SC6 Tier list for Season 2

Any thoughts yet?

I think Ivy, Cervantes and Siegfried are the Top 3.

Azwel and Mitsurugi round up the Top 5 IMHO.
 
My season 2 tier list would be something like this:

S: Cassandra, Zasalamel, Ivy, Seong Mi-na, Maxi, Amy
A: Raphael, Mitsurugi, Sophitia, Yoshimitsu, Xianghua, Azwel, Siegfried, Talim, Kilik, Grøh, Geralt
B: Astaroth, Tira, Cervantes, Hilde, 2B, Voldo, Taki, Nightmare


All characters are viable so no C tier/low tier. It's based on how strong the characters are in general, and how much the buffs and new moves help them. Characters in S tier can do things that are stupidly strong while taking little risk. Characters in A tier are also strong, but their risk-reward isn't as lopsided. Characters in B tier have some strong tools, but aren't as threatening compared to A and S tier characters.

I think I consider Nightmare as the worst character now (even though he's not that weak) because he has always been mid tier, is difficult to play at high level and his new moves and buffs hardly compensate while other characters got rewarded more. I would not put him at the bottom if this was still season 1, but everyone surpassed him at this point. He's also the only character that doesn't have an i12 move.
 
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Astaroth is pretty buffed now and the system (Throw escape damage bullshit) only helps him more. I can't see Astaroth nowhere but as in the end of Top Tier, beginning of High Tier.

Cervantes is very strong now. Top Tier easily.

And disagree, I think the system plus the random nature of the stances hurt Tira. Her damage output ain't that great still and all the ways she has to hurt herself + system, doesn't adds up to a strong competitive character.

SC6 is a very high damage game and Tira's high damage combos in Gloomy are unreliable. She has her shenanigans but again, her low damage output doesn't help her pretty good mixup game. IMHO, she clearly right now stands a lone in Low Tier and I hope Namco buffs her up. Her new moves look cool but she ain't competitive for now.
 
I'll try to translate the reasoning for each.
  • Raph - Most versatile character according to most players. His 6B reach makes for good pressure along with his increased damage. Most players think he is the strongest right now. JP players believe he has no bad MUs.
  • Mitsurugi - The CE nerf hurt him a bit which is why he is 2nd place, but his new mechanic may be enough to compensate for that nerf.
  • Siegfried - They thought he was bottom tier last year at EVO JP, but they think he is good at suppressing opponents and is amazing from mid range.
  • Seong Mina - Ring out nerf hurts her a bit, but the added damage is welcome. She is placed fourth because she is weak up close, but JP players feel she is more consistent than the other three above.
  • Sophitia - The soul charge buffs along with her general safety and low risk moves put her here. JP players also feel she is a stable and consistent character. She is fifth because she lacks power.
  • Xianghua - They believe her new S2 moves compensate for her low damage and are very powerful, which was the main critique of her last season. Overall, they think fundamentally solid characters have a higher chance of winning MUs.
  • Ivy - Best space control in the game. Easily of the hardest MUs for most players. She suffers against characters who can reach her from a long distance.
  • Amy - Opposite of Ivy. Scariest character if she gets purple, but suffers if she doesn't get it. Is weak to characters to Ivy and players think she lacks stability/consistency
  • Cassandra - The 10 frame buff puts her here. They believe she is a more rushdown version of Sophie / X.
  • Kilik - Most balanced character. The projectile buff from Soul Charge brings him up here and they believe the new RI mechanic benefits him.
  • Maxi - Was considered one of the weakest in S1. The new RIs and Seven Stars buffs have helped him in S2.
  • Cervantes - Got good buffs in S2. Specializes in long and mid range, but has a few bad MUs.
  • Voldo - Despite some nerfs, his combos and damage got buffed. Most unpredictable character.
  • Tira - Easier to stay in Gloomy and easier to get Coda. Damage output is great and matches the difficulty of using the character.
  • Yoshimitsu - Not much has changed between S1 and S2 for him. Used to be top tier but because everyone else for significant buffs, he got moved down here
  • 2B - When used aggressively, can counter players easily. She got some defense buffs.
  • Nightmare - Like Yoshi, he didn't get much in S2. His good and bad MUs depend on how well the opponent fares against armor. His damage is very rewarding though and it's all dependent on how the player uses him.
  • Azwel - Was a character that placed high in tourneys. The muscle buster nerf has forced players to play him differently.
  • Zasalamel - Abyss nerf hurt him severely, but he's good at both long and short range. Also with the right gimmicks, he can get out of any situation.
  • Geralt - His buffs aren't outstanding as the other characters. Strength is still solid though. A player with high fundamentals can shine with him if Yrden is used effectively.
  • Talim - 6B buffs are good. But if the player knows the MU, she can easily be countered compared to other characters. A player with the right senses can bring out her potential.
  • Taki - Like Talim, it's easy to counter her if you know the MU up close. Also a hard character to play at a high level setting.
  • Groh - His screaming buffs are great but do absolutely nothing. There are barely any impressions about the character's S2 changes. He's not a weak character but he's not strong either.
  • Astaroth - High damage and good grabs, but has a lot of gaps in his gameplay. Must be played in a technical manner. If played like a normal character, it wouldn't work.
  • Hilde - Potential is still unknown because she is brand new, but there are glaring negatives such as her inability to evade and some problems with her reach. The reward from playing a difficult character like her is not much compared to the other characters above.
 
