While Iori is likely no surprise(as much as I'd like to see Claw variant come back, I know that's unlikely), what I'd really like to see is how they'll be dealing with Adel if they decide to give him his rightful and deserved due after his undue cutting from the playable roster during Ash Saga despite being the other protagonist of said saga. According to Word of God themselves.
My face when I found out I wasn't getting my fav team in XIII.
Ahem. At least he made friends with Heidern in the game and has an even better lore-saavy in in now.(I'm still hoping for the Heidern/Adelheid/Whip team up, which I think works from a story and aesthetic standpoint.)
The extreme, dead sea levels of salt out of the way, what would I like to see him with coming into a traditional, 3v3, KOF?
So far, several of the Ash saga characters managed to make it from a tag game into a traditional one. Okay...five did. Four in XIII, and one in XIV(Oswald also missed XIII.) They carried over in varying states; Oswald, Duo Lon, and Shen were all very good in XIII. Elisabeth didn't carry over so well(she went from mid to low between XI-XIII), and Ash stayed about the same(mid.) Oswald was ridiculously strong in XI and was excellent in XIV. Shen was overall in a solid spot all around. Duo Lon jumped around(going from busted in 2k3, to lower in XI, to high in XIII.)
https://wiki.hardedge.org/images/9/9d/Ktani_tier_list_20181026.jpg
(The usual, go-to XI tier list when I need to link one.)
Adelheid's role in XI was that of a very high damage dealing, very high stun dealing meter hog. He could kill you in no time flat with even only a couple of bars(even WITHOUT meter his damage was big.) With dizzy being a thing in KOF XV, I could expect him to be able to hurt you pretty bad here, still, unless they normalize stun damage out(in which case I hope they juice up some other things.)
He had little in the way of basic defenses(in those days they had some characters take more damage/had less stun bar, while he wasn't to the extreme of his old man and Gouki in SvC-they had like, half the health of everyone-he was in that vein of clearly being keyed toward offense. The Bernsteins don't seem to care much for defense.) He had a low stun meter(but, as said, he himself dealt gobs and gobs of stun to everyone else; essentially a direct trade.)
Keep in mind, all of the defensive stuff is likely going to not come into play as hard in XV; varying stun meters I don't see as often these days in FGs in general, and while they may keep health variants, they tend to not be as extreme nowadays(in KOF XIV, they had health that ranged from 900 to 1100, with the vast majority in the 950-1000 range. Only 12 of the 58 characters fell out of that, and stun was all even. We don't even know if XV will have different health variants.)
That said-so long as he had meter, he had defensive options between his two genocide cutters(one AA/reversal, one low profile), and his LDM(which was absolutely ridiculous, 2f, invuln startup, anti-air, could catch wakeups, did half your life, could catch people tagging in...the latter wouldn't be an issue in a non tag game but it would still catch wakeups probably.) He tended to be ranked pretty highly on tier lists; early ones had him more middish, but the later ones often ranked him in the top 8-13 characters fairly consistently. Install a good battery on a team with him, and he could run riot. He had fantastic tag-stun combos with a lot of the cast, besides his solo juice.
Thanks to a command grab to mix up with and a pretty excellent projectile(which if you cancel into it up close, it became a hit depending on B or D), he was capable of holding someone at bay or going in hard, and his damage was so nasty if he opened someone up, even with a very, very basic hop in combo it could mean a chunk of life without too much meter. (I'm going through super basics here. Keep in mind I wasn't an XI competitor or anything-they didn't HAVE XI competitions around me, lol. We just played a bunch and enjoyed it.)
Transferring over to a trad game that doesn't utilize skill stocks(that we don't even know the mechanics for yet, we'll know in about a week of the time of this blog) or tag mechanics(I highly, highly doubt XV will be tag) means he might need some adjustments, I think(to be honest, I think Elisabeth and Ash could have used some more work being carried into XIII, too.) I think he could use another special or two, for one.
We ALSO have to keep in mind in XI, while there was a Dream Cancel(this is when you could cancel a desperation move into a Leader Desperation move-it was expensive but it was pretty epic when it got off), it didn't have EX moves or Max Mode or anything, which while I can't predict the future, I can say that I'm fairly confident we'll be seeing these back again in some way in XV(and with whatever other mechanics they may add.)
All in all, this list is going to be shooting a bit blind in the dark; making assumptions about max modes and everything like that. So I'm going to try to keep the wishlist fairly basic, if you will; stuff that I think could fit in pretty well in whatever they decide to do with the mechanics(or at least almost.) I will assume Max Mode and EX moves, for now, are staying. (In fact most of this wishlist is me just discussing how I'd like the moves to interact with EX/Max stuff.) That is, in fact, something I had to consider; the fact he was already a dude who was good at using meter, introducing EX/Max Mode stuff and/or whatever else they're doing with meter this time could mean he's even BETTER at using it. Which would possibly(again, guessing, solidify his spot.) If EX moves are useable outside of whatever MAX mode they're doing, this could be pretty fun for him as well, especially given some of the kick that EX variants of his moves could actually produce(I'm drooling over the idea of a safe D G. Kicken/Reppuken cancel, not even getting into the fact they could give him a genocide cutter OUT of supers...)
