Template:ReasonsToPick/doc

Standards for Reasons to Pick

• This section is intended to help new players and those looking to switch characters to have idea if they would like a given character.
• Many of the points made will be subjective and avoiding objective comparisons between characters is recommended.
• Any reasons listed must be only about the gameplay of the character, while people pick characters for many reasons outside of gameplay Dustloop is a gameplay focused wiki.
• Reasons to Pick / Avoid will not include information about the tier placement or direct strength of a character, that information is readily available both on Dustloop and elsewhere. These are valid reasons but invite too much controversy.
• It is perfectly valid to have one point listed as both a reason to play and a reason to avoid. For example, high execution requirements may attract some players to a character and make others avoid the character.

{{ReasonsToPick
| intro = {{Character Label|GAME|FULL NAME|24px}} followed by a summary of the character's playstyle in 1 sentence.
| pickMe = bullet point list of strengths
| avoidMe = bullet point list of weaknesses
| tablewidth = NUMBER size. Will determine the % width of the screen that the table fills. Default: 69.
}}

Example

Basic Example

Play if	Avoid if
Pro 1 Pro 2	Con 1 Con 2

Populated Example

Play if

Avoid if

strong neutral game; fast, far-reaching normals that yield knockdown and damage. Pressure that utilizes many lows, rewarding frame traps, and opportunities to reset pressure or safely return to neutral. Has a tool for every situation, including two strong anti-airs, a great mash out move in 2P and two reversal attacks. Can Knockdown after most confirms thanks to Lightning Javelin having a ton of untechable time. Strong okizeme between 3H, 236D, j.236D, j.D, j.214D, 5K and j.S

Second Chance mix up tools are limited and either require meter or end your turn and put you on the defensive. His long distance game is very one dimensional and is very outclassed by most other projectile characters. Many of his buttons have proration leaving Ky with very low average damage. His approach is very straight forward and easy for more defensive characters to stop.

Populated Example with 69% width

Play if

Avoid if

strong neutral game; fast, far-reaching normals that yield knockdown and damage. Pressure that utilizes many lows, rewarding frame traps, and opportunities to reset pressure or safely return to neutral. Has a tool for every situation, including two strong anti-airs, a great mash out move in 2P and two reversal attacks. Can Knockdown after most confirms thanks to Lightning Javelin having a ton of untechable time. Strong okizeme between 3H, 236D, j.236D, j.D, j.214D, 5K and j.S

Second Chance mix up tools are limited and either require meter or end your turn and put you on the defensive. His long distance game is very one dimensional and is very outclassed by most other projectile characters. Many of his buttons have proration leaving Ky with very low average damage. His approach is very straight forward and easy for more defensive characters to stop.

GGST Examples

Sin Kiske

Play if

Avoid if

Meterless Conversions - The Stamina Gauge allows Sin to deal high damage and get good oki off of most of his starters meterlessly. Strong Pressure - Sin's special move follow-ups give him the ability enforce scary stagger pressure and strike/throw, even at range. Long Reach - Sin has many large and far-reaching moves, enabling Sin to control space on the screen well. Meterless Reversal - Hawk Baker is a meterless, invincible reversal giving Sin a powerful defensive option without needing bar.

Meter Management - Sin's Stamina must be managed carefully otherwise you will be left vulnerable after most of your special moves. Slow Attacks - Some of Sin's best buttons are quite slow, making him weak in scramble situations. Difficult Cancels - Sin's optimal combo enders require difficult kara-cancel inputs, which often punish you for mis-inputting.

Play if

Avoid if

Meterless Conversions - Sin's Stamina Gauge allows him to deal high damage and get good oki off of most of his starters meterlessly, even from Midscreen. It also allows him to kara-cancel any of his specials into either of his supers, allowing him to deal massive damage off of the right hits. Strong Pressure - Sin's special move follow-ups give him the ability enforce scary stagger pressure and strike/throw, even at range. He also has decent high/low mix as Hoof Stomp and REDIRECT Template:Color are the same speed, beat most , and hit overhead and low, respectively. Long Reach - REDIRECT Template:Color, REDIRECT Template:Color, REDIRECT Template:Color, REDIRECT Template:Color, and Beak Driver are all decently large buttons, enabling Sin to control space on the screen well. Elk Hunt is also a very long reaching, low profiling move, which lets Sin close the distance. Meterless Reversal - Sin has a meterless, invincible reversal in Hawk Baker, meaning he can disrespect his opponent's pressure without the need of meter and deal big damage in return.

