Khaos' Skullgirls Tiers + Explanations

Khaos' Tier list + Explanations

Lemme just start out by saying: No character in this game is bad, and people constantly miss that. Other characters are just better at being good. Being C tier is just me saying, "This character is good, but they have to struggle a bit more"

Additional note: Every single character in this game is amazing when they get their game started. I personally constructed this list based on how easy it is for a character to get their game started OR prevent other characters from getting started, so saying something like, "This character is amazing when they finally get in!" doesn't mean much because... that applies to nearly every character in this game. How easy it is to "get in" and STAY IN is what I'm concerned about.

I'm assuming that these characters are on point backed up by a DP assist + horizontal assist (L/M/H Bomber, Lock 'N Load, H Drill) since these assists are universally good for every character. I say this because, when I made this list I was also factoring in how well individual characters make usage of their assists in mixups/stray hit conversions/etc, and it's not like a character will always be able to call out an assist right when they need it; a character can call out Hornet Bomber but it won't always get them in easily, nor will they necessarily be able to convert easily if it hits. Even if I were to re-do this list and make it only for solo characters, it'd probably still look the same minus Peacock's placement. In my eyes, Val without a DP assist is still a force to be reckoned.

I like how Viscant does his Marvel 3 tier lists, but I'm too lazy to do things like this.

This is solely my opinion yadayadayada. Take everything I say as opinion, not fact. These are the words of one person, not several people, so do that thing that people do with grains of salt.

Queen - Eliza
S - Peacock, Valentine
A - Filia, Fukua, Parasoul
B - Big Band, Cerebella, Double, Fortune, Painwheel, Squigly (Everyone else)
(Characters within the same tier are in alphabetical order)

If I HAD to say top 3/mid 4/bot 4
Top: Peacock, Val, Parasoul
Mid: Fukua, Filia, Fortune, Cerebella,
Bot: Squigly, Double, Painwheel, Big Band
(Characters within the same tier are in order of who I think is better within each tier, unlike the one right above)

Eliza: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBmMU_iwe6U (I'm joking I'm not seriously rating her this early on)


Peacock: Play TJ Gamer and notice how everytime you get hit by Argus he magically has enough meter to DHC into Hustlin' Rocks (I can't even remember the super's actual name anymore) while you yourself don't even have 2 bars yet. Peacock builds a ton of meter just by playing her usual game of tossing out bombs and projectiles to keep the opponent away and slowly whittle them down through chip damage. If you mess up and get hit by a bomb, assist, or item drop, then 9 times out of 10, Peacock will have the meter for Argus Agony to send you back to fullscreen again or, in the case of TJ, DHC into Cerebella's level 3 and kill you. Peacock's mixup game on her own isn't that great, but it shoots up with help from assists in teleport mixups. When she does land a hit on you in close range, she has high damaging combos that will not only take away a chunk of the opponent's life (why does she do so much damage?), but also push them back to fullscreen where they have to work again to get in Peacock's face. Fun stuff. Her mobility isn't the greatest, but her backwards air dash combined with j.HP help her create distance quickly. Of course, this will only back her into the corner, but with careful planning and proper usage of item drop, assists, and her teleports she can easily make her way out of the corner if she's not already being pressured. She breaks down when she does come down under pressure, however. MP? Bang is an alright reversal, but it has no vertical range and is vulnerable to throws. Trying to reversal with Argus Agony is just asking for trouble unless you have a safe DHC to move in to. She struggles against maybe two or three characters matchup wise, but for the rest of the cast, trying to close in on Peacock is a nightmare. I don't think that any character in this game needs nerfs, but if I wanted Peacock nerfs, I'd look at her meter gain and her crazy damage output from combos.


Valentine: WHO DOES SHE EVEN LOSE TO? Top tier mobility in the air and on the ground. j.HP and j.HK allow her to deal with attacks coming from above her, something that a lot of characters cannot do. An amazing anti-air that's not a DP (read: does not require a lot of commitment). Can call assists at super jump height with her double jump and air dash AND easily convert off hits from various assists. Her projectile was nerfed a bit but it still helps her in controlling space and match pace. Basically, she has tools  for every situation. Her damage isn't all that great without usage of vials and assists, but her reset and high/low/throw/crossup/crossunder/crisscrossmakeyouwannajump games are crazy strong. Her only real weakness is the lack of a meterless DP, but honestly... it's hard to run out of meter in this game if you manage it properly, and you gain a sizable amount of meter just for being hit. Scalpels is a decent reversal super on the ground, but very effective in the air since the opponent cannot do much to punish you on block unless they already have an assist coming out. But no, seriously, who in the game does she even have a bad matchup against? She doesn't feel unfair in the slightest, she just has a lot of tools for a lot of situations.


