My Kitana Match-Up Info
Based on the match ups I've had these are Kitana's Match ups in my opinion. I’ll go through some of the more difficult match ups first and work my way down.
Sonya: 3.5-6.5
Sony just has so many options and her zoning is some of the best in the game so if she plays the match up lame, it really screws Kitana over. It's hard for Kitana to get in and if you use square wave to get in Sony's recovery is so quick that she can punish Kitana for it. Once Kitana gets in she has some pressure but she will give up her turn a lot to a good Sonya player who then can really mess her up with her 50/50's that lead into big damage. Kitana's damage output is decent but not great so it's hard for her to even try to catch up once Sonya gets the lead.
JADE: 3.5-6.5
I am finding that Jade, Shang, and Sub tend to be some of Kitana’s hardest Match ups. She basically counters everything that Kitana Does. He glimmer stops kitana from being able to pressure so it’s important to predict it and punish her with a square wave right as she does it so she doesn’t feel comfortable doing it constantly. Her air projectiles are great and even if you block them they push you back, as does her d4. Kitana can try to advance with her b231 combo but it isn’t very fast and Jade can poke her out of it or uppercut her out of it if she knows the match up well. Highborn is more of a
4-6 in my opinion for this match up but it’s still very difficult because the psi is still a projectile. It’s mainly the dive kick that can help you get in on her.
Erron Black: 4-6
He has some of the best neutral control in the game which forces Kitana to try to advance at the right moment or zone, and he punishes her for zoning. Luckily she does have some options, one of which being switching it up with square waves when he tries to counter zone, this only works if you are close enough to do it before he can shoot you with it and it is a risk so you can get full combo punished if you are wrong or he predicts it. He definitely controls this game and it can be a hard match up but it is possible to win it. I think If you use Kitana’s Highborn variation it’s closer to a 4.5-5.5 though because the air psi goes behind Erron’s hitbox so he can’t counter zone it and you can punish him with the dive kick.
Scorpion: 4-6
I think that Kitana definitely has some options but her advancing moves are great with distance but they aren’t exactly quick so Scorpion can punish her with teleports a lot and her air hovering doesn’t work as much due to how risky Scorpions, nearly instant, teleport is. Again Kitana can win this but it’s a difficult fight.
Cassie: 4-6
Kitana struggles with Cassie’s Digital Soldier variation. The low shot really gives Kitana a hard time because she is more of a rush down character in this game so she has a hard time against good zoners. Kitana’s Highborn can help her in some zoning battles but it isn’t very good against Cassie because her recovery is so good that she can punish the psi and the teleport kick very well. If you get into a close up fight Kitana has to be careful but it’s a better fight then when she is trying to get in.
Shang Tsung: 4-6
So far this seems like a hard match up if the Tsung plays it correctly. If they force you to constantly chase him, which you kind of have to do due to his zoning being so amazingly good, then he punishes you over and over again. It all comes down to how good the Shang is with his footsies but if he knows what he’s doing it’s a very difficult. I think it’s closer to
4.5-5.5 if you use Highborn though. Her dive kick can punish him for trying to zone to much and it also gets her in and makes it a more fair fight so I would use this variation vs Shang.
Jacqui Briggs: 4-6
Jacqui’s pressure is just too good and Kitana isn’t very fast up close. Her d1 is 8 frames and though her d3 is 7 frames it’s not as plus on block so it’s not something to throw out too often. You want to try to zone Jacqui and get as much chip as possible and it’s very important to punish her superman punch whenever possible. Getting the krushing blow uppercut into a combo can win you the game but she does so much damage it doesn’t matter how far ahead you are she can come back in an instant, which is an ability Kitana does not have. This is match up is winnable but it’s a very difficult one.
Sub Zero: 4-6
I want to start by saying that if sub uses Dead of Winter I think this is closer to
5-5. Thin Ice however really makes this difficult for Kitana. The air axe can really cause issues with her ability to control her space and advance during certain openings and the slide makes her need to rush down Sub-Zero very frustrating. If he knows his spacing this match up is a tough one and it feels a lot like a Shang Match up with the exception that he will catch you in the combo using the projectiles while sub will do it with either his projectile or punishing your advance. The footsies are roughly the same for both characters though.
Geras : 4.5 - 5.5
He definitely wins the poke game but she has solid range on her pokes and she has advancing moves that can catch him if he mistimes his abilities. She also has the fan flutter in fan fare which can allow her to dodge some of his sand traps or bait them into a punish. He still has an advantage due to his damage output and the fact that his pressure can be hard for Kitana to get out of if the Geras knows the match up well.
Cetrion: 4.5-5.5
This one is a bit weird because Spring Cleaning is
4.5-5.5 but I think Force of Nature is
4-6. Force of nature just out zones Kitana so badly. It’s very hard for her to get in and then once she does it just takes once thing to force her to start all over again. She can try to use the Square wave to get in but it’s just so damn risky and it’s so hard to overcome. Spring cleaning is still in Cetrion’s favor due to her projects constantly pushing Kitana back but both Kitan and Cetrion do equal amounts of damage so with the Spring Cleaning variation you can make up for the chip you have taken once you get in.
Skarlet: 4.5-5.5
This match up is definitely winnable but it is difficult. Highborn can really help here if you want Skarlet to feel less secure about zoning but both variations have their perks. Skarlet controls the neutral in this match and she punishes Kitana from working her way in so you should play this by staying right outside of her neutral range and using projectiles off and on from there so she doesn’t feel safe just zoning constantly, from here you try to make your way in once you have programmed her to stop pressing buttons. It’s not an easy match up but it’s winnable for sure.
