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Tekken 8 Tier List: Best fighters ranked & explained (March 2024)

Tekken 8’s been out for a bit now, and, after two balance patches, it’s become clear who the strongest fighters in the game are. Here’s the full Tekken 8 tier list ranking all the game’s fighters.

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 got an updated tier list that’ll give you an idea of where each character ranks as of patch 1.02.01.

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 confirmed to be coming soon along with Lidia, Marduk, and Fakhumram being datamined for the first DLC pass followed by Armored King and Anna Williams in DLC 2. There are a lot more characters coming down the road.

Here’s our full-tier list for Tekken 8.

Full Tekken 8 Tier List for patch 1.02.01 (March 2024)

S-Tier: Jun Kazama, King, Azucena, Dragunov, Devil Jin, Feng, Xiaoyu

S-tier characters are the absolute best of the best. Though they’re not unbeatable, you’ll gain a massive edge by picking them. For March, we’ve significantly narrowed down the S-Tier to only have the absolute best characters in the game on it as the true top tiers become apparent.

Azucena

Arguably the game’s strongest newcomer, Azucena has a bunch of spammable moves with strong frame data that will put new players on the ropes, but she’s also got great stances and counter mechanics that give her some strong and unique defensive mechanics. Additionally, she’s got some really strong and safe launchers that can send her opponent flying, and her WR 3, 2 is one of the most oppressive moves in the game.

Dragunov

Dragunov quickly rose up to S-tier in the days following Tekken 8’s release, and he’s still at the top of the table even after his nerfs. Though some of his pressure has been mitigated by nerfs to his plus frames on certain bread and butter moves of his, he’s still a pressure monster with strong mix-ups. There’s a reason Dragunov is one of the most popular characters on the ladder in Tekken 8.

Devil Jin

Though Devil Jin isn’t exactly easy to pull off, it’s become hard to deny that he’s an S-tier pick in the right hands. He’s got some really strong mobility tools and lightning fast lows that come out of nowhere. Outplaying a competent Jin requires some really tricky reads that make him difficult to counter for even seasoned Tekken veterans.

Feng

Feng is all about punishing his opponents and finding opportunities. Whether it be poking them into submission with fast lows, strong counter-hit mechanics, and combos with very easily interchangeable enders that can mix up your opponents with ease.

Additionally, Feng has some of the best whiff punish in the game and can easily mess with his opponent via switching up the timings on his moves and using his various stances. Feng has it all and then some when it comes to poke tools and ways to punish his enemy for even the slightest mistake.

Jun

Out of everyone in Tekken 8, Jun seems to be the strongest fighter on the roster even after the 1.01.04 nerfs. 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 not easy to punish. Overall, she’s not unbeatable and certainly not release T7 Leroy level, but very strong.

King

King is an absolute menace right now. While Jun may be better as an all-rounder, a King expert will absolutely run you over. With how strong throws are in Tekken 8 and many of his throws having rather ambiguous tells and breaks, this character will throw even the most experienced Tekken players for a loop. Literally.

Additionally, King got buffed despite being one of the most powerful (and hated) characters in the game, leading to a near-universal community outcry as his Jaguar Sprint got a huge buff. If you want a top-tier, King is the way to go. Just don’t be surprised if people aren’t too keen on rematching you.

Xiaoyu

Xiaoyu is easily the slipperiest character in Tekken 8. Her variety of stances and backstep options give her the ability to fight fire with fire in many matchups as long as she’s not up against a wall, and she can feel unstoppable if she’s got a read on her opponent. She may not have a whole lot of ranged poke options, but her evasiveness is so strong that it’s been a point of contention in the community.

Her Art of Phoenix stance (AoP) is allowing her to duck most normal lows and sidestep sweeping lows with the right timing. Lows aren’t really meant to get ducked, and it’s hard to imagine a character beside Zafina that can pull this off. And, even then, Xiaoyu’s been proven to be able to duck lower than Zafina in Tekken 8 with a stance that’s much easier to use.

In other words, Xiaoyu’s kinda busted.

A-Tier Tekken 8 Fighters: Alisa, Jack, Jin, Kazuya, Leo, Lili, Reina, Shaheen, Yoshimitsu, Victor

Our A-Tiers are still a step above the rest of the cast, and they’ve got their fair share of strengths. However, they either aren’t nearly as oppressive as the S-Tiers when it comes to unique strengths, or they have very clear and distinct counterplay that makes some of their moves a bit less safe against an opponent with matchup knowledge.

Alisa

Alisa’s all pokes and range. She’s considered by many to be a sort of gimmick character, but she’s actually viable in high-level play. Strong lows that hit almost cross-screen, great comeback potential with her chainsaws, and strange combo timings that’ll catch your opponent off guard make her very strong. However, she works best with range from her opponent and can be easily overwhelmed.

Jack

Jack is old-school Tekken at its finest. What he lacks in sidestepping and mobility options, he makes up for with incredibly long-range jabs. Jack is one of the most oppressive characters in the game, and Tekken 8’s Heat options have only given him more ways to shove his opponent right into a corner. A good Jack player will make your life an absolute nightmare, and winning against him requires good reads and a wealth of matchup knowledge.

