Character Overview: Pros/Cons/Playstyle

The Small Cheez

The Small Cheez

[09] Warrior
Welcome! This isn't so much a guide as it is an overview of all the different characters, how they play, what they excel at, and what they suck at. The intent behind this "guide" is to help people choose a character based on their attributes and what kind of playstyle they are looking for. I hope it proves helpful to everyone, and please send me a message if you disagree with something or would like to add something. I would be more than happy to edit it in after reviewing. Thanks so much to everyone who contributed! Credits are at the bottom. Have fun and GGs!

Alpha Patroklos​
Playstyle: Punishment
Execution: Very high
Pros:

· High damage punishers

· Doesn’t need meter to do good damage

· Fastest CE in the game

· High damage in general

· Safe moves

Cons:

· Steep execution requirements, needs a lot of practice

· No good step-catching moves

· Short throw range

· Bad guard damage
Aeon​
Playstyle: Spacing
Execution: Low
Pros:

· Great stepkills, limits opponent’s movement

· Good range

· Good damage

· Good ringout capability

Cons:

· Unsafe

· Lacks good pokes

· Somewhat slow

· Bad lows

· Needs meter to be effective
Algol​
Playstyle: Zoning
Execution: Medium
Pros:

· Ridiculous damage with meter

· Good range

· Great punishment on whiff and backstep

· Comfortable at any range

Cons:

· Needs meter to do big damage

· Lacks fast punishment options

· Mediocre sidestep

· Slow
Astaroth​
Playstyle: Grappler, zoning
Execution: Low
Pros:

· High damage in general

· Command grabs force opponent into a 50/50 mixup

· Great ringout game

· Good range

· Devastating wall combos

· Good guard pressure if the opponent can’t JG

Cons:

· Bad movement

· No good punishers

· Most attacks are slow

· Limited interrupts
Cervantes​
Playstyle: Turtle, punishment
Execution: High
Pros:

· Great damage off of whiff punishes

· Good guard pressure

· Great movement

· Doesn’t need meter for high damage

· Good range

Cons:

· Very unsafe

· Predictable mixup at higher levels

· Limited punishing capability on block, especially while crouching
Dampierre​
Playstyle: spacing
Execution: Mid/high
Pros:

· CE guard impacts for almost half life

· Hard to predict

· Can whiff punish for almost half life with no meter

Cons:

· Poor range

· Some moves have random properties, making him very unsafe

· If the opponent knows the matchup, it limits his options
Ezio​
Playstyle: spacing
Execution: Low
Pros:

· Generally safe

· Good stepkills

· Good mixup

· Good options all-around

Cons:

· Doesn’t really excel anywhere except step killing and whiff punishing
Hilde​
Playstyle: Spacing
Execution: Mid/high
Pros:

· Best range in the game

· Relatively safe

· High damage, long range CE

· Good meter gain

Cons:

· Limited block punishment

· Poor mixup

· Essential combos require precise timing

· Weak to rushdown
Ivy​
Playstyle: spacing
Execution: Mid
Pros:

· Safe

· Difficult to punish at max range

· Good throws

· Great range

Cons:

· Weak to rushdown

· Sub-par brave edges

· Hard to punish effectively
Leixia​
Playstyle: Rushdown
Execution: Low
Pros:

· Great pokes

· Good guard pressure

· Very safe

· Fast attacks

Cons:

· Mediocre range

· Low damage overall

· No good lows
Maxi​
Playstyle: Rushdown
Execution: Low/Mid
Pros:

· High damage whiff punishes

· Deceptively good range

· Good mixup

· Good guard pressure

Cons:

· Stances can be shut down completely by someone who knows the matchup

· Unsafe for the most part

· Limited punishment options on block
Mitsurugi​
Playstyle: Rushdown, pressure
Execution: Low
Pros:

· Fast, safe pokes

· Great mixup

· High damage

Cons:

· Unsafe when blocked

· Stance is unsafe and predictable

· Very linear
Natsu​
Playstyle: Rushdown, pressure
Execution: Mid/high
Pros:

· Very fast

· Great damage

· Lots of evasive moves

Cons:

· Weak to zoning and good spacing

· Bad throw range

· Few good lows
Nightmare​
Playstyle: Pressure, Spacing
Execution: Low/mid
Pros:

· Fantastic range

· Great movement

· Excellent ringout and wall game

· Good grab range

· Good guard pressure

· Good whiff punishment

Cons:

· Unsafe

· Stances can leave him vulnerable

· A bit on the slow side
Patroklos​
Playstyle: Rushdown
Execution: Low
Pros:

· Good mixup

· Great ringout with CE

· High damage

· Mostly safe on block

Cons:

