And some reddit dude's general breakdown of each character. I agree with these for the most part.
Balanced MITSURUGI (Balanced All Around)
Probably the best rounded character. Supporting a few stance changes for good mix ups, pushes forward to get into medium range with decent damage and combos.
Pros: Overall has a little bit of everything with small emphasis on rushdown. Has a good answer for just about every situation.
Cons: Has a bit of everything except for control, being medium to short range, can have issues with control characters or those with a more specialized style.
SIEGFRIED (Balanced / Hard Hitter)
Sporting many stance changes, fast kicks, and good combo and mixup potential. This character can hit hard when setup with precision.
Pros: Surprisingly fast and confusing with multiple stances. Sets up for big hard hitting combo finishers with counter hit combo starters. Balance of range, speed and power.
Cons: Can be easy to guess openers for these setups, and get punished by dodges.
CERVANTES (Balanced / Combo)
A bit on the slower side, but can dish out big damage with long combos. Good against control characters.
Pros: Fast at closing the distance, and has damaging long combos. Emphasis on rush down to get into combo launching range. Balance of speed and technicality.
Cons: Easy to whiff when closing distance for setups. Surprisingly vertical reliant, can get punished on side dodges.
TIRA (Balanced All Around)
Having two main stances that mixup her play style mid-match. Yin-Yang balance of her moods.
Pros: Like Mitsurugi has an answer for most situations. Can close distances better though. Surprisingly fast and good combo potential.
Cons: Not many cons with Tira. Her rushdown to get into range can be easy to guess and punish from control characters.
GERALT (Balanced All Around)
Easy to learn character. Signs give attack properties of all styles.
Pros: Sign attacks give Geralt the ability to rushdown, punish, control, and mixup. Surprisingly high damage, and long range from simple combos.
Cons: Easy to adapt and overcome. Simple move list is robust and effective, but can be easy to read and punish.
Rush Down TALIM (Rush Down / Mixup)
Close range with many temporary stance changes, Stays in opponents face and bullies as they try to guess her next move.
Pros: Speed, and many mixups while staying at close range, can easily overwhelm opponents with flurry of combos, and mixups that launch combos.
Cons: Biggest con for Talim is her range, she has problems getting in close, and isn't very speedy in doing so. Has biggest issues with control characters.
TAKI (Rush Down / Combo)
Taki is fast at closing the distance and putting on the pressure. Great mixup game that sets up for combos.
Pros: Can close distance to get into pressure fast. Teleports and high damage combos.
Cons: Can close distance, but gets punished if opponent figures out your movement and opening style.
MAXI (Rush Down / Mixup)
Controls the flow of battle by staying in opponents face and not stopping. Many moves transition into stances which give you options.
Pros: Constant pressure, always wants to be in your face and attacking, Hard to get distance and keep him away once hes in. Difficult to guess when he has so many stances and mixup options.
Cons: Can be a bit of a button mashing character. Reminds me a lot of Eddie from Tekken. If opponent recognizes stance changes, can get punished from counter hits.
Very Similar to Siegfried except more power. Long Range that hits hard. Brute style.
Pros: Can catch dodging / rush down characters with massive damage. Great defensive counter attacking style as well. Good balance of range, power, and grabs.
Cons: Easier to predict and punish than Siegfried. Not the best mix up especially on openers.
ASTAROTH (Big Hitter / Combo)
Big Range, Big damage, and grabs for any situation. Combines big openers with grabs for extra damage.
Pros: Only takes a few hits / combos to kill. Launches opponents into the air for extra damage or forces characters into certain positions to setup for grab combos. Reminds me a lot of King from Tekken, but with a giant axe.
Cons: He's slow. Can get rushed down easily. He does have good counter hit combo launchers to help, but with the biggest hitbox in the game he can be an easy target.
Control IVY (Control / Combo)
Queen of keep away. Strongest zone / control in the game. Hard to get close.
Pros: Longest combo range in the game. Can hit you from a mile away and stack up more damage at a distance. Has many anti rush down attacks. Fast counter hit combo launchers, that do big damage and push opponents away.
Cons: Can obviously struggle at close range. Limited, but effective punishes at close range.
