MK1 Patch Notes

[NoCharge]

I've heard you actually can't use Kameos anymore.. Like they've been removed from the game How can this be true?

And I was thinking my R1 button was broken

 

[trufenix]

I figured it out, everybody whining about cyrax now mained Sareena or Stryker before. We see you cowards now.

 

[Felipe_Gewehr]

I figured it out, everybody whining about cyrax now mained Sareena or Stryker before. We see you cowards now.

Former Cyraka main now a proud Mileena Lao main, guilty as charged

 

[Blakfellow]

Lol nrs shot themselves in the foot again.. instead of thoughtfully balancing the game by maybe leaving a gap in raidens storm cell ,maybe slightly nerfing Baraka and raiden damage, increasing the cooldown for helicopter by 4-6 seconds and buffing the lesser used characters and kameos…..

I now see more kung lao kameos than I ever saw cyrax have.. congrats nrs.. but I mean what should we expect from them

 

[ShaolinGunFu]

I want the next patch to make it so that I win often, but other people lose often, and then my mirror matches are 6-4 in my favor.

 

[Rodney Quillz]

I want the next patch to make it so that I win often, but other people lose often, and then my mirror matches are 6-4 in my favor.

The funny fact about your post is it’s satire but also what players really want lol.

 

[M2Dave]

It's been a while since I completely disagreed with you haha.

I feel you, but what is there to disagree about if you examine early kameo statistics?

Below are two tournaments that happened in the last 12 hours.

In one of the tournaments above, Cyrax was used a total of one time by a Baraka player who later switched to Stryker. In the other, Cyrax was not used at all.

So a kameo that was used 85% of the time is now rarely used.

Feel about pre-patch Cyrax however you want to feel, but there is objectively a lack of balance here.

 

[ImpostorOak]

So, there's this issue I keep having where if I want an ex move soon after wakeup, but not as a wakeup, or soon after recovery but not as a reversal, it just gives me a regular special move. I'd like that fixed.

Also, can we not with these shop prices?

 

[Eji1700]

I feel you, but what is there to disagree about if you examine early kameo statistics?

Below are two tournaments that happened in the last 12 hours.

In one of the tournaments above, Cyrax was used a total of one time by a Baraka player who later switched to Stryker. In the other, Cyrax was not used at all.

So a kameo that was used 85% of the time is now rarely used.

Feel about pre-patch Cyrax however you want to feel, but there is objectively a lack of balance here.

This conversation feels circular.

Did cyrax need to be nerfed? Absolutely.

Did copter need to be nerfed that hard? Yeah probably. Cyrax as a one and done is not good balance either.

Should bomb/net get buffs to get some more cyrax use? Sure, if it looks like that's needed.

I don't know what powerlevel NRS is shooting for. It could be breaking everyone's legs to sub zero levels or trying to get people around johnny/kenshi/ashara levels. I'm sure to some extent they don't know/don't care (yeah their balance history isn't stellar but it's so odd it's hard to get a read on).

I do get saying "we can't just have cyrax be helicopter" and also not wanting to instantly try to buff bomb/net when net is a key part of a lot of interesting setups and bomb is one of those things that looks like it could easily break something if it's too good. This is on a character who already gets the unique feature of being able to combo off his forward throw with 2 bars, and your characters back throw in most cases.

I didn't expect them to magically fix everything in one patch. I agree it's extremely disappointing that there's basically no buffs, and no communication in an age where we've had that in plenty of other games. I'm hoping the next patch (probably omni man) brings some good stuff with it, and would prefer just a patch of buffs for kameo's/characters and maybe no nerfs or extremely minor ones.

For the reference I think lao might be in a healthy spot if you changed how the cd timer worked for using spin (as right now never using it is ideal), and then buffed up the cast to that. I also think that sareena is mostly fine except for the fact that single knife is kinda pointless. Let double knife rock mostly as is, fuck this "goes away on hit" stuff, lab your matchups.

That said, if lao is left mostly as is, then you NEED to look at things like kano ball, and his kit, in comparison. He doesn't off anything near as warping as the teleport, nor does he have a great reversal/combo tool like lao's spin, and hat is just flat out better in all respects. It's a low, can be combo'd off of, and has a faster cd. There's no reason that these moves should exist as is in the same game. Either the rest of kano's kit needs serious buffs, lao hat needs some nerfs, or ball needs some buffs. As it stands, things are clearly out of sync.

