Question - War God How do I open up opponents?

[Ze Dingo]

I've picked up War God Kotal, mostly because Aztec history fascinates me. I've been playing Scorpion and Sub Zero almost exclusively since MK1 / UMK3. Kotal's playstyle isn't something I'm used to. Any suggestions will be most useful.

Before you say "Git gud, skrub", I actually do want to get "git gud", so help me out here.

I find his normals slow but his low pokes are fantastic.

My go to combo is 114~EX Air grab, F2, B122~DB1 for 42% 1 bar.

What should be my go to meterless BnB?

And mostly importantly:

How do I open opponents up to a combo? How do I begin offense?

 

[Yoaks]

@Pnut @Mr Aqua @GGA Fill Pops @gnarlygatoalex @RYX

 

[Jeremy KO]

Bully with low pokes. Use b122 and b14 for pressure, but make sure you cancel them into df2. It's only -5 so it's unlikely the opponent will punish it. If you see them whiffing, use f2 to get mad damage. You get the best meterless damage off of a f2 as well, but it's punishable so don't just throw it out constantly.

If you want to get a serious pressure game going and have the meter to do so, cancel strings like b122 or 114 into EX sword throw. It will leave you at +33, and you can run in for more pressure. However, you lose all sword based attacks for like a second.

 

[SoapBar]

Bully with low pokes. Use b122 and b14 for pressure, but make sure you cancel them into df2. It's only -5 so it's unlikely the opponent will punish it. If you see them whiffing, use f2 to get mad damage. You get the best meterless damage off of a f2 as well, but it's punishable so don't just throw it out constantly.

If you want to get a serious pressure game going and have the meter to do so, cancel strings like b122 or 114 into EX sword throw. It will leave you at +33, and you can run in for more pressure. However, you lose all sword based attacks for like a second.

You can also cancel into EX Overhead Sword for full combo if you've bullied them with Low Sword enough and conditioned the low block. But Overhead is punishable on block, so there's that to be aware of.

 

[Ze Dingo]

Right now, I'm using F3~BF1 or F3~BF2 to mix things up a little bit.

I've watched some of Mr Aquaman's matches (fabulous moustache), I can't seem to wrap my head around the strings.

Notations would be really nice.

 

[IQuan The Chi]

I Strongly recommend canceling into either db1 or his db2 or his db3( second hit is unblockable but can be jumped away from). From one of these combos b122/b13/F34/114. db1 is OH, EX version launches into air,
Example:
(this combo goes mid,low into OH, this is a 1 bar combo)

b13,EX db1(launches into air),F2, B12 air grab.( if you want to instead EX air grab followed by F1B2 air grab)
now this is just an example of EX combo you can do.

A good and simple bnb that I use is (just an example)= B122 - DF2 ! ( and thats it ! xD ) if you feel like theyre blocking mid after you've tried this for a while try mixing it up with B13 into any of the specials mentioned above.

Meterless - best way to lure them to you're combo is by holding you're distance, then when your opponent is least expecting this, F2 (timing is needed for double F2 or triple, recommend practicing before trying) or F1B2 followed by B12 into EX air grab and continue from there how u want to continue either with B12 or 21.

For opponents who jump alot and this is something you hate xD I usually get them down hard with an air grab xD so fun to do, try timing the EX grab into a combo from there ( F1B2 or just F2 followed by 21/B12 and a good combo ender would be DF2, also a brutality )

kotal kahn War God's standup game = confuse them with ending your comboes to either low( DB2 ) or Overhead(DB1) or this trickery that gives u 2 hit for one ( DB3 ), second hit is unblockable.

And I believe that's pretty much it, if not more replies to come hope this helped !

 

[Ze Dingo]

B13 isn't a string. Did you mean B12 or something else?

 

[Second Saint]

B13 isn't a string. Did you mean B12 or something else?

He meant b14. A good trick with that is, get them used to blocking the low of b14, then just do b1~ex db1 for a full combo. Kotal has tons of mixups after his combo starts. Any hit in any string could be an overhead or low. He can also go for safety with df2 or db3.

As mentioned above, you can end your stings with EX df3 to continue pressure. When you do this, you should run cancel and pressure with 114~df1. On hit you've got a good combo (very good with a bar), but this is also a frame trap. On block, you gain back a lot of the meter you just used. You're also plus enough to get a b1 after that (though the execution is not easy, imo) and start this whole thing over into more mixups or just ridiculous block pressure. Tons of chip and you gain back like 70% of the meter you use on block.

EDIT: Thought I'd add notations so you might understand what I was talking about better.

b122~EX df3, RC, 114~df1 Rinse repeat and mixup as you please.

 

[Hellbringer]

How to open ppl up with wargod?
You sure you dont mean bloodgod?
Wargod has a bazillion ways to open up ppl

 

[RYX]

pick war god and your opponents will open themselves up



Nah, but for real, everyone else pretty much got it down. The overhead/low of db1 and db2 is pretty fantastic for using mid-string, not to mention you've got db3 and df2 for shenanigans and safety.

And there's the always-reliable method of just throwing them into the corner

 

[Ze Dingo]

Thank you, everyone. I'm slowly formulating a game plan. Your sacrifice honours me!

Please keep the tips coming. I'm always open to learning, suggestions and new strategies and tech.

 

[TheFicinLegend]

Be wary that some of these are interruptible when you're starting your sword attack with armor (*disclaimer, possibly, not sure). Also something else of note, if you find yourself with some screen distance, throw in some unmetered df3 sword throws. I like to do it off of a fresh grab and make them jump over it when they get up or block it and allow me to close some space. Avoid doing it against teleports though.

I tend to gravitate towards string starters that come naturally to me like f2 and B12/B14 mix up, but remember to become familiar with all of the strings and set ups. Things on hit can be EX air thrown into other shenanigans, but I haven't gotten this down either. Hope this helps!

 

[Ze Dingo]

I've been in the lab for a while now. 114~DB1, ~DB2 and ~DF2 can be punished by Sub Zero's EX slide and Tempest KL's EX spin on start-up of the specials.

Things to watch out for.