man lookin at some of those vids 4649 just posted reminded me of how powerful Ninon is in MI2/2006, but also brings up this question: What happened to her in MIRA, did she get nerfed THAT badly, because I see no one use her anymore?
well she has a really powerful and interesting keepaway game, which is probably made the most buff by her command-explodable fireball and ability to teleport away ( also the satana-jigoku whatever it is wind tunnel super is really good to get rushers off you if you’re sitting on meter ).
she can be played rushdown as well, and people still use her, just, well, this series really doesn’t get the respect it deserves. 
EDIT: all eleven matches of the Kanto round + Final round at Tokyo Game Show are up, plus i’m uploading an omake vid of player interviews and footage from the tournament. now i just have to see if i can find the footage from the Kansai round which had a hellish 128 player bracket (!!!), and i also think they might have done one for MIA this year at some point so i’ll check my sources and see what i can dig up.
also a note: 128 players is ridiculously good, if we could get HALF of that - hell, even a THIRD for a game like KOF MIA at Evo it would completely blow my mind. hype that shit!
on a minor note, lol i just noticed that http://www.youtube.com/user/SickStorm has the KOF XI tournament that happened at the same time / same day, run by the same people. yet it’s kind of bad quality ( although I blame Youtube moreso for that fact - why is it that I’m a director yet I still can’t upload stuff but ten minutes at a time, yet SickStorm can upload the whole hour long tournament? )
thanks for uploading vids, i’m gonna be watching them for awhile
EDIT: YAY i think i found the Kansai division vids, the problem is it’s a HUGE file because it’s also lumped together with the KOF XI Kansai qualifiers for the final round at Kanto / TGS. Soooooo once it’s finished DL’ing i’m going to split the files apart, and i’m still going to be left with like 60 megs of matches or something like that. So um, expect more vids tomorrow lol.
[quote=“4649, post:902, topic:26672”]
well, this series really doesn’t get the respect it deserves.
QUOTE]
Yeah I really do think that this series doesn’t get the it’s respect neither, it’s really turned around since the original MI and then with MIRA out it’s really turned competitive.
I think this thread need something like a character analysis, kinda like what Tekken Zaibatsu did with the characters for T5DR, just according to the recent tier list or boost up whoever you think has gotten better. (Take note this is only from what I’ve seen and experienced, feel free to add or correct who and whatever you feel like)
-
Jivatma: S tier
Pros: Lvl 1 and Lvl 2 supers and fireball kill any hopes of hyperhopping. New level 3 adds to his comboablility and damage. TOW has great mixups (especially with the throw that was added in MIRA), terrific keepaway game with just hyperhop CD, A, and C, can punish very well with his 2A,A,C,C string, longest reach in the game
Cons: very slow (except for 2A,A,C,C string), besides in TOW he has no decent mixups. -
Wild Wolf: S tier
Pros: 2A, C, DP+K brake frametrap is nearly impossible to get away from when in a corner. High damage output with or without meter from nearly any string he does. Great mixup game. Brakes add to a new level of mindgames.
Cons: High learning curve (especially with the brake combos), nearly useless on the defensive. No anti-air without meter -
Xiao Lon: S tier
Pros: High damage output, Excellent Mixup game from her three stances. Poison Kiss DM makes the opponents life go down very fast. Excels at all ranges, close, mid, and long
Cons: Can be difficult to get used to her stances. -
Ash: S-tier
Pros: He has one of the fastest jabs in the game, easy to string stylish arts into each other. Can combo easier than most characters out of jump D, and also his qcb+D in the air links easily to his jab string. He can end stylish arts on block into his damaging fireball rather than [4]6+D which is unsafe on block and prevent from being sabaki. He has a good keepaway game because of the strength of his fireball. Fio can disipate it with her machine gun however. He can control space well. His basic combos do massive damage even with low bar, or if you have more bars you can add to his basic combo easily. He can control the clock well with his keepaway game and long combos.
Cons: I don’t know any cons about him so far. -
Kyo: A tier
Pros: Mixup king, can easily go from high to low in the blink of an eye. With meter can do alot of damage (but then who can’t in this game). Hands down best wall juicer in the game. Can OTG very easily
Cons: Alot of his combos can be a pain to consistently perform. Has trouble against long range characters (Jivatma, Ninon) -
Terry: A tier
Pros: Good mixups. Round wave is cancelable to any other special move. High damage output with or without meter.
