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Match-up Discussion Kitana Matchup Discussion Thread

THTB

Arez | Booya | Riu48 - Rest Easy, Friends
Use that to your advantage then. If you know that they are super aggressive, especially with dashing, play patient.

Chris G was super aggressive against me. He won the 1st match. I calmed down and literally won the nnext two games by punishing his dash, throwing ground fans and AAing him. I don't think I started offense at all.
This is why I used to say not many really plays the Reptile matchup that well. Reptile isn't the best at aggressive play, but when you don't know that, he seems like it.

16 Bit, judging from the most recent matches I've seen of you, you'd fear crazy Reptiles a lot less if you punished stuff like dash harder. You'd block dash and I'd always go "21 lift!" 21 cutter instead... :/

Not saying Reptile goes even with her, but just saying this could be why you are so much more afraid of Reptile than you probably should be.
 

Konqrr

MK11 Kabal = MK9 Kitana
Kit vs Rep - There is a time to use 21cutter... if you need meter! Also, once you do jp-21-cutter blockstring, you are in prime position to punish a d4 whiff or block another dash.

I play this matchup a lot offline now and it sucked at first... now it still sucks (lol), but I can hold my own and know what to do in situations that I was stuck on before.
 

rev0lver

Come On Die Young
so are we going to stop pretending Kitana-Cyrax is in Kitana's favor now? I've been saying this for months, and finally 16bit has come around and so has Maxter I believe.
 

16 Bit

Mash d+1~Cat Claws
Premium Supporter
NetherRealm Studios
Yeah you were right. And it's not because I lost to Maxter. He outplayed me. I should have adjusted to how he was using d+4 and I didn't. However, I've been leaning towards that being 5-5 for weeks.
 
2 things: 1) Konqrr is the OP updated to current consensus on the matchup?
2) can some please explain to me the quan chi matchup. i'm not sure how to approach it. I sorta feel like kitana can just bully quan on the inside, but one mistake getting to f2 range leads to a rune trap or damage string that puts me back 3/4 screen, which is in trance zone.
 

xKhaoTik

The Ignore Button Is Free
2 things: 1) Konqrr is the OP updated to current consensus on the matchup?
2) can some please explain to me the quan chi matchup. i'm not sure how to approach it. I sorta feel like kitana can just bully quan on the inside, but one mistake getting to f2 range leads to a rune trap or damage string that puts me back 3/4 screen, which is in trance zone.

I will preach this until the day I die. KITANA BEATS QUAN. I don't wanna hear "o he has rune trap" and blab because the rune trap doesnt determine a MU IMO.

Kitana has better normals, better footsies, better speed, better range, safer, etc.

She can can throw fans, but not to zone, but to bait out the skydrop and punish. Spacing is really good in this match because Quan players love his f12 string, and she can punish that on whiff. Upclose, bait out the uppercut and punish that on whiff. His pokes are ass aside from the d2.

And when it comes to the rune trap, it might not even come into play in this match. Quan players love to eat damage so they can build meter for the rune trap. But kitana can KO him with just two combos. He's gonna have to break. On top of that, once Quan has meter, it'll be common sense to start playing defensive and make Quan come to you, thus probably taking a risk and being forced to break.

GGA 16 Bit had a nice match with shujinkydink at evo this year. Check that match out on YouTube
 

BillStickers

Do not touch me again.
2 things: 1) Konqrr is the OP updated to current consensus on the matchup?
2) can some please explain to me the quan chi matchup. i'm not sure how to approach it. I sorta feel like kitana can just bully quan on the inside, but one mistake getting to f2 range leads to a rune trap or damage string that puts me back 3/4 screen, which is in trance zone.
no, the MU chart is not up to date.

A few things about the Quan Chi matchup:

1) this MU sucks online more than most since it's harder to react to his mixups (and, if it's laggy enough, sometimes your fuzzy guard gets ignored, good times)

2) like Khaotik said, you'll want to throw iafs as a check/bait. Ground fans get skydropped on reaction, so try not to do that.

3) you'll want to remain just outside kitana's 21 range in order to bait quan's f12.

4) you should know all of his mixups in case he happens to land a skydrop. Usually Quan players will go for b31+2 (his quickest mixup i think), which hits low-overhead, so be sure to guard it appropriately. If they see you're respecting that, they might try to go for the overheads u3 or 21u3. These are slow enough where you can block high before they land, but again, online, this sucks hard. Also remember that f121+2 is high-low-high.

5) punish ALL blocked trances with 21 into either lift or ex fan f21. a lot of quan players expect you to not know their mixups and won't bother to hit confirm trance off of f12 or u3. use that to your advantage.

um no. i make people cum.
uhh, right then.
 

