Question Sektor - Looking for good players to tell me why he sucks

[iMLGzus]

Thought I might find you here Dai. (not that I'm creepin...) Must've got lost looking for the Noob forum lol... XD And yes everyone, according to Mr. Tom Brady, Lao's spin is losing 90% of pushback (and I'm not going to disagree with him, he knows his stuff), so easy mode punishing for all!

 

[SwiftTomHanks]

Hey, new to the forums! I've been working with Sektor for the past few weeks, trying to make him a solid 3rd character and have been running into a few issues.

While he does have a safe wake up option, it consumes a bar. This isn't all bad since Sektor can build meter faster than most characters at the rate he uses special moves. However, I don't even know of another character that has to use a meter to wake up safely. I guess there are some characters who do not have a wake up option; in this case I would say they suck.

By using a meter for wake up, Sektor players have less opportunities to use said meter for combos and breakers. Characters that do not need to use meter for combos or wake ups have a huge advantage in my opinion. I main Ermac, and you can play him using only breaker and do just fine. I feel like I'm at a huge disadvantage when using a meter to get up as well as create a worth while combo.

Concerning his range game... I think it's okay. Other characters however can start a combo off a projectile while Sektor is just looking for a single hit. The homing missile does add in an interesting mix up opportunity... yet here we are again, using a bar to gain something that other characters do not need to do.

In my opinion, Sektor is a good character (and very fun to play). His damage is high, his opportunities for combos are frequent, his mix ups are as good as anyone else, and he's rather safe if you're not stupid. Yet the frequent use of meter for things A-tier characters already have leave him in the B-tier.

 

[smalltalk]

Good point. Now if only we could get an "up-ball" type move for wake-ups. That would be sweet.

 

[Robotic]

You would think he would be good after he knocks the opponent down, but most of the time those other characters have viable wake-up maneuvers that will get you the fuck off. Also, try staying close to a good Kung Lao player and see how good your "vortex" game is. It is a nightmare.

Also, does the word "vortex" you are using equivalent to "mix-up game"?

Vortex is pretty much mixup game, close enough, though a previous comment summed it up better than I could.

As for Mr. Lao, he's a problem for pretty much every member of the cast and is of special interest to the NRS patch crew- He's like Sagat was in SF4 before Super came out in the sense that he's almost banned tier. Let's look at others for now...

With respect to the viable wake up options other characters have, couldn't that also be used against them? I'm away from the game as I'm typing this so I could be talking outta my ass, but here me out:

Opponent is knocked down. You can A. Stance 4 combo (or Stance 4 no combo so you can place the opponent right back in the mix up), B. Stance 3, 4 combo, C. Stance, cancel into forward dash, throw. D. Stance, cancel into forward dash after opponent is trained to watch for a throw, b3, 4 and finally E. Stance, cancel into back dash and punish a whiffed wake up.

Aren't all of these perfectly fine options on knock down? And let's say one get's this stance mixup game down to a tee, I think you could begin removing stance every once in a while and perform other options that may take a little longer to execute, but because the opponent is now trained to watch out for all the variables at your disposal, his reaction time to other things will be affected, thus creating even more options for you.

This, of course, is predicated on the fact that a knock down occurs at such distance that a vortex can begin for you. That brings us back to square one in regards to my concern with Sektor. Again, I could be hysterical with theory right now, so please feel free to pick apart.

 

[SwiftTomHanks]

Hey Robotic, those are all great options for when someone is on the ground! But while Sektor has so many different options at this point in time, there are a lot of characters out there with a wake up game that will beat all of them. Corpse camping in MK seems to be rather difficult due to a lot of the cast having a great wake up attack (some going into long combos... Lao, Mileena, Ermac). All a character really needs is a wake up game that makes the other player respect them and not even bother for mix ups after being knocked down.

I also take back what I said about having to use a meter to wake up safe - Mileena also has to, and I'm sure there are more. The next tournament I go to I think I'm going to risk it and bust out my more than $1 Sektor on people.

