How do you feel about Liu Kang? (General Discussion)

[Squeaker101]

Read first: This is not another tier question!
I was curious, how do you guys feel about Liu Kang?

• Is he tourney viable?
• Would you consider picking him up?
• Does he suit your play style?
• Are you at least a little curious about him?
• Do you fear him? or hate him? (or both?)
• Is he fun to fight against?
• Is he one of the secondaries that has potential to become your main?

I could ask more, but I think you get my point. Just discuss how you feel going up against him, or how you feel about choosing him on the character selection screen.
Now here you might not like, so if your fed up with tier questions. Don't read.

• Where would you put Liu Kang for tier lists?
• Where would you put him in your tier list?

He's the #1 guy for me. (which is good enough for me) I don't know much about the other characters to make my own tier list so... Liu would be #1. Not realistically though. I'm very loyal to this character.
Discuss!

 

[Death]

I think hes tournament viable and probably sitting at around 15th best and right in the middle of the cast. He was actually my main character when I first got the game cuz for the longeset time his combos where the only ones i could do lol. I think hes pretty easy to fight against. I think his zoning is good but very easy to get around and his rushdown is really predictable. But I dropped him a while back for Mileena/Sub-Zero team. So yeah Liu Kang is a great character to use. Hes pick up friendly. got good damaging combos and good zoning. Doesnt have a lot of bad MUs. Possibly 5-6 bad MUs.

I do think you'll need an alt character to cover his bad MUs.

 

[miloPKL]

i tried picking him up but it didn't really work out. too few options and too little mobility i feel. i had a hard time getting in on some of the cast, sektor for example

 

[Derptile]

Good character, highly underrated. He can go against the top of the tier list and hold his ground. However he has "meh" pokes, and only one person(Xblades) really understands the character.

He's 15-10 on the tierlist.

 

[GNG Iniquity]

Liu is the best character to start with, no doubt, his rushdown options are limited though after a while. Personally, I can't get any enjoyment out of playing him these days due to his overwhelming simplicity and limited options. His two main strings are rendered null by blocking them low high high, his f3 mid is fast, and some players will fall for being checked by it but the damage is somewhat minimal and it links to nothing.

His zoning isn't bad, but it isn't fantastic, his options are limited and I feel like I shut my brain off when I play him. The fact that Liu is one of Quan's worst MUs does aggravate me since Quan requires capitalizing on various options and thinking clearly within the match, only to be countered with B312 x infinity and low fireballs which give him colossal problems. I don't hate Liu Kang, but I don't feel any sense of accomplishment when I beat a Liu Kang player, he's not a bad character by any means but he requires little to no thought (not the player's fault, this is NRS' doing) and is such a ridiculously linear character.

 

[Squeaker101]

I think hes tournament viable and probably sitting at around 15th best and right in the middle of the cast. He was actually my main character when I first got the game cuz for the longeset time his combos where the only ones i could do lol. I think hes pretty easy to fight against. I think his zoning is good but very easy to get around and his rushdown is really predictable. But I dropped him a while back for Mileena/Sub-Zero team. So yeah Liu Kang is a great character to use. Hes pick up friendly. got good damaging combos and good zoning. Doesnt have a lot of bad MUs. Possibly 5-6 bad MUs.

I do think you'll need an alt character to cover his bad MUs.

Yea, I think he's tourney viable as well. My first main was Reptile (favorite character) but back then I found it hard to do 122 forceball etc. (bb1 was really hard for me back then) So yea, Liu's combos is something I can relate to. I absolutely love his playstyle. His rushdown isn't the best in the game (thank goodness) and he can do some effective zoning. The only problem he really has against is characters that play keep away adn shut down you zoning game. I'd recommend any beginner to pick him up, as his playstyle is very compatible. I'm trying to pick up Lao to cover his bad MUs such as Freddy, Smoke, Raiden, etc.

 

[Death]

Yea, I think he's tourney viable as well. My first main was Reptile (favorite character) but back then I found it hard to do 122 forceball etc. (bb1 was really hard for me back then) So yea, Liu's combos is something I can relate to. I absolutely love his playstyle. His rushdown isn't the best in the game (thank goodness) and he can do some effective zoning. The only problem he really has against is characters that play keep away adn shut down you zoning game. I'd recommend any beginner to pick him up, as his playstyle is very compatible. I'm trying to pick up Lao to cover his bad MUs such as Freddy, Smoke, Raiden, etc.