For one: I think it would be just fine for him to keep his meter hog status. Not everyone in KOF has to be Classic Iori, able to play any position without issue(a couple of games notwithstanding, and yeah, he IS better in the 1 or 3 spot but still. Maybe Kyo would be a better analogue.) Not everyone has to be a good battery. And there's definitely some very strong characters who are best as anchors. Claw Iori from XIII is great example(and one thing I DID legit love in XIII)-it's easy to forget due to EX Iori's everywhere-nature in XIII that Claw was actually one of the scarier anchors in that game in terms of damage for meter burn, but he did need it to be at his best and to have his best options available.
Adel would be fine like this I think. It wouldn't change his role too much regardless of being put into a new(and at least partially unknown) system.
Essentially loaded with meter-if he at the bare minimum keeps his stuff from XI(I'd expect him to maybe get something else to be honest, optimistic perhaps but I kinda do), he can essentially control the pace of everything. He has an anti-air AND a low profiling Genocide Cutter so he shuts down carelessness there. His Gigantic Pressure/God Press in XI had invuln startup and was one of the top LDMs. His Kaiser Wave was a nice bonus(probably used less than the others in my experience; it almost feels like the Kaiser Wave was there to be a shout-out to another move from his dad.) It had it's uses(the delay was nice for mindgames). I'll get into his supers more down the line.
None of this even gets into his specials, which I'll get into here. (I'm going to, of course, try to be fair here. I mean if I had my way I'd probably be throwing proximity unblockables on him or something but I don't want him to be banned or have to undergo a nerf bat.)
(It's documented fact that firing off reppukens with your feet make you cooler.)
His reppuken(okay, technically a reppukyaku; it's basically translated to what's called Grand Kick in XI) qcf+B/D projectile is great-and he can cancel INTO this move for riskier shenanigans. Cancelling into the B variant allowed you to be able to link right into his genocide cutter(it caused soft knockdown, but you could cancel it into his GC). The D variant juggled anywhere, caused hard knockdown, did chunky damage and racked up stun bar(seriously, it'd do a good 40% of a stun bar's worth a stun off of 2 crouching B's.)
I really want these to stay since I loved how they worked. They could have some fun with these for EX variants. EX reppuken shots could be faster, perhaps. The hit versions could be safer on block, making them less riskier; this is probably what I'd do(since the D cancel already juggles.) So he could go for one of his mixups; say you go for the hop into cr. B->cr.B-qcf+D, but they anticipate, the EX variant will be safer. (I won't get into frame data, as that could be very different in between games. This isn't a tutorial-if the gods are good and he's in XV that will come in time.) If they wanted to be really stupid, the EX variant could be an overhead(it'd be based on the D variant I think.)
Overall it's an interesting move in that it combos differently off of different attacks depending on what variant you're using. His st. A can combo into either the shot or the hit(you just delay it slightly to get the hit.) And it links on block too(hence the EX version may being able to be safer.) But his cr. B can only link into the hit variant. cr. C(a high kick, FWIW) on the other hand can only combo into the shot. (Most of these can combo into the hit version. Keep in mind that the projectile still appears, it's just a point blank at that point when you cancel into it. If you can get ahold of XI to play him then you'll know what I'm talking about more.)
He also has a command grab as well; one moved him further forward than the other. You could combo it. In XI, it functioned as a nice mix-up tool(if people were scared to approach due to fearing a cutter or a god press, he could start forcing the matter with the grab.) It could leave people at a longer distance(he pushed them away), but it was still a good way to break through someone's guard if you had to. People could get a little deer in the headlights around a metered Adel, I mean imagine not wanting to charge at someone with a Genocide Cutter. It did not however cause hard knockdown; I would like to see the EX variant maybe do that(causing hard knockdown at the cost of some meter seems like a fair trade.) That said Adel has several hard knockdowns; a faster startup or some invuln would also work for an EX version if they felt he'd get too many.
His qcf+P is his projectile reflect. I sort of wonder how they'd work with this one. I suppose this is one of those that doesn't need much? It does what it does. I wonder if they could rig up an EX variant that went into the rushing launching kick afterward like it does in KOF All Star? I'd need to actually maybe consider how exactly this would work but I think it might be workable. You could maybe bait someone into coming forward instead of chucking a projectile and come out and nail them. I'm pretty open to brainstorming on this one.
