Character Discussion: Zafina

This is Sean/Lionheart here and today I'm gonna brief you on the character Zafina. Zafina is a new character that was introduced in Tekken 6. She has one of the most interesting and confusing playstyles in the game which revolves mostly around her three stances Scarecrow, Mantis and Tarantula. Movement-wise, she has a very fast backdash and due to her small stature, she can sidestep attacks more effectively.

To play Zafina effectively, you have to know the correct situation to use her stances. Opponent trapped at the wall? Scarecrow for wall pressure. Opponent is being aggresive? Mantis to space effectively and counterattack. Opponent turtles? Tarantula for simple 50/50 pokes.

Zafina also has a wide array of mids to play with like df1, df3, db2, df2 and her infamous ws2 which crushes highs and some mids. Her extremely unsafe lows makes her one of the most difficult characters in the game with her safest low being -14 which is launch punishable by a few of the cast. She also has few moves that give her frame advantage on block, making it harder for her to go on the offense. Her tracking is absolutely horrible with her fastest homing move taking 16 frames to begin and another taking 36 frames to begin.

Zafina has a very high damage potential when walls are around. A simple combo like df2,df1,df1,f23,SCR 3+4,B!, df14 W!, f23, SCR 4 would wipe off about 50% of the opponent's health bar. Without walls, she would have to rely more on her pokes and evasive maneuvers to catch and punish whiffs. All in all, Zafina is most suited to be a turtle/defensive type of character who uses her evasive movement and long range move to punish any whiffed attacks.

Top ten moves
Df1-Safe and fast mid poke that can be followed up 2(a jab punishable mid) or 4( a safe but duckable high)
Df3-A mid that enters scarecrow on hit or on block. Holding b will cancel the transition making it effectively safe.
Df2-Her mid launcher which is jab punishable. It high crushes and has a nice amount of range too.
Db2-A high crush mid that knocks the opponent down on Counter-Hit for a okizeme(wake-up game).
Ws2-Her launcher from crouching that crushes highs and some mids. Unsafe but Zafina can roll away into Mantis by holding ~b.
B1+2-Her longest range and fastest low. Deals poke damage and is launch punishable but still effective when used sparingly.
Ff4-Advancing high kick that has big range, safe, tracks fairly well, ok damage, and scary good at the wall.
1+2-Jab punishable mid that stuns the opponent on counter-hit for a combo.
Db42-A low,mid that launches the opponent on counter-hit for a combo. The low is -14 and the mid is jab punishable. Holding d after the low transitions her into Mantis.
Ff3+4-Advancing two hit mid move that gives chunky damage and wallsplats. Fairly safe due to pushback on block. Can transition into Mantis by holding~d.

Zafina might be lacking a lot of good moves but she is the perfect character to play if you want to have fun confusing and killing your opponents for every attack that they whiff on you.