I know it's early but is anyone else struggling online with him?

[Past19]

His recovery is awful. Some of his abilities don't chain into much. His damage is pretty sub par compared to others. I haven't found a combo that can push past 350 yet without using a crushing blow. Speaking of which one of his crushing blows requires him to use up two ability slots. I'm really having a hard time fighting people who know his gaps and can abuse his recovery and he also seems to get zoned out very easily. I'm still gonna stick with him but if anyone can please give me some insight on ol boy here

 

[GLoRToR]

His recovery is awful. Some of his abilities don't chain into much. His damage is pretty sub par compared to others. I haven't found a combo that can push past 350 yet without using a crushing blow. Speaking of which one of his crushing blows requires him to use up two ability slots. I'm really having a hard time fighting people who know his gaps and can abuse his recovery and he also seems to get zoned out very easily. I'm still gonna stick with him but if anyone can please give me some insight on ol boy here

I hear Cetrion and Noob players talk about slow recovery as well.
Still about an hour before I can download the game on PC but my guess is that timing and spacing are going to be important for this character.

 

[SygBoss2]

Yeah. Only been playing with his tournament loadouts. He doesn't have anything scary that my opponents need to worry about. He seems pretty terrible.

It is only day 2 though.

One thing I do like is f4. One of his only plus on block moves. The problem is he has nothing that scary to do afterwards. I get most of my damage from regular throw. Like f4, throw, or f4, D1, throw, etc.

 

[thesacrifist]

I'm a filthy casual and I do ok with him with his second variation. Do his ok strings into mb bf3 and go from there. His b3 while unsafe is a really good at punishing whiffs

Also, be sure to chuck 3 spears every match for the cb requirement of the 1,2,1+3 string

 

[Ck AeroVoid]

who?

 

[Agilaz]

He has some issues vs good zoners, but the good news is that due to his range he doesn't really need to walk up into his opponent's face.

F2 and hammer leap (db4) are very nice for closing the gap. In True Kahn, F2 also has a (reactable, admittedly) mixup, with F24 hitting overhead or F2xdb4 hitting low.

Damage wise he seems ok tbh, I tend to around 250-300 per touch without KB's. I think people are still kinda getting used to the fact that in MK11, characters can't just do braindead 1-bar 40% combos

 

[Past19]

He has some issues vs good zoners, but the good news is that due to his range he doesn't really need to walk up into his opponent's face.

F2 and hammer leap (db4) are very nice for closing the gap. In True Kahn, F2 also has a (reactable, admittedly) mixup, with F24 hitting overhead or F2xdb4 hitting low.

Damage wise he seems ok tbh, I tend to around 250-300 per touch without KB's. I think people are still kinda getting used to the fact that in MK11, characters can't just do braindead 1-bar 40% combos

How do you feel about his KBs being tied up in aabilities or reversals? I have a hard time doing the spear kb against good opponents

 

[Agilaz]

How do you feel about his KBs being tied up in aabilities or reversals? I have a hard time doing the spear kb against good opponents

The only one that pisses me off is the forward throw one because it simply doesn't work as far as I can tell.

As for the rest, I find it's best to use his spear KB as either a punish, or at the end of a combo.

The hammer throw one is hilarious if it hits, once you land one hammer as a punish/counter, you can start fishing for the second one. I've had it trigger while trading projectiles, and yes, I will gladly eat 6-7% so my hammer can whack them for 27%.

 

[TheDylbot]

Had some really good day 1 sets with my main man, but yep, admittedly I'm hitting a wall with SK. As someone mentioned above, a good zoner is a problem - db4 is pretty useful, but wasn't much help against a particularly skilled Frost (I also feel like the Frost MU is real bad for SK, but hey it's early days) who was able to almost match my range on my approach, and zone me out no worries.

I don't think he's bad at all, I took a lot of games, but I have noticed that all starter except for f3 can be completely low profiled, poked out or d2'd. F3 is also annoyingly stubby and extremely situational.

B4 and f4 are both useful though, f4 carries a lot of distance and is plus on block, b4 has caught pretty much everyone I've faced after a combo, condition them to expect it and bait them to make a different move has been working well.

Also, I use the kompetitive variation with the weapon buff, and as Rooflemonger has also mentioned, there does not seem to be a reliable set up to get the buff out without getting hit.

