Strategy Kitana General discussion

[elPollo_Diablo]

I go out east to visit some friends every couple of months, so I can swing by and meet up with your scene for casuals while I'm down there. I don't play online though, waste of time/energy.

Scene?
you tell me
8 on the break doesn't even want to breathe a word of it
If you know a scene out here, let me know
(I'm getting back into MK since I left off at MK2)

 

[Lomyn]

Scene?
you tell me
8 on the break doesn't even want to breathe a word of it
If you know a scene out here, let me know
(I'm getting back into MK since I left off at MK2)

Haha you play at the break? Wow, I haven't been out to that place in years... like Soul Calibur 2 time. I know that Arturo and his crew are pretty into the game, you should try meeting up with those guys. They're in Jackson Heights though, I'm not sure how far that is from Dunellen.

 

[Konqrr]

I got a PM asking some things and I thought it would be better to put the knowledge in a thread for everyone to see instead of just one person.

1. I have most of Kitana's BnB's down pretty well but I'm have trouble finding an effective attack to Close distance since she doesn't have a teleport or absorb like Jade or Nightwolf. Do you Have any tips that could help here? I find I get knocked back and overwhelmed with continuous projectiles with characters like Raiden, Sub, Liu Kang or Scorp and I can't get my fan toss off fast enough most times.

2. Timing the Air Fan is Hard for Me and the Instant Air Fan has been near impossible for me which hurts cause most of her combos start with one or the other. Can you help at all with this?

3. Do you have any general tips that may help me be more effective with Kitana that a Relatively inexperienced player like myself may not be Aware of?

1. Great up close moves are 212, b12, and f21. All of which are safe. Off of a JPS (Jump Punch Starter), you can force your opponent to block her f41 which is really good. If it hits, you get a free combo. If it is blocked, you can add on a cutter at the end (before the second hit of the overhead connects aka f41~df2) leaving you at frame advantage.

Don't worry about Raiden throwing projectiles, or anyone but Kano for that matter. Just jump over them, block, or duck them and use it as a way to get them closer to the corner or for you to slowly get closer to them. Once you get around 1/2 screen away, you can do iAF on them and they reallly can't react to it. Once you train them to expect the iAF, you can start jumping in on them and by the time they realize that the fan isn't coming, it's too late for them to anti air you.

Sub iceballs? Is the clone out? If you are full screen, you can jump over an iceball and throw an air fan out which Sub is required to duck or block. After that, you have projectile advantage and can throw another iAF out and if he tries to throw another iceball out, he will be hit out of it. You can keep doing this until he learns to deal with it.

Liu Kang? Simply jump over his ground fireballs. If you are close enough, you get a free jk~air fan combo as a punish. His iAFB is good, but you can just duck or do ff~d1 to get closer. The d1 after a dash is so you don't have to block the fireball, you advance and duck under it with your d1. This is especially helpful in the Nightwolf, Ermac, and Kitana matchups.

Scorpion? Well, if he has meter, be careful throwing a fan out because he gets a free EX Spear every time. Just advance on him until you see a hellfire come out then jump and punish him. If he jumps, he dies. If he teleports, he dies. Scorpion without meter vs Kitana is a really bad matchup for him.

This game is ALL about mind games and reading your opponent. Once you know what counters you can do, you can really put the hurt on people when they become predictable.


2. iAF is rarely ever a combo starter, it's a tool used to put pressure on your opponent and build meter. Normal air fans are what start combos and sometimes iAFs do too, but that's just a bonus. Just press Up~Down~Forward, 1 as fast as you can. I usually do uf or ub, but that's just me and it doesn't really matter. Have your opponent in training mode stand and always block. Keep practicing the iAF until you can reliably have the dummy block it most of the time. This is a crucial tactic, so you must learn this.


3. Just play against real people as much as you can. Training mode helps your execution and learn new things, but trying all of your combos and setups out against another human being is the best place to learn.

 

[BenGmanUk]

What is the 45% combo starting from an air Ex fan I've seen mentioned for use against noob from 3/4 screen?

 

[Konqrr]

What is the 45% combo starting from an air Ex fan I've seen mentioned for use against noob from 3/4 screen?

Yes

 

[xTHUGx]

What is the 45% combo starting from an air Ex fan I've seen mentioned for use against noob from 3/4 screen?

When he throws either the sliding clone or running clone and you are atleast 3/4 of the screen then simply time your jumping so that you jump over the clone instantly and throw a low EX fan then dash maybe once or twice and start your BnB with f21

 

[BenGmanUk]

When he throws either the sliding clone or running clone and you are atleast 3/4 of the screen then simply time your jumping so that you jump over the clone instantly and throw a low EX fan then dash maybe once or twice and start your BnB with f21

I knew it was the ex fan cancelled into dash, f21 etc. but just wondered what the rest was and how starting with an ex fan effected the rest of the combo. I assume its not the standard 48%, unless the damage scaling from the ex fan messes with it?

