TEKKEN 8 is off to an incredibly strong start, and including its two currently available DLC characters, it has a roster of 35 playable fighters, with more coming in the future.
You’d think that, with all of those options, there’d be fairly diverse opinions about which character is the scariest to face off against in a tournament.
However, the Tekken 8 pro players we spoke to at Red Bull Golden Letters in London all seemed to agree: Dragunov is terrifying.
Sergei Dragunov, the White Reaper, has always been a fierce character going back to Tekken 5, but the current meta of Tekken 8 sees him utterly dominating to the point that other pros are getting nervous.
Five-time EVO champion Arslan “Arslan Ash” Siddique tells us: “He’s so broken. I think he’s definitely the scariest.”
When asked about the strongest player right now, Kane “KaneAndTrench” Heartfield says: “It’s undeniably Dragunov.”
Heartfield went on to say of fellow player, Lim “Ulsan” Soo-hoon: “Both he and his Dragunov are really, really scary.”
Hasan “JoKa” Rehman was split on his decision though, stating: “The scariest characters to play against would be Dragunov and Yoshimitsu because of their strengths.”
Other players seemed to agree with this following Rehman’s comments.
Kim “JDCR” Hyun-jin explains: “I find it scary to play against Yoshimitsu, because Yoshimitsu is strong but also plays mind games.
“For example, he needs to press a button when he should be at a disadvantage. Usually in this kind of position with the other characters, I know what’s going on.”
Richie “Ayorichie” Olusanya concurs: “In Tekken 8, it’s easily Yoshimitsu.
“I’m not even hesitating on that one. This character can spin away from homing attacks, which are supposed to track people that go sideways, right?
“Having an option that beats homing moves, but also sets up an opportunity to defensively punish me, makes no sense in my mind.”
Not everyone stuck with Dragunov or Yoshimitsu, and there were a few differing opinions.
Hoa “Anakin” Luu chose characters you might not expect, saying: “I think currently since Tekken 8 is still new, some of the newer characters are a lot more challenging to face.
“Compared to other Tekken sequels, there have been the most changes [from game-to-game] in [Tekken 8].
“I think Victor, Azucena, and Reina are probably going to give long-term veterans, like me, the hardest time.”
Some pro players have been practising their Tekken skills for decades, while others got involved more recently.
As a result, everyone has a different favourite game, and the longer they’ve been playing for, the older it’s likely to be.
JoKa, for example, has been an active competitor since 2019, and regularly places highly at the tournaments – if he doesn’t win them outright.
So it makes sense that his favourite game so far is Tekken 7, but 8 might come close.
He says: “I really enjoy Tekken 8 though, it’s a lot of fun but I understand that right now we’re in the vanilla phase, a lot of updates need to happen, and the game’s going to change a lot as time goes on.
“I think Tekken 8 has a lot of potential, and with time it’ll become my favourite.”
Arslan Ash opts for Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and says: “That game is so fun that you can’t get bored of it.”
Anakin has a more personal choice, saying: “I have a soft spot for Tekken 5, just because those were some of the most fun days for me as a Tekken fan.
“Being a kid in high school, finishing school and homework before spending the rest of the night [at the arcade] trying to move up the ranks in the local scene.
“It’s my childhood, so I’m definitely a very sentimental person.”
The game that brings you into the scene is usually your favourite, and that’s true for KaneAndTrench, too.
He says: “My personal favourite happens to be the first Tekken game I ever played, which is Tekken 4.
“The reason being is it has an atmosphere that no other Tekken has been able to replicate.
“It wasn’t the most balanced game because it was very experimental at the time, but from a casual perspective, it was easily one of the best games and I don’t think any other Tekken game has matched its feel at all.”
JDCR explains: “I think my favourite is Tekken 6. In Tekken 6 there are many styles of play available, and it was possible to see many styles in the game.”
While players can’t seem to agree on a personal favourite in the series, their picks for the scariest and strongest characters in Tekken 8 – Dragunov and Yoshimitsu – are impossible to ignore.
It’ll be interesting to see if Bandai Namco will tweak these characters in accordance with popular opinion – like Tekken 7’s Leroy Smith – or will keep them as the dominators of Tekken 8.
Either way, Tekken 8’s first year has gotten off to a strong start, and the future is bright, even if Dragunov dominates.
If you want to read more about Tekken 8, check out our interview with creator Katsuhiro Harada.
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