If Kabal never existed...

[RiBBz22]

I don't mean for this topic to become a bitch session against Kabal, but I just wanted to get peoples' takes on how balanced they think MK9 would be if Kabal never made it into the game. Going back all the way to launch through the present, do you:

-Think the game would have been even better and more competitive than it eventually turned out to be?

-Think that lesser played characters would have become more popular because they wouldn't have been seen as being at as huge of a disadvantage as they are today?

-Think there would be other characters as hotly debated as Kabal? What are some other characters that would really jump up a lot higher in the tier list if Kabal was not in the game? How would it affect your character(s) and fight strategy?


Obviously losing a bad matchup like this would really benefit characters like Kenshi and Smoke, and make them even more prominent in the game...but at the same time I don't think Cage would really jump any higher in the same situation...

 

[Relaxedstate]

This game would be boring....
Whatever Kabals 'broken' levels are...he has been a driving force of this game. People want to beat him. He creates hype and without him this game would suck Ka Balls

 

[eskuAdradit0]

There would still be Kung Lao and Kenshi.

 

[TheTetraSpirit]

We'd still be left with all the derpiness of the rest of the top 5.
It'd be significantly more tolerable, but there's still more dumb shit besides Kabal.

 

[RiBBz22]

This game would be boring....
Whatever Kabals 'broken' levels are...he has been a driving force of this game. People want to beat him. He creates hype and without him this game would suck Ka Balls

I totally agree that today knowing that Kabal is in the game and has awesome tools makes people want to beat him. However, on the other hand, I highly doubt that you would think this game is boring if Kabal never actually existed in the first place. (with no knowledge what was lost)

What other characters do you play now? Are there any other ones you would have put more time into? Do you think there are other characters that have the potential of being a driving force in the game, where people see him as the character they need to be learning the matchup the most so they can overcome it?

Just playing devil's advocate here.

 

[RiBBz22]

We'd still be left with all the derpiness of the rest of the top 5.
It'd be significantly more tolerable, but there's still more dumb shit besides Kabal.

Expand on this: what characters do you think Kabal is shielding from being labeled as broken just because he is in the game?

 

[Deleted member 9158]

We'd still have Kenshi, Hat tier, Smoke and Freddy.

 

[RiBBz22]

We'd still have Kenshi, Hat tier, Smoke and Freddy.

haha, ya let's just trim the roster down to Kratos mirrors

 

[Deleted member 9158]

haha, ya let's just trim the roster down to Kratos mirrors

Then us xbox players would have to cry foul about not having the best character in the game!

 

[TheTetraSpirit]

Expand on this: what characters do you think Kabal is shielding from being labeled as broken just because he is in the game?

He's not shielding anyone. He's just the most broken out of a group of broken characters, those being KL, Sonya, Freddy, Cage, and to some extent Kenshi.

 

[RiBBz22]

Then us xbox players would have to cry foul about not having the best character in the game!

fine, Kratos and Sheeva.

 

[RiBBz22]

He's not shielding anyone. He's just the most broken out of a group of broken characters, those being KL, Sonya, Freddy, Cage, and to some extent Kenshi.

So you think if Kabal wasn't in the game people would complain about these 5 characters equally? Or would one rise up to be on a level comparable to where Kabal is at now?

 

[TheTetraSpirit]

So you think if Kabal wasn't in the game people would complain about these 5 characters equally? Or would one rise up to be on a level comparable to where Kabal is at now?

If I had to pick one that would stand out it'd be Lao.
All of them deserve to be griped about now anyway.

 

[xInfra Deadx]

Then there would be Kenshis everywhere and mancards turned in.

 

[Lt. Boxy Angelman]

No.

Kabal has caused WAY too much of the tumultuous chaos that's come and gone in MK's lifespan.

The game would've never been the same without him.

The evolution of the NDC was probably the biggest game-changer in this game's history.

 

[bloodsport]

well then REO would never win because he needs a broken character to win obviously

no but seriously, kung lao and kenshi..

 

[Phosferrax]

It would honestly just come down to learning both the hat guy and the blind guy to have every MU covered.

 

[ragnar0kz28]

No Kenshi no Kabal = a very balanced game, since this 2 beat everyone exept Lao.

 

[Miss Kanzuki]

I've heard of characters being broken like Mileena many months ago but that was before people knew how to fight her. But this glitch shit with Kabal is just another whole level of broken.

 

[RiBBz22]

It surprises me that no one has even mentioned Cyrax yet. I wonder if no Kabal would mean that more focus would shift towards Cyrax and his tools. It amazes me how this character slips under the radar sometimes.

 

[Lumpymoomilk]

If Kabal wasn't around Kung Lao would be #1, if Kung wasn't around Sonya might be #1, if she wasn't around Cyrax might be #1 or Smoke or Reptile. Even without Kabal there's still a good number of character who are blatantly obviously better characters in this game than others. Sheeva, Kano, Stryker all have plenty of bad matches without Kabal around.

 

[Relaxedstate]

Also, Kabal leveled this kommunity up tremendously.
There was a huge rally to learn the MU and becasue it is a tough one for many charecters. Players became better at the game! I am sure some other characters could have taken this role too...but Kabal just has every option covered!

If Kabal were not in this game I probably would main sonya... characters that can cancel shit are the most fun imo

 

[Deleted member 9158]

Also if KUH-BAWL wasn't in the game, I wouldn't get that sweet sense of satisfaction of beating kabals.

 

[Justice]

When we talk about Kabal, I think that even at this stage, we still have to differentiate between Kabal the character and Kabal the player. The difference between REO's Kabal and everyone else's is getting smaller, but let's face it, he does things with Kabal that make most people's hands go "Fuck you dood! Pick another character! You ain't makin me do that shit!"

If Kabal wasn't in the game, judging by how the rest of the metagame has progressed, I'd say people would be dual-maining Kenshi and Sonya since Sonya shuts down most of the roster and Kenshi shuts Sonya down

 

[THTB]

No.

Kabal has caused WAY too much of the tumultuous chaos that's come and gone in MK's lifespan.

The game would've never been the same without him.

The evolution of the NDC was probably the biggest game-changer in this game's history.

iaGB was bigger, really.