Mortal Kombat (2011) Matchup Chart

[CY MasterHavik]

How are we ranking the DLC? Some have claim they are all top tier.

 

[shoshinsha]

Yeah, I think at the very least, Skarlet and Kenshi have been out long enough to start being evaluated. Obviously not Freddy, though, and Rain is iffy.

 

[THTB]

Yeah, Skarlet and Kenshi have been around enough. I just need to find Skarlet/Kenshi players.

 

[IKizzLE]

Based on a top, high, upper, lower, bottom tier system....

Scarlett is definitely high tier. Not top 5, but up there right below kitana and kabal. Rain and Kenshi I believe are both upper mids.

Rain has conflicting interests. He has a lot of zoning moves but is absolutely terrible at zoning. Water orb is slow, punishable at close range and has the worst recovery for any projectile in the entire game. Lightning is good at catching people at wakeups but is punishable by nearly every character in the game from close to mid range and is punished by Kenshi at full screen. He has no threatening or damaging mixups with b23, and b21+2 being the only viable ones.

What he is good at is mixing up his pressure with the super roundhouse cancels and throws. He's upper mid thanks to the relentless pressure you could put on with him and his high damaging combos.

I dont have much experience with Kenshi but from the one's Ive played, he can completely lock you down and keep you at mid to full screen, and for a lot of characters, thats bad. He is also no slouch close quarters either.

 

[THTB]

I think Skarlet is top 10 easily. Kenshi seems to be bottom of upper tier at worst (Upper being based on my personal ranking system of Top, Upper, Mid, Lower, Bottom), and Rain feels about mid.

 

[shoshinsha]

I agree basically that Kenshi feels middle "high" tier, and Rain feels middle "mid" tier for the reasons stated. Skarlet I have a tough time with. If she really is losing some of her dagger cancel ability, I think she drops significantly in the tier list. With it, she's probably bottom of "top" tier or top of "high" tier. Without it, I think she's no better than Rain.

 

[RWDY Nori]

Johnny Cage have minor advantages over Raiden as well.

I always enjoy debating w/you. I'll never agree KL is number 1 and you seem adamant he is, so to each his own. Can you explain your opinion about JC having adv over Raiden?

 

[M2Dave]

Yeah, Skarlet and Kenshi have been around enough. I just need to find Skarlet/Kenshi players.

I am familiar with Skarlet, but it would be a waste of time discussing her match ups due to the coming patch that will supposedly tone down her daggers. If NRS does not compensate, she will end up being mid tier like Kano. Skarlet is all about the daggers.

always enjoy debating w/you. I'll never agree KL is number 1 and you seem adamant he is, so to each his own. Can you explain your opinion about JC having adv over Raiden?

I don't know too many high level players who don't think Kung Lao is the best character in the game.

I think everybody knows by now that Johnny Cage is the best character up close. His pokes are very quick and some can even be hit confirmed into the nut punch which gives safe jumps. All of his juggles end in the nut punch too. So, you've got a character who's constantly in your face poking you and who eliminates your wake up options when he juggles you. If you can't zone him out either with a fireball or a set of long range normals, you're in deep trouble, and Raiden is in deep trouble because his fireball is horrible while his normals are designed to attack, not to zone. Because Cage ends all juggles in the nut punch, wake up superman and teleport are a non-issue. Teleport is OK to escape traps in non-wake up situations, but it doesn't serve any purpose otherwise. Cage is a high pressure character. Teleporting next to Cage favors Cage, not Raiden.

 

[Vulcan Hades]

I haven't fought a lot of good Rains but so far I do think Stryker has an advantage over him. One thing I've noticed is that all his specials come out extremely slow. I've been able to stuff his lightning and his bubble with gun shot even with frame disadvantage.

His teleport is tricky. But regular Roll Toss seems to completely shut his offense down. I don't even need to use a meter for armor.

Again, this is just based on a few matches I've had with random Rain players. But so far I haven't seen anything that really makes him a serious threat. Highly doubt Rain is higher than mid tier.