Liu Kang: 4.5-5.5
This match up definitely seems winnable but Liu Kang has a bit of an edge. He can win the zoning war and up close his stagger/mix up game can be hard for Kitana since her d1 is 8 frames and her 7 frame d3 doesn’t give you much advantage. Spacing is key in this and there is a good chance Kang is going to be dealing out a lot more damage than Kitana can which is another reason it’s difficult. It’s important to be aggressive in this match up and do you best to bait/whiff punish his f43.
Johnny Cage: 5.5-4.5
Kitana can do pretty well against Johnny especially since he has hitbox issues on female characters. I think if they fix those this match up would be
5-5. He zoning is on par and her fan flutter can be used to mix him up but she does have to be careful because his standing 1 is a fantastic anti air and can catch her along with his b2.
Kabal: 5-5
I haven’t played this match up a lot but it seems fairly even. Kabal’s safety makes it a bit difficult but Kitana can get around his projectiles and mix things up with her advancing combos and her fan flutter. It seems pretty even to me so far.
Baraka: 5-5
I think this is a pretty even match up. It’s important to play safer in this match up though because Baraka just eats your health bar. If you are going to take risk make sure they are planned out, controlled chaos isn’t a good strategy against Baraka because you will not win the life game. It’s important to zone when you can and do as much chip as possible but his zoning is a bit better than hers in my opinion so it’s better to zone enough to bate his projectile so you can jump over it for a combo.
Jax: 5-5
Jax can be a tough fight for Kitana even though it’s even. Since she doesn’t have the fastest pokes he out pokes her a lot and his constant pressure can be hard for her to deal with. It’s important to zone and do as much damage as possible to make up for once he gets in on you. It’s important to be patient and block Jax otherwise he will snowball and run away with the game. Grabs are your friend in this match up as well as baiting/whiff punishing with fan flutter. Also neutral jump attacks are a good way to punish his armored wake up.
Kung Lao: 5-5
Kung Lao’s dive kick and the hitbox that comes with it can be a problem for Kitana players. This is why you can’t play this match up as aggressively as you would some of the other characters. It’s more of a passive aggressive playstyle that wins this and if you can full punish his dive kicks after black always do it so the player is less inclined to just through them out. The dive kicks can really put a pin in a lot of Kitana’s advancing strategies if they are times right. Winning the poke game with Lao is especially important as well and make sure you don’t let him bully you with his…I think it’s the forward1. It’s the fast mid that he keeps using. Poke him after it’s blocked, don’t let him keep doing it.
Raiden: 5-5
Even though I think this match up is even you still have to be extremely careful against Raiden if he is using the Thunder Wave variation because his teleport can be devastating for Kitana because her most advancing combo b2,3,1 can’t be used to stagger past the b2. It forces you to finish the combo, which I hate, and it’s a great advancing combo but it’s not very fast so if he teleports he has all day to punish you once you start. Don’t use this combo unless you know you have the frames or Raiden will blow you up all day.
Noob Saibot: 5-5
I haven’t played a ton of noobs lately but from what I have played I can say that Noob reminds of of Raiden in the sense that I think this is an even match up but his move set is almost seems built to blow up Kitana if she makes any mistakes so be careful with this one. His teleport makes it harder for Kitana to control the air at all and her advancing moves can be halted by some of Noobs shadow combos so timing is even more important in this match up because if your timing is off you are going to eat 35-40%.
Shao Khan: 6-4
A good Shao Khan can be annoying for anyone but Kitana tends to do fine in this match up. She has a lot of range on her poke game and her Fan Flutter can really be annoying for Khan if he plays aggressively, which he seems to need to do a lot of the time. Kitana also wins the zoning game if Shao just has the spear so she can chip him away.
Frost: 6-4
While some character struggle in the neutral because Frost can control it pretty damn well, Kitana has options to get around it. Kitana can keep up with zoning and overall does similar damage to Frost but her combos tend to be easier to pull off than frosts in this match up. Frost has trouble if you control the air a lot of the time so just mix things up and control the space around her and it’s a hard match up for her.
Kollector: 6-4
Kollector has definitely got some tools and like Raiden, it’s important to be careful of his teleport, but I feel like Kitana wins this match up if you play it right. Kollectors command grab is a pain but if you add a decent amount of throws in your game, Kollector will feel less secure and block more which helps you maintain pressure. Something that’s important to watch out for with Kollector is his projectile because trading with him is not worth it due to him being able to take your hit, teleport behind you, and still combo you. Also his Uppercut is fantastic so be careful with your fan flutters.
D’Vorah: 6-4
I haven’t had the opportunity to play many D’Vorah’s but when I do it definitely seems like it’s in Kitan’s favor. She can put a lot of pressure on D’vorah up close and she can win the zoning game. Kitana’s air game is really good and can be effective but D’Vorah can also punish it really well with a couple of her moves. I would zone more and move in once the D’Vorah is more nervous about pressing buttons. D’Vorah has amazing range on her moves though so it’s important to not get caught in your b2,3,1 because I think she can win that trade with her F2,2.
Kotal Khan: 6.5-3.5
This seems like a fairly easy match up for Kitana mainly because she wins the zoning game and her advancing moves still reach Kotal’s preferred spacing. Also Kitana’s ability to control the air in this match up is difficult for Kotal due to his move set lacking answers for her fan flutter mix ups. I have played a few Kotal’s and it seems like they have to try very hard to even take a round off of you.
This is the complete Kitana Match Up sheet based on my experience so far so I hope this helps anyone looking forward to learning Kitana.
And as always, be good to each other.
