Sektor or Smoke

False God Confirmed said:

you can jump out into full combo punish

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Yeah I was mostly referring to him saying poke out. Ik you can jump it. But it's just another part of the mix.

At the highest levels of play Sektor and Smoke are probably very close, but at lower levels Smoke seems stronger to me. Why ? Smoke has insane midscreen game with B21. F21 takes a lot to figure out. He has 3 launching/full punish specials and one of them is safe. And he has a vortex. What's Smoke's weakness ? He has no armor. But he has so many plus strings and midscreen tools that it's very tough to put him on the defensive.

Sektor is a very strong character to play with but as an opponent he is just not as daunting as Smoke. I don't think it's possible to properly figure out Smoke just by fighting him. You have to play him yourself to really understand some of the stuff he can do.

callMEcrazy said:

At the highest levels of play Sektor and Smoke are probably very close, but at lower levels Smoke seems stronger to me. Why ? Smoke has insane midscreen game with B21. F21 takes a lot to figure out. He has 3 launching/full punish specials and one of them is safe. And he has a vortex. What's Smoke's weakness ? He has no armor. But he has so many plus strings and midscreen tools that it's very tough to put him on the defensive.

Sektor is a very strong character to play with but as an opponent he is just not as daunting as Smoke. I don't think it's possible to properly figure out Smoke just by fighting him. You have to play him yourself to really understand some of the stuff he can do.

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Crystalline tremor does very well against Smoke once you flex up

21122 said:

Crystalline tremor does very well against Smoke once you flex up

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Probably does very well against sektor too. He has no special way to combat that armor that smoke doesnt.

callMEcrazy said:

Probably does very well against sektor too. He has no special way to combat that armor that smoke doesnt.

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Up rockets?

Different styles. Smoke is get in, Sektor is keep out.

Kooron Nation said:

Up rockets?

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Could be. You can barely use up rockets in the neutral though, mostly just within setups and f212bb. So I'm not sure how effective they'll be when Tremor is on the offensive.

I've neither played or seen this matchup enough to say if that's an effective strategy against flex.

I like sektor more personally. Gets way more dmg across the board off of any conversion (f212bb restands making it silly easy) smoke is more meter dependant cuz of ex fade and ex ball for pressure. Sektor being able to launch on a meterless plus on block string is awesome, cuz even if you miss a punish, you can keep pressuring. The removal of launching armor made commiting to 114 and 1112 for plus frames way less risky. Sektor is also the best punisher in the game imo. He can punish anything minus enough to be punished full combo with or without meter even with pushback (subzero's oh slam for example) really good zoning and anti zoning tools with good monility. And a decent neutral with f4, f2, f1, b2, and even f3 is used here and there. And mb rocket in the neutral is just awesome sauce. Hes also silly easy to play cuz once you learn one combo, you learned them all (cuz again f212bb restands, making it stupid easy)

callMEcrazy said:

Could be. You can barely use up rockets in the neutral though, mostly just within setups and f212bb. So I'm not sure how effective they'll be when Tremor is on the offensive.

I've neither played or seen this matchup enough to say if that's an effective strategy against flex.

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This mu is almost entirely based off of tremor getting him in the corner or not. Once tremor has him there its hard to get away. If sektor can keep it in the middle of the arena though where he can space him out with a stronger neutral and zoning game. Be mindful when zoning him though when he has flex up. Yea you can react to up rock easy with teleport, but if flex is till up he will absorb the hit and punish you. A compitant tremor is going to have flex up alot for this reason, so its hard for you to teleport on him.

T-box88 said:

This mu is almost entirely based off of tremor getting him in the corner or not. Once tremor has him there its hard to get away. If sektor can keep it in the middle of the arena though where he can space him out with a stronger neutral and zoning game. Be mindful when zoning him though when he has flex up. Yea you can react to up rock easy with teleport, but if flex is till up he will absorb the hit and punish you. A compitant tremor is going to have flex up alot for this reason, so its hard for you to teleport on him.

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Ya. Crystalline Tremor is all about momentum anyway. He'd struggle against any character that can interrupt his offense consistently.

I suppose that's one of the things that sets Sektor apart in MKX. Most of the characters/variations in the game have to play to a single game plan. People do of course have their own style of play but the overarching principle remains the same. Sektor is one of those few variations who can very effectively switch between zoning and rushdown. Smoke, on the other hand is somewhat like Crystalline Tremor in that he MUST continue his offense at all costs. He does have more rushdown options though.

Smoke and Sektor are equally beasts.
Glad that I main both of them.

I'd say sektor is much easier to start, because I tried to start playing with smoke and it didn't work out very well. Run cancel combos, fades/phases, always have to be mobile. With sektor it's easier to stay calm and wait for your opponent to make a mistake and start your thing. Buuuut I like smoke much better, probably because of his look and his smokey combos

Wyntword said:

I'd say sektor is much easier to start, because I tried to start playing with smoke and it didn't work out very well. Run cancel combos, fades/phases, always have to be mobile. With sektor it's easier to stay calm and wait for your opponent to make a mistake and start your thing. Buuuut I like smoke much better, probably because of his look and his smokey combos

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Sektor is definitely easier to start. Smoke is an out-and-out rushdown character, like Crystalline Tremor. He must take the initiative to exert pressure on the opponent at all times. He does possess some very powerful tools, but there's just one way to play Smoke - full offense. Sektor can either zone or go in based on match-up or circumstance. He can do both better than average, way better.

Sektor is one of the easiest characters to play in MKX alongside characters like Ninjitsu, Covert Ops, Bojutsu, Cryo, etc.

Sektor and Smoke are both top 2 of the game imo. Depends on the MU which one is the go-to.

Temetias said:

Sektor and Smoke are both top 2 of the game imo. Depends on the MU which one is the go-to.

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Nah, I don't think so. I think of Imposter as the single strongest variation in the game. No way either Sektor or Smoke can stand up to him. But there's also Mileena (Ethereal at the very least, and probably the other two as well) that is stronger than any Triborg variation IMO. But there's no doubt both Sektor and Smoke are in the top 10.

Sektor over smoke imo. Being able to hit confirm off of anything and getting full combo dmg scailing is huge. I cant think of another character where its litteraly worth spending meter on air to airs and anti airs and getting near or at 40% for it. Most characters get huge dmg scailing and have to modify their combos after said scenario. For sektor its the same combo everywhere off of any conversion ever. So hes super easy to play. And his gameplan can change or adapt better to certain mu's. Smoke kinda plays every mu the same way.