Meter Management - When low or out of stamina, Sin's pressure and damage potential drop dramatically, requiring you to carefully choose when and where to use your stamina so as to not undermine your gameplan. Sub-optimal combos and/or autopiloting follow-ups will quickly leave you dry on stamina and ruin your momentum. Slow Attacks - While very far reaching, buttons like REDIRECT Template:Color, REDIRECT Template:Color, and Beak Driver are quite slow, making Sin weak in scramble situations. Controlling space requires careful timing and good reads to compensate for his slower speed. Difficult Cancels - Sin's optimal combo enders are usually kara-cancelled (and sometimes just-frame) supers, which require tight, in-the-moment execution to pull off. These are sometimes necessary to secure a wall-break, and messing up the input can result in a waste of damage, stamina, oki, or all of the above.

Play if

Avoid if

The Stamina Gauge allows Sin to deal high damage and get good oki off of most of his starters meterlessly. Sin's special move follow-ups give him the ability enforce scary stagger pressure and strike/throw, even at range. Sin has many large and far-reaching moves, enabling Sin to control space on the screen well. Hawk Baker is a meterless, invincible reversal giving Sin a good powerful option without needing bar.

Sin's Stamina must be managed carefully otherwise you will be left vulnerable after most of your special moves. Some of Sin's best buttons are quite slow, making him weak in scramble situations. Sin's optimal combo enders require difficult kara-cancel inputs, which often punish you for mis-inputting.

Play if

Avoid if

Sin's Stamina Gauge allows him to deal high damage and get good oki off of most of his starters meterlessly, even from Midscreen. It also allows him to kara-cancel any of his specials into either of his supers, allowing him to deal massive damage off of the right hits. Sin's special move follow-ups give him the ability enforce scary stagger pressure and strike/throw, even at range. He also has decent high/low mix as Hoof Stomp and REDIRECT Template:Color are the same speed, beat most , and hit overhead and low, respectively. REDIRECT Template:Color, REDIRECT Template:Color, REDIRECT Template:Color, REDIRECT Template:Color, and Beak Driver are all decently large buttons, enabling Sin to control space on the screen well. Elk Hunt is also a very long reaching, low profiling move, which lets Sin close the distance. Sin has a meterless, invincible reversal in Hawk Baker, meaning he can disrespect his opponent's pressure without the need of meter and deal big damage in return.

When low or out of stamina, Sin's pressure and damage potential drop dramatically, requiring you to carefully choose when and where to use your stamina so as to not undermine your gameplan. Sub-optimal combos and/or autopiloting follow-ups will quickly leave you dry on stamina and ruin your momentum. While very far reaching, buttons like REDIRECT Template:Color, REDIRECT Template:Color, and Beak Driver are quite slow, making Sin weak in scramble situations. Controlling space requires careful timing and good reads to compensate for his slower speed. Sin's optimal combo enders are usually kara-cancelled (and sometimes just-frame) supers, which require tight, in-the-moment execution to pull off. These are sometimes necessary to secure a wall-break, and messing up the input can result in a waste of damage, stamina, oki, or all of the above.

Play if	Avoid if
Sin has strong pressure, high meterless damage, good corner carry, and long reach, making him an offensive powerhouse. Once he gets in on his opponent, he has the tools to carry that momentum into a round win.	Sin's best moves are somewhat sluggish, making it hard to get his gameplan started against aggressive opponents. His Stamina Gauge is also key to his gameplan, meaning that careless use of it will quickly result in your gameplan being undermined.

Play if	Avoid if
Meterless Conversions Strong Pressure Long Reach Meterless Reversal	Meter Management Slow Attacks Difficult Cancels

Play if	Avoid if
You want big/far reaching moves You like putting people in the corner in a single combo You want streamlined high/low strike/throw pressure You want mountains of dopamine from your just-frame super	You don't want to manage or think about a separate resource You want to have fast buttons for scramble situations You want a good Backdash You want strong jump-in buttons You don't want to learn how to do kara-cancel supers

Goldlewis Dickinson

• Note - Various examples are presented here showcasing different potential formats.

Play if

Avoid if

Plus frames - Goldlewis has consistent access to plus frames with the use of his Behemoth Typhoons. High Damage - From most of his pressure tools Goldlewis can evaporate a health bar on hit. Chip damage - With each Behemoth Typhoon forcing guard crush which allows Goldlewis to chew through health on block. Low jump - With his low jump arc allows for use of jump normals like REDIRECT Template:Color to be used as a quick low or mid crush. Space control - With the use of things like REDIRECT Template:Color, REDIRECT Template:Color, Thunderbird, and Burn It Down Goldlewis has strong options to control the space he occupies. Large Health Pool - Goldlewis boast the third highest health pool in the game at round start and allows him to use his health as a resource in some situations. Consistent Knockdowns - Almost every hit will combo into a Behemoth Typhoon which will lead to a hard knockdown and in many cases strong okizeme as well.

