Kitana vs Cage / Quan Chi

[aj1701]

I played the other day against a Cage that totally shut me down. I'd like some advice against this matchup, and I appologize if this is a noob question.

From long distance, his ball throw blocked me from fans / air fans. Also stopped me from trying to jump in. So trying to get in, at about medium range he'd SK. Usually I could just duck and d1 poke, but he'd catch me sometime with ex SK. Up close, I was also owned. There's a kick combo he'd keep doing, and if I did knock him down, SK or flip kick. And I'd be back to square one. I felt like I had no good options.

Also have seen a few more QC lately too. The only real difficulty I have with him is the stomp. The stomp can land right on me, or to either side (sometimes he's off the screen for a second if I was against the edge of the viewable area, not in the corner though). I know I'm supposed to be able to NJP it, but it never seems to work (yes, I'm playing online). I feel like I must be missing something obvious.

 

[DrDogg]

Against Cage, your iAF beats out all of his projectiles. Vary the height of your projectiles if need be, but you win that war. You also want him to use his meter on EX Shadow Kick. Cage with X-Ray is very hard to defend against, especially at close range.

When Cage gets in, you have to know exactly when you can attack. Wait for the string that ends with the overhead kick (he has one leg raised), then d+1 as soon as you block that. If you block an EX projectile standing, do not attack. If you block the knee into the backhand, if you're fast you can d+1 to stop his pressure, but if Cage is consistently beating you with a d+1 of his own, wait for him to finish the string, then insert a d+1.

Once you've knocked Cage down, try to bait out a Shadow Kick or Flip Kick. You get a f+2,1 off a blocked Shadow Kick, and if you bait the Flip Kick properly, you can catch Cage with a 2~fan while he's in the air. If you're too close for that, wait until Cage flips to the other side and catch him with a d+1~Cutter or 2~fan (depending on height).

Here are two matches against my local Cage player from our last tournament. The first I lose, the second I win. Should give you a good look at how I play the match-up.

 

[aj1701]

Sorry for the late response, work has been crazy. I watched the vids, great stuff. I'm going to have to study them more. As you said, it looks like IAF is key in this match. Guess I'll have to finally learn it