Mortal Kombat (2011) Matchup Chart

[M2Dave]

Doesn't Reptile and Cyrax have more bad matchups than Kano and Kabal? I agree with your top 5 but I think Kabal needs to be there either in 4th or 5th...

Speaking of Kabal, what are his bad matchups?

To whom does Reptile lose? DLC excluded, he loses to nobody aside from Kung Lao perhaps. Anybody who thinks otherwise has some serious explaining to do. I think you can make the argument that Kung Lao and Reptile are in a tier by themselves at the moment. They are, however, not broken, but they do make the game less competitive in the sense that players have no reason to use anybody but them. When you use Sub Zero, Cyber Sub Zero, Nightwolf, and even Raiden, you usually have to work a little bit harder or you may deal with a couple of tough match ups.

I have no problem with Kabal being in the top 5. Michelangelo and OnlineTony bring the best out of Kabal, but I still think Kabal will end up losing to Kung Lao and Reptile. They should be able to punish the Tornado Slam and the Sawblade every time up close limiting Kabal's mix ups and wake up game. As far as Cyrax goes, you can still zone him albeit you have to be very careful while doing so. Cyrax also requires meter to escape pressure which is good because hopefully he will burn his meter before he has a chance to combo you to death.

There is no way Kano is top 5 material any more. He loses convincingly to Sub Zero, Nightwolf, Kung Lao, Cyber Sub Zero, and perhaps a couple of other S tier characters. Kano is a solid high mid tier character now. He has received a few unnecessary nerfs in my opinion.

Can someone link me to the nw discussion on here? I'm curious when and who and what?

I have read your post on MKU. I disagree about Raiden being Nightwolf's worst match up. Raiden's anti-aerial game and cross up defense is weak and Nightwolf can take advantage. From my experience, Nightwolf's toughest match ups are Kung Lao, Liu Kang, and Cyrax. I have yet to play THTB again to give an honest opinion about the Reptile match up.

 

[THTB]

Reptile loses to Kung Lao, Mileena and Liu Kang. Kang and Lao are 4-6s...Mileena right now feels 4-6, but IMO will eventually be a 3-7 or pretty close to it.

Reptile vs Kabal is 5-5. In fact, Kabal likely doesn't have a bad matchup. He just doesn't have favorable matchups everywhere.

Nightwolf will get worse matchups as people get used to him.

 

[Sektroll]

Reptile loses to Sektor

Can't spit or forceball at full screen otherwise iTU
Blocked elbow = 1,2,b1
Blocked EX elbow = uppercut him when he comes towards you from the back
Slide = b3,4 or run up 1,2,b1

Reptile has to play Gradius to get in on Sektor up and straight missiles

Only thing Reptile has going for him in the matchup is not having to be reliant on meter, i.e. having breakers often, and also being in the small hitbox category meaning Sektor has to perfectly space b3,4 in order to not eat a full combo from Reptile after the b+3 is blocked.
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Nightwolf - still not seeing what makes him so good, so I hope to play against a few good ones at Evo
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Mileena - her safe overhead is seeable on reaction and she has to commit to the ball after the low so she is not scary at all up close. d+3 and d+4 do next to zero damage so there is not a lot to worry about. Also, her damage output when she does land something is quite low most of the time.

 

[THTB]

I can't say too much on the Sektor matchup since I don't have much experience with it...but I was always under the impression it was even at worst. You have experience vs Reptiles out in Cali, though, I'm sure, so it would not surprise me any if you're 100% right.

 

[Robotic]

Reptile loses to Sektor

Can't spit or forceball at full screen otherwise iTU
Blocked elbow = 1,2,b1
Blocked EX elbow = uppercut him when he comes towards you from the back
Slide = b3,4 or run up 1,2,b1

Reptile has to play Gradius to get in on Sektor up and straight missiles

Only thing Reptile has going for him in the matchup is not having to be reliant on meter, i.e. having breakers often, and also being in the small hitbox category meaning Sektor has to perfectly space b3,4 in order to not eat a full combo from Reptile after the b+3 is blocked.
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Nightwolf - still not seeing what makes him so good, so I hope to play against a few good ones at Evo
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Mileena - her safe overhead is seeable on reaction and she has to commit to the ball after the low so she is not scarry at all up close. d+3 and d+4 do next to zero damage so there is not a lot to worry about. Also, her damage output when she does land something is quite low most of the time.

