5 essential beginner tasks (the b-line to liu kang)

[miloPKL]

what are the next steps one must take to begin advancing with liu kang? what is his best bnb? what do i need to learn about dragon stance? which strings (if any) are useless? what essential tech or concept should i grasp as a LK player? what do i practice in the lab?

thanks to AssassiN[be] here is your b line to Liu Kang;

1. Being able to do IAFB's and mixing it up with low fireballs, you need these against certain characters.
2. B+1, low fireball and D+4, low fireball are good footsies(if blocked, both are safe).
3. Anti-air people with 2 and follow-up with the combo: F+12, B312, F+24, bicycle kick. You gotta learn when to anti-air with 2 or with uppercut, if your opponent is not in front of you but above you then you need to use uppercut to anti-air or 2 will whiff and grant your opponent a full combo.
4. Mixing it up with:
- F12 or F121 or F12, low fireball (if you use EX you get +24 frame advantage on hit, when blocked it's -12 but I think it creates a safe distance except for Reptile, ...)
- 213 or 21, low fireball
- B31 or B312
- F+3(overhead)
5. His fastest normal is 2 at 8 frames which conveniently leads to a launcher combo.
6. If someone was able to block your string and you know he is gonna try and jump, you can catch him with a 1 or 2 after your string leading to the anti-air combo I described in 3.
7. You can cancel dragonstance by dashing, this can be used to bait out reactions and punish them on whiff. Or to mix it up and confuse your opponent. After cancelling DS you cannot block immediately, what you can do is change your stance(then block) or jump or duck or parry if you read your opponent will attack you with a special move
DS + 1 is an anti-air and can lead to a 38% combo(which is the highest anti-air combo I've seen without the use of meter): DS+1, DS+1, B312, F2+4, bicycle kick. Safe on block
DS + 2 is useless, it's slow, doesn't have mix-up and is punishable on block
DS + 3 is an overhead but is punishable on block(would recommend using this 1 out of 10 times)
DS+4 is a low and looks a lot like the sweep, slightly slower but reaches further than the sweep
8. In the corner you CANNOT do any special moves to end your combo except for fireballs, if you try to do flying kick or bicycle kick they will either wiff or throw your opponent out of the corner and put you in the corner.
9. You can use parry to stop cross-over jump punches, but you gotta remember that parry has 9 frames-startup. So it won't get any normals that are faster than that.

BNB's:
- B312, B312, F24, bicycle kick
- B312, B312, B312, F24, bicycle kick(between the 2nd and 3rd B312 you cannot allow your opponent to fall under a certain height or your F24 will not connect, that's why I wrote the simpler version above if you drop this combo too many times. A whiffed F24 is punishable with a wake-up attack.)
- 213, F+12, B312, F24, bicycle kick

You can replace the F24, bicycle kick with sweep or F121. You use sweep to keep your opponent close: Kenshi, Sub-Zero, ...
You use F121 (you can fire a safe low fireball) if you want your opponent to be full-screen away and start zoning: Cyber Sub-Zero, Johnny Cage, ...

Corner:
- B312, neutral jump punch, DS+1, jump in kick + fireball, B312, B312
- B312, neutral jump punch, DS+1, B312, B312, B312
- B312 all day long
Maybe replace the final B312 with F121 or F121+fireball(to build that little extra meter) or B23. After B23 they get up very quickly so maybe you can catch them off-guard with this.

Strings not to use:
111
112
12B+1(launcher but the first two hits whiff on crouched opponents, so you can eat an easy uppercut)
334
F+4, 3



I hope you understand what I posted here, if not feel free to ask.

