hmm i don't think i could come up with a list, but from what i have played in versus and experimenting myself, i personally believe the following to be some of the more effective characters (im sure there r others that belong to that list).

sub zero
scorpion
nitara
bo rai cho
sonya

still got a lot of testing too do, but currently love hsu hao, waiting for the weekend so i can test him out on some human comp.

hmm.. havent tried cyrax yet. i'll get to him eventually, i mucked around with his sambo style, it seems like a poor excuse for a grappling style. kano and jax's r better. not to meantion hsu.

Mavado is the worst!!
He is just useless, I have alot of trouble winning with him, compared to the others characters.

I like Subzero & Sonya as players at the moment.

Can't say that, I think Mavado kicks ass, never won so easily.

But I think Bo Rai Cho is really bad...

current opinion is:
scorpion and bo rai' cho occupying the top tier with nitara and reptile following close...
this discussion is all crap tho' cause if you've mastered any of the characters, you are deadly regardless...BTW: sonya used to be regarded as top tier...sniff sniff...
but all you weaklings take note!! someone will pick her and win the texas tournament!
and if you don't agree with me, take a number and scratch your azz okay????

So far I've explored in deapth only four characters

Sub-Zero (got nice juggle combos, can do massive damage with power up)
Scorpion (very easy to mastery nice long combos a few jugles as well)
Frost (same as sub-zero got quite a few jugles can get alot of damage with power up)
Kitana (by far one of the best weapon set ups they really worked on the fan attacks, lots of great combos and jugles for her as well)

All four of them are pretty decent. The easiest AI for me to beat is Drahmin. I almost always get a double flawless against him even on the higher difficulties.

Nitara belongs in a tier by herself...on the very top. Regardless of the fact that her projectile sucks, her 8-string is too damaging. The recovery time between her power up and the start of the incredibly fast first 1,1,1 can be executed so quickly that there is hardly any downward scale on the power up. One 2 juggle with the kama into any hit that knocks the opponent away ~ CS~CS~SM~CS~CS will hit with plenty of time if you're fast enough, so there is no reason that she shouldn't always be powered up.

This game is based around combos, not tricks. Bo Rai Cho is the only character that gets around this with the speed and range of his puke move, but otherwise, the rest of the next tier goes to characters with high damage/long juggles and well-rounded abilities (aka Scorpion and Kenshi)

Here's how I would rate the characters:

Tier 1: Nitara
-----
Tier 2: Scorpion, Kenshi, Bo Rai Cho, MAYBE Kano (still debating this one myself)
-----
Tier 3: Everyone else

I don't know if I would give Cyrax the "worst in game" award, but he's pretty far down there :) And Reptile just isn't good enough IMHO. So his ball hits low...big deal.

the best few are(no order)
1.scorpion
2.cyrax
3.shang tsung
4.kung lao
5.sub zero

Best:

Sonya is one of the best characters of the game. Her Kiss move and fly kick move are very effective to cause great damage and many combos.

Nitara, Sub, Bo Rai Cho and Shang are good to.

Wrost ones are Kitana, Mavado, and kind of Hsu Hao. They are cool and all, but their attacks are weak, and moves not great. The worst Ill say is Mavado.

devilgene Wrote: current opinion is: scorpion and bo rai' cho occupying the top tier with nitara and reptile following close... this discussion is all crap tho' cause if you've mastered any of the characters, you are deadly regardless...BTW: sonya used to be regarded as top tier...sniff sniff... but all you weaklings take note!! someone will pick her and win the texas tournament! and if you don't agree with me, take a number and scratch your azz okay????

devil, what happened to sonya? why isnt she regarded top any more?

Reptile rulzzz

Even though we've all had time to evaluate the characters, we will not know the true tiers until TiT, IMO. Even then, tiers have a tendancey to change over time.

I personally think Shang has got game. SS cancel, GO GO Speed Racer!!, quick launcher, just to good.

I feel that cyrax was raped and I know I'm not alone.

Then again, what are tiers? EVERY character has potential, it just takes different approaches by different players to get the goods flowin'. Peace and love ya'll.

Best: Reptile,Sonya,Scorpion.

I just kick ass with them. not to mention I used to hate sonya and out of nowere she just became cool in this game! and reptile, KICK ASS! he is sooooo much cooler than he was before. He has fun combos.


Worst: Kitana,Hsu Hao,Bo Rai Cho

Kitana is too difficult to work with and all of her combos look the same. Hsu hao's wrestling shouldn't take so much freaking health(seeing as how wrestling is fake)You would think that it dosen't take much damage! And bo rai cho,......It just pisses me off when it looks like someone is gonna fall over but they kick your ass anyways!
And his stick! It moves verry little and yet it manages to block every damn swing!

My Gang---- Sub-zero, Kenshi, (THE REAL UNTOUCHABLES) Scorpion, (TRU) Raiden, And the guy just trying to earn some stripes, Hsu Hao. Can we play too? No, go back in the house----- Bo "Canna get another drink" Rai Cho, Ni"I can kill you with 1 combo"tara, Sonya- It's a personal thing, Cyrax hahahahahahahahahahahahaha, Mavado-He can come out when he cleans his room. So who's mad now?

TRUschwartzJG Wrote:

oops

OK, last night I changed my mind: After unlocking Drahmin I decided to give the Useless-Award to him. He may have very powerful Special Moves, but if you know how to fight him, you wipe the floor with his ass.

Is that sanitary? to wipe a floor with an ass. Sounds bad, real bad. I tried him out the other night and he's...well... you're right, let's wipe the floor clean with him.

OK, you hold him tight and I'll go get the water...

I can get the water if you want. that guy stinks and I ain't touchin' him

What about cleaning him instead of the floor?

'Darkhorse' prediction: some 'telekenesis-mad' kenshi wins the tournament in texas...either that, or it's scorpy vs bo rai' in the final...

pEaCe OuT bro!

That makes a lot of sense. Do you think you might be able to go to the tournament?