Does a character need a 50/50 to be good?

[BlindestKenshi]

It definitely doesnt hurt. Its far too early to speculate how every characters tools will supplement their play. But right now its definitely the characters with the strongest normals and 50/50s who seem to be doing the best. That may change over time.

Which characters are the ones who seem to be doing the best in your opinion?

 

[The PantyChrist]

Aquaman

 

[Saltea Moonspell]

No. A 50/50 is simply one of the tools - pressure tools. However it is not crucial. For example - Scorpion in MK9 was known as character that in order to win it would require player to relay on 50/50 mixup in order to win, or let me put in this way, most of the players were going with vortex all day long. I started to play Scorpion over a year ago and I was able to form a safe way of kombat - mainly footsie: whiff punish, jump in punish and so on. 50/50 was on once I was able to minimize the risk to min. I was able to take down JC on The Pit just doing "burning" and AA with d1/d4, punish jumpins with b2 and so on. 50/50 is OK, but its just one another tool extra.

 

[Smarrgasm]

Which characters are the ones who seem to be doing the best in your opinion?

For the most part Kung Jin, Cassie, Sub, Dvorah and surprising to me ive seen a lot of ermac doing well.

But who knows what else is lurking out there. I think Quan and Scorpion will also be strong early.

 

[AK Stormthegates]

I think 50/50's are important for the game right now because no one knows how to block anyone. I also think it helps but is not necessary. I for one think Jax is potentially one of the best in the game and his 50/50 game is not very good.

 

[ForeverKing]

I wish Kung Jin had 50/50's

You can just react to his overhead

 

[NRF CharlieMurphy]

I don't believe so. The sum of their parts I always say. That's why, as a Mileena's main, it annoys me when people disregard her because they claim all you have to do is block low. As if 50/50 is the only strategy.

she has a legit 50/50

 

[Slips]

In this game, I think that a 50/50 is essential in order for a character to be competitive. The problem with your Killer Frost comparison is that Frost basically had one good option for footsies: slide. Her mobility, which was a general problem in Injustice, was also poor due to her bad walk speed, slow dash, and bad jump. She basically had to hit you in order to set up her 50/50.

In MKX almost every character has a long-reaching footsie tool and mobility is REALLY good in general. Even outside of the run button, walk speeds are much better than they were in Injustice. What this means is that every character with a 50/50 is at an immediate advantage because they have a much easier time getting in and mixing you up than characters in Injustice did. It is much easier for characters in MKX to set up their mixups because of the mobility.

Having said all of that, I still think it may be possible for a character to be decent in MKX without having a damaging mixup. The only problem is that characters who do not have mixups have basically nothing else to compensate them. Shinnok is most likely supposed to be a zoner but his projectiles are really negative and risky to do, which means that he is left with average footsies and no mixups.

Some good points in here. The risk/reward of said 50/50's I think is what matters. The low risk/low reward 50/50's are fine. The high risk/high reward 50/50's are fine. (Although it's nice to have that comeback factor, but oh well)

But the biggest culprits are the 50/50's that launch and are also safe. Like Wound said, this isn't Injustice where it's hard to get in to start your 50/50 game. So characters with safe launching 50/50's can just run up and do them on any moment of hesitation and it's pretty powerful.

Man, I just want to say the number one thing I'm most frightened about in this game is Kung Lao's spin in Tempest. He doesn't have any good 50/50s yet I think he is a character that will be one of the toughest to get around especially in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing. The way I plan to fight him is completely different than how I would fight any other character, lol.

I think that is a pretty glaring exception lol. No 50/50 is safe vs. KL when he has meter. He can just sit back, block, guess right and punish instead of even moving around if he wants to.

 

[Youphemism]

@ Kitana community

 

[Zatoichi]

Kano says hello.

 

[Big Pampering]

MK9 Cage, Lao, Kabal, Kenshi had them, but they didn't need them to win. There's also different 50s. Cage's low was minus on hit, so it wasn't even worth using.

Stop talking. Smh Cage and lao having a 50/50.

 

[M2Dave]

Kano says hello.

