Crathen
Death is my business
Now that we have the frame data for Kabal cancels we can go in depth about it and this is going to confirm that Kabal is a great rushdown character wich is a side of the character rarely seen in tournaments.
I’d like to point out that NDC is his most important tool to master even more than Iagb , in certain matches you will not be able to just put up a barrage of Iagb and still win the fight if you don’t know every option you have after an NDC , of course NDC pressure has to be earned with practice and memorizing every choice the opponent does in order to make the right guesses.
First off here’s Kabal best NDC strings:
F32 : it’s 13 frames , hits special mid on every character , NDC will leave Kabal at +3 frames on block if executed perfectly.
B12 : 13 frames , hits special mid against high hitbox and some medium hitbox characters , hits high against low hitbox characters ( for better understanding check out MasterD “Kabal Pressure System” ) , its vertical hitbox is better than f32 so it can catch jumps on certain frame advantage , +3 frames on block.
2 : 9 frames , hits special mid only against high hitbox characters , hits high on everyone else , +10 on block if executed perfectly.
21: 9 frames , hits special mid only against high hitbox characters , hits high on everyone else , +2 on block if executed perfectly.
111 : 13 frames , the first two 11 hits high the third one hits special mid , +8 on block if executed perfectly.
11b4 : 13 frames , the first two 11 hits high , b4 hits low , +2 on block if executed perfectly.
Here’s your other tools for NDC pressure
D1 : 7 frames , hits special mid , +1 on hit , -7 on block.
D3 : 7 frames , hits low , +3 on hit ( standing opponent ) , im sure it’s more than +5 on a ducking opponent , - 7 on block.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Here’s the NDC theory works , lets say Kabal got in with his f32 / b12 NDC , if you hit him with f32 / b12 then you can hitconfirm into a combo , on block you are at +3 and opens Kabal options:
F32 NDC into F32 : this will hit anyone trying to interrupt it with a 11+ frame move , they can’t duck it , this is not gonna hit jumps and lowpokes / moves faster than 9 frames.
F32 NDC into B12 : this will hit anyone trying to interrupt it with a 11+ frame move , high hitbox characters can’t duck it , low hitbox characters can duck , it whiffs on some crouch blocking low hitbox characters like Sektor , this will not hit jumps and lowpokes / moves faster than 9 frames.
F32 NDC into 2 : this will hit anyone trying to interrupt it with a 7+ frames move , it anti airs any jump out attemps , it will not hit crouching ( without blocking ) characters , can be lowpoked.
F32 NDC into d3 : this will hit anyone trying to interrupt it with any normal / special ( except armor ) , it can be jumped out , on block leaves Kabal at disadvantage ( -7 ) .
F32 NDC into d1 : this will hit anyone trying to interrupt it with any normal / special ( except armor ) , it will anti air any jump ( can be followed by a combo ) , only armor moves can interrupt it , on block leaves Kabal at disadvantage ( - 7 ) .
Summing it up:
+3 = f32 > 11+ frames moves / f32 < 6-10 frames moves , jump out , armor
+3 = b12 > 11+ frames moves / b12 < 6-10 frames move , jump out , armor
+3 = 2 > 7+ frame moves , jump out / 2 < ducking , lowpokes , armor
+3 = d3 > any normal and special / d3 < jump out , blocking low stops pressure , armor
+3 = d1 > any normal and special , jump out / d1 < blocking stops pressure , armor
As you can see each option covers another wich leads to the core guessing game of NDC:
1 Is the opponent going to block?
2 Is the opponent trying to interrupt?
3 Is the opponent going to jump?
4 Is the opponent going to do an armor move?
The first one is essential part of NDC , if you think the opponent is going to block then you have 4 options :
1 Throw
2 f32
3 b12
4 2
Option 2 and 3 leads to the same guessing game , option 4 leads to huge frame advantage and option 1 creates space while doing some damage.
Now when you think the opponent is not going to block they’re probably going to interrupt you and while this is character dependent , we’ll probably get stopped by lowpokes faster than 10 frames wich are mostly d1 , d3 and d2 since they go under option 1 and 4 while they also interrupt option 2 and 3 , to counter them Kabal has 3 options:
1 d3
2 d1
3 Crossjump
Option 1 leads to frame advantage ( +3 on a standing opponent , at least +5 on a crouching opponent ) , option 2 leaves Kabal at +1 while creating some distance , option 3 will make whiff their d1 / d3 and some uppercuts giving you a chance to either cross jump punch into more frame advantage / hit confirming a combo with his strings ( notice that the 11 series is probably the best option after a jumping punch since you can either confirm it into b4 ND on hit or 111 NDC for +8 frame advantage on block ) or if they like to lower their hitbox with lowpokes cross jump kick can get them.
