Match-up Discussion Kitana Matchup Discussion Thread

[16 Bit]

Thanks GGA 16 Bit. Btw, any tips on the Kabal MU? Everyone says Kenshi is her worst MU, but I find it easier than the Kabal one. The main problem I have here is that it always seems like the MU is a guessing game in his favor. Even when I get in he has the advantage. What should I do when I get in, in order to stay in? The standart Kit rushdown doesn't seem to work on him.

I got nothing. The MU is indeed always a guessing game in his favor. All you can do is guess and hope her high damage pays off. The only thing I can suggest about rushing him down is that all her counter poke setups work because his d+1 and d+3 don't have the greatest range. If they're punishing d+1 with f+4 then that's your cue to start throwing him when he blocks and gets ready to look for the d+1.

You beat Kabal by figuring out the player's weaknesses. You have to quickly download their patterns in pressure, the times they like to use EX Dash, how they respond to the way you get in past their zoning, and how good they are at fundamental things like anti-air and counter poking.

It's bad, possibly worse than 4/6 bad, but it's never going to be as bad as Kenshi. Because at least with Kabal you have more chances to punish him for huge damage and there is a range where Kabal doesn't dominate. Kabal beats Kitana from full screen and point blank up close but she can do ok from her ideal footsies range.

 

[BillStickers]

Yes but still knowing Kenshis game plan hes still harder to beat than Kabal, atleast you can jump at Kabal hes anti airs arnt too good, and he wont send you full screen away whit 1 hit jeje.

lol wtf? Anti-air gas blast leads to a full combo + pressure. it's one of the best anti-airs in the game.

 

[rev0lver]

Wait Kabal can't AA now?

 

[ragnar0kz28]

lol wtf? Anti-air gas blast leads to a full combo + pressure. it's one of the best anti-airs in the game.

Sorry I mean besides that hes standing 1 or 2 or d1 are not consitant, if Kabal is on the ground you can cross him up alot, its only safe to do a Ex ND.

 

[rev0lver]

Sorry I mean besides that hes standing 1 or 2 or d1 are not consitant, if Kabal is on the ground you can cross him up alot, its only safe to do a Ex ND.

And Kabal will almost always have meter to do the ex ND. I don't see how his normal anti-airs aren't consistent... I've never seen someone like REO have issues with them.

 

[ragnar0kz28]

And Kabal will almost always have meter to do the ex ND. I don't see how his normal anti-airs aren't consistent... I've never seen someone like REO have issues with them.

try d1 whit kabal every jump kick fan and see how many times he will eat a full combo, hes d1 is not as good as jaxes or cages or scorpions, those are the most consistant d1 also standing 2, is not as consistant as some other characters normal anti airs, try it out if you like.

 

[rev0lver]

try d1 whit kabal every jump kick fan and see how many times he will eat a full combo, hes d1 is not as good as jaxes or cages or scorpions, those are the most consistant d1 also standing 2, is not as consistant as some other characters normal anti airs, try it out if you like.

At least 90% of the time, jk~fan will work against every d1 on crossover. I don't see how his standing AA's are inconsistent. Please come here and play REO sometime and get blown up lol.

 

[RTM2004]

try d1 whit kabal every jump kick fan and see how many times he will eat a full combo, hes d1 is not as good as jaxes or cages or scorpions, those are the most consistant d1 also standing 2, is not as consistant as some other characters normal anti airs, try it out if you like.

Most Kabal players will reverse the input for Ex Nomad Dash to beat Kitana's cross over. If he does not have meter, he can just crouch block make the Jump Kick~Fan not work then dash forward D1 into F4~Nomad Dash combo punish but I do agree that Kabal's D1 is not that reliable as anti-cross up compared to Smoke for example. But given two options to beat Kitana's cross over Jump Kick~Fan gimmicks, Kabal will constantly have meter for Ex Nomad Dash, meter for a Breaker or just crouch block... not many punish her Jump Kick~Fan on reaction but it's an option to punish her. But overall Kabal is tough, he can keep her out make it tough to get in but at least Kitana can punish his errors with big damage =)

 

[Verstande]

I know you guys will probably laugh at this question, but what can I do against Stryker.

