Best and Worst Characters in Beta

[chrisisnice]

So beta is done and dusted. Who does everyone think was the strongest character and the worst?

For me, Sub Zero seemed pretty strong with Li Mei next. Kitana seemed pretty weak overall, but she may just need some labbing and different kameos.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Temptress]

Didn't play as or against a single Kenshi, so can't comment on him.

Strongest: Sub-Zero and Liu
Solid: Johnny Cage, Li Mei (I think Johnny is much better, but Li Mei is fine)
Underwhelming: Kitana

 

[Juggs]

I think all the characters felt relatively equal in overall effectiveness except Liu Kang and Kitana. I believe they were a bit weaker than the rest.

But it’s hard to really say for sure. Just a few days without training mode is fairly difficult to assess how good the characters actually are. I will say that even though I didn’t play the stress test, the dash blocking and movement overall seemed infinitely better. I’m actually glad I wasn’t forced to play this game without dash blocking lol.

 

[Eddy Wang]

Kitana has Komittal strings as mechanic again, but this time, they don't feel as useless. I think she will be the first character i will explore more off, her normals aren't the worst in the game, but her fan throws do have weird angles, we'll see, so far she seemed the hardest character to use in the beta.

 

[Zviko]

Kitana needs some love imo. I think she is kinda the odd one out in this beta because everyone seem to be in a good place. By that I don't necessarily mean dev love for buffs but also lots of labbing and a decent Kameo. At first glance she looks and also feels weak but we'll see.

Li Mei is a lot of fun although she also lacks a mid. Fun combos, good projectile, nice screen control with kameo's help unless your opponent is Sub Zero of course. She can struggle against Johnny too up close with her short range and lack of mids but I think she's good enough.

Liu Kang feels like he's straight outta MK11 but with fun combos. Everything else feels exactly the same as in MK11 which makes him very basic, easy and kinda boring.

Johnny is pretty much perfect imo except for the lack of his klassic projectile. He feels strong but not broken. Combos are very fun too and the hype mechanic is built around his identity. I think they nailed it here. Gameplay wise I've never been a fan of Johnny in any game but this Johnny could even contend for my main spot if Reptile and Smoke as a reserve weren't an option.

Sub Zero is just doing Sub Zero things as always. Feels like he doesn't even need a Kameo which also means you can pair him with anyone, whatever you feel like your play style needs.

Haven't tried Kenshi because I didn't want to spend whole beta time figuring him out and with the lack of Kenshi opponents, the majority seemed to have a similar idea. He looks good thought but with the lack of practice mode he's probably the biggest mystery.

Overall, Sub, Johnny and Kenshi seem strong, Li Mei and Liu are decent, Kitana the weakest.

 

[Juggs]

Kitana needs some love imo. I think she is kinda the odd one out in this beta because everyone seem to be in a good place. By that I don't necessarily mean dev love for buffs but also lots of labbing and a decent Kameo. At first glance she looks and also feels weak but we'll see.

Li Mei is a lot of fun although she also lacks a mid. Fun combos, good projectile, nice screen control with kameo's help unless your opponent is Sub Zero of course. She can struggle against Johnny too up close with her short range and lack of mids but I think she's good enough.

Liu Kang feels like he's straight outta MK11 but with fun combos. Everything else feels exactly the same as in MK11 which makes him very basic, easy and kinda boring.

Johnny is pretty much perfect imo except for the lack of his klassic projectile. He feels strong but not broken. Combos are very fun too and the hype mechanic is built around his identity. I think they nailed it here. Gameplay wise I've never been a fan of Johnny in any game but this Johnny could even contend for my main spot if Reptile and Smoke as a reserve weren't an option.

Sub Zero is just doing Sub Zero things as always. Feels like he doesn't even need a Kameo which also means you can pair him with anyone, whatever you feel like your play style needs.

Haven't tried Kenshi because I didn't want to spend whole beta time figuring him out and with the lack of Kenshi opponents, the majority seemed to have a similar idea. He looks good thought but with the lack of practice mode he's probably the biggest mystery.

Overall, Sub, Johnny and Kenshi seem strong, Li Mei and Liu are decent, Kitana the weakest.

Kenshi is ridiculous. Mainly when he has his puppet summoned. Reminds me a bit of Shang Tsung in UMK3. Shang can morph into almost every character, but he has some negatives to his morphing. Mainly when he morphs back into Shang he is stuck not being able to block. But also, the best way to fight against him is to rush him down when he’s in his normal Shang form, and play more defensively when he morphs. I feel like Kenshi is similar. Where you play more defensively when he has his puppet summoned, but when he doesn’t you keep up the pressure so he can’t freely summon it back. But also, with both UMK3 Shang and MK1 Kenshi, it feels like the best way to fight them in general is to be aggressive. Don’t give them time to setup any of their broken stuff. Easier said than done of course, but Kenshi with his puppet out is an insanely good character.

