Match-up Discussion Kung Lao Matchup Discussion Thread

[miloPKL]

I cant believe someone got zoned by Baraka using Kung Lao. Barakas normals are sloooooow, all you have to do it get in his face and he's dead LOL.

Instead of being a judgmental idiot, why not offer some of your expert insight into how to not get outzoned by Baraka? this guy admits hes not so great at fighting baraka, asking for help and you ridicule him. no one thinks that is cool. grow up.


about baraka, this is one way i deal with him. play a game of hat with baraka, keeping barely outside his chargestab range. you can bait the charge, or if baraka tries to spark your hat, you will have enough time to counter with dive kick. use EX ground hat as well, heres why: baraka may automatically spark on reaction to the hat, you can release the hat and hit baraka or try dive kick and release hat if baraka blocks. i try to keep outside of barakas range and make him come to me, carefully choosing when i 'snipe' in for a combo hope that helps

 

[ForeverKing]

I realize that there might be a matchup thread already in this forum, but the point of this thread is to discuss matchups to make the Matchup Chart as accurate as possible.

The Matchup Chart thread:
http://testyourmight.com/forum/showthread.php?3075-Mortal-Kombat-(2011)-Matchup-Chart

When you discuss or list what you think the matchups are, please do so in alphabetical order. Also, they should be listed in either whole numbers or .5 notations.

The current Matchup Chart for Kung Lao is as follows:
7-3 vs Baraka
5-5 vs Cyber Sub-Zero
5-5 vs Cyrax
6-4 vs Ermac
xxx vs Freddy Krueger
6-4 vs Jade
6-4 vs Jax
5-5 vs Johnny Cage
4-6 vs Kabal
6-4 vs Kano
xxx vs Kenshi
4-6 vs Kitana
6-4 vs Liu Kang
4-6 vs Mileena
7-3 vs Nightwolf
6-4 vs Noob Saibot
8-2 vs Quan Chi
5-5 vs Raiden
xxx vs Rain
6-4 vs Reptile
6-4 vs Scorpion
6-4 vs Sektor
7-3 vs Shang Tsung
8-2 vs Sheeva
8-2 vs Sindel
xxx vs Skarlet
5-5 vs Smoke
6-4 vs Sonya Blade
7-3 vs Stryker
6-4 vs Sub-Zero

Agree? Disagree? DISCUSS!

i disagree with alot of these. especially lao vs ermac, jade, and kano. kung lao KILLS those characters, the match-ups should be way more in lao's favor on those ones

 

[MKF30]

OMG, jade would get owned by KL....

 

[JacopeX]

Liu Kang Vs. Kung Lao should be 5-5

He has so many responses to his specials from mid to long distance.

Teleport and dive kicks can be punished with parry. Low Hat can be punished by Dragon Kick. Low fireball defeats Hat throw.

Close range, Liu Kang wins but in the air Kung Lao wins.

It 's pretty even.

 

[MKF30]

One match I rarely see is C. Sub vs. KL, how does that match up? I'd like to see more of that match up, his parry would help vastly I'd reckon yeah?

 

[RWDY Nori]

Liu Kang Vs. Kung Lao should be 5-5

He has so many responses to his specials from mid to long distance.

Teleport and dive kicks can be punished with parry. Low Hat can be punished by Dragon Kick. Low fireball defeats Hat throw.

Close range, Liu Kang wins but in the air Kung Lao wins.

It 's pretty even.

Watch PL vs Denzel's LK and you'll see why it's KL 6-4. KL can teleport but he doesn't have to attack. If you miss your parry, lights out. You can't outzone KL. Nobody can. KL has way better mixups up close, considering now that 241+2 is 100% safe, good luck getting him out of your face now. He doesn't need 24 abuse to win, 11 is a great pressure string

 

[Big Pampering]

.

Watch PL vs Denzel's LK and you'll see why it's KL 6-4. KL can teleport but he doesn't have to attack. If you miss your parry, lights out. You can't outzone KL. Nobody can. KL has way better mixups up close, considering now that 241+2 is 100% safe, good luck getting him out of your face now. He doesn't need 24 abuse to win, 11 is a great pressure string

Teleports can be uppercutted on reaction, ex version you just jump out, there is more than enough time for that. Kung lao can be zoned in post patch and instant air fireballs is something kung lao cant really do anything against at the right distance.

 

[Big Pampering]

zoni9ng

No one thinks that is impossible.
Problem is that Kung Lao has tons of weapons he can use against Cage that you are not listing. No way this matchup is 4-6.

like what? JC is the strongest character at close range, if you block you will eat block damage and take more than 10% damage on block and he builds meter, the only real thing KL had was his low hat which cant be used mindlessely anymore from far away. this matchup is 6-4 post patch, if JC gets in he will fuck lao up.