As you can see option 1 can be jumped , option 2 cannot be interrupted by anything other than armor and cannot be jumped out , option 3 can either be jump kicked , njp’ed , anti air on the way down with d1 , or anti aired by a fast normal with high hitbox ( like Johnny Cages 1 ) .
This brings us to the third question , what if they jump out? If they commit to jumping after f32 / b12 NDC ( +3 ) they will get out of: f32 , b12 , d3 and get a chance to land an air to air punch / kick on your cross over jump.
You have 2 answers wich are either standing 2 or d1 , both anti airs your opponent from any kind of jump and are hitconfirmable into a combo ( AA 2 NDC f32 ND or d1 dash f4 ND ) , standing 2 also covers from 7+ frames moves / normals leading to huge frame advantage ( but doesn’t hit lowpokes ) , d1 covers anything other than armor but doesn’t lead to more pressure.
Finally the last one , are they gonna armor through it? This answer is purely character depending and requires matchup experience and knowledge of their armor moves , but there’s general rule when you’re trying to read an armor move, is it safe or unsafe? Now if it’s safe you generally can block it and pressure your opponent or if you can make it whiff with a cross over and either punish him or go back to the spacing game , worst case scenario your opponent burned a meter and didn’t get much , if the armor move is unsafe blocking will net you a free combo , if you can still jump it and punish it you have 2 options for punishing it ( blocking and cross jumps ) .
This are all the options after a f32 / b12 NDC.
Now lets suppose they block a 2 NDC , Kabal is at +10 frames wich opens up the same pressure covering more options:
+10 = 2 NDC into f32 : this will hit any normal / special ( except CSZ parry ) , it will catch any jump attempt , can only be interrupted by armor
+10 = 2 NDC into b12 : this will hit any normal / special ( except CSZ parry ) , it will catch any jump attempt , can only be interrupted by armor
+10 = 2 NDC into 2 : this will hit anything your opponent tries to do ( not even armor ) and it jails in standblock if done perfectly , it’s technically a block infinite if you 2 NDC 2 NDC but most of the time your opponent is going to be able to crouch it and make it whiff since it’s really hard to get it down to the frame consistently.
+10 = 2 NDC into d3 : this will hit anything your opponent tries to do ( not even armor ) , if blocked low Kabal is at -7
+10 = 2 NDC into d1 : this will hit anything your opponent tries to do ( not even armor ) , if blocked Kabal is at -7
Standing 2 NDC creates an almost no risk / high reward scenario where if your opponent tries to do anything other than block low he’s in a block infinite , f32 and b12 can only be beaten by well timed armor moves but they risk getting hit with 2 NDC into more pressure or a combo , it eliminates two options from your opponent ( trying to interrupt it and trying to jump out ) with f32 and b12 and virtually eliminates anything other than block with 2 NDC.
Summing it up:
+10 = f32 > any normal / special ( except CSZ parry ) , anti airs any jump / f32 < armor
+10 = b12 > any normal / special ( except CSz parry ) , anti air any jump / b12 < armor
+10 = 2 > any normal / special , cannot be jumped / anti airs , cannot be interrupted by armor / 2 < nothing
*Note that performing this infinite down to the frame is unrealistic / inconstistent so most of the time if they have a low crouch blocking hitbox the 2 will whiff and you can’t link ND making them able to interrupt you.
+10 = d3 > any normal / special , cannot be jumped , cannot be interrupted by armor / d3 < blocking low stops pressure
+10 = d1 > any normal / special , cannot be jumped / anti airs , cannot be interrupted by armor / d1 < blocking stops pressure
So after a blocked 2 NDC your best options are either go into another 2 NDC , f32 / b12 wich are only interruptable by a really well timed armor and leads to the +3 frame advantage with NDC or a throw.
