iAGB's, NDC's, these are just two huge obstacles when fighting Kabal at the highest level. Since old school Mortal Kombat, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for example, Kabal has been at the top. Following the footsteps of REO, who is a Top 3 player in the world, has been others like Perfect Legend and CD Jr, who complete the Top 3 in the world that have also picked up Kabal as their primary character to compete with. Do what it takes to win at the highest level? Kabal has been the character to resort to at times. This is just the start down a path where few will follow. Some will follow suit and do what it takes to win while others will be determined to continue to improve the characters they 'main'.
A great example of the dark path would be the Tekken 6 finals of Evolution 2011. Their top 8 consisted of numerous Bobs, which in turn made the finals a bit dull from a spectator view and bad for the game overall. When we approach any major tournament, take NECXIII for example, there is a 'hype' to build. This hype consists first off who all is going, how many, are there rivalries involved, will there be a run-back, how many upsets will there be, will an underdog player come out on top? The other side to this is, will Kabal take another tournament?
There are two match sets in particular that can make or break the hype of a high level match with Kabal. From gauging an overall community response, the match-up between CD Jr's Jax vs REO's Kabal has reached its height some time ago and has since been declining since the 3rd or 4th time being seen in grand finals. If there is a match-up that is most famous in Mortal Kombat 9's competitive history, this match would be at the top.
The other side to this is xSMOKEx's Smoke vs REO's Kabal, a match that put xSMOKEx's Smoke on the map during Toryuken. It was xSMOKEx's first offline event making it incredibly hype how well he did against REO as the two played no holds barred.
During this match a glitch was even exposed at about the 8:30 mark where Kabal is frozen by an EX Smoke Shake. Regardless, of the level of Kombat in this match set and adding this glitch on top of it... REO still came out on top. What would it take to beat Kabal? The two played out the match basically flawless-ing each other back to back. To this day, this match has been played one other time at Toronto Top Tiers XIII.
While some will shake their heads at the Kabal discussion as if the topic is not over-saturated, others continue to believe there are match-ups that take Kabal evenly. Until it is proven in tournament at the highest level... it can only be speculation.
Taken from REO in his interview w/ Complex.com:
A great example of the dark path would be the Tekken 6 finals of Evolution 2011. Their top 8 consisted of numerous Bobs, which in turn made the finals a bit dull from a spectator view and bad for the game overall. When we approach any major tournament, take NECXIII for example, there is a 'hype' to build. This hype consists first off who all is going, how many, are there rivalries involved, will there be a run-back, how many upsets will there be, will an underdog player come out on top? The other side to this is, will Kabal take another tournament?
There are two match sets in particular that can make or break the hype of a high level match with Kabal. From gauging an overall community response, the match-up between CD Jr's Jax vs REO's Kabal has reached its height some time ago and has since been declining since the 3rd or 4th time being seen in grand finals. If there is a match-up that is most famous in Mortal Kombat 9's competitive history, this match would be at the top.
While some will shake their heads at the Kabal discussion as if the topic is not over-saturated, others continue to believe there are match-ups that take Kabal evenly. Until it is proven in tournament at the highest level... it can only be speculation.
Taken from REO in his interview w/ Complex.com:
