Full 1-31 character lists, in order

[LEGEND]

1) Raiden
2) Kabal
3) Scorpion
4) Kung Lao
5) Freddy
6) Kitana
7) Smoke
8) Sektor
9) Rain
10) Kenshi
11) Cyrax
12) Sonya
13) Reptile
14) Jax
15) Shang Tsung
16) Mileena
17) Quan Cheese
18) Liu Kang
19) Johnny Cage
20) Skarlet
21) Stryker
22) Ermac
23) Jade
24) NightWolf
25) Noob
26) Sindel
27) Sheeva
28) CSZ
29) Baraka
30) Kano
31) Sub Zero

these are all general placements, probably within 2-3 spots of where i think they should be (didn't put much time into it, may update later)
-
Anyone thats says rain is bad simply doesn't know jack shit about the character, i'm not even going to argue

 

[LEGEND]

Characters who can outzone Kabal:
Freddy
Kabal

............

out zoned straight up or counter zoning to? :
Sektor
Smoke
Stryker
Scorpion
Noob saibot

(off the top of my head)


EDIT: nvm, skimmed through the thread. sorry

 

[Death]

Interesting thread. I'll bite.

S Tier
1. Kabal
2. Kenshi

A+ Tier
3. Sonya
4. Kitana
5. Cage
6. Jax
7. Cyrax
8. Kung Lao
9. Smoke
10. Freddy

A Tier
11. Mileena
12. Sektor
13. Reptile
14. Raiden
15. Rain

B+ Tier
16. Skarlet
17. Quan Chi
18. Sub-Zero

B Tier
19. Liu Kang
20. Shang
21. Stryker
22. Scorpion
23. Ermac

C+ Tier
24. CSZ
25. Nightwolf
26. Sindel
27. Noob

C Tier
None

D+ Tier
None

D Tier
28. Kano
29. Baraka
30. Jade
31. Sheeva

 

[1man3letters]

Also for the record, that RM Kaballs guy says Kabal vs. Baraka is 5-5. Sorry, but I think you need to sharpen your skills a little.

kabal v baraka 5-5? wtf is that guy on???
i never heard such a stupid matchup number,
unless raka gets radien v1.0 tele and shao kahn's armor that matchup will never be 5-5

 

[G4S Claude VonStroke]

---- tournament viable ----
1. Sonya
2. Kabal
3. Smoke
4. Kitana
5. Jax
6. Raiden
7. Mileena
8. Freddy
9. Cyrax
10. Kung Lao
11. Reptile
12. Kenshi
13. Liu Kang
14. Johnny Cage
15. Shang Tsung
16. Scorpion
---- probably not tournament viable ----
17. Sub Zero
18. Quan Chi
19. Noob Saibot
20. Ermac
21. Skarlet
22. Sektor
---- not tournament viable ----
23. Sindel
24. Baraka
25. Nightwolf
26. CSZ
27. Rain
28. Kano
29. Sheeva
30. Stryker
31. Jade

OMG @20

 

[greeneless]

1.Kabal
2.Kitana
3.Jax
4.Cyrax
5.Smoke
6.Raiden
7.Skarlet
8.Freddy
9.Shang Tsung
10.Sonya
11.Kung Lao
12.Mileena
13.Rain
14.Reptile
15.Kenshi
16.Scorpion
17.Johnny Cage
18.Sektor
19.Quan Chi
20.Liu Kang
21.Sub Zero
22.Nightwolf
23.Ermac
24.Cyber Sub Zero
25.Noob Saibot
26.Kano
27.Stryker
28.Sindel
29.Baraka
30.Sheeva
31.Jade

Damn man. It's pretty hard to put a number to everyone.

 

[Shady]

1. Kabal
2. Kung Lao
3. Smoke
4. Raiden
5. Jax
6. Mileena
7. Kitana
8. Sonya
9. Kenshi
10. Cyrax
11. Shang Tsung
12. Liu Kang
13. Reptile
14. Scarlett
15. Freddy
16. Ermac
17. Scorpion
18. Sektor
19. Rain
20. Quan Chi
21. Johnny Cage
22. Stryker
23. Kano
24. Noob Saibot
25. Cyber Sub
26. Baraka
27. Nightwolf
28. Sub Zero
29. Jade
30. Sindel
31. Sheeva

 

[Shady]

Also, not to try and instigate anything, but in my very own personal opinion. As someone who's been riding the girl since September through all match ups and technicalities I find it incredibly silly the amount of people putting Sonya in top 4-5 range.... She is 6-8... just outside of that sweet top 5 comfort zone.

