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Erron black has terrible character design

Neeko

Noob
So just to preface this. Erron is my fav character, but I do play a majority of the cast. So this feedback isn’t coming from just an erron main but someone who is relatively knowledgeable on how most the cast plays and has played the game extensively since release. So these are my thoughts on the overall character, every variation. Itll be a bit long and detailed so I can get out all my points so thanks in advance for anyone who takes the time to read.

So I’ll start with the fact that theres a huge thing wrong with errons base character. Without any of his added moves. He has not a single fully safe mid. This is only the case for a few characters in the game. Best characters have safe hitconfirmable mids that require no resources to keep safe. Some at least have safe fast mids that don’t lead to much damage or slow mids that are safe. Errons base design has nothing. Every mid string either has a flawless block gap which if staggered before the gap is actually still unsafe (b2 u4, f3 2) or unsafe all together b222. The only way to have a safe mid for him is if he’s using either scud shot or slide cancel which require resources. This isn’t the end of the world because there’s ways to work around them by mixing up string usage to avoid being punished but it is still a strange design choice compared to most characters who like I said either have fast mids that require no resources and lead to damage, fast mids that don’t lead to damage, or their mids are just slow but at least safe.

So if you were assuming perfect balance in the game. You would then assume erron black must have some crazy other thing that makes up for this lack of safe mid without resources. But the thing is, he doesn’t. If anything he is also lacking in other areas. He can’t zone in the traditional way most can. His jump kick is sub par. Anti airs just average. Flawless blocks are Only average if even that. Only thing he has that can be considered top tier in relation to others are his pokes and decent auto shimmy. Good to have but if you wanna play around poke into shimmy nightwolf does the same thing but better with better zoning and safe Mids.

Now This is where thing get interesting. Because When I play or talk with lower skilled players. They actually see erron as very good or borderline broken. And what do they say is the reason for this?? His “mix”. They say he has full screen mix. And complain about his slide mix off his strings. Now the problem is, as most good players know, his mix off strings are actually reactable and fuzzyable. And not only this. But even if they weren’t and were completely 50/50, The risk reward would still not be in his favor. He gets just over 10 percent for a slide. But if the slide is blocked he is eating The best punish you’re character has. And the only way he can confirm on you getting hit by the overhead by misreading slide is if it happens on the second 2 of b222. Because there is no time to react to the last overhead hitting to get combo if they read slide. So overall not great risk reward. And as for the f4 slide full screen “mix” the two animations do look different and do differ in timing. Also both require your opponent to be properly spaced, grounded, and to not throw out anything that would interrupt it(pokes, jabs, projectiles) there are multiple ways to deal with this “full screen mix” so obviously that isn’t guaranteed 50/50 either. if dealt with properly it is the least bit oppressive.


So after disproving that, my question remains. what does erron really do so well that justifies him needing resources to make his main mid string safe? or as is The case in his third variation not having a safe mid at all? That is the question I’ll end on because I cant come up with an answer and id also like to know if you guys agree with an idea I’ve heard around that would imo help his balance at both lower levels and higher levels Which is to make b222 all mids but safe on block. I think this along with making rifle reload faster in all variations, giving every variation his string zoning, and removing the tnt from his barking irons variation and replacing it with acid would all together be a good start to at least making This character make some Sort of Sense.
 

Neeko

Noob
Nothing about Erron Black really appeals to me. Not his design, not his gameplay, not his story... I just don't really like cowboys. Troy Baker is cool though.
Well good thing you don’t really dig him cuz I do and it’s lead me to be super confused on his character design choices gameplay wise
 

Evantabes

Mortal
You're right about pretty much everything I think. His base moves don't really do anything and his mid is not the best. The only people who think he's busted are the bad players cough @dungeonsector cough and the things that are the most complained about are not broken. He's obviously not stupid like the actually stupid characters. That being said, this is some serious downplay because this character is pretty good.

You touched on the thing that puts him in the pretty good tier without going in depth but I think it really warrants a discussion
Only thing he has that can be considered top tier in relation to others are his pokes
Boom. This is what's keeping him above so many other characters. I'm not one for hyperbole, his D3, D4, and B4 each might be in the running for best move in the game because each of these moves are flat out broken. I know that Erron is not an ignorant character, but the fact that he can literally win in some matchups by spamming only these three moves makes me second guess that. He gets an unreal amount of mileage from these in just about every situation and I don't think it's a coincidence that his hardest matchups (imo) are the ones where these get somewhat neutralized. But in most matchups, the combination of these moves means he kinda just shits on everyone in neutral because they're just flat out not gonna be able to hit him because the bullshit hurtboxes on all of these. Everyone always talks about B2 but if these are not your most used moves, you're playing the character wrong imo.

Like I said, everything you said about the character is right. He's not the best (I don't think he ever was truthfully) but that doesn't mean his design is flawed. He's a very good, relatively well balanced character. After the scud nerfs, it just takes a little more thought and conditioning to use B2. Same thing in Barking Irons. But at the end of the day isn't that what we want for the sake of balance? A character that requires thoughtfulness and interaction in order to play effectively?
 

