Since 2012 I started to play MK competitively, investing time and money for travel. In fact, a lot of people did. As US players use to travel across the state, the EU players travel across Europe.
When MK9 started to get recognition, competitive Tekken players started to join the scene. The game from a time perspective looks primitive. The game has its issues, a lot of them, and some were/are considered bugs, that never got fixed. All these bugs have been listed here, so I wont list them again here again. Though as a fun fact, one has been left out: Cyrax had invisible bombs, that worked like his regular bombs, but they were something very rare to see.
Aside from these "issues' we all mentioned with time, the meta was evolving, growing. Tech's were found, one after another. I remember the time when @used4glue came up with the Cyber Subzero X ray trap. The great unlockables, perfect setups by @under the Mayo. Within two years, though the roster had no variation system, had so much content, one would require weeks to master. The "dash-block" movement became a huge part of neutral. Getting into the game, was almost as easy, as it is in MK11, but getting into the competitive level, even with Top tier like Kabal, Sonya, Cyrax required a lot from a player. From an execution standpoint to understanding the mechanics, that required really smart meter management. In fact, the bottom meter played a bigger part, than the life bar. Normals on block like d2 and some poke's were death.
Playing Kabal without heavy execution skills resulted in death as you would end up hitting Nomad Dash on block. Instant air gas blast had to be done really low, to be effective.
Cyrax's resets required strong characters spacing because the net had recovery and it meant death. So many tried - the Dominican brothers, DJT, Krazyie, Mustard. I remember when at EVO, there was the EU vs US challenge. That was the day when Mustard, the European unbeaten Cyrax loyalist decided to apply Cyrax's resets, cause he was against it for a long time. Applying successfully Cyrax's resets was not easy even for those who played him for months.
Shang Tsung had a strong, but tight frame trap, but as frame trap standalone did was not enough to actually win. Something, that WoudCawboy could agree upon.
Cyber Sub, standalone was mid-level but with the proper application of advanced techs he had, he could take out S Tier character
Skarlet, though considered as high, as S Tiers never really made a name for herself due to high execution. Very few managed to nail down her to a competitive level. That is something, that all-time loyalist and Skarlet master mind Eddy might say as well. Hey Eddy
@Eddy Wang
The character not only was execution heavy but required players to change styles, and understand her tools set to a really high degree.
At some point, near the end of the cycle, we had the "Toasty Boost" come into play, which also was a big part of the game, even though it was triggered randomly, it could shit the game. For that sole purpose combos with D2 were used. While doing, a player was already buffering the input to take the boost in case Dan would make his appreace.
The game was Dynamic, yet footsies had to be played. Anyone could get in, but taking a win against a skilled player was a challenge as there were no amenities. The bar to be a "strong" player was high.
Then we had MKX, again, most stuff were already mentioned by others. Though not many here had the opportunity and managed to play all two first titles to a competitive level, which required to really know the game to a much high degree. That group of players was able to see through MK11 in the first two weeks - they knew the meta, and character contact will not change - they werent very wrong. That said, I would also like to state for the record, that MK11 in terms of balance, is on top, and that is something that cannot be taken away.
though when I look at the three titles, one next to another, I see that design policy has changed with MK11: the amount amenites played a big part in the "balance" we have, but it also was the death sentence of what NRS managed to create with two previous titles.
I am not against lowering the bar. Crapcom is a good example. SF5 was a joke - I bought the digital edition, and coming from SF4 was hard, I had to slow down my inputs, cause the frame windows were so huge. I dropped the game in the first month, and never look back. I look at the game now, and I would be able to express myself how proud I am of what they manage to do. The game can be played at a "casual" level because the entry bar is low, but you dont have those amenities.
When focused on certain aspects of MK11, like the defensive options, pokes, d2, FB on block, meter auto re-gen, JK with crazy priority, the brain does a flip. During two previous titles, each had issues, but none had such nonsense. Sometimes, this is unbelievable how exploiting these elements can be hard to defend up against. Not to mention, that when you look logically at certain character designs, some moves properties dont make any sense. I could go on, and on, but most of you know the absurds MK11 holds. These issues or design concepts are beyond what we have seen before.
For most people, MK11 is stale, lacks combo creativity but there are deeper concerns within the design department and that is a bigger problem. I still play the game on regular basis, but mostly only offline. Due to these absurds, online is much less fun for me.