 

[Altaire]

I compiled this a couple months ago just for my own use, primarily as a reference point. I made some slight revisions before posting it, mostly from 20 downward. I included a letter grading for each character to give it a more Tekken-style tier list separation, but those are more or less arbitrary statistics. Nevertheless:

1) Raiden S
2) Kabal S
3) Cyrax S
4) Kitana A
5) Jax A
6) Sonya A
7) Sektor A
8) Kung Lao A
9) Skarlet A
10) Shang Tsung A
11) Kenshi A
12) Reptile A
13) Smoke A
14) Liu Kang B
15) Scorpion B
16) Freddy B
17) Quan Chi B
18) Mileena B
19) Cage B
20) Ermac B
21) Cyber Sub-Zero C
22) Sindel C
23) Noob Saibot C
24) Kano C
25) Rain C
26) Sub-Zero C
27) Baraka D
28) Stryker D
29) Nightwolf D
30) Sheeva D
31) Jade D

I agree with Revolver in that it's really hard to place these characters. Liu Kang, Freddy and Mileena are GREAT characters, and the only difference between those three and the top ten is that I feel those characters are more consistent. Even most of the bottom ten are still "good" characters. Cyber Sub, Sindel, Noob, Kano, Baraka, they're all good characters. The only difference is that they have more glaring flaws that set them back, and so most of these characters have to work a lot harder to get around them.

For the most part, the top 15 stands out as the characters who have to take the fewest risks to win. The obvious exception is Scorpion, being a risk/reward character by nature, but I feel that his payout is well worth it. He's also capable of doing F4 takedown for a safe low option, and using B2 at tip range makes it safe against most of the cast (as demonstrated by Slips). No, I don't consider his F3 a "safe overhead option", at least not in the vortex; if you throw it out there, you might catch someone off guard, but it's entirely too easy to block in the vortex (you can beat the F4/F3 mixup 100% of the time with specific fuzzy guard timing, which isn't possible with F4/B2). I don't consider it a viable mixup option off any blocked JIP, for this reason.

/my $0.02.

 

[Shady]

I compiled this a couple months ago just for my own use, primarily as a reference point. I made some slight revisions before posting it, mostly from 20 downward. I included a letter grading for each character to give it a more Tekken-style tier list separation, but those are more or less arbitrary statistics. Nevertheless:

1) Raiden S
2) Kabal S
3) Cyrax S
4) Kitana A
5) Jax A
6) Sonya A
7) Sektor A
8) Kung Lao A
9) Skarlet A
10) Shang Tsung A
11) Kenshi A
12) Reptile A
13) Smoke A
14) Liu Kang B
15) Scorpion B
16) Freddy B
17) Quan Chi B
18) Mileena B
19) Cage B
20) Ermac B
21) Cyber Sub-Zero C
22) Sindel C
23) Noob Saibot C
24) Kano C
25) Rain C
26) Sub-Zero C
27) Baraka D
28) Stryker D
29) Nightwolf D
30) Sheeva D
31) Jade D

I agree with Revolver in that it's really hard to place these characters. Liu Kang, Freddy and Mileena are GREAT characters, and the only difference between those three and the top ten is that I feel those characters are more consistent. Even most of the bottom ten are still "good" characters. Cyber Sub, Sindel, Noob, Kano, Baraka, they're all good characters. The only difference is that they have more glaring flaws that set them back, and so most of these characters have to work a lot harder to get around them.

For the most part, the top 15 stands out as the characters who have to take the fewest risks to win. The obvious exception is Scorpion, being a risk/reward character by nature, but I feel that his payout is well worth it. He's also capable of doing F4 takedown for a safe low option, and using B2 at tip range makes it safe against most of the cast (as demonstrated by Slips). No, I don't consider his F3 a "safe overhead option", at least not in the vortex; if you throw it out there, you might catch someone off guard, but it's entirely too easy to block in the vortex (you can beat the F4/F3 mixup 100% of the time with specific fuzzy guard timing, which isn't possible with F4/B2). I don't consider it a viable mixup option off any blocked JIP, for this reason.

/my $0.02.

 

[STRYKIE]

Kabal, Smoke, Kung Lao and Jax, unanimously top 10 since 1995.

 

[Altaire]

Youre wrong when it comes to Quan,Rain, sindel, skarlet and sektor.

...Wait... You think THAT'S all he's wrong about?

Holy shit.

 

[CJKRattlehead]

This was way harder than I thought, I went over my list saying 1. is better than 2. which is better than 3. and so on until it finally sounded right to me. I feel like I have over sighted something but perhaps you guys could enlighten me if I have. I welcome all your opinions.

1. Kabal
2. Raiden
3. Kung Lao
4. Jax
5. Smoke
6. Kitana
7. Mileena
8. Sonya
9. Liu Kang
10. Kenshi
11. Freddy
12. Reptile
13. Cyrax
14. Sektor
15. Shang Tsung
16. Johnny Cage
17. Scarlet
18. Scorpion
19. Rain
20. Ermac
21. Quan Chi
22. Sindel
23. Cyber Sub-Zero
24. Nightwolf
25. Sub-Zero
26. Noob Saibot
27. Stryker
28. Sheeva
29. Kano
30. Baraka
31. Jade

EDIT: This list may change and I have been going back and forth over Cyrax and Sektor over and over and I can't tell which is honestly better... Props to NRS for making them such a perfect contrast to each other but get rid of the resets!

