Free Step Dodge

Lastly, with Ayane, you have to know how to work with her spinning and back turn. There's pro's to having a lot of mix-up, but there's also benefits to having a gameplan where you have bread n butter that works consistently. I feel Ayane's that scenario where having a lot of mix-ups but having to know really how to utilize it to open oppositions isn't a great thing to have in a tournament.

Thats where the quick launchers go in which i mentioned before, Ayane doesnt need to extend her stuns. She also has a guaranteed sit-down stun on no hit which leads into a guaranteed launcher

4p+k is a pretty good high crush with a good launch for a decent combo. Guaranteed combo damage is always a good thing to utilize.

Plus if you can get the opposition to second guess their offense cause their offense starts high, then it definitely works in your favor.

I still strongly believe Ayane deserves to be in the S tier due to the good points I mentioned before. But this is your tier list and I respect that

Ayane doesn't need to extend her stuns. But she's that character that has to get guaranteed damage and run with it hoping the opposition tries something reckless. If an opposition is just as patient as her, and he/she can read her, even if she tries to do some complex, hard to read awesome mix-up, it can work really bad for her.

I mean I debate Ayane a lot. Ayane's not some scrub. And she annoys me a lot at times. But when I truly lab to see where she's strong/weak, I feel where she's weak is really glaring compared to the other S's. That was kinda the ultimate consideration I had. But Ayane in S is understandable in some people's scenario. Your argument was valid so it's something I'll keep an eye on.

We have SJ coming in due time. Maybe my opinion changes when I watch. Although I don't think DOA's gonna be worked on in regards to frames and all that stuff, there's always that shot that someone just utilizes Ayane in a way I haven't seen.

https://media1.giphy.com/media/13vJHSyname1Hy/giphy.gif
Every character in DOA has it’s strengths and weaknesses that can’t really be compared with each other. In other words; it’s very hard to make an accurate tier list with such a versatile cast. Especially when it’s also dependent on the player and how the character is used.

Aside from some things such as Pai's & Sarah's relative placements, this is a pretty decent tier list. I get where TJ is coming from with regards to Ayane. Her movelist is very well-rounded allowing a variable playstyle, and her overall toolset is top tier. However, in a tournament setting, a character like Ayane will be a riskier pick than someone like Rachel, Christie, GenFu, LeiFang or even Helena.

Despite her versatile toolset, Ayane's still one of the more unsafe characters in the roster requiring the player to be really careful in how they play her. I.e The player needs to be on-point with a lot of her moves and movement tools (which is also why her execution requirements can seem high).

That and she can be at a disadvantage when she's backturned. Like Naotora isn't on the zoning level like ayane but if Ayane is left backturned after a move Naotora can just do 6KKKK and it'll be guarnateed xD

Well technically Ayane isn't disadvantaged when BT'ed. Actually she can gain access to some dangerous tools (BT6K & BT4H+K are dangerous on CH and fully safe on block for example) on top of a free backdash from BT8P, however yes, she can be punished hard if the opponent were to block something like 3PP or whiff a close range 66KK4 due to the BT for instance.

Lemme see if I can better put it for Pai vs Sarah. I'ma take a saying Aris said once that I think applies to every game: Sometime's it's better to have your guns ready instead of choosing multiple guns. What I mean by this is with Pai for example, she can do 4p which is +1 a good portion of the time...

And then it depends on how the opposition reacts. If they react wrong they're in a scenario where they'll have to guess just out of one move. With Sarah, she can have multiple mix-ups and stuff, but similar to my reasons for Ayane, to me, I see her having to work a bit harder and with more execution.

Like take her cancels from flamingo I think it's 8p+k and then hold, If I mess that up a kick comes out which is -10 which can ruin her. Stuff like that's an issue to me with Sarah. And with her having to play a pure rushdown style, unlike Pai, she has to get in your face. Pai can even attempt to space at times with tools like 66h+k and stuff.

Sometimes a pure rushdown style to me can be detrimental, especially if someone gets hit with a counter hit. Sarah doesn't want to get CH for example vs Gen Fu or something because she had to be in his face and try to open him up.

Compare that to Pai where some of her advantages even can help her in some match-ups that could actually be bad for others (Gen Fu, Christie, etc) and I feel Pai's the higher tier character. The only thing is her execution's high.

I hope that sheds a little bit more light on the scenario.

I think this is where theres a bit of confusion. I feel when deciphering between A & S, even SS a bit, There to me should be a balance of complexity and simplicity where you do have tools that can keep opponents guessing but there isn't so much you have to think about hopefully not messing up.