Do Awkward Tricks Deter You From Characters?

I know, depending on whether or not you play pad, stick, or Hitbox (mainly pads), there are some strings in this game that, while far from impossible, are either a pain in the ass or strange to your mash style to pull off on your tool of choice. And now, the game's been so fleshed out that a lot of those "awkward" setups have healthy alternatives for anyone who wants to pick up that character, but worry whether or not their discomfort with said string will hinder their progress before they even pick them up. It's happened to me quite a few times, from the beginning where this was just a game, even to today as I reach out the olive branch to good ol' Kung Lao, but as a pad player still cannot find a comfortable rhythm to mash out the damned 2121212YayHats12121212 (you know the one).
I'm just curious: have any of you gents had similar experiences? I'm not some Olympian execution God of Kombat, but I've played fuckin' everybody at some point or another, so I figure there's no shame in diving into the error macros of my leveling up just for the sake of some good conversation, and maybe there'll be others among the tribe with similar issues who I/we can help flesh out and better their skills in the name of picking up that "one guy" they always wanted to play, but thought they were going too far wrong with to tackle .

Here have been a few of my more significant experiences thus far...

-Scorpion's 2 2+1. 1+2 combos have never been an issue for me thanks to Quan, but since Scorp has both this and a 212 string, there've been entirely too many times I've tried to shoulder someone into a Tele~111 Spear and ended up 212'ing them into the ground. Plus, it's my favorite string of his, so having it constantly screw out on me was a big deterrent in playing Scorpion.

-Kung Lao's 21212 and Dive Kick + 2 EX Hat strings. Now, the DK + EX Hats, I wasn't uncomfortable with the execution as much as the idea of using up precious meter on a combo that's not very hard to drop, so I came up with my own, comfier strings, but I've always felt like my hatred of 21212 would be a big issue if I ever tried to seriously pick up Lao. Every other similar string: Cyrax's CG, Raiden's 1212, etc., I can do no problem, but this is the bane of my life with a Hat.

Ermac: I cannot for the life of me hit the double JKTP into D1 Squeeze.

-Reptile's 321 Dash NJP: I practice this stupid thing every damn day. STILL can't do it consistently. Idk if it's my TV or if I'm just retarded, but nothing works. Dash and NJP with 1, nothing. 2, nothing. Piano key roll the buttons, nothing. I get it maybe 1 out of 5 times. Salt.

-Cage's jab dash juggles. Idk why, but he's the ONLY one with whom the timing always troubles me. Nightwolf, Lao, Noob, Shang, no problem. Johnny, can't fucking keep them up. No idea why.

-Noob Saibot's Portal resets. EVERY DAMN TIME I finally manage to get someone into the trap, I screw up the NJP. I just said the hell with it and started the 1 2 carry the moment they fall, but I really want to work out the timing so I can get that extra strike.

-Shang Tsung's Skull Loops. This isn't an execution problem so much as a me being a dumbass problem as I always forget or mistime what ender or continuum I'm supposed to use depending on what range I struck them into the combo from. There are few things in this game flashier or more fun to watch than Shang bouncing fuckers around like beach balls with his Skull onslaught, but it is NOT as easy as it looks at all.

-Kabal. Do I even need to say it?

-Raiden: The B312/334 to Teleport/D1 Zap, I forget the exact notation, but you know the one. IMO, it's not an absolute necessity as a Raiden player, but going back to the point about Lao, it feels kind of hollow trying to get a character down and getting completely stuck on something 90% of his players can do in their sleep.

-Sheeva: Nothing says "Fuck you for playing Sheeva" like trying to end a string with the Grab and having it whiff (I'm looking at you, Mileena).

-Rain is TOUGH. Probably some of the strangest combo timing in the game IMO, but I know this falls more on me and my playstyle than anything else.

-Freddy's Ground Claws. WHY is it that more often than not, trying to end the Close/Mid/Far Ground Claw string ends up putting a Claw in the wrong place? I don't think it's just me, almost every time I see a Freddy on stream, I see the Claw come out somewhere it's not supposed to at least once or twice, and it's infuriating. You're already not Bo Rai Cho, now you've got screwed up Claws on top of it? Eat me, Freddy.

So what are YOUR most problematic strings or gimmicks of this awkward nature?

1 xx ex hat? That might be your problem right there. My BnB is 112 spin jk dk 2 ex hat 1 1 24 1+3. Try using 2. More range, more damage, it is faster, and it is on the same input button as the hat.

The only thing in this game that boggles my mind execution wise is REO's kabal bnb. That being said, I'm still getting used to the bizarre cancel timing for skarlet. Every string works differently it seems like. I have trouble looping Ermac's B1 2 F1 in the corner also.

Yeah, I fucked that up, lol. Wrong number. Stupid numbers...

Ermac's corner loop is dependant entirely on height and gravity, which means even if you get them set up for it perfectly, if they're off in the slightest, it's gonna drop .

I only left off Kabal and Skarlet because they're universally known as the most execution-heavy characters in the game, so their entire metagames are pretty much based around flawless execution and timing.