EDIT2: The bottom five is killing me how close they are, and they all are more than viable too! Damn this is hard...

EDIT3: Now that I think about it Kenshi doesn't really get blown up that hard by anyone, surely not as bad as Scarlet or Ermac.

 

[STRYKIE]

Anyhow, this is a tough one to decide on, I'll have to look objectively at more matchups, the competition and viability is much tighter than say, UMK3.

 

[Death]

AH man. people have sonya barely in top 10??Kenshi 19th??Smoke outside of top 10???What is my eyes seeing right now??This is crazyyyyyyy

 

[Shady]

AH man. people have sonya barely in top 10??Kenshi 19th??Smoke outside of top 10???What is my eyes seeing right now??This is crazyyyyyyy

Kenshi should definitely be higher, I'd say top 10, if not, just out. Smoke... The opinion will always split on it... Many people will say that one reset doesn't make a character. Sonya? Legitimately 6-9 slot so that one is about right....

 

[CJKRattlehead]

AH man. people have sonya barely in top 10??Kenshi 19th??Smoke outside of top 10???What is my eyes seeing right now??This is crazyyyyyyy

Look at the people above them and tell me I'm wrong, I'd like to be convinced

 

[SwiftTomHanks]

Anyone who has Smoke and Sonya outside top five and/or Sektor in top 10 knows nothing about this game. If I were to re-do mine right now the biggest changes would be Kung Lao (who would drop at least 5-10 points), Ermac (who would go up 4-5 points), and Sektor (who would drop 4-5 points). Smoke would probably beat out Sonya for the number one spot; but those two are in a league of their own - you guys will see.

 

[16 Bit]

Rain's footsies are good. His pressure is good. He has some of the silliest armor in the game. His counter zoning is better than it's made out to be, it's another case of a characters' community scaring themselves into underrating their own tools.

Kenshi might be the most underrated in the game now. When you stop and think about his MU chart it's probably very good.

I tried to do this myself but it's way too hard. My top 10 includes like 15 characters and choosing the order is impossible.

 

[ragnar0kz28]

1. Smoke
2. Kabal
3. Kitana
4. Raiden
5. Jax
6. Sonya
7. Cyrax
8. Kung Lao
9. Skarlet
10. Liu Kang
11. Scorpion
12. Mileena
13. Reptile
14. Kenshi
15. Johnny Cage
16. Shang Tsung
17. Sector
18. Freddy
19. Ermac
20. Quan Chi
21. Rain
22. Kano
23. Sindel
24. Sub-Zero
25. Cyber Sub-Zero
26. Noob Saibot
27. Jade
28. Stryker
29. Sheeva
30. Baraka
31. Nightwolf

 

[G4S Claude VonStroke]

I can't wait until smoke loses his reset soon and his glitch. Then if people still says he's number 1 i'll be baffled.

 

[SonicKaballs]

kabal v baraka 5-5? wtf is that guy on???
i never heard such a stupid matchup number,
unless raka gets radien v1.0 tele and shao kahn's armor that matchup will never be 5-5

Yea, I changed my mind, I was stupid and uneducated when I said that like 3-4 months ago. Now its 6-4 Baraka.

 

[SonicKaballs]

Characters who can outzone Kabal:
Freddy
Kabal

............

Reptile, maybe Kitana.

 

[SonicKaballs]

One thing I just have to point out is once again the best Kabal player we've ever seen (REO) has yet to win a major tourney. I dont know it its just him running into CDjr with Jax but people need to give more reasons for him being number 1 other than "iAGB" or "GOD-LIKE MIXUP" because the overhead can be poked out of so waaahhh.

 

[STB Bodam]

I think saying Rain is not tournament viable is kinda lulz worthy too, tbh.

Can't wait til' Book starts going to majors to prove some of these doubters wrong. But whatever, until then we still get pre-dash nerf CDjr to point to.

- #1 - KABAL
- #2 - SONYA
- #3 - SMOKE
- #4 - KITANA
- #5 - KUNG LAO
- #6 - RAIDEN
- #7 - JAX
- #8 - CYRAX
- #9 - MILEENA
- #10 - KENSHI
- #11 - SHANG TSUNG
- #12 - REPTILE
- #13 - FREDDY KRUEGER
- #14 - JOHNNY CAGE
- #15 - LIU KANG
- #16 - SKARLET
- #17 - ERMAC
- #18 - SCORPION
- #19 - QUAN CHI
- #20 - SINDEL
- #21 - SEKTOR
- #22 - SUB ZERO
- #23 - NOOB SAIBOT
- #24 - RAIN
- #25 - STRYKER
- #26 - BARAKA
- #27 - CYBER SUB ZERO
- #28 - KANO
- #29 - JADE
- #30 - NIGHTWOLF

I didn't list Sheeva because I've never seen a competent player use her competitively. GGA Jeremiah hurry up and get to a major!