Opinion on Character Loyalty

[Tanya-Fan-28]

My favorite character is Kitana but I have been told I play way better with Cetrion.

 

[WhooFlungPoo]

For a while iv definitely been a Shang loyalist. old man shang and shang in general are really nostalgic for me from MK1. Loved him as a character in 9, and i really like his design in this game, asthetically and gameplay. many matches are extremely hard due to his slow nature but damn he is fun.

 

[LawAbidingCitizen]

For a while iv definitely been a Shang loyalist. old man shang and shang in general are really nostalgic for me from MK1. Loved him as a character in 9, and i really like his design in this game, asthetically and gameplay. many matches are extremely hard due to his slow nature but damn he is fun.

Fujin was found in the game files saying:
Fujin Wins for every voice announcer available in MK11

Figured I'd let you know since you are clearly a fujin fan

 

[Zer0_h0ur]

That's actually a damn good point. In the realm of MK11, when I used to hear "Kitana," I always thought of Semiij. When I hear "Shao Kahn," I think VideoGamezYo. Cetrion? Dragon. Jade? KitanaPrime. D'Vorah? Honeybee.

There's definitely something to say about being a loyalist when it comes to being in the public eye. It's like having a brand.

Also funny bc both Semiij and Honeybee became generic Cassie mains as soon as possible after the first major tourney or so

 

[Eddy Wang]

I'm a Skarlet loyalist and despite her tools in MK11 i usually stick with my character and play through it, but never the less, i do play other characters as well because i feel Skarlet is not a spot where i think an optimal use at the highest possible level would refrain you to use other characters unless its own choice.

What i mean, she has some uses, but the is limited to things she should be able to do but she can't due some issues, like the lack horizontal range on her U2 is one of those things. The very slow ass parry, the hitbox issue of 21 air borne who tends to whiff in the corner, the animations of B3 and b1 on hit at max range and the startup of B1.

It makes me think, NRS isn't a game that usually being loyal to a character won't pay off as much as it did in MK9 per say for many reasons.

The usual character loyalist these days happen to have a top tier character who is good at 90% of the matchup so there is no ever the need of switching. Other than character loyalist who rewards pays off for knowing their character that well are a dying breed in NRS games in general.

 

[Damaja325]

character loyalty kinda sucks. did me well in mkx but i can't really get into mk11 because the game without mileena just feels.... wrong. idk why i just can't push myself and enjoy the game without having my favorite character.

 

[WhooFlungPoo]

Fujin was found in the game files saying:
Fujin Wins for every voice announcer available in MK11

Figured I'd let you know since you are clearly a fujin fan

Dont crush my dreams

 

[JDE]

I like sticking to my characters because it usually makes me a stronger player in the long run. I like to have confidence, believe in my abilities, & my character. I also have more fun with games too especially when it's a character a I really enjoy. I don't counterpick unless I feel like I have a better chance in a match, but this is a rare occasion. Most of the time, I don't because even then I really don't like doing it. I learn another character when I feel like I've gotten to a point that I can play my main at any given time I want, but if I were to play in a set, you wouldn't ever see me using them. It's my main 100% because that's who I want to win with.

Wish more people would do that with their mains, but I also wish people would pick someone who makes them happy but then complain whenever they're not happy with them.

 

[Zer0_h0ur]

I honestly regret waiting until 2018 to buy mkx bc I would have loved to grind cyborg smoke. Dude was my character back in mk3. I'll prob be fifty by the time he in another game :'(

 

[Wigy]

I've been pretty consistent on cage and frost all this game but recently playing nightwolf mostly.

When you mostly play KL this game is very unforgiving to those character with the yolo mashing and jumping, I just found myself getting annoyed. Nightwolf it's like playing a completely different and more fun game. I obviously have those characters for the matchups they're great in but character loyalty is kinda hard when they change the way your character plays in this game.

Johnny I used to like cause if your footsies were down you always had a solid mid (mk9 mkx) now it's an uphill battle to enforce footsies as it's all highs and half have whiffing issues.

I'm more loyal to a character design but cage will always be my boi.

DISCLAIMER. Johnny is a really good character. I just always like a solid mid check. I'm not downplaying that's just an aspect of a character I like.