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@Angrel-San Tira could only be considered low tier near the beginning of season 1, possibly. If she is in Gloomy, her damage output isn't weak at all and her unbreakable grab is a threat. Her lethal hit 6B in Gloomy is strong and she only has to lose a round to do it. Jolly Tira is weaker, but can gain meter more quickly, has some annoying lows and has multiple ways to shift back to Gloomy including a Soul Attack that guarantees a mood change and forces a mixup on hit (one of the better SA's in the game). Speaking about mixups, that's something Tira is not that good at. Most of her strings can be avoided easily and the few unseeable lows she has that are dangerous require a mood change (Gestopft Madness A LH) or a Soul Charge (Jolly SC 236K). But she has her strengths and is certainly a viable character now. There are currently no low tier characters in the game.

Cervantes and Astaroth are just not as strong as you think they are. They are definitely not top tier, even placing them in high tier is a bit too generous. And throw break chip damage is not something anyone should worry about since you're not going to win matches because of them.


I might as well post my updated tier list since my opinions changed slightly:


S: Maxi, Amy, Cassandra, Zasalamel, Ivy, Seong Mi-na
A: Raphael, Mitsurugi, Sophitia, Yoshimitsu, Xianghua, Azwel, Siegfried, Kilik
B: Grøh, Talim, Geralt, Tira, Cervantes, Astaroth, Hilde, 2B, Voldo, Taki, Nightmare
 
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@Angrel-San Tira could only be considered low tier near the beginning of season 1, possibly. If she is in Gloomy, her damage output isn't weak at all and her unbreakable grab is a threat. Her lethal hit 6B in Gloomy is strong and she only has to lose a round to do it. Jolly Tira is weaker, but can gain meter more quickly, has some annoying lows and has multiple ways to shift back to Gloomy including a Soul Attack that guarantees a mood change and forces a mixup on hit (one of the better SA's in the game). Speaking about mixups, that's something Tira is not that good at. Most of her strings can be avoided easily and the few unseeable lows she has that are dangerous require a mood change (Gestopft Madness A LH) or a Soul Charge (Jolly SC 236K). But she has her strengths and is certainly a viable character now. There are currently no low tier characters in the game.

Cervantes and Astaroth are just not as strong as you think they are. They are definitely not top tier, even placing them in high tier is a bit too generous. And throw break chip damage is not something anyone should worry about since you're not going to win matches because of them.


I might as well post my updated tier list since my opinions changed slightly:


S: Maxi, Amy, Cassandra, Zasalamel, Ivy, Seong Mi-na
A: Raphael, Mitsurugi, Sophitia, Yoshimitsu, Xianghua, Azwel, Siegfried, Kilik
B: Grøh, Talim, Geralt, Tira, Cervantes, Astaroth, Hilde, 2B, Voldo, Taki, Nightmare
Cervy’s lack of consistency I’d say is what really hinders him right now. He may some incredible whiff punishment and guard damage but considering his bugs are still an issue that have yet to be fixed, I can’t really say he should be near the top either.