 

[AssassiN]

1. Being able to do IAFB's and mixing it up with low fireballs, you need these against certain characters.
2. B+1, low fireball and D+4, low fireball are good footsies(if blocked, both are safe).
3. Anti-air people with 2 and follow-up with the combo: F+12, B312, F+24, bicycle kick. You gotta learn when to anti-air with 2 or with uppercut, if your opponent is not in front of you but above you then you need to use uppercut to anti-air or 2 will whiff and grant your opponent a full combo.
4. Mixing it up with:
- F12 or F121 or F12, low fireball (if you use EX you get +24 frame advantage on hit, when blocked it's -12 but I think it creates a safe distance except for Reptile, ...)
- 213 or 21, low fireball
- B31 or B312
- F+3(overhead)
5. His fastest normal is 2 at 8 frames which conveniently leads to a launcher combo.
6. If someone was able to block your string and you know he is gonna try and jump, you can catch him with a 1 or 2 after your string leading to the anti-air combo I described in 3.
7. You can cancel dragonstance by dashing, this can be used to bait out reactions and punish them on whiff. Or to mix it up and confuse your opponent. After cancelling DS you cannot block immediately, what you can do is change your stance(then block) or jump or duck or parry if you read your opponent will attack you with a special move
DS + 1 is an anti-air and can lead to a 38% combo(which is the highest anti-air combo I've seen without the use of meter): DS+1, DS+1, B312, F2+4, bicycle kick. Safe on block
DS + 2 is useless, it's slow, doesn't have mix-up and is punishable on block
DS + 3 is an overhead but is punishable on block(would recommend using this 1 out of 10 times)
DS+4 is a low and looks a lot like the sweep, slightly slower but reaches further than the sweep
8. In the corner you CANNOT do any special moves to end your combo except for fireballs, if you try to do flying kick or bicycle kick they will either wiff or throw your opponent out of the corner and put you in the corner.
9. You can use parry to stop cross-over jump punches, but you gotta remember that parry has 9 frames-startup. So it won't get any normals that are faster than that.

BNB's:
- B312, B312, F24, bicycle kick
- B312, B312, B312, F24, bicycle kick(between the 2nd and 3rd B312 you cannot allow your opponent to fall under a certain height or your F24 will not connect, that's why I wrote the simpler version above if you drop this combo too many times. A whiffed F24 is punishable with a wake-up attack.)
- 213, F+12, B312, F24, bicycle kick

You can replace the F24, bicycle kick with sweep or F121. You use sweep to keep your opponent close: Kenshi, Sub-Zero, ...
You use F121 (you can fire a safe low fireball) if you want your opponent to be full-screen away and start zoning: Cyber Sub-Zero, Johnny Cage, ...

Corner:
- B312, neutral jump punch, DS+1, jump in kick + fireball, B312, B312
- B312, neutral jump punch, DS+1, B312, B312, B312
- B312 all day long
Maybe replace the final B312 with F121 or F121+fireball(to build that little extra meter) or B23. After B23 they get up very quickly so maybe you can catch them off-guard with this.

Strings not to use:
111
112
12B+1(launcher but the first two hits whiff on crouched opponents, so you can eat an easy uppercut)
334
F+4, 3



I hope you understand what I posted here, if not feel free to ask.

 

[miloPKL]

wow did you type all this up or CP it from a thread i was too lazy to check out? anyway thanks for making life easier, ill check it out on my lunch break. this is more than i was asking for but excellent regardless!

 

[AssassiN]

Think there might be a thread out there that contained some of the stuff that I posted but I typed it all up.
Thought it would be nice to have this all into 1 thread.

Still I left a few things out like B+1, high fireball can be followed up with B312 combo in the corner,.
Also, B+1 has a farther range than B+4, but if your opponent reads your B+1 and cross-over jumps you then he gets a free combo out of it. So don't just throw B+1 out.

Didn't post about this because I couldn't think of it till now.
Will post whatever stuff I can think off, Liu Kang doesn't have that many tricks up his sleeve.

 

[AssassiN]

Liu Kang's X-ray is an overhead and is safe on block, throwing out an random x-ray in the sweep range on a crouching opponent will whiff and give him an opportunity to punish it. So I would be careful to just throw out a random x-ray, make sure your opponent does something that gives you the chance to x-ray him. If not, just do it in the middle of a combo.

X-ray combo's:
X-ray, neutral jump punch, F12, B312, F24, bicycle kick
B312, B31, X-ray, F24, bicycle kick
213, 33, X-ray, F24, bicycle kick

When you get your opponent in the corner just replace the F24, bicycle kick with a B312 loop.
I would NEVER do X-ray in the corner, they just whiff, put you in the corner and give your opponent the chance to punish it.