Adel has three command normals; I think it'll be fine if he keeps these, other characters have more than one command normal. f+B, b+B, and df+A. His f+B command normal was an overhead(similar to what his old man had, actually.) This can stay. It was a nice mixup tool. Caused hard knockdown as well.
df+A was a juggle. It was a high kick that had a bit of a high hitbox(it probably could use a little adjustment in the front), but it was +1 on block and could frame trap with d+B.
I'm trying to figure out how his b+B command normal would work. This is an odd move; it's a 3 hit combo(it's a true combo, too), and you can combo into it from heavies(cl.C->f-B for example works just fine), and it causes a hard knockdown. You can special cancel one of the first 3 hits(it hit four times.) I'd have to think about if this one might see some changes. It made for nice combo filler. It could end up somewhat like Iori's f+A, A command normal?
These could probably stay as is unless there were game shifts that turned these into different specials. I liked what they did, though. His overhead, IMO, needs to 100% stay. I think all three could work in, even if they'd need to be shifted somewhat.
If I could see a move that functioned as his wall splat blowback, it would probably just be his old standing E, though I could also see them take the animation for the last hit of his b+B command normal, since it has a very good 'blowback/splat' animation.
Supers:
His supers are excellent overall. The Kaiser Wave is overshadowed by the others, but it has its uses, and the delay you can do on it is nice. Maybe the MAX variant can be given extra juice somehow(giving it a bigger hitbox, though it's not like Adelheid with meter lacks AA capability.)
His Genocide Cutters are fantastic. They both have some invuln on startup in XI, do chunky damage, the B variant makes great combo fodder(you can spit out gobs of damage throwing the GC at the end). They both nullify projectiles. The B GC functions as a powerful AA(they even nerfed it from 2k3; like the B GC was nerfed from 2k3 and it was still really good; they gave it less damage-it used to do around 40% in a hit and now does around a quarter-made it not be able to juggle and it hit practically behind him. Keep in mind he was also banned in 2k3. He could OTK you in the corner with that OR his LDM. So we don't need to bring back that craziness.)
The D variant could low profile(it slid in before hitting.) They both could be used depending on the situation, and this could make approaching him very tricky at best. It hit harder than the B variant in XI(weirdly, the D variant didn't hit as hard in 2k3 as the B.)
What would I like for MAX Variants? I'd say the B variant could gain its nastier hitbox back and/or juggle capability(given they had to nerf it to be sane, it might be more reasonable to only gain one of these; I'd say the juggle variant I'd like to keep but that might be out of line. I'd be happy with the Super-Wild AA Coverage too.) The D variant, I'd maybe like to see be completely safe/more invuln? It's already only -4 in XI, but maybe having it totally safe for a meter burn will give an even scarier approach tool. Admittedly, I'm at more of a loss of what I'd like to see happen to this one but the idea sounds good in my head anyway.
(As an aside, I like how his super GCs are allowed to feel like proper GCs, unlike Rugal's in '98 which is neutered to absolutely nothing, I'll get into this later in the 'New Moves' section.)
Finally we have his God/Gigantic Press which might be his climax in this(see below again, however.) This move was ridiculously good in XI; as I said it really was one of the best LDMs in the game(in XI, it was only available as a Leader move. You would designate someone as the Leader.) 2f startup, invuln on startup, anti-air, huge damage, priority over like almost any damn thing, could catch people on wakeup. You really don't need to do much to this move. He'd probably end up with a slightly more sane version, if anything.
Given the press can catch in the air, I wonder if there'd be a Max Cancel combo that involves a GC into this thing. Probably.
Other Stuff:
As I've mentioned, I don't think he needs like supreme meter build capability. That said, I do think his normals need some cleaning up. He hits like a truck, but their hit/hurtboxes weren't the best. Again, he doesn't need to play any and all positions and be amazing at meter gain or anything, and it's cool to have a character that needs meter for their best/scariest options(again, thinking of Claw Iori, who without meter had a bit of a battle but could kill you in NO time with even some of it), but without access to tag mechanics(having someone begin a combo-tag in Adelheid to mangle them), his normals need to let him confirm into stuff a bit better. I'd mostly focus on improving the hit/hurtboxes on his A/B buttons, as well as his D could use a little adjustment for air-to-air/standing confirms(and for crossing up.) If he had those things, I think he'd be set, without turning him busted.
A more visual thing; I'd like him to get a different animation for his 'side swapping' grab. I'm not sure what(in the comics he did a cool thing where he planted someone down with his boot, maybe something like that?) No mechanical changes here; just a different animation for the other-side grab to keep things fresher.
New Stuff?
