What's new

Question - Kitana Can someone explain the point of each of Kitana's variations?

myri

Time Warrior
Being playing Kitana for a day or two now and she's super fun. Mostly playing assassin and royal storm. I'm basically asking what are the strengths/weaknesses and game plan for each of her variations because right now I see little reason to use royal storm or mournful over assassin.
 

TamedLizard

Buff George
@xKhaoTik
@SM StarGazer
@ragnar0kz28

I'm pretty sure these fellas combined cover all of her variations and could offer some advice.

I've always fiddled with Assassin but never really took her serious as one of my characters until recently. And tbh, I've always kind of wondered the same thing. Where does Mournful and RS come into play?
 

Harlequin969

Always press buttons
Does ex assassin strike still have armor?

If so, Assassin has the raw damage and full screen armor.
Royal storm has the extra range on lift and the spin which can counter zone.
No idea what mournful does now that the other two got buffed even more.
 

Espio

Kokomo
Lead Moderator
Royal Storm has a very potent long ranged lift that is great for projectile trades, catching people running or trying to poke in for full combo and given that it is even safer than it was before it means she has a footsie range (or full screen range with bar) check on people whereas in order to long range check fan zoning with Kitana you have to either have to Assassin dash or run up into strings which can get you caught in pressure.

Royal storm has better air mobility since square wave has such great recovery and this also means her usage of 2,2, up 4 is vastly more layered than using this string is for Assassin who lacks the option of Square wave.

Reflect can be a nice check on people trying to zone you back that have fairly decent projectile games and can force the opponent to come in and play around Kitana's style more so than her having to chase.


Assassin lacks a safe, ranged wake up like Mournful and Royal Storm have with shadow kick and enhanced square wave. It does have more chip, but with throat slice no longer having armor, Assassin is the only one now lacking a safe armored reversal.

Mournful loses the potent air control of the other two variations, but makes up for that with greater safety on blockstrings cancelled into projectiles, wake ups, mid and overhead projectiles.


They're all very good, it's mostly preference really as they all have a nice niche and perform well at what they do as characters.
 

Rozalin1780

Good? Bad? I'm the one with the fans
I don't use Mournful much, so maybe @SM StarGazer can clarify a bit better on that variation, but basically, mournful has the better full screen projectile based zoning. It also had additional pressure options because of EX glaive. With Assassin, you gain bigger damage, an additional frame trap in EX sharpen, and a parry that can have its uses in footsies. Royal Storm has mid-screen lift, which makes her footsie based zoning better and opens up new combo possibilities. You also gain access to square boost (aka ass) which is now a viable escape tool. Reflect will also scare other projectile based zoners.

All have good full screen armor, meterless damage, and zoning. Kitana is a "jack of all trades" character meaning she can adapt to pretty much any situation. She can zone, play footsies, or rush down effectively in any variation, but there are characters who surpass her in each area. Her gameplan varies based on the opponent so match-up knowledge is required (This could be said of anyone, but I think it applies stronger to a character like Kitana opposed to a character who's gameplan is always more or less the same).

All aren't the best at handling pressure up close. Her fastest poke does not low profile and has poor range which might not seem like a big deal, but it truly is. Her fastest combo starter also has poor range which can make some punishes difficult or sub-optimal. She struggles against counter-zoning characters and characters who's zoning trumps her own.
 

xKhaoTik

The Ignore Button Is Free
TBH I feel like RS is her best variation but I'll get to that in a sec.


Assassin is the rushdown variation. It does the most damage, has the damage buff, full screen armor to get thru zoning, good chip. This variation is all about setting up that sharpen and getting the chip or damage in, which is pretty easy. She can also zone in the variation as well, but not as well as RS and she doesn't counter zone nearly as well as RS.

