Hello all Long Time Lurker for over 5 years, read almost every thread and decided to make a Thread for once.
At first this patch made me have incredible salt and feel like only my character had faults and had a raw end of the patch. But its not true, every character shares same tools now, same barriers and same Problems.
What perfect time than the Latest Patch 10-4-2016 and what i am now understanding to be the Greatest Patch and Meta NRS has built in MKX.
Lets start off with i am Decent with almost everyone in the cast. not the best, but not the worst. somewhere in the middle. I have been useing the cast and analizing there strengths and weaknesses. it seems with universal changes Everyone has been molded into a middle ground like they said they where aiming at.
New Universal Tools
Since everyone has Double hitting armors they can't be armor broke easily, Everyone has this. then they gave them all Anti Airs which is great by the way and even working against the best JIP's in the game: Aliens JIP2 and Kotals JIP1. now AA's work with any move in the game, if you press them at the right time your hitbox gets bigger. and this is what i have come to understand. 1's D1's D2's they all work. if you have Sonya D2 or Ermac D4 us eit by all means, the better the Hitbox the better the AA! and then we all have new. Armor Launchers Gone. Double hitting armor's. Reduced Stamina, and increased Stamina Consumption. Defense Strengthened as a result, and Zoning buffed. so now we have this balance of the two worlds.
Restrictions in the game.
Before we used to have a lot we could do freely without restraint, Cancel pressure into more Cancel pressure and HTB's into HTB's and so on so forth. now we have limited Stamina, we can't do it if Stamina is not available. this is a great example of NRS changing Game Mechanics for the better and limiting what all characters in the game can do and a line that says thats to far! It goes way further than that, but if i was to get into that im afraid it could take many hours and much to reading for you all.
Tier Placement in the New Meta and why its not as relevant
i have been practicing with everyone in the cast, and i have to say. i don't think there is a such thing as Top Tier or Bottom tier. after this patch, and this new Meta, i really think everyone is awesome, and every Variation is awesome. everyone is worried about lost Armor or Lost Launchers. and really. i think it doesn't matter if its Universal. MOS Raiden, Goro, every and i mean everyone is great now. this meta Allows Zoning to be Relevant.
Because of the universal Restrictions characters stay in the same bracket more so now, NRS closed the Area for Gameplay and Dirt, and because of this Characters have to play in this what i cal A+/A Tier bracket. they all have Same Tools and same Gameplan, just with each characters unique Flare and Feel. which is what makes them great to play and be different!
I think everyone is in A+ to A Tier now. there are a few that is better than the rest like they have Plus frames into mixups and jailing moves, nothing broke anymore. just good normals. not too much Cancel pressure, HTB's gone. its a nice game. Kotal, Kano CT, HQT Predator, Necromancer Shinnok and mnay others including Unbreakable Sub Zero are very good now. and id say are close to the best.
UPDATE: Now that i have had much more time with the characters and the changes. i do feel there is gonna be Top Tiers(S Tiers) and even Bottom(buffmeplease tier's) but they are far less distance apart than they where Pre-Patch. The Top Tiers are very capable of being beat by our Mid and Bottom now! By that i mean a bootom tier character now will not be 7-3'ed by a top Tier character anymore i feel it will be more close to 6-4 like glaring weaknesses but not so much of an advantage that there is nothing you can do. It will still have a huge comeback factor and bottoms now will be able to overcome the odds of 6-4's against them.
Zoning Is Here
I know no one will believe this but Balanced is probably better than the other two now. all of them are relevant. but im a Zoner by heart and Balanced does it for me. That Plus EX Push helps him so much.
And the plain fact that Stamina had universal Nerf, AA's Where buffed, and Armored Launchers where removed and Characters have Double hitting armores. this game is Perfect. i know many hate the changes to thier character but i strongly suggest picking up a character you never dared to before. and see what im talking about. Ignor Armor being gone, and play the new style. Highs and Mids are so strong now. Stamina Limitations and Armor launchers being gone play a big role in this and help defense so much.
Placement
No character on this game is unusable and i really do not think any character is Superior to another anymore. there will be Bad MU's but the Variations work now. I am so glad they did this change, and i was mad at first. but i finally understand it and it is the Most Balanced MK ever made and i love it now.