16 Bit

Mash d+1~Cat Claws
Premium Supporter
NetherRealm Studios
I agree with all the talk on the QC mu here. I barely play the MU, pretty much just the times I've played Dink. My strategy for when I had to play him at EVO was to mash low pokes after almost all neutral situations. I never wanted to be stuck blocking. What can he do about it? Besides block the low and counter poke with his own low pokes, which still doesn't force you into blocking. As far as I know all his ways to start the rune trap are high and/or slow.
 

rev0lver

Come On Die Young
punish ALL blocked trances with 21 into either lift or ex fan.
I disagree with this. Trance is super negative on block and can easily be punished with a f21. Using ex fan in most circumstances in this matchup wastes precious meter that you might need in a rune trap situation
 

BillStickers

Do not touch me again.
I disagree with this. Trance is super negative on block and can easily be punished with a f21. Using ex fan in most circumstances in this matchup wastes precious meter that you might need in a rune trap situation
You're right, my bad. Shoutouts to me not knowing frame data :confused:
 

rev0lver

Come On Die Young
I still feel like these matchups need to be more solidified -

Freddy - 3-7 or 4-6?
Kabal - 3-7 or 4-6?
Cyrax - Difference with human and robot?
Cage - 6-4 or 5-5?
Liu Kang - 5-5 or 4-6?
Ermac - 5-5 or 4-6?
Mileena - 5-5 or 6-4?
Sonya - 5-5 or 4-6?

I would put in Reptile but that has been debated to death and just not worth it anymore lol

I also want to throw out there that I think Skarlet could be 6-4 in Kitana's favor but I know not many would agree.
 

xKhaoTik

The Ignore Button Is Free
I still feel like these matchups need to be more solidified -

Freddy - 3-7 or 4-6?
Kabal - 3-7 or 4-6?
Cyrax - Difference with human and robot?
Cage - 6-4 or 5-5?
Liu Kang - 5-5 or 4-6?
Ermac - 5-5 or 4-6?
Mileena - 5-5 or 6-4?
Sonya - 5-5 or 4-6?

I would put in Reptile but that has been debated to death and just not worth it anymore lol
IMO :
4-6 vs Freddy
4-6 vs Kabal
6-4 vs RoboRax. 5-5 with the black Guy
6-4 vs cage
Liu Kang vs kitana is still pretty undiscovered but on paper its 4-6 vs Kang
5-5 vs ermac
6-4 vs mileena
5-5 vs Sonya.

And I still think jax could be a bad MU
 

rev0lver

Come On Die Young
Here are my thoughts on it, all personal opinions

Freddy - obviously outzoned in this matchup, and any mistake when trying to get in can eat a ground spike and send you back fullscreen. nightmare stance nullifies all wakeup attempts by kitana and he can otherwise compete up close with her. 3-7

Kabal - iagb's are an obvious issue which typically gives him enough meter for a breaker by the time you close in on him. however, when kitana pushes him to the corner she can start playing her game on him and capitalize on his mistakes better than most others. 4-6

Cyrax - i've stated a lot about this matchup already, which i think is 5-5. kitana gets the zoning advantage, but properly spaced d4's by him prevent a normal footsies game and his touch of death factor makes him scary up close, where he gets a slight advantage. Cyblax I think is slightly better for him but not enough for a full number change imo, i just think it's worth a discussion.If I were to use decimals I would put this as maybe 5.5-4.5 vs robot and 5-5 vs human.

Cage - another case where kitana zones him out, but once he makes it in he prevents kitana from making any kind of mistake. her lack of an armored move is a problem here and d1'ing out of pressure can be risky with the f3 punish on block. 5-5

Liu Kang - Kitana gets outzoned here, which is the first problem. b3 can punish d1's and he wins up close in general. his advancing strings make jumping out of pressure an issue as well. fortunately though, he isn't so bad that you can't play footsies with him. 4-6

Ermac - I've been told that this is my own personal problem with the matchup, but I just don't see that. Ermac is just like Kenshi but sacrificing some of the better keep-away and lack of armor for better damage. This makes it a little easier than Kenshi, but still bad imo. 4-6

Mileena - Though this used to be considered in Mileena's favor, I don't think it's that way anymore. Mileena keeps Kitana out a little bit, but Kitana has better normals, better damage, and forces Mileena to take risks which us Kitana players love. 6-4

Sonya - While I think this MIGHT be 5-5 on a larger stage since you can lame it out more easily, Sonya's d4 ms is stupid in this matchup and a good Sonya player can kill anything Kitana tries up close. 4-6

Skarlet - Skarlet keeps Kitana out here, but it's not as scary as others. What Kitana gets here is the fear of the Skarlet player to take risks. Any time they decide to go for the overhead, they are putting half of their healthbar on the line, and their only option becomes sliding all day. It's somewhat similar to Mileena in this regard because she's forced to take occasional risks to get things done. 6-4

I don't see how Jax would be in his favor. Care to elaborate on it?
 

xKhaoTik

The Ignore Button Is Free
Its just my personal beef with jax lol. I seriously hate fighting him. But if we look at results, I don't think kit has more wins on jax.

I know she doesn't have to deal with the corner or f4 shenanigans, but I just feel like her wins outside and inside, but not by a margin. I would have it as 5.5-4.5 jax if we still did decimals. I also find jax harder to fight than cage. But again, this is just my personal beef.