Ultimate Type Soul Shikai Tier List [RE-RELEASE]

Updated on August 4, 2025: Reworked the entire tier list for the re-release buffs and nerfs.

I’ll rank all Shikai in Type Soul from best to worst according to the re-release buffs and nerfs and recent changes. Note that I’ll be taking into account build combos with Hakuda, Speed, Kendo, etc., as well as combo potentials for Shikais like Creation. Check out the ultimate Type Soul Shikai tier list and guide below.

All Shikai in Type Soul Ranked

In this Type Soul Shikai tier list I ranked Shikais according to how powerful and oppressive they are when played at their maximum potential. This is why for some I assume you’re mixing them with other builds like Hakuda/Speed/Kendo which I will recommend. It’s also why you’ll see some Uncommons in the S-Tier because their true combo (stun-lock) potentials are amazing when you learn how to chain them into other moves from the skill trees. Lastly, I’m heavily taking into account the recent buffs and nerfs so if a Shikai like Duality used to be SSS, note that now it’s much weaker. More on that below as we take a look at each Shikai individually.

Rerolling Shikais: If you want to reroll your Shikai check out our Type Soul codes for free rerolls.

Partial Res: If you’re a Hollow/Arrancar players check out our Partial Res tier list.

S-Tier Shikai

S-Tier Shikai	Notes
Benihime Mythic	• The new rework is amazing with tons of true combo potential and works really well with Speed and Kendo builds • Stun combo potential with X and great defenses with C • Very flexible with great damage, good defense and combos
Ink Legendary	• Has one of the best passives (Ink) in the game that reduces enemy damage and slows them basically discouraging them from going for true comboes • Apply the Ink passive with C (huge hitbox so aim behind to avoid block) and critical • X is a double attack where the first one disables half the enemy moveset and the second hit disables the entire moveset • Use X immediately after guardbreak for the best results • Incredible control of your opponent and you can get really tanky if opponents go for comboes while Inked
Theatre Legendary	• The best noobstomper in the game because usually new to mid-experience players don’t know how to counter Z and X which cannot be parried or blocked (You have to side dodge it) • C is an amazing counter move that true combos into Rising Swallow, Floating Strike and generally a lot of moves except into Unseen Blade which is a slight nerf • Good on a wide variety of builds
Flower Legendary	• The Flower is so powerful since every time you land any Flower move you get an aura around you that deals really great damage • Z is a great combo starter due to the stun and X is huge damage and guardbreak • Finally C is great for repositioning and can extend your comboes • The damage effects just get boosted further with max expansion
Shinso Rare	• S-Tier underrated option but I’m going to assume you’re doing Shinso with Shikai Stasis since it’s only competitive with it (The base crit is really weak) • This is a very versatile Shikai that has a ton of combos • Z is good for poking and canceling moves • X is a great counter that sets up other moves with a true combo like X into C • C does a lot of guardbreak and is a great mix up move at any point
Creation Uncommon	• Incredibly high skill cap Shikai that relies on you learning all the comboes you can do with it • For example, ZM1 has hyperarmor on frame 1 that mini-stuns so you can use it to prevent a move or combo it into Floating Strikes/Fast Fang • ZM2 is a true combo starter like up close into Rising Swallow or mid-range into Bisection • X also true combos into a lot of moves like Fast Fang to extend your combo • C is good for combo starting and guardbreaking but also baiting out parries and you can just leave it down to always keep your opponent on their toes • Overall an incredibly good Shikai that requires a lot of practice
Weight Uncommon	• Weight is actually really good now due to the damage and cooldown buffs as well as the passive application buff where everything applies it • Just stack up your passive and you get a free true combo from anything that pops the passive • A lot of the moves now have hyperarmor like X’s second part can’t be canceled • Overall a really powerful Shikai option now