Wake-up options:
Liu Kang has a parry but in most cases he gets invincibility in his wake-up parry, which makes everything that your opponent does whiff but after the invincibility wears off so does your parry and makes it punishable. I've stopped using parry as a wake-up.
You can wake-up with an EX bicycle kick if your opponent jumps to you.
If your opponent is pressuring you, you can wake-up with a low fireball.

Punish:
If your opponent is in a balled-up state, you can punish it(you have to be quick) with a DS1, DS1, B312, F24, bicycle kick(38%).
Or you can punish it with 2, F12, B312, F24, bicycle kick(Liu Kang's anti-air combo, +- 28%) if you want to take the slow way.

On a side-note, I would not trust Liu Kang's uppercut, sometimes it just whiffs and you lose a chance to punish somebody.

 

[MK Peanuts]

Strings not to use:
111
112
12B+1(launcher but the first two hits whiff on crouched opponents, so you can eat an easy uppercut)
334
F+4, 3

f4 does actually have some utility because it's random advantage on block and regular advantage on hit. If you want to mix up your strings by doing a single low hit, f4 is a better option than b3 or d3. I don't use it that often but I know Peckapowa swears by it.

 

[AssassiN]

f4 does actually have some utility because it's random advantage on block and regular advantage on hit. If you want to mix up your strings by doing a single low hit, f4 is a better option than b3 or d3. I don't use it that often but I know Peckapowa swears by it.

Well I'm trying out some new stuff with F+4, have never used it during matches but I'm starting to think I should.

 

[G4S Killin Natzees]

I don't believe I saw anything about his F+3. Has it been deemed a "bad-news-bears" type move?

 

[MK Peanuts]

I don't believe I saw anything about his F+3. Has it been deemed a "bad-news-bears" type move?

I don't know, I never saw that movie. But no, f3 is great and should be used constantly. It's just a matter of using it in situations where your opponent is unlikely to try an attack, like when they're at frame disadvantage, when they're getting up, or off a jump in punch. You can also use it if you read that they're going to continue blocking, but this is risky because if you're wrong you can eat a full combo.

 

[G4S Killin Natzees]

I always thought it was great, but I didn't really see much about when to use it or anything. Can it be used as an AA alternative?

 

[MK Peanuts]

I always thought it was great, but I didn't really see much about when to use it or anything. Can it be used as an AA alternative?

He mentioned it briefly under "Mixing it up". There's not a ton to say, it's just a 20 frame overhead that leads to advantage on hit and is safe on block.

I wouldn't use it as anti air, there's better options available. Generally speaking, 20 frame moves shouldn't be used to react to something your opponent did. However sometimes your opponent will try to jump out of your mixups and will get juggled by an AA F3. In this situation you can follow up with b312 and get a combo.

 

[AssassiN]

As an anti-air, no.
To use it for getting in, maybe.
After cross-over jump punch, yes.
To mix it up after an EX low fireball hits => hell yeah!

I'm starting to use F+3 more, because people are just expecting B312 like they are expecting F12 instead of F121.

 

[Peckapowa]

f4 is his best move in my opinion, call me crazy

 

[Faded Dreams V]

f4 is his best move in my opinion, call me crazy

I can't believe I kept falling for that gay little kick every time you used it.....




......I totally use F4 now with my shitty Liu Kang too. lol.

 

[miloPKL]

well i really loved this guide. i feel like im ready to bring my liu kang out soon. one question, any tips on consistently perform iaf on a stick? sometimes i get it 5 times in a row, sometimes i miss it 10 times in a row.

 

[MK Peanuts]

well i really loved this guide. i feel like im ready to bring my liu kang out soon. one question, any tips on consistently perform iaf on a stick? sometimes i get it 5 times in a row, sometimes i miss it 10 times in a row.

Short answer is practice.