 

[LawAbidingCitizen]

Not gonna lie, I know how it comes off sometimes, but i don't feel Shang is "garbage". No character in this game is truly garbage, not even Raiden. However I felt the nerfs he got were completely unjustified, especially in the light of others characters getting seriously buffed when they didn't need it to that degree.

At least you are honest with yourself. I Mained Shang when he first came out and used him to make Elder God on KL and Tied for 3rd place on XB1 TYM tournament.
He wasn't really broke but he had some matchups where some characters couldn't make it through his zoning and with 3% on chip from Ground Skulls I see where people got mad. Its frustrating to play that MU for certain characters and I think that's why NRS toned his damage. At least they didn't do worse cuz I know they could have
I honestly just got board of zoning with him
I do feel the nerfs where a little unjustified and they should have only nerfed half the damage imo.

Story of my life as well. Cyrax was my main in MKX my favorite character by far and he got the nerf hammer unjustly. He had resets and that was fine to go but how they took it away neutered his comboabilty nearly completely. On top of that Sektor & Smoke shared moves with him so their nerfs effected him even though none of it was remotely broke on him.


I'm hoping Terminator V3 doesn't get nerfed. I feel there is plenty of counters and gaps in his strengths making him both strong and honest. They have done pretty good this time around only slightly adjusting characters which is a good thing imo

 

[WhooFlungPoo]

At least you are honest with yourself. I Mained Shang when he first came out and used him to make Elder God on KL and Tied for 3rd place on XB1 TYM tournament.
He wasn't really broke but he had some matchups where some characters couldn't make it through his zoning and with 3% on chip from Ground Skulls I see where people got mad. Its frustrating to play that MU for certain characters and I think that's why NRS toned his damage. At least they didn't do worse cuz I know they could have
I honestly just got board of zoning with him
I do feel the nerfs where a little unjustified and they should have only nerfed half the damage imo.

Story of my life as well. Cyrax was my main in MKX my favorite character by far and he got the nerf hammer unjustly. He had resets and that was fine to go but how they took it away neutered his comboabilty nearly completely. On top of that Sektor & Smoke shared moves with him so their nerfs effected him even though none of it was remotely broke on him.


I'm hoping Terminator V3 doesn't get nerfed. I feel there is plenty of counters and gaps in his strengths making him both strong and honest. They have done pretty good this time around only slightly adjusting characters which is a good thing imo

Curious where his gaps are, i've really not researched him at all beyond matches i've played. That D3 is completely broken though. That hitbox isn't eve close to fair lol.

 

[LawAbidingCitizen]

Curious where his gaps are, i've really not researched him at all beyond matches i've played. That D3 is completely broken though. That hitbox isn't eve close to fair lol.

• There are several OS's that counter his F3 mix,
• F32 his main launcher has a gap more than 10 frames.
• F34 has a gap can be poked.
• 212 can be FB on the overhead.
• F21+3 is -17 on first hit and the throw can be ducked and OS'd.
• B3 his fast 10f mid has short range for balance.
• B1 has to be canceled to be safe on block
• B2 his universal launcher that is heavily scaled is -9 on block.
• and many of his special moves have gaps when used on end of strings.

That's not counting his variation specific counters, gaps and wiffing issues vs liu Kang and small hurtboxes.


There is counterplay built into everything he has but his stuff is strong but carries Moderate risk. His anti WU setups and Restands And his Wavedashing make him very strong imo and make up for his weaknesses.

 

[WhooFlungPoo]

• There are several OS's that counter his F3 mix,
• F32 his main launcher has a gap more than 10 frames.
• F34 has a gap can be poked.
• 212 can be FB on the overhead.
• F21+3 is -17 on first hit and the throw can be ducked and OS'd.
• B3 his fast 10f mid has short range for balance.
• B1 has to be canceled to be safe on block
• B2 his universal launcher that is heavily scaled is -9 on block.
• and many of his special moves have gaps when used on end of strings.

That's not counting his variation specific counters, gaps and wiffing issues vs liu Kang and small hurtboxes.


There is counterplay built into everything he has but his stuff is strong but carries Moderate risk. His anti WU setups and Restands And his Wavedashing make him very strong imo and make up for his weaknesses.

Great info, thanks man!

