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Kabal Matchup Thread

HapHaxion

"Knowledge" - Taio Cruz
Saw there wasn't one of these specifically for MUs so I made one. Discuss numbers, strategies, and ask questions below.
 

Blewdew

PSN: MaxKayX3
Everytime I visit a mu thread of a character jade is listed as a bad matchup, yet some jade mains really try hard to sell their opinion that she sucks lol

I also don‘t like the Johnny cage mu, I can‘t specifically say why but I always struggle against him as kabal
 

TackyHaddock

Salty Mashers Krew
Kabal does well against most of the top tiers in my opinion: he does pretty well against Geras, Erron and Cassie, but does NOT do well against Sonya. Sonya neutralizes Kabal's strengths with her fast recovery projectile.
 
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RoboCop

The future of law enforcement.
Administrator
Premium Supporter
Jade is an annoying matchup but I somehow keep winning. Kabal’s got the damage advantage, and if he can ever get a knockdown, it can be tough for Jade to regain her momentum.

I’m out of town so I can’t lab it, but it seems that his f3 should be a key component of out-spacing her.
 
Everytime I visit a mu thread of a character jade is listed as a bad matchup, yet some jade mains really try hard to sell their opinion that she sucks lol

I also don‘t like the Johnny cage mu, I can‘t specifically say why but I always struggle against him as kabal
Jade is my backup character. She’s not the easiest character to use, but she’s definitely not bad.

I do think she handles Kabal very well. She can take away all of Kabals options if she plays a good zoning/ keep away game. As long as she’s 3/4 screen away she completely controls him. All she has to worry about is random Web Spin.
 
I also don‘t like the Johnny cage mu, I can‘t specifically say why but I always struggle against him as kabal
As a Johnny main, I find Kabal to be one of his easier matchups. Johnny has an easy time zoning with properly timed force balls and the shadow kick is a good way to punish the air saw. If Kabal gets in, I can just block low and punish.
 
One note re the Jade matchup though - many Jade players get cocky when they have the purple glow up full screen, and you can often catch them with a Yolo nomad dash as they are less likely to block
Lol the fatal blow gets me more often. He has one of the best in the game.
 

Manticore

You will incubate my young!
Kabal does well against most of the top tiers in my opinion: he does pretty well against Geras, Erron and Cassie, but does NOT do well against Sonya. Sonya neutralizes Kabal's strengths with her fast recovery projectile.
I got destroyed earlier today by a Sonya, I kept getting hit by her strings that have a low in them because I'm so wary of her overhead. Any tips in fighting Sonya generally? And what do you think are Kabal's best anti air options
 

TackyHaddock

Salty Mashers Krew
I got destroyed earlier today by a Sonya, I kept getting hit by her strings that have a low in them because I'm so wary of her overhead. Any tips in fighting Sonya generally? And what do you think are Kabal's best anti air options
I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. I am no expert in fighting her and have gotten destroyed by a few different Sonyas. If it were not for the fast recovery of her projectile, I'd be less concerned
 

HapHaxion

"Knowledge" - Taio Cruz
So overall who are some characters you think Kabal does well against and struggles against MU-wise (besides trouble with Sonya, which were already mentioned, and perhaps Geras, Erron, and Cassie who someone mentioned Kabal does decent against). I've heard Kabal has been moving up people's lists as of late.
 

DrFolmer

AKA Uncle Kano
Everytime I visit a mu thread of a character jade is listed as a bad matchup, yet some jade mains really try hard to sell their opinion that she sucks lol

I also don‘t like the Johnny cage mu, I can‘t specifically say why but I always struggle against him as kabal
Zone the shit out of Johnny. Kabal also outfootsies him kinda hard. Damage per touch is in Johnny's favor, but by playing Kabal correctly and he shouldn't get that touch with ease. Space your b1 properly so you can shimmy - do b1 from max range. Johnny's advancing normals are slow'ish so you can effectively play sort of lame by throwing your shit on block, walking backwards and punish his f3/f4 moves. I feel the variation with the air blades travelling downwards work really well.

Abuse the shit out of that j2 also. You can also disrespect with pokes due to his fastest combo starting mid being 14 frames - so you don't risk too much challenging his frames up close (and watch out for poke canceled into NP, punish that shit with a fullcombo if he starts doing that). Just be mindful f4 has a good range. I like to zone Kabal at about midscreen distance where I can do a short dash into f4 to catch him neutral ducking - but that's if they let me. Just play it patiently and lame. Walk backwards, shimmy, do long jumpins with j2 he cant do anything about. Make him come to you - that's how Johnny wants to play but Kabal just plays Johnny much better. A lot of Kabals normals also catch jumpers a lot of the time so you kinda have to hold his staggers in the corner - cause it's easy to hitconfirm into Nomad Dash. And abuse the range on them moves, I cant stress it enough.