Yeah KL is your best bet for an Alt. I personally dont think Raiden beats Liu Kang. I can see that MU being even. But certain characters like Kabal, Kenshi, Noob, Freddy, Smoke. Sub are difficult for Kang and KL is perfect vs those characters imo.

 

[streetsweep187]

I love liu kang. He can zone you out or pressure you...and he has a parry!!!! I think he's a very well balanced character. And I enjoy reading all the hate mail I get when I break him out online

 

[G4S Claude VonStroke]

Ok i was just told he might be good against Kabal? I got no one for kabal right now. What do you guys think? I know Jax is the conventional wisdom but i am just wondering about LK

 

[greeneless]

Ok i was just told he might be good against Kabal? I got no one for kabal right now. What do you guys think? I know Jax is the conventional wisdom but i am just wondering about LK

It's 5-5 probably. I almost took ac1984 out of a tourney with kang, but that was a long time ago on a laggy monitor. If the monitor has a delay it is 6-4 kang... lol. Jax probably beats kabal, Kang definately doesn't so it's not really a counter pick. You play raiden dude.. you can handle kabal

 

[XBlades]

Kang in my opinion is at 10th place in top 10... he has really good tools for almost every situation. The only thing he lacks is a wake up game... other than this, he is a very dangerous character... and i believe he is hardest to master...

 

[STB Sgt Reed]

Ok i was just told he might be good against Kabal? I got no one for kabal right now. What do you guys think? I know Jax is the conventional wisdom but i am just wondering about LK

I think LK would be good against Kabal... I mean Kabal couldn't just IAGB you all day b/c LK can just throw his low fireball to stay under the gas blasts. So Kabal would have to come in.

As to the topic by the OP,

I actually like liu kang and have recently picked him up. LOVE his rushdown and he's got the fireballs for when he needs to zone. Throw in a parry and he's pretty good. I'd say just above middle of the pack.

The only think I don't like about him is he doesn't have very good wakeup options. You pretty much have to use enhanced bicycle kick on wakeup. =/

 

[AssassiN]

I've been playing with Liu Kang since the game came out, after playing with him in story mode I knew he was gonna be my main. Went straight into practice mode to get some BNB's.

He is very tournament viable, would say better than most people place him.
There are not enough Liu Kang players and that's why it isn't know.
Just like JC, only recently people started bitching about his F3 and I've been doing it since the demo(and they buffed JC after the demo LOL).

He is good against zoners(except for Kenshi and Noob)
Great pressure(not the best)
Good mix-ups
He can do some good zoning himself
Solid anti-air that leads to 30% combo
Good footsies
Parry(good against cross-up, ...)
Uppercut is fast and aims more up than diagonal(good for cross-ups)
Sweep is 0 on block and lowers his hitbox

He is not good against characters that rush him down like crazy, normally the parry would take care of this problem but it has 9 frames start-up.
His D1 poke is nearly useless
His wake-up game is so bad

 

[Squeaker101]

Liu is the best character to start with, no doubt, his rushdown options are limited though after a while. Personally, I can't get any enjoyment out of playing him these days due to his overwhelming simplicity and limited options. His two main strings are rendered null by blocking them low high high, his f3 mid is fast, and some players will fall for being checked by it but the damage is somewhat minimal and it links to nothing.

His zoning isn't bad, but it isn't fantastic, his options are limited and I feel like I shut my brain off when I play him. The fact that Liu is one of Quan's worst MUs does aggravate me since Quan requires capitalizing on various options and thinking clearly within the match, only to be countered with B312 x infinity and low fireballs which give him colossal problems. I don't hate Liu Kang, but I don't feel any sense of accomplishment when I beat a Liu Kang player, he's not a bad character by any means but he requires little to no thought (not the player's fault, this is NRS' doing) and is such a ridiculously linear character.