 

[spidey300]

in a competitive setting for a lot of fighting games; character loyalty don't mean shit. I mean unless your favorite character happens to be top 3 then go on about your business.

 

[LawAbidingCitizen]

Great info, thanks man!

If this helps I also discovered an OS that beats one of Dark Fates mixes.
I call it "RM F3 OS" (Running Man OS)
There was one for his F3 mix but I found a way to also beat the cancel into Running Man 1(Mid Throw) using the U+2 Flawless Block input a tint bit early after the micro crouch FB.

This will help you a ton vs Dark Fate, Destroyer.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1184624731682529281

I also made a thread about the OS, just look in Terminator threads in search

 

[Lt. Boxy Angelman]

I've been a Noob guy since MK: Deception. At least in the sense that he's my favorite out of all the ninjas/fellas/everyone else except Ashrah.

I mained Cyrax in MK9, but played Bi-Han Sub at #2, and always had Noob in my pocket, because I have up until this game always been a walking character crisis and have played almost everyone (I wanted to play Kabal, but NDC's were not for me) .

I don't know if it's my love for his new/almost a sequel to Noob/Smoke redesign, or how long it took to get good at B1 and B3 shimmy shenanigans, or that the game is so drastically different from every other game that it makes it easier to just sit under one spooky tree, but I have been all Noob all the time since right after the Kombat League seasons started.

My problem now is that I refuse to accept that Seeing Double is better than Dark Sabbath. It has caused a schism in my mind that will surely drive me mad.

 

[LawAbidingCitizen]

in a competitive setting for a lot of fighting games; character loyalty don't mean shit. I mean unless your favorite character happens to be top 3 then go on about your business.

I think character loyalty is a good thing and can be beneficial if you find ways to make them work and lab them extensively.
VideoGamezYo (Shao Kahn)
Dragon (Cetrion was called trash in the first month lol)
Foxy (Everyone said Lao was bottom tier)
Furious pillow/Azeez (Top 16 placement with Kotal prepatch)
Are all great examples since all of their mains where widely considered trash at the start of this game and they found ways to make them work despite other characters being objectively better in many areas (Except Cetrion)

But I'd say half the cast requires pockets for the most part.

I've been a Noob guy since MK: Deception. At least in the sense that he's my favorite out of all the ninjas/fellas/everyone else except Ashrah.

I mained Cyrax in MK9, but played Bi-Han Sub at #2, and always had Noob in my pocket, because I have up until this game always been a walking character crisis and have played almost everyone (I wanted to play Kabal, but NDC's were not for me) .

I don't know if it's my love for his new/almost a sequel to Noob/Smoke redesign, or how long it took to get good at B1 and B3 shimmy shenanigans, or that the game is so drastically different from every other game that it makes it easier to just sit under one spooky tree, but I have been all Noob all the time since right after the Kombat League seasons started.

My problem now is that I refuse to accept that Seeing Double is better than Dark Sabbath. It has caused a schism in my mind that will surely drive me mad.

Cyrax is my true main. The rest are just placeholder till Lk-4D4 makes an appearance in MK11.
I think everyone has characters they consider their main. I was simply telling those who are maining character they feel are unviable that they should only main characters that

1. They have a passion for
2. They enjoy
3. Have Tools that fill in flaws of their playstyle.

 

[spidey300]

I think character loyalty is a good thing and can be beneficial if you find ways to make them work and lab them extensively.
VideoGamezYo (Shao Kahn)
Dragon (Cetrion was called trash in the first month lol)
Foxy (Everyone said Lao was bottom tier)
Furious pillow/Azeez (Top 16 placement with Kotal prepatch)
Are all great examples since all of their mains where widely considered trash at the start of this game and they found ways to make them work despite other characters being objectively better in many areas (Except Cetrion)

But I'd say half the cast requires pockets for the most part.

yeah but most players usually don't want to do that if they're character feels difficult to use in certain matchups. that's just what happens when a player just as good has an objectively better character. those impressions were like first month impressions where a lot of people were wrong about a lot of things because of course it was the first month. and your pocket is either better matchup based or just a better character

 

[Zviko]

I'm loyal to nostalgia if that makes sense. So any OG you can think of from early games, I'll play more than any other, mostly ninjas though cause as a 6 year old I fell in love with them. I also thought Shang was a badass. You can see where I'm going with this...

