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Guide - Kotal Kahn The post-patch B1 metagame

IIWade3II

Kuff Botal
Ive said for months that Kano secretly destroys kotal but no one figured it out because they are dumb.
Its probably better with f12 being safe now and the sun god buffs but pre patch it was atleast 7-3. I was limited to like 3 buttons once noobe learned the MU
 

GAV

Resolution through knowledge and resolve.
I can see that. Before the patch i would just zone kotal all day but after his buffs i was afraid of him cashing out on his charges and sunlight healing. Is blood god still bad?
BG and SG are probably about the same. They both received basically the same improvements.

SG received a new move, but you used to be able to muscle his level 3 throw through with well timed button presses - and you can't anymore.

They can both still be zoned out pretty hard, but if they get in - and the KK knows what he's doing - it can be over quickly if you slip up.

The real buffs came to his normals. Now, they're safer - more cancelable - and faster.
 

mkl

Poopbutt.
The b1 buff really is beautiful. I swear they're going to take that +4 away after 114df1 some day and it's gonna be real god damn sad.
 

Pnut

Mouth of the Illuminati
The b1 buff really is beautiful. I swear they're going to take that +4 away after 114df1 some day and it's gonna be real god damn sad.
It's +3 already. Why would they take it away? There's much worse shit in this game.
 

mkl

Poopbutt.
It's +3 already. Why would they take it away? There's much worse shit in this game.
Anything that ends up leading to block pressure/frame traps that are difficult to get out of eventually get patched out in this game. Kotal isn't considered top tier so they're leaving it alone at the moment, but expect that to be one of the first things to go if Kotal starts making waves.

Then again, 114 doesn't start mid so maybe that is the saving grace.
 
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Pnut

Mouth of the Illuminati
Lao wasn't as bad in war god, jax was pretty bad but quan we block infinited in the corner.
He could low profile unless we were frame perfect pretty much. And the guessing game was terrible. He guessed right once we would lose our lifebar. Lao in war god was still garbage. Ex spin beat everything.
 

LeeVanDam

Sun God Advocate
He could low profile unless we were frame perfect pretty much. And the guessing game was terrible. He guessed right once we would lose our lifebar. Lao in war god was still garbage. Ex spin beat everything.
At least we can b+2 that low profile to keep him honest and still be safe on block now. I had to club a Quan Chi player over the head with it earlier. It felt good.
 

Qwark28

Joker waiting room
He could low profile unless we were frame perfect pretty much. And the guessing game was terrible. He guessed right once we would lose our lifebar. Lao in war god was still garbage. Ex spin beat everything.
Keeping your frametraps tight is not matchup related, you should be practicing that because the same thing can/could be done by other chars too.

VS Lao I pretty much wait for a jump, crossup, teleport and in general anything I could react to with ex oss.
 
I might be the only one but I kinda have a problem with folks picking up the khan only after some nice buffs! Am I just an ass whole? Lol
 

Pnut

Mouth of the Illuminati
Keeping your frametraps tight is not matchup related, you should be practicing that because the same thing can/could be done by other chars too.

VS Lao I pretty much wait for a jump, crossup, teleport and in general anything I could react to with ex oss.
Regardless ... The risk reward was never in your favor and we all know about the inconsistency of b1 prepatch. That mu was terrible and probably worse now that he has a 6 frame poke.
 

JDM

Noob
Thanks for this bro. I needed to know just what I could do cause it sure seemed like I was fucked without meter ( and guess what? I AM!!! yay)


Kotal is so dumb now, playing alucard so much made me realize just how stupid that B1 buff was to him. God damn.

Why is this shit cool but REO is asking people if Ronin's "block infninite" should be banned? Honest question.
 

LeeVanDam

Sun God Advocate
Thanks for this bro. I needed to know just what I could do cause it sure seemed like I was fucked without meter ( and guess what? I AM!!! yay)

Kotal is so dumb now, playing alucard so much made me realize just how stupid that B1 buff was to him. God damn.

Why is this shit cool but REO is asking people if Ronin's "block infninite" should be banned? Honest question.
This is cool because you can always escape by back dashing (after the air throw whiff or after b+1,2,2 inbetween the string and sunstone) or armor (if it's a really fast armor after air throw whiff or before the sunstone is thrown). The Kotal Kahn player also has to be perfect in order to avoid being low profiled since there are points where KK is only at +4 on block. Ronin's is cool too for the same reason. It's not fair that REO wants to ruin the frames of a string which will potentially destroy Takeda's ground game potential just because he doesn't feel like backdashing or using armor. If he takes the hit, then the block infinite is over because if he literally lets go of block on the last hit... the player most likely won't be prepared to hit confirm into a substantial juggle.

With as much ruthless stuff that Tempest Kung Lao does and that's just an accepted part of his game, to go after other characters is biased and wrong.
 

Qwark28

Joker waiting room
This is cool because you can always escape by back dashing (after the air throw whiff or after b+1,2,2 inbetween the string and sunstone) or armor (if it's a really fast armor after air throw whiff or before the sunstone is thrown). The Kotal Kahn player also has to be perfect in order to avoid being low profiled since there are points where KK is only at +4 on block. Ronin's is cool too for the same reason. It's not fair that REO wants to ruin the frames of a string which will potentially destroy Takeda's ground game potential just because he doesn't feel like backdashing or using armor. If he takes the hit, then the block infinite is over because if he literally lets go of block on the last hit... the player most likely won't be prepared to hit confirm into a substantial juggle.

