Street Fighter Background... Need help [I suck]

[Males]

Before I played street fighter I played Injustice a bit, so I had some knowledge of Netherrealms style in general. I didn't stick with it though. Then I came upon Street Fighter and loved it, particularly USF4. Then along comes MKX so I picked it up on release. It's really sick but I'm having difficulty. The button to block instead of holding back isn't my main problem, but it annoys me nonetheless.

Difficulty is a relative term. I have come to the realization that I do indeed suck at MKX the hard way lol. I started by learning Kung Jin. As you guys know, Kung Jin is extremely easy. Land an ex spin and you're golden for 31% if you know the combo. I quickly realized that once I was out of meter, I was screwed. As I began trying other characters, namely Kano, Kitana, and Kotal Kahn (all the Ks are total coincidence, I swear lol) I came to the conclusion of "wow, I don't understand this games mechanics whatsoever." And I really don't. So that's where I'm lost. The mechanics. I can execute fine if I practice enough.

For the life of me, I can't understand MKX's wakeup game. It makes no sense to me at all. Generally what happens is this, when people try do do a 50/50 (yes I understand what those are) on me, and I try to d2, I always get stuffed. If I block I usually guess wrong, or somehow I just get hit when I'm sure I blocked correctly, but that's a whole other issue. I honestly hate the button to block. If I try to 50/50, or any combo really, 8 times out of 10 I eat a d2... why... I don't get it. What am I doing wrong? Timing?

I find I also have trouble punishing. Specials feel like they're too slow... 112 or like b212 or whatever never comes out fast enough either... All in all, as a Street Fighter player, this game has my mind spinning. Execution comes easy to me because of my background, the game mechanics on the other hand do not.

Tips? All help is greatly appreciated. Right now I am really trying to learn Kano specifically.

 

[The Big Palooka]

Learning how to use run in the neutral game is key in MKX. It's really what separates the good from the great. Running is the key to punishing a lot of moves as well. Sometimes it looks like somebody is punishing with a raw 112, but in reality they are running out of block stun and cancelling into a normal attack. So sometimes that's the answer.

If you're learning Kano you should learn 2 things. One is cancelling your Kano Ball into combo so you can maximize your combo damage. This is good for waking up with armor and also armoring through gaps in strings. The other thing you should learn is how to pressure with the advantage given by EX knives. They are +6 on block I believe, so you can mix up off of it. These techniques work for all his variations.

Which variation of Kano do you plan on using?

 

[zoofs]

The wakeups thing is timing for the most part, when they hit you it's most likely because you waited too long and didn't anticipate an early or delayed wakeup. You also shouldn't be relying on d2ing on wakeup for many reasons, if you don't want to guess then you have to take the chance with an actual wakeup (i.e using an ex move with armor).

now onto punishing

a huge part of this game is learning frame data, the character you are playing and the opponent's. The reason a move isn't coming out fast enough is either A. you are getting beaten to it by a move with much faster startup frames or B. you are at a frame disadvantage. I'm not going to go into a full in depth frame data guide, but a very basic way of looking at it for a beginner is to pay attention to block advantage, startup frames and hit adv. If you block a move that is -15 on block, you can then do a move/string of yours that has anything less than 14 frames of startup. Hit advantage is the amount of hitstun you are in after something successfully hits you, so you shouldn't be pressing buttons if the opponent used a move that has a lot of advantage. If you want to practice punishing something, go to practice and use the custom ai feature to "record ai" and then do whatever you're having trouble with.

once again this is a very basic way of explaining things and there is much more to look into while trying to improve. I would suggest reading this http://testyourmight.com/threads/mkx-system-guide.49846/ and then looking up a general frame data guide to start off.

 

[Males]

Learning how to use run in the neutral game is key in MKX. It's really what separates the good from the great. Running is the key to punishing a lot of moves as well. Sometimes it looks like somebody is punishing with a raw 112, but in reality they are running out of block stun and cancelling into a normal attack. So sometimes that's the answer.

