Rolento - easy choice for point. Great pokes, meter building, and boosts. Lacks damage to be backup.
Paul - slow walk speed makes him a good backup so he doesn’t have to work to get in.
Akuma - has the speed, versatility, and safe options to do both. I play him on point.
Yoshimitsu - average character but the windmill makes him a great point character. Builds meter well.
Lars - I feel like he can do both. I play him as a backup to Akuma.
Heihachi - slow walk speed makes him good as a backup.
Raven - has the zoning and speed to play point.
Ryu - can do both, very versatile.
Guile - lacks the damage to be backup. Great on point.
Ogre - can do both. Has the anti-zoning tools and good rush down to build meter. Has damage to come in on a tag.
Yeah it seems like Heihachi is just what would happen if Kazuya had no walk speed and sub par normals. There doesn’t seem like any reason to use him over Kazuya (who works in both spots well) other than being a beginner’s version of Kazuya.
Kazuya hits harder but doesn’t have mixups anywhere near as scary as Heihachi. Heihachi’s normals are very good once he’s in your face. They move him forward and leave him plus on block.
In my opinion (not that it matters), Nina is the beginner’s version of Kazuya. Her Geyser Cannon is pretty much like a weaker EWGF, Ivory Cutter works like a simplified Slaughter Hook, and her Blonde Bomb is like Demon God Fist.
Alisa:On point; anchor purely if you’re using a stalling based team/tactics (guile,etc)
Only part I disagree with is her meterless damage. There are some optimized BnBs where she can land 470-ish off of jump in HK (It seems like an awkardly timed 2 frame link?). But Alisa is definitely an on point character. She has a great fireball game (a 3 point health EX projectile meaning your EX arms beat almost all other EX fireballs excluding akuma), you can taunt other zoners with the ability to jump across the screen and punish their fireballs with a tag cancel (even though the timing is awkward) it can lead to some big damage for 1 meter with anchors like Steve, Xiao, and Nina. And although her walk speed isn’t that great her forward dash speed (and distance) is amazing. She even has excellent chip damage and frame trap potential. But her reversal options aren’t particularly strong. Maybe EX boot being her strongest option.
Lili: Anchor; workable on point
I find Lili’s TC opportunities are few and far between, so I prefer her as someone to dish out damage with tons of meter. But her footsie tools, anti air options and counters are all pretty good tools. Her mix up potential and damage potential are amazing (400+ damage meterless punish and it’s a short combo which allows great TC punishes). Dive kicks help her be less predictable. Great dash speed (17 frames if I’m not mistaken). Great chargeable move with a great hit/hurtbox, which means you can punish mashers and use it as a frame trap, as well as being safe if they block (-2). A quick aerial TC means that you can jump in on Hugo without worrying about lariat Fraud/New Hugo players. Counter is lulsy. I won a match only using counter vs a Blanka player, even though he was new I find it hilarious that she can counter lightning and blanka ball. She has semi- good reversal options EX feisty rabbit mixups but sadly you have to follow up in order to Tag Cancel, and counter requires you guessing between 4 potential outcomes and leaves you vulnerable to grabs so make sure you guess in an educated way.
Juri: On point, Anchor, Launcher bait
Juri sucks. Now that I’ve pre-vented I’m ready to go. Juri has great damage from tag ins or if your enemy jumps in prematurely. She has a semi unique role of being one of the only 2 characters with a 3 way projectile in this game. Although what separates her from her counter part is her better walk speed, faster OH, and her jump cancels off of cr.HP making her far more annoying as a rush down character. Using her teleports really makes hard to catch and with her great damage on top of that makes her a force to be feared. However this character is launcher bait as fuhajin release can be punished with launcher, when this is used against smarter players especially someone with a hard hitting character she enters 1 of 2 animations. For Lk normal launcher (they can combo off of this), MK and HK in the airborne frames aerial launcher (no combo). This means you have to get used to your opponent and play around with fireballs at a distance until you understand how your opponents react. To give a marvel comparison she is like Wesker, was very strong and still strong, but good players who have seen her tricks once or twice already won’t have much to worry about. Oh and her reversal options are poor at best. Teleport gets beaten by 2 hp Projectiles and EX moves, and Senpusha (Although now it has a hitbox behind it) is ass because it’s her charge move. Which makes it unreliable at best. She also benefits from CADC very little, but that doesn’t matter too much since her unique method of rushdown involves using her fireballs to force the opponent to play right into her hands. P.S don’t spam divekicks.
