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Question - Balanced Any point to keep playing

I have almost no more motivation to main this character. Any other balanced mains feel this way? Just loss after loss.
 

trufenix

bye felicia
No of course not, I do win but vs really good players it can be a huge struggle.
I mean what are you looking for here? Like, no Kenshi matchup is unwinnable. Well, maybe mileena. But still, you've got to be pretty "good" if you're at the point where playing Kenshi is "a huge struggle". He's bad, not aids.
 
I mean what are you looking for here? Like, no Kenshi matchup is unwinnable. Well, maybe mileena. But still, you've got to be pretty "good" if you're at the point where playing Kenshi is "a huge struggle". He's bad, not aids.
Honestly more than anything looking for how to play this character now that he no longer has armour on ex karma eruption.(balanced only)
 

trufenix

bye felicia
Honestly more than anything looking for how to play this character now that he no longer has armour on ex karma eruption.(balanced only)
I think the common answer to that is "switch to kenjutsu/possessed" but I think its going to take someone going into the trenches taking some fucking beatings and find out how to win without mashing on the ex rising karma panic button every time they're in trouble like they did prepatch.

That said, I'm a Possessed main. I can give you basics, but you probably already know them. Also, I have a pretty sweet teleport.

Honestly, If you're getting your face pushed in with Balanced, I would honestly recommend switching to Jacqui or Predator or Tremor until you learn how MKX zoning works and then come back to Kenshi with some solid reads.
 

trufenix

bye felicia
Saying you play balanced is like the NRS equivalent of killing someone with your bare hands... it gives you street cred
I dunno, i think you're still not allowed to say "I won a match with Balanced" around here without Ismael and Immortal coming down from the mountain to remind you your opponent didn't play the match right and a real player would never let you get away with that.
 

Parasurama

Dragon
Is there a thread that exposes all off Balanced's problems? If I play a good balanced, I would want to be prepared.... if not, please tell me why he is so weak or ways he could be beaten...
 

trufenix

bye felicia
Is there a thread that exposes all off Balanced's problems? If I play a good balanced, I would want to be prepared.... if not, please tell me why he is so weak or ways he could be beaten...
it's well documented, pig has posted some great videos, as has ismael and ando and a few others. Or just go to any thread with the word balanced in the title.

Tragically, Kenshi's real issues have gone unaddressed since day one so the message is pretty consistent. His zoing is super punishable, he has bad pressure options (I don't think Balanced has any safe mixups), and no real escape from the corner (have fun with d+1). The last patch took away Armored Ex Rising Karma which was his goto punish / get off me / anti air because it was practically unbeatable and led to about 30-40 depending on how much meter and where you were on screen when it hit.

His damage went up when they gave him the 2,2 MB buff (I assume Balanced has this), and they sped up some of his pokes and strings a patch or two letting him at least play footsies, but he is still royally fucked once the opponent gets in (if he has no meter). With meter, each variation has some great options but Balanced has a stupid hit box (a lot of them) so your little blue copy will often just perform a nice dance for you while the opponent walks through it and sends you to hell.
 

Tweedy

Noob
Balanced is good imo, way more relevant than Kenjutsu. I just don't understand why he would be picked over Possessed in this meta.

Kenjutsu is just not as good as other 50/50 characters that can make themselves safe with a bar, or don't need bar. He's a rushdown character, yet outside of ending combos with push in the corner, he gets some of the worst hit advantage in the game. His BF3 is even worse than Balanced's, his push is without question the worst across all 3 variations.

Balanced has the best rising karma, the best push. He just lacks the mind games that Possessed has with demons + teleport, along with the armor that stuffs jumping. Just play neutral with Balanced, use push, use risking karma, anti air with D2 on reaction, go into 421 or a throw when you land a D1 or D4, hit confirm 421 for high meterless damage.

Balanced could really use a better backdash, but that's an issue with variations. Giving Possessed a great backdash would be a little crazy lol.
 

trufenix

bye felicia
Balanced is good imo, way more relevant than Kenjutsu. I just don't understand why he would be picked over Possessed in this meta.
What made Kenjutsu so bad all of a sudden? What did he lose in the patch that Balanced didn't also lose?
 

Tweedy

Noob
What made Kenjutsu so bad all of a sudden? What did he lose in the patch that Balanced didn't also lose?
I don't know, I didn't really play Kenjutsu before.

The point of Kenjutsu, is launching 50/50s, I think? He has the worst spacing tools out of the Kenshi variations. With those things being said, i'd consider him a rush down variation, yet he has to basically reset the neutral when he ends combos, due to the horrendous hit advantage on bf3 and db4. Resetting the neutral with Kenshi is no bueno if you don't have a decent push imo. He can't survive with his B1 and D4 alone vs characters like Jason, Cassie, Smoke, etc.

His mix up off of standing 3 is easily fuzzied, his overhead special is easily punished by most, with a little lab time, despite only being -10.

I just don't understand why anyone in their right mind would play Kenjutsu over another character with launching 50/50s that can be made safe with meter, or even without meter.
 

trufenix

bye felicia
I just don't understand why anyone in their right mind would play Kenjutsu over another character with launching 50/50s that can be made safe with meter, or even without meter.
i mean "why pick kenshi" might as well be printed on the box at this point but if you choose to, Kenjutsu used to not be a bad way to go, people seem to feel otherwise now though and its weird to hear Balanced (Which was never good) enter that discussion so much when ex rk is gone.

As an aside, I love your possessed pressure. Do you just go for it, or are you actually doing reads with those teleport 3,2,1s on block?
 

