DOA5U The Official Tier List with Discussion Thread

KasumiLover

xX_APO_Prince_Xx
Premium Donor
You're making too many assumptions about me as a player.
I'm just saying if she's that bad you wouldn't use her since you always complain about her like KKKKKKKK and 6KKKKKKK are the only things she can do lol

She's not garbage imo, she's meant to play a certain way primarily
 

TRI Mike

Well-Known Member
DOA is largely matchup based anyway. Eliot sucks against most of the cast, but he won against arguably the best Leifang in Japan just recently. And Leifang is a monster.

Why? Because he has the tools needed to perfectly counter that matchup. His launch throw is extremely punishing to a sabaki based defense. His range is extreme while Leifang's is minimal. The very concept of tiers is flawed in this regard because they do not help in every given situation. They aren't useless persay, but they are a guideline more than a law.

Matchup charts are far, far more practical.

Why exactly do you think DOA is matchup based¿ I've always thought the contrary because every character can do so many things (80+ moves each including holds, throws, many strikes, launchers, etc) that allow them to easily adapt to pretty much any situation. DOA doesn't have situations like 2D fighters where your grappler is pretty much fucked against a ranger because he can't get close. For example, Bass or Leon can destroy a faster character because they, like everyone, have 0-frame holds that can be activated with successful reads and their holds are (usually) stronger than everyone else's. Please explain if I'm wrong.
 

Rikuto

P-P-P-P-P-P-POWER!
You can have 80+ moves but if none of them have a better range/speed/recovery ratio than your opponent, the matchup is going to be a unique situation for you.

It only requires one move to have superiority over you at neutral to decide the flow of the match. Everything after that is a consequence of it. The character that decides the first move holds great power. When he can't do anything substantial afterwards because of a weak stun game vs a character with a strong hold game, thats when the script gets flipped. And that happens quite often.
 

Force_of_Nature

Well-Known Member
Standard Donor
The above stated is an example of why it's so difficult to produce conclusive tier lists for DOA5LR, though player skill level and reads don't factor into the equation unless the character has a specific risk/reward based off of a correct read or potential punishment for an incorrect read. For instance a character like Ayane has a very versatile moveset with a lot of potent tools, however she can be punished hard for any mistakes made, essentially affecting her overall risk/reward in a given match. Compare this with someone like Mila, Rachel or Christie whom generally don't get punished as hard for any relative mistakes made.

Though for the instances of a physical tier list, the basis is generally tools vs. tools for any given character. Execution also doesn't come into play or else a character like Akira or Phase-4 would be low tier.
 

synce

Well-Known Member
Can't really have a tier list without matchups. Rikuto makes a good point about the first hit being important. That's especially true in DOA where everything after that first hit is a complete guessing game. Fast, string heavy characters will always dominate this series unless the stun system gets revamped.
 

Noontide

New Member
Japan has her as S tier now. Primarily because Teru Rock's character is Leifang and he keeps winning tournaments.
Is there a more recent Japanese tier list? Everyone's seen the one from 2014, but the game's been updated a few times since then, two new characters (Mai and Naotora Ii) have been added and people have had a chance to play and learn more...

I heard Hayate got a series of nerfs so I would be surprised if he's still considered top 3. That alone would be a significant change.
 

Matt Ponton

Founder
Staff member
Administrator
Standard Donor
I haven't seen any postings from the Japanese that suggest a new tier list. But something I can ask at NEC, or anyone can ask them as well if you're attending.
 

SilverForte

Well-Known Member
Doing some thinking I'd probably put top 5 as Christie,Akira,Leifang, Ayane, and Gen fu, no particular order. Hard to say about the rest of the cast but I'd probably put Ein and Raidou as bottom two.
 
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