We’ve all been there – “Which character should I choose? Should I pick the fast character, the sword character, or the slow but hard-hitting character?” – Every fighting game competitor and enthusiast has struggled with this dilemma one time or another.

When choosing a character, one needs to first identify themselves as a person and know their playstyle. Each person has a tendency to gravitate towards a particular play-style. For example, I usually tend to prefer an aggressive go-getter type of playstyle, in which I overwhelm my opponent with power, speed, and tech-skill in any fighting game. My friend, on the other hand, likes projectile-based characters with a good keep-away game so he can out-range his opponents with projectile attacks and keep them a bay, while steadily approaching and waiting for them to mess up before punishing them for it afterwards. Depending on the fighting game, there are also other play-styles that are in-between both of these ends of the spectrum. Some people like characters that can lay traps on the field and wait for the opponent to step on them, while others like characters with great combo potential. But no matter the play-style, one must first identify themselves as a person and see what play-style they will naturally gravitate to. This video further expands on the concept of identifying yourself as a player as it describes the three types of fighting gamers, hence three types of playstyles within the fighting-game genre.

After identifying one’s play-style, I would recommend that one should go on a test-run with the different characters the game has to offer in order to see which characters they like and which characters have notable advantages and notable flaws. It is important to actually try out the characters you may be interested in, so that you can see if they fit your playstyle. This is what I would call figuratively “going on a date” with each character to see which characters you have the potential to be proficient with or which characters lack such potential when in your control. In other words, in this step to finding your main character, you are finding which character or characters resonate the most with your play-style. This step is crucial because many newbie players within the competitive fighting-game scene fall into the trap of picking characters that they are familiar with or have fondness for, but lacking in potential for them to be actually proficient with when playing in the competitive tournament environment. This video further expands on the concept of choosing the right character for your play-style. Once you find the character that is “built” for your play-style, it is time to look at a tier list and see how well it fares against other members of the cast within the game.

So now that you’ve determine the character that fits well within the palm of your hands and can wield him or her well when the controller is in your hands, it’s time to look at a tier-list as well as character matchups regarding advantages and disadvantages against other characters. Tier lists are very important in the competitive sense when picking a character. They are often useful in informing new players in how their character of choice fares against other members of the cast, and thus how well they do in tournament. Low-tier characters, or characters that have significant disadvantages against a majority of the cast of characters in the game, often perform very poorly in tournament. On the other hand, top-tier characters, or characters that have significant advantages against a majority of the cast of characters in the game, often perform exceptionally well in tournament. If the character you are playing with is a low or bottom tier character, then you may want to consider either changing characters entirely or having a secondary character (that matches your playstyle as well) for certain character matchups so that you perform at your best in tournament. Let’s face it, the reality is that concerning tournament performance, certain characters are just better than others. This can be either by a large or small margin depending on the fighting game. Of course one needs to take into account player skill when two players play against each other, but tier lists are made at the very top professional level of play by the very best and reputable members of the community. One thing to note is that tier-lists are always changing because they are based on tournament results among the best players and also the fact that new techniques within various fighting games are being discovered every day. This video talks about tier lists and the metagame.

Now that you’ve gone through these steps, you’re now ready to perform in tournament and practice your main character. Practice makes perfect and it takes time, practice, and dedication before one can be truly great at any fighting game. Something to note is that this guide to picking a main character applies mainly to competitive play and is for optimal performance in a tournament setting.

This video recaps everything said in this article. Now everyone, go out there and choose your main character!!