There’s nothing more hype than getting that perfect read on an opponent in a fighting game. The display of character knowledge and ability to predict an opponent’s moves make for an extremely satisfying rush that most characters can’t replicate.
Over the years, reversal characters have changed their tactics and abilities based on the games they’re in, but they all follow a similar overall game plan. The plan is to create situations where opponents can attack in theory, but they might be at risk of being countered if they don’t keep things tight. Reversal characters can be very risky to play, but also take advantage of players who don’t have a lot of practice against them.
10 Baiken
Baiken from the Guilty Gear series is all about having strong reversals and altering the normal flow of battle for her opponent. Guilty Gear is full of intricacies and character-specific mechanics, and Baiken’s azami system is a great example of this. With azami active, she enters a counter state and has certain follow-ups for certain levels of attacks depending on if they’re high, mid, or low.
The counter state is balanced by the fact that if she guesses wrong, she’s put in a counter state and will receive extra damage, meaning she has to guess carefully. This “Queen of Counters” is not recommended for newcomers to the series, but she’s definitely one of the most fun to play if fans are willing to invest the time.
9 Ultra Instinct Goku
This form of Goku has been a menace in Dragon Ball Fighterz since his release because of his exceptional counters and reversal options that literally no other character has access to. It makes sense since he’s possibly the strongest character lore-wise in the game, but at times it even feels unfair how good he is.
Ultra Instinct Goku can recover from attacks with an invincible recovery that flies across the screen and can be followed up after. He also has 3 other invincible reversal options, 3 separate counters, and some of the best normal attacks in the game. Even if he wasn’t a reversal character, he’d be very strong but since he is, he might be the strongest reversal character in fighting game history.
8 Jubei Yagyu
Jubei is a character full of interesting choices in Samurai Shodown. He has a fireball, an uppercut, and good poking normal moves, but they’re all different from what they would be for normal characters. Most characters with an uppercut can use it to anti-air opponents trying to approach from the skies but his is too slow to stop that. Instead, Jubei has a few different counters.
One counter is meant to stop attacks from above and the other stops attacks from below. Players have to be careful to use the right one and if they do, the damage is devastating. He’s a very rewarding character to play, especially in a game that rewards defense and patience as much as it does.
7 Geese Howard
Geese has some of the most brutal-looking counters ever put to screen in King Of Fighters and Tekken 7. In Tekken 7, his counters can lead to touch of death combos on certain stages when he has meter and also cause wall splats and unblockable situations.
These counters work well with his imposing demeanor and sinister smile, which frustrate the opponent even more making them want to rush in on him. Having solid moves to mix the opponent up as well as counters are a great way to make an opponent lose their cool and rush in blindly for a chance to end the round swiftly.
6 Hakumen
Out of all the counters in fighting games, Hakumen has some of the most absurd-looking ones. In Blazblue Cross Tag Battle, Hakumen’s counter can be triggered by any move. This means projectiles, assists, traps, and anything in between. This is extremely powerful because it gives him a lot of time to control the battlefield and limit the opponent’s moves.
His super counter freezes time as well, so even if the opponent does something with low recovery, they normally will just get hit out of it anyways for massive damage. His long sword and high mobility make it hard to keep him at bay and his counters deter a lot of threats opponents usually can use for free so Hakumen embodies the spirit of a reversal character perfectly.
5 Kolin
Kolin is a new playable addition to Street Fighter, but she’s been around since Street Fighter III. Her game plan revolves around using her long-range pokes to keep the opponent from getting in and baiting them with her counters in certain situations. Her counters deal a lot of damage and don’t require any meter so players need to keep an eye out for them at all times.
She also has a parry move that moves her forward and stops normal attacks, which is great for closing the distance between her and her opponent. Her design is very unique to the Street Fighter franchise so it’s great to see Capcom trying new things with her.
4 Asuka
Asuka is a character with high mobility and very effective parries which make her hard to pressure if she knows the opponent’s tendencies. Her parry animations differ depending on the attack she’s trying to counter so it’s important for her opponents to know what she can do as well and punish accordingly. The counters are so effective because they often lead to really good pressure and at the wall, a staggering amount of damage. Pairing all of this with her decent range and mobility moves makes her hard to pin down and scary to pressure because if she guesses right, she can turn the momentum in her favor instantly.
3 Enkidu
Enkidu is all about harassing his opponent until they can’t take anymore and making them guess which kinds of attacks he’s going to use. He has solid range on his normal attacks, and they all cancel into his special combo attacks. When opponents start to get complacent with blocking him, he has a special hit grab that also leads into big damage for him.
His counters come into play when he leaves gaps in his pressure to bait out an opponent’s attempt to turn the tides. His counters are great for maintaining corner pressure and making the opponent second guess their button timing against him.
2 Bayonetta (Smash 4)
Possibly the strongest Smash character ever made, Bayonetta defined the meta of Smash 4 for years. One of the biggest reasons for this was her special counters. Bullet Time would put players in a slow-motion state that lasted different amounts of time depending on how strong the attack she countered was. This meant she could do crazy combos that would kill at any percent if she landed a good counter.
As if that wasn’t enough, she also had Bats Within, which also slowed opponents down if she did a poorly timed dodge. The combination of these two factors essentially meant that players couldn’t attack her unless they knew for sure that she would be punished and unable to counter.
1 Black Canary
In the Injustice series, lots of characters have armor moves that can be used to tank attacks while striking back, but few have a legitimate parry. Black Canary is one of the few exceptions and it makes her mix-ups extremely frightening. Her parries can counter overhead and mid attacks depending on the parry she performs, and lead into full combos. The parry doesn’t counter low attacks so that’s usually the option players would go for, but she has tools to deal with that as well. Her game plan is standard for a reversal character in this sense because her high mobility and mix-ups make it hard to keep track of what she’s doing, so haphazardly pressing an attack might just end the round if she lands a counter.
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