The problem here is that I'm a Kitana main, and every week I have offline casuals with my friends. Since I'm a Kitana main and I don't switch to any other character, my friends usually know how to play against me well. The problem is, my friend who mains Kabal (I beat him easily because he doesn't know frame data) suddenly pulls out Stryker and starts penetrating me to no end.

I honestly don't know what to do, whenever I throw a fan he does the baton toss thing move. is this move anti-projectile even if it is not an EX move?

 

[rev0lver]

I have problems with Stryker too actually lol. I get hit by the armor toss all the time. Usually I just see what he tries to do if I block it

 

[crosstalk]

What changed with the Cage MU?

 

[16 Bit]

What changed with the Cage MU?

I moved in with a top Cage.

She controls the MU. She cuts off his means of getting in with IAF, max range d+1, 2,1 and standing 2 blows up deep jump kick. Her fast backwalk speed cancels out his fast dash block speed. jk~fan gives him problems since it can beat standing 1 AA and anti-crossup d+1. Her d+3 is low and good for poking out. She has ass to escape. d+1~cutter to check him mashing too many buttons in his pressure.

 

[16 Bit]

Let's talk about Reptile's forceball pressure. I am EMO about this MU again.

 

[xKhaoTik]

Man I wish I can play this MU offline like you can.

But I do play against good reptiles online, Like TylerLantern and Joker. I usually throw ground fans in this match, mainly from outside sweep range. If he throws orbs, more often than not, he'll get hit and I can block or we'll trade. I always felt like reptile has to respect the ground fans because it throws off his zoning. I don't really like throwing iafs in this match because he can just avoid them with orb and then you have to deal with that. Ground fans are useful in this MU imo.

Other than that, the only other answer I have is ex iSquareWave.

 

[16 Bit]

Yeah I've gotten so much better at punishing dash since I started playing HAN at GGA all the time. However, even after running this MU constantly it's still uncomfortable. I just don't get it. I can win but it's by jumping around like an idiot or punishing mistakes. I never feel like I can control it and really out play him.

I probably should do GF more than IAF. I'm obsessed with doing the IAF too much. Man what really pisses me off is making a read on a FB and doing EX fan, its hits, but the orb is already out enough that I can't jump over it and get to him in time to land the f+2,1. Outrageous.

 

[BillStickers]

Yea this MU is stupid. The Reptile players must know something we don't since THTB and co. were saying that you weren't playing the MU correctly against HAN (in stream chat).

Here's my (humble) advice for you:

1) Hit confirming 21 into lift (in the HAN match i remember mostly 21~cutter or 21~ex fan). Kitana needs all the damage that she can get here imo.

2) Definitely agree with more ground fans.

3) EX fan trades favorably with acid spit (Kitana's hitbox goes under the spit). That's probably already well-known but it's worth mentioning.

Advice that was in the stream chat during your match:

1) Supposedly, you can EX lift Rep's EX-dash before he makes it back for you for his second hit. Mr. Mileena claimed that it wasn't possible, however. Might be worth checking out to see if you can at least d1 it and prevent the frame advantage.

 

[16 Bit]

You cannot EX Lift inbetween EX Dash. Tried it over and over. EX Lift is 10 frames and has no armor. I have no idea why THTB says this. I want to see video. You can d+3 inbetween it. I just didn't go for it in tournament.

I agree about 2,1~lift. That's something I am working on doing more in all MU.

I thought my play in tournament was pretty sloppy and desperate after the first few games. That's on me. I'm emo about more than that. Even on point and playing well the MU sucks.

 

[Espio]

Yeah I've gotten so much better at punishing dash since I started playing HAN at GGA all the time. However, even after running this MU constantly it's still uncomfortable. I just don't get it. I can win but it's by jumping around like an idiot or punishing mistakes. I never feel like I can control it and really out play him.

I probably should do GF more than IAF. I'm obsessed with doing the IAF too much. Man what really pisses me off is making a read on a FB and doing EX fan, its hits, but the orb is already out enough that I can't jump over it and get to him in time to land the f+2,1. Outrageous.

I feel better now by knowing the fact that I'm not alone in having this same problem with Kitana and Stryker versus Reptile.