Hope the rest of us SK mains can find some good tech!

 

[colby4898]

He seems to have pretty good ranged normals to me? Haven’t used him myself tho

 

[John Grizzly]

It's obviously early, but I feel both Kahns have some issues right now. I've only played Kotal and Shao so far, and planned on co-maining both, but have been struggling.

Hopefully some new tech is found for them. I haven't had much time to play, as of yet.

 

[DragonofDadashov24]

Man I’m struggling with my boy Liu Kang. Playing this game as if it were MKX and without knowing frames of other characters.
Got fucked by Scorp 3-1

 

[colby4898]

Wa

Man I’m struggling with my boy Liu Kang. Playing this game as if it were MKX and without knowing frames of other characters.
Got fucked by Scorp 3-1

Wanna mirror for fun?

 

[SygBoss2]

He seems to have pretty good ranged normals to me? Haven’t used him myself tho

Yup, but they're all negative on block except f4, and even if you get them to block the f4 they don't really have anything they have to be too worried about.

 

[colby4898]

Yup, but they're all negative on block except f4, and even if you get them to block the f4 they don't really have anything they have to be too worried about.

Well if it has good range, being plus would be too much. Not many normals seem to be very plus I’m tbis game

 

[DragonofDadashov24]

Wa

Wanna mirror for fun?

I live in Russia and play wifi
Still up for it?

 

[colby4898]

I live in Russia and play wifi
Still up for it?

Yeah man. I’m in UK.

Colby4898

 

[Metzos]

Character is garbage. He has alot of problems. Let me list some:

1. His dmg is low and cant be implemented as easily as the rest of the cast.

2. His neutral game sucks. Yes i know it can be overwhelming at first, but once you get used to him he is mediocre at best. The lack of a solid mid hitting string makes this character bad. Like, really bad. (Wtf his B3 is -16f on block and f3,4 is uncancelable i ll never understard.)

3. He is unsafe as hell and he has string gaps in almost everything. Normals canceled to specials and normal strings alone. Even moves which are useless are unsafe ffs! His taunts and dmg buff are useless. Cant be used safely.

His projectiles suck ass, dmg wise and speed wise.

Bottom line, this character is a half finished product, which is a damn shame cause NRS busted our balls for 4 months now to pre-order the game and get SK which means they had more than enough time to get him right. Damn shame NRS studios...

Having played more than 100 offline matches in the past 1.5 days i can easily say that SK is bottom1 atm unless something truly terrifying is found with him which i highly doubt.

Only good thing he has, is movement speed. Its really fast for a big body character. Also his sweep is really good as well. Thats it.

Post edited.

 

[stokedAF]

Yeah I’m struggling I have won 2 out of 6 matches so far.

He has no combo starters, I have to purposefully whiff to catch the middle of strings. Otherwise the f3 string seems to be my only option, everything else is high and I just keep getting the uppercut. Still fun though and I’m going to get better with him.

 

[NothingPersonal]

The only time i struggle with him is up-close. But as soon as I get a grab the opponent is sent half-screen away and that's where he should be held at all times.

 

[HidingInPublic]

Hi guys! I love Shao Kahn since I had my ass beaten by him over and over when I was a child. I actually never beated him back then in mk3, haha. Needless to say I was very hyped by when he was revealed as playable character in mk11 thinking he would be a total power house of a character... Not sure about there anymore

Here are some of my (noob ass) thoughts about him in this game:

-He doesn't play as a ruthless Kahn, Shao has good long range moves that favors his mid range game (almost a bad male Jade with more dmg if buffed): b4, f2, his jump in 4 and special moves, for example.

-Some of his good combo extender moves are not available in tournament variantions, which pisses me off.

-Without those moves we are left with weaker combos. His shoulder charge being the only juggle we truly have (his overhead special move can be used to make short combos at the corner with d1, db1 or d1, d2). The best combo that I found is a starter (f21, jump in 4, etc), bd3 AMP, jump 1 xx, 12, db1 (AMP).

-Using the jump in 4 as a starter gives you about 300 dmg (not amplifying the db1) but hitting the 12, db1 becomes tricky. This combo starter has an AMAZING range and is an overhead, although predictable.

