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It's time for me to accept the truth, Kano is bottom three.

Altaire

Noob
Man, 6 frame upball that was like +2 on block? I'd like it back at this point, could use it as a crutch at least.
You can have that back if it's -2 on block, and I'll consider that pretty reasonable. I don't mind upball being safe, so long as it stops his offense.
 

-Deadman-

Getting better with age
High tier, Low tier, Mid tier... doesn't matter.
Lets not forget anyone in this game can beat anyone else.
This isn't sf ae w/ Yun, this isnt vanilla sf w/ sagat.

Sure, Id like the old knife and upball but I'm gonna use the tools they give me.
The only 2 major changes I would make would be:
- make ex charge ball dash cancelable so you're not a sitting duck. Or just remove the charge bullshit altogether
- make the 3rd hit of b112 a mid so maybe, just maybe I can set up mixups that can fool someone that's not elderly
 
I'd say he's bottom 5, but the #29 spot is a tossup between Kano and Baraka. I think Jade and Sheeva are definitely worse than Kano. Stryker is better than Kano and Baraka, however (in my opinion). So it's like Stryker > Kano = Baraka > Jade > Sheeva
 

BEENEEWEENEES

Thou shalt be slain!
as far as these "shitty footsies" go, kano's not dead in the water; he does have a 6 frame d1 and d3 and an unduckable string that leaves him +1 on block. everytime you get an opponent to block b112, it needs to be a guessing game. you gonna d1 choke in anticipation of a jump? upball to stuff something? wait to bait out an attack and punish?
he has several tools that are less common among the cast or unique to him that can blow up some matchups... for instance;
ex air ball punishes nearly any projectile in the game from almost full screen on reaction while, at the same time, providing killer oki for kano to start his offense.
he has the fastest unduckable full screen advancing special in the game w/ the ex version having armor. his forward ball is also very specifically useful in the nightwolf and rain matchups, where it evades both of their lightnings, and in the scorpion and jax matchups, where it soars over their unblockables. it also evades freddy's regular ground claws. the only other character with a move like this (that i can think of, please correct me otherwise) is liu kang, and his is slower.
his x-ray is one of the most "intimidating" in the game. kano being in your face loaded with full meter is a scary place for anyone and often results in your opponent a) jumping too much and/or b) freezing their offense for fear of eating the 41%. simply having full meter is enough sometimes to get mistakes out of opponents... like zangief loaded up with full ultra or something.

all this being said, i'm not trying to say he's a good character, because ideally, he really isn't, but i think people overlook him as a character that is only used to mash knives and upball all day. i absolutely disagree with the "bottom 3" remark but he's definitely in the bottom 10. most matchups for him are 5-5, but he has some trouble with a few of the top characters atm, most notably kenshi and mileena. i lurve my kano and have played him since day 1 and will play him in all future MK iterations, but to my dismay, it's time to start remembering how to play other characters in this game. he'll always be #1... in my heart ;-;
 

GNG Iniquity

#bufftaquito #punchwalk #whiffycage
I think if NRS made some slight adjustments to Kano, he'd be a nice character.

- Remove the charge for EX horizontal ball to get the armor easily, this is just stupid. This was a band aid fix by NRS and horribly lazy. A different input in the next installment would be ideal. Hitting block at the exact moment with a directional movement input is just a pain in my ass.

- Speed up the frames on B2. 23 frames is ridiculously slow for a relatively low damage string.

- Give him back the old knife speed.

- Add an overhead into B112
 

Somberness

Lights
Freddy gets to not only keep a projectile that emulates my old good knife throw,BUT GETS TO HAVE THREE OTHER ZONING TOOLS ALONG WITH SMOKE-STYLE TELEPORTING. I get a gimped version of Freddy's glove toss, while he also is able to throw a ground-based projectile, make giant hands appear from the ground, and can attempt to get green jello to land on my head and stun me.
Knife toss duration was only increased by 2 frames and is currently the same as Freddy's at 47 frames.
 

OmyMk

Noob
I think if NRS made some slight adjustments to Kano, he'd be a nice character.

- Remove the charge for EX horizontal ball to get the armor easily, this is just stupid. This was a band aid fix by NRS and horribly lazy. A different input in the next installment would be ideal. Hitting block at the exact moment with a directional movement input is just a pain in my ass.

- Speed up the frames on B2. 23 frames is ridiculously slow for a relatively low damage string.