If you're learning Kano you should learn 2 things. One is cancelling your Kano Ball into combo so you can maximize your combo damage. This is good for waking up with armor and also armoring through gaps in strings. The other thing you should learn is how to pressure with the advantage given by EX knives. They are +6 on block I believe, so you can mix up off of it. These techniques work for all his variations.

Which variation of Kano do you plan on using?

I've been playing cutthroat.

 

[The Big Palooka]

I've been playing cutthroat.

Cool, in my opinion that's the best variation. Running is very important for Cutthroat because his highest damage midscreen combos rely on it, and his OH is super ahort range so you have to run to keep on top of them. I would practice cancelling run into block to bait out unsafe moves.

Are there any other situations you would like advice for? I'm full of it! (Heh)

 

[Males]

Cool, in my opinion that's the best variation. Running is very important for Cutthroat because his highest damage midscreen combos rely on it, and his OH is super ahort range so you have to run to keep on top of them. I would practice cancelling run into block to bait out unsafe moves.

Are there any other situations you would like advice for? I'm full of it! (Heh)

Practice run canceling, okay. Important for midscreen, got it. What combos should I practice? I know a meterless one, but that is about it. f212, f212, f4xxbf3. Usually the kano ball doesn't even come out. I have been having trouble with that cancel at the end. It feels weird.

How do I cancel the kano ball? I had no idea you even could. Also just in general, what kombo strings do you rely on? Is 112 good for a punish if they are close? Otherwise I'm assuming you use b121 and b31? (or b32.. i forget)

 

[FlappyDaniel]

Hey brother, take a gander through our character forum, lots of combos and shit in there. As for cancelling the Kano ball, it's only the EX and if you hold the meter burn button (R2 for me) he'll just keep spinning in the air, if you press downdown he'll land out of it. Ex Kano ball comes out in 1 frame and has armor, this is your main way to wakeup out of pressure or to find gaps in the opponent's pressure and punishing them. Getting the timing for the cancel and the followup afterwards is tricky as hell but it's powerful. In CT you can actually do something very similar with his EX Buff but I would say don't worry about that right now since it's not nearly as safe or simple to do.

make sure not to buffer any of the inputs for the kano ball until after you input the F4, I usually end up Inputting the back,forward part of the input as my knee is lunging forward, then the X as it actually hits.\

edit: I come from street fighter as well so I feel your struggle, it's VERY different in almost every way coming to this game, just have to get game time under your belt to figure it out. I spent the first like week or 2 of owning the game like JUST inputting the command grab input whenever I could as much as I could to get it down.

 

[Males]

I will check out the Kano forums then Many thanks.

 

[KIllaByte]

Dude a Down 2 is not a wakeup dragon punch. No wakeups have invulnerability in this game, not even ex moves with armor.
Weird thing to obsess over. Make no assumptions. I'm also a Street fighter player, so... you might like Cyber Kano's saferm mid-hitting projectile.

 

[Baconlord]

In neutral running and walking are your main ways you move in footsies. Keep in mind that because of the block button there is no proximity blocking so walking back is how you will whiff punish alot of stuff. Harass your opponents with pokes when your in range (if you play kano the d4 is a great poke). If you think your opponent is respecting your pokes then use run to start offense. Do something like run up throw or run up overhead (you only have an overhead in cutthroat). As for the wakeup system you can't wakeup with normals and no moves have invincibility on wake. You need to use ex moves that have armor, tech roll, or backdash. You can also delay wakeup to mess up there meaty timing but if do delayed wakeup you lose the option to do a wakeup attack. If you think your opponent will respect your wakeup then you can do a throw as a wakeup attack however that does not have invincibility. Hope that helps you.

 

[Males]

Ya I figured out d2 is not a dp equivalent thats why I was so confused how other people always got away with it... just my bad timing. Doing better already just understanding the wakeup game. I get frustrated easily when I don't understand what the hell is happening haha but I get where I screw up now so it's whatever. Thank you again for tips I have to remember to tech roll sometimes