Thank you! Although M2Dave may make me eat my words on the 6-4 matchup in Sektor's favor once I play him...Remember M2, I like my words with a lot of salt...

 

[M2Dave]

Reptile loses to Kung Lao, Mileena and Liu Kang. Kang and Lao are 4-6s...Mileena right now feels 4-6, but IMO will eventually be a 3-7 or pretty close to it.

You would know better than I would, but I am not so sure about Liu Kang. You can slide under high fireballs at mid range like you would against Kano. Aerial fireballs have a great recovery, but timing them to hit standing opponents is not easy to do consistently. The low fireballs have the worst recovery and are the easiest to avoid, so they should not be a major issue. The reason I think it is 5:5 is because of Kang's bad defense. Reptile should always get at least 3,2,1~d,b+2 blocked to build some meter when Kang is grounded. We agreed that Reptile vs. Old Kano was 5:5 at Summer Slam. Kang's offense is better than Old Kano's was, but I would say that Old Kano's projectile game and defense are superior. If that match up was 5:5, I do not see how Reptile can lose to Kang.

I honestly very little about Mileena to comment.

 

[DanCock]

wow 4-6 rep vs mil. I thought rep vs mil was like facing kabal, , scarlet and liu Kang like a 5-5 match up. I guess I'm going to learn mileena now if dontay is saying it's borderline 3-7. that's what I need is a anti reptile character that I can zone some with.


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[THTB]

It's likely just online and me playing the matchup retarded...but Kang's low fireball does nothing but give me problems. It's different from Kano, because Kano only has knife, and I can slide under it. Kang has a low fireball alongside his 2 other fireballs, and the low fireball, in my experience, works well enough to keep him out.

About Mileena, all those points aside, it's hell to try and get in on her. The way Reptile has to play to get in, she nullifies heavily. Even from Reptile's best range, she's better. And it's not about the damage she can potentially do or how seeable her mixups are. She racks up damage by just keeping you out and her generic lows in combination with her tiny hitbox gives her some of the easiest times in keeping you from pressuring her.

 

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

Dave,

I understand why Kung, kang, and cyrax are tough, but I don't know if they are the worst matchups.

I have yet to face a good Lao I can't beat with nw but Kang is anlittle tougher, his b312 easily beats a shoulder and so does a low fireball. I have to be really carefull. Cyrax isman interesting choice. From a distance cyrax is not threatening. With reflect and eh reflect the net is not an issue. It is easy to punish bombs with shoulder or eh shoulder. Up close, with his reset anyone is screwed lol.

I feel raiden has the edge with his ability to keep nw out and nw lack of a good projectile and the punishability of his lightning.

Reptile is a hard matchup in my opinion. Reflect
Really doesn't help him with this matchup unless he needs health. But I'd say it's not much more
Than 5-5.

I will be playing atl redd and his Kang three days this week offline with pig. I will be able to comment more on that matchup soon.

 

[M2Dave]

Cyrax isman interesting choice. From a distance cyrax is not threatening. With reflect and eh reflect the net is not an issue. It is easy to punish bombs with shoulder or eh shoulder. Up close, with his reset anyone is screwed lol.

Cyrax is a threat from a distance because Nightwolf's projectile is mediocre. Cyrax can keep throwing bombs which cannot be reflected because they are unblockable forcing Nightwolf to be the first one to react. You can throw arrows and do lightnings full screen away. Just know when you get suck in the net, which will happen eventually as arrow and lightning are laggy, you are losing 60% of your life at least. Because of this ridiculous damage output, you cannot waste meter carelessly on ex shoulders. You need all the meter you can get for combo breakers. You already know the deal up close, so it does not have to be discussed. Nightwolf's best chance at victory is selective arrows, exceptional meter management, and smart pressure, so you do not get crossed up and put in a 50/50 mix up situation. Really, Raiden has nothing on Cyrax.

