Character Classification: What is my role?

Classic Fighting Games Street Fighter x Tekken
1

I feel that every character in cross tekken has a specific role they fall under, very similar to that of marvel. My attempt here is to get people’s opinions on what role each character has in the game based on a specific class. In marvel/other team games they go like this:

Assist Character (ex MVC3 Hsein Ko)

Point Character (ex Zero)

Anchor Character (IE Pheonix)

Balanced/All Around Character (ie Wesker)

I feel this discussion could help people pinpoint characters they could possibly try out for a specific role they are point for. In fighting games, I think being clear and thorough is important for rationalizing ideas, keep that in mind when you post.

If you only have theory knowledge of a character, please keep it out. Try to have your own personal opinions based on characters you play, I think that will get rid of a lot of potential arguments that way.

Ill list character traits later for those not sure what I mean/ new to the concept. I have some examples from other games though,

Have fun!

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2

Nina:

Point or anchor imo

Exceptional neutral game and has a nice damage on all of her options. Struggles a bit on better runaway characters since she has average walkspeeds and no full screen tactics. Also struggles under good pressure because of the high startup of EX Geyser Cannon(Only somewhat viable reversal). Its -7, punishable but the reward is WELL worth it. Rushdown is great due to unblockables, ok frame traps and great mixups. (Meter needed for OH)

That what your looking for? Or do I not understand.

3

Asuka - used as a punching bag to let partner restore health. jk

Strictly an anchor character, she needs a partner with strong neutral game to compsenate for her own. She is the definition of anchor archetype. She gets in on the opponent via partner and runs her mixups, she can’t be used on point due to her non-existant neutral game, a partner that has a strong neutral game AND provides good tag opportunities to let Asuka run her mixups on block, partners such as Juri, Sakura, Chun, Julia, Cody etc. are brilliant partners for her as they fulfill both roles. She provides a high juggle with cancans, she has an unscaled launcher from her lights, so she can string back into light to launch and partner combos off it then tag cancel back to Asuka for a nice damaging combo. She is a bit meter dependant for her tools, (ex falling rain AA, ex cancans for reversal) but she can be played meterless, she deals nice damage meterless, she can use counter as a meterless reversal, but she does even nicer damage with 1 bar, 523 damage on a raw tag punish with 1 bar.

Julia - balanced character, can be used on point, really solid neutral game and provides good tag cancel opportunties for partner and a high juggle with hk dp, can be used on anchor as well to make use of the meter (her super) and she has nice damaging post launcher combos. Just a solid character overall.

Poison - strictly point character, she doesn’t make use of meter besides dp tag cancels, she has a strong neutral game with her fireball cadcs and decent DP AA and normals, her juggle damage is average so she doesn’t really suit the anchor slot, meter doesn’t increase her damage much.

Lili - can be used on both, but is much better on anchor, she really benefits from meter and she has nice post launcher combos and oki afterwards, she can be used on point, her f+mk is one of the best normals in the game imo, it’s really good for whiff punishing and punishing boost chains, she has an amazing AA that does decent damage meterless, she needs meter to utilize her strong tools, such as her anti fireball like ex lance and divine step, and reversals with ex knee and ex feisty rabbit and her damage potential is much higher with meter. She also has an unscaled launcher which makes cross rush with her useful and tag cancel back to Lili.

Alisa - better on point imo, she can really force the opponent to approach her with her fireball game, she doesn’t deal good damage though without meter, but she provides excellent tag opportunities for her partner to come in, she can build her own meter with fireball and twitch in DES form. She has one of the better meter build in the game to me.

Sakura - can be used on either but better on point imo, bit of an assist character, she has really nice juggle damage, when she’s on point, she has one of the best sets of tag cancels with hk tatsu and hp shouken, she provides high juggle floats with her tag cancels, she has a nice enough zoning game with her fireball and shouken AAs and she has one of the best sets of normals in the game, st.lk, st.hk and cr.mk are amazing normals and she has a safe chain with st.hk. In the corner, she can do 350-400 meterless and with a bar, she can break 450. Her upclose game is pretty poor however with lk tatsu being -3 on block and 100 damage throws. Again, she can be used on either slots but she’s much better on point with her normals and tag opportunities.

Xiaoyu - assist character, better on anchor, she benefits from having meter to use for ex shooting star (anti fireball) and to play around with ex turn of fortune ( the armour move in phoenix stance), when she gets tagged in, she can avoid the neutral game which she’s below average at, she provides one of if not the best juggles in the game with phoenix talon and one of the best tag cancels on block with flower power, having Xiaoyu in your team will benefit anyone, when she gets tagged in, she can run her mixups and phoenix talon to your partner and then relaunch/ tag cancel back to Xiaoyu. Some characters gets combos that wasn’t possible otherwise thanks to Xiaoyu.

4

Yah it does! You guys can put in opinions about other characters…just make sure you actually use them :wink:

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5

Updated my post with other characters I play with.

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I like this thread. I’ll put in my opinions

Poison: meter builder. Her role is to use here good footsies and her ability to play the match up with zoning or pressure to build enough meter for her partner to use to make up her lower damage. Her meter building will be even better in 2013.