Cons: Somewhat high learning curve, not as high as Wild Wolf though. -
Kim: A tier
Pros: Best punisher in the game with a Lvl 1 super (A,A, C, dd+K SC Phoenix Kick), Haki Kyaku pressure is hard to interrupt. Stupidly good wall combo (only in MIRA)
Cons: Not many defensive options without charge or meter. His damaging combos are hard to perform consistently. -
B.Jenet: A tier
Pros: 2B, C, QCF+P frametrap against the wall. High damage output. One of the best guard crushers in the game (not sure if this is still true in MIRA). Can milk the wall for all it’s worth. Lvl 2 super is a good anti-air Harrier Bee D kicks are safe when blocked. Lvl 3 counter super makes people think twice about carelessly throwing out moves.
Cons: Can’t take damage very well. No defensive options without meter. -
Billy: A tier
Pros: Hands down easier hit-comfirm super in the game (F+C, C, Lvl 1/Lvl 2 super). 2nd longest reach in the game. Capable of doing massive damage off of every hit. Simple learning curve. Has counters to stop counterattacks.
Cons: Since he’s been top tier since day one, lot of people are finding ways to shut him down. DP+K is not a good idea since alot of characters can seriously hurt him for doing that. Beware of Billy-only back turned combos. -
Leona: A-tier
Pros: Good high/low mixups and overheads, 2nd best air game with Hyper Hop C, B, and A which can all combo into each other. Crazy OTG game with her level 3 super. Surprisingly fast. Good rushdown character. Good from close to mid range. Can link together strings for a better pressure game and for more damage (ex. D/F+A,C,C links to D+C,C,CD)
Cons: Kinda weak on the defensive without charge. -
Mai: A-tier
Pros: Mix-up queen (only under Kyo). Down X2+P (Kagerou no Mai) shuts down any hyperhopping and is a good reversal move. Has a crazy OTG game.
Cons: Without meter she can’t do alot of damage and she can’t take damage well. -
Richard Meyer: A-tier
Pros: Great mixup game and overheads, his QCF+K move can cross up ducking opponents. Running grab (HCF+K) is a good anti-air and is hard to punish on block. His lvl 3 super does massive damage so master it. Has a good OTG game with his lvl 2 super. DP+K is a good move to abuse, it can be an anti-air, used in combos, even stop Athena’s Crystal Guardian and Duke’s Autoguard BS. Hyperhop Bx2 is a good air move
Cons: People finding out how to fight against him more. Has a little trouble against rushdown and long range characters. -
Kula: A-tier
Pros: Has simple combos capable of dealing massive damage. Frost Execution (hcbx2+P) is one of the most powerful supers in the game, plus she can combo into it without it scaling too much. Diamond Edge doesn’t scale much in combos neither. Has probably the nastiest OTG combo in the game, for half-life. Good high-low mixups makes it easy for her to make you hit the ground for her OTG game.
Cons: Can’t take damage too well. Needs meter to do decent damage. -
Soiree: B-tier
Pros: Great high/low mixup game and overheads. His skateboard grab (HCF+K) can be used as an anti-air and is hard to punish. DP+K can be used as an anti-air and similar to how Richard Meyers is. All of his supers are good and can be used in his OTG game.
Cons: People finding out how to fight against him and has trouble against rushdown character and long range characters. -
Lien: B-tier
Pros: Good high/low mixups, good air-to-ground attack. Unblockable combos from DP+P and laser combined. Deadly wall game with her lvl 1 super (QCB, D/B, F+K)
Cons: No reliable anti-airs, reliant on meter to do max damage. -
Rock: B-tier
Pros: Double Reppuken Brake is a good keepaway move. Can easily crossup his oppenent with his Rage Run mixups. Has counters to stop predicatable strings. Raging Storm and Neo Raging Storm are good anti-airs, plus his counter can be used as an anti-air also
Cons: Lacks good mix-ups, pretty much sabaki bait. -
Athena: B-tier
Pros: Crystal Guardian is one of the best supers in the game when used properly, Good mixup game, Shining Crystal Bit does massive damage near walls. Can play keepaway or rushdown at the blink of an eye.