By the way, these Cyrax combos do not fit in. MK is not MvC3. I play against someone who can do 65%+ combos consistently and he tells me he keeps discovering more and more damaging variations. This is getting a little bit out of hand for my taste. Tom Brady needs to introduce a fair and balanced nerf to Cyrax's damage output after Evo. I think 50-55% with one bar is plausible. It is getting to the point where you can toss a net at any time you want and just hope for the best.

 

[Rathalos]

By the way, these Cyrax combos do not fit in. MK is not MvC3. I play against someone who can do 65%+ combos consistently and he tells me he keeps discovering more and more damaging variations. This is getting a little bit out of hand for my taste. Tom Brady needs to introduce a fair and balanced nerf to Cyrax's damage output after Evo. I think 50-55% with one bar is plausible. It is getting to the point where you can toss a net at any time you want and just hope for the best.

There's a big thread on the cyrax forum talking about his damage, he can get up to 90+ with his resets now. Apparently its going to get scaled down though.

 

[Peckapowa]

nwolf is not top 5 imo, wheres the mixups, slow strings

kabal has to be in top 5 id argue hes pretty close to #1 iafb great pressure abilities hes complete.

i dont think raiden is really that crazy, kind of random, slow strings though all overheads its hard to open people up with him

kang kitana sektor smoke even noob a bunch of chars i think are underrated
its still a little early to tell

 

[THTB]

Nightwolf does not have slow strings...f31 starts with an 11f attack, and his jab string is really solid as well.

 

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

I thnk there is more than one way to fight cyrax. Let's say I am quick on the dash and can get in with a reg shoulder after a bomb is fired. Now he is too close to throw out a bomb and a net will get punished. What does he do? Either applies jab pressure(d4 counters and sets up f3), or waits for me to apply pressure of some kind...that's all I need to do. I don't mind using an ek shoulder once and a while, as long as I have at least one meter I'll be able to breaker soon.

Night wolf is top 5 easy. Many people don't use him right. You can't jump on him due to axe and eh choke, you cant zone well unless at FULL screen because of shoulder threat, combos are 40% min no meter, punishers with meter approach 50%, free eh lightning mixups for a combo reset, and some of the safest and most unpunishable specials in the game.

You can't say he is lower than top 5...I say he goes far at evo.

 

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

ok i want to talk about nw and kang...it seems to be more of a 6-4 matchup for kang i believe. What can nw to do to stop a good kang?

 

[M2Dave]

ok i want to talk about nw and kang...it seems to be more of a 6-4 matchup for kang i believe. What can nw to do to stop a good kang?

I've had problems with Kang too. As you already know, you usually want to be in someone's face with Nightwolf, but it's wise to play Kang at mid range. You want to be at a range where shoulder is a threat and where you can reflect fireballs on reaction. Kang's b+3,1,2 and f+3 are superior to Nightwolf's f+3,1~d,f+1 in terms of mix ups., so I wouldn't use anything that leaves me at a disadvantage up close. Replace f+3,1~d,f+1 with f+3,1,2 because the latter appears to be 0 or +1 on block. Also use 1,2,2,1 to create some distance from Kang. The good news is Kang's defensive options are mediocre. You can cross him up with jumping punches all day making his wake up attacks whiff. Once you train the Kang player to sit still when grounded, proceed with the typical f+3 shenanigans. Also, if the Kang player is fireballing above your head full screen away, feel free to fireball back. The worst thing that could happen is you eat an enhanced dragon kick which is really a waste of meter for the Kang player unless he's winning.

It's a difficult match up, but I think Nightwolf can definitely win. I'll play the match up some more to see if I'm missing anything else.