As for Astaroth, he’s just a diceroll. That’s all I really have to say about him.
 
@Angrel-San Tira could only be considered low tier near the beginning of season 1, possibly. If she is in Gloomy, her damage output isn't weak at all and her unbreakable grab is a threat. Her lethal hit 6B in Gloomy is strong and she only has to lose a round to do it. Jolly Tira is weaker, but can gain meter more quickly, has some annoying lows and has multiple ways to shift back to Gloomy including a Soul Attack that guarantees a mood change and forces a mixup on hit (one of the better SA's in the game). Speaking about mixups, that's something Tira is not that good at. Most of her strings can be avoided easily and the few unseeable lows she has that are dangerous require a mood change (Gestopft Madness A LH) or a Soul Charge (Jolly SC 236K). But she has her strengths and is certainly a viable character now. There are currently no low tier characters in the game.

Cervantes and Astaroth are just not as strong as you think they are. They are definitely not top tier, even placing them in high tier is a bit too generous. And throw break chip damage is not something anyone should worry about since you're not going to win matches because of them.


I might as well post my updated tier list since my opinions changed slightly:


S: Maxi, Amy, Cassandra, Zasalamel, Ivy, Seong Mi-na
A: Raphael, Mitsurugi, Sophitia, Yoshimitsu, Xianghua, Azwel, Siegfried, Kilik
B: Grøh, Talim, Geralt, Tira, Cervantes, Astaroth, Hilde, 2B, Voldo, Taki, Nightmare

This is not a thinking thing.

Cervantes is really THAT good....from experience against him.

Can't whiff ever, he limits your options because of on block punishment, absolutely dirty in wall situations and breaking guard and his chip damage is INSANE.

Clearly Top Tier. Obviously for some of his high damage combos you need execution as usual but his SC game is just crazy and as long as you are aware of the frame data for punishment, you are on your way to Top Tier Cervantes play.

Also, Cassandra isn't Top. Raphael IS Top Tier right now. Mitsurugi, Xianghua and Azwel are Top too. Siegfried is Top 3. Maxi is debatable?

Why Maxi?
 
Mine IMHO:

Top Tier: Ivy, Cervantes, Siegfried, Azwel, Mitsurugi, Mina, Raphael, Xianghua

High Tier: Yoshimitsu, Zasalamel, Astaroth, Voldo, Geralt, Cassandra, 2B, Sophitia, Maxi, Amy

Mid Tier: Nightmare, Kilik, Taki, Hilde, Talim

Lower Mid: Groh

Low Tier: Tira
 
As for Astaroth, he’s just a diceroll. That’s all I really have to say about him.

He is very good now.

Good offense, the blender, very good SC game, excellent oki, good RO and Huge damage in everything.

The system also helps him a lot. (Throw Chip, RE, Soul Attack)
 
Asta is a character who will never be really good by design. He got stuff that can theoretically fuck you up but its always a guessing game. So he is always in the middle of completely dominating or useless as fuck. And his RE is also kinda eh. He received many buffs in the past thats true but is it enough to make him stand out compared from ther rest ? Not really.
And he still has some 3 7 Mus so that doesnt help either
 
Asta is a character who will never be really good by design. He got stuff that can theoretically fuck you up but its always a guessing game. So he is always in the middle of completely dominating or useless as fuck. And his RE is also kinda eh. He received many buffs in the past thats true but is it enough to make him stand out compared from ther rest ? Not really.
And he still has some 3 7 Mus so that doesnt help either
Not to mention he has almost no answers against pokes, gets shut down by frame traps, with his armour not being reliable in this aspect either, terrible guard punishment, the biggest hurtbox in the whole game, which burdens his already mediocre movement.
 
This is not a thinking thing.

Cervantes is really THAT good....from experience against him.

Can't whiff ever, he limits your options because of on block punishment, absolutely dirty in wall situations and breaking guard and his chip damage is INSANE.

Clearly Top Tier. Obviously for some of his high damage combos you need execution as usual but his SC game is just crazy and as long as you are aware of the frame data for punishment, you are on your way to Top Tier Cervantes play.

