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MK11 Kano Discussion

Vslayer

Juiced Moose On The Loose
Lead Moderator
Like I said on your Twitter post, if you're getting hatemail after winning with a low-tier character, you're doing something right.
it's pretty funny. Especially when they claim I spammed special moves when they were throwing Kitana's fans all match long.
 

lionheart21

Its Game Over, Man
Shoutouts to @Murderation76 for defending me on SaltFace's stream just now. I pooped all over him and then he proceeded to call Kano braindead.

I see you @Murderation76

Respect to joo my friend.
Kano? Braindead? In what possible way could Kano be viewed as a braindead character.

He's gotta put himself at risk for pretty much everything that he does. If it pays off, he can do a lot of damage, but if it doesn't, he's getting punished hard. He's been on my radar as a character that I wanna play due to his toolset, but I just gotta make the jump first. Yeah @Vslayer, you may have helped converted me to this character as well. Well, mainly @Circus did that in the first place but you can take some credit as well.
 
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Don't want to make a thread on this as it's pretty niche and probably wouldn't get a response regardless. To the point, is there a way to punish Baraka's 1,1,2 ~ Gutted? It's -18 on block but I've labbed this and nothing Kano has seems fast enough. Am I missing something here? Kano's F1 is too slow, F3 is too slow (lol), B3 is too slow and 2,2 doesn't have the range.

This seemingly makes Baraka a bad matchup for Kano as anything he ends in Gutted is safe and we all know you punish Chop Chop at the risk of getting clipped.

Edit: I'll leave this here to honor my stupidity. Gutted isn't the issue, 1,1,2 is with it's large push back and short punish window. The answer is flawless block U2 Baraka's 1,1,2 string. Have a brew on me boys.
 
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lionheart21

Its Game Over, Man
it's pretty funny. Especially when they claim I spammed special moves when they were throwing Kitana's fans all match long.
I had a similar experience last night while using Cage in KL. Not sure how to post an image of the conversation, but his message to me was:

"You are cancer. You play like you have never been with a women."

The guy was playing as Noob Saibot and mainly was throwing Spirit Balls for the match. He was wondering why I kept backing away the whole game and throwing Forceballs. Answer to that: if you are telegraphing that you are trying to do a raw teleport, I'm going to bait you out and punish you for it. Which is exactly what happened.

Also, if you're Noob Saibot and you're getting outspaced and outzoned by Johnny fucking Cage, AKA the guy whose forceballs whiff on a majority of the cast, Noob included, something is wrong.
 

Vslayer

Juiced Moose On The Loose
Lead Moderator
I had a similar experience last night while using Cage in KL. Not sure how to post an image of the conversation, but his message to me was:

"You are cancer. You play like you have never been with a women."

The guy was playing as Noob Saibot and mainly was throwing Spirit Balls for the match. He was wondering why I kept backing away the whole game and throwing Forceballs. Answer to that: if you are telegraphing that you are trying to do a raw teleport, I'm going to bait you out and punish you for it. Which is exactly what happened.

Also, if you're Noob Saibot and you're getting outspaced and outzoned by Johnny fucking Cage, AKA the guy whose forceballs whiff on a majority of the cast, Noob included, something is wrong.
lmao how do you play a game like you've never been with a woman? WTF XD Some weird people out there man. I hope you wrecked his shit.
 

Zer0_h0ur

XBL tag: South of Zero
What is the community's thoughts on the Jax matchup? I learned him a couple weeks ago, and play him stagger-heavy with lots of 1-2's and D12's into throw and the mid.
I use Jax to counter pick any time I play a Kano, bc I feel like as Noob, I don't know when the hell to poke and take my turn against Kano, meanwhile with Jax it seems my buttons seem to either beat Kano's or tech his throws.
Is this a known nightmare matchup? Even had a kano instantly switch his character when he saw me go to Jax.
 