 

[Robotic]

Hey Robotic, those are all great options for when someone is on the ground! But while Sektor has so many different options at this point in time, there are a lot of characters out there with a wake up game that will beat all of them. Corpse camping in MK seems to be rather difficult due to a lot of the cast having a great wake up attack (some going into long combos... Lao, Mileena, Ermac). All a character really needs is a wake up game that makes the other player respect them and not even bother for mix ups after being knocked down.

I also take back what I said about having to use a meter to wake up safe - Mileena also has to, and I'm sure there are more. The next tournament I go to I think I'm going to risk it and bust out my more than $1 Sektor on people.

All Good points. "corpse camping", I never heard that before, hehehe. A successful wake up game needs constant exposure on the part of the aggresor, a hair trigger on the character waking up AND offline play to be consistent, though. Though I don't believe you can solve this in one round, if a Sektor player is vigilant with his vortex as well as his feints to cause the opponent to pull the trigger while you are either at a safe distance or blocking the wake up, you might be able to figure out if the other player is prone to just wake up attack all day or if his first instinct is to block. You can adjust accordingly from there.

All theory, though. I did try some of the stuff I previously mentioned online last night. I don't know if it's because the online play is sketchy, but I've had great success with the overhead, same with stance dash cancel into throw, some success with stance b3,4, success with saying fuck it, no stance just throw, and some with stance from just within sweep distance but not touching, back dash, block. Those options are all done at random to keep the enemy cussing, I mean, guessing. I should add that flame thrower from sweep distance when enemy is down works pretty well for those that want to roll out immediately - they either suffer the conflagration or block, but they are not fast enough to do it on reaction and end up far away enough that punishing the flame is not an option. DON'T DO THAT IF ENEMY HAS REACHED X-RAY.

Figuring out how to reliably punish a whiffed wake up attack would be imperative for the mixup to take hold. Ultimately, the fact that it takes this much game planning for Sektor where other characters can just jump in and rule without too much thought puts him in the B tier. Thank Chtulhu that I love B tiers, they are fun as all hell and satisfying to win with!

 

[Sektroll]

Regarding vortex

I like how creative you are getting with the wakeup options, so keep at it.

I have setups that I use where there is a 50/50 on wakeup, and it usually results in a bar lead since them guessing wrong = combo break. Unfortunately, it does not work like SF or another game that has no combo breakers, but a bar lead is just as huge. However, a lot of these setups involve giving up a significant amount of damage from your combo to make the up missile hit them meaty on wakeup, and most of the time I am not about giving up the damage.

Also, I see zero reason to EVER use his sweep. Why would you sweep into a guessing game when you could just b+3,4 at the same distance for guaranteed damage or at least chip with a guessing game after they block the 4?

Regarding the comment I read about how many of his moves leave him far from the opponent, that is ideal. Missiles of all kinds for pressure, and a very quick air teleport when they try to hang out far away and shoot back. The fact that his TU is a combo starter and able to be done in the air provides a lot of passive threat. Yes, I know it is very punishable on block, but you are doing it when reading a projectile, not just throwing it out (although I am guilty of throwing it out occasionally on a jump in to bait an uppercut/anti air and be an asshole).

Swifttom,
I see your concern about people with great wakeups, but it is really not that much of a concern unless you are talking about Kung Lao's spin, which is its own tier. Other wakeups can allow you to drop a meaty homing missile and/or jump directly above their head and watch to see what they do.

If nothing, continue with jump punch into pressure string or guessing game
If they did the invincible wakeup, it will prob miss you, but allow you to TU on reaction catching them in recovery across the screen.

Of course you have to know which ones this works against, but the options are there if you are willing to give up the combo damage to set that scenario up.

Me personally, I prefer to frustrate my opponent and then blow them up, so I will go for a jump kick, TU finisher then up missile or front up missile to see how they react and hit them accordingly. Missiles doing 2% chip on block make this kind of wake up worth it imo, and then they have to play Gradius and get back in.