Yoshimitsu:
Assist Assistant + whiff punisher + zoner (works well as point or anchor)
His primary role is to help an “assist type” character get in close range and start offense. He can build a lot of meter but also relies heavily on meter to bring partner in, to stay safe on block etc. As such, his partner shouldn’t be too meter hungry. He works well with mixup characters, grapplers and powerhouses since those type of characters have a strong close up game but struggle at mid and far range. And because almost all of Yoshimitsu’s moves keep the opponent standing, he is good at setting up resets.
His secondary role is to annoy the opponent with hit and run tactics, wait for them to whiff something and punish. Aside from his obvious teleport, he also has his Flea Stance which allows him to turn into a moving hitbox and lower his hurtbox. And his CADC moves his hurtbox backwards which makes it a nice evasion tool.
Although lacking a true projectile, Yoshimitsu could be considered a zoner in that he does in fact control mid-range space. Charging Windmill controls ground space (preventing the opponent from walking forward or whiffing anything) and cr.hp/j.mp controls air space. His poison breaths can nullify projectiles and his Flea Stance can be used to duck under/jump over projectiles. Because of this, Yoshimitsu can be used as an effective keep away character. Because it can be hard and frustrating for the opponent to chase down a running/lame Yoshi. This also increases the chances that the opponent will make a mistake and allow Yoshimitsu to whiff punish accordingly.
Suggested gems: Meter or defense. Since Yoshimitsu’s role isn’t to deal damage and because he relies on meter so much. And since your partner also relies on Yoshimitsu to get in, defense gems can help keeping Yoshi alive longer.
Vega- He can work on point and on anchor. It’s really a matter of whether he is better than the partner at taking an opening and getting the partner in. Vega is really good at that but suffers from not being able to open up smart opponents sitting on down back. He’s good on anchor because he has a good ability to do decent damage off a launcher as well as being able to set up a tag or just straight up launcher the juggle. He’s generally good with using no meter, 1 meter and 3 meter combos solo. He’s good at Cross Art but his super is low on damage.
Gief- Generally tho he’s not really geared toward being good as an anchor or on point. He’s more of a solo character, although with my team (Vega/Gief), he can work out well on point due to the fact he can fill the role of being able to open up opponents sitting on downback. If i had to pick one tho i’d go with anchor. He cant really do a lot of damage off a launcher but he can put the opponent into the corner pretty fast.
Hugo- Anchor all the way. The only reason to put him on point is to counterpick. His launcher is ass.
Abel- I see Suparstarx says he’s geared toward anchor, but i’m not really seeing it unless your partner just sucks off of a launcher. His launcher reaches insanely far. Pretty much any combo that leaves the opponent standing will connect with launcher at the end. He has good mixups, and a great ability to get in and land a poke that can lead to his partner getting in. He’s not really much of an anchor simply due to what his options are off of a laucher. Mediocre damage, although if you come in with 2 step kicks you can get great positioning.
Cody’s current role as a point character is solid due to his safe long reaching boost combos off of c.LK and ability to tag cancel safely off of f-HP or a criminal upper.
In 2013? I dunno, with boost chains being all massively unsafe, his c.LK being unsafe on block by itself OR off of a boost OR any of his specials. His inability to juggle off of a hit confirm mid-screen without using EX Zonk, his loss of safe tags off of f-HP, and the fact he has no high low game at all or ability to alter his jumps, any safe special moves, or any sort of range game since badstone is by far the worst projectile in the game (Even Steve’s hell fire is arguably better in most situations unless you are full screen distance)
I think Cody will end up being more of a battery character, they upped his meter gain on criminal upper by A LOT and his knife while unable to be used from a tag combo has good damage, good reach (though they did nerf the reach on his s.MP and c.MP) and has actually pretty scary chip damage (10dmg for LP, 17dmg for MP 22dmg for HP he can get in your face and chain s.LP block strings for 40-50 chip damage before being pushed out) or just poke with the occasional s.MP / HP
Rolento
Very good point character, good pressure and good footsies mean you can rush down or turtle.
Bouncing pole mixups are bullshit, and even if they block the jab pressure is ridiculous.
