M2Dave
Zoning Master
As of 11/18, the following are my takes on the zoning of certain characters and their miscellaneous tools.
Ashrah – mid-range Goddess and most likely the best character on this list. I honestly have nothing witty to say that you have not read or seen about this character already. Ashrah is ideally paired with Sareena to maximize damage output on combos, enable certain conversions, and gain access to full-screen projectiles, which she lacks in light stance. Dark stance is somewhat unexplored and underutilized so there may be further potential to this character.
Kitana - a surprisingly uncommon character considering her popularity, I believe that Kitana has some of the best zoning and runaway in the game, particularly when paired with Kung Lao. She can easily win zoning wars with EX d,b+3, which allows follow ups on trades, and her fatal blow, which hits from very far away. Kitana's offense, on the other hand, is limited and gimmicky. She has gaps in key strings (i.e., b+2,4 and 2,4), no frame advantage on any normal attacks or strings, and no overheads. While she can arguably win every match up by zoning and playing footsies (as b+2 and 2 have disjointed hitboxes) she may struggle against characters with excellent anti-zoning tools such as Mileena, Omni-Man, and Raiden. For this reason, I believe that she is high mid tier rather than top tier.
Liu Kang – the character with the most intuitive and best traditional zoning on this list. The high and low projectiles combined with the low hat result in some effective zoning. However, the real reason that most tournament players place Liu very high on tier lists is because he is as good up close as he is from far away. He has some strong strings and a back throw that launches when you choose Kung Lao as your kameo, which you always should, so the strike / throw mix is one of the best in the game.
Rain – the "premier zoning character" meme lives on. I like Rain with Sub Zero, who complements Rain's zoning, combos, and set play. Unfortunately, Rain's base zoning toolkit is substandard. While Rain God and water stream are serviceable, water stream and water bubble leave more to be desired. In a post Cyrax meta that has affected every aspect of Rain's offense and defense, I believe that this character is worthy of some meaningful buffs, exclusively to water stream and water bubble in order to remain true to the intended "premier zoning character" design.
Reiko – you have to make a decision with Reiko. The dilemma is choosing zoning over damage, in which case Reiko/Kung Lao or Reiko/Stryker is your team, or choosing damage over zoning, in which case Reiko/Darrius is your team. Top tier characters like Ashrah and Liu Kang do not have to choose one over the other. They offer the complete package with their best kameo. Besides, results have indicated that Reiko/Darrius is the best team, which I consider more of a command grab archetype rather than a zoning one.
Shang Tsung – in theory, most of Shang’s match ups, even the hardest ones, should be around 5:5 because of morphing, which is better than ever in this game. In practice, however, I am not convinced that such is the case. I think Shang is very difficult to use because of morphing and constant stance switching. Some of his conversions are also complicated as a ground skull can bounce your opponent toward or away from you, depending where and how exactly the move hits. Speaking of bouncing, I have seen tier lists in which he is placed top 10, but I have also seen tier lists in which he is placed bottom 10. I suppose the jury is still out on this subject. One thing is certain, though. Shang is most definitely a zoning character, with some of the highest meter-less damage in the game.
Sindel – Initially, Sindel appears like a lesser Liu Kang in the sense that she has a slower high and low projectile, inferior strings, and no extra perks like a launching back throw. However, she does have the best aerial projectile, which, when combined with low hat, creates a potent zoning game. She also has f+1, a long range, disjointed 11 frame high attack that breaks armor. You can easily hit confirm f+1 into scream or cancel into low hat on block to gain an advantage. Sindel is levitated (literally) to top tier because of the set play involved with levitate and low hat. She can juggle with f+4,3, end combos with jumping 2, levitate, jumping 2, f+4, which becomes +60 on an airborne opponent, call Kung Lao for the low hat, and create a hard-to-blockable with levitate and a charged low hat. She can also force the opponent to block b+2 and cancel into levitate while releasing the charged low hat at different intervals as she descends with a jumping attack. This set play is currently considered the best in the game.
