Kitana's Fan Cutter

[GamerBlake90]

First of all, let me make something clear: I am not, by any means, asking for a buff/nerf to anything like so many players seem to be. As a matter of fact, I'm interested in learning about Kitana's capablities for the competitive scene. This is simply a question I am posing to the Kitana experts. If there is a thread like this that already exists, I apologize for overlooking it.

I'm probably going to sound incredibly stupid by asking this, but it's something I need confirmed for the sake of my curiousity.

Basically, it's about Kitana's Fan Cutter (d + f + 2). Everytime I block it and try to retaliate, I usually eat a d1 into another Fan Cutter. Her pressure looks awfully similar to Kung Lao's string where you do 2 to 4 to Low Hat and can just keep it going.

Bear in mind, my experience against great Kitana players is based off online fights. The Fan Cutter may be unsafe offline, but I do not know. The window of opportunity to counter that attack looks almost nonexistent, which makes Kitana's pressure godlike.

So I therefore ask, is the Fan Cutter safe on block? Or can it be countered, and if so, what available options are there? Any constructive feedback would be deeply appreciated.

 

[Dark Kobra]

Yo Blake, Hows it going sir?? I believe that it is safe on block, but the second hit of the Cutter to my knowledge can be ducked, so can possibly retaliate with an uppercut or a fast special...... Not used her enough to go really indepth, but those are my thoughts!!!

 

[GamerBlake90]

Yo Blake, Hows it going sir?? I believe that it is safe on block, but the second hit of the Cutter to my knowledge can be ducked, so can possibly retaliate with an uppercut or a fast special...... Not used her enough to go really indepth, but those are my thoughts!!!

I'm doing great, and thanks for this knowledge! I didn't take into account that it might whiff if you simply duck it...like with Nightwolf's Shoulder Charge, LOL.

If anyone else has feedback, I'd like to hear it, please. I want to know how best I can go about battling against the Fan Cutter pressure.

 

[Sao87]

Most Kitana's will jump on you and then go for some block string into cutter. If you are standing while blocking the cutter is free, you have to block it. Her d1 after cutter is stuffing you because it is a 6 frame move with great range and priority so you would have to use something like d3 to maybe get under it but I don't like that the risk in this situation.

The good thing about cutter is that it whiffs over your head if you are crouch blocking which means if you are quick enough you can uppercut her for using cutter or at the very least stick a poke out and begin a block string during her cutter animation.

 

[Phantom]

Once you begin to simply duck cutter without blocking, it'll seem like everything opens up for you.
Pokes, uppercuts, cross-up jumps and possibly full combos depending on your character.

However, like every other punishable move with a relatively small punishment window...you'll have to perfect the timing.
Which is what our type of players do, so it should be nothing to you. Also, you can also interrupt EN/EX Cutter before the second pair of hits with a poke of your choice by ducking without blocking also. 2nd pair of hits are overheads so you if you fail to poke in-between and attempt to block afterwards, they'll still connect.

Oh yeah, all of this works online. A few players are finally starting to adapt to it blow it up on occasion now.

 

[GamerBlake90]

Thanks for all the input so far, guys. Keep giving it when you can.

Thing is, I block a lot, especially during long attack strings, so my current strengths aren't geared towards interrupting attacks at mid-string. I know there are some that can be interrupted, but I get so hesitant to low-poke my way out of stuff as I usually am a very defensive player. Sadly there are some characters that are able to turn this against me, trapping me in my own defense. I've got a lot of adjustment to do in order to be able to utilize similar tactics.

 

[Sao87]

Thanks for all the input so far, guys. Keep giving it when you can.

Thing is, I block a lot, especially during long attack strings, so my current strengths aren't geared towards interrupting attacks at mid-string. I know there are some that can be interrupted, but I get so hesitant to low-poke my way out of stuff as I usually am a very defensive player. Sadly there are some characters that are able to turn this against me, trapping me in my own defense. I've got a lot of adjustment to do in order to be able to utilize similar tactics.

You need to get more offline matches, at this point poking out of pressure and knowing when to is very important. Almost every character in the game has some type of good jail loop that will throw you off if you don't understand it. In this game low pokes = defense, they are really good for stopping pressure or keeping it going.

