(Yeah I understand the irony of the title, I don’t care. SK said to start over and that’s what I’m doing)
Character Arenas + Wiki info on the entire cast with frame data and general tactics.
General info FAQ for the game
Old SCIV thread linked for sake of archiving
Matchvids:
http://www.youtube.com/user/soulcaliburcanada
So let’s get this shit back on track and try to keep the bickering at a bare minimum (none at all). Do it through PMs or don’t do it at all.
I’m watching this time. Don’t fuck up.
is there a tier for SCIV?
LOL @ the first non OP, non mod post 
how did i know that was going to happen
Some combo videos I have made so far:
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I also have like a couple dozen tournament matches in my youtube account if anyone is interested.
Peace
Stupid fuckers, this is why I made threads for venting and shit in the Xbox forum. Even if you play PS3 how hard is that shit to take the PSN forums. Damn. I’ve been on that shit about online complaining and what not ever since it started. That’s why I like stopped posting people just kept the thread to a massive clusterfuck of stupidity.
Ah well.
The awesome Kilik techtrap list that most people missed in the last thread due to bickering:
http://www.8wayrun.com/f30/kilik-tech-trap-and-down-punisher-combos-t1116/#post20444
What kind of tier list you want? Bub-sizes?
He wants a tier for SC4. I say it’s upper mid tier. 
Tiers are still a bit up in the air for this game right now. Remember, there’s only been one major.
We do have a pretty good idea of who’s at least “above-average”, though. In no particular order:
Sophie
Cass
Amy
Algol
Setsuka
Yoshi
Voldo
Taki
Kilik
Cervy
Hilde
Ivy
Also in the discussion are Mitsu, X, Asta, Raph, & Siegfried - all are either upper-mid or mid depending on whom you ask.
Lizardman is solid mid. Some think the Apprentice could be up here as well, though the majority place him in the next group.
Other common lower-mid characters include Yunsung, Nightmare, Rock, Darth Vader, Tira, & Maxi. Some argue that Maxi belongs on the bottom.
Most agree that Yoda, Zasalamel, and Mina are the worst characters in the game.
On a personal note, I’m having a lot of fun with Rock and am definitely making him my secondary. For those who may be asking why he doesn’t suck, here’s a mini-guide of sorts!
First off, just frame PT (214A:A:A) is fucking crazy. The timing isn’t even tight at all, just a bit weird to learn - press A right as the first hit connects, then press A kinda quickly afterward. On hit, it sets the opponent up for ground throws, and on block it’s +7 or +8; from here, you can mix up throws/6K/crouch throws, and the opponent cannot interrupt any of these options (or even step the throws or 6K). This kind of frame advantage is rare in this game, and thus is quite a big deal for ol’ Triple H. This move’s only weakness is that the 3rd hit can be just impacted (rather hard) or force parried (very easy), and even then you can begin stopping at the 2nd hit.
Second, Rock’s bullrush (FC 3K) is better than Asta’s in a couple ways. It’s always completely safe (while Asta’s can be punished by Taki AB), and on hit it leads to Rock’s most dangerous mixup (details later). Between this and the usual bullrush properties (mid, tech crouches, has tracking ability), this is your other primary move to whore besides just frame PT. Performing this instantly from standing position (2G~3K) is a must.
Even with the above, Rock at his core is a grappler, but in an unusual sense. His standing throws are very uneven (just frame command grab is awesome while the A throw is terrible), but the crouch throws and ground throws are his main ways of dealing damage. And Namco clearly designed him to focus on landing these, as they made a shitload of his moves knock down or stun for free grab attempts. Among the notable ones:
Just frame PT (already discussed)
WS A (safe mid, +4 on normal hit, stuns on CH for crouch throws or 6K -> ground throws)
6K (rather unsafe, but his best move for frametraps, tech crouches, +2 on normal hit, ground throws on CH)
2A+K (slow, but a somewhat safe low that tech crouches)
22B (safe, very damaging mid-range poke, works as a tech trap from 1B+G)
66B (similar to 22B but faster, +2 on normal hit, same stuff as WS A on CH)
4A+B (decent tech trap move)
In addition to these combos, Rock’s crouch throws are 13 frames and can punish the vast majority of lows in the game, including 2K’s, and they can also grab people during the startup of tech-crouching moves. And in addition to THAT, they can grab people out of tech rolls. This in turn leads to Rock’s strongest wakeup game…
…Crouch throws vs. ground throws! Rock has a number of knockdown moves which do not guarantee a ground throw but still leave him with a large advantage, such as bullrush and JF command grab. The opponent can tech to avoid the ground grabs from these, but if you predict this you can crouch throw them instead, potentially leading to massive damage. Once you convince them to stay on the ground, you can go back to the ground grabs.
