@Heikou I had to chime in on this before the night ended. DB hit the nail on the head but I had to stress some facts as well. Akira didn't need ANY form of buff but he in NO way needed any kind of nerf either.
I've been using this character since Day 1 DOA5 Vanilla, I've seen some great tools come and go and while I have always believed he was top 10, he has never been a "stupid" character. Only a character as good as the player in his hands. Yes he has all the tools you named on top of the best wall damage in the game but you never mentioned his weaknesses.
- Execution barrier and required battle sense and mindset in order to play. You can list his tools on paper but he requires execution and technique as well as strategy in order to make anything actually happen. There is nothing this character has that would constitute "braindead" and everything has to be used intelligently in order for even him to win a match, especially against a player that knows his weaknesses.
- He hates sidestepping. Yes he has fantastic frame traps but he is largely a single strike character and unlike most of the cast once you side step his ONE attack (unless it's PP) weather not he's at +1 or -5 more than likely you're nailing him with your SS attack because he lacks strings as well as overall tracking. He has a crushable high tracking move, an i18 NOT true mid with a terrible stun that has to be commited to in order to catch a step as using it gives up the offence in place of a guard break, jab or many of the other great offensive pressure tools he has. He has a million frame traps but they aren't that scary when 9 times out of 10 you can sidestep him unless he risks giving up the offense to accommodate that with low reward tracking moves or risk losing a 3rd of his health going for a throw after light advantage.
Gotta throw in 214P while I'm there. CB was
NEVER GUARANTEED after 214P. In certain cases after a jab in stun if you used 214P while they were at slight distance, your +19 would become +20 or +21, the latter guaranteeing CB but it was never consistent due to slow escaping slightly shifting the character's hitbox as well as certain characters having slightly different hitboxes from eachother. Every now and again you could get a CB if you were lucky but there was never any specific setup that guaranteed CB through the use of 214P. There was ALWAYS a degree of chance in every iteration of DOA5.
You can talk all you want about Akira blowing up characters in matchups but what he needs to do to win as well as his weaknesses can be combated and exploited by every character in the game due to his design. Yep Akira vs Bass is terrible, but he, like every other character in the game can step Akira after that demonic 2P +1 on NH and unless Akira accomodates by throwing out his only tracking move or using a throw (and risk losing half life) there is nothing he can do but block or throw out a strike and eat an SS attack.
Yes, he has all the tools you need to win, and in the right hands he can beat just about anyone. But he is ONLY as good as the player using him. He is the perfect example of a character based on the players' skill and ability but because of his overall design and
not because doesn't have the tools he needs to win and
has to rely on player skill (IE. Ein).
This character was stupid in Vanilla because he had a broken throw, at no point since it was removed has he been stupid, overpowered or braindead in any way. He has retarded damage if you work for it, he gets blown up if you play stupid because unlike the other tops, he doesn't have braindead tools or obscene speed advantages to cover player weaknesses and flaws.
Akira is balanced, he didn't need nerfs.
