Another discussion that I wanted to bring up, about what I believe is an underrated character. I don't hear much buzz about him, which is odd, because I think he's great. He has a good, strong 28 vitality, and brings a big damage-boosting E to the table. While his E is not as consistent as other aggressively inclined characters' abilities ( Astrid , James Hata** , Mitsurugi* ) in that it varies based on your opponent, it does have the advantage of being easier to use than the aforementioned characters' damage buffs ( Hata** and Astrid require committing, Mitsurugi requires sacrificing a foundation and building your deck around a specific zone). His First F allows him to sacrifice vitality to deal even more damage, which can interact nicely with any Desperation -based effect. Here are a few standout cards from his support that can help his case:

Double Grounder Beta - One of the prime reasons to run Siegfried* at all IMHO. Deals absolutely vicious damage at very little cost. It has no disadvantage when paired with Siegfried* , as he can use his First F to guarantee the Combo E 's requirement is satisfied.

Hilt Impact - One of the most solid setup attacks in the meta right now. Stats are no concern with this card.

No Forgiveness! - A universal answer to any threat in your opponent's staging area, this card is a very potent part of Siegfried* 's arsenal.

Rising Hilt - It sets up the Double Grounder Beta combo, and can pack some pretty vicious damage of its own.

Soul Calibur* - One of the most vicious reprisals to a commit effect ever. It's Siegfried Only for a reason.

Torn Hero - No excuse to not run it if you're running any of the symbols. Plain and simple.

Where I really get stuck is Siegfried* 's symbols. Earth offers damage pumping, damage reduction, plenty of cards with the Stun keyword, a nice array of tech cards, and most importantly for the Double Grounder Beta combo, easy momentum. However, it has nothing in the way of speed boosting, which is not good for Siegfried* 's attacks (none of them is a throw). Good is similarly reduction and tech-oriented, but it trades in the Stun power and the damage potential for the ability to get attacks through unblocked with ease, as well as the option of Reversals . Life is more balanced in its offensive approach thanks to Mitsurugi* 's support, but I feel that Siegfried* is better suited to one of the above two symbols.

What say you?

I like him off Life. You get Atoning for the Past for quick momentum, as well as both Robes of the Grandmaster and Eiserne Drossel for speed bumps. More or less off Life he can borrow some of Tira's support (and now Mitsurugi/Taki/Xianghua), not possible off Earth.

Siegfried's biggest problem now is avoiding comparison to Mitsurugi off Life, although I'm sticking with my third reich posterchild.

If there's one reason I've repeatedly touted Siegfried, it's that he's the most flexible aggro character. Sure, he doesn't break scales like Astrid or Hata, but as you mentioned, they're all about committing and involving set-up for which Siegfried requires none. While most people would say "Sieg's E is inconsistant", the only characters that even remotely scare his E are King, Lu Chen, and of course Siegfried mirror. Otherwise, he scores +3-4 on every other character in the game.

His symbol spread gives him a lot of leg room when it comes to a beautiful blend of counter-control and aggro (and off Earth, counter-aggro for sure). 28 health is pretty much the cream of the crop these days, and access to cards such as Stand Off and Strange Fashion definitely help that. I too prefer a Life build because of his E + Drossel-Robes giving everything a general +4 +4.

The main reason nobody talks about him is simply because he's so boring. He's absolute aggro on a stick. However, he's topped several store championships because people are realizing his simplicity is his biggest strength.

The other huge reason is that King shares two of his symbols, and up to this point, has won more championships than any other character, from what I gather.

So yeah, it's a hard knock life for ol' Sieggy, but at least he's proven himself in the way I always thought he would.

Sweeping Tail Strike also helps Siegfried off of Good by tossing out attacks for free.