Tekken 8 is finally here, and although many fighters on the roster have carried over from past entries in the series, the Heat system and new moves have changed everyone’s power level. This Tekken 8 tier list will give you an idea of which characters will give you a competitive edge.
Tekken 8 is shaping up to be one of the best fighting games of all time. Even during the so-called “Golden Age” of fighting games, it stands out as a title that takes everything great about the Tekken series and refines it.
Whether you’re just hopping into the series for the first time or are returning and want to see how your main stacks up to the competition, we’ve put together a tier list based on the various CNT (Closed Network Test) stages and our time spent with the final release version of Tekken 8. We’ve also scaled things down around substantial nerfs, like Kazuya getting hit multiple times before launch.
Bear in mind that this tier list is subject to change, and that Tekken 8 is fairly well balanced. While picking a top-tier will give you an edge, you can ultimately win with any character. We’ll also update with more characters as DLC fighters get added, with Eddy already confirmed to be coming soon.
Here’s our full tier list for Tekken 8.
S-Tier Tekken 8 Fighters
S-Tier characters are the absolute best of the best. Most of Tekken 8’s best characters are great all-rounders with strengths in certain areas, whether it be strong wall carry potential, how easy it is to get a launcher, their ability to pressure, etc.
Here are Tekken 8’s best fighters on release:
S-Tier: Jun Kazama, Jack-8, Jin Kazama, Azucena, Feng Wei, Zafina, Bryan
Out of everyone in Tekken 8, Jun seems to be the strongest fighter on the roster. She’s easy to pilot, has strong mix-ups and lows, and can carry to walls well. Many of her moves are deceptively difficult to sidestep, and she’s rather difficult to punish. Overall, she’s not unbeatable and certainly not release Leroy level, but very strong.
Jin, Jack, Feng, and Bryan fill the role of incredibly effective all-rounders that have high pressure, good wall carry, and really strong pokes. Though they individually have weaknesses, such as Feng being fairly vulnerable to sidestepping with some of his best poke moves, they’re all strong fighters.
Azucena and Zafina are a bit more on the technical side, with Zafina in particular being one of the most difficult characters in the game. If you can get the hang of her stances, she’s got some of the best lows in the game and is an absolute menace to read if you’re not familiar with her moveset. However, she’s an intimidating character to start with and may not be the best pick if you’re unfamiliar with Tekken.
Azucena, meanwhile, has strong counter mechanics and hard-to-punish normals with some of the best jabs in the game from a frame advantage perspective. She’ll win matches off frame data, alone.
A-Tier Tekken 8 Fighters
A-Tier is where a majority of the roster lies. These fighters are balanced, with clear strengths and weaknesses. And, while some of these characters are a bit stronger than others, they all do well in capable hands.
A-Tier: Reina, Devil Jin, Victor, King, Leo, Paul, Lars, Claudio, Steve, Shaheen, Hwoarang, Nina, Alisa, Lili, Kuma, Panda, Xiaoyu, Kazuya
There are a few outliers in the mix, such as Reina, Viktor, King, and Steve, who have a lot of high-level potential with their new moves and interactions with the Heat system. However, they’re all fairly difficult to play. This list is a bit more reflective of the average player’s skill level, and while some of these more complex and niche characters may end up being top-tier in high level play, the average match will likely look a bit different.
That said, Viktor is probably the most likely to move up to S-Tier. He’s got some ridiculous tracking and a low-hitting Heat Smash, and he’s likely to be a competitive darling once players learn him. If you’re looking for a challenging character that rewards you for mastery, Viktor may be the pick.
It’s also worth mentioning that the bears are in this group. Both Kuma and Panda are surprisingly strong in Tekken 8, and a lot more viable in high level play. Leo and Paul are also just outside of S-Tier due to their sub-par, predictable lows, though they may shoot up to the top once more players get their hands on the game and work out who’s the strongest.
Shaheen, Hwoarang, Nina, Alisa, Lili, Xiaoyu, Claudio, Lars, and Kazuya are also well-balanced characters. They’ve got clear strengths and weaknesses and are bound to do well in the right hands.
Devil Jin, meanwhile, has a ton of big strengths in his gap close, spacing, weird and hard-to-read flying moves, but does possess some fairly weak normals. He feels like a character that’ll require more time and research for his true strength (or lack thereof) to show.
B-Tier Tekken 8 Fighters
Even down at the lowest tier, all of these characters are still viable. However, not every character from past entries has fared well with the Heat system. Whether it be because they’ve got a key move tied to their Heat Smash, or that the strengths of the system have stunted their ability to perform well, not all Tekken carryovers are created equally.
None of these characters are bad per se, but you’ll have to put in some extra effort if you want to get the most out of them.
B-Tier: Lee, Law, Raven, Dragunov, Yoshimitsu, Asuka, Leroy
This category is for characters that are deeply technical but with low payoff (Lee, Yoshimitsu, Raven), significantly nerfed from being strong in Tekken 7 (Dragunov, Law, Leroy), and Asuka. Asuka struggles in quite a few matchups, especially against characters who can zone her away and create space well. Her greatest strengths in rushing down her enemy are much less effective now that everyone has Heat moves.
Again, none of these characters are necessarily bad. If you’re a Yoshi player and you’ve always been a Yoshi player, you’re probably going to pick him regardless of what any tier list says. And that’s okay!
Ultimately, pick who looks interesting to you. If you’re the kind of person who’s interested in picking what’s meta, then S-Tier has a ton of options. If not, disregard where your favorite character is on the list and play them anyways.