Since Reptile can poke Kitana out of pretty much all of her high hitting strings easier than most with that long range down 4. I feel Reptile almost forces you to be more jumpy because starting offense other wise is hard in addition to the ability of dash to blow up pokes really well makes establishing offense very tricky.


It's really awkward trying to trade an ex fan with Reptile, this match up in general is really weird to me.

 

[xKhaoTik]

Reptile is not a character you want to be aggressive against, especially with kitana since she has semi-slow normals and no reliable armor.

Gotta be patient. If you're up close, don't try to go for a lot of stagger strings and following up with a poke. That dash is too much of a pain to try that. Try ending all block strings with cutter if he is standing.

Also gotta make reptile fear kitana as well. If he is throwing orbs, answer that with ground fans. If he is spitting, answer that with ex ground fan. If he is dash, answer that with 21 lift or 21 ex ground fan. I'm not saying this makes kitana beat reptile, but this will make reptile think twice about doing things, ESPECIALLY dashing.

 

[BillStickers]

Man I wish I can play this MU offline like you can.

But I do play against good reptiles online, Like TylerLantern and Joker. I usually throw ground fans in this match, mainly from outside sweep range. If he throws orbs, more often than not, he'll get hit and I can block or we'll trade. I always felt like reptile has to respect the ground fans because it throws off his zoning. I don't really like throwing iafs in this match because he can just avoid them with orb and then you have to deal with that. Ground fans are useful in this MU imo.

Other than that, the only other answer I have is ex iSquareWave.

I don't mean this rudely, but I've played both TylerLantern and Joker, and they both play Reptiles that are very "polite." Heavily footsie-based, don't "spam" projectiles, respect Kitana's damage, etc. The Reptiles I have problems with are the ones that have 4000 projectiles on screen at a time, are not afraid to dash and EX dash multiple times, and overall just bombard you with a constant flow of 321 strings until you get the balls to attempt to 21, in which case you get blown up by dash.

 

[xKhaoTik]

I don't mean this rudely, but I've played both TylerLantern and Joker, and they both play Reptiles that are very "polite." Heavily footsie-based, don't "spam" projectiles, respect Kitana's damage, etc. The Reptiles I have problems with are the ones that have 4000 projectiles on screen at a time, are not afraid to dash and EX dash multiple times, and overall just bombard you with a constant flow of 321 strings until you get the balls to attempt to 21, in which case you get blown up by dash.

That's exactly my point. TylerLantern and Joker play polite because they know what Kitana is about and they probably play the matchup thinking their opponent knows the MU, which is why they aren't dash happy, spam crazy, and a 321 bully.

Those other reptiles are my favorite reptile players lol. No respect at all and it gets them blown up since I play very patient against Rep.

Tyler and joker are far better than those other reptiles anyways.

 

[16 Bit]

I agree Bill. There are a lot of Reptile's, even great players, who play this MU way too honest and they're the ones who I do fine against.

Playing HAN's Reptile is like Chris G if Chris had kept up with the game. That's the style that freaks me out.

 

[xKhaoTik]

I agree Bill. There are a lot of Reptile's, even great players, who play this MU way too honest and they're the ones who I do fine against.

Playing HAN's Reptile is like Chris G if Chris had kept up with the game. That's the style that freaks me out.

Use that to your advantage then. If you know that they are super aggressive, especially with dashing, play patient.

Chris G was super aggressive against me. He won the 1st match. I calmed down and literally won the nnext two games by punishing his dash, throwing ground fans and AAing him. I don't think I started offense at all.

 

[TylerLantern]

If I play dash happy against Kitana, every time its blocked, I get blown up for high damage punish by 2,1, enhanced fan, or 2,1, lift, so that is why I play like I do against skilled Kitanas. I have learned to zone a lot more and keep her back, and if I get in Kitanas face, I try to mix it up with 3,2,1 and 1,2 to the point where I can make the opponent slip and take damage. I have learned that with Kitana, I have to play that match up a bit different than any other match up, but I am getting better and better at it. Now, if Reptile does not do the job, I bring out Kenshi to take the match up.

 

[ragnar0kz28]

xKhaoTikx hi there man, are you going to mlg?