Tweedy

Noob
i mean "why pick kenshi" might as well be printed on the box at this point but if you choose to, Kenjutsu used to not be a bad way to go, people seem to feel otherwise now though and its weird to hear Balanced (Which was never good) enter that discussion so much when ex rk is gone.

As an aside, I love your possessed pressure. Do you just go for it, or are you actually doing reads with those teleport 3,2,1s on block?
You mean 322? Well 322 teleport isn't nearly as good as 42, frame wise, but if you do an overhead or low demon off of it the first couple times, people won't expect the teleport.

Balanced just has a better place in this game than Kenjutsu right now imo.
 

trufenix

bye felicia
You mean 322? Well 322 teleport isn't nearly as good as 42, frame wise, but if you do an overhead or low demon off of it the first couple times, people won't expect the teleport.

Balanced just has a better place in this game than Kenjutsu right now imo.
I'll take your word for it, Kenshi hasn't had a real vocal proponent in a while and Pig was mostly a Kenjutsu / Balanced player so I've always kind of been in the dark on a game plan because demon drop makes possessed so much more versatile IMO. I suppose maybe that's what Balanced can do now with EX uh, falling slash or whatever.

Either way, thanks for stepping up.
 

ismael4790

Stay focused or get Caged
I have almost no more motivation to main this character. Any other balanced mains feel this way? Just loss after loss.
Unless you are a Kenshi loyalist, or you like his design (the base idea, because Kenshi design is shit in general in mkx), the story behind the character or something, stay away from him outside Possessed variation, which is solid. Best advice I can give.

Kenjutsu at least has safe 50/50s at the cost of a bar after the patch, so he is some kind of threat up close. The variation sucks anyway, lost too many things in exchange for this. Many other characters have access to this and are much better overall.

Balanced lost armor on exkarma, his main tool to threat, the variation was built around this move, and whoever tells you otherwise can go to hell because he/she is simply lying. This also made him lose his antiair and anticrossup strength, one of the main reasons to pick this character before.
He has 0 mixups, and his exoverhead launching is meh because whoever gets hit by it has shit reactions, the move is slow af both in ex version and regular, which btw, is +1 ON HIT, giving you nothing as a reward for landing a slowass overhead. This variation is cancer, the proof that a bottom tier can actually get WORSE after a "balance" patch by nrs.
 
Unless you are a Kenshi loyalist, or you like his design (the base idea, because Kenshi design is shit in general in mkx), the story behind the character or something, stay away from him outside Possessed variation, which is solid. Best advice I can give.

Kenjutsu at least has safe 50/50s at the cost of a bar after the patch, so he is some kind of threat up close. The variation sucks anyway, lost too many things in exchange for this. Many other characters have access to this and are much better overall.

Balanced lost armor on exkarma, his main tool to threat, the variation was built around this move, and whoever tells you otherwise can go to hell because he/she is simply lying. This also made him lose his antiair and anticrossup strength, one of the main reasons to pick this character before.
He has 0 mixups, and his exoverhead launching is meh because whoever gets hit by it has shit reactions, the move is slow af both in ex version and regular, which btw, is +1 ON HIT, giving you nothing as a reward for landing a slowass overhead. This variation is cancer, the proof that a bottom tier can actually get WORSE after a "balance" patch by nrs.
How do you deal with getting pressured? Balanced's armour is terrible imo.
 

Tweedy

Noob
Kenshi has a great D2. Obviously the loss of EX rising karma hurt, but he's not hopeless vs jump ins. He also has great walk speed and one of the most underrated njps in the game.

Idk about Balanced ending his strings with any specials. I would just stagger 421 or B1 and call it a day. If you land the B1, you're +17, run up and 421 or throw. Hit confirm the 421 on hit, stagger it on block.

On block B1 is -1, so they have to poke back to stuff your poke. If they poke, block it, or shimmy and punish their poke for big damage. Ending in a special on block is just pointless, when there's no mix up, and you can just stagger at +2 or -1.

Very generic gameplan, however, Balanced gets huge damage and actually has a decent mid range game with him having the best push across all 3 variations. If they start jumping it, scout that with an NJP, or react with a D2.

Use EX push as an armor trap after they block something. If you think they'll jump it, NJP or D2.
 

ismael4790

Stay focused or get Caged
How do you deal with getting pressured? Balanced's armour is terrible imo.
Lots of gimmicks developed through time, lol.

You are in trouble when pressured, no doubt. Ex push is your friend, careful with crossups though. As soon as you get a throw opportunity, use it, and get the space. His throw is probably his best designed move, sends the opponent where it should.
 
Kenshi has a great D2. Obviously the loss of EX rising karma hurt, but he's not hopeless vs jump ins. He also has great walk speed and one of the most underrated njps in the game.

Idk about Balanced ending his strings with any specials. I would just stagger 421 or B1 and call it a day. If you land the B1, you're +17, run up and 421 or throw. Hit confirm the 421 on hit, stagger it on block.

On block B1 is -1, so they have to poke back to stuff your poke. If they poke, block it, or shimmy and punish their poke for big damage. Ending in a special on block is just pointless, when there's no mix up, and you can just stagger at +2 or -1.

Very generic gameplan, however, Balanced gets huge damage and actually has a decent mid range game with him having the best push across all 3 variations. If they start jumping it, scout that with an NJP, or react with a D2.

Use EX push as an armor trap after they block something. If you think they'll jump it, NJP or D2.
Hmmm that's interesting, I usually use push to end a block string. I'll keep that in mind