Another tool I’d like to explain is d3 , the good thing about d3 on hit is that it always gives advantage , +3 on standing opponents gives Kabal a free f4 wich will also anti air any jump out attempt , once the opponent respect that you can start mixing it up with throws , f32 / b12 , 2 and all of that , the best thing about it is that if it hits crouching opponents ( this happens when you read their lowpoke after NDC and d3 ) it grants even more advantage , i haven’t tested it but it should be more than +7 since i couldn’t d1 Kabal out of f32 , use d3 to make your opponent jump or block in between NDC.
A last mention goes to the 11 string , especially after a jump in punch you can go into a 11 then you can confirm it into a combo with b4 ND or go for the last 1 into NDC wich leaves Kabal at +8 making his f32 / b12 not interruptable other than armor moves.
+8 = f32 > any normal / special ( except CSZ parry ) , anti airs jumps / f32 < armor
+8 = b12 > any normal / special ( except CSZ parry ) , anti airs jumps / b12 < armor
+8 = 2 > any normal / special , anti airs jumps , armor ( just if done perfectly ) / 2 < can be crouched and lowpoked
+8 = d3 > any normal / special , cannot be jumped , cannot be interrupted by armor / d3 < blocking low stops pressure.
+8 = d1 > any normal / special , cannot be jumped , cannot be interrupted by armor / d3 < blocking
stops pressure.
Note that standing 2 and b1 will whiff on low crouch blocking hitbox characters wich forces to use f3 to pressure making Kabals offence more predictable , for a complete list check out MasterD “Kabal Pressure System”
I feel this are Kabals best pressure tools and options when going for NDC , pretty much your opponent has to block low all the time wich is a good conditioning because it opens up for his overhead tornado slam even before entering the NDC and it still gets 12 % with an untechable knockdown and space to go back to zone the opponent or get in for more pressure , with good reads NDC can be very frustrating for your opponent and might get him to make a mistake.
This can take some time to get used to it but when you can think about what your next move is gonna be while still reading your opponent in between NDC will make you an even more scary Kabal.
If anyone of you guys have any question / doubt about NDC just ask , hopefully we can get the Kabal community to write what they think about Kabals upclose game because Iagb will not work for much time against good players.
If Kabal pressure game is going to evolve further than this i will update this , i want to make it more complete with some other examples , also i’m going to try to make it more “readable” with some updates in the future.
I’d like to point out that NDC is his most important tool to master even more than Iagb , in certain matches you will not be able to just put up a barrage of Iagb and still win the fight if you don’t know every option you have after an NDC , of course NDC pressure has to be earned with practice and memorizing every choice the opponent does in order to make the right guesses.
First off here’s Kabal best NDC strings:
F32 : it’s 13 frames , hits special mid on every character , NDC will leave Kabal at +3 frames on block if executed perfectly.
B12 : 13 frames , hits special mid against high hitbox and some medium hitbox characters , hits high against low hitbox characters ( for better understanding check out MasterD “Kabal Pressure System” ) , its vertical hitbox is better than f32 so it can catch jumps on certain frame advantage , +3 frames on block.
2 : 9 frames , hits special mid only against high hitbox characters , hits high on everyone else , +10 on block if executed perfectly.
21: 9 frames , hits special mid only against high hitbox characters , hits high on everyone else , +2 on block if executed perfectly.
111 : 13 frames , the first two 11 hits high the third one hits special mid , +8 on block if executed perfectly.
11b4 : 13 frames , the first two 11 hits high , b4 hits low , +2 on block if executed perfectly.
Here’s your other tools for NDC pressure
D1 : 7 frames , hits special mid , +1 on hit , -7 on block.
D3 : 7 frames , hits low , +3 on hit ( standing opponent ) , im sure it’s more than +5 on a ducking opponent , - 7 on block.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Here’s the NDC theory works , lets say Kabal got in with his f32 / b12 NDC , if you hit him with f32 / b12 then you can hitconfirm into a combo , on block you are at +3 and opens Kabal options:
F32 NDC into F32 : this will hit anyone trying to interrupt it with a 11+ frame move , they can’t duck it , this is not gonna hit jumps and lowpokes / moves faster than 9 frames.
F32 NDC into B12 : this will hit anyone trying to interrupt it with a 11+ frame move , high hitbox characters can’t duck it , low hitbox characters can duck , it whiffs on some crouch blocking low hitbox characters like Sektor , this will not hit jumps and lowpokes / moves faster than 9 frames.