Mournful is pretty much a hybrid character. It can zone tf out of you, or pressure tf out of you. It all depends on how you go about it. Glaives are one of the best zoning tools in the game since it's a mid, travels quick and builds alot of meter. Air glaives are a good zoning tool also since they hit OH and can mess with people trying to zone or get it. She also has full screen armor and it's safe, but it's high. Upclose, it's all about the ex glaive/air glaive pressure. You'll be using that alot to mix up the opponent and setup some crazy mindgames

RS is the zoning variation. It's the same as Assassin but better since lift has alot more range, her enders send them full screen and she has a reflect to counter zone. The rushdown is pretty similar to Assassin but not as threatening since she doesn't have a damage buff (although she still hits like a truck in this variation too)





The reason why I believe RS is the best variation now is due to all the buffs it received. Ass an ex ass recover MUCH quicker on whiff, meaning she can use it to close gaps quickly when she doesn't have stamina or if she isn't trying to use stamina. Ex ass also has 2 hits or armor so it's easy to plow thru zoning or pressure. Air ass/ex ass also recovers much quicker on whiff as well, making it so much easier to escape the corner against people like GM sub. Ex iaAss is also her armored attack that goes full screen and it's completely safe on block if done from max distance. She pretty much gets in for free with it. Lift and ex lift also have more pushback on block, making it safer to use against people trying to get in, zone, jump, etc. And finally, with the buff to float across all variations, Kitana can rush down even better in this variation.


Assassin is a very good variation as well but it didn't receive nearly as much buffs as RS did. It's still the variation to choose in quite a few MUs tho like Ninjustu, Shirai Ryu, Dragon Naginata, etc because the tools Assassin has is better in those MUs than RS.

Mournful has always been a big wtf to me. It's a good variation but I could never really truly get into it. It has very good armor and good projectiles, meaning it's a nice zoning and rushing variation, but idk. I only use it against F/T and GM Sub
 

YoloRoll1stHit

Publicly Educated
Mournful has always been a big wtf to me. It's a good variation but I could never really truly get into it. It has very good armor and good projectiles, meaning it's a nice zoning and rushing variation, but idk. I only use it against F/T and GM Sub
Mournful does better against Sonya and Tanya imo. ex staff is also a "almost safe" double armor, which is good for catching neutral crouch on a knockdown
In some matchups where fan Kitana already win (F/T, Bo rai cho for example), Mournful rapes them even better lol. You guys should play some good Mournful to know the feel having to block hundreds of glaives per round trying to get in, one small mistake = fullscreen away
 
Last edited:

SM StarGazer

The voice of reason in a Sea of Salt
As stated above any can variation is better then Mournful due to the unbreakable damage, combo potential from can, ads, sharpen, party and reflect.

Mournful IMO IS the rushdown variation. Due to the buff to RB ExAirglaive has gotten stronger.

Example: f112-Rising Blades, exfloat, ji4 (delay to bait some armor, pokes, and backdashes) ExAirGlaive. You just need 5-7% chip into a mix up which on hit can lead into 30-35% do all in all you just got 40% for two bars and you keep your turn. And it's all mostly safe...cant beat that with a stick, then with staff grab being plus 27 you have all the power on Oki. IaGlaive, b2. B3-ExGlaive, b3-RBxxExFloat-etc. B12-RBxxExfloat, jip2, b3-ExGlaive.

Or my favorite corner your not getting out chip out situation:

F22u4-GLAIVE, land, EXRisingBlades-Exfloat, jip2, f112-RBxxExfloat, jip2, f112-Shadow Kick.

Or if they have no meter and you wanna swag out and get evwn more chip:

F22u4-GLAIVE, land, u2-float, jip2, f112-RBxxExfloat, jip2, f112-RBxxexFloat, jip2, f112-RBxxExfloat, jip2, f112-ExGlaive, f22u4-glaive, land, d1-Shadow kick or staff grab. It's so fun it's should be illegal.
 
@xKhaoTik
@SM StarGazer
@ragnar0kz28

I'm pretty sure these fellas combined cover all of her variations and could offer some advice.

I've always fiddled with Assassin but never really took her serious as one of my characters until recently. And tbh, I've always kind of wondered the same thing. Where does Mournful and RS come into play?
I still like Assassin above the other 2 variations, now she doesnt struggle vs GM Sub like before, if she gets cornered and she has 1 bar of meter, she can EX charge and switch position with Sub, she can get in way better on some characters that zone her out, she can frame trap from more than full screen, doing f22 db2 ex float, she can get through anything with her armored charge, no more armor breaking agains her, I think mournful is useful for Alien, thats about it, and I really hate RS, but because of her not having a mask, or because she looks like a man. I have been ending combos with njp to be plus with sharpen, or ending combos with 21 sharpen to stay with the damage buff as long as I can, thats why I like assassin the most.