Nina: a high damage pressure based character. She can use her own footsie tools and mixups to kill her opponents in 2-3 combos. She also has great mixups and safe tags. Including safe tags that are mixups.

Juri: I have a hard time defining juri. She can zone a lot of the cast and her pressure tools are good but nothing that puts her in a specific role. She is a jack of all trades character in my opinion. She can fill any roll the team needs but isn’t going to do it as well as someone more dedicated to that job.

Chun li: point character all the way. All of chun’s tools scream for her to be on point. She has a good fireball game. Amazing footsies. Multiple mixups. Good meter building. Easy safe tags. Great whiff punishes and solo combos. Where as her multi hitting moves do create a lot of damage scaling.

I’d say something about asuka as well but it’s already been covered

7

Juri is very flexbile. She builds meter very well and has good mobility like a point character, but when the opponent is set up (i.e. in the corner) or off of a tag with her cr.HP combos she is also a good combo ending anchor. She is a jack of all trades in that she can choose to be a zoner against people with poor mobility or options for getting in like Hugo or Heihachi or Marduk, she can choose to go aggressive against characters with poor/specific/awkward anti-air or ability to deal with pressure like Law or Asuka, and she has good buttons and her counter to just try for footsies against the more well rounded characters like Ryu, Kaz, Lili, etc. She isn’t really a jack of all trades the way that Ryu is where in the same match he’ll sometimes be zoning, sometimes be rushing down, sometimes be playing footsies. Juri has to pick her role a little more carefully based on who her opponent is. All rounder but matchup specifc. That said, I do find that I play her on point (and most Juri’s I’ve run into online do as well). She builds meter very, very well, and she really doesn’t spend it that much. ****

Hugo is an anchor. He can’t get in, his neutral game isn’t great, and he doesn’t answer pressure well. What he does well is finish every combo with a reliable anti-air grab that always puts the opponent in the exact same spacing, allowing Hugo players to develop oki tactics based on roll/no roll, meaty vs. block reversal, etc. Hugo wants you to guess wrong once so he can end the round, but he’ll have a hard time putting you in that position by himself, thus he is the consumate anchor.

Sagat is, I feel, a point-character. He can zone, has great footsies, amazing anti-air options, and builds meter very well. He doesn’t really need to spend meter for his damage (although ex tiger knee combos are pretty rewarding).

Abel could be a decent point character - he has decent mobility and good buttons. His anti-airs aren’t great (until patch!) and he really likes to spend meter, though, so I prefer him as an anchor. His tendancy to end combos with command throws (change of direction finish or falling sky) means that, like Hugo, you always know exactly where the opponent is on wakeup, allowing for situations where you plan out meaty step-kicks and tornado throws etc. that take advantage of the situation make him feel like an anchor to me. Have someone else get him in, then rely on his setups to control the match.

Kazuya is this game’s all around Wesker, to stick to the OP’s example. He plays any role at a competant/high level. Mist step, great buttons, and chains help him play neutral/get in, and his humungous damage with bounces and many opportunities to switch are great either starting or ending combos.

Bryan feels slightly awkard to me in both roles, to be honest. I play him a lot but I’m struggling to be honest. I guess he’s more of an anchor for my money; he’s at his best after a knockdown and he loves meter like candy. That, combined with his slightly below average buttons that hurt him in neutral situations means that I find him better coming in on someone else’s set up.

OP asked to avoid theory so I won’t speculate on other characters, as I’ve not played them enough. I suspect that characters like Dhalsim, Ryu, Guile are best on point because of zoning and that characters like Marduk are best on anchor to come in and just do damage when you have position, though. I’m interested to see what people will say about characters like Law and Ken, whose primary vaule seems to be as “assist” characters in combos, since that role doesn’t strictly exist in this game.

8

Someone do one for Ibuki.

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@Fergus Ex Turn of Fortune is Xiaoyu’s armored special. Please don’t confuse it with the useless wallbounce Ex Fortune Cookie.

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Hwoarang - quite a balanced character. He has the pokes and mobility to play a strong point game, as well as the mix-ups and pressure to be a solid anchor. Once he gets in, he builds meter quickly, which can be helpful to partners. He can also be useful as a combo extender, but this is largely dependent on the float time caused by his partner’s launcher and switch cancels.

Ibuki - better used as a point character due to her strong poking game, ability to transition easily from neutral to offense, and extremely fast meter-building. However, she has also has useful okizeme and mix-up tactics, allowing her to play the anchor role as well.

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Cammy: on point. Strong AA, very fast, good pokes, strong jab (until 2013 at least).

12

Ah damn, fixed :slight_smile:

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+1, also Ibuki has one of the best anit-airs (b.mp) in the game leading to good damage.

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Damn… I was gonna respond to this but fergus and scrub already beat me to pretty much everything I was going to say… f u guys :frowning:

15

Too bad, so sad.

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For now I’ll add my thoughts on Law and Juri (correct anything that looks incorrect or wrong, fellow Law and Juri loyalists!). Still trying to figure out what I want to say about Cammy, though I agree with what Rean said basically. (got bullet points written but not solid paragraph yet),

I’m not good enough with Julia to state which is better (IMO she’s another one that can play both positions, but I want to iron out why first before I commit anything to writing lol) - same with Nina and Poison.