So, you may be wondering, just what exactly do these crouch throws & ground throws do? Good question! Some are straightforward while others can lead to combos. Here’s the rundown:
2A+G: The weaker crouch throw, as the only guaranteed followup is ground throws. If you guess right it’s almost as much damage as the other one, but the other one doesn’t require guessing.
2B+G: The ridiculously strong crouch throw. From this, you can combo 9B into 6B+K, which requires a just frame tech to escape; if your opponent does this, you can crouch throw him again! This throw also has great ring-out potential, as you can combo A+B or bullrush (A+B is much better but whiffs on a couple characters).
1A+G: Ground throw on a head-first opponent, self-explanatory.
1B+G: The other ground throw on a head-first opponent, serves as a launcher. The best followup is probably 22B - delay it a bit to catch tech rollers for more damage plus another ground throw. Once you convince them not to tech at all, you may want to run up and go for a ground throw instead, and work the mixups from there. On Amy you get a guaranteed B+K (a.k.a. Butt Splash of Doom) from this, which is a nice chunk of damage that leads right into the ground throw/crouch throw guessing game.
3A+G: Ground throw on a feet-first opponent, serves as a launcher. B+K is your best followup on everybody. This throw can also ring-out.
3B+G: The other ground throw on a feet-first opponent, nothing else to say here.
So yes, you have to change directions for your throw depending on the opponent’s position, but it’s easy to remember with practice. Very satisfying, too, if I do say so myself. =)
In short, if you liked Makoto, Rock may be your man. He is without a doubt the most 50/50-based character in this game, but the JF PT and bullrush give him enough consistency to hang. His lack of guaranteed damage keeps him out of the upper tier, but he is by no means hopeless. He is not difficult to pick up either (even his JFs are some of the easier ones IMO), so give him a shot!
Josh, the way you just described Rock has me wanting to try this game out possibly.
:rock:
rock is actually pretty good imo, humbag, you should try him when you get the chance.
He’s gimicky
Ground throws are fun, though.
if you condition your oponent well enough then rock is good. i mean… see, things like this. im not gonna say anymore
planning and strategizing, this game is probably the only one that could benefit from it LARGELY.
personally i don’t believe a consistent tier list will exist, ever.
Good thing we’re restarting here. All the bickering, crying, moaning, whining, and bitching kinda kept me away from the last one.
Any good offensive Raphael tactics? I’m decent with him on defense.
You live in Lorain? I’m right here in Elyria, we should play sometime!
Anyway, I have some advice to give. Raph is another character I play a little bit, and I got to watch a really good one at SB3.
Most of his fun stuff comes from the stances. Prep transitions are your main way of starting things, so here’s the list of transitions in order from MOST to LEAST advantage:
SEA **
3** / 44A**
4**
6B**
Prep B**
66 **
3** is definitely the one you’ll be using most, as it’s a quick mid with good range. On hit, Prep BB will combo, so use that then hold the 2nd B to stay in Prep. All transitions except 66** are good for something.
After a Prep transition, once you can’t combo anymore, you have a lot of options. One of the most common is Prep A: Very fast and leads to a nice combo on CH (3**, Prep BBB:B). Once you scare people enough with this, you can move on to the next step: press B+K to switch stances! Your two main options from B+K are AA (mid that leaves you +2 on block) and throw (mix up A+G & B+G, and remember to mash buttons during the throw to heal yourself!).
For some extra flavor, you can instead go into the side evades (usually SEA since it takes longer to get into SEB) from Prep. As mentioned, SEA ** provides the fastest Prep transition, SEA A is +10 on hit OR block, and SEA K leads to a juicy combo on CH (3**, Prep A, 3**, Prep BBB:B). If you can make it into SEB, B is awesome (leads into the same combo as SEA K, except on normal hit even) and A tracks everything. Forget what else, but that’s definitely his least-used stance.
Also, besides the stance stuff, you can be a bit tricky on offense with setups for 44B and WS B. 44B has a large backstep, while WS B leans backward. Both can lead to nice damage, though WS B requires a counter-hit (into 11B or 66A+B). Definitely among Raph’s best tools.
And Raph’s oki isn’t the greatest, but B+K stance can be nice after knockdowns.
That’s about all I’ve got, but hopefully it helps you out at least a little bit!
Is it generally a bad idea to focus on CAS’ over the normal chars? Like, if I have a CAS of Astraroth and use only that, is it going to hamper my learning of the actual Astaroth in any way non-trivially?
I only just got the game, so I’m not too experienced with it yet.
^ no it is not
so go make those lucky star chars no worries in your heart
Yeah I wanted to know, star block characters are banned from tourney’s right? Is it because their range is inconsistent to the character they’re mimicking?