I'll have a play when I'm back from work.

 

[Konqrr]

I knew it was the ex fan cancelled into dash, f21 etc. but just wondered what the rest was and how starting with an ex fan effected the rest of the combo. I assume its not the standard 48%, unless the damage scaling from the ex fan messes with it?

I'll have a play when I'm back from work.

It IS the 48% BnB, but starting with the EX Fan Cancel, it scales the combo to only 45%.

 

[Badboy Takuma]

hi,
some idea how 2 fight against reptile, i could do nothing against his Elbow Dash
how can kitana punish this move on block??
thnx!!

 

[Konqrr]

hi,
some idea how 2 fight against reptile, i could do nothing against his Elbow Dash
how can kitana punish this move on block??
thnx!!

There's not much you can do with Kitana. I don't know how many frames you have to punish with, but her fastest comboable normal is 11-12 frames (standing 2). Her throw comes out in 10 frames and her d1 is 6 frames.

My advice is to stop him from even being able to make you block it by using iAF.

 

[InfidelLance]

Just wondering if any kitana players would be open to mentoring me or anyone else that may be interested in learning her. Lately i've been using her and she is really underrated but shes hard imo and that makes people shy away from her. Ill make a tym room on xbox live at 6pm or alittle later if anyone cares to help.

 

[deathgun]

im trying to figure out how to punish Kitana after blocking these:

b + BP xx air fan
and
f BP, FP
b,b BP (can you block it and then rush trough the rest of the animation, or will it hit you a second time even if you blocked the first hit?)

As usual, I have noone to spend time testing these, and mk's trainning mode is awful. Im thinking about general punishment, not something char specific, thats why Im asking over here. But if you know chars specific punishment, feel free to describe them.

Another question; sometimes her reversal b,b BP have armors, sometimes it hits the opponent that was trying to start another string, and some other times it gets stuffed by that another string. How does it work, exactly?

 

[ChaseRLewis]

im trying to figure out how to punish Kitana after blocking these:

b + BP xx air fan
and
f BP, FP
b,b BP (can you block it and then rush trough the rest of the animation, or will it hit you a second time even if you blocked the first hit?)

As usual, I have noone to spend time testing these, and mk's trainning mode is awful. Im thinking about general punishment, not something char specific, thats why Im asking over here. But if you know chars specific punishment, feel free to describe them.

Another question; sometimes her reversal b,b BP have armors, sometimes it hits the opponent that was trying to start another string, and some other times it gets stuffed by that another string. How does it work, exactly?

b,b,BP can be punished with anything/everything. It normally doesn't hit people so they run into the string and get lifted. You just have to wait a moment, it only has "armor" on wake-up and it's invulnerability not armor.

f,BP,FP is safe unless FP whiffs which than just use a fastest something your character has that .

bBP is safe but bBP~fan is punishable by dash forward something or a fast long reaching move like cage's green kick.

 

[BenGmanUk]

What are people finding the most reliable way to punish raidens teleport? Does a crossover punch work well?

 

[Thefluke]

What are people finding the most reliable way to punish raidens teleport? Does a crossover punch work well?

A good thing to do is d1,df2. It is your best friend against raiden, you can interupt both his b3,1,2 and 3,3,4 with it aswell.

 

[BenGmanUk]

A good thing to do is d1,df2. It is your best friend against raiden, you can interupt both his b3,1,2 and 3,3,4 with it aswell.

Thats what I'm using at the moment which seems to work well. I never seem to be able to bring out the big combos against Raiden though as f21 often results in a port, superman punish. I guess its all about baiting a superman and punishing that ultimately.

 

[xxteefxx]

I would really love to see Kitana getting toned down a little as well as some other chars...kitana and shang by far never fails to amaze me on How GOOD these chars are. they can simply dominate in my opinion.

though i am not here to tell my opinion. I am here to ask! how the heck do u counter her corner NON push back cr+1x infinity ?

Seriuosly, it doesnt push her back if done right, whether opponent blocking or not (which is BS in my opinion...let alone it's the longest in range of all cr+1 and Fastest as well).

if anyone can answer, then ty.

PS: how u doin konqurr? great kitana by the way

 

[lobo]

wassup teef. d1 is actually pretty negative on block. with rep you can probably punish it with elbow dash. otherwise just do a n.j combo. one thing to remember is that she has no unblockable and no standalone overhead so there is nothing she has to make you not cr. block all day long. her strings that lead into an overhead can be uppercut...though i know rep's is really slow and i'm not sure that he can, but either way you can stand and block them. you will have to eat f41/f4b4 50/50 because you will want to stand and block that f41 always, but that is about it.

kitana isn't overpowered at all. she is a great zoner, but loses clean to other better zoners imo. she has great launch damage, but landing a launch is extremely difficult, and getting in to good zoners is extremely hard. she may be overpowered in some matchups, but some are also very hard for her for the same reasons.