I agree, he is the best character to start with. His rushdown just gets a little boring after awhile. (f12, f12, f12, 12) Well just a bore to watch. (especially against people who don't know when to poke out). While Liu may be simple, thinking with him is most certainly something you have to do. (against harder MU's, and smarter opponents) Linear? I'd say he's quite compatible with almost anyones playstyle. (except footsies). Not trying to start a huge aruguement. Just the way I feel about Liu. xD

 

[1man3letters]

tom brady said it best before in one of his vids...liu kang,safe scrubby offence

hated the char since mk2,hopefully this time he'll stay dead

 

[Squeaker101]

Ok i was just told he might be good against Kabal? I got no one for kabal right now. What do you guys think? I know Jax is the conventional wisdom but i am just wondering about LK

IMO Liu can hold his own against Kabal. Like Sgt Reed said, we can null his iagb. (which must count for something) We can Fly Kick his Buzzsaws on anticipation. (risky) Kabal is like Liu, only much better at pretty much everything. (except battle cries) Liu is pretty easy to pick up, altough he does take some loyalty to play on a higher level. Hope this helps. Liu vs. Kabal is 5-5 if not 4-6 in Kabal's favour.

 

[Superi0rMagik]

solid character I just wish his hitbox was lowered

 

[Squeaker101]

tom brady said it best before in one of his vids...liu kang,safe scrubby offence

hated the char since mk2,hopefully this time he'll stay dead

 

[Squeaker101]

Kang in my opinion is at 10th place in top 10... he has really good tools for almost every situation. The only thing he lacks is a wake up game... other than this, he is a very dangerous character... and i believe he is hardest to master...

Nice! yea, Liu can shut done almost everyone's comfort zone. The only thing he lacks is a wake-up game, and he probably has one of the worst footsies in the game. As for mastery, your on a whole other level than most of us Kang players. I think it's safe to say if there's anyone who masters this character...its you. (but I still try my hardest to come on top against other people)

 

[Squeaker101]

As to the topic by the OP,

I actually like liu kang and have recently picked him up. LOVE his rushdown and he's got the fireballs for when he needs to zone. Throw in a parry and he's pretty good. I'd say just above middle of the pack.

The only think I don't like about him is he doesn't have very good wakeup options. You pretty much have to use enhanced bicycle kick on wakeup. =/

Sweet! I like his rushdown as well. (favorite thing to do) In most cases he can zone when he feels like it. And Parry for whenever your opponent thinks it's a good idea to jump at you. Realistically I'd put him around the middle as well. (a little higher actually) His wake-up game is horrendus. (higher level players take advantage of this...)

 

[GNG Iniquity]

I agree, he is the best character to start with. His rushdown just gets a little boring after awhile. (f12, f12, f12, 12) Well just a bore to watch. (especially against people who don't know when to poke out). While Liu may be simple, thinking with him is most certainly something you have to do. (against harder MU's, and smarter opponents) Linear? I'd say he's quite compatible with almost anyones playstyle. (except footsies). Not trying to start a huge aruguement. Just the way I feel about Liu. xD

It's far to say, I do feel that the only player who really truly understands him at this point is Xblades. I think everyone else has pretty much abandoned him. I'd love to see something new come out with Liu though, but I can't find anything personally lol

 

[Espio]

Liu Kang is in a good place, definitely tournament viable and balanced to boot. He has respectable zoning, rushdown and defensive options. He's accessible and fun. He's pretty much all you can ask for in a character, strong, but not overpowered.

If I was into the character, I'd play him at a tournament with confidence.

Edit: simply put, this was where I wanted Stryker to be, not horrible, but not overpowered either. I mean he's viable now, but still.

 

[Squeaker101]

solid character I just wish his hitbox was lowered

Word.

 

[Lou Kang]

I dont see how you could say he requires no thought to play, even if his bnbs look simple, bnbs for every character are executed through muscle memory eventually...the level of thought u need to bring depends on your opponent, and not as much ur own player, and with a char with as little unique moves as liu (e.g. a KL spin or SZ ice clone) id say requires even more thought and anticipation as he has no move to fall bak on

 

[MK Peanuts]

Yeah KL is your best bet for an Alt. I personally dont think Raiden beats Liu Kang. I can see that MU being even. But certain characters like Kabal, Kenshi, Noob, Freddy, Smoke. Sub are difficult for Kang and KL is perfect vs those characters imo.

In the stream chat for one of the Montreal ranbats, we were talking about alts for Liu Kang, and both you and Mr Mileena recommended I learn Sonya. Do you still think Sonya is a good secondary for Liu Kang? Cause I did start learning her after that conversation.