Not So Absolute Defense - Goldlewis has weaker options on defense than most characters, with a stubby 5 frame normal in REDIRECT Template:Color, a slower than normal low hitting move at 8 frames in REDIRECT Template:Color, and a low jump arc can make defense feel like an uphill battle. Sluggish Movement - With a slow run, walk, low jump, lack of double jump, and a 22 frame backdash Goldlewis is not moving from any position quickly. Big Man - Goldlewis is a massive character allowing for some F-Shiki setups and some specific combos that work on few other characters as well as it generally being easier to hit him. Half Circle Galore - With Goldlewis's main special move being locked behind 8 different half circle motions, with many including an up input the character can be more difficult for some players to pickup especially on some controllers

Play if

Avoid if

Plus frames - Goldlewis has consistent access to plus frames with the use of his Behemoth Typhoons. Most normals also go into Behemoth Typhoons as well which make it a dangerous game of guessing if Goldlewis will try to extend their turn with a plus on block special. Not to mention Goldlewis can use the Behemoths back to back in order to create plus on block frametraps. High Damage - From most of his pressure tools Goldlewis can evaporate a health bar on hit. Not to mention all Behemoth Typhoons are attack level 4 so building risc is fast on top of the high damage movese. Goldlewis also has access to then highest damage super in the game. Chip damage - With each Behemoth Typhoon forcing guard crush which allows Goldlewis to chew through health on block. Low jump - With his low jump arc allows for use of jump normals like REDIRECT Template:Color to be used as a quick low or mid crush. To note this allows allows for rather quick overheads. This can be compared to King Of Fighters hops in how they function. Space control - With the use of things like REDIRECT Template:Color, REDIRECT Template:Color, Thunderbird, and Burn It Down Goldlewis has strong options to control the space he occupies. Goldlewis dominates his potion of the screen with these amazing options and many disjoints. Some Behemoths are also take over large chunks of the screen with a large disjoint. Large Health Pool - Goldlewis boast the third highest health pool in the game at round start and allows him to use his health as a resource in some situations. Not to mention Goldlewis's defense modifier makes it so the opponent doesn't build RISC as quickly on him giving him even more chances to fight back Consistent Knockdowns - Almost every hit will combo into a Behemoth Typhoon which will lead to a hard knockdown and in many cases strong okizeme as well. His okizeme in many cases also leads into a safejump, high/low/left/right mix, and in some cases strike/throw that can beat backdash.

Not So Absolute Defense - Goldlewis has weaker options on defense than most characters, with a stubby 5 frame normal in REDIRECT Template:Color, a slower than normal low hitting move at 8 frames in REDIRECT Template:Color, and a low jump arc can make defense feel like an uphill battle. Given this downside is somehwhat leviated by the fact that a correct guess from Goldlewis leads to amazinging rewar such as a hard knockdown. Goldlewis's backdash also is not airborne very long which is good in that if caught he is less likely to be airborne but bad in the sense that Goldlewis can get caught by throw throughtout more frames of his backdash than any other character. Sluggish Movement - With a slow run, walk, low jump, lack of double jump, and a 22 frame backdash Goldlewis is not moving from any position quickly. This makes his neutral somewhat more difficult as taking space with Goldlewis is not fast even with his great normals. Big Man - Goldlewis is a massive character allowing for some F-Shiki setups and some specific combos that work on few other characters as well as it generally being easier to hit him. This goes alongside his slower movement to make Goldlewis feel trapped in some cases as the opponent moves around the boulder of a man while he struggles to get a hit in. Half Circle Galore - With Goldlewis's main special move being locked behind 8 different half circle motions, with many including an up input the character can be more difficult for some players to pickup especially on some controllers notably leverless controllers. Some execution is also harder due to requiring for directions and a button all input within the jumpsquat of 5 frames.

Play if

Avoid if

Goldlewis has consistent access to plus frames with the use of his Behemoth Typhoons. From most of his pressure tools Goldlewis can evaporate a health bar on hit. With each Behemoth Typhoon forcing guard crush which allows Goldlewis to chew through health on block. With his low jump arc allows for use of jump normals like REDIRECT Template:Color to be used as a quick low or mid crush. With the use of things like REDIRECT Template:Color, REDIRECT Template:Color, Thunderbird, and Burn It Down Goldlewis has strong options to control the space he occupies. Goldlewis boast the third highest health pool in the game at round start and allows him to use his health as a resource in some situations. Almost every hit will combo into a Behemoth Typhoon which will lead to a hard knockdown and in many cases strong okizeme as well.

