Here Comes A New Challenger!

Less than half a week after the release of iPlayWinner’s preliminary Super Street Fighter 4 tier list, Eventhubs has provided its own list, courtesy of a Japanese SF Wiki.

As I stated before, it’s hard to definitively say if any character rankings are right or wrong this early in the game, but my initial flash judgment (not that that carries any real weight) is that this list from the Far East is a little less unbelievable.

Here’s the basic breakdown. Note that, unlike in the IPW tier list, this list is not ordered within each tier:

A+: Rufus, Abel, Sagat, Guile
A: Dhalsim, M. Bison (Dictator), Ryu, Ken, Balrog (Boxer), Chun-Li, Ibuki, E. Honda, Akuma
B+: Dee Jay, T. Hawk, C. Viper, Zangief, Dudley, Seth, Rose
B: El Fuerte, Adon, Vega (Claw), Blanka, Cammy, Cody, Juri, Gouken
C+: Hakan, Guy, Fei Long, Gen, Makoto, Sakura
C: Dan

So, what are the main differences between this tier list and iPlayWinner’s SSF4 tier list?

Top Tier:
While the JPN list still have Rufus in the highest tier, he’s not necessarily the singular best character. Sagat maintains his throne (or close to it, as one may have guessed), and, interestingly enough, Guile has pushed his way up the ladder. Whether this is justifiable from the changes to his charge time and his new Ultra remains to be seen. But I’d be hard pressed to name Guile’s weaknesses now that he can projectile spam like a boss. As for Abel, I’m skeptical that his new Ultra alone has sent him to the head of the class. While it’s certainly formidable (as my brother has proven to me hundreds of times), I doubt it’s enough to have solved all his problems.

Second Rung:
The biggest disagreement with IPW here is that EH’s source places nearly all the shoto characters (Ryu, Ken, and Akuma) in the second rung. As Ryu and Akuma have gotten some damage nerfs, and Ken had a couple improvements, this seems to be a fair bet. I think the JPN placement of Dhalsim, Bison, and Chun Li is a tad more realistic as well. As for the rest of the high/low mid tier, there’s probably too little difference to know at this point, but I’m certainly glad to see that Dudley, Juri, Vega, and Cammy aren’t the least esteemed of the cast!

Bottom of the Barrel:
It looks like, unfortunately, both lists have already pegged Gen, Hakan, Guy, Dan, Makoto, and Sakura as definite losers. While I believe Sakura may see the spotlight eventually, I can’t say the same for Makoto and Gen, who have definitely been hit with major nerf-hammers from their last incarnations. Makoto in particular has been the subject of nearly every complaint thread on several SF forums. As far as accuracy goes I’m much more likely to believe that Fei Long (who didn’t get any real love since his bottom tier placement in vanilla SF4) is crap than is Rose, who has seen major improvements on all her moves and a crazy new Ultra.

Disclaimer:
Of course, no matter what my opinion is, chances are that, in the long run, my opinion will be just as wrong as everyone else’s. Anyone who played SoulCalibur IV will remember how Hilde went from being F tier to being… um… this:

Note: Minor edits intended to clarify that the tier list is from an Asian source (read: infallible).