· Bad range

· Can be risky and punished hard on whiff

· Weak to backstep
Pyrrha​
Playstyle: Turtle/Punish
Execution: Mid
Pros:

· Safe pokes

· Good speed

· Great block punishment

· Decent damage

· Good meter options

Cons:

· Mediocre range

· Weak lows

· Weak throws
Pyrrha Omega​
Playstyle: Turtle/Punish
Execution: Mid/high
Pros:

· Great punishment on block/whiff

· High damage

· Great guard pressure

Cons:

· Lacks a good low

· Poor oki game

· Somewhat unsafe
Raphael​
Playstyle: Pressure, spacing
Execution: Low
Pros:

· Good pokes

· Good movement

· Good throws

· Fast attacks

Cons:

· Very linear

· Mediocre damage

· Weak to steps and ducking
Siegfried​
Playstyle: Spacing, stance
Execution: Mid
Pros:

· Good range

· Great damage with/without meter

· Great ringout game

· Good mixup with his stances

Cons

· Terrible recovery on whiff

· Mediocre movement

· Slow attacks
Tira​
Playstyle: spacing (Jolly), pressure (Gloomy)
Execution: Mid
Pros:

· Great stepkills

· Great damage in Gloomy

· Good guard damage

Cons:

· Bad lows in Jolly

· Slow in Jolly

· Random element in mood changes

· Gloomy suffers against spacing and is generally risky
Viola​
Playstyle: Pressure/Rushdown
Execution: Mid/high
Pros:

· Good 50/50s

· Great ringout

· Long, damaging combos

· Good guard pressure

· Can keep almost constant pressure on someone who doesn’t know how to interrupt her

Cons:

· Needs to be close to do good damage

· Ranged moves are weak

· Can be interrupted by people who know her frame traps
Voldo​
Playstyle: Spacing, stance
Execution: Mid/high
Pros:

· Good range

· Great lows

· Good mixup from his stances

· Overall very balanced

Cons:

· Since he is backturned a lot, he is often at risk for back throws

· Bad backstep
Xiba​
Playstyle: Spacing
Execution: Low
Pros:

· Great use for his meter

· Good wall/ringout game

· High damage

· Great range

· Safe lows

· Great stance that GI’s horizontals

Cons:

· Somewhat slow

· Poor punishment options

· Struggles with rushdown
Yoshimitsu​
Playstyle: Rushdown
Execution: High/very high
Pros:

· Very fast attacks

· Fast movement

· Good ringout

· Great mixup

Cons:

· Short range

· Poor use of meter, other than CE

· Difficult to use effectively due to strict timing and execution
ZWEI​
Playstyle: Spacing, Turtle
Execution: High
Pros:

· Strong frame traps

· Great damage

· Great guard pressure

Cons:

· Unsafe against someone who knows the matchup

· No good punishment options

· No good interrupts

Credits:​
Special mention: Paranormal_Oreo (about half of the information in this guide is from his own, which was never finished, unfortunately. Saved me a ton of work!)
Alpha Patroklos: thenewperson, b4k4
Aeon: Vice Hannyabal, Slade
Algol: Hates
Astaroth: lolo, me
Cervantes: Hates, ShenChan
Dampierre: Rakazuki
Ezio: Jimbonator
Hilde: Runis
Ivy: KineticClash
Leixia: ZeroEffect317
Maxi: MightyOmega
Mitsurugi: Blueboyb
Natsu: kAb
Nightmare: Paragon049, Omega
Patroklos: Blueboyb, Drake Aldan
Pyrrha: me
Pyrrha Omega: HolyCarp
Raphael: fukou_da_man, WuHT
Siegfried: fukou_da_man, Slayer_X64
Tira: Paranormal_Oreo
Viola: Ninjaguy446
Voldo: me
Xiba: Party Wolf, Withvees
Yoshimitsu: Signia, mkl
ZWEI: MightyOmega, Egg
 
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Just a reminder, this is a community project, not MY work. I'm just the monkey who slapped it together. So please, if you see something wrong or something that needs to be added, message me so I can add it in.
 
