banana jins and toki (tiers and skill factor)

Picking the correct character in any fighting game is a challenge for most. There are several points that a player must consider: appeal of the character design, comfort with the moveset, efficiency with playstyle, and position on the tier list. The most important point, however, is passion. If you don't love your character for whatever point you decide to emphasize on or you choose the wrong point, you will not be successful.

I can't pick!

The question of "who should I play?" comes up most often when there's discussion of tiers. How strong a character is in relation to the rest of the cast can come from a number of different attributes: normals priority, damage output, specials, supers, reversal options, damage modifiers, hitbox size, etc. If a character excels in multiple departments, he or she is generally considered "high tier". 

So what's the problem? 

People don't understand that picking a high-tier character doesn't automatically equate winning. It makes things easier, yes, but if you never had the skill or drive to pilot that character in the first place, you'll fall behind rather quickly. This argument is a strong one in Japan, where several players dedicate themselves to playing shit tier...all the way to the point where hard work, extensive knowledge, and impeccable execution can overcome even the greatest gap in tiers. In other words: it's possible. 

Just the other day I was playing Blazblue at AI (shocker) and Song, one of Tushar's friends from Denjin, walks on over and pops in two coins. I have no idea who this guy plays, but as soon as he moved his cursor over V-13, I just shook my head. V-13, for those of you who don't already know, is currently soft-banned in Japan. Why? She's SO good that it actually becomes un-fun to play the game against her. The match began as expected: I was foolish enough to try and outpoke her right off the bat with Jin's 5C. Bad move. I ate a dashing 2C combo into blah blah "JODAI TENKO!" for like 3K easy damage. That's some bullshit. However, I noticed that Song didn't use nearly as many D's as pulsr did (V-13's D's summon swords that are disjointed from her hit box. On launch, sword combos can do an average of 4K damage from full screen) and I could easily approach him via random Ice Cars. I'm sure he's watched pulsr play before, because he bursts really fucking early. In Blazblue, bursting early is asking for death, since you take double damage and lose the option to barrier afterwards. So after losing two rounds to bad jump-ins on my part, I decided to just save meter and use D Ice Car to get in there with a freeze. So when I got in on Song, he would instantly burst. The difference between Song bursting and pulsr bursting is that pulsr bursts to maintain momentum - he has an insane zoning ability that Song doesn't have. Song, on the other hand, bursted, did not anti-air me as I double-jumped in on him and scored a counterhit j.B into a knockdown > ghetto pressure > freeze and death combo. Eventually he caught on and I lost the match, but I re-tried again and beat him after I started including DP's into my game. I scratched my head. I thought V-13 was an unwinnable matchup. So what am I trying to say with this story? Just earlier today I played against pulsr and got absolutely decimated by his V-13. The gap in tiers made a small difference, but the gap in skill is the one true deciding factor in fighting games. 

What's the secret? 

There is no secret. If you have the drive to learn a character, to love that character, and to perfect and understand all facets of that character, you will do well. In America, though, that just doesn't happen. People are so concerned with just easily winning that they give up the notion of "mastery". There really is no shortcut in fighting games - growth only comes from experience, practice, and the willingness to make a conscious effort to improve. 

So to those who have a hard time picking a character: ignore tiers, honestly. Pick who you are most comfortable with and who you will love playing the most. The rest will fall into place. Trust me, I play Venom.

@ehd: fuck you, Kim Bum is MINE! I've been falling behind on anime - nothing is really capturing my attention this season except for Eden of the East and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. On the other hand, I might just be obsessed with K-drama at the moment due to Boys Before Flowers. I've begun downloading and watching Pure 19 (Hearts of 19) that features Koo Hye Sung (Geum Jan Di from Boys Before Flowers). Yes I'm obsessed - I just can't get enough of her cute face.