 

[DrDogg]

To add further detail to the discussion:

d+1~Cutter
- If you block the d+1, you can interrupt before the Cutter with a 6-7 frame attack (usually d+1 or d+3). You can also use most armor moves at this time, but the timing is very strict, depending on when the armor becomes active.
- Alternatively, you can crouch block the entire string, then punish Kitana with any 6-7 frame attack. When you crouch block the Cutter, Kitana is roughly -10 depending on when you release block.

JP, 2,1~Cutter
- Following the jump punch, crouch block, wait for the 2,1, then immediately punish with a 6-7 frame attack. If you wait, the Cutter pushes you back and punishment if far more difficult. In most cases, you're pushed back far enough that Kitana not only avoids punishment, but can d+1 before you can do much. You can jump out of the d+1 pressure here, but Kitana can then use anti-air options if the jump was predicted.
- If you're up for a bit of guessing, your best option here is to interrupt following the jump punch. A d+3 is generally best here, but if you guess wrong and Kitana goes for a throw or some other block string, you may be hit.

[JP] f+4,1~Cutter
- The 1 in the f+4,1 string is an overhead. However, the f+4 is a high attack that can be easily interrupt by almost any crouching attack.
- Block the optional jump punch, crouch under the f+4, stand block the 1 on reaction, then either interrupt before the Cutter (d+1 or d+3 in most cases) or crouch block under the Cutter then punish accordingly.

Basically, duck against Kitana and you don't have much to worry about. I don't play online though, so I can't tell you how these strats change in a variable environment.

 

[ZeroEffect]

I was actually wondering about this stuff myself. I knew you could duck the cutter after blocking D1, but then you just get d1ed repeatedly until you do something. In my case with Mileena, her D1 has zero range and can be out poked easily. So she needs to use d3. I can't seem to jump out at all during any of this though. At Summer Jam in my match with Crazy Dominican I got raped by all that nonsense until I was able to keep space.

Mileena has no armor unfortunately, and d1 stuffs her ball roll for some inexplicable reason. So I'm basically left throwing out d3 or jumping on a prayer. (Or negative edge kicks in and causes the Kitana player to do d1~ground fan giving me free rolls.) But this stuff helps to understand it better.

 

[DrDogg]

I was actually wondering about this stuff myself. I knew you could duck the cutter after blocking D1, but then you just get d1ed repeatedly until you do something. In my case with Mileena, her D1 has zero range and can be out poked easily. So she needs to use d3. I can't seem to jump out at all during any of this though. At Summer Jam in my match with Crazy Dominican I got raped by all that nonsense until I was able to keep space.

Mileena has no armor unfortunately, and d1 stuffs her ball roll for some inexplicable reason. So I'm basically left throwing out d3 or jumping on a prayer. (Or negative edge kicks in and causes the Kitana player to do d1~ground fan giving me free rolls.) But this stuff helps to understand it better.

I don't get much Mileena practice, but isn't her d+4 about the same as Sonya's? If so, your d+4 has equal to or more range than Kitana's d+1. If Kitana does d+1~Cutter, you should be able to interrupt with d+4 after a blocked d+1.

You should also take into account the fact that you may be releasing block too late. Kitana is at a fairly large disadvantage if you crouch block Cutter. If you're getting stuffed in this situation, try releasing block a little earlier. There are many instances in this game where the visual indication of block stun can be deceiving.

 

[16 Bit]

JP, 2,1~Cutter
- Following the jump punch, crouch block, wait for the 2,1, then immediately punish with a 6-7 frame attack. If you wait, the Cutter pushes you back and punishment if far more difficult. In most cases, you're pushed back far enough that Kitana not only avoids punishment, but can d+1 before you can do much. You can jump out of the d+1 pressure here, but Kitana can then use anti-air options if the jump was predicted.

- If you're up for a bit of guessing, your best option here is to interrupt following the jump punch. A d+3 is generally best here, but if you guess wrong and Kitana goes for a throw or some other block string, you may be hit.