- Give him back the old knife speed.

- Add an overhead into B112
I would be glad with decent bug fixes like:

- Choke should be unbreakerable like Jax's Gotcha Grabs.
- Ex Knives should count 2 hits ( he throws 2 knives FFS). Would boost meter building in blockstrings.
 

BigC

I'm great in my world.
Im honestly thinking about picking up kano just too see what I can really do with him.
 

TotteryManx

cr. HP Master
The 1 thing that really bothers me is the b112 string no longer can hit mid. That alone could probably help him.
 

THTB

Arez | Booya | Riu48 - Rest Easy, Friends
as far as these "shitty footsies" go, kano's not dead in the water; he does have a 6 frame d1 and d3 and an unduckable string that leaves him +1 on block. everytime you get an opponent to block b112, it needs to be a guessing game. you gonna d1 choke in anticipation of a jump? upball to stuff something? wait to bait out an attack and punish?
he has several tools that are less common among the cast or unique to him that can blow up some matchups... for instance;
ex air ball punishes nearly any projectile in the game from almost full screen on reaction while, at the same time, providing killer oki for kano to start his offense.
he has the fastest unduckable full screen advancing special in the game w/ the ex version having armor. his forward ball is also very specifically useful in the nightwolf and rain matchups, where it evades both of their lightnings, and in the scorpion and jax matchups, where it soars over their unblockables. it also evades freddy's regular ground claws. the only other character with a move like this (that i can think of, please correct me otherwise) is liu kang, and his is slower.
his x-ray is one of the most "intimidating" in the game. kano being in your face loaded with full meter is a scary place for anyone and often results in your opponent a) jumping too much and/or b) freezing their offense for fear of eating the 41%. simply having full meter is enough sometimes to get mistakes out of opponents... like zangief loaded up with full ultra or something.

all this being said, i'm not trying to say he's a good character, because ideally, he really isn't, but i think people overlook him as a character that is only used to mash knives and upball all day. i absolutely disagree with the "bottom 3" remark but he's definitely in the bottom 10. most matchups for him are 5-5, but he has some trouble with a few of the top characters atm, most notably kenshi and mileena. i lurve my kano and have played him since day 1 and will play him in all future MK iterations, but to my dismay, it's time to start remembering how to play other characters in this game. he'll always be #1... in my heart ;-;
d1 in today's metagame is not good anymore unless you're Kitana. Yeah, you can upball or choke, but chances are you're gonna be d3'd at the very least. Characters like Jax, Cage, Kung Lao, Liu Kang, etc, will fuck you up for sticking out a d1.

Yeah, b112 is great and all, but the range is ass, and people are whiff punishing now and walking backwards.

Also, eventually, oki from throw-type moves that leave you untechable will be way weaker with delayed techroll. It literally basically turns untechable knockdowns into normal knockdowns.

This game has REALLY changed a lot, and has changed even moreso between FR and MLG. It's really footsies-oriented and that's something Kano really isn't any good in. Back then, Kano was still okay, due to fundamentals not being as developed as they are now. Now that they are, his shit is hella exposed. :/
 

M2Dave

Zoning Master
Give Kano a good representative player, then see what happens
Nothing happens considering most of the established top ten characters beat him 6:4. His zoning game is average. His rush down game is average. His footsies are average. His damage output is average. And as THTB mentions Kano's good tools have become less effective as the game is evolving. This character does not even have a place as a secondary option in tournaments. That is why few players use him now days.
 

BEENEEWEENEES

Thou shalt be slain!
Also, eventually, oki from throw-type moves that leave you untechable will be way weaker with delayed techroll. It literally basically turns untechable knockdowns into normal knockdowns.
this isn't such an awful thing, and i actually really like it when folks refuse to stand up after an airball because b2 will hit otg if they don't block it correctly while laying there. i've been playing a lot with deep jump kicks, which will stand them up as well (along with the obvious d3).
 

THTB

Arez | Booya | Riu48 - Rest Easy, Friends
this isn't such an awful thing, and i actually really like it when folks refuse to stand up after an airball because b2 will hit otg if they don't block it correctly while laying there. i've been playing a lot with deep jump kicks, which will stand them up as well (along with the obvious d3).
I'm not talking about staying grounded. I mean staying grounded and then using delayed techroll so fast that it's basically a normal techroll. Untechable knockdowns are a lot weaker now because of this.

Most throws now are ass, due to this.