hi everyone. this is my first time on the tym forums. i'm a veteran in the fgc and have been playing fighting games competitively since mvc2. although i missed out on mk9 because of umvc3, mkx got me hyped and so far i'm enjoying this game.
anyways, kotal kahn is awesome.
he has great footsies and normals. his movement speed is also above average. he also does great damage and has good mix ups. the only problem i see so far is that he suffers against heavy zoners.
So what does kotal kahn do against zoning?
from more than half screen away, aside from duck/block and inch forward, kotal kahn can also (in no order):
1. x-ray
its fast, tracks from anywhere and has start up armor. the drawback is that it takes 3 meters. kotal is meter dependent, and almost always, its better to save it for another use. just having the option to x-ray the opponent from full screen will make them respect you more. you can chose to x-ray them if you want, but you don't need to.
2. duck and whiff anti air grab
most projectiles in the game hits high and have some recovery. use that recovery to build some meter.
3. (ex) sunbeam
it can be hard to get out without a set up, but the sunbeam forces a reaction from the opponent. if you shine it on them, they'll most likely try to get in and rush you down, if you shine in on yourself to heal and duck, they'll most likely try to close some space and also try to rush you down
4. sword shake
against slower projectiles, you can time a sword shake to interrupt the second projectile. so far, i find this mildly useful vs sub zero's ice clones. it destroys his ice clone and also causes an unblockable. i also find this move useful vs characters that likes to play footsies right out of your reach (right outside df+2 range).
5. ex sword shake
i'm still theory testing this move but i've botched it a few times due to input error and getting this non-ex version. however, i did get it working once vs a thrown ice clone. the theory is use the first hit (swing) to armor thru the projectile and use the quake to hit the recovery of the zoner.
6. ex sword toss.
sometimes, you just gotta toss it out and show them you have a decent projectile too. a decent projectile that gives you hefty frame advantage and hits mid.
against anything closer than midscreen, zoning shouldn't be too big of a problem. kotal's normals have huge reach (f+1, b+1, f+2 b+3,2) and also his ex sword specials can armor through most projectiles. you can also use his deceptively good air normals from that range.