I decided after some thought, another couple of specials might be nice. He seems to be coming up short a bit here. Now we do have to keep in mind his Reppukens also cancel into hits, so you could squint and consider these a couple of different specials as it is; it depends how you look at it since the hits and the shots ARE different moves, and you can only cancel into the hits.
"Do you want Adelheid to get a non-super Genocide Cutter?" I would, sure, but make it *work*. Rugal in '98-the legal, playable version, not the banned bosses' version-best AA is a damn jab, which should go to show just how badly they nerfed the GC in that. It's terrible and it doesn't even hit as hard as other character's DPs! If they give him as bad as a normal GC where it's just combo fodder I'd rather them give him something useful instead.
I'm not saying it needs to work like his super(it couldn't in any legal sense.) So the answer is yes, but please make it work properly. Just make it a standard DP; nothing too OP, nothing too weak like it is in '98. So, again, yes but please make it *work.* This could probably round out his special list, maybe?
Another cool move I'd like to see him have is actually one he does in the comics a few times; I dunno what it is exactly, but it's a big, nasty, ground-crushing stomp. I guess it might be considered his version of the Dead End Screamer? It could probably function like this where he can be a threat from overhead too, why not. It'd be cool to have and it looks brutal as hell. Hey, his dad had two Desperation moves in '98, so can he here. Unless they want to shift the God Press into a Desperation instead of the Kaiser Wave or something. There are some options.
('wtf is happening here' well in the first, the manhua took some liberties with the story and had K' team fight everything. Adelheid is currently berserk due to his sister's music-she can drive him into a killing frenzy with it-and is lost to sense here. K' had to snap him out of it before they could continue the fight more chill. In the second, he's throwing down with Yagami. I dunno why they artist did his eyes blue in this one single picture btw. And oh yeah, in the top picture that's the actual steel floor of the sky noah. It's...strong. How K' didn't get the entire upper half of his body obliterated is beyond me. I digress though. I just wanted to show off the move he does in the comics that I want him to have.)
Actually, he could have a more 'special' variant like he does in the 2nd panel(where Iori dodges.) Could function as a dive kick like deal. There we go. Then he'll have the big, nasty one as a climax.
That said there are other cool moves he could have but lists need to stay reasonable.
(I dunno WHAT this other ground stomp move is, but he destroyed half a forest with it while training, later going on to say he was holding back. I don't think he needs this in the game, but it's cool looking so I posted it anyway. It strikes me as a projectile, which he has enough of as it is. But again, just posting for cool factor.)
So an example, maybe, XV Move List might look something like:
Throws:
Close b/f+C
Close b/f+D(Animation change like mentioned above)
Command Normals:
f+B(Overhead, hard knockdown)
df+A
b+B(w/ whatever adjustments it needs)
Special Moves
G. Kicken(Shot): d,df,f+B/D
G. Kicken(B Cancel): From certain attacks, d,df,f+B
G. Kicken(D Cancel): From certain attacks, d,df,f+D(there'd be a list of stuff you can cancel from for these). this one juggles anywhere
G. Wand: d,df,f+A/C(Projectile Reflect)
Drucken: hcf+A/C(Command Grab. C variant travels further.)
*(NEW): Genocide Cutter: f,d,df+B or D(just make it function as a DP.)
*(NEW): Dive Stomp Thingy: Could be done from the air with a motion, or maybe a backward dp motion from the ground? OTG.
Super Specials:
d,df,f x2 B/D: G. Kreis(Both have invuln on startup and projectile nullification. D low profiles.)
f, hcf+A/C: G: Kronprinz(Kaiser Wave, as stated.)
qcf, hcb+A/C(or something): G. Sklaven(Moving this to his Super Specials for a new Climax.)
Climax Special:
Whatever that giant ground shattering thing is he does to K' in the manhua. We'll call it the Grand Pulverizer for now and let them rename it into gratuitous German.
But really that'd be fine I think? I think it'd fit a meter-deadly anchor. I know many characters have like an extra special, but it could maybe fit his anchor position to have an extra super special?
The dude has a good amount of stuff here I'd say. I more or less just wanted to ramble that if I get my christmas/birthday wish and I finally get my boy back in a new game(otherwise I guess I'm sticking with '98/XI out of necessity), some things I wouldn't mind seeing him with. Which ended up not being terribly different, but it was nice to brainstorm how the stuff could work with the newer, likely mechanics like MAX mode. I haven't done a mechanic blog in ages, even a simple one like this, and there's a lot of guesswork since we dunno exactly where they're going with the mechs, so it's a little rambly, but hey. (Edit: Since this article was written, we've gotten some bits of info-but given it still looks like we have a Max Mode, and you can use EX out of Max Mode, things could be cool here-mm, EX Genocide Cutter.)
If all goes well and my boy gets back in I'll be curious to see if absolutely any of this happens or if they have other ideas to do with his moves.
Fingers crossed!
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