Unfortunately, he is one of the very few characters whose design allows him to be very effective without a 50/50 mix up. In contrast, a character like Shinnok has not been compensated with the proper tools, so he seems mediocre.

In many way, Mortal Kombat X is Injustice with superior mobility. Now you can run and do 50/50 mix ups without worrying about characters like Aquaman, Sinestro, and Zod!

 

[REO]

In this game, I think that a 50/50 is essential in order for a character to be competitive. The problem with your Killer Frost comparison is that Frost basically had one good option for footsies: slide. Her mobility, which was a general problem in Injustice, was also poor due to her bad walk speed, slow dash, and bad jump. She basically had to hit you in order to set up her 50/50.

In MKX almost every character has a long-reaching footsie tool and mobility is REALLY good in general. Even outside of the run button, walk speeds are much better than they were in Injustice. What this means is that every character with a 50/50 is at an immediate advantage because they have a much easier time getting in and mixing you up than characters in Injustice did. It is much easier for characters in MKX to set up their mixups because of the mobility.

Having said all of that, I still think it may be possible for a character to be decent in MKX without having a damaging mixup. The only problem is that characters who do not have mixups have basically nothing else to compensate them. Shinnok is most likely supposed to be a zoner but his projectiles are really negative and risky to do, which means that he is left with average footsies and no mixups.

I think that is a pretty glaring exception lol. No 50/50 is safe vs. KL when he has meter. He can just sit back, block, guess right and punish instead of even moving around if he wants to.

To be fair, no one in MKX has both a safe overhead and low launcher with nearly a just-frame difference that leads to almost 40% meterless like Killer Frost had. So her having those weaknesses outside of her 50/50 can be argued for were warranted.

In MKX I don't feel like 50/50 mix-ups are as important as they were in Injustice. In many cases I feel a lot of them are being pumped up to the point of being overrated. A LOT of the 50/50s in MKX are either unsafe, have one 50/50 faster than the other, have poor range, or don't lead to good damage mid screen without requiring a bar.

I believe MKX is a LOT more about outreading and punishing your opponent than just "running up and mixing them up, bro" like some would have you believe on their firm opinion on MKX. Now obviously I'm not saying that 50/50s are terrible in MKX, but I think they're nothing close to the the end all be all some of you are making them out to be. And keep in mind this is coming from someone who was all about the power of 50/50s intially before I had a change of mind.

 

[Big Pampering]

To be fair, no one in MKX has both a safe overhead and low launcher with nearly a just-frame difference that leads to almost 40% meterless like Killer Frost had. So her having those weaknesses outside of her 50/50 can be argued for were warranted.

In MKX I don't feel like 50/50 mix-ups are as important as they were in Injustice. In many cases I feel a lot of them are being pumped up to the point of being overrated. A LOT of the 50/50s in MKX are either unsafe, have one 50/50 faster than the other, have poor range, or don't lead to good damage mid screen without requiring a bar.

I believe MKX is a LOT more about outreading and punishing your opponent than just "running up and mixing them up, bro" like some have on their firm opinion on MKX. Now obviously I'm not saying that 50/50s are terrible in MKX, but I think they're nothing close to the the end all be all. And keep in mind this is coming from someone who was all about the power of 50/50s intially before I had a change of mind.

What is your opinion on rushdown characters who rely on blockstrings mk9 style. Is it still a strong strategy?

 

[OutworldKeith]

I'm just surprised I haven't seen a tier list yet.

Seriously, most people are just jumping the gun. Go into practice and experiment!

 

[Slips]

To be fair, no one in MKX has both a safe overhead and low launcher with nearly a just-frame difference that leads to almost 40% meterless like Killer Frost had. So her having those weaknesses outside of her 50/50 can be argued for were warranted.

In MKX I don't feel like 50/50 mix-ups are as important as they were in Injustice. In many cases I feel a lot of them are being pumped up to the point of being overrated. A LOT of the 50/50s in MKX are either unsafe, have one 50/50 faster than the other, have poor range, or don't lead to good damage mid screen without requiring a bar.

