zHawken
Would you settle for me sausage?
Let me preface this by saying I am in no way a top player. Nothing I say should be taken as fact, and I'm more than willing to take criticism and be called out for giving wrong info, especially this early in the MK11 life cycle. I'm just a guy who's been around the fighting game block a few times and faced too many Noob mirrors where people think all they need is uppercut and throw. He has some of the better tools in the game, and I hope that this can inspire the legion of Noob players to get off on the right foot playing him, and more importantly, MK as a whole.
First of all, get every notion of potential buffs/nerfs out of your head right now. The game is still only a week out, and we have yet to optimize ANYTHING, let alone game plans against certain matchups. Whining that "OMG f2 nEeDs To Be A MiD tHiS cHaRaCtEr SuCkS" isn't going to help you the next time Shao Kahn's hammer connects with your chin due to your own mistakes. Play the character. Treat every time you get opened up as an opportunity to recognize you did something wrong, or just as importantly praise your opponent for doing something you didn't expect. Fun fact: good players do exist, and you aren't entitled to winning matches just because you think you're good. We earn those here, ladies and gents.
As for Noob himself, he seems to have many great options in the footsie/zoning department, meaning you don't have to keep them at max distance to get your groove on. For example B3 has god reach for a low, b2 is a nice safe advancing mid that leaves the opponent almost fullscreen, along with f4. But there's a catch. Many strings are safe, yes, but only when done at specific ranges, most of which starting from a high. In order to get what you want from Noob, you have to know how to manipulate your opponent to be where you want them to be, because as soon as they cross that tip b3 range into your face, crouching normals and b1 are your only saving grace as everything else is a high I.E. d2 KB bait. All in all, a great zoner, great space control character. You have to pick your moments though, as the wrong read can spell death for either player. We aren't putting anyone in the blender, so mind games are going to be the way to go. The pressure of our damage potential is enough to at least force your opponent to be on their A-game.
Neutral game is what's gonna separate the Noobs from the Scrubs, if you catch my drift. You want to keep your opponent full screen as long as possible, obviously, but otherwise the closest you want to be is just inside jump range so that you can hit b3xxbf1 on block and not worry about being punished. The closer someone gets to you, the more you should be thinking about up-clone to stuff the inevitable jump. A good player will know not to jump since you'll always be looking for it, but keeping someone grounded can be just as strong as keeping them away with this character. If they DO manage to get in, b1 1+3 is your best(only?) option as a "get off me" move, and is excellent to hit confirm into Tele for big dick damage.
I haven't said much about shadow tackle yet, and that's for a few reasons. Compared to shadow ball, there's almost no reason to use it anywhere closer than mid screen. Yes it's a mid compared to the high shadow ball, but unlike most projectiles you're locked in recovery until the clone disappears. It does have a rather high hitbox so it does a surprisingly decent job anti-airing at range but the negatives do not outweigh the positives for me. Also it should be noted that characters with fast advancing specials(SZ Slide, LK Flying Kick, etc.) go right through shadow tackle if it doesn't hit during their startup. Remember when I said you recover until the clone disappears? Well what if it DOESN'T disappear? Yeah. Feelsbadman.
Noob's combo game is INSANE, and is his main strength. 40% midscreen for 1 bar, +5 resets anywhere on the screen, and he shits damage in the corner. 113, 212, and b1 1+3 are going to be your main combo starters. Ideally, you'll want to avoid 212xxTeleport, as it gives less juggle options off of the tele but damage is damage and tele offers amazing positioning anywhere when combined with a restand, so don't be afraid to take what you can get. Much like MK9 Cyrax, we have access to restand enders with b1, 1+3xxShadow Ball. This makes wakeup options completely irrelevant, and leaves you at a crispy +5. Abuse that shit. I won't bother posting any combo paths, as there are some amazing dudes that have already done that in the sticky threads. If you haven't checked those already, they've done awesome work so far!
And that's... basically it. Noob isn't a very intensive character to learn, but your decision making process is what determines how successful you will be. Against heavy rushdown is where the real test comes in. All it takes is one wrong read and all of a sudden Liu Kang's got his nuts on your chest, you're in the corner and - BOOM - you're in the Flavortown blender before you have a chance to blink. It WILL take a lot of effort, but If you're someone who likes a more methodical approach to your matches instead of balls to the wall in your face buttons, then I believe Noob Saibot is your man. I apologize if this post rambles a bit, as I'm piecing this together from my phone at work. I just love this character, and I'm tired of seeing people go about him the "wrong" way. Cheers everyone, feedback always appreciated!
