Strategy Kitana General discussion

[Evil_Riu48]

discuss your new kitana tech, questions and overall strategies with others..

 

[zombiebrian]

Ermac and noob

Hi wondering what the best options are versus these two zoneing characters so far ive been dash blocking till i get in range on noob but his options make this difficult and ermac is even harder ive tried the square bost but noob can punish it on reaction same with ermac. i know when i get into the range for the bnb im good but getting there from full screen is tough and when noob has his xray it becomes even harder.

 

[lobo]

if you square boost at the peak of a jump you may find more success. also, don't get out-zoned! i'm barely at around 60% myself on iAF (instant air fan), but if you can get that down it will own ermac pretty hard from range. sadly i don't have much experience vs noob yet so idk what to say there, really.

 

[Konqrr]

Ermac is a very difficult match for Kitana because of his bf1. You need to dash block to get just outside sweep range and if he does it, you can dash in and get a free combo starting with 21. If you stay outside the range for bf1 and he does it, you can punish with an ex fan~dash cancel to f21 to get the 55% or whatever it is.

Vs Noob? I don't know the matchup, but using air fans to stop your forward movement in the air to bait the anti air shadow might give you a free f21 combo.

 

[Wraitheist]

A couple of questions:

1) I keep seeing references to Kitana's BnB combo that results in ~50% dmg. What is that combo and is it feasible online? I've been trying some of the combos listed in her combo thread and I have a lot of trouble connecting 4, Fan Lift after her fan throw. The best combo I can do consistently online is around 37%.

2) Anti air. What is the best option for when an opponent jumps toward you? I never seem to get my fan lift out in time before being kicked. Perhaps dashing backwards first?

3) Wake ups. Does Kitana have any good, invicible frame wake up attacks? When I get knocked down and my opponent is pressuring me, what is my best bet?

Thanks!

 

[Lomyn]

Ermac is a very difficult match for Kitana because of his bf1. You need to dash block to get just outside sweep range and if he does it, you can dash in and get a free combo starting with 21. If you stay outside the range for bf1 and he does it, you can punish with an ex fan~dash cancel to f21 to get the 55% or whatever it is.

Vs Noob? I don't know the matchup, but using air fans to stop your forward movement in the air to bait the anti air shadow might give you a free f21 combo.

bf1 is the force lift? Or the force push? I don't remember the inputs for each one.

The Ermac player I play with very seldomly uses the force lift unless he has already started hitting me due to how dangerous it is if blocked. I'm under the impression that the force push is much safer, and just barely slower. At the range where you can hit f2, 1 against ermac, both the push and lift are a bit faster than Kitana's attacks from that range and can beat her out. If the Ermac does do a force lift and you block it, punish appropriately. If you block a force push, immediately do a jump forward instant air enhanced fan and hold. If the Ermac pushed a button , you caught them and can combo, if they didn’t you can still land and advance while they are in block stun.

Both Noob and Ermac have full screen answers to IAF spam if you get predictable; Ermac in the form of teleport punch, and Noob has his full-screen warp grab.

 

[DrDogg]

A couple of questions:

1) I keep seeing references to Kitana's BnB combo that results in ~50% dmg. What is that combo and is it feasible online? I've been trying some of the combos listed in her combo thread and I have a lot of trouble connecting 4, Fan Lift after her fan throw. The best combo I can do consistently online is around 37%.

2) Anti air. What is the best option for when an opponent jumps toward you? I never seem to get my fan lift out in time before being kicked. Perhaps dashing backwards first?

3) Wake ups. Does Kitana have any good, invicible frame wake up attacks? When I get knocked down and my opponent is pressuring me, what is my best bet?

Thanks!

1. The bnb combos vary depending on your starter, but they're all listed in the first post of the combo thread. I haven't been able to pull off any of Kitana's bigger combos online. In most cases you need to dash cancel and doing that online is nearly impossible for me. Although I play on PS3, so I haven't tried in weeks. As for the 4~fan lift, in some cases you have to use EX Fan Lift, in other cases you just need to dash faster or farther before using 4~fan lift.

2. 3~fan toss is a good anti-air with proper timing. EX Fan Lift also works well, especially against cross-ups.

