u/maddwaffles

After having to sit out a few games for rough play (alleged harassment in DMs, ig calling someone who directed a slur towards you as "scumbag" makes you just as bad as the first party in Reddit's eyes) and my vacation, we're back on posting.

So we're getting the last four Japanese squad members out of the way. -cough cough-

(Remember to comment as well as vote folks, 2 and 2 weighted rules still apply)

Akai - Or I hope this is Akai, seriously Takahashi THIS specific look is way overutilized. A character suited to fullback as a position, he carries a frequently-triggering Super Block, and his Right-Angle Defense fills bar pretty quickly (despite its more modest overall statline). Like many characters for the back position, his moves are overall built to favor filling bar, even if his actual dribble and aerial are nothing to scream about. His shot is weirdly good as well, however, although he seldom will find the position to use it. Overall, a very interesting "retrain" relative to Ishizaki.

Ishida - One of those characters who would probably see some use online if not for other options, Tetsuo is a MF, and seems to favor that AMF framework. His Super is Dash Fake, a higher-use but overall lower-utility Super Dribble that can get you probably some of the most Super Dribbles in a single match, without carrying a name on it. Spinning Shot, which can be nice for faking out an opponent in the GK minigame (despite modest stats), a weak aerial, a [Lite] Wild Eagle Dribble, and Sliding. Overall, clearly another intended crossover enabler/ball carrier with shooting potential.

Honma - Overall this feels... Familiar. Honma's build is a lot like Tetsuo's, but their stats indicate it. Honma gives up some Shoot, but carries a better aerial and tackle. Trying to fill in the role of his old captain, Honma has Dash Fake super, Banana Shot (good for PvP, bad for PvE), Quartz Overhead (a respectable aerial if you can get a MF in position for an aerial), he's riffed Magnificent Dribble (and it keeps some fairly good stats for the trouble), and has the elite Scythe Cut. Minoru is pretty well-equipped for the MF position, and seems to be an attempt at a mid-stat, super-dribbling, all-rounder.

Oda - There can only be one. Despite being a largely forgotten FW, they gave Oda quite a bit. Mighty Shot still sucks, and Bullet Shot really sees its niche in wearing down the GK with volume, but carrying Aggressive Header makes Oda a desirable secondary shooter from the air for the same reason, and his Shield Bash dribble DOES have elite charging potential (and not much else)... If only he had something worth charging into. Forced Tackle is similarly charging-oriented. Classic off-striker.

Small showing for Team Toho, but honestly yeah, I'm only surprised that the lack of opinion plopped Sorimachi into B, and some people DID argue that he should be higher. Same with Ken, A seemed agreed but one player advocated for S, so he's tied for top of A so far.

Now we have the Otomo Quintet! I chose a lot of players this time for the simple reason that I won't be updating this for about a week. Taking a trip to touch some turf, so I'll update with the final Japanese group next Thursday or Friday.

Urabe - An interesting case. All equal and high-ish stats for a bencher-rider, and with a moveset that would be more at-home as a DMF, but the game says Defender. He only carries Rocket Pass as a Super, and its claim to fame is its range (fitting so that he can rapidly capitalize on a steal and potentially setup a counterattack... IF WE HAD ONE!!!). Hanji also carries the [Lite] Wild Shot, and Stoop Dribbles, which should allow him to also advance the ball up field, and Push Steal which, by all accounts, doesn't seem spectacular. Kinda weird that you'd choose to play him on Defense and not as a Midfielder.

Nakayama - A way more conventional defender. He carries Jito's Power Defense [Lite] and has Diving Steal. In many respects, he's like Takasugi with less offensive potential. but he has a Super Tackle, which is usually enough for many players to include him in a four-man defender framework for Japan.

Kishida - Another case of a Defensive player, but with a slight boost over Nakayama with a unique tackle, and better offensive and dribbling potential. Shark Tackle is kinda like Dump Truck, in that it charges bar quickly, but it has Ds across the board otherwise. Kishida carries Diving Steal, and has the Accel Dribble Speed Shot combo that could suit him to being a pinch defender. Overall, though, his actual tackling ability is rated as worse than Nakayama's. (so the game stats him as weaker)

Sawaki - Wait... You're telling me he didn't go to Otomo? It's just a quartet?... MEIWA??? What the hell's a Meiwa!???

-ahem-

I would say that this guy is probably the worst Forward that Japan has to offer. Mighty Shot sucks, and although on stats his Shoulder Charge is better than Forced Tackle, they both have the same kit besides that and a shot, and frankly [Lite] cannon shot is a better GK softener than [Lite] Wild Shot.