Also, Cassandra isn't Top. Raphael IS Top Tier right now. Mitsurugi, Xianghua and Azwel are Top too. Siegfried is Top 3. Maxi is debatable?

Why Maxi?

He has few mix ups (Dread Charge doesn't even have one), doesn't have dangerous lows outside of SC 1KBB and iGDR is very unsafe if blocked. You can't really bullshit your way to victory with him. He can whiff like any other character so that's nonsense. Almost any character can limit your options because of block punishment so that isn't a valid argument. There is nothing special about his chip damage. So no, he really isn't that good. I myself played some good Cervantes players and not once did I think 'this character is busted'. I may consider placing Hilde above Cervantes and Astaroth.

Cassandra is good at many things and the risk-reward is in her favour so she is easily top tier. It's the same for Maxi now that he has a Resist Impact from stance. It has a very large aGI window like his regular stance B+K and gives him guaranteed hits after reflecting. It beats almost everything and forces opponents to hesitate which allows him to continue his pressure. It can easily beat Soul Charge activations as well. It's so good, it's almost broken. He was already a strong character even before season 2. And his 6A+B is the best mid in the game.

The characters I placed in A tier, I personally don't consider top tier, but I can understand why others do since they are strong characters as well. Raphael is very good indeed, better than anyone else in certain aspects. But his horizontal mids aren't amazing, that is the reason why I put him in A. He was undoubtedly S tier at the start of season 1 when he had an i10 punisher that did 88 damage (even when it was nerfed to 71 damage in a later update), and at the beginning of season 2 when he could launch with Arriere Gambit B after people blocked his RE before it was patched.
 
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I dont think he is. Asta only beats you if he gets into your head. On paper the matchup is always free except for one or two exceptions. While Ivy is just straight up good.
 
I dont think he is. Asta only beats you if he gets into your head. On paper the matchup is always free except for one or two exceptions. While Ivy is just straight up good.
I would say Asta is one of the most divisive characters in the game right now as to where he stands, much like Voldo.
 
He has few mix ups (Dread Charge doesn't even have one), doesn't have dangerous lows outside of SC 1KBB and iGDR is very unsafe if blocked. You can't really bullshit your way to victory with him. He can whiff like any other character so that's nonsense. Almost any character can limit your options because of block punishment so that isn't a valid argument. There is nothing special about his chip damage. So no, he really isn't that good. I myself played some good Cervantes players and not once did I think 'this character is busted'. I may consider placing Hilde above Cervantes and Astaroth.


Who the hell throws out iGDR outside of whiffs or combos? Please, this is actually (at least for me) a serious discussion, not noob talk.


IMHO, you are completely wrong about Cervantes. Agree to disagree. He is Top 3 easily. Hilde right now ISN'T better than Cervantes. That's just incorrect on all levels.

Cassandra is good at many things and the risk-reward is in her favour so she is easily top tier.

She is VERY linear although her damage is pretty good, has decent mixups (plus one of the best lows in SC) and a good throw game. To me she is High Tier but I understand if someone wants to put her Top.


It's the same for Maxi now that he has a Resist Impact from stance. It has a very large aGI window like his regular stance B+K and gives him guaranteed hits after reflecting. It beats almost everything and forces opponents to hesitate which allows him to continue his pressure. It can easily beat Soul Charge activations as well. It's so good, it's almost broken. He was already a strong character even before season 2. And his 6A+B is the best mid in the game.

Good points for Maxi. He wins the Secret Top Tier this time around.

The characters I placed in A tier, I personally don't consider top tier, but I can understand why others do since they are strong characters as well. Raphael is very good indeed, better than anyone else in certain aspects. But his horizontal mids aren't amazing, that is the reason why I put him in A. He was undoubtedly S tier at the start of season 1 when he had an i10 punisher that did 88 damage (even when it was nerfed to 71 damage in a later update), and at the beginning of season 2 when he could launch with Arriere Gambit B after people blocked his RE before it was patched.

Raphael is still Top. Obviously not as good as he was in the Vanilla version but he has been Top since Season 2 started. The Japanese consider him the best in the game. I don't know about that personally but would be interesting to see where the French, Singaporean and Koreans rank him.
 
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