Question - Kitana Converting Damage

[6ixty9]

Hey guys...

Honest question here. Im looking to level up. I have a lot more to work on. My biggest problem is not maximising my damage output. Im not talking about dropping combos, i very rarely do that. Im talking about converting landed pokes or fans etc into 30% damage.

For example my main opponent offline is a Lao. He believes the character is far from overpowered. Im not complaining, but he seems to be able to convert his poke and pressure into 30-40% combos if i whiff something or block the mix-up wrong.

The fights feel heavily one-sided but upon looking back i think its because i might be missing a lot of opportunities to convert some of my pressure or fans that hit into bigger damage.

And before anyone says to just go watch evo - i have and thats not entirely useful... They're playing at a much higher level and the Lao has respect for SF's kitana. My friend has given me an ass-beating so many times he doesnt respect it so there is almost no neutral game. Its just rush-down the whole time. I do my best to zone and keep him out and i can often take out half his health in a round so its not like im doing nothing, this is why i feel i must be missing opportunities for bigger damage.

TL: DR - What are some ways of converting pokes and fans and other tools into bigger damage short of just constantly poking with 11 or f112 etc and hoping for hits?

 

[KIllaByte]

Hey guys...

Honest question here. Im looking to level up. I have a lot more to work on. My biggest problem is not maximising my damage output. Im not talking about dropping combos, i very rarely do that. Im talking about converting landed pokes or fans etc into 30% damage.

For example my main opponent offline is a Lao. He believes the character is far from overpowered. Im not complaining, but he seems to be able to convert his poke and pressure into 30-40% combos if i whiff something or block the mix-up wrong.

The fights feel heavily one-sided but upon looking back i think its because i might be missing a lot of opportunities to convert some of my pressure or fans that hit into bigger damage.

And before anyone says to just go watch evo - i have and thats not entirely useful... They're playing at a much higher level and the Lao has respect for SF's kitana. My friend has given me an ass-beating so many times he doesnt respect it so there is almost no neutral game. Its just rush-down the whole time. I do my best to zone and keep him out and i can often take out half his health in a round so its not like im doing nothing, this is why i feel i must be missing opportunities for bigger damage.

TLR - What are some ways of converting pokes and fans and other tools into bigger damage short of just constantly poking with 11 or f112 etc and hoping for hits?

Throw ex fans into down 1 xx fan, it's a full combo on the ground or in the air.
That's what Sooneo does against me.

 

[6ixty9]

Throw ex fans into down 1 xx fan, it's a full combo on the ground or in the air.
That's what Sooneo does against me.

Can you elaborate what you mean exactly? Like i know that 11xx EXfan, d1xxfan, dash, f4xxlift etcetc... I know that combo (off memory that may not be the correct notation).

Do you mean that i should throw an ex fan every now and then rather than regular fans hoping he lets go of block? That might work every now and then because its new but i would rather hold the meter for reversals or breakers later on.

 

[theend1114]

If you want him to respect your space use Ex db2 and combo. Sooooo good

 

[KIllaByte]

Can you elaborate what you mean exactly? Like i know that 11xx EXfan, d1xxfan, dash, f4xxlift etcetc... I know that combo (off memory that may not be the correct notation).

Do you mean that i should throw an ex fan every now and then rather than regular fans hoping he lets go of block? That might work every now and then because its new but i would rather hold the meter for reversals or breakers later on.

To beat Lao's teleport options, you can press D1 as he passes under you.
This puts Lao in a juggle state, where you can get a full combo by cancelling the down + 1 into a fan.
That;s usally what happens, but sometimes if the player defending against Lao's teleport down 1s (verb) too early, Lao will still be in standing state, in which case your only chance of launching Lao is using a button into EX fan.
EX fan is also safe and has a lot of pushback, while also being a combo starter on hit, so it's a much safer commit for a lot of damage than fan lift is.

 

[LEGEND]

Throw or B14(hitconfirm) Ex Fan. Throwing opens everything up

Also. If a fan hits up close you have enough plus frames to try and throw them or again, just go for a string of you think they will press buttons. That's the very basics of Kitana's offense.

All you really get off of D1 is the chance to back up. How your oppnent repects the +3 on hit is it's own meta, nothing guaranteed that I can give you

 

[6ixty9]

If you want him to respect your space use Ex db2 and combo. Sooooo good

Yeah i need to get better at reacting to his strings i know i can armour through and landing that full combo. I guess he'll stop throwing them out and rushing me down so much if he eats a 30% combo every time. Kitana certainly doesnt have problems building meter ive found so its usually always an option

To beat Lao's teleport options, you can press D1 as he passes under you.
This puts Lao in a juggle state, where you can get a full combo by cancelling the down + 1 into a fan.
That;s usally what happens, but sometimes if the player defending against Lao's teleport down 1s (verb) too early, Lao will still be in standing state, in which case your only chance of launching Lao is using a button into EX fan.
EX fan is also safe and has a lot of pushback, while also being a combo starter on hit, so it's a much safer commit for a lot of damage than fan lift is.

Reacting to the teleport is definitely something i need to improve on as well. I think i must get to predictable with my fans because everyone always says how unsafe the teleport is but i find i musnt be punishing it properly as it quite often hits me. I always go to block out of bad habbit as im in recovery from a fan - maybe i should start mashing d1 and hope to at least poke him out.



Whats a good combo from landing an AA fan midscreen? Im pretty good at the IAF's. Like if they're in dash range should i dash and then f4~lift, or if they're in jumping distance do a ji2~airfan, dash f33~lift? And if they're further away then just throw a ground fan or something for juggle and unbreakable damage?
I think that is one area i need to improve the most - converting fan hits into bigger damage at different parts of the screen. Normally i just throw more fans

 

[YoloRoll1stHit]

there's many combos for anti air: iaf, [run if they're too far, otherwise dash forward] F43, F33 fan, F4 lift, ender (switch side). If u don't want to switch side then do dash/run F33 fan, F4 lift, ender
Using standing 1 or D1 to anti air is popular too. Do the combo as if u just hit them with 111 fan, there are two options to switch side or not to switch side.
Trip guard combo: Because Kitana has godlike walk speed and a tiny hitbox, she can make a lot of jump in miss when walking. I suggest u practice trip guarding too and sometimes doing trip guard is much safer than anti air