Ermac: corner loop plus too many characters already
Reptile: retarded BNB I cannot be bothered to get down
Kabal: my fingers hurt
Female characters: they're female

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn. NKZero with the 1950's Kombat approach, lol.

I find with Sheeva the 1,2,b1 dash, 4, bf3, (mid screen) is tricky, I most times end up doing an f4 instead. But I'm sure some people can do it without trouble at all. Good old welfare xbox dpad.

I can't stand 1+2 stings on a pad, and it's kept me out of two character (Quan and CSZ) that I wanted to play. I really to learn to play on a stick. I mean, I got one, what's fucking stopping me?

Jade, kitana, cyber sub, and skarlett are the ones I can't figure out for thee life of me

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk 2

I main scorp. The void gives me issues (NJp, b2, jk tp, f4 3 spear) I can rarely hit it right.

his 212 combos took me forever as well to master. I think his combos are actually very difficult compared to others i've used (Kenshi, Raiden, Sub, Lao)

@Spletty91 - I feel you, my friend. There are some people in this game whose players I literally just scratch my head and wonder how the hell they do the things they do.

@Vagrant - Any tips of hitting the 2 2+1? Love the string, but haaaaaate screwing it up.

@RomeoBravoDelta - If you do the piano key trick, it works every time. Or it could very well be your buttons. My pad is old as hell, so my buttons are worn to the point they've gone smooth as hel and I can just slide my fingers for it, but every time I try it on a different, newer one, my thumb'll click the 2 wrong and screw it up.

Jax - the multislam is just awkward for me.

Most characters that have combos like dash 1, dash 1, dash 1, dash 1, into something (NW, Jax, Sonya, for example). I've never gotten used to it so I usually screw it up by not buffering dash correctly or something like that.

for 21+2 tp 2 tp d1 spear vortex.

22+1 tele, then theres a semi strict timing on the 2 tp afterwards

Watch scorpions feet when he teleports right when they land on the ground is your green light to input.

As for accidentily 212 ing when you mean to 21+2 I'd say always keep half of your thumb on 2


The d1 spear is what kills me. Practice the hell out of it man it's so satisfying to land

Yes on both. I hate trying to do the Quad/X5 Slam on pad . Who the hell thought to map it to 1+4 and 2+3??

IMO, I think the two hardest have to be Nightwolf and (arguably, this may just be me) Cage.
Nightwolf's trick to me isn't the naked Chop 1 carry, it's the one off his BnB's that always give me trouble just beucase I never seem to be able to time the 122 Rush right. And I think I hate Cage too much to ever accomplish anything with him.
Stupid interchangeable dash speeds and gravity >_<...

Absolutely. He may be on the bench right now in the name of Baraka, but he'll always be one of my favorites to play.

Also: No sooner did I jump in the lab after making this thread than I figured out the 21212 mash and the EX Hat juggles.

Wearing a Hat doesn't make me feel nearly as dirty as it used to.

Surprisingly I like the 1+2 things on pad. I only have trouble with being fast enough to do certain things. Like I wanted to use Liu kang for a while, but couldn't TKfb

For the Ermac players: The easiest way to get his B1,2,F1 loop in the corner,B1,2-D1,TKS-B1,2,F1(x2)-2,2,TKP

When I first started playing I was on pad so I had many of the same hesitations that Lt. Box mentioned regarding rapid 121212 strings as well as 1+2 button combinations, however, now that I use a fight stick I have enjoyed some new-found success with characters that I suppose would be considered more difficult (execution wise). I still have my limit though. As so many of you have mentioned, Kabal and Skarlet are just too execution heavy for me to play.

And even though I main Ermac, his b+1,2f+1 (x3) corner combo gives me a case of the dry heaves. I know I have read @zaf and others talk about how if Ermac starts the combo with an ex. lift, dash sets up the "perfect" timing to land all three b+1,2,f+1's but mannnn, I have yet to land it. It doesn't deter me from using him, but its still annoying.

Didn't you, @STORMS, or @Metzos have a video specifically on how to do this? I swear its what I used to help me. Helped me break my bad habits with the dpad.

Let's see...

Reptile - getting the stupid f3 kick when trying to dash into a blockstring.
Cage - the 2222222 combo in the corner... I'm lucky to get 3 2s before I drop it.
Skarlet- having to do red slide in combos.
Cyrax - the god damn resets. I can't do them without getting slight dashes that fuck em up.
Sonya - military stance shenanigans... Get arch kick way too much.

212121212121 or whatever with Koong Lao is the only thing I can't hit consistently. Everything else in this game is a piece of cake.


I feel you Boxy Brown.

Oh I can do it already. I use 3 for the jk so I'm assured it comes out before I teleport.

I hate commands that requires me to hit two buttons at the same time.example.I always wanted to learn quan chi but that damn b3,(1+2) never stuck with me no matter how much I worked on it.So characters with commands like that in which they heavily depend on,I don't play.Mileena's roll is pretty awkward too.Kenshi,some of his inputs seems awkward along with rain.