 

[THTB]

Good Raidens are going to turtle their asses off and poke when necessary. They won't be aggressive. It's definitely not an advantage matchup for Cage.

 

[M2Dave]

Good Raidens are going to turtle their asses off and poke when necessary. They won't be aggressive. It's definitely not an advantage matchup for Cage.

What are Raiden's zoning tools in the match up? What can he do to stop Cage from dash blocking his way in?

I agree with Vulcan that Rain is mid tier. Guest characters aside, Rain was arguably the most anticipated DLC character yet NRS makes him mid tier. To me, Rain is the biggest disappointment of the game by far. The edenian prince should have been treated a lot better.

I know that MK is not just about special moves, but all of his special moves (aside from the super kick) seem to be poor versions of other characters' special moves.

Water Bubble - poor version of Cyrax's net. Breaks immediately on trades like Scorpion's spear. Very unsafe.

Lightning - good in juggles. That is about it. Very unsafe.

Water Stream - poor man's Sektor's flame burner. Safe but hits high with limited range.

Teleport - nothing like Raiden's teleport. More start up and recovery frames

Gesyer Kick - I like to think of the Gesyer Kick as an unsafe version of Noob's shadow up kicks. Rather slow and not safe on block. EX version has armor, so it is bearable.

H20 Boost - No viable set ups from what I have seen. Impractical like the boost gimmicks Quan Chi has.

Very disappointing, NRS.

 

[Subby]

Rain needs to be played out more. After playing him nonstop for a couple of weekends. I highly doubt he's mid-tier or lower.

People assume too quickly on how bad Rains moves are. On paper they might seem bad, but they all play out very well and compliment certain situations.

 

[THTB]

Dave, Raiden isn't necessarily zoning, he's just turtling. f24 and tick throwing where necessary. It's pretty a footsies battle, and it's a battle Raiden's pretty good at (Cage can be, but not nearly like Raiden).

 

[Vulcan Hades]

Stryker vs Kabal: 2-8 or possibly 1-9

Stryker can't even zone, he gets knocked down on trade and Stryker always trades with both of his projectiles no matter how meaty you make your gunshot. So at that point when you realize this it's not even worth taking your gun out because 100% of Kabal's options easily beats it.

EN roll toss is useless vs Kabal's ground saw. You obviously can't do it on reaction. And even if you make an educated guess, the armor is only on during start up so it's not even gonna work.

So you can't use your gun and you can't use roll toss. Basically, you can't use two of your character's only strengths (zoning/counter zoning).

Stryker has a poor wake up so once Kabal is in it's hard to get away from him. You need a breaker or 1 bar for a EN roll toss/EN baton sweep. But even then 50% of the time Stryker's armor gets stuffed by Kabal's dumb string.

All Stryker can hope for is making good reads on EN dash spin and jump over ground saws to get in and hopefully get a combo or a throw. But you need to make 6-10 great reads to win a round while Kabal only needs to make 2 and just brainlessly spam projectiles for the rest of the match.

Oh yeah, and that's not even factoring the fact that Kabal can get 2 breakers per round if he wants to. So even when you play better and smarter than your opponent, it's like Kabal has 160% more health than you.

Doom matchup. Kung Lao seems free compared to Kabal tbh.

 

[Robotic]

Ouch. Ive been trying to get an explanation as to why stryker beats sektor. Whatchu got on that?

 

[Vulcan Hades]

Ouch. Ive been trying to get an explanation as to why stryker beats sektor. Whatchu got on that?

They're pretty much even imo. First I thought it was 6-4 Stryker because I assumed he could roll under flame thrower but he can't. And I admit I underestimated Sektor's footsies.

They both are similar in a lot of ways: great zoning, great footsies, good counter zoning tools, air control, reset shenanigans, some mixups. The big difference between the two is that Sektor has a good wake up but his teleport punch (counter zone tool) is unsafe. Another difference is that Sektor needs to burn meter for enhanced moves vs Stryker while he can keep it all for breakers.