Nitta - Be honest with yourself. THIS is your Number 11 of choice. His tackle isn't special, but Falcon Shot is great for a mid-range high-speed follow-up to a perfect dribble, and he has a solid high-speed Super Aerial. Falcon Dribble is also an elite dribble for filling his Super Bar (not that it needs much help for either option)

The voting was pretty decisive in putting everyone in B or A. To explain: The Tachibanas were split on B and A, so I placed them at the top of B, and will get bumped up to A with sufficient B Tier representation. Sano is tied with Taki for the dregs of B, and Nakinishi got mid-B. Jito being A was decisive, he is behind Masaki fttb.

And another group! Thematic as hell too!

Wakashimazu - The Karate Keeper! Sticking to his name, a Wakado-Style Save is a very offensive choice, with up-front catches setting your bar to 3, and giving some Super. He has above-moderate health and avg. HP Recovery. He has two Miracle Options that are admittedly niche/fussy, but can activate twice per turn, with Triangle Kick having what looks to be max chance to trigger.

Sawada - Our Tiny Technician, and an Assist Expert. True to his name, Takeshi carries a skillset that is suited for offensive play, with a Knuckle Shot [Lite] for long-range shooting (admittedly weaker than drive shot but not horribly by any means), Delicate Touch [Lite] for progressing up the field, and Trust Pass as the Super (with decent Chain and weak-ish Super Boost, but decent range). His Aerial and Tackle are both wanting, and his other Super is a twin aerial with Hyuga (tragic given that specific partner).

Sorimachi - Hyuga's 11. A moderate striker with a somewhat decent dribble, the fast-moving, good for wearing down, longshot Sandstorm Shot [Lite], and an otherwise unremarkable set. As a standalone striker? Eh. But keep in-mind that this particular striker is built to support Hyuga by being able to weaken the GK, and play to the crossover.

(Another early post because I have a busy morning today)

Updoots and comments at the time of this posting placed da boyz across 3 tiers. Going forwards, I am going to continue to weigh comments, but now as +2, and providing a reason is an additional +2 (as long as it's not "because I feel like it" or something else unserious or lame).

Now for the next large group: The Nationals Dark Horses

This group of characters presented challenges to Tsubasa in the Middle School National Tournament (barring Nakanishi who was this in the Elementary School National Tournament) and present their own distinct styles of play.

Nakinishi - The Giant Goalkeeper. Presenting the highest HP among Japan's GKs, and a moderate Trigger chance on his Miracle Save, Taichi has a somewhat below average recovery rate, suiting him to an attentive defense that doesn't allow frequent shots from the opposition, but can still handle it when something big does make it through. His Miracle actives only one time, and only from the front, making it one of the weaker ones.

Jito - Japan's Heavy Tank. Often this guy was the anchor of your defense in your first RONC run, and it's fine to admit it. This man runs in with two Uniques: Power Defense and Dump Truck Dribble. Both are geared towards getting your Super Gauge up as fast as possible, and Power Defense (while slow) is seriously hard to contend with if you let yourself get hit. Dump Truck Dribble is comparable to Soda's High-Speed Dribble, except that it builds bar better, yet is less mobile. He also has two Supers that matter, Skylab Twin Shot (once an insane meta-defining move, and still a solid shot that has maybe fallen off a bit in this game) and Dump Roller (a deceptively dangerous, yet slow-moving Super Tackle. It doesn't go far, or especially fast, but if you're on the far side of the pitch from the camera its animation can make Perfect Dribbles TERRIBLE to pull off!)

Masao & Kazuo - The Skylab Twins! They bring identical stats and moves, except for their dribbles, which appear the same on stats but use different animations (if that winds up mattering). They present weak poach potential, but otherwise fill out the midfielder/forward hybrid role well. They are definitely aerial players, with the strong Flip Shot [Lite], the tricky Control Shot, and respectable Unique Dribbles to move up the pitch. Like Jito, they clearly want to fill a Super Gauge quickly, but their best Supers are actually able to fill quickly. While I (admittedly) have not figured out how to use Skylab Stream to any meaningful effect, these lads come equipped with: Skylab Hurricane (An aerial comparable to their others, but with only two required players and a slightly slower charge time), Skylab Twin Shot (A triple combo with Jito that charges somewhat faster), Skylab Triangle (A triple combo featuring Keizinho as the GK), and Twin Shot (A ground shot that is arguably their strongest Super, with the same charge rate as Hurricane). Overall these two are an offensive toolkit who personify the current Combo Super mechanic.

