I may be the only one to really disagree with the lower tiers. Baraka beats these seven characters IMO:
Sheeva: Builds much more meter than her(Any string canceled into slices=50% of one bar, 2,2 1+2+slices=75% of one bar). Baraka has a much safer armor move to get in(Telestomp can just be njp'd). Baraka has F4 which can reset the opponent into pressure, eliminating wakeups. He is much better in the corner due to his 50/50(F2, B3,1). He has about as high damage ending in resets. And his matchup chart is much better than hers, he may not win many but
GGA Jeremiah has her losing most matchups either 4-6 or 3-7. Baraka only has two 3-7s. Baraka has better pokes, better footsies. His strings are slow like hers. The only thing she has that he doesn't is a GTFO move with Armor on her special grab.
Kano: Kano is very underrated, but he is definitely near the bottom. Zoning is bad compared to most characters. Terrible pokes(-13 d1 and -7 d3, slow and short d4). His pressure is not that great, he does not build meter as well(still well). His most damaging combos are as high as Baraka's reset combos. Baraka has a much better corner game and can play much better footsies. Kano's only real way to get in quick is Ball, and that is full combo punishable. So is EX blade charge but I can do that to things on reaction. Kano has a better throw and better range on his strings, but the damage and meter build still make him inferior
Scorpion: What can I say, some of the worst pokes in the game. Baraka has a much better d4(+13 on hit as opposed to 0 on hit). D4 takedown is easily baitable and punished with a counterpoke. Scorp has the vortex but Baraka has the reset, imo both great tools. Scorpion is much more unsafe than Baraka when it comes to specials. Baraka's corner game is better, his footsies are better, his meter building is better. And..well..look above lol.
Jade: I dont believe this hype train at all. I think saying she has great footsies and therefore doesnt suck is a copout(Same with all characters, including mine). Any great player can have good footsies, that is just a skill. Yes she can control space, but not very well. Her damage is lacking and she has no way to reset the opponent. Most of her best ways to control space are at best neutral on block allowing the opponent to dash in freely. Her strings are mediocre and they don't lead to much damage. EX Glow is a decent tool, but still not great. Her pokes are much worse then Baraka's, and he can control spcae with his d4 while she cannot. We have a +11 on block sweep that can be used for footsies and completely stopping her wakeup. Baraka is much better in the corner, can build more meter, and has just as good if not better footsies IMO.
Stryker: Ill probably get blown up for this, but I dont believe Stryker is that great. His zoning is good but zoning in this metagame is overrated unless you are kabal, kenshi, or Freddy. All you have to do is crouch and dash block and his zoning becomes ineffective. He has a good armor move on EX roll toss, but Baraka has EX blade charge. He may have decent pokes, I dont know because there is no found frame data. I do know that the range on D4 is better on Baraka. In the corner Baraka is much better, better meter building, better footsies, +11 sweep. I think these two are very close, but the real reason I think Baraka beats him is his meter building and reset. These things are very overlooked when talking about Baraka, and when you can prevent wakeup attacks and get back in whenever the opponent fires a projectile, you are at a slight advantage.
Noob: His zoning is pretty good, but not impossible. His damage is not great, and up close he struggles. Her doesnt have nearly as good footsies or meter building. His pokes are worse(at least D4 is). Baraka has much better options up close(frame traps, strings into slices for meter). His sweep is a much better footsie tool than Noob's upknee because sweep can be canceled into blade charge to stop dashes. Once again he has a much better reset(100% instead of portal resets that may or may not work). Noob has more damaging corner combos but it puts the opponent on the ground. Baraka has 30-34% combos that reset the opponent into another 50/50 guess. He has a better overhead as well that can be canceled into slices for more meter gain. Noob beats him IMO in damage and zoning, but beats him in footsies, meter building, corner pressure and resets.
Nightwolf: This is totally debatable, but I kind of want to stir the pot. Nightwolf has better damage and better launchers. He also has just as good footsies as Baraka. However, his spirit charge can be neutral ducked while Baraka's blade charge cannot. He does not build nearly as much meter, and his corner game is slightly below Baraka's. Baraka has the reset while Nightwolf usually ends combos in Spirit charge to knock you away. He has slightly worse pokes because of his lacking range of D4 and 7 frame d3. His unblockable lightning is easily baited, but can possibly be used to control space. I think this is very close, but I believe the F4 reset makes Baraka a notch above Nightwolf. This is very very debatable though.
So at the very least, I believe Scorpion and Sheeva should be moved back down and Baraka up with Stryker and Nightwolf. Of course I have been saying this forever and am always usually ignored, but this is my humble opinion.
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Blade charge from max range is -16 so you definitely have me on that point. Shoulder is a much better move. However those meter builds are still not as good as Baraka's because they put you at -3, while ANY string canceled in to slices builds around half a bar and leaves you neutral on block. I never said his meter building was bad, because IMO Baraka is one of the best meter builders in the game.