So in the end it becomes a big meter fight centered around footsies and counter set ups.

 

[CY MasterHavik]

lao vs. Jax

7-3

why? Do I even have to explain? I'll do it later. It deals with the basic idea of his normals trashing my normals.

 

[M2Dave]

Stryker vs Kabal: 2-8 or possibly 1-9

Stryker can't even zone, he gets knocked down on trade and Stryker always trades with both of his projectiles no matter how meaty you make your gunshot. So at that point when you realize this it's not even worth taking your gun out because 100% of Kabal's options easily beats it.

EN roll toss is useless vs Kabal's ground saw. You obviously can't do it on reaction. And even if you make an educated guess, the armor is only on during start up so it's not even gonna work.

So you can't use your gun and you can't use roll toss. Basically, you can't use two of your character's only strengths (zoning/counter zoning).

Stryker has a poor wake up so once Kabal is in it's hard to get away from him. You need a breaker or 1 bar for a EN roll toss/EN baton sweep. But even then 50% of the time Stryker's armor gets stuffed by Kabal's dumb string.

All Stryker can hope for is making good reads on EN dash spin and jump over ground saws to get in and hopefully get a combo or a throw. But you need to make 6-10 great reads to win a round while Kabal only needs to make 2 and just brainlessly spam projectiles for the rest of the match.

Oh yeah, and that's not even factoring the fact that Kabal can get 2 breakers per round if he wants to. So even when you play better and smarter than your opponent, it's like Kabal has 160% more health than you.

Doom matchup. Kung Lao seems free compared to Kabal tbh.

Nice write up.

You were definitely right. Kabal's projectiles glitch. It seems like they have no start up frames. Surprisingly, the enhanced versions function normally. Very weird.

I think Kung Lao beats up on Stryker too. Once Kung Lao gets close and he will because f+3 covers half the screen, Stryker is in deep trouble.

 

[Robotic]

They're pretty much even imo. First I thought it was 6-4 Stryker because I assumed he could roll under flame thrower but he can't. And I admit I underestimated Sektor's footsies.

They both are similar in a lot of ways: great zoning, great footsies, good counter zoning tools, air control, reset shenanigans, some mixups. The big difference between the two is that Sektor has a good wake up but his teleport punch (counter zone tool) is unsafe. Another difference is that Sektor needs to burn meter for enhanced moves vs Stryker while he can keep it all for breakers.

So in the end it becomes a big meter fight centered around footsies and counter set ups.

His IATU is much safer and much faster. Actually, I should say it's much safer BECAUSE it's much faster and punish much more often than it can be punished. I've always leaned 6-4 in this matchup, but I've rarely played against Strykers so I kinda talked outta my ass with theory. If you have PSN, PM Hades and we can explore this matchup further, if you like.

 

[Konqrr]

EN roll toss is useless vs Kabal's ground saw. You obviously can't do it on reaction. And even if you make an educated guess, the armor is only on during start up so it's not even gonna work.

Kabal has so much recovery on ground saw that you can 100% punish it with :en Roll. You just have to wait until the saw is closer to you so you still have armor. Can't you still do it if you anticipate the saw and jump over it then roll?

I agree though, this matchup sucks balls for Stryker.

 

[salvificblood]

Raiden's ex superman and teleport make his fireball good because he builds a tonne of meter by playing this stupid baiting game with his fireball at 3/4-full screen. Also, his vicinity blast stuff is amazing against a lot of the cast. Raiden is definitely a monster. I don't think you can justify placing him outside of the top 3 because he destroys the zoners of this game. I think his one bad matchup is Reptile? You could say Reptile isn't that great by the same logic just because he has bad matchups against Kung Lao and Skarlet.

 

[HurlingDervish]

I am familiar with Skarlet, but it would be a waste of time discussing her match ups due to the coming patch that will supposedly tone down her daggers. If NRS does not compensate, she will end up being mid tier like Kano. Skarlet is all about the daggers.