 

[Bulletz4Breakfast]

don’t think I’d say the move was gutted

I wouldn't say it was completely gutted it does still have the moves available to use but forward Chopper won't be used in competitive play and if it is it will be very situational.
You lose full Kameo, have 24 seconds of Regen delay, you lose ability to forward throw, ability to meat shield, lose ability to breaker and ability to use any of Cyrax's other assists for 1/3 the match.
I don't see any reason to use it when meter is this important and with the new Flawless Block they won't be building meter fast at all.

The meter building was insane – with some super moves combination some characters had way much more meter. We all remember what Millena was doing in MKX etc. By the time you manage to get to your opponent, he’d be already pissing on your offense having full stick.

Cyrax wasn't needed to address meter build. The very same patch addressed meter build with the upgraded flawless block completely holding meter buildup for the entire blockstring/frame trap sequence. So if they frame traped 3 strings with two forward Choppers in between and you flawless blocked the begining they have no meter, no chip. That's a very good change IMO
Why did they do multiple Nerfs to achieve the same thing?

The solution to lower-mid tiers shouldn’t be an assist. If you look at the TOPs, you will realize that they can be played without assists – kameos are addition. I hope, and believe, that NRS will buff low-mid tier with time. This is the only path that for me makes sense. Going after Kameos, not characters.

I agree the mid to bottom of roster needs minor buffs every 2months, I'm talking slight buffs not 20+ buffs and see where it goes at tourneys and game data. Then stop when they have better matchups in high level play vs S Tiers.
But I don't think anyone should trust NRS to do that in MK1. They have always done drastic changes up and down. They nerf 5 S-A+ Tiers leave 3-4 that become S and then over buff bottom and leave half the cast to rot. I'm talking MK9, MKX, MK11. I was around in every one and my characters got nerfed hard every time.

Now here the assessment will depend on the analysis. I could agree here with you but if you sit for a while and think about all the damage in certain scenarios (think of different ones on both sides) I can see reason to it. The best answer I see for this is to prevent matches from ending often (as quickly) with assist juggles. This change may allow the rounds to finish in diverse endings (like footsies, block string, throws etc). IMO too juggles ending in mid 48%-50-ish% damage with two assists at some point will be boring to watch, and will shrink the depth by maintaining strong focus on this tactics solely. But as I said, this is a thin ice, and really difficult to be certain here.

I think the high % is hype after they scale damage and the FGC pulls out unknown high damage in tournaments.
But I feel having only 5-8 characters be S Tier through the first year will make it stale. Who wants to watch Raiden, Johnny, Baraka, Kenshi, Ashrah every tournament. Then after nerf whoever replaced them.
Imagine Reptile, Nitara, and Sub becoming A+ and showing up in every tournament, that's Hype when a Reptile who is A+ beats a Godlike S Tier that's dominated every tournament. Buffs

NRS did terrible job in balancing characters in the past early in the game. As I said, fixing the problem with low-mid tier IMO shouldnt be via kameos. Not that I don’t like the idea, I do, but it is not valid anymore when you have TOP’s that don’t need Kameos to be where they are. Either all characters fall in to a spot where the assist is the answer to overcome certain discrepancies or we go with the idea that assist remains only an add-on.

I completely agree other than Assists being an add-on.
They are the main feature advertised and literally the only thing holding a good chunk of the roster above bottom tier.
Rain was bottom 5 according to Sonic until Rain/Cyrax. After nerf he claims mid tier at best.
I have zero faith in NRS when it comes to balance patches early on. It's after 6+ months that I think they may have a chance. Only reason I have faith is because of the several high level top players they have working for them that have a deep understanding of previous MK/Injustice games, what's broke, what's not, what makes a character great/lackluster. ForeverKing works for them and can't compete in majors of MK1 and I know he's dedicated to saying what's true about each character. He has no agenda since he isn't competing.
He is of the same mind as Dragon, Rewind and Sonic which is don't nerf every character that seems strong, slightly tone them down and then do minor buffs to the mid and lower.

 

[zerosebaz]

I want the next patch to make it so that I win often, but other people lose often, and then my mirror matches are 6-4 in my favor.

Ah, what a memory, the 6-4 mirrors. MK9 truly was something special.

 

[YagamiFire]

it is made for the casuals.

TBF every casual I know has dropped this game like a hot rock because it has no casual-content

 

[Rodney Quillz]

I wouldn't say it was completely gutted it does still have the moves available to use but forward Chopper won't be used in competitive play and if it is it will be very situational.
You lose full Kameo, have 24 seconds of Regen delay, you lose ability to forward throw, ability to meat shield, lose ability to breaker and ability to use any of Cyrax's other assists for 1/3 the match.
I don't see any reason to use it when meter is this important and with the new Flawless Block they won't be building meter fast at all.