I recorded some Nightwolf matches which were pretty funny, but have not uploaded them yet. Hitting up WNF tonight so wish me luck.

 

[Robotic]

Good stuff Unconkable.

Taking things back full circle, I think we've established that nobody thinks he sucks, he just has to work a little harder for his cheese than the upper echelon. The real issue for me was the trouble it may take for Sektor to knock down his opponent from the right distance to take advantage of it. If there are any ideas, please let me know!

Something of interest to me is how Sektor may be the character of choice for those that appreciate great character design, is looking for a character that is NOT top tier (I believe there are more of us out there than we realize) and is really fun to play to boot. Check the recipe: His design is the best, his moves and matches are nice to stare at, HE"S NOT LOW TIER, his fatalities are arguably the dopest in the game, his voice and sounds to his moves/hits are great (something small, but I've passed on characters who are just annoying to hear) and his alternate outfit is so drastically different from the original that it may throw someone off the first few times one selects it. That's the perfect recipe to have one helluva core following - and that following won't let him suck because they will be loud and in NRS's ear just in case we hear Sektor whispers here and there. OK, that may be a little too wishful, but it just appears that Sektor is a perfect storm for die hards, you know? I'll keep at it, looking for advantages and general gameplay tidbits here and there. Speaking of...

...Just a side note, I have found that back-to-back flame thrower if the first one lands will almost always guaranty the second one landing. Although this is not due to frame advantage, it IS because getting caught in the torch makes a player want to move away or towards, not block, not x-ray, not special, just move. Something about it I guess. If they do move, they'll get lit up. Something to consider if one doesn't abuse it.

Edit: I forgot to say good luck man!

 

[fleshmasher]

I love how his Leg Lift Stance tech-jumps lows. Winning a match by Leg Lifting over Jades low boomerang is priceless.
Also a lot of his stuff is hit-confirmable which makes teleupp much better.
And even though i have problems with pressure in combination with ducking, i really like Sektor (my second main)
He can dish out really good and looks superstylish.

A little question: Does the Leg Lift Stance protect you from throws too?

 

[SwiftTomHanks]

I'm not sure how all characters can return fire against a blocked flamethrower, but but Nightwolf and Reptile can use their dashes to punish. My sparing partner mains these two, so I'd like to think I know them in an out (when it comes to fighting against them). Pro tip against Nightwollf is to throw a missile out there that you know he/she wants to reflect or eat and then TU. I thought Nightwolf had a huge advantage against a ranged Sektor, but he really doesn't... just be careful with close range flamethrowers.

Jumping over characters works less and less as the days go by. Some characters with fast uppercuts can stuff you and almost all characters low 3 or 4 (depending on which one gets their hit box lower to the ground) will make any jump punches biff 100% of the time. Kung Lao gets lucky on being able to combo out of a jump over, which it seems like no one else can at the moment. Jump kicking like a fool seems to work with Sektor since it seems safer to jump kick in and he can hit confirm a TU afterwords.

I also now use no meter for combos and instead use my wakeup almost 100% of the time or breaker. His no meter combo damage is just as high as anyone else (save Smoke).

I'm starting to think there's a lot of unlocked potential here. I'd really like to see how he matches up with other characters at the professional level, but I only have one good sparring partner during the weekdays (I refuse the idea of serious online play). I'll record some of my matches for critique and hopefully give others some ideas.

Good luck at WNF Unconkable!

 

[Robotic]

Hey Unconkable,

I just found out you are Sektroll, the effin Sektor beast I saw online last night. Pleeeease tell me those matches were recorded! It was a blast to see a Sek Monster almost beat a guy taking advantage of a system irregularity (Kabal block infinite) and abusing it. What fun is that? With the chips stacked against you, you still almost pulled it off and had the whole stream rooting for the guy who was playing it really well and keeping it classy. Good stuff man.