I always believed NM's primary playstyle as whiff punisher, granted his pressure game is quite good, I'd argue about it being good enough to be considered rush down.
also decent block punishment, fantastic whiff punishment, one of best CE's in the game due to it's scare factor could be things that could be added
 
taken another look at this coupla things you might wanna change...
  • Dampierre is just a lil' nitpick but you'll see what I mean when you look at it.
  • Ezio's playstyle is more or less designed for counterhit phishing, a lot of his tactics revolve around gauging and forcing reactions
  • Ivy is generally considered a spacing type with her ridiculous range (you could probably say she's one of those rare turtle characters)
  • Raph soughta bounces between spacing and pressure/rushdown
  • Voldo doesn't carrys considerably less risk of backthrows as he is one of 3 characters who can actually break them.
  • and I'd honestly add stance/mixup to Yoshi's playstyle aswell
 
ZER0 said:
Ezio's playstyle is more or less designed for counterhit phishing, a lot of his tactics revolve around gauging and forcing reactions
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Ehh, counterhits are nice because of kewl animations but Ezio thrives on the opponents hanging themselves by not respecting wakeup, e.g. stepping into 66A, whiffing dumb shit (wakeup 2A after getting knocked down fullscreen by 22K/crossbows lel), getting dumb shit blocked, disrespecting OS JG, doing wakeup throws when Ezio's scouting out potential CH WR As, etc. Anything that opens you up for 6B BE or 66B BE, essentially. Ezio's tools in the neutral game seem more like means of keeping the opponent from walking all over him rather than a means for Ezio to walk all over the opponent. Although these observations are mostly things I find apparent in @Jimbonator 's playstyle. It's possible they're not intrinsic to the character and that other Ezio players (>implying other Ezio players) could play differently.
 
ZER0 said:
  • Voldo doesn't carrys considerably less risk of backthrows as he is one of 3 characters who can actually break them.
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Yes, he can break back throws, but the likely hood of getting back thrown is considerably higher since he fights back turned, so they're a much bigger threat to him than the rest of the cast.
 
It never occurred to me that Cervantes was considered a turtle style. Looking back, it makes sense, but I thought it was more a spacing/whiff punishing game. On the other hand, he's had brutal counter GIs since as far back as SC II, so it makes a lot of sense.
 
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DeathInMyEyes said:
Yes, he can break back throws, but the likely hood of getting back thrown is considerably higher since he fights back turned, so they're a much bigger threat to him than the rest of the cast.
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I always believed that the risk applied more to ZWEI and Asta because they have limited BT abilities...while Voldo has an entire stance and moveset based around BT coupled with the ability to break throws...either way I won't argue with the Voldo that won CEO

Slade said:
Ehh, counterhits are nice because of kewl animations but Ezio thrives on the opponents hanging themselves by not respecting wakeup, e.g. stepping into 66A, whiffing dumb shit (wakeup 2A after getting knocked down fullscreen by 22K/crossbows lel), getting dumb shit blocked, disrespecting OS JG, doing wakeup throws when Ezio's scouting out potential CH WR As, etc. Anything that opens you up for 6B BE or 66B BE, essentially. Ezio's tools in the neutral game seem more like means of keeping the opponent from walking all over him rather than a means for Ezio to walk all over the opponent. Although these observations are mostly things I find apparent in @Jimbonator 's playstyle. It's possible they're not intrinsic to the character and that other Ezio players (>implying other Ezio players) could play differently.
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shows how much I know about Ez, even though I used to sub him :P
 
Thanks for the input! I do hafta agree with DIME on the voldo thing. The fact that he is quite often left in a 50/50 situation where he can eat up to 70 damage meterless is scary.

Also, I think i have to disagree about yoshi being a stance character. I consider characters like Siegfried, Maxi, and Voldo stance characters because their stances are integral to their active gameplay, i.e. they have moves that transition into them, multiple options from them, and they need to go into them frequently to be effective. I may be wrong (or just never played a good yoshi) but the only time i ever see yoshi in a stance is after i've been knocked down. I would say it's vital to his oki for sure, but not to his overall gameplay. I'd love to discuss it with you in PM's, though, if you wanna try to convince me. I'm willing to change my stance with some convincing.

I'm going to add descriptions for the playstyles as well to clear things up, so if anyone sees something wrong with those, please let me know. Thanks y'all!
 
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On the bright side if he decides to duck and bs ws b in response to throws he gets dat damage.
 
Poor Asta's standing throw mixup is actually weaker against BT Voldo. Although the crouch throws get a lot stronger, they lose their ringout potential.
 
Come on now...

Let's not even act like Voldo is some badass top tier now. Dude is heavily punishable and some of his best step killers are the poor-frame-having horizontals. He needs every tool he has unlike some other top tier characters that are brain dead once you put the combos into muscle memory (aPat one of the obvious references here).

Voldo fun but he's no easy street...
 
RawpicklesS said:
He needs every tool he has unlike some other top tier characters that are brain dead once you put the combos into muscle memory (aPat one of the obvious references here).
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What did you just fucking say about aPat you little bitch? (Not creative enough to complete this ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Also we're whining about how our own brainless stuff won't work on him because he's BT 80% of the match

- Alpha's 100 dmg throws become regular 65 dmg throws
- DNS B does like half the damage since the AT doesn't work.
- Pyrrha's back throw sucks in terms of dmg.
 
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