F32 NDC into 2 : this will hit anyone trying to interrupt it with a 7+ frames move , it anti airs any jump out attemps , it will not hit crouching ( without blocking ) characters , can be lowpoked.
F32 NDC into d3 : this will hit anyone trying to interrupt it with any normal / special ( except armor ) , it can be jumped out , on block leaves Kabal at disadvantage ( -7 ) .
F32 NDC into d1 : this will hit anyone trying to interrupt it with any normal / special ( except armor ) , it will anti air any jump ( can be followed by a combo ) , only armor moves can interrupt it , on block leaves Kabal at disadvantage ( - 7 ) .
Summing it up:
+3 = f32 > 11+ frames moves / f32 < 6-10 frames moves , jump out , armor
+3 = b12 > 11+ frames moves / b12 < 6-10 frames move , jump out , armor
+3 = 2 > 7+ frame moves , jump out / 2 < ducking , lowpokes , armor
+3 = d3 > any normal and special / d3 < jump out , blocking low stops pressure , armor
+3 = d1 > any normal and special , jump out / d1 < blocking stops pressure , armor
As you can see each option covers another wich leads to the core guessing game of NDC:
1 Is the opponent going to block?
2 Is the opponent trying to interrupt?
3 Is the opponent going to jump?
4 Is the opponent going to do an armor move?
The first one is essential part of NDC , if you think the opponent is going to block then you have 4 options :
1 Throw
2 f32
3 b12
4 2
Option 2 and 3 leads to the same guessing game , option 4 leads to huge frame advantage and option 1 creates space while doing some damage.
Now when you think the opponent is not going to block they’re probably going to interrupt you and while this is character dependent , we’ll probably get stopped by lowpokes faster than 10 frames wich are mostly d1 , d3 and d2 since they go under option 1 and 4 while they also interrupt option 2 and 3 , to counter them Kabal has 3 options:
1 d3
2 d1
3 Crossjump
Option 1 leads to frame advantage ( +3 on a standing opponent , at least +5 on a crouching opponent ) , option 2 leaves Kabal at +1 while creating some distance , option 3 will make whiff their d1 / d3 and some uppercuts giving you a chance to either cross jump punch into more frame advantage / hit confirming a combo with his strings ( notice that the 11 series is probably the best option after a jumping punch since you can either confirm it into b4 ND on hit or 111 NDC for +8 frame advantage on block ) or if they like to lower their hitbox with lowpokes cross jump kick can get them.
As you can see option 1 can be jumped , option 2 cannot be interrupted by anything other than armor and cannot be jumped out , option 3 can either be jump kicked , njp’ed , anti air on the way down with d1 , or anti aired by a fast normal with high hitbox ( like Johnny Cages 1 ) .
This brings us to the third question , what if they jump out? If they commit to jumping after f32 / b12 NDC ( +3 ) they will get out of: f32 , b12 , d3 and get a chance to land an air to air punch / kick on your cross over jump.
You have 2 answers wich are either standing 2 or d1 , both anti airs your opponent from any kind of jump and are hitconfirmable into a combo ( AA 2 NDC f32 ND or d1 dash f4 ND ) , standing 2 also covers from 7+ frames moves / normals leading to huge frame advantage ( but doesn’t hit lowpokes ) , d1 covers anything other than armor but doesn’t lead to more pressure.
Finally the last one , are they gonna armor through it? This answer is purely character depending and requires matchup experience and knowledge of their armor moves , but there’s general rule when you’re trying to read an armor move, is it safe or unsafe? Now if it’s safe you generally can block it and pressure your opponent or if you can make it whiff with a cross over and either punish him or go back to the spacing game , worst case scenario your opponent burned a meter and didn’t get much , if the armor move is unsafe blocking will net you a free combo , if you can still jump it and punish it you have 2 options for punishing it ( blocking and cross jumps ) .
This are all the options after a f32 / b12 NDC.
Now lets suppose they block a 2 NDC , Kabal is at +10 frames wich opens up the same pressure covering more options:
+10 = 2 NDC into f32 : this will hit any normal / special ( except CSZ parry ) , it will catch any jump attempt , can only be interrupted by armor
+10 = 2 NDC into b12 : this will hit any normal / special ( except CSZ parry ) , it will catch any jump attempt , can only be interrupted by armor
+10 = 2 NDC into 2 : this will hit anything your opponent tries to do ( not even armor ) and it jails in standblock if done perfectly , it’s technically a block infinite if you 2 NDC 2 NDC but most of the time your opponent is going to be able to crouch it and make it whiff since it’s really hard to get it down to the frame consistently.
