When people still played SC2 in a tournament setting, Talim was always viewed as an "upper-mid" character. She was never considered top tier, and never considered top 5. One thing she did do was DESTROY new players; so once SC3 came out and people forgot how to fight Talim, suddenly everyone was saying she was top tier... because they didn't know how to play against her anymore...
Its been a while since I played SC2, so these are my GUESSES based on what I can remember. I could be wrong.
Astaroth - 4:6
This was a moderately hard matchup due to Astaroth being a much better character at close range than Talim. When Talim is at her most effective range, so is Astaroth.
Cassandra - 5:5
Cassandra was not that very good of a character in SC2. Unfortunately, there is nothing Talim has that makes her particularly strong for this matchup.
Cervantes - 4:6
ONE MOVE. Cervantes
![3 :3: :3:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
![A :A: :A:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
. Destroys 95% of Talim's moveset.
Ivy - 3:7
Kilik - 6:4
People like to say Kilik had advantage here, but I think they were wrong. Kilik's optimal range is also Talim's optimal range, and Talim is a better character. In addition to this, Talim's "glitch-step" (a move that no other Talim player knew existed; and people only got to see it when I used it in tournaments) had the ability to go through some of his faster close range horizontals.
Maxi - 5:5
Maxi isn't a very good character for one simple reason. His own moves push himself out of his own optimal range. Unfortunately, it pushes Talim out of her optimal range too.
Mitsurugi - 5:5
Like Mitsurugi in any Soulcalibur game, this is a SKILL matchup. Mitsurugi's power always comes from his ability to force mixups. If you guess wrong, you die.
Nightmare - 6:4
ONE MOVE. Talim
![3 :3: :3:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
![3 :3: :3:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
![A :A: :A:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
destroys 90% of Nightmare's moveset.
Raphael - 7:3
ONE MOVE. Talim
![3 :3: :3:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
![3 :3: :3:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
![A :A: :A:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
destroys 90% of Raphael's moveset. In addition to this, Talim's evasion counters the rest.
Seong Mi-na - who cares. No one plays this bitch.
Sophitia - 3:7
Remember how good Sophitia was in SC3? Well Sophitia in SC2 was the same exact thing, but with Nightmare's backstep in launch SC5; people just didn't use her that much for some reason. This to me is one of the hardest matchups in the game due to Sophitia's ability to continually back out of Talim's range.
Taki - 5:5
Voldo - no idea...
Xianghua - 5:5
I don't see anything Xianghua has, that gives her advantage over Talim. Unfortunately, I don't see the reverse either. This is a skill matchup... and unfortunately, Xianghua is the easiest character in the game to play... so she doesn't take much skill.
Yoshimitsu - 4:6
This can be an extremely hard matchup if the Yoshi player knows how to properly use his fastest move: Flash. You would be surprised how good flash is to stop Talim in her tracks. Talim doing killer Bs? Flash. Talim using a wind-sault? Flash. Talim doing AA mixups? Flash.
Yun-seong - 4:6
Its funny, Yun-seong is the worst character in the game... and yet he does have ONE good matchup.
![Kappa Kappa Kappa](/files/smilie/Kappa.png)
All these matchup numbers are dependent on ONE thing... Your opponent knows how to deal with
![3 :3: :3:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
![3 :3: :3:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
![A :A: :A:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
. There are very few characters (Nightmare, Raphael) who don't have the tools to deal with the Wind Cylcone. If your opponent doesn't know how to deal with
![3 :3: :3:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
![3 :3: :3:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
![A :A: :A:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
, then every single one of these matchups becomes an 8:2 in Talim's favor.