Cyrax wasn't needed to address meter build. The very same patch addressed meter build with the upgraded flawless block completely holding meter buildup for the entire blockstring/frame trap sequence. So if they frame traped 3 strings with two forward Choppers in between and you flawless blocked the begining they have no meter, no chip. That's a very good change IMO
Why did they do multiple Nerfs to achieve the same thing?


I agree the mid to bottom of roster needs minor buffs every 2months, I'm talking slight buffs not 20+ buffs and see where it goes at tourneys and game data. Then stop when they have better matchups in high level play vs S Tiers.
But I don't think anyone should trust NRS to do that in MK1. They have always done drastic changes up and down. They nerf 5 S-A+ Tiers leave 3-4 that become S and then over buff bottom and leave half the cast to rot. I'm talking MK9, MKX, MK11. I was around in every one and my characters got nerfed hard every time.


I think the high % is hype after they scale damage and the FGC pulls out unknown high damage in tournaments.
But I feel having only 5-8 characters be S Tier through the first year will make it stale. Who wants to watch Raiden, Johnny, Baraka, Kenshi, Ashrah every tournament. Then after nerf whoever replaced them.
Imagine Reptile, Nitara, and Sub becoming A+ and showing up in every tournament, that's Hype when a Reptile who is A+ beats a Godlike S Tier that's dominated every tournament. Buffs


I completely agree other than Assists being an add-on.
They are the main feature advertised and literally the only thing holding a good chunk of the roster above bottom tier.
Rain was bottom 5 according to Sonic until Rain/Cyrax. After nerf he claims mid tier at best.
I have zero faith in NRS when it comes to balance patches early on. It's after 6+ months that I think they may have a chance. Only reason I have faith is because of the several high level top players they have working for them that have a deep understanding of previous MK/Injustice games, what's broke, what's not, what makes a character great/lackluster. ForeverKing works for them and can't compete in majors of MK1 and I know he's dedicated to saying what's true about each character. He has no agenda since he isn't competing.
He is of the same mind as Dragon, Rewind and Sonic which is don't nerf every character that seems strong, slightly tone them down and then do minor buffs to the mid and lower.

Again when it comes to nerfs alot of it is on NRS but the players share a lot of that burden, people were still asking for nerfs before the patch notes even dropped, they will continue to ask for nerfs because NRS will give them to them.

I remember a lot of MK9, X and 11 as well and remember a lot of “if I run into this character I just put the controller down” comments and “I won’t play this game again until a patch comes out” sentiments, people will face something difficult and won’t even try to lab how to beat it, especially if other players online are echoing the same sentiments.

I know this because I’m guilty of this myself I know the nerfs are coming so why bother even playing against these characters? In my mind this person is being carried and isn’t really beating me and when their character is nerfed they will suck again(which obviously isn’t true they will just jump to the next top tier) with that mindset you are basically just throwing the match altogether whilst probably complaining on the mic about it.

a lot of people felt the way they do about the current top tier about Smoke and Sereena on release and were asking for nerfs week ONE.

But guides came out to show us how to deal with Sereena, Smoke while a decent character was exposed as having a lot of gaps in his strings and being carried by bad internet.

If Johnny, Baraka, Cyrax and Raiden had been mediocre or went undiscovered it would have been smoke and Sereena getting these nerfs in this patch strictly based off the fact that casual players don’t want to blow up his gaps and wifi warriors running roughshod.

 

[Marinjuana]

I feel you, but what is there to disagree about if you examine early kameo statistics?

Below are two tournaments that happened in the last 12 hours.

In one of the tournaments above, Cyrax was used a total of one time by a Baraka player who later switched to Stryker. In the other, Cyrax was not used at all.

So a kameo that was used 85% of the time is now rarely used.

Feel about pre-patch Cyrax however you want to feel, but there is objectively a lack of balance here.

Not clear to me that the game version where people would use one Kameo 85% of the time is the more balanced version

 

[SaltShaker]

I feel you, but what is there to disagree about if you examine early kameo statistics?

Below are two tournaments that happened in the last 12 hours.

In one of the tournaments above, Cyrax was used a total of one time by a Baraka player who later switched to Stryker. In the other, Cyrax was not used at all.

So a kameo that was used 85% of the time is now rarely used.

Feel about pre-patch Cyrax however you want to feel, but there is objectively a lack of balance here.