+10 = 2 NDC into d3 : this will hit anything your opponent tries to do ( not even armor ) , if blocked low Kabal is at -7
+10 = 2 NDC into d1 : this will hit anything your opponent tries to do ( not even armor ) , if blocked Kabal is at -7
Standing 2 NDC creates an almost no risk / high reward scenario where if your opponent tries to do anything other than block low he’s in a block infinite , f32 and b12 can only be beaten by well timed armor moves but they risk getting hit with 2 NDC into more pressure or a combo , it eliminates two options from your opponent ( trying to interrupt it and trying to jump out ) with f32 and b12 and virtually eliminates anything other than block with 2 NDC.
Summing it up:
+10 = f32 > any normal / special ( except CSZ parry ) , anti airs any jump / f32 < armor
+10 = b12 > any normal / special ( except CSz parry ) , anti air any jump / b12 < armor
+10 = 2 > any normal / special , cannot be jumped / anti airs , cannot be interrupted by armor / 2 < nothing
*Note that performing this infinite down to the frame is unrealistic / inconstistent so most of the time if they have a low crouch blocking hitbox the 2 will whiff and you can’t link ND making them able to interrupt you.
+10 = d3 > any normal / special , cannot be jumped , cannot be interrupted by armor / d3 < blocking low stops pressure
+10 = d1 > any normal / special , cannot be jumped / anti airs , cannot be interrupted by armor / d1 < blocking stops pressure
So after a blocked 2 NDC your best options are either go into another 2 NDC , f32 / b12 wich are only interruptable by a really well timed armor and leads to the +3 frame advantage with NDC or a throw.
Another tool I’d like to explain is d3 , the good thing about d3 on hit is that it always gives advantage , +3 on standing opponents gives Kabal a free f4 wich will also anti air any jump out attempt , once the opponent respect that you can start mixing it up with throws , f32 / b12 , 2 and all of that , the best thing about it is that if it hits crouching opponents ( this happens when you read their lowpoke after NDC and d3 ) it grants even more advantage , i haven’t tested it but it should be more than +7 since i couldn’t d1 Kabal out of f32 , use d3 to make your opponent jump or block in between NDC.
A last mention goes to the 11 string , especially after a jump in punch you can go into a 11 then you can confirm it into a combo with b4 ND or go for the last 1 into NDC wich leaves Kabal at +8 making his f32 / b12 not interruptable other than armor moves.
+8 = f32 > any normal / special ( except CSZ parry ) , anti airs jumps / f32 < armor
+8 = b12 > any normal / special ( except CSZ parry ) , anti airs jumps / b12 < armor
+8 = 2 > any normal / special , anti airs jumps , armor ( just if done perfectly ) / 2 < can be crouched and lowpoked
+8 = d3 > any normal / special , cannot be jumped , cannot be interrupted by armor / d3 < blocking low stops pressure.
+8 = d1 > any normal / special , cannot be jumped , cannot be interrupted by armor / d3 < blocking
stops pressure.
Note that standing 2 and b1 will whiff on low crouch blocking hitbox characters wich forces to use f3 to pressure making Kabals offence more predictable , for a complete list check out MasterD “Kabal Pressure System”
I feel this are Kabals best pressure tools and options when going for NDC , pretty much your opponent has to block low all the time wich is a good conditioning because it opens up for his overhead tornado slam even before entering the NDC and it still gets 12 % with an untechable knockdown and space to go back to zone the opponent or get in for more pressure , with good reads NDC can be very frustrating for your opponent and might get him to make a mistake.
This can take some time to get used to it but when you can think about what your next move is gonna be while still reading your opponent in between NDC will make you an even more scary Kabal.
If anyone of you guys have any question / doubt about NDC just ask , hopefully we can get the Kabal community to write what they think about Kabals upclose game because Iagb will not work for much time against good players.
If Kabal pressure game is going to evolve further than this i will update this , i want to make it more complete with some other examples , also i’m going to try to make it more “readable” with some updates in the future.