A-Tier Shikai

A-Tier Shikai	Notes
Duality Mythic	• The heaviest nerf Duality got which put it in A-Tier is that your cooldowns are now shared between stances so the Black C Shift no longer resets your CDs • Still, even though it doesn’t do crazy damage due to cooldown resets as before Duality is still good due to the three ZXC guardbreaks on Black, it’s just not S-Tier anymore • The White moves used to be OP when you could spam them but they’re still decent now that there’s no CD reset with Z being unpunishable
Ice Legendary	• Z is really good if you play around distance since if you land the end of it you get an extra stun effect plus Z is really low CD • C is one of the best Shikai counters in Type Soul currently due to the massive damage it does • X is the only move that keeps Ice from S-Tier since it can be easily countered
Blood Legendary	• There’s a lot of mix ups and combos you can do with Blood with Z as your starter since the second part stuns • The C is a really fast reliable move • Overall it’s a really good Shikai that combos well with itself and heals you if you keep landing the moves • It deals damage to you if you miss but note that this doesn’t happen if you get blocked, parried or dodged.
Judgement Rare	• The main tool of Judgement is that Z is quite powerful and allows you to stack another move right behind it to apply more pressure • Z into critical or eviscerate is really good • X’s second part is a counter and deals more damage if you apply Objected with Z • C guardbreaks if you hit them with X’s counter
Berserk Rare	• Like Theatre this is a noobstomper because the Z move is difficult to block/parry and gets hyperarmor below 50% HP • That said X is easy to parry even with its flexibility for mobility or hyperarmor keeping Berserk from S-Tier • C guardbreaks • Berserk is perfect in A-Tier especially when you consider Unsealed Rage
Water Rare	• Is really good with the recent Rei changes (Less overall rei/No accessories have Rei) since Water steals Rei on hit (Really good on a Speed or Kendo build to apply pressure) • Just combo moves with Speed/Kendo moves to steal reiatsu and keep applying pressure to drain your opponent • X and C combo into a lot of Speed/Kendo moves • It’s not S-Tier because it’s not OP and takes a lot of setup and combo practice

B-Tier Shikai

B-Tier Shikai	Notes
Snow Mythic	• With the true stun, wind up and cooldown nerfs as well as the removal of hyperarmor (you can get parried) Snow isn’t as good as it used to be  • If you were a Snow veteran and know how to make the most of the moves with a Hakuda/Kido build you can still be decently competitive  • Otherwise while it’s decent, it just doesn’t apply the same pressure as before with Kendo or Speed builds
Kyoka Suigetsu Mythic	• The main weakness of Kyoka and the reason it’s in B is that it’s only good if you play around your clone and your clone doesn’t always act optimally which can be annoying • Still, if you get lucky and your clone cooperates and isn’t glitchy, you can pull of some amazing builds with Yamato • Use Sonata Flow and Flash Fang to stun enemies as your clone movestacks without getting killed • A big weakness is that your clone can get one shot in the first few seconds when summoning if the opponent plays smart
Zangetsu Rare	• While Zangetsu deals great damage and has good guard break and ragdoll potential, the moves are a bit telegraphed and easy to parry • Overall it’s a great noobstomper but you’ll struggle against players who know how to dodge and parry
Assimilation Legendary	• Used to be much better before they made the Absorb stacks only go to 50 which nerfed the ZM1 and ZM2 damage • Absorb is still good for making X move really good • That said the stun potential of both X and C also got nerfed so while you have a lot of options, they just don’t as much damage and stun combos as before
Suzumebachi Legendary	• While Z and C can do good damage they can be easily parried/dodged due to the slow/predictable windups • X is really powerful if you can land it and good for combo extension with Jump/Sonata or Jump/Crit
Fire Rare	• Best combined with Hakuda or Speed to stay close to the opponent and apply pressure with Z ragdoll into other moves • With X and Hakuda, knock them up to blockbreak then go Reach to extend it • Overall a decent mid Shikai that requires other skill trees to be competitive
Lightning Uncommon	• Z no longer has true stun combos with many of the skill tree moves • That said, it’s still incredible for mobility and guard breaking with X and C • Easily punished if you miss

C-Tier Shikai

C-Tier Shikai	Notes
Ash Rare	• Decent with a Hakuda build but overall isn’t the most powerful in terms of damage and true comboes • That said, the X into the C move is a pretty good basic combo
Wind Uncommon	• C is the MVP move here due to the long range AOE that can be used as an ender and combo starter • Decent damage but no OP synergy and combos
Poison Uncommon	• Decent damage over time damage • Can still be viable with some build comboes • Due to the effects you can usually charge up another move

D-Tier Shikai

D-Tier Shikai	Notes
Confusion Rare	• Confusion clones are way to easy to tell apart so you’re not really confusing anyone • Z is horrible since it’s a free punish if you mistime it • Overall gets countered by a lot of things, even something as simple as Kendo 50 • The counter is decent but doesn’t save it
Shadow Uncommon	• Overall doesn’t synergize and combo into many moves that it used to combo before • While Confusion is at least good for its counter Shadow is probably the worst Shikai in Type Soul

That’s it for my Type Soul Shikai tier list and guide. Check out the best clans in Type Soul for more guides.