I got a PM asking some things and I thought it would be better to put the knowledge in a thread for everyone to see instead of just one person.
Hitman522 said:
1. I have most of Kitana's BnB's down pretty well but I'm have trouble finding an effective attack to Close distance since she doesn't have a teleport or absorb like Jade or Nightwolf. Do you Have any tips that could help here? I find I get knocked back and overwhelmed with continuous projectiles with characters like Raiden, Sub, Liu Kang or Scorp and I can't get my fan toss off fast enough most times.
2. Timing the Air Fan is Hard for Me and the Instant Air Fan has been near impossible for me which hurts cause most of her combos start with one or the other. Can you help at all with this?
3. Do you have any general tips that may help me be more effective with Kitana that a Relatively inexperienced player like myself may not be Aware of?
1. Great up close moves are 212, b12, and f21. All of which are safe. Off of a JPS (Jump Punch Starter), you can force your opponent to block her f41 which is really good. If it hits, you get a free combo. If it is blocked, you can add on a cutter at the end (before the second hit of the overhead connects aka f41~df2) leaving you at frame advantage.
Don't worry about Raiden throwing projectiles, or anyone but Kano for that matter. Just jump over them, block, or duck them and use it as a way to get them closer to the corner or for you to slowly get closer to them. Once you get around 1/2 screen away, you can do iAF on them and they reallly can't react to it. Once you train them to expect the iAF, you can start jumping in on them and by the time they realize that the fan isn't coming, it's too late for them to anti air you.
Sub iceballs? Is the clone out? If you are full screen, you can jump over an iceball and throw an air fan out which Sub is required to duck or block. After that, you have projectile advantage and can throw another iAF out and if he tries to throw another iceball out, he will be hit out of it. You can keep doing this until he learns to deal with it.
Liu Kang? Simply jump over his ground fireballs. If you are close enough, you get a free jk~air fan combo as a punish. His iAFB is good, but you can just duck or do ff~d1 to get closer. The d1 after a dash is so you don't have to block the fireball, you advance and duck under it with your d1. This is especially helpful in the Nightwolf, Ermac, and Kitana matchups.
Scorpion? Well, if he has meter, be careful throwing a fan out because he gets a free EX Spear every time. Just advance on him until you see a hellfire come out then jump and punish him. If he jumps, he dies. If he teleports, he dies. Scorpion without meter vs Kitana is a really bad matchup for him.
This game is ALL about mind games and reading your opponent. Once you know what counters you can do, you can really put the hurt on people when they become predictable.
2. iAF is rarely ever a combo starter, it's a tool used to put pressure on your opponent and build meter. Normal air fans are what start combos and sometimes iAFs do too, but that's just a bonus. Just press Up~Down~Forward, 1 as fast as you can. I usually do uf or ub, but that's just me and it doesn't really matter. Have your opponent in training mode stand and always block. Keep practicing the iAF until you can reliably have the dummy block it most of the time. This is a crucial tactic, so you must learn this.
3. Just play against real people as much as you can. Training mode helps your execution and learn new things, but trying all of your combos and setups out against another human being is the best place to learn.