Law - Point/Anchor

  • Can gain meter easily
  • Good pokes
  • Nice, easy hit confirms to get his parter in
  • Good corner carry to set up good TC situations
  • Decent solo, meterless damage
  • Lacking AA (until v2013)
  • The usual “Tekken walk speed curse” (it’s not so bad, and he does have decent dashes)

Law can play either role fairly well. On point, he can easily build meter and doesn’t necessarily have to use it himself. He’s also good for corner carry, has quite a few mixup options, does decent damage on his own meterless, and can poke with the best of them. The only thing that I feel holds him back is having a good, easily reliable AA… which is getting rectified in the v2013.

On anchor, he can put all of that delicious meter to use, and build it back easily while doing awesome damge. Law’s got tons of tools to work with for either position.

From either spot he can also set up free supers for most of the cast off of his Fury Rush, and easy combos (or resets) from Shaolin Spin Kicks.

Juri - Point/Anchor

(Note: awkwardscrub pretty much covered this - even down to calling her a “jack of all trades” lol)

  • Great Battery
  • Good pokes
  • Decent Projectile game, can zone with a good mix of high/low/AA stored projectiles
  • Easy ways to confirm into launcher
  • Very easy TC situations
  • A multitude of ways to deal with jump-ins (these can be fairly specific)
  • no good reversal options
  • While she does have good pokes, she can still be out-poked by much of the better characters.
  • really bad AC that can even whiff against the likes of Rolento’s Patriot Circle >____>

Juri is likely a better anchor than a point, but she can work well in either position. One advantage of using Juri on point, is that she’s a bit of a swiss-army knife - she has something for just about every situation. “Jack of all trades, master of none” defines her, so she can be a “safe” point character if you don’t know what you’re up against.

She has some good pokes, as well as the ability to do some good zoning, and access to a counter-move that doesn’t require a high/low guess like most do (but moving in the wrong direction obviously could land you right in prime position for a punish.

Also, her AA combos are nice, to say the least.

On anchor, she doesn’t use much meter herself and yet still has the ability to do good damage in a tag combo. As an ender, she can also set herself up nicely not just for oki, but with fuhajin stores as well to either start zoning or continue pressure afterwards depending on the situation.

Personally, I use her on point most of the time, as I feel I can gauge a matchup better with her than any other character. If I know it’s going to be a mirror match though, I put her on anchor, because I absolutely hate the Juri mirror (read: I get exposed in the Juri mirror match). >___>

17

Bumppp

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18

From fighting and using some of these characters.

SF side
Steered towards being on point
Ken
Chun
Guile
Sagat
Dhalsim
Rolento
Poison
Balrog
Bison
Sakura
Cody
Vega

Balanced
Ryu
Cammy
Ibuki
Elena
Dudley

Steered towards being anchors
Abel
Hugo
Zangief
Juri
Akuma
Guy

TK side
Steered towards being on point
Kazuya
Hwoarang
Yoshimitsu
Raven
Alisa
Jack-X
Christie

Balanced
Nina
Lili
Heihachi
Law
Steve
Bob
Jin
Lars
Ogre
Lei

Steered towards being anchors
Asuka
Kuma
Paul
King
Marduk
Xiaoyu
Bryan

19

To me it just seems like use some character with good buttons/projectiles on point and then use somebody with high damage for small to no meter as anchor. Ideally you’ll want to use characters that can fit both roles in both spots if possible.

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Ken (Point Character)

I feel that he’s the better point character compared to Ryu. His multi-hitting special moves are sufficient in setting you up into switch-canceling, making him compatible with almost anyone in the roster. As an anchor, he doesn’t have that many options in continuing a combo other than his fierce shoryuken and tatsumaki.

Jack-X (Point Character)

Excellent zoning, anti-air, and meter-building abilities makes him a good partner in setting up for humongous damage. If the player’s skilled enough, I believe that it’s possible for him to handle the entire match by himself. :lol:

Juri (Anchor Character)

Although I feel that she’s better off as a point character, I put her on anchor because her partner is Ryu. :smiley:

The reason I put her on point is because she has better combo potential when coming out from a tag, and she can be a “whiplash” type character especially if the opponent has been so used to playing a basic, straightforward character like Ryu and suddenly facing off a fast-paced, rushdown character like Juri would throw them off (hopefully.) Since I start the beginning of a match gauging the opponent’s skills, it would be smarter to put Juri on anchor due to her low health.

Heihachi (Anchor Character)

I think everyone agrees that Heihachi is strictly anchor due to his low mobility and short reach. His main asset though is that he can hit hard. VERY HARD. The problem is that due to his weaknesses it would be very hard for him to show that unless partnered with someone who could expose the opponent’s defenses.

Dhalsim (Point Character)

No doubts about it. He has excellent zoning skills sufficient enough to build meter for his partner. His excellent reach (no kidding!) and teleport could open up the opponent’s defenses and set up his partner for a hard-hitting combo. ****