Meh. Skip KoFXII. It's bad but KoFXIII is amazing. Can't praise that game enough. No gimmicky gem, x-factor or easy combo bullshit that comes with Capcom fighters. Those games cater to crap players it's not even funny. KoFXIII was a breath of fresh air after the massive crapfest that SFxT is and kept me going for a few months (was really waiting for TTT2).
I play the characters I like regardless of tiers, though I do take tiers into consideration. That's where my name comes from. Codys colours costume 10 in Super Street Fighter IV.