 

[xxteefxx]

wassup teef. d1 is actually pretty negative on block. with rep you can probably punish it with elbow dash. otherwise just do a n.j combo. one thing to remember is that she has no unblockable and no standalone overhead so there is nothing she has to make you not cr. block all day long. her strings that lead into an overhead can be uppercut...though i know rep's is really slow and i'm not sure that he can, but either way you can stand and block them. you will have to eat f41/f4b4 50/50 because you will want to stand and block that f41 always, but that is about it.

kitana isn't overpowered at all. she is a great zoner, but loses clean to other better zoners imo. she has great launch damage, but landing a launch is extremely difficult, and getting in to good zoners is extremely hard. she may be overpowered in some matchups, but some are also very hard for her for the same reasons.

Yo lobo! how u doin man ...i didnt know u play kitana

hmm. i actually tried gettin out of it with a jump..and i simply cant.Not even NJP punish, her hit box is SO LOW on this move. beside, a good bait is to jump so kitana can Fan lift (happened to me a lot). Tried to dash, and it's nearly impossible! let alone the fact that cr+1, can stuff EVEN ex dash frame starter.

the problem is, i didnt try to get out of this using different chars. Rep pokes are WAY slow compared to kitana, and very short in range as well (especially if kitana zone the distance right in the corner). so seriuosly, this thing is REALLY annoying! lol
i will put more practice into it as soon as my brother comes back home tomorrow so we can test it and see.

about the f+4,1 overhead mix ups....yup i know. and it's annoying to counter online...sadly i dont know any good kitana's offline tell now (untill i attend this comming tournament)


and ya, ofcuorse i know she aint over powered it's just that SHE completely counter rep due to her Amazing turtle/ far away zoning, and mix ups offense, anti air...etc.
But , that doesnt mean she's an amazing char to be hoenst.....seriously if only people started realising how deadly she is...anyways, soon enough she will dominate in tournaments i bet.

thnx for replying man...take care

 

[lobo]

Yo lobo! how u doin man ...i didnt know u play kitana

hmm. i actually tried gettin out of it with a jump..and i simply cant.Not even NJP punish, her hit box is SO LOW on this move. beside, a good bait is to jump so kitana can Fan lift (happened to me a lot). Tried to dash, and it's nearly impossible! let alone the fact that cr+1, can stuff EVEN ex dash frame starter.

the problem is, i didnt try to get out of this using different chars. Rep pokes are WAY slow compared to kitana, and very short in range as well (especially if kitana zone the distance right in the corner). so seriuosly, this thing is REALLY annoying! lol
i will put more practice into it as soon as my brother comes back home tomorrow so we can test it and see.

about the f+4,1 overhead mix ups....yup i know. and it's annoying to counter online...sadly i dont know any good kitana's offline tell now (untill i attend this comming tournament)


and ya, ofcuorse i know she aint over powered it's just that SHE completely counter rep due to her Amazing turtle/ far away zoning, and mix ups offense, anti air...etc.
But , that doesnt mean she's an amazing char to be hoenst.....seriously if only people started realising how deadly she is...anyways, soon enough she will dominate in tournaments i bet.

thnx for replying man...take care

i believe d1 is -8. i may be wrong though. if so, you should be able to block it and punish w/ rep dash.

 

[Dark Kobra]

Sorry misread the post....

 

[robert6QY]

im a kitana mainer n i wondering how do u play against reptile ?
because once i start zoning with Instant air fan he just ducks n walk up and I slowly go into corner............

 

[lmaokakes]

What are Kitana's best wakeup moves? She used to be my best but I'm starting to prefer cage because of his superior wakeup moves. Seems like when I get knocked down with Kitana it's hard to gain the upper hand again.

 

[Konqrr]

What are Kitana's best wakeup moves? She used to be my best but I'm starting to prefer cage because of his superior wakeup moves. Seems like when I get knocked down with Kitana it's hard to gain the upper hand again.

Without a doubt, the Square Boost.

@robert6QY, vs Reptile you have to iAF him to death. If you are not on the ground, the dash can't hit you. Just don't do it too much when he has Xray.

 

[Earthbound360]

Anyone mind giving me advice on performing a D1 > Cutter string? What bothers me is that since D1 is such a short lived move that the window to cancel it into cutter is really tight. In that window I can mash out the quarter circle, but at that point I am still letting go of the 1 button, and I end up negative edgeing a fan toss. That in turn = punishment T_T

Another question. How viable is this for a pressure string? If cutter leaves you as positive on block as I'm guessing, shouldn't you be able to chain that into another d1?