craftycheese

I tried to throw a yo-yo away. It was impossible.
What is the community's thoughts on the Jax matchup? I learned him a couple weeks ago, and play him stagger-heavy with lots of 1-2's and D12's into throw and the mid.
I use Jax to counter pick any time I play a Kano, bc I feel like as Noob, I don't know when the hell to poke and take my turn against Kano, meanwhile with Jax it seems my buttons seem to either beat Kano's or tech his throws.
Is this a known nightmare matchup? Even had a kano instantly switch his character when he saw me go to Jax.
I don't feel like it's an unwinnable matchup against Jax, it's just a lot of work that Kano has to do to win. I think that Kano needs to keep him at around b3/f4 range, maybe a hair or 2 back. This way I can use one of those two buttons or even do rack off to maybe make Jax think about his pressure some. I know I don't want Jax in my face. He's a monster and I don't feel like Kano does well with constant pressure. I also feel like Jax has a far game than Kano and I cannot f3 under his gun, not sure about his amped arm projectile though. So ya, long story short, it will take a lot of work, but as long as we can keep Jax back at basically sweep range I think he has a shot. That's easier said than done. This matchup is in jax's favor.

Some things I think about when doing the match up based on just playing matches with probably terrible players in KL and not doing any sort of practice:
I do know that once I get a knockdown, I'm not afraid of jax's wakeups. F4 seems to usually go over u3, and I'll usually do be to catch the u2 (unless I do it way early). I'd rather you think that rolls are your only option so I can grab you.
I know I don't want Jax in my face, but if he's constantly pressuring me, I don't feel like I should be afraid to wakeup u2 or u3 him. I've been pretty successful whenever ive tried.
I also know there's a gap in the f21+3, 221+3, and f331+3 strings so if I would ever practice it, I could fb it and punish you. If I don't, I think I can either trade d1 or hit you with d1. Even though I love those strings and watching jax punch people in the head multiple times, I'm going to block high everytime and am just going to eat that low if you opt for it in those strings until I practice and find something better.
 

Circus

Part-Time Kano Hostage
What is the community's thoughts on the Jax matchup? I learned him a couple weeks ago, and play him stagger-heavy with lots of 1-2's and D12's into throw and the mid.
I use Jax to counter pick any time I play a Kano, bc I feel like as Noob, I don't know when the hell to poke and take my turn against Kano, meanwhile with Jax it seems my buttons seem to either beat Kano's or tech his throws.
Is this a known nightmare matchup? Even had a kano instantly switch his character when he saw me go to Jax.
It's definitely one of his worst matchups. His 9 frame mid makes it so Kano has to take more risks with D1xxKanoBall, and this risk is definitely not in his favor. Kano struggles hard against 9f mid pressure/staggers because he could never steal his turn back with D1. With no staggers as Kano, this means that once you do something and it doesn't work, your turn is over and your at your opponent's whim.

It's doable, but vs a good Jax, it's uphill for sure.
 
It's definitely one of his worst matchups. His 9 frame mid makes it so Kano has to take more risks with D1xxKanoBall, and this risk is definitely not in his favor. Kano struggles hard against 9f mid pressure/staggers because he could never steal his turn back with D1. With no staggers as Kano, this means that once you do something and it doesn't work, your turn is over and your at your opponent's whim.

It's doable, but vs a good Jax, it's uphill for sure.
This may sound like a stupid question but what are you doing when it's 'your turn' on Kano. Whenever I press a button, if it's not B1, 2 or 3 I get stuffed. People disrespect me left and right because my mids are shit and lead to virtually nothing. D1 Kanoball isn't the solution because 10% isn't scary enough to stop the disrespect and eat a full combo punish.

Also, I wish a could Jail D1 ~ S2 but the tight link is all but impossible for me online. I've tried watching Bio play but people respect him so much that he virtually does what he wants lol, that's not helpful for Kombat League.
 

Circus

Part-Time Kano Hostage
This may sound like a stupid question but what are you doing when it's 'your turn' on Kano. Whenever I press a button, if it's not B1, 2 or 3 I get stuffed. People disrespect me left and right because my mids are shit and lead to virtually nothing. D1 Kanoball isn't the solution because 10% isn't scary enough to stop the disrespect and eat a full combo punish.

Also, I wish a could Jail D1 ~ S2 but the tight link is all but impossible for me online. I've tried watching Bio play but people respect him so much that he virtually does what he wants lol, that's not helpful for Kombat League.
Amazing question tbh. It's not stupid at all.

The answer most of the time is D1.

I know you might be like "Wait... just D1? All these other characters have crazy mid pressure when it's their turn and Kano has only D1?!?!?"