Cons: Crystal Guardian when used carelessly can and will be interrupted for a waste of meter. People finding out how to shut her down. Without meter, she’s weak. -
Alba: B-tier
Pros: Simple learning curve. Easy combos dealing massive damage. Lvl 3 while doing alot of damage can be comboed after a wall hit for even more damage. Decent OTG game. Good/simple mixups
Cons: Very repetitive and not safe on most of his moves. -
Nightmare Geese: B-tier
Pros: Superb keepaway with Hyperhop CD into Shippuken and Reppukens on the ground. Easy links into Rashomon. His high and mid counters give him a free OTG grab. Don’t jump on him if he has meter (automatic Raging Storm for your efforts). Good overhead and high low mixups to guaranteed a combo to OTG throw.
Cons: Can become predictable, without meter he’s useless. -
Iori: B-tier
Pros: Simple character to use, pretty easy combos with decent damage. Has tons of options against hyperhoppers (DP+P, A fireball, Rage of the 8 Maidens, Bloom of the Wolf). Orochi Blood Rage mode has deadly combos, most of them are simple too. Lvl 3 super can be followed up with a combo.
Cons: Without meter, he can’t deal max damage. While in Blood Rage, he can’t block and his life goes down over time, so don’t get hit. -
Ninon: B-tier
Pros: The best keepaway character in the game. Her QCF+P, QCB+P energy ball explosion is stuff to get by without good timing and can be used in a ST Ryu type way (Energy ball, till the person jumps then DP+P). Hyperhop at your own risk against her, she has too many options to stop that (QCFx2+P, DP+P, HCB+P). Her command throw (HCF+K) can set-up the whole energy ball tactic all over again, very annoying to fight against. If her opponent does get in close for some reason, she can teleport away to get space.
Cons: Very limited up close, very boring playstyle. -
Mizoguchi: B-tier
Pros: Good punisher, can deal massive damage. Combos ending wiith whiffed double-geta prevents you from getting sabaki’d when you continue to attack after knockdown.
Cons: When his headband flashes, he takes extra damage (random though) and not very good on the defensive. -
Chae Lim: B/C tier
Pros: Tied for best punisher with Lvl 1 along with Kim, Haki Kyaku pressure similar to Kim’s. Flamingo stance has alot of options, good high/low and overhead mixups, Back turned stance has some options and gains meter. TK QCF+K is a good instant overhead, follow up with DP+K, then D+K, or SC to Phoenix Kick if you have meter.
Cons: Alot of her combos are hard to consistently do. Can’t take damage very well. -
Duke: C-tier
Pros: Most his strings and specials have autoguard on them to prevent counterattacks. Does massive damage off of nearly everything he does. Lvl 1 super does alot of damage. Lvl 2 super confuses your opponents configuration, Lvl 3 super automatically guardbreaks and leaves them open for punishment. Very scary when has meter available. Good mixups and overheads.
Cons: Very slow, most of his strings can be interrupted. Has trouble against fast characters.
25 Ralf: C-tier
Pros: Does good damage off of his combos. His Lvl 2 and lvl 3 supers catch careless hoppers in the air. Ralf Tackle has autoguard on it. Has a 100% combo that’s actually possible in a match. Decent mixup game
Cons: Needs meter badly to be effective.
-
Ryo: C-tier
Pros: Good overheads, nice damage off of his combos. Lvl 3 super is a good punisher. Command parries shut down long range projectiles and any predictable strings. Good anti-air options (Haoh Sho Ko Ken, DP+P, QCFx2+K)
Cons: Lacks good mixups, alot of his best options are slow. -
Maxima: C-tier
Pros: Vapor Cannon is one of the best specials in the game with it being able to hit overhead in combos and it doesn’t scale much at all and can be faked for mindgames. His command throw (HCF+K) can set-up for an OTG combo and you can follow up the combo with a SC lvl 3 Final Cannon for 75% of your opponents health gone. Bunker Buster is his ultimate anti-air. Has a decent mixup and overhead game.
Cons: Vapor Cannon while good can be punished if carelessly abused. Can be predictable after a while. -
Kyo Classic: C-tier
Pros: Good high low mixup game. His running throw (HCF+K) can be SC’d to the Orochinagi for a decent amount of damage. His fireball can be used somewhat as a keepaway. Hyperhopping, as with normal Kyo, is a bad idea against him (DP+P, lvl 2 Orochinagi, Lvl 3 super). His New Wave Smash (QCF+K, K) can be delayed like the 2-D version of him so they can be made safe.