Not clear to me that the game version where people would use one Kameo 85% of the time is the more balanced version

Beat me to it. I think there's an overreaction to the nerf which made a lot of people say "nah let me try Lao/Jax/Stryker/etc instead" that will normalize. Maybe he won't be the most popular Kameo anymore, but he won't be Shujinko either. Whereas you even say it right there, 85% on average matches really DID contain Cyrax, he was nonstop in almost all the high level gameplay, so much so that it was just "well if you want to maximize your character you need to pick Cyrax and he'll be high tier or top tier now". Even if they have to in the future buff Cyrax to a happy middle, it is much more balanced now without him singlehandedly dictating the entire meta game.

And the worst part of all, is the way that he dictated the meta was in the most boring, brainless, and streamlined way imaginable which is something I'd think you'd be highly against. Other than Ashrah, every other Top 10 character was best with Cyrax lol. That's the actual definition of "unbalanced" right there.

 

[Saltea Moonspell]

I think there's an overreaction to the nerf which made a lot of people say "nah let me try Lao/Jax/Stryker/etc instead" that will normalize.

Its not only overreaction - just look how people were building their entire game around that assist. Since it cannot be used as often game plan has to change. Now without the Mustard giving the safety flavor they gotta think more. So for now jumping to other known assists was easiest way to go around it. Cyrax was jumping in before you manage to say "Antidisestablishmentarianism".

If people adopted and mange to approve that Retard Darius, they will adopt and pick up Cyrax in no time. Speaking off Cyrax his self-destruct move in its current state is useless. If they change its properties, that it can be set while you are in motion and setup traps he will be more versatile.

 

[NoCharge]

Damn, cyrax cooldown is too big, needs cut a couple of seconds.

 

[Saltea Moonspell]

Damn, cyrax cooldown is too big, needs cut a couple of seconds.

Definitely you're right! we need to see him more often in the action! If this does not change, people might be requesting refunds!

 

[NoCharge]

Seriously though, the cooldown is too big. I havent noticed until now since many dropped him.

 

[M2Dave]

Not clear to me that the game version where people would use one Kameo 85% of the time is the more balanced version

Nobody claimed that the previous version was balanced.

Besides, what the patch apologists fail to realize is that half the roster will utilize Kung Lao as their kameo once the exploration phase comes to an end.

What kind of excuses are people you going to make when Kung Lao receives the Cyrax treatment?

 

[CrimsonShadow]

The Kung Lao low hat has a lot of utility, but I mind it less. For one, people actually need to think when they throw it out, otherwise they'll be getting armored through and blown up. It also covers a lot less area of the screen, and there's less of a window to capitalize on it because it actually needs to be timed (how many situations have you seen where the hat lands, but the followup doesn't combo?)

For people saying it's exactly the same as the Cyrax kameo was.. I'm not sure I agree.

 

[Eji1700]

Thinking about it a bit more, the cooldown thing really is going to be an awkward problem for NRS.

The example that really highlighted to me was someone sharing an easier sub/lao bnb that used spin. Looked great, reliable, and good damage. Tom quickly pointed out that it just doesn't work, because once you use spin, until your bar has FULLY recharged, you're dealing with spin cooldown, which destroy's sub's ability to be on offense and use hat.

So now you don't use this cool combo tool because it will interfere with the power of your much better hat. Nerfing hat down is probably not the way to go, as the problem with spin is really that they don't want it being a reversal that you can use every fucking knockdown, but probably do want you to use it in combos.

I wonder if the most elegant solution to this is maybe different cooldowns depending on a move hits or is whiffed/block. If you hit with it (so either a good read or mid combo) here's a lower cd. If you whiff it, get it blocked, yeah you're not getting the shorter cd. Earn you use.

This also might solve things like cyrax copter. Got some neat mid combo thing, go for it, want to just make your d1 give you free pressure, fine, you'll get it back next week.

 

[Bulletz4Breakfast]

remember a lot of MK9, X and 11 as well and remember a lot of “if I run into this character I just put the controller down” comments and “I won’t play this game again until a patch comes out” sentiments, people will face something difficult and won’t even try to lab how to beat it, especially if other players online are echoing the same sentiments.

I completely agree but my response to these type of players is they are not the in the right mindset to be Top 3 Placing Players it's Win or Learn. Most of the top players I've seen complain but the vast majority of customers are two week players then move on. The competitive scene is 5% or less of the initial purchasing base.