Ibuki
I think she works well as an anchor, as her tag in combo of launch with HK, air HK and then do raw launcher to go back to point character.
So if you play a good footsie character, your boost combo into Ibuki which loops back round to point character doing GOOD damage.
Ibuki then works as a conventional good anchor as she doesn’t need to tag in to do good damage,and uses meter well (supers, ex uppercut combos).
I play Rolento x Ibuki, and using Rolentos good footsies and mixup to tag combo into Ibuki and back to Rolento does great easy damage. Might have to drop Rolento though if his nerfs are too severe
Guile
Guile is definitely a point character. He has great footsies at the mid-range, and powerful anti-air options to limit the opponent’s movement. He also has a great walkspeed to close the distance, or run away if needed. He essentially allows you to place yourself where you want to be. His main use of meter is to DP tag cancel into his partner. Conversely, his damage isn’t great when coming in off a tag, an he can have trouble making up a lost life-lead. Not one to anchor with.
Julia
Currently, Julia is fantastically versatile. A slow walkspeed is counterbalanced by one of the best pokes in the game, and as a result, one of the better footsies games around. She builds and conserves meter well, and gets the launcher easily. On anchor, she’s got huge damage on the tag in, tricky setups on knockdown, and interesting frame trap options. She can swing the momentum of a match in a split second with her dash overhead or 2-frame super, and her Wind Rolls and empty lunges can help her chase down runaway characters. She has some major defensive problems, but this doesn’t affect where in the team she should be as much.****
Ibuki
Her role is to build meter with pressure, support her team-mate with advantageous tag-ins, and supplement damage output. She is best played on anchor, but only for the reason of bad match-ups against popular point characters like Guile and Zangief. Ibuki is good as an anchor because she does not need a life advantage to be effective, and can capitalize quite well on it if she does have an advantage. One could play her on point to great effect, but would have to accept that they will sometimes lose at the character select screen.
All of those tools have COMPLETELY different uses in their respective characters gameplan.
EWGF is great in pressure. Geyser Cannon is strictly a combo starter and a bad EX reversal.
Slaughter hook is never used in pressure. Ivory cutter is. Slaughter hook is a viable Reversal. Ivory cutter is a unique attack…
Blonde bomb and demon god fist are equally usesless in neutral game if memory serves. They can both be combo enders though. However i like to use ivory cutter because it yields more options.
Again could NOT disagree more.
Kazuya does NOT shine in mixups. Heihachi doesn’t take much execution imo whereas Kazuya takes five consistent 1 frame specials to be used at full potential. Only somewhat execution Heihachi needs is a reaction b.mp xx lp.dp to combo off of an AA. Yes Kazuya has some 50/50 Situations but does not get 300 dmg off it EVERY SINGLE TIME… Like Heihachi.
Kazuya has nice footsie options Heihachi just gives that battle away. With an ass backdash all he can do is dash in like a senile old man and still that isn’t too great. Sure hes got lightning crush and Eisho mon but good players will heavily punish you for those. ( Neutral jumps and raw launchers sometimes)
Blanka - Balanced Character - Blanka is a very unique character, he is great for rush downs between his hop and jumping heavy kick, yet he has great zoning via upball, backstep roll (rainbow ball), and his back hop. his S.HK has great juggle opportunities and his upball on hit is tag cancelable which can lead to good combos. Though he doesn’t have large 7+ hit combos, he is a quiet damage dealer, he can easily deal 350 damage combos with 4 hits or 5. He also has a projectile or high hitting dodge move, his duck so you can duck Ryu’s Level 2 or super with ease, the only downside is his active frames to the move lasts alittle longer then you would please but it has a fast startup which can compensate in situations. His main downfall is his jab ranges, his L and M Punches and Kicks have low range but his Down Right HP also called Amazon River Run has amazing range that slides you even after you reach across a 1/3 of the screen pretty much; and is great way to slip under hadoukens and to hit the open enemy for a knockdown.
Blanka is a niche character and not many people can be very succesful with him, but if you come to liking him, Blanka can be destructive in a quiet manner.
At the highest level of play I don’t see that enough to make that a reason to use Heihachi over Kazuya. There’s gonna not be any matchups that Heihachi will handle better than Kaz. Especially since his footsies and spacing doesn’t surpass Kazuya’s. Strong frame traps with better normals and walk speed should be good enough to get Kazuya what he needs to win.