Makuholick

Killa Queen
That's what you paid $60 for, return your money or pick someone else
But it's not like any of them went a step forward this year AFAIC
 
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Groove Heaven

Jobber-baron
I mained him in MKX and think the character is awesome, but goddamn do I hate how they made him in this game. Boring as shit, scrub magnet for online where f4 and slide is a legit wifi warrior mixup, and his back throw takes stupidly long.
 
Reactions: JTC

Neeko

Noob
You're right about pretty much everything I think. His base moves don't really do anything and his mid is not the best. The only people who think he's busted are the bad players cough @dungeonsector cough and the things that are the most complained about are not broken. He's obviously not stupid like the actually stupid characters. That being said, this is some serious downplay because this character is pretty good.

You touched on the thing that puts him in the pretty good tier without going in depth but I think it really warrants a discussion

Boom. This is what's keeping him above so many other characters. I'm not one for hyperbole, his D3, D4, and B4 each might be in the running for best move in the game because each of these moves are flat out broken. I know that Erron is not an ignorant character, but the fact that he can literally win in some matchups by spamming only these three moves makes me second guess that. He gets an unreal amount of mileage from these in just about every situation and I don't think it's a coincidence that his hardest matchups (imo) are the ones where these get somewhat neutralized. But in most matchups, the combination of these moves means he kinda just shits on everyone in neutral because they're just flat out not gonna be able to hit him because the bullshit hurtboxes on all of these. Everyone always talks about B2 but if these are not your most used moves, you're playing the character wrong imo.

Like I said, everything you said about the character is right. He's not the best (I don't think he ever was truthfully) but that doesn't mean his design is flawed. He's a very good, relatively well balanced character. After the scud nerfs, it just takes a little more thought and conditioning to use B2. Same thing in Barking Irons. But at the end of the day isn't that what we want for the sake of balance? A character that requires thoughtfulness and interaction in order to play effectively?
Hey I appreciate you reading and giving a good productive reply. I completely agree with you that erron isn’t bad. I have him probably a tier. Not sure where you got that I was downplaying. Sorry if It came off that way but my main point in sayin his character design is bad is In relation to his kits not synergizing in his other variations. Like I said I think some moves that are only on 52 need to be made universal and I think his mix on b222 should be removed and replaced with it being safe on block. It’s a buff for competitive play but a nerf for the causal scene. And then buffing his zoning in his other variations just a tad bit. I think that would be reasonable.
 

Neeko

Noob
I mained him in MKX and think the character is awesome, but goddamn do I hate how they made him in this game. Boring as shit, scrub magnet for online where f4 and slide is a legit wifi warrior mixup, and his back throw takes stupidly long.
I agree he’s gotten significant more boring this game especially after his nerfs taking away his scud cancels for stagger. That was fun. I played him in mkx as well.
 

Neeko

Noob
You're right about pretty much everything I think. His base moves don't really do anything and his mid is not the best. The only people who think he's busted are the bad players cough @dungeonsector cough and the things that are the most complained about are not broken. He's obviously not stupid like the actually stupid characters. That being said, this is some serious downplay because this character is pretty good.

You touched on the thing that puts him in the pretty good tier without going in depth but I think it really warrants a discussion

Boom. This is what's keeping him above so many other characters. I'm not one for hyperbole, his D3, D4, and B4 each might be in the running for best move in the game because each of these moves are flat out broken. I know that Erron is not an ignorant character, but the fact that he can literally win in some matchups by spamming only these three moves makes me second guess that. He gets an unreal amount of mileage from these in just about every situation and I don't think it's a coincidence that his hardest matchups (imo) are the ones where these get somewhat neutralized. But in most matchups, the combination of these moves means he kinda just shits on everyone in neutral because they're just flat out not gonna be able to hit him because the bullshit hurtboxes on all of these. Everyone always talks about B2 but if these are not your most used moves, you're playing the character wrong imo.

Like I said, everything you said about the character is right. He's not the best (I don't think he ever was truthfully) but that doesn't mean his design is flawed. He's a very good, relatively well balanced character. After the scud nerfs, it just takes a little more thought and conditioning to use B2. Same thing in Barking Irons. But at the end of the day isn't that what we want for the sake of balance? A character that requires thoughtfulness and interaction in order to play effectively?
And also another thing you mentioned that he just now requires more thought on his b2 but The point of my post is that his variations aren’t consistent because his third can’t use anything to stay safe. I agree that scud was a little too good before!
 