WB is the problem in my opinion, I know several at NRS are dedicated to making this game 10/10 eventually. They are definitely going to struggle but they have some very talented high level players working for them like Forever King. He can't compete in MK1 majors and is on tap to help give input on what's broke, what's not, and how to slightly adjust and not do repeats from MKX/MK11 balancing where a bottom tier gets 20+ Buffs that put them in A+/S or a strong but not broke character being put into Bottom or forgotten Tiers.

a lot of people felt the way they do about the current top tier about Smoke and Sereena on release and were asking for nerfs week ONE.

But guides came out to show us how to deal with Sereena, Smoke while a decent character was exposed as having a lot of gaps in his strings and being carried by bad internet.

If Johnny, Baraka, Cyrax and Raiden had been mediocre or went undiscovered it would have been smoke and Sereena getting these nerfs in this patch strictly based off the fact that casual players don’t want to blow up his gaps and wifi warriors running roughshod.

Again completely agree, there is that mindset, I just wish they had the Win or Learn mentality. But several OG pro's are giving feedback and they generally know what to do. They played in MK9 to current MK including Injustice 1/2. They know what was game breaking in those games and what bottom tiers lacked. They know how to form a new meta after large balance patches drop.

For example: Rewind, Dragon, Sonic, Xombat and Ninjakilla have all informed NRS to be careful with big nerfs and have a larger focus on buffing the rest that have issues dealing with S Tiers.

WB is going to need funding to allow NRS to continually put focus on balancing other than their initial sales. Things like the $10 fatality is hefty and I wish it was $5 but that's a source of profit. Eventually they may drop Tournament funding IGC like $5 skins to help raise Top 8 prize pools. As it is now Rewind placed 5th at ECT and made $350 that's half his plane ticket. Foxy and several others didn't even go because of this. We won't see the best at Majors if WB isn't funded IMO and I believe it will effect future balance.

I hope I'm wrong and they adjust nerf mistakes and buff the bottom tiers slightly while waiting months to see where it lands.

 

[The Hex Man]

Thinking about it a bit more, the cooldown thing really is going to be an awkward problem for NRS.

The example that really highlighted to me was someone sharing an easier sub/lao bnb that used spin. Looked great, reliable, and good damage. Tom quickly pointed out that it just doesn't work, because once you use spin, until your bar has FULLY recharged, you're dealing with spin cooldown, which destroy's sub's ability to be on offense and use hat.

So now you don't use this cool combo tool because it will interfere with the power of your much better hat. Nerfing hat down is probably not the way to go, as the problem with spin is really that they don't want it being a reversal that you can use every fucking knockdown, but probably do want you to use it in combos.

I wonder if the most elegant solution to this is maybe different cooldowns depending on a move hits or is whiffed/block. If you hit with it (so either a good read or mid combo) here's a lower cd. If you whiff it, get it blocked, yeah you're not getting the shorter cd. Earn you use.

This also might solve things like cyrax copter. Got some neat mid combo thing, go for it, want to just make your d1 give you free pressure, fine, you'll get it back next week.

Thinking about it a bit more, the cooldown thing really is going to be an awkward problem for NRS.

The example that really highlighted to me was someone sharing an easier sub/lao bnb that used spin. Looked great, reliable, and good damage. Tom quickly pointed out that it just doesn't work, because once you use spin, until your bar has FULLY recharged, you're dealing with spin cooldown, which destroy's sub's ability to be on offense and use hat.

So now you don't use this cool combo tool because it will interfere with the power of your much better hat. Nerfing hat down is probably not the way to go, as the problem with spin is really that they don't want it being a reversal that you can use every fucking knockdown, but probably do want you to use it in combos.

I wonder if the most elegant solution to this is maybe different cooldowns depending on a move hits or is whiffed/block. If you hit with it (so either a good read or mid combo) here's a lower cd. If you whiff it, get it blocked, yeah you're not getting the shorter cd. Earn you use.

This also might solve things like cyrax copter. Got some neat mid combo thing, go for it, want to just make your d1 give you free pressure, fine, you'll get it back next week.

I like the ideaa on those last 2 paragraphs seriously. I think that should be in the game from the jump as a regular gameplay mechanic. Good ideas Holmes.

 

[Juxtapose]

Isn't that basically what KI2013 is? There is a lot going on in that game and as fun as it is to watch, you got to know the game if you don't want to get blown up full screen for what seems to be no good reason

Honestly, I think there's a lot of people on TYM that should be playing Killer Instinct over Mortal Kombat.

I think there's an overreaction to the nerf...

That's often the case though. Not just for NetherRealm Studios games but for all games. People love their over-exaggeration and sensationalism, especially online. Something gets "nerfed," even if it's still good and absolutely viable, but people will drop it fast and hard because it now "sucks" and has been "ruined," etc.