Ashrah – mid-range Goddess and most likely the best character on this list. I honestly have nothing witty to say that you have not read or seen about this character already. Ashrah is ideally paired with Sareena to maximize damage output on combos, enable certain conversions, and gain access to full-screen projectiles, which she lacks in light stance. Dark stance is somewhat unexplored and underutilized so there may be further potential to this character.
Kitana - a surprisingly uncommon character considering her popularity, I believe that Kitana has some of the best zoning and runaway in the game, particularly when paired with Kung Lao. She can easily win zoning wars with EX d,b+3, which allows follow ups on trades, and her fatal blow, which hits from very far away. Kitana's offense, on the other hand, is limited and gimmicky. She has gaps in key strings (i.e., b+2,4 and 2,4), no frame advantage on any normal attacks or strings, and no overheads. While she can arguably win every match up by zoning and playing footsies (as b+2 and 2 have disjointed hitboxes) she may struggle against characters with excellent anti-zoning tools such as Mileena, Omni-Man, and Raiden. For this reason, I believe that she is high mid tier rather than top tier.
Liu Kang – the character with the most intuitive and best traditional zoning on this list. The high and low projectiles combined with the low hat result in some effective zoning. However, the real reason that most tournament players place Liu very high on tier lists is because he is as good up close as he is from far away. He has some strong strings and a back throw that launches when you choose Kung Lao as your kameo, which you always should, so the strike / throw mix is one of the best in the game.
Rain – the "premier zoning character" meme lives on. I like Rain with Sub Zero, who complements Rain's zoning, combos, and set play. Unfortunately, Rain's base zoning toolkit is substandard. While Rain God and water stream are serviceable, water stream and water bubble leave more to be desired. In a post Cyrax meta that has affected every aspect of Rain's offense and defense, I believe that this character is worthy of some meaningful buffs, exclusively to water stream and water bubble in order to remain true to the intended "premier zoning character" design.
Reiko – you have to make a decision with Reiko. The dilemma is choosing zoning over damage, in which case Reiko/Kung Lao or Reiko/Stryker is your team, or choosing damage over zoning, in which case Reiko/Darrius is your team. Top tier characters like Ashrah and Liu Kang do not have to choose one over the other. They offer the complete package with their best kameo. Besides, results have indicated that Reiko/Darrius is the best team, which I consider more of a command grab archetype rather than a zoning one.
Shang Tsung – in theory, most of Shang’s match ups, even the hardest ones, should be around 5:5 because of morphing, which is better than ever in this game. In practice, however, I am not convinced that such is the case. I think Shang is very difficult to use because of morphing and constant stance switching. Some of his conversions are also complicated as a ground skull can bounce your opponent toward or away from you, depending where and how exactly the move hits. Speaking of bouncing, I have seen tier lists in which he is placed top 10, but I have also seen tier lists in which he is placed bottom 10. I suppose the jury is still out on this subject. One thing is certain, though. Shang is most definitely a zoning character, with some of the highest meter-less damage in the game.
Sindel – Initially, Sindel appears like a lesser Liu Kang in the sense that she has a slower high and low projectile, inferior strings, and no extra perks like a launching back throw. However, she does have the best aerial projectile, which, when combined with low hat, creates a potent zoning game. She also has f+1, a long range, disjointed 11 frame high attack that breaks armor. You can easily hit confirm f+1 into scream or cancel into low hat on block to gain an advantage. Sindel is levitated (literally) to top tier because of the set play involved with levitate and low hat. She can juggle with f+4,3, end combos with jumping 2, levitate, jumping 2, f+4, which becomes +60 on an airborne opponent, call Kung Lao for the low hat, and create a hard-to-blockable with levitate and a charged low hat. She can also force the opponent to block b+2 and cancel into levitate while releasing the charged low hat at different intervals as she descends with a jumping attack. This set play is currently considered the best in the game.
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