arcade fighting game thought(not many of you will care about this, but i wrote this down so i don't forget):
generally, people will say top tiers are the ones that tend to have the total package, or most well-roundedness, and in a lot of cases, i will agree. however, i think it boils down to:
-strikes:
execution speed, recovery, length(space control in projectile-used games), hit level, natural evading movements during the move, combobility or power and (in 3D games) circular-ness; while there is often no such thing as the perfect strike or poke, often a combination of strikes with each specializing in a different aspect will be good(example Akira in VF4); a BIG factor in determining a top-tier, with a good number of strikes, this basically spells out the word MINDGAME
(in 2D games, an effective cross-up and jump-in and an anti-air are also a must)
-damage potential:
this takes into account the quality of their combo starters, the damage that they can do with combos/single attacks, and damage(and complexity to escape in VF) of their throws; while damage potential will not by itself be a determining factor in deciding where a character is placed, often it makes a bigger impact than the other factors.
-mobility:
movement possibilities w/the character, and speed of those possibilities(can they triangle jump, can they wavedash, runaway etc)
and another reason, though more as a secondary reason:
-lifebar(or weight in VF): damage intake is important; while the character doesn't need to be the highest endurance, generally somewhere in the middle of the spectrum is good enough

that's what i think it comes down to, plus your skill of course :D other things, though they CAN make a factor, tend to fade into the background; reversals/parries and other weird things by themselves won't make or break a character(though they help), just look at Lau in the VF series.

new song that i like: Kutless, "Your Touch," it's an interesting song; starts out sounding like Stain'd, then in the middle sounds slightly like Tool before launching into what sounds like hard rock, then back to the Stain'd feel. oh, and it's christian

i remember once thinking "why are christian artists who play rock and hip-hop so underplayed?" then after listening to 100.9 FM, i have to say, i take that back. i love the music they play on that station!

i remember my senior high school contemp literature teacher explaining how when watching movies you need to get to the 3rd level, whereas most people are stuck at the 2nd level, and used an example:
there was this movie(forgot the name) where a kid(maybe he went to church or something i forgot) grows up and around his teens sees a KKK ad and joins it; he then ends up near the end of the movie on a tower, sniping people. the teacher went on to tell us how everyone in the movie theater was booing the teen, until some person in the movie manages to get up to the top of the tower and kill him. then everyone in the theater cheered. and she said, "I was thinking, why don't these people get it? This is a tragedy!" and i couldn't agree more. while i can explain the rest of that day's lit lesson to you if you want(which is irrelevant to my point), i think that's how christ saw us and why he was willing to die. some people look at a terrible person and say, "Lookit him! So much bigotry, violence, hatred for others!" then they cheer when these people fall into ill will and possibly die. but God looked at him and became sad, thinking: "what a tragedy; this person could have become something good, like a missionary, or a pastor or just someone who believes in me wholeheartedly!" imagine him then looking at the rest of the world and seeing more people like this, his heart breaking when he saw the same thing and then saying, "I'll die for these people, because i know what they are worth, and i love them. i will bring back these people because i know they can become something better." that's what it's like. (and btw that's also how you're supposed to see people for who they are, rather than what they do)