Jin

Jin is the all-rounder. Quick lows, strong mix-ups, a ton of tools for every situation. He’s missing a lot of the Mishima staple moves in Tekken 8 and has swapped out for a much more traditional style of Karate. It’s a bit more standard than his move sets in prior games, but with some Devil Gene stuff sprinkled in to give him some flashy combo enders.

Jin does a lot well, and he doesn’t have many downsides. However, he doesn’t have too many big strengths, either.

Leo

After his nerfs, Leo sits confidently in A-tier. Though you’ll get much more of an advantage now from blocking his mix-ups, they’re still pretty hard to predict. Leo allows you to throw a barrage of hits at an enemy and pressure them into the corner, though his stances can be punished by quick counterhit moves like Jack or Feng’s b1+2.

Fighting Leo requires a fair bit of matchup knowledge, but he has a lot of vulnerabilities if you know when to take advantage of him not being able to block in his stances.

Lili

What Lili lacks in raw frame data, she makes up for in spades with range, mobility, wall carry, and really oppressive sweeps that counter sidestepping hard. Considering she has the slowest Heat Smash in the game and can be heavily punished by blocking her lows, she isn’t quite an S-tier pick, but she’s very strong. Be wary of her long reach and strong sidestepping.

Kazuya

Kazuya is really, really hard to pull off. Getting the most out of his electrics will take a lot of practice, but there’s more to him than just spamming EWGFs. He’s got some moves that easily abuse lower level players, too, and he’s deceptively fast when it comes to closing distance on opponents. If you can stay in the enemy’s face and force them into 50/50s, it’s easy to gain the upper hand.

Nina

Nina’s got great options. She has some of the best hopkicks in the game, great wall carry, some strong Heat mode power buffs with her pistols extending combos, and some decent mix-ups. Additionally, she’s one of few characters who can eliminate grey health via some of her chain grabs. Players have begun favoring her more and more as they realize how strong she is, and she’s been steadily rising in tier after launch.

Reina

Reina is sort of similar to Kazuya, except she’s got a lot more range and options when it comes to closing and creating distance. However, her many stances, cancels, and automatic parries that can be punished with grabs keep her from being an S-tier pick. Though she’s a popular character, she’s also one of the hardest in Tekken history. At a high level, at least.

You’ll run into a lot of Reina players on ladder who just spam her jabs, and she’s got great frame data on these moves. Be careful of getting overwhelmed by mashers.

Shaheen

Shaheen is very good despite his low play rate. Getting caught off guard by his WR 3 will lead to at least 50 damage guaranteed, he’s got some great lows, strong jabs, the ability to quickly take out grey health, and one of the strongest power crush moves in Tekken 8 with his b3+4.

That said, a lot of Shaheen’s moves have some horrendous frame data. If you don’t know his BnB combos and which buttons to start them with, you’ll end up flailing. You absolutely cannot mash with this character, and that may be part of why his play rate is so low.

Yoshimitsu

Yoshimitsu still has the strange and kinda troll moveset he’s always had, but the additions he’s been given really push him into being a high-tier. The ability to heal with his sword in Heat gives him a ton of comeback potential, and it balances out the health cost that’s on some of his key moves. You don’t have to be EyeMusician to succeed with this character anymore, though he still requires a lot of practice, and a lot of the skill required to learn him doesn’t translate well to other characters.

Though he received a few nerfs in the latest balance patch, he’s still a strong pick.

Victor

Victor is notorious in Tekken 8, with many players 2 spamming their way through the low ranks against players who have no clue how to defend against his relentless offense. However, even when you learn to duck his pistol shots and punish his strings, he’s still got a lot of tools.

A low-hitting heat smash, killer evasive tools, strong tracking, and a variety of other strengths make Victor an absolute pain to deal with.

B-Tier Tekken 8 fighters: Bryan, Lars, Claudio, Paul, Kuma, Law, Hwoarang, Raven

The B-Tier exists as a base tier for characters who have some really big strengths, but also some huge drawbacks. Most of these characters are pretty well-balanced, and there’s no reason you can’t do well with them.

Bryan

Bryan’s just really hard to play properly. He’s S-Tier in the hands of someone who can properly utilize his pressure and consistently Taunt Jet Upper, but the chances of most low-level players pulling that off is low. However, he’s got some great mix-ups and fast lows that can catch people off guard, so Bryan is still somewhat viable at all levels of play. Additionally, his Heat mode enhancements are underwhelming compared to the rest of the cast.

Bryan will only be effective in the hands of a player who’s got a wealth of Tekken knowledge under their belt, and he’s not great for beginners.

Claudio

Claudio’s a tricky character to play and play against. He’s got some incredibly deceptive mids and is able to force a ton of 50/50s where the opponent has to read what he’s planning to do, but many of his most effective launchers and other combo starters are easily punished on block. That said, he has one of the best Heat buffs in the game, and he can easily turn the tide of a round by using his Heat enhanced moves. Claudio’s a character with a lot of strengths, but also many weaknesses to balance them out.