With as much ruthless stuff that Tempest Kung Lao does and that's just an accepted part of his game, to go after other characters is biased and wrong.
You can't low profile or backdash. Every character in the game gets caught by B12 if they backdash.
 
Reactions: JDM

LeeVanDam

Sun God Advocate
You can't low profile or backdash. Every character in the game gets caught by B12 if they backdash.
So they still have a chance to escape by backdashing the sunstone throw or armoring through the sunstone throw, I'm not sure if the sword in War God has the same gap... but they can plan to escape. Plus, once we run out of meter that's it as well. I love that Sun God can Soul Scorch to get that last rep in though.
 

Qwark28

Joker waiting room
So they still have a chance to escape by backdashing the sunstone throw or armoring through the sunstone throw, I'm not sure if the sword in War God has the same gap... but they can plan to escape. Plus, once we run out of meter that's it as well. I love that Sun God can Soul Scorch to get that last rep in though.
There is nothing guaranteed. You can do a B1 if they have no meter to armour but anything afterwards is either punishable or can be poked out of.

Sun god makes people armour at any part of the string and get mixed up that way, blood god doesn't and war also does due to oh/low sword.
 

LeeVanDam

Sun God Advocate
There is nothing guaranteed. You can do a B1 if they have no meter to armour but anything afterwards is either punishable or can be poked out of.

Sun god makes people armour at any part of the string and get mixed up that way, blood god doesn't and war also does due to oh/low sword.
Exactly, so that's why ours is cool. Just because it's a great part of our game doesn't mean it needs to be a candidate for the nerf bat. That's the only thing I was trying to explain to JDM. Plus, REO's complaint is right now only against Jason right? People can just not pick Jason versus Ronin to avoid the "block infinite" that can be backdashed or armoured though.
 
This is cool because you can always escape by back dashing (after the air throw whiff or after b+1,2,2 inbetween the string and sunstone) or armor (if it's a really fast armor after air throw whiff or before the sunstone is thrown). The Kotal Kahn player also has to be perfect in order to avoid being low profiled since there are points where KK is only at +4 on block. Ronin's is cool too for the same reason. It's not fair that REO wants to ruin the frames of a string which will potentially destroy Takeda's ground game potential just because he doesn't feel like backdashing or using armor. If he takes the hit, then the block infinite is over because if he literally lets go of block on the last hit... the player most likely won't be prepared to hit confirm into a substantial juggle.

With as much ruthless stuff that Tempest Kung Lao does and that's just an accepted part of his game, to go after other characters is biased and wrong.
Awesome:" if he takes the hit, then the block infinite is over because if he literally lets go of block on the last hit... The player MOST LIKELY won't be prepared to hit confirm into a substantial juggle"!! Are you f...ing serious?!?
I love that just get hit brah mentality)))))
 

AK L0rdoftheFLY

I hatelove this game
Awesome:" if he takes the hit, then the block infinite is over because if he literally lets go of block on the last hit... The player MOST LIKELY won't be prepared to hit confirm into a substantial juggle"!! Are you f...ing serious?!?
I love that just get hit brah mentality)))))
This has been a viable strategy for a long time now.

DJT did this to me vs my DF kang after f213 FB cancel. And I was like "damn you doing that on purpose". He said "yeah I'm smart enough to know I don't want to deal with that shit!"

Back in Mk9 people would do this too sometimes to throw off the opponent.
 
This has been a viable strategy for a long time now.

DJT did this to me vs my DF kang after f213 FB cancel. And I was like "damn you doing that on purpose". He said "yeah I'm smart enough to know I don't want to deal with that shit!"

Back in Mk9 people would do this too sometimes to throw off the opponent.
Maybe, but when your opponent can potentially convert your getting hit into a combo that isn't really a way out of a block infinite. It is your opponent who messes up. So using that as an excuse for such infinite to exist is stupid.
 

AK L0rdoftheFLY

I hatelove this game
Maybe, but when your opponent can potentially convert your getting hit into a combo that isn't really a way out of a block infinite. It is your opponent who messes up. So using that as an excuse for such infinite to exist is stupid.
It's still a read 50/50 either way. Because if they try to convert and you stay blocking. Your in the better position
 

LeeVanDam

Sun God Advocate
Awesome:" if he takes the hit, then the block infinite is over because if he literally lets go of block on the last hit... The player MOST LIKELY won't be prepared to hit confirm into a substantial juggle"!! Are you f...ing serious?!?
I love that just get hit brah mentality)))))
The nature of block strings being canned combos in MK means that unless they have a string where they are able to cancel into a specific special on reaction (luckily, Kotal Kahn has 2) the offensive player has already committed to what attacks are going to happen since option selects are gone. It's your responsibility to know when to backdash, take the hit, neutral duck, block, armor move, etc and it's also your responsibility as a defender to know when this is possible. If this wasn't the case, then match up knowledge wouldn't matter. Your reward for making the correct defensive choice is that the offensive player overextends on you get to counter attack/escape the pressure situation.

Getting hit on purpose to take the least amount of damage makes sense especially in this game because the offensive player doesn't gain meter when attacks connect (unless it's the meter gained for executing a special attack). Players have taken jabs on purpose for the longest time to be in hit stun so command grabs and other tick throws don't work. You should really use your life bar as a tool because winning with 1% and a perfect is the same. You will earn the exact same amount of money when the tourney is over.