 

[CY MasterHavik]

Well KL vs. Jax is 5-5 now. Since the two main things he did that could rape Jax have been nerf.

 

[Ssj4Crisis_x]

Can anyone talk to me about the Match up of Jax vs Kung Lao? Like what tools could he possible use to stop or beat Kung Lao?

 

[gdf]

Ground pound works to get Kung Lao to start jumping, when he is in the air, you should probably do kick in grab. (Dive kicks and teleport don't do as much as I would want them to).
And that Dash Punch and EX Dash Punch really turns the table on pressure, especially if you make the Kung Lao used to being far away to get a lead.

 

[Peckapowa]

liu kang kl has to be 5-5 iafbs can actually knock out the teleport and kangs pressure game is dirty

 

[xenogorgeous]

liu kang kl has to be 5-5 iafbs can actually knock out the teleport and kangs pressure game is dirty

yep, heard that too .... that Liu Kang can give KL a run for the money.

Liu Kang's Parry it's good to bait/punish KL close game combo strings abuse ?

 

[Peckapowa]

liu kang can be spun in between his pressure ( like any1) so the kang has to stop and block sometimes, im not sure about parrying against kungs pressure but i can tell you ex parry is a lethal move in general, plus kang can punish teleport with down 1(this is safer) or standing 1 into back 312 b312 b31 bicycle or something

 

[MKR]

I am agree with Kung lao and sub-zero matchup. it's 4-6

 

[Tokiwartoothxdk]

i definatly feel 4-6 johnny cage maybe even 3-7 after how bad i got my butt kicked

 

[miloPKL]

jc v kl = 5/5 maybs 4/6 in KL favour, imo. use your zoning and you should be fine. play keepaway and be careful when you choose to snipe the target. good footsies necessary. JC's xray is only good for big damage comebacks. if you find yourself in a situation where JC has full meter, run some careful pressure and bait the xray - there goes all his meter and KL gets max damage punish. jc is best fought at a safe distance and its all about the bait and punish. remember JC loves to attack and pressure. kl can switch between rush and zone at the click of your fingers. so its important, like many matchups, you zone cage and force mistakes with carefully selected pressure. never jump on idle cage, he has shadow flip, and because of his standing 3 popup kick, jc can turn an anti air 1 into full punish. bait and punish, careful pressure, hope this helps

 

[G4S KT]

is there a general consensus as to who KL's worst match up is? The original chart of this thread seems WAYYY off

 

[Big Pampering]

is there a general consensus as to who KL's worst match up is? The original chart of this thread seems WAYYY off

Kitana 7-3
Sonya 6-4
Jax 6-4
Mileena 5-5
Sektor 6-4
Cage 6-4

cage and jax might be 5-5


its kitana followed up by sonya. Kitana keeps him out with fans, as long as she throws instant air sais she wont get punished hard by teleport 3' s (even though that is hard to do) and the hitbox+d1+d3+cutter and other normals do not allow kung lao half the stuff he can usually does. this was a 6-4 pre patch, the nerfs made it a bit worse.

Sonya is just a nightmare upclose for him and her rings are too fast for him to throw his hats out, Ex cartwheel makes him be careful with almost anything he does, she also punishes harder than him, d4 keeps him out.

Jax, Mileena both give him trouble because of their hitboxes. they can fuck up his teleports pretty easy, even though mileena doesnt punish it that bad compared to jax. his armor is a real nightmare for kung lao. he baits spin real easily, ex spin is a move that might surprise them a few times but thats it.

Kung lao has the original armor that was meant to be in this game and not a move that can be easily abused, shout outs to safe armor...

Last but not least Sektor, sektor gave kung lao trouble even before patch because he could punish the prepatch low hat on block with full combo. he keeps kung out pretty easily and his 6 frame moves is hard for kung lao to deal with. his hitbox is also a smaller than usual I believe, I have no matchup experience with this character with lao to be honest, but in theory I think it would be a 6-4 in sektors favor.

Just my opinion though

 

[ShanxterX]

imo
his worst matchups are:
kitana, sonya, jax, sektor and cage

sektor totally illiminate low hat up close, if you do it, you will eat a 40%, also lao cant zone him out since a good sektor can tele on reaction for FCP. lao has to play very careful and safe against him in order to win

 

[Death]

100% agreed with Shanx. Id say Sonya is his absolutely worst MU followed by Jax and Cage. Sektor is a bad MU as well but not as bad as those characters.