I agree and disagree. Even without daggers enhanced dash is a craaaazy good tool. its like having jades glow with rockets attached to you. If people can find a safe way to build meter without doing super fast daggers she wont drop in placement much. Also it feels like well-timed and spaced daggers > mindlessly throwing them out there non-stop. I don't think its as big of a deal to counter as people think it is, and adding a delay between cancels wont stop accurate people from making them look broken.

as for Rain, I don't think he hasn't been given enough credit, he kinda seems like a SF character meets noob saibot, doing FADC's and setting up grab openings. reversing the matches momentum out of nowhere

 

[Vulcan Hades]

@Robotic: I'm on xbl, sorry.

Can't you still do it if you anticipate the saw and jump over it then roll?

I admit I've never tried that. I'll test it out to see if it works.

Kabal has so much recovery on ground saw that you can 100% punish it with EN Roll.

Yeah I guess. Thing is it's not even worth wasting 1 bar because you badly need that meter for breakers and armor parries (when Kabal is in your face). And keep in mind Stryker has no reliable way to build meter in this match except up close or by taking damage. So I just prefer to block low or jump over them.

Nice write up.

You were definitely right. Kabal's projectiles glitch. It seems like they have no start up frames. Surprisingly, the enhanced versions function normally. Very weird.

So it's officially considered a glitch? Is NRS planning to tone his projectiles down/give them actual start up frames that are vulnerable like everyone elses?

That would really help a lot. It would mean Stryker could at least zone a little on knockdowns and not trade if he has enough frame advantage. That alone could make this matchup 3-7 which still stucks but at least makes it winnable.

 

[M2Dave]

Kabal has so much recovery on ground saw that you can 100% punish it with :en Roll. You just have to wait until the saw is closer to you so you still have armor. Can't you still do it if you anticipate the saw and jump over it then roll?

I agree though, this matchup sucks balls for Stryker.

From my experience, Kabal players tend to perform buzzsaws out of a dash which is difficult to react to. Making good reads and jumping is also dangerous because all aerial gas blasts lead to a hit confirmable dash. Speaking of aerial gas blasts, they have one of the fastest recoveries in the game. It seems like if Noob does a shadow tackle and Kabal does an aerial gas blast at the same time, Kabal can block the shadow tackle while Noob gets hit. It's pretty ridiculous.

I agree and disagree. Even without daggers enhanced dash is a craaaazy good tool. its like having jades glow with rockets attached to you. If people can find a safe way to build meter without doing super fast daggers she wont drop in placement much. Also it feels like well-timed and spaced daggers > mindlessly throwing them out there non-stop. I don't think its as big of a deal to counter as people think it is, and adding a delay between cancels wont stop accurate people from making them look broken.

I agree. EX red dash is very good, but neither slash is safe on block, so you've got make sure they hit. Slide is safe, but there are some match ups out there you don't want to waste a bar for 8% of damage.

Skarlet builds 80% of super meter by tossing daggers. The more she can toss the better. She can't build meter up close very well because her normal attacks are generally slow. She has damaging combos, but most of them only make for fancy combo videos. She can't really set up big damage unless she blocks a teleport. I honestly don't think she's this overpowered character some players have portrayed her to be.

So it's officially considered a glitch? Is NRS planning to tone his projectiles down/give them actual start up frames that are vulnerable like everyone elses?

That would really help a lot. It would mean Stryker could at least zone a little on knockdowns and not trade if he has enough frame advantage. That alone could make this matchup 3-7 which still stucks but at least makes it winnable.

I actually don't know whether the instant start up frames are intended or not. I'll ask Tom Brady about it. Noob is another character whom Kabal outzones, which is funny considering Noob is supposed to be a pure zoning character. I suspect Kabal will eventually turn out to be the best character in MK. Kung Lao will probably get toned down and so will Cyrax.

 

[DanCock]

Can some one please enlighten me.

Why is it fair that reptile can do his :en dash special and you can get 12% more damage off the move but sindel does a :en special like step up and hair whip and she's just doing 2% more damage???


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