The Official Unofficial KB Requirement Tier List

[DarksydeDash]

S Tier:

• Throw Escape fail
• Kounter Hit or Punish
• Triggers on after a total of three amplifies/ 3 special moves connected
• Triggers after a Fatal Blow cancel

A Tier:

• Character Specific KBs (Example: Shao Kahn, Noob Saibot, Fujin, Terminator, Spawn, etc.)
• Hits at Max distance
• D2
• Last hit of a string/ special move hits by itself
• Number of Combo hits
• Triggers when opponent is close to the corner
• Parries a wakeup attack
• Triggers when the opponent performs a wakeup forward or backroll

B Tier:

• Triggers when special is performed twice in a row.
• Triggers when special move whiffs more than two times
• Triggers when a low attack is punished
• Armor Break
• Triggers if Opponent is Stand/low Blocking
• Triggers after traveling a large distance

C Tier:

• Triggers if opponent blocks late.

Discuss?

 

[xKhaoTik]

Armor break needs to be higher up simply because it’s meta behind breaking away and eating damage or take the combo and eat damage
Look at Kitana’s for example.

 

[NaughtySenpai]

Armor break needs to be higher up simply because it’s meta behind breaking away and eating damage or take the combo and eat damage
Look at Kitana’s for example.

Armor breaker would have to be on a case by case basis. Shit like Kabal's and Geras' are amazing, Scorpion's/Sonya's/Kollector's are trash.

 

[Zviko]

Some of these can be character specific. For example:

• Triggers when special move whiffs more than two times

This is true except for Geras' sand trap. That move is S++++ tier. When people joke about Geras' nerfs are actually buffs, this is the move they refer to.

• Triggers when a low attack is punished

If you thinking that Kitana's dive move in Fearless then yeah, it's probably F tier. But Sindel's Whip and Flip is probably S. Also, Sonya's parries are very underrated imo.

• Armor Break

Definitely character specific as well. Like you can't compare Kitana's ass which keeps you guessing at any point of the combo to Sub Zero's F4 which can only happen after D2KB or after they've been frozen in the air and it needs timing. I think D2 KBs are definitely S tier as well.

 

[SoapBar]

Needs to be a D-tier, and it needs to have Shang's Rain Kick KB in it all on its own.

 

[UghGetOuttaHere]

Armor breaker would have to be on a case by case basis. Shit like Kabal's and Geras' are amazing, Scorpion's/Sonya's/Kollector's are trash.

Im confused. What's wrong with Kollectors armor break?

 

[xKhaoTik]

Armor breaker would have to be on a case by case basis. Shit like Kabal's and Geras' are amazing, Scorpion's/Sonya's/Kollector's are trash.

We’re talking about KBs tho. An armor breaker that also causes a KB is probably the best tool in the game because of the meta behind it.

 

[Wrenchfarm]

A Tier:

• Triggers when the opponent performs a wakeup forward or backroll

B Tier:

• Triggers when special is performed twice in a row.

C Tier:

• Triggers if opponent blocks late.

Discuss?

I'd drop all three of these down another tier. A lot of the trigger on roll ones require ridiculous pre-cognitive abilities. I suppose the "special performed twice in a row" one depends on the move, but generally I find them pretty weak.

Block late is particularly garbage tier because it's basically luck based. As a player it feels like shit because you never know when it will pop off. From a design point of view it seems to run counter to all other KBs. The vast majority of KBs reward and incentivize "good play" (neutral duck a throw, get a big punish. Successfully land an important move/amp a move multiple times, get a spike of damage. Mix your opponent successfully, get a big payday, etc). What do the block late ones incentivize? "Maybe throw this unsafe move out and hopefully they mess up and you get lucky?"

One of Shang's KBs is to hit with Ermac's lift when the opponent blocks late. The only meaningful way to try and make that happen is to use it to try and blow up flawless block attempts on F242. Of course that string already does a ton of things for Shang. It can trigger it's own KB when used as a punish, it has a safe option and an option that gives him tons of frame advantage at the risk of a flawless block U2, it's can be used for Rain kick cancels, and alternating between F2 and B1 is one of the ways to open people up to the B1D2 KB. So that string has tons of "good play" potential already, with multiple different uses and strategies.

Trying to get the lift KB throws out all that good play and has you toss a Hail Mary by trying a point blank lift on a blocking opponent. Maayyyybe if your opponent tries a flawless block every time you toss out that string you can use it intelligently to punish that habit, but I've never seen anyone that predictable. Mostly, it encourages you to hang yourself and give your opponent an easy full combo punish.