Hmm. I understand the point then, and, while I dislike the splitup between the tier threads, I understand why you did it. A single thread would likely be filled with too many arguments for just a couple characters, either fanboy favorites, or the few fighters who actually do excel above the others.

I will continue to argue about the equipment setups, though, because the set bonuses and the accessories can drastically change the way a character is played, even at the top tier.

For me, Bartz would definitely be at least a high, if not a top. Fast and maneuverable, he excels at mid to close range combat. But the real power comes when you get him in EX Mode, because Goblin Punch is probably the single most powerful ability in the game. It breaks guards (I've even had it break Exdeath's All-Guard), does large Brave damage and goes directly into HP damage, and it has a large degree of homing capabilities.

Gabranth would definitely fall off the bottom of this list. I have had little to no difficulty with killing him every time I faced him. He's powerful in EX-Mode, but even then, he is hopeless at ranged attacks, and can't do anything if you keep him out of EX, or just wait for it to expire.