Cons: Doesn’t deal as much damage as normal Kyo and has to work alot harder in order to get damage. Kinda unsafe after alot of his moves, except New Wave Smash. -
Mr. Karate: C-tier
Pros: The King of Unblockables!!! Most of his strings end with an unblockable hit and if his opponents try to roll, his Sourankyaku (HCF+K) throw will grab them, if they jump the DP+P will catch them. His level 3 counter super will make opponents think twice about randomly throwing out moves or else they want 80% of their life gone. His QCB+P move has autoguard and automatically punches his opponent if they touch him.
Cons: As with his alter-ego Ryo, he lacks good mixups and his unblockable strings are kinda slow to hit someone with and can be interrupted. -
Luise: C-tier (As much as I don’t like it, she not much higher than this)
Pros: Good high/low mixups, Sentinal-like fly mode, instant overheads in fly mode. She has a ROM (Magneto fans rejoice). Completely shuts down any hopes of a hyperhop game (DP+P, Her counter, Lvl 1 super, lvl 3 super). Can be played rushdown or runaway. Lightsaber super can be used to punish whiffed attacks. Very hard to punish when opponents back is near a wall because she can cancel alot of unsafe strings to fly back and make the opponent whiff. Minuet of Damnation (f,b,f,d,u+P) is her most devasting option, master it
Cons: Regardless of all I mentioned above, she has trouble against fast characters. Horrible at punishment on block (Her fastest move is 10-12 frames!!!), Doesn’t deal enough damage and can’t take alot of damage. Has to rely too much on whiff punishing which doesn’t happen often in this game. -
K’: C-tier
Pros: Has a good keepaway game on par with Nightmare Geese, with his Air Trigger. Has simple combos capable of massive damage (B, D, A, C, Heat Drive=1/3 meter gone). Crimson Starload is a good counter for people who like to guard cancel attack after getting sabakied. Capable of doing alot of damage off of throws.
Cons: Poor mixups skills and has bad strings that are asking to be sabakied. -
Nagase: C/D tier
Pros: Great close/mid range character. Good high/low mixups. Very fast. Good against long range characters, due to her HCF+K moves. Flashy juggles plus her new slash move in MIRA can be SC’d to her lvl 2 (QCB, HCF+P) for half life damage. Lvl 1 counter supers have many different results, can be used to either poison her opponent, slash them, or humiliate them. Good post sabaki game. Her command throws can be used in juggles.
Cons: Without meter she doesn’t do alot of damage. Her combos are ridiculously hard to consistenly pull off,especially in MI2 due to the slowdown on some levels. -
Hanzo: C/D tier
Pros: Great fighter from all ranges. Good post sabaki game. Flashy juggles which can deal alot of damage. Good against long range characters due to his teleports. New running throw in MIRA can be used as an anti-air. Lvl 3 super can also be used as an anti-air. His Izuna Drop can be used for people who freeze up. Can avoid unneccesary damage by teleporting as he hits the floor.
Cons: Without meter, he doesn’t do alot of damage. His combos are ridiculously hard to consistently perform, especially in MI2 due to the slowdown onsome levels. -
Mary: C/D-tier (thanks to Syxx)
Pros : safe launching string, awesome reversals, can combo out of her mid/high reversal without having to super cancel, real counter avoids everything except throws, she can be a pain to fight if you’re character doesn’t have strings that start in duck (to avoid followups to real counter), followups to her moves available to her in escalation have air throw properties so they can be done after the combo counter resets for max damage without scaling, can mix up jump attacks with spider, easy wall game.
Cons: not a lot of good SAs, hardly any mixup, high damage combos rely too much on straight slice, ranbu has no invincibility -
Mignon: C/D tier
Pros: Hyperhoppers beware, DP+P, HCB+P, and Lvl 1 super will eat you alive. Has the best level 1 super in the game (QCFx2+P) along with her sister Ninon, does nearly around 65% damage on counter hit. Pretty easy to use. HCF+K knocks her opponent away.
Cons: Not enough mixups to be effective at close range. Lvl 1 super makes her fall down so make sure that it hits or be prepared for a world of hurt.