Goldlewis has weaker options on defense than most characters, with a stubby 5 frame normal in REDIRECT Template:Color, a slower than normal low hitting move at 8 frames in REDIRECT Template:Color, and a low jump arc can make defense feel like an uphill battle. With a slow run, walk, low jump, lack of double jump, and a 22 frame backdash Goldlewis is not moving from any position quickly. Goldlewis is a massive character allowing for some F-Shiki setups and some specific combos that work on few other characters as well as it generally being easier to hit him. Goldlewis's main special move being locked behind 8 different half circle motions, with many including an up input the character can be more difficult for some players to pickup especially on some controllers

Play if

Avoid if

Goldlewis has consistent access to plus frames with the use of his Behemoth Typhoons. Most normals also go into Behemoth Typhoons as well which make it a dangerous game of guessing if Goldlewis will try to extend their turn with a plus on block special. Not to mention Goldlewis can use the Behemoths back to back in order to create plus on block frametraps. From most of his pressure tools Goldlewis can evaporate a health bar on hit. Not to mention all Behemoth Typhoons are attack level 4 so building risc is fast on top of the high damage movese. Goldlewis also has access to then highest damage super in the game. With each Behemoth Typhoon forcing guard crush which allows Goldlewis to chew through health on block. With his low jump arc allows for use of jump normals like REDIRECT Template:Color to be used as a quick low or mid crush. To note this allows allows for rather quick overheads. This can be compared to King Of Fighters hops in how they function. With the use of things like REDIRECT Template:Color, REDIRECT Template:Color, Thunderbird, and Burn It Down Goldlewis has strong options to control the space he occupies. Goldlewis dominates his potion of the screen with these amazing options and many disjoints. Some Behemoths are also take over large chunks of the screen with a large disjoint. Goldlewis boast the third highest health pool in the game at round start and allows him to use his health as a resource in some situations. Not to mention Goldlewis's defense modifier makes it so the opponent doesn't build RISC as quickly on him giving him even more chances to fight back Almost every hit will combo into a Behemoth Typhoon which will lead to a hard knockdown and in many cases strong okizeme as well. His okizeme in many cases also leads into a safejump, high/low/left/right mix, and in some cases strike/throw that can beat backdash.

Goldlewis has weaker options on defense than most characters, with a stubby 5 frame normal in REDIRECT Template:Color, a slower than normal low hitting move at 8 frames in REDIRECT Template:Color, and a low jump arc can make defense feel like an uphill battle. Given this downside is somehwhat leviated by the fact that a correct guess from Goldlewis leads to amazinging rewar such as a hard knockdown. Goldlewis's backdash also is not airborne very long which is good in that if caught he is less likely to be airborne but bad in the sense that Goldlewis can get caught by throw throughtout more frames of his backdash than any other character. With a slow run, walk, low jump, lack of double jump, and a 22 frame backdash Goldlewis is not moving from any position quickly. This makes his neutral somewhat more difficult as taking space with Goldlewis is not fast even with his great normals. Goldlewis is a massive character allowing for some F-Shiki setups and some specific combos that work on few other characters as well as it generally being easier to hit him. This goes alongside his slower movement to make Goldlewis feel trapped in some cases as the opponent moves around the boulder of a man while he struggles to get a hit in. With Goldlewis's main special move being locked behind 8 different half circle motions, with many including an up input the character can be more difficult for some players to pickup especially on some controllers notably leverless controllers. Some execution is also harder due to requiring for directions and a button all input within the jumpsquat of 5 frames.

Play if	Avoid if
Goldlewis has consistent access to plus frames, deals devestating damage both on hit and on block, and has a very threatening neutral. His high health pool allows him to brute-force situations if necessary.	Goldlewis has relatively weak defensive options and is very slow and limited in his movement. His large hurtbox makes him vulnerable to more setups and combos and his main special, the Behemoth Typhoon, uses unorthodox half-circle inputs which some players may find difficult to grasp.