 

[Sektroll]

Hey Unconkable,

I just found out you are Sektroll, the effin Sektor beast I saw online last night. Pleeeease tell me those matches were recorded! It was a blast to see a Sek Monster almost beat a guy taking advantage of a system irregularity (Kabal block infinite) and abusing it. What fun is that? With the chips stacked against you, you still almost pulled it off and had the whole stream rooting for the guy who was playing it really well and keeping it classy. Good stuff man.

Only the one stream match was recorded, but I had a ton of great matches and close ones at that.

Found out some new information regarding the second hit of the 1,2 string as well as his stance overhead that is pretty ridiculous, and I will go into both when I get time later on.

Glad I could do a little damage with Sektor and show people that he is pretty damn good. Hope to see some of you at RevaLAtions.

 

[Tim Static]

snip

good stuff bro. You should hit up [user]ZAQ[/user]. He's been using Sextoy since MK9 came out. He's good too. But congrats on last night. that was awesome.

You want us to change your TYM name to Sektroll? let us know.

 

[Robotic]

Regarding the Kabal matchup, I noticed he was blazing through the missiles with his ex run; can he also run through a normal flame?

 

[Sektroll]

good stuff bro. You should hit up [user]ZAQ[/user]. He's been using Sextoy since MK9 came out. He's good too. But congrats on last night. that was awesome.

You want us to change your TYM name to Sektroll? let us know.

Hey Tim Static,
Thanks, and I will def hit up ZAQ. Also, I sent you a PM

Robotic,
Yeah, I learned during that match that his ex dash goes through projectiles. Not sure about flames, but I will def test it soon and post up here with my findings.

Also, big thanks to MK9 Lead System Designer Paulo Garcia for the tweet:
"pakostevens Paulo Garcia
Big props to SEKTROLL for repping Sektor at #WNF. The odds on that matchup will be better even very soon."

It is awesome to know that NR watches the events and takes an active interest, so keep up the good work guys!

 

[smalltalk]

Wow, Sektroll single-handedly getting Sektor buffed? Is there any way I can get a look at these matches?

 

[Robotic]

Wow, Sektroll single-handedly getting Sektor buffed? Is there any way I can get a look at these matches?

In the "Who is Sektroll?" thread, Spongebob posted a link. Part 1 of 3, around the 1:50min mark is when the Unconkiness (Sektrolling?) begins. I don't know if he's in Part 3, but part 2 is mostly MvC3. Sorry I didn't link I don't know how.

 

[Robotic]

So, I think Unconkable just shut this thread down! Looking for good players to tell me why he sucks? He made his points, went out and played, came back with 2nd place and got beat by a system irregularity that will get handled by the patch crew.

In summation, Sektor seems solid. I'm going back in the lab to study.

 

[PPJ]

damn... good stuff!!!

 

[smalltalk]

In the "Who is Sektroll?" thread, Spongebob posted a link. Part 1 of 3, around the 1:50min mark is when the Unconkiness (Sektrolling?) begins. I don't know if he's in Part 3, but part 2 is mostly MvC3. Sorry I didn't link I don't know how.

Nbd, thanks thought. At least I know I can find it now on this forum

 

[Sektroll]

Wow, Sektroll single-handedly getting Sektor buffed? Is there any way I can get a look at these matches?

Lol, I do not believe that Sektor is getting buffed nor does he need a buff at all. I am hoping that the tweet implied a tweaking of the Kabal block string dash cancel. Also, keep in mind that NR has been watching a ton of MK9 events and majors so I am sure they have seen the Kabal block string quite a bit.

Again, props to them for taking such an active post release interest in MK9.

 

[smalltalk]

Yeah that was my bad.. I misinterpreted what he said because I didn't see the video yet. Just watched the video! Great job man, its awesome that you didn't complain about the block string; you adapted to it like a man.

 

[PPJ]

legendary thread, all hail the legend that was sektroll

 

[Dramatica]

Amen to that brother, I remember when this thread first went up!