 

[A F0xy Grampa]

Kitana 7-3
Sonya 6-4
Jax 6-4
Mileena 5-5
Sektor 6-4
Cage 6-4

cage and jax might be 5-5


its kitana followed up by sonya. Kitana keeps him out with fans, as long as she throws instant air sais she wont get punished hard by teleport 3' s (even though that is hard to do) and the hitbox+d1+d3+cutter and other normals do not allow kung lao half the stuff he can usually does. this was a 6-4 pre patch, the nerfs made it a bit worse.

Sonya is just a nightmare upclose for him and her rings are too fast for him to throw his hats out, Ex cartwheel makes him be careful with almost anything he does, she also punishes harder than him, d4 keeps him out.

Jax, Mileena both give him trouble because of their hitboxes. they can fuck up his teleports pretty easy, even though mileena doesnt punish it that bad compared to jax. his armor is a real nightmare for kung lao. he baits spin real easily, ex spin is a move that might surprise them a few times but thats it.

Kung lao has the original armor that was meant to be in this game and not a move that can be easily abused, shout outs to safe armor...

Last but not least Sektor, sektor gave kung lao trouble even before patch because he could punish the prepatch low hat on block with full combo. he keeps kung out pretty easily and his 6 frame moves is hard for kung lao to deal with. his hitbox is also a smaller than usual I believe, I have no matchup experience with this character with lao to be honest, but in theory I think it would be a 6-4 in sektors favor.

Just my opinion though

KL beats Jax, no F4 for Jax, KL can get anywhere on the screen whenever he wants so GP isnt that much of a threat, KLs pressure isnt exactly supposed to be sustained like Cages, so he's likely to be hit by Jax armour. Jax doesnt bait the spin easily at all because KL has a 7 frame standing 2 which is quicker than all Jax standing normals and can interupt his strings. Definitely KLs favour

Sonya he can spin MS attacks and punish her 114 easily when crouch blocking. She generally will have a long time chasing him. Probably even

Kitana isnt 7-3, 6-4 is understandable.

Cage i'd say 5-5 cause KL has better footsies, using the spin is equal risk for the KL player as it is the Cage player.

I'll agree with Sektor being harder for him.

 

[Big Pampering]

KL beats Jax, no F4 for Jax, KL can get anywhere on the screen whenever he wants so GP isnt that much of a threat, KLs pressure isnt exactly supposed to be sustained like Cages, so he's likely to be hit by Jax armour. Jax doesnt bait the spin easily at all because KL has a 7 frame standing 2 which is quicker than all Jax standing normals and can interupt his strings. Definitely KLs favour

Sonya he can spin MS attacks and punish her 114 easily when crouch blocking. She generally will have a long time chasing him. Probably even

Kitana isnt 7-3, 6-4 is understandable.

Cage i'd say 5-5 cause KL has better footsies, using the spin is equal risk for the KL player as it is the Cage player.

I'll agree with Sektor being harder for him.

Jax can crouch block his standing 2, and baiting happens on wakeup.., and why no f4? please explain, actually explain how the whole matchup goes please..

Care to explain how kitana isnt at least 6.5?

 

[ShanxterX]

Jax can crouch block his standing 2, and baiting happens on wakeup.., and why no f4? please explain, actually explain how the whole matchup goes please..

Care to explain how kitana isnt at least 6.5?

i agree also that kitana isnt that horrible of matchup , certainly not 7/3. worsr case 6/4. You gotta be patient against her and not jump around like an idiot and you ll have a good chance, also the fact her wake up game is trash and that all you have to do is just duck or d4 all day works in lao s favor

 

[A F0xy Grampa]

Jax can crouch block his standing 2, and baiting happens on wakeup.., and why no f4? please explain, actually explain how the whole matchup goes please..

Care to explain how kitana isnt at least 6.5?

Its not about Jaxs hitbox going under standing 2. Its about KLs hitbox being too low for Jax unless he uses F4, if he uses F4 KL can interupt with a standing 21 into spin on block meaning you've taken away 1 of his most used strings.If you dont wanna 21 you can just spin as well, it doesnt matter because any variant of F4 can be punished on block or interupted

Any body can bait a spin from KL on wakeup, I'd rather be punished for a wrong spin by Jax than some1 like Cyrax or Rain.

There is a range where KL can trade projectiles with Jax, he doesnt have to fear GP because of his mobility.
KL punishes Jax harder than Jax punishes KL.The only place Jax could hurt KL significantly is the corner, but KL is hard to keep in one spot unless you're Cage

The midscreen footsie game is more in KLs favour too since he has lows, overheads, advancing safe moves and a teleport, all from outside the same range would play his footsie game other than dash punches and GPs.

Against Kitana KL has options that make her throw less fans, the D1 isnt really that big of a deal once he gets a knockdown he can chase her for days easily & it can also be punished with a spin if its in the right range.