-Using "ridicule" boosts you dmg a LOT: the 300 dmg combo with ridicule gives you now about 390 dmg. His f3, 4( a low!), 1+2 crushes string when buffed dealing huge dmg too.

-Lots of his moves leaves his opponent on the ground: b4, his projectiles (both lance and hammer) and db2. Knockdown moves are valuable and the advantage that they give should not be underestimated. This fact is the only saving grace of his projectiles imo. I think we all should use his b4 a lot..

IMO with the given variations Shao Kahn is a mid range fighter, abusing long range moves and specials. Using the knockdowns to gain advantage, to use buffs, apply pressure and to give yourself space so you can position yourself better seems to be a important part of his game plan. I don't think he is very strong (or strong at all for that matter), but if we truly like the character we must make a little effort to make him work in the meanwhile.

Sorry if I got any of the notations wrong and if my grammar is lacking, my english is kinda bad

 

[ty lewis]

-His damage is not low. standard BnB for Shao Kahn that deals 397.34 damage (4, bf+3 MB, dash, 4 bf+3 MB, dash, 4, db+1)

-The taunt that is a damage boost is called humiliate. Ridicule is the damage reduction. (humiliate buffs damage by 25% for 5 sec, Ridicule reduces damage by 50% for 5 seconds)

-With Humiliate buff on the BnB damage jumps from 397.34 to 496.67. Instead of the BnB though you can combo into the Krushing Blow string. (4, bf+3 MB, dash, F3,4, 1+3) deals 508 damage.

-Skewered only adds a tiny bit more damage from this combo. (4, bf+3, dash, 4, db+1 MB, 4 db+1) deals 403.33.

-His other variation, Risen Emporer, does the exact same combos outside of his annihilation krushing blow. the buff for it, "dark priest", only increases damage of moves that use Shao Kahn's hammer and lasts for 15 seconds, however it instantly goes away if hit by anything. Here's the combo. (4, db+3 KB, bf+3 MB (timing is tight), dash, 4, bf+3 MB, b2, db+1) deals 507.95 damage. (dark priest is safe off of KB throw, speaking of which KB throw only activates off of a reversal punish, the movelist description is wrong)

-Use B2/F3,4/B4 to poke all of them are safe on block and hit mid or low. B3 is best used as a whiff punishing tool. That's why it has such great range and has a decent start up you can even combo off it with bf+3 MB. Use F4 when your opponent gets knocked down for extra pressure. after wards you can do several things. So his neutral games is actually decent.

-Based upon his strings and move lists he is best used mid screen to take advantage of his long range normals. (B3, B4, F2) As well as for punishing players for throwing out unsafe moves with his standing 4 which leads to his high damaging combos.

-You pathetic worms simply don't understand the glory that is the true Kahn of Outworld.

 

[YagamiFire]

The list of things that are usable in this game, in general, is incredibly small.

Kahn does not have these things. Been playing him since launch and his tools just aren't there. Down-Block: the game does not help Shao Kahn compete

 

[TheDylbot]

-His damage is not low. standard BnB for Shao Kahn that deals 397.34 damage (4, bf+3 MB, dash, 4 bf+3 MB, dash, 4, db1)

-You pathetic worms simply don't understand the glory that is the true Kahn of Outworld.

If you are using s4 for anything other than a close range punish, or a mid-combo filler, I would suggest you are using the wrong gameplan. Not exactly sure on the start up of s4, but it is a HIGH with TERRIBLE hitbox and whiffing issues at any distance other than close range.

Nice damage, but not an ideal starter. Also, you would essentially be ignoring the fundamental design of SK which is space control. Keeping them within f2 range is a much better option, because the range is absurd and really does catch a lot of people.

Also, good luck with getting a buff/debuff out during a game against anyone with even the slightest bit of coherence - as we have said already, it is a dead move which will land you in trouble every single time you use it.
Why sacrifice a KB for that set up when you can use the KB for 40% damage?

Now if his s2 became a mid for example, that would be amazing.

 

[ty lewis]

He has tools. He has decent mid pokes, great whiff punishing, a good projectile with Wrath Hammer, and high damage when punishing unsafe moves.

His only issues are that a majority of his strings start high, all of his KB besides his throw are difficult to pull off, and F34 not being special cancelable.

He technically may be the "worst" character in the game. But mk11 is pretty well balanced to the point where he is still completely viable.