need to get used to him again. Being able to consistently use more of his moveset is very helpful. His damage potential is off the chain and easier to achieve. Big damage gives me a big boner

Kotal Kahn - C?

Kotal's Totemic variation seems like the go to which both is nice and doesnt interest me. The D3 buff is very good for his up close and the parry addresses some of his major matchup struggles. I still havent really tested him out yet, so maybe I'll enjoy him more. Hes like the games E Honda now. Get a life lead, set up buffs and counter zone them. I like that he has an actual niche other than his range, but he still feels undertuned overall

Raiden - D
To me Raijin's buffs are nice and all but theres still a sense of "why play him when I can play someone else". I might just not be imaginative enough

Kano - C
Another low tier who essentially became reworked to have his own personal playstyle. I dont wanna play Dirtbag but I think its dope that hes his own character

Liu Kang - B
I find Liu Kang to be a disagreeable character

 

[Carl]

Kung lao - C
The orbiting hat buffs are decent though its not exactly what he needs. 121 buff helps out hat tricks abit but still hes heavily reliant on f4. No real staggers or plus frames to work with. Zoners have better shimmy tools, staggers and plus frames where as lao doesnt.
If his f1 was -1 or orbit hat plus this would give him an identity but as it stands hes a generic whiff punisher.

 

[Demon_0]

Sub-Zero: A - I think keeping him untouched was the right thing to do considering balance changes to the top tier and the bottom tier.

Shao Kahn: B - Happy he received certain buffs but some of his KB requirements are still ridiculous e.g. connect three spears.

 

[MKF30]

Raiden TW: F - Did nothing for him and his lightning strike amp "tracking" does dick. It's hardly any different than before.

 

[Agilaz]

Shang - F-

People can complain all they want that ground skulls did too much damage, but realistically this is a highly punishable move that has a lot of counterplay. Now it got nerfed, and guess what? He's stuck being the guy with the most unfavourable risk/reward game.

Nearly every other character does more damage. With better tools.

Characters that average less damage per opening tend to have much better tools. Sub players correct me if im wrong, but Sub doesnt break 300 mid screen without KBs, right? And he shouldn't, seeing as he can throw out 50/50's all day.

Anyway, I will probably keep playing the character, but I feel that's all the use he will see from now on: a loyalist character and nothing more. One high risk low reward variation, and one that pretty much falls flat on its face outside the lab.

 

[xKMMx]

Jacqui. A+ they made her dash punch a little quicker on recovery and her damage nerfs aren't really impactful in anyway. They left her alone and I'm good with it.

 

[stokedAF]

Shao Kwon - A
The buffs are useable. The quicker frames and recovery on some of his stuff is a huge relief. He plays the same but it’s just easier and I’m all about it. I’m happy with the solid B-tier placement now.

 

[REO]

Erron Black - S+

They slightly toned down his combo damage overall and made Fatal Blow a bit slower. Erron Black still has the best anti-zoning, still has insane zoning, still is extremely safe on everything, has absurd Mids and 50/50 mix-ups. Still has one of the best Fatal Blows in the game, and overall he's quite literally the same.

All in all, I was expecting them to make F+4 combo punishable on block, was expecting them to not make acid kill, was expecting them to remove the overheads in 2,1,2,1,2 (or add flawless blockable gap), and was expecting them to slow down B+2. To my surprise, none of this happened. After a few days of using him, I still have him as the #1 best character in the game.

 

[OzzFoxx]

Frost B+ - I think making b12 12 frames is huge, maybe the biggest buff given in the patch. She had no reliable options up close before. W the universal d1 jailing into S1, she has d1 13. Couple these buffs with her existing reasonably easy KBs, unbreakable combos, bf4 corner carry, annoying knockdown zoning and fast FB she has all the tools needed to be great.

Shao Kahn A - I agree w the sentiments of others

Raiden B - Boy is raijin fun now but it seems odd I have to power up to get something others get for free. Discharging gaining 2 frames takes away a lot tho. Regardless, he’s really fun.

Kano D - I loooove characters like Dirtbag but you gotta give him a huge payoff if he manages to get his tricks in order and I don’t feel they have done that. This is heartbreaking as it looks really fun to play.

 

[Peter818]

C - Kitana

- The buffed the Highborn variation ( The unpopular one ) and made it much more viable. This was done by buffing a special move alone.
-Kitana has weak normal's and I would have wanted her normal's to be touched and made better. what good is the use of having better special moves if she struggles so much to open someone up.

 

[Chernyy Volk]

Scorpion: - A

It's tricky. The teleport change didn't hurt Searing Rage at all, so it didn't hurt me one bit. I however, think he should've gotten buffs to compensate on Reborn. The character is just variationless Scorpion now with nothing unique to offer.

Shang: - D

The damage reduction was just too harsh. I see this character being dropped by most people wholesale. You can now play Noob for less effort, more reward and unbreakable one bar damage off your jabv that does more than Shang's breakable jab damage. They also killed his only viable variation while doing nothing to address his absolutely useless second one. This felt like a real knee jerk reaction to me because of scrubs crying about zoning.

Noob: - S

He is now what the variation system should allow. A fully fleshed out character that can pick either variation around personal playstyle or MU's. Best balance job of the patch IMO.