First of all, get every notion of potential buffs/nerfs out of your head right now. The game is still only a week out, and we have yet to optimize ANYTHING, let alone game plans against certain matchups. Whining that "OMG f2 nEeDs To Be A MiD tHiS cHaRaCtEr SuCkS" isn't going to help you the next time Shao Kahn's hammer connects with your chin due to your own mistakes. Play the character. Treat every time you get opened up as an opportunity to recognize you did something wrong, or just as importantly praise your opponent for doing something you didn't expect. Fun fact: good players do exist, and you aren't entitled to winning matches just because you think you're good. We earn those here, ladies and gents.
As for Noob himself, he seems to have many great options in the footsie/zoning department, meaning you don't have to keep them at max distance to get your groove on. For example B3 has god reach for a low, b2 is a nice safe advancing mid that leaves the opponent almost fullscreen, along with f4. But there's a catch. Many strings are safe, yes, but only when done at specific ranges, most of which starting from a high. In order to get what you want from Noob, you have to know how to manipulate your opponent to be where you want them to be, because as soon as they cross that tip b3 range into your face, crouching normals and b1 are your only saving grace as everything else is a high I.E. d2 KB bait. All in all, a great zoner, great space control character. You have to pick your moments though, as the wrong read can spell death for either player. We aren't putting anyone in the blender, so mind games are going to be the way to go. The pressure of our damage potential is enough to at least force your opponent to be on their A-game.
Neutral game is what's gonna separate the Noobs from the Scrubs, if you catch my drift. You want to keep your opponent full screen as long as possible, obviously, but otherwise the closest you want to be is just inside jump range so that you can hit b3xxbf1 on block and not worry about being punished. The closer someone gets to you, the more you should be thinking about up-clone to stuff the inevitable jump. A good player will know not to jump since you'll always be looking for it, but keeping someone grounded can be just as strong as keeping them away with this character. If they DO manage to get in, b1 1+3 is your best(only?) option as a "get off me" move, and is excellent to hit confirm into Tele for big dick damage.
I haven't said much about shadow tackle yet, and that's for a few reasons. Compared to shadow ball, there's almost no reason to use it anywhere closer than mid screen. Yes it's a mid compared to the high shadow ball, but unlike most projectiles you're locked in recovery until the clone disappears. It does have a rather high hitbox so it does a surprisingly decent job anti-airing at range but the negatives do not outweigh the positives for me. Also it should be noted that characters with fast advancing specials(SZ Slide, LK Flying Kick, etc.) go right through shadow tackle if it doesn't hit during their startup. Remember when I said you recover until the clone disappears? Well what if it DOESN'T disappear? Yeah. Feelsbadman.
Noob's combo game is INSANE, and is his main strength. 40% midscreen for 1 bar, +5 resets anywhere on the screen, and he shits damage in the corner. 113, 212, and b1 1+3 are going to be your main combo starters. Ideally, you'll want to avoid 212xxTeleport, as it gives less juggle options off of the tele but damage is damage and tele offers amazing positioning anywhere when combined with a restand, so don't be afraid to take what you can get. Much like MK9 Cyrax, we have access to restand enders with b1, 1+3xxShadow Ball. This makes wakeup options completely irrelevant, and leaves you at a crispy +5. Abuse that shit. I won't bother posting any combo paths, as there are some amazing dudes that have already done that in the sticky threads. If you haven't checked those already, they've done awesome work so far!
And that's... basically it. Noob isn't a very intensive character to learn, but your decision making process is what determines how successful you will be. Against heavy rushdown is where the real test comes in. All it takes is one wrong read and all of a sudden Liu Kang's got his nuts on your chest, you're in the corner and - BOOM - you're in the Flavortown blender before you have a chance to blink. It WILL take a lot of effort, but If you're someone who likes a more methodical approach to your matches instead of balls to the wall in your face buttons, then I believe Noob Saibot is your man. I apologize if this post rambles a bit, as I'm piecing this together from my phone at work. I just love this character, and I'm tired of seeing people go about him the "wrong" way. Cheers everyone, feedback always appreciated!