I haven't felt it's any easier to instant air fireball on stick vs pad, I get it about the same amount of the time either way. Just use whatever you're more comfortable with in general terms. One thing you may notice happening when you're trying to do the IAF is that Liu Kang jumps backwards and punches the air instead of doing what you fucking wanted. When this happens it's because you hit 1 before you hit forward. If you're in training mode and you have input display turned on, it may say that you did it correctly... do not believe its lies. You just gotta trust me on this, input display in training mode is fucked up and you're doing it too fast. Slow it down a bit.

 

[miloPKL]

awesome, i was going by the input display and thinking WHAT GIVES MAN ILL DO IT EVEN FASTER!!!!!!!! thanks

 

[STB Sgt Reed]

well i really loved this guide. i feel like im ready to bring my liu kang out soon. one question, any tips on consistently perform iaf on a stick? sometimes i get it 5 times in a row, sometimes i miss it 10 times in a row.

same thing happens to me on the 360 d-pad. I'll end up with the jumping backwards punch a lot. lol

 

[AssassiN]

I think IAFB fail because you press forward too quickly. You have to press forward when you are in the air(stupid delayed jump).

It's a lot easier for me on stick then on pad, on stick I get it 90% of the time right while on pad it will be more like 60-70%.

 

[XBlades]

on IAF try pressing down... then IAF motion... that way it buffers the input. also works when you walk forward. BTW liu kang does have allot of tricks up sleeve... you just have to make them up lmfao been doing so since day 1.
Great write-up, almost exactly what I would've written up if I weren't so lazy. BTW 334 string is indeed good to throw people off, it gives space 0 on block and you can back dash b+312 on any counter poke.. such as d+4 etc...

 

[unVINCEable]

I can't seem to get the F+24 to bicycle kick any tips???

 

[Squeaker101]

I would NEVER do X-ray in the corner, they just whiff, put you in the corner and give your opponent the chance to punish it.

I usually do b3 into X-Ray in the corner. If the opponent blocks it the X-Ray itself has some sorta weird pushback. In most cases if the b3 is blocked the X-Ray hits (most opponents stay blocking low). If both of them are blocked, then just continue pressure.

Well that's what I usually do anyways. The X-Ray usually connects for me. Then again, I really only play online.

 

[AssassiN]

I usually do b3 into X-Ray in the corner. If the opponent blocks it the X-Ray itself has some sorta weird pushback. In most cases if the b3 is blocked the X-Ray hits (most opponents stay blocking low). If both of them are blocked, then just continue pressure.

Well that's what I usually do anyways. The X-Ray usually connects for me. Then again, I really only play online.

Then that must be an online thing, because in practice mode if you try B3+x-ray while the opponent is crouch-blocking the B3 will be blocked, the X-ray will whiff, put you in the corner and give them the ability to punish it with a corner combo.

If they the B3 hits then yes, you got yourself an x-ray corner combo around 53%.
But I would only use that as a punisher, because if people have some experience against Liu Kang they will be blocking low.
This is the only corner x-ray combo that is possible, the only other option you have is random x-ray at jump range.

 

[Squeaker101]

Then that must be an online thing, because in practice mode if you try B3+x-ray while the opponent is crouch-blocking the B3 will be blocked, the X-ray will whiff, put you in the corner and give them the ability to punish it with a corner combo.

If they the B3 hits then yes, you got yourself an x-ray corner combo around 53%.
But I would only use that as a punisher, because if people have some experience against Liu Kang they will be blocking low.
This is the only corner x-ray combo that is possible, the only other option you have is random x-ray at jump range.

What range do you try it at? If your touching the opponent it'll whiff. I usually do it at sweep range or just a little further.

I suppose it could be an online thing. But I don't see what would make the things too different. If so, then i'm completly screwed if I go to an offline tourney.

 

[Squeaker101]

f4 is his best move in my opinion, call me crazy

Haha, your little thing under your name should be "f4 tier" or something like that.
f4 is actually really effective.

IAFB:
pressing down before an iafb doesn't help me. (or i'm doing it wrong)
My input for iafb is /1. I jump then do a 360 on the joystick. (most of the time not a full 360, such as /1.