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Need advice on d3/4 spammers

asmith

Noob
I've countered some advance players whose neutral game plan is to d3/4. They always pick characters with long ranged d3/4. Examples would be Shao kahn, Cassie or johnny cage.

So in a neutral game, the moment Liu gets close, they start doing d3/4. (If you watch SonicFox play cassie, you'll see tons of d4)

I've labbed this. Set it to record mode and I randomly pressed d3/4, but I couldn't get control of the situation. At best I could punish 50% of the time by anticipating the d3/4 and punish with f4. Jumping on them is also very risky because d3/4 can easily turn into punish.

d3/4 in a neutral game is different from poke war. Even if Liu blocks the d3/4 the spacing is still against him.

What is your best strategy dealing with this? Am I missing something very obvious?
 

Ger187

Mortal
D
I've countered some advance players whose neutral game plan is to d3/4. They always pick characters with long ranged d3/4. Examples would be Shao kahn, Cassie or johnny cage.

So in a neutral game, the moment Liu gets close, they start doing d3/4. (If you watch SonicFox play cassie, you'll see tons of d4)

I've labbed this. Set it to record mode and I randomly pressed d3/4, but I couldn't get control of the situation. At best I could punish 50% of the time by anticipating the d3/4 and punish with f4. Jumping on them is also very risky because d3/4 can easily turn into punish.

d3/4 in a neutral game is different from poke war. Even if Liu blocks the d3/4 the spacing is still against him.

What is your best strategy dealing with this? Am I missing something very obvious?
Dont play liu kang because at this range he struggles a bit
 

Evil Canadian

G O K U
Elder God
What is your best strategy dealing with this? Am I missing something very obvious?
If you are being outranged by a long range d4, this is basically the only range that liu kang is mildly weak in. That said if they are poking you out then just start poking them out with your sweep. While a bit slow Liu's sweep is effectively his "big button" and you can easily tag people with it if they are trying to poke you with d3/d4, and its a solid 7% vs 1/3% damage of the d3/d4
 

OzzFoxx

Hardcore gaming poser.
I've countered some advance players whose neutral game plan is to d3/4. They always pick characters with long ranged d3/4. Examples would be Shao kahn, Cassie or johnny cage.

So in a neutral game, the moment Liu gets close, they start doing d3/4. (If you watch SonicFox play cassie, you'll see tons of d4)

I've labbed this. Set it to record mode and I randomly pressed d3/4, but I couldn't get control of the situation. At best I could punish 50% of the time by anticipating the d3/4 and punish with f4. Jumping on them is also very risky because d3/4 can easily turn into punish.

d3/4 in a neutral game is different from poke war. Even if Liu blocks the d3/4 the spacing is still against him.

What is your best strategy dealing with this? Am I missing something very obvious?
I believe they added short hop to deal w this exact situation
 

Rip Torn

ALL I HAVE IS THE GREEN.
My initial thought is to bait out the d4 and whiff punish with b3. Or you could just block the d4 and dash up into f4 which they would most likely have to block because they are pretty negative.
 

asmith

Noob
Thank you all for the responses.

@Evil Canadian
Thank you for understanding the "feels" ;D I guess I didn't take b4 seriously because it is 18f. But yes it is the move with the longest range.

@MagicMan357
You CAN spam down pokes in MK. It is called "online gameplay".

@LaidbackOne
In the original post, I just explained about that. A 9f mid vs 8f lows. Can't be done on reaction, only on read. Not to mention the whiffing risk.

@OzzFoxx @gam224
Well yes. But hop attacks require good timing. Good timing requires a good read and if that read is done correctly why not just punish with f4 and go for higher damage?

@Wigy
I was disappointed when I didn't see the insulting meme. Please reconsider. :)

@Rip Torn
I've tried block, dash up and f4. It sometimes work, usually on the players who love to whiff punish Liu. Their idea is to back dash and whiff punish.
 

NickDaGreek1983

Oh, my days !
Ninja Killa uses high or low fireball mid range as a "footsie" tool. Maybe start using those every now and then. Back 3 is working wonders as well. Sweeps.... And if you are feelings risky, dd1, 3! It's long ranged enough. Don't let those Kang haters get to you. Enjoy their tears by drinking them. Wah tah
 

MagicMan357

"130 ms is more legit than Labbing" - TYM
Its like people refuse to accept a fact that you cant spam in MK even online, you guys just have really bad reaction times
 

greeneless

Apprentice
As Liu Kang I literally try to bait people into poking so I get a free combo if they try to mash after a block, otherwise its just a free turn

You need to be able to deal with pokes if you're playing Liu Kang, there is not a single character in the game better at counter poking than Liu IMO, and I am in the "Liu not quite top 1" denial camp. You don't need to be a jedi to counter pokes, just hop into practice mode and set your least favorite character to mash on you
 

CrimsonShadow

Administrator and Community Engineer
Administrator
Time a low fireball? It'll beat them if they're just throwing this out.

Then if they start to respect that and block or do something else, you can go play your game.
 
block wait for your turn. d1 back if they are spamming then on hit you have multiples options use a fast mid,mix or walk back then whiff punish etc..
 
I've countered some advance players whose neutral game plan is to d3/4. They always pick characters with long ranged d3/4. Examples would be Shao kahn, Cassie or johnny cage.

So in a neutral game, the moment Liu gets close, they start doing d3/4. (If you watch SonicFox play cassie, you'll see tons of d4)

I've labbed this. Set it to record mode and I randomly pressed d3/4, but I couldn't get control of the situation. At best I could punish 50% of the time by anticipating the d3/4 and punish with f4. Jumping on them is also very risky because d3/4 can easily turn into punish.

d3/4 in a neutral game is different from poke war. Even if Liu blocks the d3/4 the spacing is still against him.

What is your best strategy dealing with this? Am I missing something very obvious?
What you are describing is not "poke mashing" or "spamming pokes". It is called spacing. Sonic Fox has a Cassie tutorial video and literally says D4 is free spacing for her. This is true for her and a lot of characters. This is the very basic of footsies. You walk into the range you think they will use the D4, you then step back and whiff punish their D4. This is Street Fighter 2 at its core and a fundamental.

I havent labbed this with Liu Kang specifically, but I imagine you could whiff punish with Low fireball, flying kick, B4, Jump ins into his 12 hitconfirmable frame traps and staggers, B2. You could even walkup in range, block, dash and throw, but that is another layer of mind games in itself and can be risky. Ill try labbing this later, but this is what I can think of only using Liu Kang for an hr since the games release.

Whether Ive played your specific character or not the basics of what Im saying still stands. It is the most basic form of footsies. Bait their move, step out of range and whiff punish. If you have watched Ryu v. Guile in Street Fighter 2 Turbo then Id recommend going watching some pros play that matchups. You will see the majority of the match being Low Mk which is similar to D4 to keep spacing and the baiting of the move, the step back out of range and the whiff punishing. You will also see a lot of fireballs. This reminds of off the Johnny Cage v. Liu Kang matchup a lot. Fireballs at range and trying to get is while keeping each other out with down pokes. Id imagine the Liu Kang player would be using B4 as his spacing tool quite a bit.
 

GLoRToR

Positive Poster!
Quick guide to Liu Kang

If you want to attack: F43
If you need to defend: F43
If you need to poke: F43
If you need to anti-air: F43
If you need to block: F43
If you are being poked: F43
If you won the round: You can stop now. You won the round. No, stop. STOP. Eh nevermind. Jus F43 yourself to sleep.