36: Yuri: D-tier
Pros: Chou Knuckle loop does alot of damage, so master it. Has many ways of setting up the Chou Knuckle loop (strings, anti-airs). Bottle Breaker Chop (rdp+P) guardbreaks when charged. Air Haoh Sho Ko Ken adds to her air game in MIRA. Lvl 1,2 and 3 supers are all good for reversal attacks. Decent mixup game and overheads
Cons: Other than the Chou Knuckle loop, she doesn’t have a consist way of dealing damage. heavily reliant on the opponent giving the match away to her (jumping, standing next to her on wakeup).
-
Seth: D-tier
Pros: Good rushdown character. Probably the best mid range attack and the only air-to-ground mixup attacks in the game. His counters and lvl 2 counter super makes people think twice about randomly attacking. His lvl 3 super switches around his opponents configuration. Lvl 1 super is pretty good also and can be used repetitively when opponent is in a corner.
Cons: With and without meter, he does very little damage. Taken the ultimate fall from grace from MI 1. -
Lilly: D-tier
Pros: Low learning curve,Good high/mixups, DP+P move can make her stay in the air longer and gains meter, press P again to make her fall down fast to avoid getting hit. Easy hit confirms to her supers. Lvl 3 super makes people get nervous about attacking.
Cons: Low damage compared to her brother Billy, can’t take getting hit. Very unsafe on alot of moves. -
Fio: D-tier
Pros: One of the best keepaway characters in the game. TK grenades and molotovs are hard to get past consistently. Machine gun disintegrates all projectiles. Decent OTG game with her Running Grenade throw (HCF+K). Blue Ball and Machine Gun supers are good to make people keep their distance. Lvl 3 can connect after a Running Grenage throw for easy damage.
Cons: Flat out horrible from close range, your only hope is to go into tonfa mode and even that doesn’t help much. -
Clark: D-tier
Pros: Good damage without a meter. Gatling Attack feints can be used for mindgames and to land throws. Has a pickup attack after Flashing Elbow which setups up a mixup game between attack or another throw. Can easily make an opponent fear and duck which can setup for his Shining Wizard throw. Jumping is a bad idea since his Napalm Stretch and Spinning Powerbomb DM can grab you out the air. Only character who’s actually better without a meter.
Cons: Has to rely on the opponent making bad decisions to get most of his damage.
41… Hyena: D-tier
Pros: Decent high/low mixup game. Lvl 1 super can be used as a surprise attack (especially when used when his life is low), Cannot be hit while in his face down position. Lvl 3 punch super is hard to avoid and easily does 75% damage.
Cons: Very gimmicky, has to rely on gimmicks the whole match in order to win
good analysis, i’ll add my input later on ( but why’d you have to tell them the Jenet secret weapon ;_; )
i just realized that since the server that has the huge Kansai vid ( 143mb or something like that ) is in China, that’s probably the reason the DL keeps timing out 
maybe i can get it with some DL manager, flashget or something…i’ll try a few more ways of getting it…
i did find a really cool promotional combo vid they put out in 2k6 for KOF XI and MI2 that features a lot of neat combos people probably have never seen, i’ll upload that in a sec.
also it JUST now hit me ( i’m really, really slow, lol ) that the SNK HK matches on Youtube right now feature most of the MIRA matches that went down at TGS this year ( i’m guessing KDB won or something ) after looking through this thread - http://bbs.kofunion.net/read.php?tid=109194 ( VERY IMAGE INTENSIVE, slow browsers / bandwith beware ). that thread also has a TON of pics of everything that went down at SNK’s booth at TGS, very nice stuff ( those Type X sit down cabs with Reg.A look soooo sick!! )
That’s some nice ass… I mean Mai pics in there. <.<;;
If you give me a sec I’ll put up my opinion on tier/char analysis list in a little, gotta grab some christmas stuff for my mom first.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Ash is S class. He has one of the fastest jabs in the game, easy to string stylish arts into each other. Can combo easier than most characters out of jump D, and also his qcb+D in the air links easily to his jab string. He can end stylish arts on block into his damaging fireball rather than [4]6+D which is unsafe on block and prevent from being sabaki. He has a good keepaway game because of the strength of his fireball. Fio can disipate it with her machine gun however. He can control space well. His basic combos do massive damage even with low bar, or if you have more bars you can add to his basic combo easily. He can control the clock well with his keepaway game and long combos.