Evantabes

Mortal
Hey I appreciate you reading and giving a good productive reply. I completely agree with you that erron isn’t bad. I have him probably a tier. Not sure where you got that I was downplaying. Sorry if It came off that way but my main point in sayin his character design is bad is In relation to his kits not synergizing in his other variations. Like I said I think some moves that are only on 52 need to be made universal and I think his mix on b222 should be removed and replaced with it being safe on block. It’s a buff for competitive play but a nerf for the causal scene. And then buffing his zoning in his other variations just a tad bit. I think that would be reasonable.
And also another thing you mentioned that he just now requires more thought on his b2 but The point of my post is that his variations aren’t consistent because his third can’t use anything to stay safe. I agree that scud was a little too good before!
You asked what he has to justify having to use resources to keep his mid safe. The answer is he has insane pokes. Trying to argue that he needs an automatically safe mid because his pretty good tools aren't that good is kinda absolutely downplaying.

To your point about the tools synergizing, I think this is just the third variation being really trash because they obviously just threw it together. Barring major buffs to its special moves, I don't even think a safe B2 would make it viable. It still wouldn't have combos and wouldn't really have anything desirable besides the acid pour Kb. Barking is fine right now and except for maybe shaving a few frames off dynamite startup, it doesn't really need anything. It's actually one of the more fun and interesting variations in the game imo because of its mix and ability to melt a life bar.

But considering a safe B2 is a buff that's completely unnecessary for two vars, I don't see how they could do this without making him dumb. The risk reward on B2 is acceptable in both 52 and Barking. Making it safe would reduce his gameplan to just machine gunning his safe combo starter (in 52) all the time like Geras does. 52 would literally have no reason to use any of his other strings. I don't think that promotes depth or synergy at all. Making it safe just seems like a really lazy and unhealthy change.
 

Saltea Moonspell

"Mind Over Matter" I dont mind, and X dont matter
The Warner Bross love for Westerns, and Clint Eastwood, led to have a Cowboy in a Mortal Art Fighting game. No woder he sucks donkeys balls, and looks like a total idiot.

Cant wait for the: WHOS NEXT? around the corner.
 

Vslayer

Juiced Moose On The Loose
Lead Moderator
Not all characters have to be unbalanced either, but hey
I don't see any character in this game that is considered unbalanced. Everyone is at least at the point where they can be used. I would say the lowest ones are probably Raiden and D'vorah to a certain extent but they're getting buffed next patch that's a given.
 

Neeko

Noob
You asked what he has to justify having to use resources to keep his mid safe. The answer is he has insane pokes. Trying to argue that he needs an automatically safe mid because his pretty good tools aren't that good is kinda absolutely downplaying.

To your point about the tools synergizing, I think this is just the third variation being really trash because they obviously just threw it together. Barring major buffs to its special moves, I don't even think a safe B2 would make it viable. It still wouldn't have combos and wouldn't really have anything desirable besides the acid pour Kb. Barking is fine right now and except for maybe shaving a few frames off dynamite startup, it doesn't really need anything. It's actually one of the more fun and interesting variations in the game imo because of its mix and ability to melt a life bar.

But considering a safe B2 is a buff that's completely unnecessary for two vars, I don't see how they could do this without making him dumb. The risk reward on B2 is acceptable in both 52 and Barking. Making it safe would reduce his gameplan to just machine gunning his safe combo starter (in 52) all the time like Geras does. 52 would literally have no reason to use any of his other strings. I don't think that promotes depth or synergy at all. Making it safe just seems like a really lazy and unhealthy change.
Im still struggling to see the downplay if I admitted his pokes are top tier. I’m only comparing him to other characters tools for example I play a lot of nightwolf. I think his d3 is probably THE best poke in the game if not right up there. Yet he has mids that don’t require meter to keep safe. More than one mid string actually. Along with having good traditional zoning. And like I said him having to use meter to stay safe really isn’t the end of the world. But it is for his third variation. So i think making it safe would at least help that variation be viable. As for dynamite just being made faster. Sure? But the dynamite doesn’t really have synergy with anything else in his kit nor make sense with how the game is played. It just feels super outa place imo. If there was a variation tier list 52 card pu would be high mid tier while barking irons would be very low. And his third variation probably bottom 3.
 

Neeko

Noob
Repeat after me:

Not all characters have to be top tier.

Thanks.

Also if B222 are all mids RIP Erron lmfao.
It you think taking away his fake mix will ruin him then you’re not the skill level that this post is trying to start discussion amongst. No one I play at top levels gets hit by the mix. If they do it’s very rare and the 10 percent Is very obviously not worth the risk. Hence why you see players like hayatei Almost Never use it. And I don’t need erron to be top tier. I’d just like his design including variations to actually make more sense. Thanks for the reply
 

Vslayer

Juiced Moose On The Loose
Lead Moderator
It you think taking away his fake mix will ruin him then you’re not the skill level that this post is trying to start discussion amongst. No one I play at top levels gets hit by the mix. If they do it’s very rare and the 10 percent Is very obviously not worth the risk. Hence why you see players like hayatei Almost Never use it. And I don’t need erron to be top tier. I’d just like his design including variations to actually make more sense. Thanks for the reply
Me: I don't think B222 should be mids

TYM Poster: lOl uR sKilL lEveL lOw nUb

Man get over yourself. You have a right to your opinion about your character but what you're suggesting could potentially bump him more really high. Safe mid string + cancel into scud shot? Come on.