Speaking of CS2, Lord Knight (top American BB player) wrote up a lengthy article about how he thinks everyone will stand in the next iteration. I'll repost it here for you guys.
[collapse=Because long]S - Makoto Taokaka Noel Jin Hazama
A+ - Carl Arakune Rachel Litchi Platinum Lambda
A - Valkenhayn Mu Tsubaki Ragna Hakumen Bang
B+ - Tager
—-Explanation—-
Makoto without a doubt is the best character this time. High damage, strong oki and pressure, great at adding damage, and simple. Parry is scary and she has good mobility. She can corner carry of a big amount of hits.
Taokaka is pretty much the same as last time with an approx. 800 (average) damage nerf. Most characters damage went down, so she’s still tops. Counter assault was nerfed but it’s still one of the better ones.
Noel normals and pressure was buffed, I think that was all she needed to be good. She can still be random and do big damage from it. Her corner carry is a bit better than CS1. Optic barrel makes 6A anti air a real threat (6a CH > 2B whiff > optic barrel > blah).
Jin is just solid. Meter gain is high and he only needs 25 meter to do ex moves. Damage is high in the corner and does 3K-3.5K + corner off good confirms. C DP loop is good damage + meter and mixup.
Hazama is even scarier with meter. He can do 100 meter combos off 50 meter and they all do high damage. His damage without meter, on average is low, but if he gets a good hit, he gets 50 meter. If his meter gain was lower though, he definitely would not be S… once he gets 50 meter he’s really strong.
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Carl is still ridiculous but needs the clean hit to close the round. His current loop is pretty much unavoidable (with a couple of exceptions). Despite his strength (just like last time), he’s still not the best. If Nirvana used less meter though, he’d probably be S.
Arakune got a great buff in 5a > 2a > 5a but damage is lower and curse is faster (ie ends faster). Clouds being shorter duration is nice too. He’s still touch of death, but it’s not over if you have a lot of health. If he gets you in the corner, curse > combo > unblockable > over.
Rachel - a little wind boost, jA overhead, higher damage = strong character. She didn’t need much.
Litchi - Staffless pressure heavily buffed. The big thing is that her average damage isn’t 4-4.5K anymore and she doesn’t corner carry off every staff hit like in CS1. It’s possible to do it off most hits as of now. Corner damage can exceed CS1 off certain hits… JC nerf hurts though. Daisharin is still the best oki.
Platinum - Strong, versatile character. Big damage in the corner and a lot of tools for a lot of tricks. To be honest, I don’t know if she has any particularly bad matchups at all.
Lambda - The defining mid tier of CS1, much stronger in CS2. Buzzsaw oki is really strong. Meter gain is high, and gravity pit is actually usable as a tool in neutral. Mobility is high - she’s tough to catch. I might play her as an alt.
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Valkenhayn - one of the most disputed characters in CS2 (as far as strength). Damage is nerfed all around, as is CA. Mixup is still excellent and mobility is top notch. With his weaker CA and pressure being stronger in this game, I think he struggles against the top characters - even if his rushdown is so good. To be honset, I think he could’ve been the best in CS1 if he didn’t have a couple of bad matches.
Mu - Changed from CS1, but about the same strength I’d say. Much stronger in the corner thanks to 2A > 2A+C option select. Like Litchi, Carl, Valk and Platinum, I think her position can change easily.
Tsubaki - Buffed from CS1. Strong pressure and good corner carry. I think she’s just average though… most of her former bad matchups are mitigated by her higher average damage and faster charge. She runs up bursts easily since people will gold burst her 22[D].
Ragna - The other average character. He’s got good changes. Dead spike looks funny. Overall the same character with lower damage.
Hakumen - not really weak enough to be B, I think. His damage is still high. JD nerf was the biggest blow to him.
Bang - Pressure is strong but I don’t feel like he gets much off it. I still think he’s good, but he was one of the few CS1 characters that were just way too easy. He can definitely win if you learn his more technical stuff.
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Tager - Forever bottom until they give him Potemkin stuff.[/collapse]
And then I get to go to a tournament in Montreal on Friday where I'm gonna get blow up by the man himself. Hopefully, anyway.