I believe MKX is a LOT more about outreading and punishing your opponent than just "running up and mixing them up, bro" like some would have you believe on their firm opinion on MKX. Now obviously I'm not saying that 50/50s are terrible in MKX, but I think they're nothing close to the the end all be all some of you are making them out to be. And keep in mind this is coming from someone who was all about the power of 50/50s intially before I had a change of mind.

I agree a lot of the 50/50's can be punished, are very range dependant, or fuzzied and we aren't used to them all yet. What about Kung Jin tho lol.

 

[REO]

I agree a lot of the 50/50's can be punished, are very range dependant, or fuzzied and we aren't used to them all yet. What about Kung Jin tho lol.

I think Kung Jin is probably the best 50/50 character in the game but it's only because in Bojutsu he doesn't need any sort of resource to launch you meterlessly. However, with that said I've had some players I play with get better with blocking his 50/50 a little more consistently since his low is quicker than his overhead. But it doesn't really matter since he's safe on both of them and you can throw people's timing off by delaying, lol.

 

[SaltShaker]

The downplay in this thread is going to crash the site.

 

[AK Stormthegates]

To be fair, no one in MKX has both a safe overhead and low launcher with nearly a just-frame difference that leads to almost 40% meterless like Killer Frost had. So her having those weaknesses outside of her 50/50 can be argued for were warranted.

In MKX I don't feel like 50/50 mix-ups are as important as they were in Injustice. In many cases I feel a lot of them are being pumped up to the point of being overrated. A LOT of the 50/50s in MKX are either unsafe, have one 50/50 faster than the other, have poor range, or don't lead to good damage mid screen without requiring a bar.

I believe MKX is a LOT more about outreading and punishing your opponent than just "running up and mixing them up, bro" like some would have you believe on their firm opinion on MKX. Now obviously I'm not saying that 50/50s are terrible in MKX, but I think they're nothing close to the the end all be all some of you are making them out to be. And keep in mind this is coming from someone who was all about the power of 50/50s intially before I had a change of mind.

I can definitely agree with this. The only glaring issue is when they are attached to a character with a halfscreen 10 frame footsie tool like cassie cage. Her mixup is fine, her b12 is not.




AKA I think Cassie is overpowered.

 

[YOMI MITYEAP]

The downplay in this thread is going to crash the site.

Nah leave that to the whining lmao

 

[Deleted member 5032]

Anyone who answers "Yes" needs to play @General M2Dave's Kano...

 

[WakeUp DP]

I just hate that zoning is heavily nerfed. Projectiles and air projectiles like Quan chis have massive landing recovery frames. No enough defensive tools either.

Pushblock should only require a bar, aas should be faster etc.

 

[juicepouch]

I'm not as worried about 50/50s as I am everything just being safe

If I can full combo punish a 50/50 option that leads to a full combo, i think that's okay. The risk reward just needs to be balanced

 

[Linkuei82]

I just hate that zoning is heavily nerfed. Projectiles and air projectiles like Quan chis have massive landing recovery frames. No enough defensive tools either.

Pushblock should only require a bar, aas should be faster etc.

You must have missed Ketchup Quan Chi's zoning when he was playing Rico.

 

[BillStickers]

I'd say that people try to develop offense in NRS games before defense. Everyone wants to be the first to reveal tech and release character guides on week 2 while crying about how "OP" defensive tools like uppercuts are in MKX.

Injustice didn't *just* have rampant 50/50s, there was also an utter lack of defense to free jump-ins, free teleports, and free full-screen normals. I'd say @Blind_Ducky was the best defensive player in Injustice, but that development didn't happen until the end of the game's life because the game is so offense based.

From my first week with the game, I ultimately think the MKX meta will revolve around space control, but that's not going to happen when people are so focused on offense (disclaimer: that's only after one week and I could easily be wrong). Very few people are looking for the long range normals/pokes with quick recovery in order to throw out to check people running in. Very few people are looking at *other characters'* frame data. Very few people are experimenting with interactables (both throwable and movement-altering). Perhaps most importantly, very few people are willing to accept a few losses on the way to success.