By the way, for those of you who use Reptile, he can elbow dash under Kang's high fireball if you time it correctly.

 

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

One thing Atl red does that really messes with my game is dash as I cross him up. He dashes forward after a wifed b312 for a d3, if I jump and the d3 misses, he dashes again and as my jump lunch misses he gets a free b312 combo of choice.

It really is amazing. I never saw that before but dashing into d3 then dashing again beats the jump punch crossover. If I don't jump his dash cancels into another d3 or b312 and again I'm in trouble.

After many ass beatings, I figured out the only way to win is to zone the whe time, as he tries to bait a missed reflect, dash into it for a shoulder and then bait either the eh kick or punish with eh lightning into combo. That's his only effective offense. Nothing up close works for nw in this matchup.

I imagine most players do not know how to dash like atlred does so your right most of the time, but of you tried it on this guy it won't work.

Next topic, smoke.

 

[Shiizu]

On Jade vs Mileena:
I still don't think most people understand how Jade puts pressure. She doesn't glow through projectiles to outzone them with boomerangs or to get into the enemy's face and mix them up with highs and lows. Jade gets into mid-range and she STAYS at mid-range. Mileena doesn't have anything that threatens or prevents Jade from getting into her strongest position except for Telekick and roll, and both of those moves are a huge gamble (poor risk/reward for Mileena) and should really only be used to punish. If Mileena tries to get close to start her mix-ups, Jade can use her staff (b2, u3) on reaction to prevent her from getting in, or she can EX-glow on reaction to a jump-in. Mileena also needs to be careful with abusing d4, Jade can counter it with her overhead staff especially if the Mileena player likes throwing out consecutive d4s.

Jade doesn't open up her opponent's guards with highs/lows, she uses meter to turn the offense in her favor with EX-glow, and she burns meter to maintain that offensive pressure through boomerang wake ups, and mixing EX-glow into block strings. My opinion, this is in Jade's favor 6-4, although 5.5-4.5 might be more accurate maybe...

 

[shura30]

since a lot of matchups aren't populated i would suggest adding another column with average that should give an early and easy to read statistic (tried this offline with excel and did the trick)
keep at least 4-5 decimals in order to make the chart readable

 

[TheChad_87]

Does Kano still have all those 6:4 match-ups after the nerfs? I really don't get that feeling from him at all. He's nt my main, but he's one of those characters I dabble in and one of my playtest partners uses Cyber Sub against him constantly and I always have a hard time. Dive Kick can be done over Knives, and his Parry is a perfect counter to Up Ball. With both of those taken away, I'm not really sure what Kano's supposed to do in this match-up.
He still has good mix-up with low combo starters, and he's not likely to be hit with Ice Ball outside of a combo with Air Ball punishing that. But as long as Cyber Sub minds his Ps and Qs and doesn't play like an idiot, shouldn't this be more of a 5/5?

 

[crosstalk]

I main Kabal and wanted to share my opinion on some of the missing Kabal matchups.

Sonya - 6/4 - Kabal can either outzone her or easily rush her down. From the Sonyas I've played, they can't seem to respond to close range pressure. Perhaps Sonya has something, but I'm just not aware of it.
Smoke - 5/5 - Pretty even matchup IMO. Zoning Smoke can be tricky, as can rushing him down. I try to pressure Smoke players, but good Smoke players seem to parry.
Scorpion - 6/4 - It's easy to get in on Scorpion, and once you're up close, it doesn't really seem like he has much to counter you with.
Raiden - 5/5 - Getting in on Raiden can be tough sometimes, but once Kabal's in, Raiden can be locked down.
Mileena - 5/5 - I've played a couple good Mileenas and it seems to go back and forth. Even IMO.

Also, does a turtling Kabal beat Sub-Zero at the highest level? If the Kabal player can consistently do iAGB with saws, there doesn't seem to be much Sub-Zero can do. I probably just play too many crappy Sub-Zeros though.