Enjoy the rides guys and Girls! there are plenty of new styles to choose from, plenty of Variations to use, and plenty of game-plans that work now, Want to be a Zoner its perfect now, Be a rushdown its balanced now, be a space control or setup artist It's good now. Be a defensive player well the game supports defense and has slowed it down back and forth drastically and i like it. Before it felt like rushdown characters where oppressive and where rewarded for slamming a 50/50 on you and doing it over and over, when you pushed them back from you, they ran back up and did it again like they where flies that didn't go away. Well now Rushdown is rewarded with meter, and Defensive Game-play is rewarded with being able to steal opponents stamina, and also rewarded with opponents limitations with stamina and not having to worry about armored launchers.
What made Zoning Relevant
Obviously what im about to say is not the only reason Zoning is better but its what i think effected it the most. What made Zoning work was the 25% Stamina Drain, the 50% take away on hit while in run, and the Armored launchers being taken out. its melded this perfect mixture of Rushdown/Zoning Meta. Why this is important is:
Pre-patch Rushdown has always been rewarded for mashing impossible to react 50/50's and doing it over and over with stagger pressure, cancel pressure, or some other method of dirt to keep slapping mixups in your face with nothing to do but just sit there and take it meanwhile opponent gains meter and more power by the second. 10-4 Patch now Defense has a say about it, no they don't get rewarded with meter for defense unless they zone, but they get rewarded with opponets meter costing so much, and stopping there run adn the ability to steal half there stamina from the oppressor. This means defense styles can prosper in this game, when they steal rushdown stamina that player can not run in and follow up on previous pressure and it give a good chunk of time for the defensive player to collect and possibly capitalize on the moment. If Rushdown run's in all the time they put them selfs at risk of depleating so now they have to manage Stamina much more and that very much helps defense in this game prosper.
I noticed with Balanced and other zoners like (HQT) and Necromancer and even jacqui Full Auto. Kenshi used to miss Tele-Flurry(BF3 in balanced) and they could run in and full combo punish or at minimum they would Force Mixup. this was because Balanced 3-29 patch had over 40 frames of recovery which granted that type of punishment, well not now. Kenshi Balanced now has 20 Recovery frames on Tele-Flurry when they duck or he misses. Because of this plain fact: His opponet has to at least run in twice now and block, think to get in on your zoning if your good read well and place them well with perfect timing and good habbits and solid exicution. I can't even express how much i love this game now that we are in 10-4-2016 patch #ZoningRelevant and Rushdown now has to work there way in carefully now, and the balanced part of it is Zoning has to be on point with every read to keep them out. both are on there toes and its great and very hype. Now Neither of them have advantage over the other. at least not like 3-29-2016 Meta.
Conclusion
I know Tier lists will be developed later on because that is a natural thing in fighters, but I honestly believe you can not separate this cast from each-other very much, they all have the same strength or close to it, maybe there is a small handful that are below the rest and the latter, but all in all, Most Dirt has been removed and its all fair fun and competitive play from here on out!
Because its been cleaned up quite a bit and the parameters for what is allowed is shortened and that along with Everyone shares the same type of tools. It's the most balanced Version of MKX[L] we could ever get. I'm sure a few things might need be adjusted in the future but I'm relatively happy with the results. Maybe a few characters get slight adjustments to fit a little better and or slight tone downs. but I don't think anyone is really broken at this point. but only time can tell that.
Remember this is a very quick review of what I have come across so far, and I know its very early but I felt i should share my viewpoint with the masses with all of this salt going around recently. It has progressively gotten better the more I and all of my friends have slowly understanding the meta, and the greatest tip or advice i can give all of you is to experiment with other characters.
Only using your old main can keep you in this SALTY MINDSPACE that just makes it no fun and really hurts your ability to accept and adapt to the new changes that are great! Trust me i finally got out of it and when you use the other characters you will find what your characters lack or has been nerfed, all other lack and it has been a universal change across the roster with very few exceptions.
there are a small hand full that may have some broken tech but ill let others decide. (coughquancough)
Good Games and Happy Tech hunting.
Sincerely, D.R. Innuendo