ZASALAMEL (Control / Balanced)
Rubber band man. Will pull you in from a distance, do damage and then push you away.
Pros: Great medium range and pulls opponent in for stun locked combos which push opponents away. Then repeat. Surprisingly fast at close range.
Cons: Most setups are from medium to long range, but is fast in close as well. Lower combo damage, and not a hard hitter despite the size of his weapon.
SEONG MI-NA (Control / Punish)
Locks down your movement and pokes from far range. One of the more defensive characters.
Pros: Long distance, and big sweeping attacks, Very hard to dodge to get close in. Once your opponent is in, punish oppents mix ups and combo launchers.
Cons: A more passive and slower character, can be rushed down if she does not punish you for doing so.
AZWEL (Control / Balanced)
Mastering sword and axe stances will be the key to this control character.
Pros: Area denial with big sweeping attacks. Can be very fast with medium range attacks. Faster attacks depending on which stance your in.
Cons: Can be rushed down, Biggest weakness is pressure characters.
KILIK (Control / Balanced)
Staff with fast pokes and big sweeps. Doesn't give into pressure from rush down.
Pros: Fast and damaging at all ranges, great combos. Easy to setup counter hit combo launchers. Decent mixup game
Cons: Being well rounded means he can be predictable. You know when hes going to hit long range or short range attacks. Biggest weakness is punish characters.
Dodge with big counter attacks. Great defense with built in guard impact attacks.
Pros: Most attacks have dodge properties, read your opponents attacks and counter with your own. Good damage and combo potential. Balanced bag of mix ups.
Cons: Read your opponent wrong and get hit. Biggest weakness is hard hitters when mistakes are made.
XIANGHUA (Punish / Mixup)
Slippery character with amazing dodge and counter attack potential. Can escape most situations and capitalize.
Pros: Similar to Sophita, but with more mix ups and mind games instead of raw damage. Can keep pressure going after punishing opponents.
Cons: Lower damage and combo potential. Focuses on keeping opponent on there toes.
RAPHAEL (Punish / Rush Down)
Counter attack and dodge to get pressure and damage. Fast attacks that punish opponents reactions.
Pros: Sports fast lunging attacks that can close distance. Fast pokes and counter hit combo launchers. Turn attackers pressure back onto them.
Cons: Very vertical reliant. Side dodges are his biggest weakness.
Keep the enemy guessing with strange stances, and unpredictable strings. No matter the range Yoshimitsu has a trick to deal with it.
Pros: Very hard to follow strings with mixups on mixups. Fly in the air, or stab yourself for massive damage. Can even heal yourself. This character is chaos, good luck keeping up.
Cons: Often times tricks will backfire and hurt yourself. I think of him as a much more technical Mitsurugi. Difficult to learn.
GROH (Combo / Mixup)
King of mixups. Keep opponent hurting when they guess wrong.
Pros: Big damage on simple mixups. Once Groh gets into his flow its hard to stop him.
Cons: Mixups can be countered if opponent knows the match up. Doesn't have great combo launchers, or punishes. Reminds me of Z.W.E.I. from SCV.
VOLDO (Combo / Mixup / Rush Down)
Vast moveset with the most stances of any other character. In my opinion the most technically versatile in the roster, but most difficult to master.
Pros: Free flow into many stances with attacks and long combos. Difficult to deal with a good Voldo in your face with so many moves at his disposal.
Cons: Knowing the match up is key to fighting Voldo. Stance changes can be interrupted, and Voldo has a more difficult time getting his flow started. Lower damage from difficult to pull combos.
Yeah, Ivy seems crazy good. The other day I had a match against a good Ivy and it was surprisingly fun trying to maneuver past all of her long range shenanigans. But every time I got rung out by her command grab from half a screen away, I could feel my soul starting to leave my body.
Then last night I had a not so fun match against an Ivy who was spamming Reversal Edge like crazy and it built up so much meter that I got hit with like 6 supers during the set since Ivy's Critical Edge has a built-in GI, which is super annoying. I feel like I've had enough time with the game now to definitively say that I think the Reversal Edge system is easily my least favorite aspect of SCVI so far. Well, maybe the horribly antiquated button checking is worse, but that doesn't affect me too much. ---
