Best and Worst Matchups: Kratos

[Deleted member 5032]

I'm attempting to gather good information for my "How to Defeat Any Character" thread. You're going to see this exact post in each of the character threads. If you would like to share your information, ideas, and comments please stick to the format outlined below. This will help speed up the process of rooting out the pertinent information and putting it to good use. Thanks for your support!

*The information in the example post was written off the top of my head and not meant at all to convey actual match information. It serves only as a guide to influence future posts.

Post Format (based on Kano):

Best Matchup: Kano's best matchup is probably against Quan Chi. Quan Chi's 1 wakeup attack, the Sky Drop, just isn't able to break up Kano's awesome offensive game. Kano can keep him at range with zoning tactics that have enough recovery to block and punish the Sky Drop. Quan Chi should be unable to control almost any aspect of a match with Kano.

Worst Matchup: Kano's worst matchup is definitely against Sub-Zero. Ice Clone completely nullifies Kano's Air Ball, and with no teleport Kano can have a very difficult time getting in to inflict decent damage. His only real option is to hang back and zone with Knives hoping to bait and punish Sub-Zero's slide. However, since his Knives can be crouched completely, if Sub-Zero has the damage advantage he can just run down the clock to force Kano to come to him.

 

[Detective-E]

This is Kratos not Kano.

 

[Fleishwalker]

What does it matter if he's not usable in almost all tournaments and xbox?

 

[xInfra Deadx]

Kratos definately has some bad matchups, but the one that stands out to me is Jax. He doesn't need to respect his zoning game. Simply put, his Gotcha Grab and Dash Punch go right through Kratos's Golden Fleece making it very hard to shake him off and if he corners you...well, you are dead.

Other bad matchups for Kratos include:
Johnny Cage
Liu Kang
Raiden
Kung Lao
Sonya Blade

 

[Red Son]

The worst matchup for Kratos is Zeus

 

[RomeoBravoDelta]

Sektor is a fucking terrible match-up for Krato's. B34 full combo's Golden Fleece and at 3/4-full screen he can TU the parried projectile for another combo, and Sektor's 1 makes a joke of Krato's slow normals.

 

[Bleys]

Another bad matchup of note for Kratos is Kenshi. I believe his projectile can be both reflected and absorbed, his charge a little slow and predictable, so it can be countered with a spirit charge, either that or a block followed by a combo ending with the spirit charge, leaving him back at the other end of the screen again. And I don't believe the Golden Fleece does anything to the telemoves (kind of like Noob's shadow rush/slide.) This makes it so Kratos has to play by Kenshi's rules, where he must dash in and block to close distance, taking chip damage from the telekinetic slashes and building up meter that can be used for armor to punish attempted close pressure. Just not good for him. I've fought Kratos a few times, but I've never run him, so I'm unfamiliar with a majority of his other match-ups.

From what I can tell, watch out for the quicker characters and the zoners that can't be fleeced (Ermac, Noob, Kenshi). Harder for him to win both close and far.

Edit: Noob's stuff can be fleeced (even the low projectiles), which sabotages a majority of his game, making it into a 5-5 at best. The tport punish is still hard for Kratos to work around.

I also did some fun science with Kenshi. If you reflect his arrows back at him, you can reflect his fleece back at him from nearly any distance if you time it correctly (which isn't hard to do due to the dramatic slo-mo sequence.) But I'd still call the Kratos-Kenshi matchup 6-4, Kenshi's favor.

 

[G4S Claude VonStroke]

This is Kratos not Kano.

This might be the best thread ever on TYM.

 

[Squeaker101]

This might be the best thread ever on TYM.

Agreed. And the OP is about Kano too.

 

[Alien Substance]

Sektor is a fucking terrible match-up for Krato's. B34 full combo's Golden Fleece and at 3/4-full screen he can TU the parried projectile for another combo, and Sektor's 1 makes a joke of Krato's slow normals.

Kratos vs Sektor isn't that bad.

B+3,4 going through the Parry means Kratos has to know how to play without the Golden Fleece. Most Sektors try to go for a standing 1 after a blocked B+3,4, so Kratos can attempt to Parry that.

Sektor's Teleport Uppercut can be blocked, if Kratos holds block during the Fleece Projectile animation. It probably does not work against the Up Missile, though.

Standing 1 can be countered in anticipation with D+4xxHermes Dash Cancel~D+4~Repeat. Additionally, I like to D+4xxHDC~Throw.

Kratos just has to play patient against Sektor. Kratos has to play patiently all the time to win.