We're testing this now and don't get it. It jails, you can't go into crouch block or interrupt. ??

 

[DrDogg]

We're testing this now and don't get it. It jails, you can't go into crouch block or interrupt. ??

You mean after the jump punch? You can, you just won't see the visual representation due to the fact that you're essentially fuzzy guarding. It's like when you fuzzy f+4,1~Cutter. It looks as if the opponent stand blocks the Cutter when they're actually crouching.

If that's not what you're referring to, please elaborate a bit on your query so I understand better.

 

[xkheretic]

Yeah, no way out of jp into 21 xx cutter other than take the hit and break it. To get out of d1 xx cutter pressure block the d1 and crouch (release block) under the cutter. Uppercut it or whatever. Same with d1 xx fan. My sparring partners have caught onto what to do now... Regardless.. Rush that shit down.

 

[DrDogg]

Yeah, no way out of jp into 21 xx cutter other than take the hit and break it. To get out of d1 xx cutter pressure block the d1 and crouch (release block) under the cutter. Uppercut it or whatever. Same with d1 xx fan. My sparring partners have caught onto what to do now... Regardless.. Rush that shit down.

I never said you can interrupt between JP and 2,1 given it's a normal block string. If that's what you got from my explanation then I must've worded it poorly. You can't interrupt ANY attacks after a JP if the opponent uses proper timing. If the JP is blocked low enough to the ground, you can't even duck under a throw attempt.

What I was trying to convey is that you can be risky and guess that the opponent's timing will be off so you can interrupt after the JP. That's why I said you have to guess. People get the timing off more often than you'd think, so I believe this is a viable option if you want to take the gamble. But again, that's why I said it's risky.

 

[Konqrr]

JP, 2,1~Cutter
- Following the jump punch, crouch block, wait for the 2,1, then immediately punish with a 6-7 frame attack.

You cannot punish or let go of block on a string after a JPS into cutter or you will be hit. There is no escape to it but to block because it jails you.

 

[DrDogg]

You cannot punish or let go of block on a string after a JPS into cutter or you will be hit. There is no escape to it but to block because it jails you.

I'm not referring to JP~Cutter. Following a blocked JP, 2,1, you can interrupt before the Cutter. The problem is that you need an attack with some range because 2,1 has a decent amount of push back.

 

[Konqrr]

I'm not referring to JP~Cutter. Following a blocked JP, 2,1, you can interrupt before the Cutter. The problem is that you need an attack with some range because 2,1 has a decent amount of push back.

Ah, I see. Makes sense. I use f41~Cutter anyways which you can't interrupt.

I also said "a string after a JPS into cutter" not JPS~Cutter.

 

[DrDogg]

Ah, I see. Makes sense. I use f41~Cutter anyways which you can't interrupt.

I also said "a string after a JPS into cutter" not JPS~Cutter.

You can interrupt JP, f+4,1~Cutter, but only if the JP is blocked relatively high. This might also be a timing issue causing it to not be a true block string, but either way it shouldn't happen often.

My main complaint with f+4,1~Cutter is that you can fuzzy guard the Cutter so it looks like the opponent is standing when they're really crouching, so you lose your adv without knowing it.

 

[Konqrr]

You can interrupt JP, f+4,1~Cutter, but only if the JP is blocked relatively high. This might also be a timing issue causing it to not be a true block string, but either way it shouldn't happen often.

My main complaint with f+4,1~Cutter is that you can fuzzy guard the Cutter so it looks like the opponent is standing when they're really crouching, so you lose your adv without knowing it.

How so? They are jailed standing even though they are ducking and they block both hits. You don't lose any advantage. If someone interrupts you when you do jp~f41~cutter then you are not doing it right, ie: not doing the "true block string"

 

[DrDogg]

How so? They are jailed standing even though they are ducking and they block both hits. You don't lose any advantage. If someone interrupts you when you do jp~f41~cutter then you are not doing it right, ie: not doing the "true block string"

That has not been my experience, but I have no one here to test it with at the moment. On multiple occasions, when JP, f+4,1~Cutter is blocked, my opponent fuzzy guards the Cutter but remain in a standing animation, and my d+1 is stuffed.