Filia: Blessed be our lord and booty clap savior, j.HK. Filia is a reset monster, which sounds pretty standard in Skullgirls until you realize that it's actually pretty difficult to stop her from trying to reset you. Wanna do Napalm Pillar? Too bad she fits so conveniently in that dead spot. Wanna mash air super? Better pray that your inputs auto-correct if she crosses you up. Wanna
reversal with Scalpels? She just insta-jump j.HK'd over them and now you're taking counterhit damage. Her normals are fairly stubby and leave a bit to be desired for in neutral, but her speed and overall mobility allow her to weave in and out of spaces that are advantageous for her and make her difficult for certain characters to deal with at times. Hairball and Gregor make converting off
of certain stray hits simple, and a raw Gregor itself can be a gimmicky way to get a hit on the opponent with the amount of risk depending on your spacing and how alert your opponent is. Overall, playing the neutral game can be annoying against a few characters, and IAD j.HP does have its weaknesses (it is surprisingly easy to just jab her out of this at certain distances, as Broken Loose has been pointing out for a while). Filia's true threat is her ability to stay glued to you when she does get in. That may or may not sound contradictory to what I said in the intro to this whole post, but her ability to stick to the opponent and kill them quickly is just that good. Filia has some of the best, if not the best, defensive options in the game. Updo, air Gregor (which can be very difficult to punish at times), Fenrir Drive, anti-air cr.HP... she has defensive options for plenty of situations along with her insane offense.


Fukua: It's still pretty early, though she has wrecking a lot of players lately. Getting in with her is somewhat difficult, but the thing is that, if the health totals allow it, she doesn't have to go in, and she can keep you out easily and stack up. Fireballs along with her shadows, especially M shadow, control a huge amount of space, and if she is anywhere above you cannot challenge her 9 frame j.HK. While I think of Fukua as more of a spacing/zoning character (like how MMDS plays her), she definitely has some really good tools when she's up close. A lot of people say that her mixup game sucks because her only standing overhead is H shadow. Cerebella's only standing overheads are Pommel Horse and the second hit of s.HK, yet Dekillsage won EVO by taking advantage of Cerebella's crazy ground low/throw and air crossup/fake crossup game. In this game, if your character can easily convert off of a grab, then you don't need a standing overhead to be a threat up close due to how low/throw mixups work. Her defensive game is a bit lacking, however. On incoming she cannot do much to challenge you so you have no reason to give her any respect, but I think that's her biggest issue. She is quite vulnerable to throws, yes, but even attempting to throw her is scary because upback > j.HK is a thing if she reads the attempt correctly.

In hindsight, when I look at what I say here and in Cerebella's section, I feel like something is a bit off. I'll... deal with this later.

Parasoul: http://retail.regionaldirectory.us/flyswatter-600.jpg In a game where a lot of the neutral game is played in the air and with assists, having long range disjointed normals is /kinda/ pimpin'. Parasoul is by no means invincible when she attempts to go air-to-air, but challenging her is very difficult for most of the cast not only because of her normals, but because of the range on her air-grab which happens to be extremely easy to combo after. Her ground normals also have great reach which is nice in neutral, though they are a bit slow which limits her options when she's at close range. With no airdash or double jump, Parasoul's mobility isn't all that great, but her dash and dash-jump help her cover distances quickly. Her quick step along with her long-range normals especially help out when it comes to dealing with pushblocks, as she can easily put the opponent under pressure again as soon as they recover from the added blockstun from pushblocking. Her zoning with tears isn't all that special, but it is a nice tool to have when trying to create space or stall for time to gain meter/let an assist recover/etc. The change allowing for air tear tosses to cancel into normals expanded her mixup game which was already pretty strong with two standing overheads, a standing low, and easy fuzzy guard setups, so she has little trouble opening opponents up and getting her game started. Parasoul reminds me a lot of Valentine, in terms of toolset and the strength of their normals. What keeps Parasoul from being up there with Valentine, however, is her lack of mobility (though she is still kinda speedy!) and the lack of an air reversal AND lack of a double jump. With how resets in Skullgirls are, having the option to just tell your opponent, "Hey, I see you reset me in the air. I /kinda/ don't want to respect your attempts to hit me again so I'll just mash reversal/jump out" is pretty amazing, but Parasoul kinda has to take it or mash out j.LX/air throw. Napalm Pillar is a nice thing to have. Sucks that it's a charge move and has that unfortunate deadzone that Filia players adore. It's something, though.


