Tougeki ST '08!

As posted on Nohoho’s blog, the rules for the next SBO are out. Here’s what caught my attention, though:

S Rank
Dhalsim, Claw, Chun-Li, Boxer, O.Sagat

A Rank
Ryu, Guile, O.Ken, DeeJay, Dictator, O.Hawk

B Rank
Ken, E.Honda, Fei-Long, Sagat

C Rank
Zangief, Cammy, Blanka, T.Hawk

O Hawk up there with DeeJay, Ryu, and Guile? Dang! Chun in the top tier? What do these guys know that we don’t?

O.Hawk in A-Tier = Holy hell.

Apparantly they know how to pay too much attention to the internet

I thought new sagat could be in the A rank. But maybe some of his matchups are too hard for him, to be placed in

lol O.hawk in the A is pretty much “wtf”

Xspr

ah hello? any of you guys ever read my posts?? I’m telling you, T.Hawk. These rankings look about accurate to me, always hard to say exactly.

(I was just like… and they wanna make him even better in HD Remix?)

As for Chun-Li, I’ve been getting really annoyed playing against here lately too- there are a lot of little tricks that simply stop your attacks way too well. I’m not quite sure how much you have to be some master with her though or just get used to doing it and seeing the situations. I just know it’s gonna take me a long, long time to know how to play against her on that top level.

Edit: Hm the really surprising thing to me is why Fei Long is not bottom-tier. Technically, he does have the highest-hit-count-possible combos (in terms of number, not sure on damage) but I haven’t seen Fei Long pros really racking up many many wins (there is one or two but not many more). For example Blanka is a full tier lower, I think at least bring Fei down.

XSPR

O thawk. im telling you IMPOSSIBLE! But this is just from the prespective of Hawk vs Honda. Hawk just cant beat Honda. But Dhalsim also has trouble with Honda. But Sim is legit first tier. So its probably based on matchups as a whole not just one disadvantage.

While I don’t agree with O. Hawk being boosted all the way up to A Rank, i’ve been saying for years he is considerably better than his ST counterpart and is too underestimated - I guess the K/Toutanki double O. Hawk action at X-Mania VII finally got their attention.

Exactly, I had SO many arguments about this in the HD remix thread. I think though very knowledgeable the American Authority in ST (and HD remix), has a few little holes in his overall understanding of ST.

Nothing on this list suprises me (Chun Li… Otochun Anyone?). I think it will not surprise most, especially if they have been following the japanese scene for a bit.

O Hawk is better than N Hawk, yeah, but that much better? I never would have thought that he’d be above Ken, Honda, or even Blanka. But yeah, you guys bring up an interesting point about Remix, it’ll be interesting to see how Hawk will turn out with an easier and more useful typhoon and a safe dive.

Whoever, looking over the list again, I find one thing that perplexes me a bit… O/ken over N/Ken??

Thoughts?

It may be possible that the players who primarily use the characters in question have elevated those character’s status by being so good with them.

Agreed.
Chun-LI> OtoChun
O.Hawk> K, Toutanki

However, O.ken> ???

I can’t place anybody there.:sweat:

Yeah, the O. Ken thing is odd. I would have thought N. Ken knee bash would make him at least equal to O. Ken if not better.

Something to be said for invincible dragons and crazy damage I guess.

o hawks jumping jab used to wreck havok on claw. he is much better than n hawk without a doubt.

No one is suprised to see Dee Jay on A tier? Most of the time I see him mid-tier. I think he’s an underrated character with lots of potential. Only thing holding him back is the lack of a reliable reversal and some tough S-tier matchups.

Good to see him get some recognition.

whut?! suprised??? he IS A tier and always been (the times he’s been on mid are the times he’s been so underestimated which he’s always been) A is his real tier…

I agree!

Does the actual article go into any detail about this? I’m interested to know the breakdown within the tiers…

If Chun is just the bottom of the S Rank, and O.Hawk is the bottom of the A Rank, the tiers could easily look like this:

S Rank - Dhalsim, Claw, Boxer, O.Sagat
A Rank - Chun-Li, Ryu, Guile, O.Ken, DeeJay, Dictator
B Rank - Ken, E.Honda, Fei-Long, Sagat, O.Hawk
C Rank - Zangief, Cammy, Blanka, T.Hawk

This makes more sense with 4-5-5-4, but isn’t as fun to talk about.

Has the game changed? or have the tiers just been massaged for Tougeki hype? Are Chun and O.Hawk actually mixing it up with S and A rank characters? Or is this an honorary upgrade? We’ll have to see…

In a good game, someone will master every character , it doesn’t necessarily mean that the character is better overall. Rankings shouldn’t require a specific person to be playing.

I cant get over O.Hawk someon explain what he gots besides invicible dp.

RIDICULOUS crossup splash (leads to auto dizzy = death), better j.jab, better st.hk and other misc pokes. If you can hit 720 100%, N.Hawk is slightly better (in my eyes) but o.hawk has everything else going for him.