Shang's V3. My favorite 7 ninjas and Shang Tsung all in 1 character, played by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. There's so much nostalgia in this one character, it's insane. Obviously this hasn't been Shang's thing till now and I'd prefer them as a separate characters but that's the only way to play with my favorite ninjas and Shang all at once. So yeah, all the ninjas, female as well, Liu Kang, Kung Lao are characters I will always play in any MK game. You'll never see me main a newer character unless it's something really special which hasn't happened yet. D'Vorah came close though.

Edit: I forgot to add, I have couple of rules.

1. They can't be a zoner. So I didn't play Shang till his V3 was added.
2. They can't be top tier. I don't know, I just don't like to play with top tier or cheap characters. I know I shouldn't care about this one or what people think of me if I do play with them but still, I just don't feel good about it. I'm still scared to take Scorpion's V3 online for this reason lol.

 

[Skylight1]

character loyalty kinda sucks. did me well in mkx but i can't really get into mk11 because the game without mileena just feels.... wrong. idk why i just can't push myself and enjoy the game without having my favorite character.

Because like you said you want to play the game with your FAVORITE character. Not some bastardized, watered down version of your favorite character i.e. Kitana given "Mournful" to try to appease the fact that Jade wasn't in MKX and then when we do get her in MK11, she's garbage.

 

[fr stack]

I've been a Noob guy since MK: Deception. At least in the sense that he's my favorite out of all the ninjas/fellas/everyone else except Ashrah.

I mained Cyrax in MK9, but played Bi-Han Sub at #2, and always had Noob in my pocket, because I have up until this game always been a walking character crisis and have played almost everyone (I wanted to play Kabal, but NDC's were not for me) .

I don't know if it's my love for his new/almost a sequel to Noob/Smoke redesign, or how long it took to get good at B1 and B3 shimmy shenanigans, or that the game is so drastically different from every other game that it makes it easier to just sit under one spooky tree, but I have been all Noob all the time since right after the Kombat League seasons started.

My problem now is that I refuse to accept that Seeing Double is better than Dark Sabbath. It has caused a schism in my mind that will surely drive me mad.

Use both equally i get bodied in some matches as seeing double likewise with dark sabbath, anyone that has a walk back style it has to be dark sabbath for me all three of seeing doubles projectiles are inneffective at half to full screen , but against rushdown you need poke into safe special . Lets not speak about the 3rd variation

 

[Lt. Boxy Angelman]

Use both equally i get bodied in some matches as seeing double likewise with dark sabbath, anyone that has a walk back style it has to be dark sabbath for me all three of seeing doubles projectiles are inneffective at half to full screen , but against rushdown you need poke into safe special . Lets not speak about the 3rd variation

I don't even know what it's called.

The day that variations are over (which I am almost certain will come after Year One is over), and Noob can have Telecombo, Slide, and Spirit Ball at the same time is the day you'll see him start taking real competitive scalps. Unless that happens, he's never winning a major on his own against the top tier. Characters like him, who are dependant on their builds because their base forms are so lacking, can't compete consistently against characters like Liu, or Geras, or Jacqui, etcetera, who are fundamentally designed to be good from their normals to their frames. To borrow from N*SYNC, God must've spent a little more time on them, because the split is becoming more obvious with every major. And when you're playing in what they've described as the "MK2 Style" simple and to the point meta, the aforementioned split between the Noobs and the Lius becomes painfully plain and vast. Nostalgia can't compete against Strike-Throw-KB.
But that's just me.

 

[xenogorgeous]

it's good to test waters ..... so, being a blind radical fanatic fanboy of any character is not good .... it limits your vision in the technical learning curve of the game ....

Mileena is my favourite MK character, but , since she is totally absent from MK11 and never will be on it, this gave me chance to watch closely others MK characters and so, happens to be a funny and cool experience tryin to play with others characters, to find their weakness and strenght regarding gameplay , so ..... while 100% character loyalty could seems noble for some, at the same time, is a pretty much limitation factor regarding the amusing point aspect of the game .... and the possibilities of total exploration of it

 

[MKF30]

I'll always stick with Raiden regardless of how bad he is, because hes Raiden one of my favs as well as Jade because of her zoney playstyle though once Fujin hits they'll be used a bit less.