Decided to roughly translate Kuroda’s explanations on his tier list. His reasons are pretty average, but I guess overall it adds up to his mentality on his approach in 3S.
Spoiler
SS Rank -God-
Chun-Li
- character that can shut down the nuanced mind reading games of 3S
- just being able to hitconfirm cr.MK->SA2 makes her keepaway game different from the rest
- the followup juggle and options after are also strong
- good karathrow
- wall jump makes her hard to trap in corner
- small hitbox makes her hard to hit
- no disadvantageous matchups
S Rank -Exceptionally Strong-
Ken
- More or less crossup-based offense
- generally speaking, characters that can hitconfirm off long-reaching lows into super are strong
- one of the best meter-builders in his cr.MP
- overall little to no cracks in his game
- Akuma with regular stamina = Ken
A Rank -Very Strong-
Yun
- Good, generally well-balanced character…
- …but Geneijin is why Yun is strong
- Command grab is practically impossible to predict
- His f.MK during Geneijin is 14 frames faster than normal, hard to react to without concentrating
- Logically the opponent can die after eating 3-4 overheads followed by command grab
- He has low stamina though, so he could just as easily lose
Urien
- In Old Type(original arcade 3S), Unblockables > *
- If opponent doesn’t quickroll after Urien’s throw, he gets a free Unblockable
- …but even if they do quickroll, they just get pushed further into the corner
- If the player knows his stuff on setting up Unblockable situations then Urien’s still good
- New Type(revised version of 3S where Unblockables are taken out) = Urien is mid to low-mid
Oro
- His Unblockables are also strong
- can end a match as long as he has one bar stocked and hits a cl.MP juggle
- good karathrow
- hard to stun
- amazing backdash
- strong ground game
- Like Urien though, suffers hard in New Type 3S and is mid to low-mid
B Rank -Consistently Strong-
Akuma
- One of the most balanced characters in 3S
- Strong anti-airs
- Strong air-to-air game
- No problems in ground games
- Good karathrow
- …but he has no stamina
- Able to achieve victory first, one of the most important aspects of 3S
Ryu
- Good normals and specials
- Able to match up with opponents with the choice of two Supers
- Well-balanced, able to go against most characters
Hugo
- Kuroda always thought Hugo was strong
- High defense
- Anti-air Backbreaker is good
- Great parry followups
- The damage from Parry->360 is huge
- As long as the player has the skills, he can consistently win with Hugo
C Rank -Inconsistent but Strong-
Makoto
- Generally speaking all she can do is straight jump ups and dash ins
- Hard to touch opponents because of this
- Dash-up Karakusa is slow
- Easy to get thrown
- Weak against placed moves
- Hurts when her offense is stopped by quickroll after throw
- Non-super based combos are weak
- Key to victory is her Supers: best possible damage with Seichusen or stun opponents with Tosanami
- Very hard to be consistent as a result
Yang
"It’s hard to win consistently with Yang, because the player’s efficiency bluntly comes out.
However, what I mean by ‘player efficiency’ isn’t ‘hitting the opponent with reversals or punishment combos’ or the state of your reflexes.
It’s ‘observation prowess’ and ‘reading’. Your power of simple deductions will be tested."
Dudley
- Kuroda’s thoughts on Dudley’s strength = “Will the opponent get hit by cr.HK?”
- cr.HK is too strong; safe when blocked, big meterless combo when connected
- However, opponents can reflexively escape it
- All his other low-hitting combos require meter to be good
Elena
- Fast dash
- Long reach on her karathrow
- Strong okizeme game after throw
- Kuroda wants to put her in B-rank
- …but her cr.MP can be parried high and low
- Her standing HK can easily whiff so ground game is rough
- She gets put in a rough spot when the opponent throws her and they do their wakeup games
Alex
- Generally strong
- Throwing Flash Chops timed to the opponent’s throw is good
- j.HP is strong, deep j.LP is safe
- Very good at jumping in to attack
- High stamina
- About as strong as Hugo(in Kuroda’s mind)
- Corner game is among the best
- A character with a lot of potential
- But not a lot of anti-air moves
- A lot of moves have little range
Necro
- Pretty weak without meter
- But able to build meter well with b.MP
- Full-stocked SA3 Necro can be considered top-tier
- Amazing corner game
- Good character with sharpness to him
- Weak points: slow jump, drills can be parried high/low and hits don’t combo into one another, low stamina
Ibuki
- SA1 is very strong
- Can easily stop comebacks with SA1 ender for chip damage or force the opponent to parry
- SA1 relatively safe after throwing it out
- As well-balanced as Akuma
- Weak points: low stamina, not a lot of ways to be able to destroy the opponent
Q
- A character that deviates from the fighting game standards of “battling for damage with attacks”
- Very powerful with parries and tricking enemies with the crouching throw invulnerability bug
- The defense boost from his taunt after downing the opponent is huge
- In this game, if you have amazing defense then you’re granted many chances
- Weak points: Not many points in taking the initiative to go on the offense, very incompatible with the rest of the game
D Rank -Not strong-
Remy
- Strong points: cr.LK’s quick startup, cr.HP->HK Flash Kick, good backdash, able to hit his Supers well
- Weak points: High LoV whiffs on all crouching characters except Hugo, Bad normals
- Must have high sense and planning to win
Sean
- Strong points: Fast dash, good karathrow, cl.HK, winnable as long as you have Supers stocked
- Weak points: Takes huge damage when eating a hit while crouching, long recovery on landing after hitting a jump-in attack, terrible Specials
E Rank -Weak-
Twelve
- Without meter, Twelve’s combos are too weak
- Easy to beat Twelve’s crossup j.HK with parry on wakeup
- Lame ground normals
- Overall has rough time against everyone
- Only thing Twelve can do to win is move about and troll opponents