Big Band: Honestly... I still can't say that I've seen enough of this character. I can't really say much on him. All I know is that he's annoying to fight against, and even though his size makes him easy to open up, you really have to respect him when he's on the defensive or you risk losing a chunk of health/a chunk of your assist's health. HE IS NOT A BAD CHARACTER.


Cerebella: Cerebella has been underrated by everyone except Cerebella players for so long. She's most definitely a grappler and not the easiest character to get in with, but the best Cerebella players will show you that if you take full advantage of all of her tools then it is definitely possible to get your opponent within Cerebella's range and just hustle all over their face. I say that, but for plenty of characters it is still possible to keep moving into positions where Cerebella cannot do a thing to you, and that really hurts her. Still, when the health totals call for it, eventually you will have to enter the mid and close range where she's most effective and have to deal with things like Titan Knuckle to poke at you, Lock 'N Load to stop lazy jump-ins (and to deal with attempts to reversal when putting the pressure on), j.MP to bitch slap you out of the air, Diamond Dynamo to ohgodItriedtocrossherupbutDiamondDynamo'sattackareaishugewaitIthoughtIblockedtheotherwayanywayshowdidthatcrossmeupohmyGodNewYorkcalmdown.
I hate Diamond Dynamo. Blocking it is pretty great, though, assuming a safe DHC isn't available. I really don't feel like I need to talk about her mixup game. It's great. Simple, yet highly effective low/throw game on the ground, Kancho with assists, Lock n' Load > super blows up a number of reversal attempts, that silly ass fake crossup that Dekillsage did against TJ in grand finals... opening people up is not her issue. Her issue is closing in on opponents, though it is not at all impossible for her with smart usage of Reflector, Tumble Run, dash jumps, etc. When she gives a reason for the opponent to come towards her is the moment where she truly shines. And Hustlin' Rocks (her level 3, for those who aren't hip) is a thing. An amazing thing. Then there's also her secret passive effect where a lot of nice combos and resets don't work on her due to her size and hurtboxes, but that's secondary. I didn't factor
this into tier placement, but she is one of the best team players in the game with great assists, THE best alpha counter option, and the ability to fit in basically anywhere on a team.


Double: Double confuses me. She really does. Her j.HP is nice, yet it leaves her very open to Updo/Fiber Upper/Napalm Pillar/Dash unders, etc. If she can get you to block it, however, she can easily bait pushblocks or get you to stand still with her ability to fast-fall with j.HK into a quick low/throw mixup, which is nice because she can easily convert off of a throw in the corner and
midscreen. Her zoning with Luger shots is pretty good, but it's not something that she can just do all day. She has Parasoul's dash which is extremely nice for the things I mentioned in Parasoul's section, so sticking to the opponent isn't a huge issue, but getting the momentum going is a problem with slow, stubby ground normals. Her reset game is alright, though a lot of her more unique resets can be double jumped/air super'd if the opponent is paying attention and not just mashing like a silly goose. Her defensive options aren't all that hot. Hornet Bomber has a vulnerability period at the start so it isn't the most reliable thing. Toon Town Swagwagon differs from a lot of reversals in SG in that it neither does a lot of damage nor does it allow for a follow-up combo (Updo > Gregor, Fiber Upper, SSJ hurts a lot, I've seen people convert midscreen off of Napalm Pillar plenty of times, Hustlin' Rocks hustles, etc.). She has a double jump for getting out of certain situations, but no air super aside from level 5. She also has a massive standing hitbox though a very low crouching hitbox; be very wary of fuzzy guard setups. As for catheads.... You get 6(?) seconds to pressure the opponent as you please, and most characters can't PBGC out reliably if Double is in a certain position and you wisely choose when to leave gaps in your pressure to go for low/throw mixups, though absolute guard is very much a thing to look out for. You still have to spend 2 bars to activate catheads in the first place, and if you manage to get a hit with catheads then you're not going to get much damage or meter off from your combo due to the catheads scaling both (though the important thing is that now the momentum is in your favor). She's still one of the best team players along with Cerebella, and without a doubt the best anchor character so she is not bad by any means. If you don't have her, Cerebella, or Squigly on your team, then you're a really nice person, but also a sucker.