Play if	Avoid if
Plus Frames High Damage Chip Kills Space Control Large Health Pool Consistent Knockdowns	Poor Defense Sluggish Movement Large Hitbox Tricky Inputs

Play if	Avoid if
+ You want a lot of plus frames + You want to explode your opponent on hit or block + You want strong options to help hold your ground + You want a lot of health + You want every hit to lead to hard knockdown	- If you want strong defensive options - If you are want fast movement - If you don't want to take up 1/4th of the screen - If non traditional half circle inputs bug you

Nagoriyuki

Play if

Avoid if

Nagoriyuki hits hard. Even simple two- and three-hit combos deal tons of damage. Nagoriyuki can run very tight repeating strike/throw mixups in pressure, and he doesn't need much to get that pressure started. Nagoriyuki can swing the game with a single successful hit or land a bite to enable his pressure untethered by the blood gauge. Especially when high on blood, Nagoriyuki's REDIRECT Template:Color normals take up a huge amount of screen space and chip for a lot of damage, allowing him to function at virtually all ranges. Nagoriyuki's command dash allows him to very quickly change the range of engagement to his opponent while applying pressure. You can make your opponent play on your terms by switching from up close strike/throw to a keepaway gameplan on a dime. Nagoriyuki's high juggles and versatile cancels afford you a lot of freedom while routing combos. You can route for consistency or just go for style points.

Though not too hard to get a hang of, misuse of the Blood Gauge is usually game-losing. Nagoriyuki can't airdash and he has no air specials. Air mobility options are limited without meter. Without committing blood to his command dash, Nagoriyuki's lack of a traditional dash will leave you walking slowly across the screen. His limited movement options hinder a whiff bait and punish playstyle. Nagoriyuki has excellent strike/throw but lacks non-universal meterless high/low and left/right mix options. What few character-specific overhead options Nagoriyuki has cannot be converted without meter.

Play if	Avoid if
You want to hit *hard* even with short combos You enjoy tight strike/throw and playing high-pressure grapplers You like chipping your opponent out during pressure You enjoy controlling the range of engagement You like big juggles and adaptable combo routes	You dislike resource management You like high mobility in the air You want to use high mobility to bait whiffs and punish You enjoy dashblocking You want to mix up your opponent with overheads and crossups You want strong setplay

Bridget

Play if	Avoid if
you like keeping your opponent on their toes and making them guess as you fake them out, with big buttons to boot.	you're put off by low damage output and tolerance, and don't like seeing your hard work lost very easily.

Play if	Avoid if
You like converting your any hit into advantageous situations. You find wacky movement entertaining. Consecutive 50/50s and looping pressure sound fun. You like big buttons.	You want to deal big damage. Low health is an offputter. You like to take lots of risks.

Zato

Play if

Avoid if

Complex and technical gameplay involving controlling two characters at once and utilizing to do things no other character can. Very strong, layered mixups utilizing his unique Flight and Break the Law movement options as well as a rewarding Command Grab. Generally strong ability to dictate the pace of the match via the ability to control space, run away, and lock an opponent down. Explosive damage from certain hits and the ability to convert things most characters cannot such as REDIRECT Template:Color and throws.

Overall slow movement with slow air movement, dash speed, and walk speed. Complexity and technicality can make consistency difficult and be a barrier to learning Zato. A varied matchup spread with many matchups that force Zato to be played in a playstyle that doesn't suit his strengths. Very low damage on common pokes and punishes stemming from the lack of any fast special cancels with range.

Play if	Avoid if
You're a lab monster Consecutive 50/50s bring you joy Transitioning playing lame into locking the opponent down sounds fun Mixups rewarding you in high damage is attractive	Labbing and execution practice can't hold your attention Moving slowly and getting zoned annoys you Having lopsided matchups is a turn off You want consistent conversions from neutral

Baiken

Play if

Avoid if

Simple Offense - Baiken can easily set up a knockdown from a single hit in neutral and this leads to a simple but powerful vortex. Vortex potential - Each mixup leads to very rewarding damage and loops back into the same situation. Air Control - Baiken has some of the best air buttons in the game which helps command the airspace very well. Parry - The existance of Hiiragi alone gives Baiken increased control over opponent's offense with a threat to take out a large chunk of health.

Linear Gameplan - Baiken's simple offense is so strong that there is little reason to deviate from this gameplan, leading to doing the same gameplay loop over and over. Slow Neutral - Baiken has a slow initial dash, slow air speed, and long startup on her largest neutral pokes, leading to a slow neutral. Poor Ground-To-Air Control - With only an average REDIRECT Template:Color and Youzansen being able to hit above her on the ground, she is often forced to contest air approaches with her own air buttons or air throw.

This is the documentation page, it should be transcluded into the main template page. See Template:Doc for more information.

Venom

Play if	Avoid if
You enjoy spending time in training mode finding setups. You like having control of screen space. Killing opponents with chip damage makes you laugh like a villain. You want to throw a lot but don't want to play a traditional grappler character.	You want a reversal for playing defense. You think landing pokes should convert into combos. Big combos are important to you. Charge inputs aren't your thing.

This is the documentation page, it should be transcluded into the main template page. See Template:Doc for more information.