3. Square Wave is Kitana's invincible wake up.

 

[Ascending Light]

Does Kitana have any staggerstate moves?

Does she have any over heads that can be done alone.
For example you have to do f4,1. The kick comes first then the over head. BTW besides jumping 1,2.

 

[lobo]

i'm not sure what it is that you mean by staggerstate...but she doesn't have much in the "stun" category, unless you count her special moves like lift, AF, fan...all of which stun on hit and open up for combos.

afaik, she has only 2 overheads; f41 and b12, both of which have the overhead as the second hit. i was complaining about her lack of a solo overhead and unblockable the other day with my friends and one of them made the point to me that she is very very strong without them. the last thing we want is an overpowered character that NRS slaps with the nerfstick.

 

[Ascending Light]

Stager state.
I've found kitana's and, its f4 which can be whiff punished by uppercut if ducked. Though her stagger state move is pretty useless because if you get hit by f4 your going to want to follow with 1 to get a free combo.

 

[Shiizu]

d,f2 (cutter) puts them in stagger state.

I haven't really been using her fan lift outside of combos all that much. Can her fan lift counter jumping attacks on wake-up?

 

[Konqrr]

d,f2 (cutter) puts them in stagger state.

It does, but you don't recover in time to utilize any safe jump setups or anything.

 

[Shiizu]

It does, but you don't recover in time to utilize any safe jump setups or anything.

Are you sure? I did it quite a bit today against a Smoke player and a Stryker player, but they were unable to do anything except block my jump attacks. I'm guessing other characters have some moves with quicker startups that can hit her out of the air?

 

[Wraitheist]

Kind of late, but thanks for the answers to my inquiries!

 

[zombiebrian]

would like to ask about this vid cause every time i try and combo into the fan lift later on in a combo it drops. is it after a air fan throw you cant use fan lift or is it something thats patched in the xb version that isnt patched in the ps3 version. Or am i doing something wrong.

 

[ethan1341]

would like to ask about this vid cause every time i try and combo into the fan lift later on in a combo it drops. is it after a air fan throw you cant use fan lift or is it something thats patched in the xb version that isnt patched in the ps3 version. Or am i doing something wrong.

I am having the same problem after Dash 4 My fan Lift does not come out and I tried buffering it at all speeds. I've tried buffering it with every attack example back punch lift back kick lift front kick lift back kick lift and the fan lift never comes out. Could some 1 give it a try and let me know

 

[zombiebrian]

Im getting it to come out but it quickly lifts then drops my opponent before i recover from the active frames

 

[DrDogg]

Im getting it to come out but it quickly lifts then drops my opponent before i recover from the active frames

Sounds like you're using it too late in the combo or after you've already used one fan lift.

 

[zombiebrian]

Looks to me that you cant use a fan lift after using and air fan throw.. which is probably as well cause if you could you would be talking about a massive combos

 

[drpunkerz]

hello. Noob here.

How does one attack a zoning scorpion player? If I sit and wait, I'll get put in flames, If I square boost (?), i'll get punished fairly easy, and throwing fans doesn't work because he/she will just duck. Not sure on a good strategy against play like this. Can anyone provide any insight on how to approach this situation?

 

[Dark Kobra]

hello. Noob here.

How does one attack a zoning scorpion player? If I sit and wait, I'll get put in flames, If I square boost (?), i'll get punished fairly easy, and throwing fans doesn't work because he/she will just duck. Not sure on a good strategy against play like this. Can anyone provide any insight on how to approach this situation?

HI there and welcome to Test Your Might! I think if you can master your instant air fan, you can throw it really low and you can possibly keep doing it to force him to block. He may either either start jumping which you could possibly square wave him, fan lift or jump and air fan him, or he may try and teleport, which if you can block it you should be able to punish with a big combo (providing they dont have breakers). But I'm only starting out using Kitana, but other members here will have better insight suggestions.

If you send us a PM, I have a link to an audio file features Tom Brady talking only a little about Kitana and some good things about her. Hope this helps!

 

[drpunkerz]

I can get it maybe 50% of the time and it does work fairly well. My problem with this particular player is that he intentionally does not move and forces me to rush my way to his side. I suppose I'm just an impatient player and want to start laying into him. I guess I'll just try to be patient and let him teleport over to me. What are your guys' favorite combos? Thanks for the tip DK, I sent you a PM.