Mizuguchi takes extra damage on some hits when his headband flashes. This is random however. But it is possible to do combos on him that would normally take 50% life take about 70% damage on him. I’d rank him at B class because of this. His jab string is solid and has good range for punishing which leads to good damage. Ending combos with whiffed double-geta keeps you from getting sabaki’d when you continue your attack after knocking down.
I also agree with you ranking Mai as A class, I think one of the great thing she has is qcb+A because you can not sabaki it, and if you mix up your strings well enough with it, your opponent will be afraid to sabaki and just block. Any string into her short jump is great and confusing. She can do good damage with bar only but without bar, like Jenny, her 2B strings are good enough for punishing unsafe moves and keeping presure on in general. 236236A is good for whiff punishing and also does good damage on CH as a naked super.
As far as Xiaolon, no further comment is needed as to why she is S class, it should be obvious to anyone who has played the game.
Jiva is good enough with only relying on jump CD and 2A,A,C,C if you use his other moves effectively, he is very simple to play yet strong. Probably my best character even though I only have used him for a short period of time.
actually i think Geese has better offense than some characters ( Seth comes to mind ), he has the tools to make him scary to block ( good overhead, good OTG string that is repeatable into an OTG COMMAND GRAB ) until you get that necessary meter. he’s able to effectively create a wall of solid offense and defense, but he can get predictable. his counters lead directly into OTG command grab though, as they are NON breakfallable.
i would have disagreed with you about K’ maybe a few months ago if i hadn’t noticed that in some cases mixing up strings into one-inch punch unblockable or blackout into throw ( also Ein trigger in and of itself is a mixup ) end up in his favor, as well as the fact that i’m starting to notice more and more that sabaki lends itself to knockdown sweep into B,B xx DP into forward kick to send them to the corner or CD blowback situations, which don’t really help some of the cast fight him in and of themselves, but that’s probably a whole ‘nother can of worms. in any case, you are right about Crimson Starload; K’ players sitting on meter are people you don’t want to poke ( or throw whiff against for that matter lest you eat Punch throw xx D launch, DP into forward+K, super ).
That was a lot of reading. Good stuff though.
Umm, no. I’m sorry but I have to disagree with you here. I honestly (imo) believe that she is no lower than High-A/low-S. She has THE best otg strings in the game - save maybe Kyo, Xiao and Geese - she also has one of the best high-low games in the game. Her mixups are usually character dependent (imo) and can be somewhat high-risk but the reward(s) are definitely worth it.
Oh and K’ is definitely lower than B, and Ash is easily S.
<.<, nice av Luigi.
Thanks. I want to comment on Lien, but I just dont see enough people playing her to form an opinion.
i don’t think throws into combos are that much of a threat in the game. Throws are good in some situations as part of a mixup especially after sabaki but if certain characters who can combo after a throw, like billy or K, will get that particular throw broken every time. Beside that, I’ve already explained how to break all throws in this game before anyway.
Man these tier list are so different from MI2
So is this game better then MI2?
Oh yes. I gave up my MI2. MIRA just feels a lot better playwise imo.
Its not on console yet right? (in the US)
Not in US unfortunately.
Yes, it’s a much better game. (Maybe not as much fun…but that’s debatable…)
There are fundamental differences in the games, small changes to BnB attacks, etc that you’ll notice if you’ve played both games.
For instance the guard crush game was really really dangerous in 2k6. Kula or Jenet could pressure string you once or twice followed by any chain into super. The super on the first hit or two would crush and you’d eat the rest of it in full.
on an unrelated note…I hope I’m not falling behind in this game. We have not played all that much of late and my team of Athena, Kula, Duke seems to be mediocre according to these tiers as they are.
(Then again, Duke can punch fireballs to death, so what the fuck do I care? :lol: )
man i still don’t got the game yet!!!
the kanes need work 
Ok after playin MI2 some more and lookin at what you all have said I’ve made some changes to the analysis post, thanks to syxx and 4649 for the stuff about Ash and Nightmare Geese. And to DropGate for the Kula stuff. Hopefully Luigi can give me some stuff about Lien since I don’t know too much about her