Grolarbears
Noob
So, I’m finally dropping Noob in favor of Raiden and possibly someone else, and I would like to give a final match up chart of my experience with him and give thoughts on his weakest points. Some people will definitely disagree with my numbers, because I think I give different numbers than a lot of Noob players. Happy to discuss some things, but not looking to get into any heated discussions in this thread.
Baraka: 6-4
Cyber Sub-Zero: 4-6
Cyrax: 4-6
-I play C88 Nitemare very often offline, and this is a very manageable mu for Noob. His zoning and anti-zoning still work well here. It’s like playing against Sub Zero on steroids.
Ermac: 6-4
-As accepted generally by the Ermac community.
Freddy: 4-6
-I could use more experience in this match up, but I believe this is the right number.
Jax: 5-5
-I would be inclined to call this 6-4 in Noob’s favor, but maybe EGP_TYRANT or daddydab32ho could give some input on this.
Jade: 5-5
Johnny Cage: 5-5, if not 6-4 in Noob’s favor.
-This will be the most complained about one, but I have never had exceptional trouble beating JC with Noob. I can elaborate more in the thread If someone wants, but I have several times before.
Kabal: 3-7
-In my experience, it is 4-6, but I’m sure it’s realistically 3-7 or worse.
Kano: 6-4
Kenshi: 5-5
-I feel inclined to call this a 4-6, though. It feels rough for Noob, even though Noob technically outzones Kenshi at full screen.
Kitana: 5-5
Kung Lao: 3-7
-Could be 4-6, but the more I play this mu, the more it is my least favorite mu with Noob. Kung Lao controls everything.
Liu Kang: 6-4
Mileena: 4-6, maybe 5-5. Maybe Jer could say what he thinks.
Nightwolf: 5-5 because I have no idea.
Quan Chi:5-5
Raiden: 4-6
-possibly 3-7, I don’t have the mu experience.
Reptile: 5-5
Rain: 5-5
Scorpion: 5-5
Sektor: 4-6
-I’m not kidding when I say I feel like this is worse than 4-6, but I can’t really explain why. I just get bodied by Sektor.
Shang Tsung: 6-4
Sheeva: 7-3
Sindel: 5-5
Skarlet: 4-6
-From experience, 5-5, but I’ve only gotten to play Scar once, and other Skarlet’s I have played online.
Smoke: 4-6
Sonya: 4-6
-I’ve decided this is 4-6 for sure, if play patiently. Noob just doesn’t have anything to make Sonya worry.
Stryker: 6-4
Sub-Zero: 7-3
Noob’s generally recognized weak points are his zoning, which has huge recovery frames. It is actually very simple to forego this problem. Instead of using shadows for a general zoning approach (let’s throw stuff and make someone stay far away), they should be used for whiff punishing and for AAing opponents. This is a much smarter way to use his tools, but just zoning is still very applicable against heavy rushdown characters. And I won’t discuss Noob’s damage output, because this is an obvious problem.
Literally, Noob’s weakest facet is the fact that his fastest strings (212, 12) are huge to his game, but people can duck under them: (2)12 and 1(2) I believe. So, it makes any pressure he could have up close obsolete as the game continues to evolve. The next possible choice for a pressure string would be F3,3,3, which is 17 frames, hits mid. After a d3, it is 14 frames. This is not acceptable against the top tier characters. Noob’s lack of fast, mid-hitting normals is what hurts him the most in my experience. Also, not having a fast, forward advancing normal. His footsie game suffers so badly from that. So, Noob becomes a defensive footsies/whiff punishing kind of character, because his offense will only work on people who don’t know the mu, imo. And it sucks, because his up knee is such a good tool in his pressure.
So yeah, I’m still always willing to play Noob in casuals and in mms. I may still use him for a couple of mus I listed here in tournament, but for the most part I am no longer a Noob main. Thanks everyone over the past several months for playing with me and helping me sort things out with him.
Thanks,
Grolarbears
Baraka: 6-4
Cyber Sub-Zero: 4-6
Cyrax: 4-6
-I play C88 Nitemare very often offline, and this is a very manageable mu for Noob. His zoning and anti-zoning still work well here. It’s like playing against Sub Zero on steroids.
Ermac: 6-4
-As accepted generally by the Ermac community.
Freddy: 4-6
-I could use more experience in this match up, but I believe this is the right number.
Jax: 5-5
-I would be inclined to call this 6-4 in Noob’s favor, but maybe EGP_TYRANT or daddydab32ho could give some input on this.
Jade: 5-5
Johnny Cage: 5-5, if not 6-4 in Noob’s favor.
-This will be the most complained about one, but I have never had exceptional trouble beating JC with Noob. I can elaborate more in the thread If someone wants, but I have several times before.
Kabal: 3-7
-In my experience, it is 4-6, but I’m sure it’s realistically 3-7 or worse.
Kano: 6-4
Kenshi: 5-5
-I feel inclined to call this a 4-6, though. It feels rough for Noob, even though Noob technically outzones Kenshi at full screen.
Kitana: 5-5
Kung Lao: 3-7
-Could be 4-6, but the more I play this mu, the more it is my least favorite mu with Noob. Kung Lao controls everything.
Liu Kang: 6-4
Mileena: 4-6, maybe 5-5. Maybe Jer could say what he thinks.
Nightwolf: 5-5 because I have no idea.
Quan Chi:5-5
Raiden: 4-6
-possibly 3-7, I don’t have the mu experience.
Reptile: 5-5
Rain: 5-5
Scorpion: 5-5
Sektor: 4-6
-I’m not kidding when I say I feel like this is worse than 4-6, but I can’t really explain why. I just get bodied by Sektor.
Shang Tsung: 6-4
Sheeva: 7-3
Sindel: 5-5
Skarlet: 4-6
-From experience, 5-5, but I’ve only gotten to play Scar once, and other Skarlet’s I have played online.
Smoke: 4-6
Sonya: 4-6
-I’ve decided this is 4-6 for sure, if play patiently. Noob just doesn’t have anything to make Sonya worry.
Stryker: 6-4
Sub-Zero: 7-3
Noob’s generally recognized weak points are his zoning, which has huge recovery frames. It is actually very simple to forego this problem. Instead of using shadows for a general zoning approach (let’s throw stuff and make someone stay far away), they should be used for whiff punishing and for AAing opponents. This is a much smarter way to use his tools, but just zoning is still very applicable against heavy rushdown characters. And I won’t discuss Noob’s damage output, because this is an obvious problem.
Literally, Noob’s weakest facet is the fact that his fastest strings (212, 12) are huge to his game, but people can duck under them: (2)12 and 1(2) I believe. So, it makes any pressure he could have up close obsolete as the game continues to evolve. The next possible choice for a pressure string would be F3,3,3, which is 17 frames, hits mid. After a d3, it is 14 frames. This is not acceptable against the top tier characters. Noob’s lack of fast, mid-hitting normals is what hurts him the most in my experience. Also, not having a fast, forward advancing normal. His footsie game suffers so badly from that. So, Noob becomes a defensive footsies/whiff punishing kind of character, because his offense will only work on people who don’t know the mu, imo. And it sucks, because his up knee is such a good tool in his pressure.
So yeah, I’m still always willing to play Noob in casuals and in mms. I may still use him for a couple of mus I listed here in tournament, but for the most part I am no longer a Noob main. Thanks everyone over the past several months for playing with me and helping me sort things out with him.
Thanks,
Grolarbears