Regardless, this is just how it appears based on limited experience and information. Once the full game drops, we have training mode, and we have more experience, maybe my assessment turns out to be completely wrong. I just simply cannot wait to get into the lab with this game. Sooo much to learn and practice!

 

[SpiceWeasel]

best character in the beta by a mile is my boy Kano

 

[StormGoddess]

Is it possible that Kitana's playstyle was simply not complemented by the right cameo, rather than her being inherently weak?
I've heard some people suggesting she should have an overhead move, but I'm not sure if her playstyle classifies her as a mixup character.
is she a zoning character or a setup character?
It's clear that she requires more effort and time than the other beta fighters.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

Sub-Zero was probably the easiest to use, so I’m thinking people were closer to playing him how he should be played than other characters by the end of the beta. It takes 5 seconds to see he had a mid, an overhead, a low that launches with kameo, and some zoning and mobility tools. 5 more seconds to see he has two really easy ways to convert off of any stray freeze. And just keeping it a buck, people are out of practice or just panic with the ice klone. Sub is very intuitive and pairs well with every kameo (some more than others), but I don’t know if he will be better than Kenshi or Johnny when we all learn what we’re doing. It’s possible though, I’m very happy with him.

 

[xenogorgeous]

Is it possible that Kitana's playstyle was simply not complemented by the right cameo, rather than her being inherently weak?
I've heard some people suggesting she should have an overhead move, but I'm not sure if her playstyle classifies her as a mixup character.
is she a zoning character or a setup character?
It's clear that she requires more effort and time than the other beta fighters.

right, this is her impression, anyway, her corner combo game is pretty strong, but, for another gameplays areas, she demands more effort than the others, yeah

 

[Deleted member 59910]

Kenshi is ridiculous. Mainly when he has his puppet summoned. Reminds me a bit of Shang Tsung in UMK3. Shang can morph into almost every character, but he has some negatives to his morphing. Mainly when he morphs back into Shang he is stuck not being able to block. But also, the best way to fight against him is to rush him down when he’s in his normal Shang form, and play more defensively when he morphs. I feel like Kenshi is similar. Where you play more defensively when he has his puppet summoned, but when he doesn’t you keep up the pressure so he can’t freely summon it back. But also, with both UMK3 Shang and MK1 Kenshi, it feels like the best way to fight them in general is to be aggressive. Don’t give them time to setup any of their broken stuff. Easier said than done of course, but Kenshi with his puppet out is an insanely good character.

Regardless, this is just how it appears based on limited experience and information. Once the full game drops, we have training mode, and we have more experience, maybe my assessment turns out to be completely wrong. I just simply cannot wait to get into the lab with this game. Sooo much to learn and practice!

You are right. In Sento Stance Kenshi doesn’t have armor, zoning options and his strings are mostly unsafe. A LOT of people didn’t figure it out, being cautious all the time and creating opportunities to freely retrieve the Sento Spirit.
He is 2 in 1 character, with a limited time puppet. 2 movesets to learn with one being clearly superior regarding frames, range, special moves...Maan, I agree and cannot wait to get into the lab too.

 

[Demon_0]

For those who think Kenshi is weak or don't know how good he is cause so few played him, watch SonicFox's videos. Kenshi is pretty ridiculous. He's just more complicated to play.

 

[Zviko]

For those who think Kenshi is weak or don't know how good he is cause so few played him, watch SonicFox's videos. Kenshi is pretty ridiculous. He's just more complicated to play.

Well then Kenshi might as well be the very bottom tier because SonicFox makes even those characters look ridiculous. New tech was found weeks, even months after release in a very shallow game like MK11. We really can't make conclusions on ridiculousness of a character in MK1 after a stress test and a very poorly optimized 3-day beta.

 

[Juggs]

For those who think Kenshi is weak or don't know how good he is cause so few played him, watch SonicFox's videos. Kenshi is pretty ridiculous. He's just more complicated to play.

I don’t think anyone thinks he’s weak. He honestly was probably the best character in the beta. But yeah, he probably was the least used because he does require a lot of knowledge. So players like SF who have gotten to play the game before the stress test, during the stress test, at EVO, and then again for the Beta definitely were able to take advantage of Kenshi.

 

[Immortal]

For those who think Kenshi is weak or don't know how good he is cause so few played him, watch SonicFox's videos. Kenshi is pretty ridiculous. He's just more complicated to play.

Kenshi is not ridiculous. SonicFox is ridiculous. He could make an ant look like the best character in a fighting game.