Sano - The Field Acrobat. A Forward who, on some level, seems to be an alt. build to Taki. He comes in with Trick Shot [Lite], a respectable B-Rank straight shot with middle of the road stats and good range, but a weak charge speed and low damage. A tackle that is actively generic, and an Aerial that's not worth writing home about. But like the twins, Sano brings Acrobatic Dribble, a respectable and strong dribble for carrying the ball up field and charging Super. Sadly, Sano has no Combo Super to speak of with Jito (unless I haven't gotten far enough in the third route to see something yet), but makes up for it with the decent Dash Fake Super Dribble.

Well, Hikaru IS the GOAT, so it's no shocker that he got a decisive S-Rank, and arguably performs his role as well as Tsubasa (the key trade-off being that Hikaru is better on poaching, and Tsubasa is better at scoring; although Tsubasa is slightly better at the latter than Hikaru is at the former)

Next, we're doing something a little bit different. A group vote, we'll be doing five characters across four roles. How we'll determine splits is based on comments under the upvote comments, if you just vote on a letter and don't elaborate further, then it's assumed this applies to all five characters. If you leave a comment under a letter that you have voted, however, that will have a +3 upvote weight on it when determining final scores. (each account's comment only counts once) But OP believes that these characters are of a similar tier anyhow, so we might end up with a bunch of middle-rank characters here. Multi-voting will mostly be done with groups of players who may merit the same rank and/or are connected on a theme.

The Nankatsu/Shutetsu OGs! These guys have been around since the early series, on one or both teams mentioned. Do they carve out their own niches? Or do their status as slightly worse versions of starters merit their position on the bench?

Morisaki - Our Super Gutsy Goalkeeper! With high HP recovery and just below average HP, he looks like a bad GK at first glance, but when his HP is low, he has a heightened chance of Triggering his Miracle Save! Like Wakayashi, he has multiple options for Miracle Saves, either Gutsy Arm which can activate from more angles, but only once, or All or Nothing, which can only activate from the front, but can go up to three times!

Takasugi - The big time throw-in defender. Compared to his last outing, the lack of skills applicable have definitely not done this guy favors. All C-Rank abilities with a [Lite] variation of Jito's Power Defense tackle, this guy plays to the fullback role with Megaton Shot as a surprising option for his offense, and a Block type Super that can trigger fairly often (B).

Izawa - The Master Header! Like Takasugi, he has solid C-Rank abilities in this game, except for a weaker Fake Kick Dribble. His Spinning Cut tackle is pretty god for playing the wings, his Aggressive Header is a decent attacking option if you can trigger it/are forced to rely on it, but he really shines with a Pass Super. Chief downside? Spinning Pass has the worst Chain Increase, Shock Range, and Move Gauge Transfer possible. Overall, a weak passer.

Taki - A weirdly powerful improvement from the last game. His niche as a sideline master has been removed, but that doesn't keep you from using him in that intuitive way. Carrying the [Lite] version of Piere's Beautiful Step, Powerful Rush as a Super Dribble, and the shockingly good Javelin Shot as a backup option, this forward makes a great Crossover Machine-type.

Kisugi - Is it SHOCKING that Nitta sort of took this guy's job as chief scoremonger in Nankatsu? Weak header, only marginally better at tackling than Taki, and a weak dribble. Really? Kisugi's highlight is his Cannon Shot [Lite]. Personally, I'm not putting this guy in my DT if it ever gets here. Even his Super Shot is nothing to write home about.

As it seems that Puzzled Object has dropped this particular one, it's been five days, and five days is long enough.

Soda cut in with a showing so fierce that we might have to knock some folks down after that (that's a joke). So next up, the true MC of RONC:

Hikaru Matsuyama! All-rounder with an emphasis on DF and MF in this game, his long shot tears down the field, he has an option to Super Pass, Super Shoot, and a powerful tackle and dribble, one can't help but wonder if he's not the same as having an early-game Tsubasa on your team (but with better sweeping potential).

On a note for how this list will be conducted down the line: We will probably prune characters as we add teams from the presentation, but not the final result. Japan has a TON of characters to rate, and it will clog up the list going forwards to rate everyone there and leave them up. So here's how it will be handled:

I'll stay committed to rating all of the characters with their own Uniques and leave them on the list. If it's expressed that we want to rate everyone in Japan, we'll do that too, but trim them from posts until we have our final result.

I'll also be posting updated lists at about 9 AM MST every day (except for a planned break from 25 September to 1 October).

I'm also accepting suggestions on how to make this process more efficient, because I'd like to get this all voted on before we have DLC to start shaking things up. If you're open to three characters per day (one for each position, GKs would be DFs) then I am too!

No is related to a "No Innate" option in my project. If you don't want no color then:

March 31: Green

June 30: White

August 31: Red

October 31: Black

November 30: Yellow