Oh and ex forceballs whiff on Kabal, or the second one does to be precise. I had a guy interrupt my f344 into forceballs with Fatal blow between the first and second. Johnny's d4 on hit jails into f3, be mindful of that. I've played a lot of Kabals and it's either even or in your favor, but I feel like it's even. Kabal can control the pace granted he is not super far behind in health. Johnny gets dangerous in the corner though as he has the restand but also - your invincible wakeup is punishable. And Johnnies love to stagger f3 - blow that shit up with a d2 or a jab starter combo if he gets predictable. The move being high also makes it much easier to contest.
 
Any tips on dealing with zoning and neutral heavy characters? Overall have a hard time dealing with walk back characters. Especially if they have a decent anti jump projectile. I have better luck with clean cut contesting with some jump buzz saws, but these characters also have decent options against an aerial approach.

Cetrion
Frost
Jade
Shang Tsung
 

Blewdew

PSN: MaxKayX3
Any tips on dealing with zoning and neutral heavy characters? Overall have a hard time dealing with walk back characters. Especially if they have a decent anti jump projectile. I have better luck with clean cut contesting with some jump buzz saws, but these characters also have decent options against an aerial approach.

Cetrion
Frost
Jade
Shang Tsung
I don‘t have too much experience against the characters you listed beside cetrion, fullscreen I try to bully her with ia buzzsaws (mean streak) until she get‘s hit by it but that‘s literally the only advice I have for this matchup. Kabal doesn‘t really play this matchup different than other characters
 

M.D.

Spammer. Crouch walk hater.
Everytime I visit a mu thread of a character jade is listed as a bad matchup, yet some jade mains really try hard to sell their opinion that she sucks lol

I also don‘t like the Johnny cage mu, I can‘t specifically say why but I always struggle against him as kabal
LOL jade is borderline god tier and online she is broken and unbeatable.
The downplaying is immense.
 
Well I'm glad to have removed myself from their discussions. They became so degenerate and unhelpful.

Back on topic. I play meanstreak as well as default, can cetrion not punish ia buzzsaws with water spout trades? Seems dangerous. If not I'll use it more, I've been using it a lot in general because it's just good.
 

Blewdew

PSN: MaxKayX3
Well I'm glad to have removed myself from their discussions. They became so degenerate and unhelpful.

Back on topic. I play meanstreak as well as default, can cetrion not punish ia buzzsaws with water spout trades? Seems dangerous. If not I'll use it more, I've been using it a lot in general because it's just good.
If done low enough it should trade at worst, I do a lot of amp buzzsaws though which shouldn‘t be reactable for her. I‘ll look at it in the lab later Maybe I‘m Just getting away with murder
 

BoujieLuigi

Character Crises Main
My hardest match up iv'e had with Kabal so far is Noob. B1 1+3 just destroys kabal. Unless there is some secret way to punish it Noob gets to run free. I'd love advice for the Kabal v Noob MU.
 

TakeAChance

TYM White Knight
Well I'm glad to have removed myself from their discussions. They became so degenerate and unhelpful.

Back on topic. I play meanstreak as well as default, can cetrion not punish ia buzzsaws with water spout trades? Seems dangerous. If not I'll use it more, I've been using it a lot in general because it's just good.
Funny how I ended up in this thread too...Jade forums are bad right now.
 

Under_The_Mayo

Master of Quanculations
I probably struggle the most against Kabal, as a Dvorah player. He zones her out super hard. And her ranged options pale in comparison to his. And him being safe on everything makes things much worse. Finding an opportunity to put down a bug is quite tough. And he's not easy to push to the corner.

Serves me right for naming my ex girlfriend Kabal... That bitch.
 

SonicNinja3532

The Wannabe Prodigy
My hardest match up iv'e had with Kabal so far is Noob. B1 1+3 just destroys kabal. Unless there is some secret way to punish it Noob gets to run free. I'd love advice for the Kabal v Noob MU.
Db4 can punish from a close to medium range, and if they have no def bar then they can get launched for like 46 to 50 lol.
Even once the kb is gone you can still get a 10 to 15% punish.
 
The consistent problem I have is against scorpion. Kabal is a spacing and footsie god but he doeant punish super hard and scorpions bullshit can let him ignore neutral. Anyone got advice because ive just been switching to baraka for scorp mu