 

[Wraitheist]

I played someone last night who was an incredible zoner with Noob. His freaking shadow moves come out blindingly fast and made it very difficult for me to get in close. When I finally did get in, it still felt like a guessing game for me. His up shadow seems completely unpunishable and safe on block. When I did manage to catch him, I could eat almost half of his life, but if I made one mistake and let him get away, I had to start all over. Any tips? I tried dash-blocking to get close, but he also has that low shadow move that has to be blocked low. Very frustrating.

I also played a good Raiden. What is Kitana's best option when she anticipates a teleport? I finally started buffering her fan lift and caught him with it a few times, but he wised up pretty quickly. His bnb combo starter was frustrating me, too. It has to be blocked high, but even after blocking it, there didn't seem to be any way for me to punish as it looks like it is safe on block. The best I could do was throw out a d+1 to get some space.

Some more general questions. What is the best way to punish a blocked combo? A lot of her combo starters are too slow. Is 2,1~fan lift fast enough, generally?

Finally, I'm still struggling with her anti-air options. Her normal fan lift is too slow if the jump isn't anticipated and i get kicked out of her Ex Fan Lift a lot, too. 3~Fan seems really difficult to time and I end up getting kicked out of that too frequently. Do I just need to get better at timing her 3?

Thanks!

 

[DrDogg]

I played someone last night who was an incredible zoner with Noob. His freaking shadow moves come out blindingly fast and made it very difficult for me to get in close. When I finally did get in, it still felt like a guessing game for me. His up shadow seems completely unpunishable and safe on block. When I did manage to catch him, I could eat almost half of his life, but if I made one mistake and let him get away, I had to start all over. Any tips? I tried dash-blocking to get close, but he also has that low shadow move that has to be blocked low. Very frustrating.

Dash block/low block to get in close. You'll have to take some chip, but there's really no better way to go about it against a good Noob player. Once you're within f+2,1 range, use that immediately following a blocked shadow.

If that isn't working for you, get even closer and try to use a cross-up jump punch to start your combos. If f+2,1 is blocked, try a d+1 to interrupt most attacks Noob will use at this point. If the d+1 connects, use b+3,3 or some other close range combo to continue pressure. If the Noob is constantly blocking, stop your combos early and use a throw.

I also played a good Raiden. What is Kitana's best option when she anticipates a teleport? I finally started buffering her fan lift and caught him with it a few times, but he wised up pretty quickly. His bnb combo starter was frustrating me, too. It has to be blocked high, but even after blocking it, there didn't seem to be any way for me to punish as it looks like it is safe on block. The best I could do was throw out a d+1 to get some space.

I'm still working on this myself. I've taken 2nd and 3rd in two local tournaments and all four of my losses came at the hands of the same Raiden player. I actually had to switch to Raiden to even give him a challenge, but since I rarely use Raiden it wasn't enough.

For now, I block a lot in anticipation of a Superman. If I can block a Superman I take 50%+ from Raiden. The problem is that the throw break mechanic heavily favors the offensive player (this needs to be fixed), so if you block too much, Raiden can teleport and throw before you can do much. If you anticipate a teleport, drop your guard and use a quick combo string, but that's risky because it's very difficult to block Superman on reaction in this situation.

Some more general questions. What is the best way to punish a blocked combo? A lot of her combo starters are too slow. Is 2,1~fan lift fast enough, generally?

Most combos in this game are safe on block, and if you're playing against anyone good, they won't use unsafe combo strings. If you block something like Raiden's Superman or Scorpion's teleport punch, f+2,1 is my preferred punish (for 50%+).

Finally, I'm still struggling with her anti-air options. Her normal fan lift is too slow if the jump isn't anticipated and i get kicked out of her Ex Fan Lift a lot, too. 3~Fan seems really difficult to time and I end up getting kicked out of that too frequently. Do I just need to get better at timing her 3?

I'm still working on my Kitana anti-air options. It's very difficult for me because I rarely get to practice with other players and the training mode is ass.

 

[PrincessFan]

how do i learn the instant air fan? i get it out like 1/10. im using a normal ps3 controller. the input is u,d,f,1 right? or can u even do it from a long range?