 

[Konqrr]

I main Kabal and wanted to share my opinion on some of the missing Kabal matchups.

Sonya - 6/4 - Kabal can either outzone her or easily rush her down. From the Sonyas I've played, they can't seem to respond to close range pressure. Perhaps Sonya has something, but I'm just not aware of it.
Scorpion - 6/4 - It's easy to get in on Scorpion, and once you're up close, it doesn't really seem like he has much to counter you with.

Once Sonya and Scorpion have meter, you have to be careful on how you approach the up close pressure because of their armor moves. This especially goes for Scorpion because he can grab you from fullscreen throwing a random projectile or saw and hit you with 40-50%.

 

[Konqrr]

Kitana vs Noob match isn't 6-4 because your combo doesn't work on her... it's because 3/4 screen or closer she jumps over your shadow tackle and gets a free 45% combo.

This no longer works unless you are a jedi and jump over a shadow tackle preemptively. You can jump over the disabler and do this but that move is so slow, you have to be closer. Kitana gets a free d1 from blocking a shadow tackle from jump distance (ff~d1). This is very good for getting the first hit bonus.

Every time I play this match I feel that I always have the advantage. Playing from footsie range (jump distance). Noob won't want to throw shadow tackles because Kitana gets in for free with a dash in d1 that she can cancel to a cutter for pressure. If I read that you are going to do an up shadow I can do either :en Fan to BnB or just go for the f21 BnB. If you are watching for it, you can even react to the up shadow and punish it, but you have to be close enough.

Still 6-4 Kitana IMO

 

[PPJ]

personally i feel sektor vs liu kang is 4-6, kang has many ways to get in sektor's face and sektor doesn't really have a true "get off me" move

 

[TheChad_87]

Mileena - 5/5 - I've played a couple good Mileenas and it seems to go back and forth. Even IMO.

I've been playing a LOT of Cyrax, Jade, and Mileena. Pretty much every game for weeks has been one of those 3 on my end and I REALLY think Kabal may be one of her hardest match-ups. Trying to Zone is not the best idea as iAGB vs Sai isn't an advantageous trade. Kabal also has Groundsaw, making it difficult to counter the zoning with Ball Roll.
Mileena's Bite does take priority and knock Kabal out of a Nomad Dash, which has really been her saving grace for this one. I'm almost willing to call it a 7:3, but it may be a 6:4. I'm strongly against calling it a 5:5, though. I always feel like I'm in an uphill battle, and any mistake will usually cost me the match.

Looking through the chart, I pretty much agree with all the numbers listed for Mileena.

Sheeva - From playing the Mileena end more, I still think the Sheeva Match-up is 7:3 (Mileena). Sheeva just really struggles and Mileena's teeny-tiny hitbox isn't making it any easier for her.
Kitana - I tend to win most matches against Kitana, but that's because my offline sparring partner who uses Kitana doesn't utilize iAF as much as he could/should, so the quick recovery of Sai just dominates, and well, I don't really put much value in my online testing. I'm content to call this 5:5
Reptile - might even be a 7:3 in her favor, but I'm okay with 6:4 as well. It's DEFINITELY in her favor. I don't really feel threatened by Rep much at all in this match-up.
Scorpion - seems like 5:5. Mostly because, while he employs a riskier mix-up game, there's bigger reward there and his tele is a pretty big asset if Mileena tries to zone. His problem against her, though, is that, IMO, If he's being aggressive, he's obviously not playing defensively, which opens him up for Mileena's combos. Seems like this one REALLY comes down to player skill.
I don't have enough experience with her other match-ups yet, but hopefully, we can get some discussion going and fill out her section. I, in no way, am saying my input is correct and everyone else is wrong, I'd just really like to get some discussion going for this character.

TL;DR: Mileena Match-up info:
Mileena v Kabal: 4:6, maybe even 3:7
Mileena v Reptile: 7:3
Scorpion: 5:5
Sheeva: 7:3