Fortune: Honestly, though I was also guilty of this, I think that Fortune is very much overrated. In SDE it was clear that she was easily the best character in the game, but the collection of nerfs from MDE onwards have definitely hindered her, but I'll go into that later. Fortune still has top tier mobility and pressure options, and is still one of, if not the best character on the ground with a 5-frame jab (that hits crouchers unlike Filia's!), a forward-moving rekka that is neutral on block (which is basically + for Fortune because of her jab), a nice, lengthy poke with head-on st.HP, a 7-frame low with stupid range for something so quick, and of course, the head. At close-range, she's like a watered-down Filia, which is still pretty amazing as she has no real trouble opening opponents up. The problem is that much of neutral and footsies in Skullgirls is played in the air, and Fortune cannot go air-to-air with... anyone, really, unless she's right up next to them. In Vanilla, SDE, and part of MDE, this hardly mattered because of how busted Fiber Upper was with the invincibility being on the hard-to-punish LK Fiber (in Vanilla and SDE) and the ability to followup off of any number of hits (in Vanilla, SDE, and ESPECIALLY MDE when the go-to reversal/ground-to-air poke became HK Fiber; that, in my opinion, was her largest nerf across all versions). Using Fiber Upper is now much more risky and much less rewarding when trying to deal
with opponents in the air, so now her only options are to either wait for the opponent to eventually land on the ground where the head is actually a threat, or get above them and fish for hits with j.LK, j.MP, air axe kicks, and air grabs. She just does not have the hitboxes to try to contend with people air-to-air unless she's already above them, which is why I personally believe she loses to Valentine, Fukua, and Painwheel (they all have big "NOPE" buttons for Fortune). But again, Fortune has a double jump, air dash, and Fiber Upper so her mobility is what does the most work for her when it comes to air battles. The head is still a big threat when on the ground, but it is much easier to deal with now than before. The head now going on cooldown whenever it gets hit prevents Fortune from catching you in Sneeze or Nom because you dared try to hit an unprotected, which was a very necessary change. Projectiles putting the head on cooldown for the same amount of time, however, makes her matchup vs Peacock noticeably more difficult (from 6-4 to 4-6, if you ask me) and also gives Fukua a lot of breathing room as well. Letting the head do all the work is no longer a viable tactic, though headless Fortune is still a strong threat that can put on a lot of pressure if utilized correctly, which brings me to a bit of a tangent....

Nobody is playing Fortune anywhere near the tip of her potential. There are plenty of great head-on Fortune players, but they all crumble as soon as they find themselves without a head. Plenty of Fortune players said that headless Fortune sucks when she was most recently nerfed... but the thing is, most of those players didn't even know how to play headless Fortune in the first place.
People say that I'm one of, if not the best Fortune player, and I would agree with that, but for all of the wrong reasons. I'm one of the best Fortune players simply because I put in the effort to learn how to play with and without the head, not because of my actual skill with the character. It would be great if more Fortune players would do that, because headless Fortune is not nearly as difficult to play as people seem to think (for example: her headless combos are not very situation at all). They're just lazy. I'm pretty sure I have more to add to both paragraphs on Fortune but... I wanna do other stuff right now.


Painwheel: I'll get back to this. Let me just say that it is Taluda winning with Painwheel, not Painwheel winning for Taluda. SHE IS NOT A BAD CHARACTER BY ANY MEANS, PEOPLE NEED TO STOP THINKING THIS WHEN PEOPLE SAY SHE'S ONE OF THE WORST CHARACTERS.


Squigly: I'll get back to this as well. Maybe it's because I play Yaya so much.