People didn't have time nor will to test Kenshi in beta but as someone who only played him throu stress test and beta i can tell you - once people lab him and see how many things are unsafe and how limited he is in Sento stance i doubt anybody will think he is "ridiculous".

He is a good character with a lot of tools but is also very complicated to play and unsafe on like 80% of the things people saw Sonic did(zoning, puppet "setups" and gaps). Barely anybody punished it thou coz again there were no time nor the option to lab him. This will change in time thou.

Going by beta standard Sub Zero was beyond ridiculous. With almost every option at his disposal.

People think Kenshi is way better than he really is coz of SonicFox and that's bad for the character.

 

[Juggs]

Kenshi is not ridiculous. SonicFox is ridiculous. He could make an ant look like the best character in a fighting game.

People didn't have time nor will to test Kenshi in beta but as someone who only played him throu stress test and beta i can tell you - once people lab him and see how many things are unsafe and how limited he is in Sento stance i doubt anybody will think he is "ridiculous".

He is a good character with a lot of tools but is also very complicated to play and unsafe on like 80% of the things people saw Sonic did(zoning, pupper "setups"). Barely anybody punished it thou coz again there were no time nor the option to lab him. This will change in time thou.

People think Kenshi is way better than he really is coz of SonicFox and that's bad for the character.

That’s not true though. Well I mean, SonicFox IS definitely ridiculous, but so is Kenshi. Being able to use his puppet while blocking is ridiculously good along with not really having any gaps in his offense while the puppet is out. Kenshi has everything. Oh and also, SF wasn’t the only person utilizing him and doing crazy things.

 

[xKhaoTik]

Kitana as a character in general is fine. She just doesn’t have the right kameo to compliment her, so she comes off as “weak”. I’m sure she’ll flourish once the game releases and we can lab with all the Kameos

 

[Arqwart]

Kitana is an odd one. Everyone I've seen attempt to get her to work in the stress test and beta insists her strings aren't great and her mixup game doesn't exist. So on the surface, she appears mediocre if not weak.

At the same time, I didn't see any other character in the beta able to churn out 25-30% meterless, easily hit-confirmable combos with NO kameo help without utilizing strings that were death on block. Her damage WITH kameos and/or meter was consistently reaching 35-40% if optimized. Seems like Kitana may not be a very good pressure character, but by the Elder Gods is she going to eviscerate your life bar off every touch. Was there ANY string she had that didn't combo into fan lift? This consistent damage output and saving of both meter & kameo bars makes me think Kitana is regularly going to have a ton of meter on hand for breakers, armored reversals, and defensive kameo options.

Also, I doubt Kitana is going to be struggling once people figure out how to do hard-to-blockable / anti-wakeup trap loops that combo into themselves while also dishing out good damage. Kitana needs some in depth labbing before being discounted.

 

[Immortal]

That’s not true though. Well I mean, SonicFox IS definitely ridiculous, but so is Kenshi. Being able to use his puppet while blocking is ridiculously good along with not really having any gaps in his offense while the puppet is out. Kenshi has everything. Oh and also, SF wasn’t the only person utilizing him and doing crazy things.

It is true. You're taking SonicFox plays as a benchmark not the character. Let me break it down for you:

1. Kenshi zoning is punishable on block from like even 4/5 of the screen.

2. Puppet setups are 70% not real, only really safe way to get puppet out is of like 2 strings which end in HDK and space you out far enough so you wont get punish. Sonic was pulling Sento stance like point blank 90% and didn't get punished for it, coz it's Sonic and people didn't know.

3. You can armor throu most of the puppet setups, hell you can even poke out or straight up punish like 50% of them. Watch Rewind vs Sonic, when Rewind figured it out.

There is more but there is no point in discussing this based on beta, we can get back to this once people have full game and lab him.

I'm not arguing that Kenshi is bad or puppet it bad. Nothing of sort, he is a good character and puppet is strong just not as strong/ridiculous as people think based on SonicFox vidoes.

 

[Tony at Home]

Hilarious to see the Kenshi downplay has already started. Clock it boys, negative 18 days into the game's release.

Johnny when he gets in on you with his special canceling active is a "ah well, guess I'll die" moment everytime.

 

[Zviko]

Kitana is an odd one. Everyone I've seen attempt to get her to work in the stress test and beta insists her strings aren't great and her mixup game doesn't exist. So on the surface, she appears mediocre if not weak.