Yes, Kano sucks lol.
It works though, and while it's not as good as the majority of options other characters have, it's better than many might think.

The reason why higher level Kano players are able to get their opponents to not press a button long enough to command grab or not mash out of all his highs is because the Kano players constantly introduce the threat of his D1. His D1 is a risky mixup between D1xxKanoBall and D1xxLumbar. If you get them to fear either option, you get them to not press a button after you D1 them on block. This means that after a blocked D1 you could go for 241+3, F4, B4, or just flat out another D1 like an annoying asshole which just starts the whole D1-game again.

After enough D1s immediately when it's your turn, your opponent will expect it so you could just flat out go for Lumbar, 241+3, B4, or F4 without even going for the initial D1.

Embarrassingly enough, D1 ends up being Kano's best move. Only once a Kano player realizes this sad fact does he/she really start maximizing the character up close.
 
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KMK55

Noob
I think we do not talk about his jump game enough. I play dirt bag so its a bit better with vege. Even a neutral jump into kano ball when they are planning on punishing your landing is quite strong. Once they sick of getting balled a deep jk can get f4 f2 or throw can be quite good
 
Amazing question tbh. It's not stupid at all.

The answer most of the time is D1.

I know you might be like "Wait... just D1? All these other characters have crazy mid pressure when it's their turn and Kano has only D1?!?!?"

Yes, Kano sucks lol.
It works though, and while it's not as good as the majority of options other characters have, it's better than many might think.

The reason why higher level Kano players are able to get their opponents to not press a button long enough to command grab or not mash out of all his highs is because the Kano players constantly introduce the threat of his D1. His D1 is a risky mixup between D1xxKanoBall and D1xxLumbar. If you get them to fear either option, you get them to not press a button after you D1 them on block. This means that after a blocked D1 you could go for 241+3, F4, B4, or just flat out another D1 like an annoying asshole which just starts the whole D1-game again.

After enough D1s immediately when it's your turn, your opponent will expect it so you could just flat out go for Lumbar, 241+3, B4, or F4 without even going for the initial D1.

Embarrassingly enough, D1 ends up being Kano's best move. Only once a Kano player realizes this sad fact does he/she really start maximizing the character up close.
I appreciate the detailed and timely response! I guess my biggest flaw is constantly wanting to apply pressure when it's my turn and Kano's damage 'can' be pretty lackluster in comparison to other characters I play. I've had a fair few matches where it feels like 20-30% of damage on both sides is from D1s and honestly it just feels bad (bad technically, not necessarily scummy) and is awful to partake in making matches feel really long.

I guess a big part of that is conditioning but conditioning doesn't feel like a huge factor in First to 2 sets. Most people seem too centered around their own game plan to deviate and be conditioned lol. More practise required on my part for sure. Thanks again for the response, I shall work on my D1 game.
 

okhuskerfan

PSN: B1G-Husker
Amazing question tbh. It's not stupid at all.

The answer most of the time is D1.

I know you might be like "Wait... just D1? All these other characters have crazy mid pressure when it's their turn and Kano has only D1?!?!?"

Yes, Kano sucks lol.
It works though, and while it's not as good as the majority of options other characters have, it's better than many might think.

The reason why higher level Kano players are able to get their opponents to not press a button long enough to command grab or not mash out of all his highs is because the Kano players constantly introduce the threat of his D1. His D1 is a risky mixup between D1xxKanoBall and D1xxLumbar. If you get them to fear either option, you get them to not press a button after you D1 them on block. This means that after a blocked D1 you could go for 241+3, F4, B4, or just flat out another D1 like an annoying asshole which just starts the whole D1-game again.

After enough D1s immediately when it's your turn, your opponent will expect it so you could just flat out go for Lumbar, 241+3, B4, or F4 without even going for the initial D1.

Embarrassingly enough, D1 ends up being Kano's best move. Only once a Kano player realizes this sad fact does he/she really start maximizing the character up close.
Great response. "Embarrassingly enough, D1 ends up being Kano's best move. Only once a Kano player realizes this sad fact does he/she really start maximizing the character up close."

I keep trying to tell people this too. His best mid is a 7 frame poke, and luckily enough, leads to options that help get into the head of the opponent. It's what the devs dealt us, it's what we HAVE to use in order to be successful in many matchups.