Character Tournament Rankings in Japan

Character Rankings or Character Success in Tournaments

The Version B "Entry" and "Semifinal" Rankings are based on 1072 tournaments, while the "Finals" and "Winners" Rankings are based on 2167 tournaments. The Version C "Entry" and "Semifinal" Rankings are based on 1647 tournaments in Japan, while the "Finals" and "Winners" Rankings are based are 2243 tournaments.

Note: You may have to use the horizontal scroll bar to see both charts



Character Rankings Summary - The colors are arbitrary rankings of a character's success rate in tournaments as either average (yellow), high (dark red), or low (dark blue). The numbers are rankings of a character from a scale of 1 (best) to 17 (worst). Note that the number ranks of 1-17 does not necessarily mean that a character rank 17 is severely disadvantaged compare to a character rank 1.

How do you read the chart? - As an example, I will use Version C Shun: Shun is not a very popular character choice by players entering tournaments, ranking 15th overall. However, the general population of Shun players have above average success in advancing to the semifinals, with a rank score of 2.5. The Shun semifinalists, have a similar rank score in advancing to the finals(rank score of 3) yet it is only a slightly above average success. Lastly, the population of Shun finalists have average success in winning tournaments with a ranking score of 10.

How were the charts made? - The information above is based on calculations (change in % character distribution and % character advancement) I used on raw tournament results at www.virtuafighter.jp website. The calculations relate to the change in character representation throughout a tournament: 1) at the beginning of tournaments (entry), 2) at the semifinals, 3) at the finals, and 4) in conclusion of tournaments (winners).



The Finals and Winners columns are based on VF5R version A tournaments sponsored by Sega in Japan (2355 total tournaments with 48611 player entries from 7-25-08 to 5-20-09). The Entry and Semifinals columns are based on 1348 total tournaments with 28825 player entries from 7-25-08 to 1-7-09).



Final Showdown Character Rankings Chart (Note: slightly different columns compared to previous charts - see post on Jan 5, 2012)

 

Thanks, I plan to update the version C charts on a monthly basis. I think the character rankings in "finals" and "winners" will change quite a bit (except maybe Kage and Eileen), since it is only based on two weeks worth of tournaments.

 

Well, another way you can look at who is the most popular characters are
1) original VF 1 crew
2) difficulty of using the character

 

Re: Version B Rankings

Below is character rankings based on 2000 tournaments with a total of 66595 player entries during November 2, 2006 to July 23, 2007 (Pre-Version C). Due to less information available per tournament, only finals and winners categories can be calculated.



Comparing this chart versus the chart from the first post, the two charts are relatively similar in ranking characters. Does this mean that one-month-worth of tournament data is an accurate ranking of characters success in tournaments?

Below is a line graph looking at Goh's, Kage's, and Wolf's monthly "Winners" ranks.



For most of the months, the character rankings of Goh, Kage, and Wolf remain relatively at the same position to each other. However, character rankings in January is pretty skewed. Thus, one month worth of data may not be an entirely accurate measurement.

I am unsure how the "Tougeki Tier List" was derived, but for fun, comparing it to my character tournament "winners" ranking data, the Tougeki Tier List overrated Lei and underestimated Aoi.

As much as I try to make a fair, unbiased character rankings chart, there are always variables that can skew the data such as 1) differences between each tournament, 2) individual player skill level, 3) same character matches, and 4) possibly biased assumptions and errors on my handling of the data. So take the information with some reservation.

As for the "Above Average" and "Below Average" ranks, they were determined for the most part by the standard deviation between all the characters. For example, the above and below average rankings listed in this post is approximately plus or minus 5-10% from the average (50% winning percentage)

Next week or two, I should have the first full month of Version C Rankings up.