At the same time, I didn't see any other character in the beta able to churn out 25-30% meterless, easily hit-confirmable combos with NO kameo help without utilizing strings that were death on block. Her damage WITH kameos and/or meter was consistently reaching 35-40% if optimized. Seems like Kitana may not be a very good pressure character, but by the Elder Gods is she going to eviscerate your life bar off every touch. Was there ANY string she had that didn't combo into fan lift? This consistent damage output and saving of both meter & kameo bars makes me think Kitana is regularly going to have a ton of meter on hand for breakers, armored reversals, and defensive kameo options.

Also, I doubt Kitana is going to be struggling once people figure out how to do hard-to-blockable / anti-wakeup trap loops that combo into themselves while also dishing out good damage. Kitana needs some in depth labbing before being discounted.

What meterless and kameoless combo did 30%? Honestly want to know because her damage with meter and kameos was definitely the lowest of all characters by far so she definitely does need meter to contend for that kind of damage. Yes, her fastest string which is kinda important for punishing, doesn't connect with fan lift and fan lift also likes to whiff in a corner. And about the trap loops, you first need good strings to actually hit someone to do a trap setup and her main mid string is of course trash because it has a gap.

 

[xKhaoTik]

What meterless and kameoless combo did 30%? Honestly want to know because her damage with meter and kameos was definitely the lowest of all characters by far so she definitely does need meter to contend for that kind of damage. Yes, her fastest string which is kinda important for punishing, doesn't connect with fan lift and fan lift also likes to whiff in a corner. And about the trap loops, you first need good strings to actually hit someone to do a trap setup and her main mid string is of course trash because it has a gap.

2412 lift jk b24 dp did over 30%

1 lift works as a quick 7f punish

 

[Deleted member 59910]

That’s not true though. Well I mean, SonicFox IS definitely ridiculous, but so is Kenshi. Being able to use his puppet while blocking is ridiculously good along with not really having any gaps in his offense while the puppet is out. Kenshi has everything. Oh and also, SF wasn’t the only person utilizing him and doing crazy things.

No, there are a lot of gaps. A LOT. And armor can destroy all the setups if timed correctly. SonicFox vs Rewind set shows how to deal. Seeing Tekken Master (EVO finalist) and a lot of pros crying during a BETA about a pressure full of gaps, limited by time and which puts the opponent on bad situations is cringe. I mean, a lot of people said MK community is not ready for a puppet character, and that’s true: all everyone wants seems to be the simple and bland “your turn, my turn”.

 

[Arqwart]

What meterless and kameoless combo did 30%? Honestly want to know because her damage with meter and kameos was definitely the lowest of all characters by far so she definitely does need meter to contend for that kind of damage. Yes, her fastest string which is kinda important for punishing, doesn't connect with fan lift and fan lift also likes to whiff in a corner. And about the trap loops, you first need good strings to actually hit someone to do a trap setup and her main mid string is of course trash because it has a gap.

Video below of various combo routes. I will say that a lot of these aren't really optimal, but they're varied in options available. Looks like tossing in Sonya or Frost immediately remediates the issue of 112 not being able to go into Fan Lift, and I'm sure there'll be other kameos capable of similar things with her.

First combo is meterless, no jump-in start, no kameo help, and midscreen: 32% (320.52).

None of this is to discredit her buttons and strings being mediocre, but how those will be utilized may change with labbing time. For all we know, Kitana may be best with a kameo that plugs her string gaps to give her better pressure because she can get her own damage off consistently alone.

EDIT: also adding in here that her upper limit on combo damage with kameos absolutely comes from multiple instances of her jumping kicks string. It seems to do BONKERS damage for no reason? Having a kameo like Jax or Sonya that allows for multiple reps of it in the corner results in stupid damage.

 

[Zviko]

2412 lift jk b24 dp did over 30%

1 lift works as a quick 7f punish

Video below of various combo routes. I will say that a lot of these aren't really optimal, but they're varied in options available. Looks like tossing in Sonya or Frost immediately remediates the issue of 112 not being able to go into Fan Lift, and I'm sure there'll be other kameos capable of similar things with her.

First combo is meterless, no jump-in start, no kameo help, and midscreen: 32% (320.52).

None of this is to discredit her buttons and strings being mediocre, but how those will be utilized may change with labbing time. For all we know, Kitana may be best with a kameo that plugs her string gaps to give her better pressure because she can get her own damage off consistently alone.

EDIT: also adding in here that her upper limit on combo damage with kameos absolutely comes from multiple instances of her jumping kicks string. It seems to do BONKERS damage for no reason? Having a kameo like Jax or Sonya that allows for multiple reps of it in the corner results in stupid damage.

Wow, I didn't know j3 into B24 works after a fan lift. I've never seen anyone do it either so really didn't know, good stuff. Yeah we'll see, I hope beta didn't turn people off from her and she gets love from their real fans and a little bit from the devs too on release.