Hwoarang

Hwoarang is arguably Tekken’s OG spam character, and he’s about the same in Tekken 8. While higher level players will get a lot more mileage out of him than mashers, but he can still kick spam his way through most opponents. His barrage of kicks is hard to counter for someone who isn’t aware of when he should be punished, but Hwoarang gets a lot harder to play against people who know how to shut him down.

Kuma

Kuma has landed a tier above Panda despite their kits being very similar. Along with the high damage and long range both characters bring, Kuma’s EWGF in Heat not only makes him look damn cool, but gives him surprisingly strong and fast pressure. Tekken 8 Kuma isn’t sugar coating it, and he’s got a shot at being competitively viable.

Lars

Lars is much, much better than he was in Tekken 8, but he’s still not a top-tier. While he’s got some strong gap close and movement with some tricky stance mindgames, he doesn’t do much better than other characters. He isn’t bad, but he’s just not particularly great either.

Law

Between having some fairly underwhelming Heat moves (other than his speedy nunchucks), frame data that’s had its nerfs carried over from Tekken 7, and a lack of options that involve anything but making a B-line for your opponent, Lee’s fairly one-sided gameplay makes him fairly predictable. With how many options every character gets to keep him at bay and Power Crush through his aggression, Law doesn’t feel that great in Tekken 8 in comparison to other fighters on the roster.

Lee

Lee is in the realm of being exceptionally difficult to play properly, but without the same payoff as characters like Kazuya or Reina. Maximizing Lee’s effectiveness requires multiple, frame-perfect inputs within standard combos, and, though he’s got a wide range of strengths, getting the most out of him requires a massive time investment.

Or you could just spam kicks. That’ll work for a while, though people will learn how to counter you eventually.

Paul

Paul is a very simple, straightforward character. He’s all about finding windows to land launchers, whiff punishing, and throwing out some high-damage moves. However, he lacks flashy options and deceptive mechanics. Simple, honest Tekken is what you get when you play Paul.

Raven

Raven’s a very tricky character in more ways than one. His normals aren’t all that impactful, and his raw frame data is nothing to write home about, but his clones allow him to have some very hard to read mix-ups and a ton of movement options. Raven won’t do anything in the hands of a masher, but he’s the sort of character that’ll do great in the hands of a seasoned player.

C-Tier Tekken 8 Fighters: Asuka, Leroy, Panda, Steve, Zafina

C-Tier’s fighters aren’t unplayable. Fortunately, this is Tekken, and the game is fairly well-balanced even when it comes to the roster’s weakest members. Picking one of these fighters doesn’t mean you’re going to lose guaranteed, but it does mean you’ll be fighting an uphill battle.

Asuka

Asuka severely lacks any option other than aggression. It’s difficult for her to do any damage without rushing down her opponent, and the damage she does get from a launcher pales in comparison to what other characters can accomplish with the same amount of effort. While she has some fun evasive options and is fairly new-player friendly, she feels pretty bad to play in comparison to someone like Jun.

Leroy

Leroy is the epitome of a character who’s been nerfed into the ground, with him catching a nerf in the latest Tekken 8 balance patch despite not being all that great. He’s got incredible chip damage and can still bring the pressure if he’s able to get up close, but Leroy feels a bit underwhelming in comparison to the rest of the cast.

Additionally, Hermit stance is one of the worst defensive/parry stances in the game and pales in comparison to the rest of the cast. Leroy was built to be a defensive/parry-based character, and yet he functions worse than most other fighters in the game in this aspect.

Panda

Panda’s got some moves that make her stand out from Kuma, but her options are just worse unfortunately. Though she tries to copy Xiaoyu with an awkward bicycle kick, nothing Panda does can bring the sort of overwhelming force Kuma’s EWGF does. Panda scores points for being cute, but that’s about it.

Steve

Steve’s hurting from having a lot of his BnBs hit hard in the transition to Tekken 8, with even Tekken pros like Knee deciding to drop the character despite having a competitive history with him. Steve is much easier to punish on block this time around, making his relentless barrage of punches much less oppressive than before, and the commitment required to learn his unique, no-kick playstyle isn’t worth the time unless you’re really sold on him.

That said, there’s some new Steve tech that has the potential to be a game changer. We’re talking high level stuff here, but the now-dubbed L~P cancel gives him access to some incredibly powerful stance moves at a moment’s notice.

There may be some yet-unknown Steve tech that could bump him up a tier in the future, but what’s currently known is difficult enough that the needle likely hasn’t moved for the average Steve player.

Zafina

Zafina’s combos and frame data got killed in some nerfs in the transition from Tekken 7 to Tekken 8, with many of her old-school BnBs either doing way less damage than before or being impossible entirely. And, considering how much easier her lows are to punish on block this time around, she’s in a rough spot. If Zafina looks interesting to you, you’re better off playing another stance character like Xiaoyu or Reina.

All that said, just pick what looks good to you. If a character being an S-Tier pick makes them more attractive to play for you, then do that. If you want to play Asuka anyways despite her being in a very weak state on release, do it!

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.

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