Anyone who actually mains Kazuya is going to have their execution consistent since that’s just training mode grind any way. If one good frame trap is all its gonna take to get 500k solo with optimized combos (which is not even including gems), the lack of high/low strength compared to Heihachi may be the only thing keeping Kazuya top tier and not god tier.
I think your thinking, that im thinking that Heihachi is better than Kazuya. He’s not.
But I think were on the same page.
And the reason you probably don’t see it is because Heihachi is not played at high level too much and its one of those things players look for and try to read(Most likely in longer sets Im just trying to say its not good to rely on for too long).
But can you clarify your first sentence? I’ve no clue what it means.
All in all im trying to say that Heihachi and Kazuya are their own characters, completely.
What about Jin? I don’t know if I should use him or Kazuya. And who goes good with them? I’ve tried out some other characters and so far I like Akuma, Yoshi, Ibuki, Juri, Asuka, and Rolento. I just got the game though so I don’t know too much about it. But any other partner recommendations for Jin/ Kazuya?
I have to disagree entirely, there’s match ups where Heihachi NATURALLY will do better than Kazuya. Even a Kazuya with EWGF. Look at it like this, you know when it gets to tournament play people can block all day. Playing against a Kazuya with EWGF requires great patience when it comes to playing the match up. As it can and will blow you up quite fast if you want to press buttons. Heihachi on the other hand is a character that’s quite dangerous, even at neutral. His footsies are quite workable and his pressure can be unbearable. But his one defining trait is this:
All of his high/lows can be converted into big damage. Game changing damage. And for the most part, they’re all + on block. That, for me, makes him far more dangerous. And listen, I’ve played against some of the best Kazuyas in Europe, dudes who could EWGF at will. That still didn’t scare me more than a good Heihachi who could turn his pressure into damage. Why? Because you’re always in danger when Heihachi walks towards you, or when he get’s tagged in. Hopefully he will get more exposure post patch, as for me he could be the best Mishima.
Ryu:
Quite simply, an amazing point character. Even better if you get your fundamentals down. With correct spacing, anti airs and execution it’s easy to win with Ryu. He has no gimmicks though, that’s why I feel he’s much better played on point. Although Ryu as an anchor isn’t too shabby. Especially when paired with a character like Dhalsim.
Heihachi- Slow as molasses, hits like a truck. Really scary once he gets in close and has some good moves to get there (Raijin, Dragon Upper)
Jin- Balanced, but needs good timing. Needs good timing because of his projectiles, Power Stance, and many follow up moves
Juri- Jack of trades (like said above). One of my favorites since SSF4.
Kazuya- Mix of Jin, Heihachi, and some shoto thrown in too. Has Jin’s step move, has a hurricane kick style move, and is a close range fighter like Heihachi.
Yoshimitsu- Wierd but fun character. He has a crumple move, a great anti air, nice multi hitting mashable moves, has a teleport, and has a vacuum move. Really good with EX. Reminds me of Seth.
As for point or anchor, IDK.
At the beginning, I liked Kaz and Jin, but I found that I lack the timing to consitantly pull off Jin’s moves and it’s too difficult to get in with Kaz (v2013?). Rolento was my fav in A3, but he’s kinda wierd in this one. He’s still good though. So far I’m liking Juri and Yoshi.
BTW, which character is most like the twins? I’m a Yang player in SSF4, so I’m looking for a similar character.
Ok I don’t understand, WHERE are you guys getting this Heihachi info from? (I feel like theres an SFxT Heihachi article that is completely wrong, but everyone believes it…)it’s clearly not from experience with him, i can tell from these posts.
He doesn’t hit like a truck. He gets easy damage capping out at maybe 330 or so , if thats truck like damage then one told me.
Gets in with Raijin stance and Dragon Uppercut?!??
Raijin stance puts you at a disadvantage on hit. Dragon Uppercut is close to -20
On block…
He can get in with his far reaching j.RH on a few characters with lacking AA. Eiso mon and lightning crush are good but have quite a few startup frames.
Someone reading here learning about Heihachi is going to get an aneurysm, with all this misinformation.
I reccommend everyone explain the roles of characters they have proper experience with, so no one spits out theory fighter from their
ass. Sorry for le’ french but c’mon son get outta here wit dat bull.
