Thoughts on the Liu Kang Match Up

[Juxtapose]

Hi all,

Liu Kang seems to be the Scorpion of this season of Kombat League, and for Kitana, mainly Highborn, what are your thoughts on the match up?

I'd say right now I'm at about a 50% win percentage against the character. There's a lot of bad Liu Kang's out there who only rely on the one string with the occasional Flying Kick or Fireball. They're not too difficult to beat. The better ones who actually mix in zoning, pressure, etc. I have a very, very hard time against.

Any tips for the match up? Note, I usually have a ping between 150 to 200 against most opponents. I'm in North America and on PC, I'm oft playing against people from overseas (Europe and Russia). I find this hurts the wake up game and simply getting Get Up Attacks to come out. I oft fall back on zoning , mixing up with pressure as an opponent works they're way in on me slowly, but Liu Kang outclasses Kitana in the zoning department, so that tends not to work against non-basic Liu Kang players.

 

[JJParker]

Kitana doesn't have a single tool that is better than anything Liu Kang has. The only way to win this match is to outplay your opponent and hope they make mistakes.

 

[Edmund]

My biggest tip that I can think of is to actively keep Liu at mid range instead of close range to avoid his f4 mixups
Some useful tools:
Kitana’s d4 (long ranged poke, good for sometimes interrupting the f4 madness, and catching people off with a low), her b1,3 (pushes the opponent further back on hit but also is safe and special cancelable), and to keep pressure going you can end either any combo that hits into stance cancel allowing you to follow up with a throw or a sneaky down 3, or end the combos with regular fan toss bc it leaves them standing. Remember that Liu has lots of options when he’s in your face, and Kitana has to commit to her buttons so you want him to play Kitana’s game.

 

[LawAbidingCitizen]

You should try Highborn if you are not already. She has tools to counter his zoning and amazing footsie since he works at fullscreen to close up.
But if you are using T1 I recommend using the other or pocket another character like Cassie, D'Vorah, Jax, Sub, Kabal and play footsies

 

[Orochi]

Can't you low profile f4 consistently?

 

[xKhaoTik]

Can't you low profile f4 consistently?

Yes. Block the first hit high, block the second hit low, duck the 3rd and punish

 

[Orochi]

Sound like she got better tools than others to deal with the mu, im no kitana player though but I def wish I could low profile F4

 

[VELL1]

Yes. Block the first hit high, block the second hit low, duck the 3rd and punish

That only work at the edge of his F4 range. It doesn't work if you are up close to him. At least it didn't work for me. If anyone can do it consistently and there is a trick to it - I'd love to see it.

 

[xKhaoTik]

That only work at the edge of his F4 range. It doesn't work if you are up close to him. At least it didn't work for me. If anyone can do it consistently and there is a trick to it - I'd love to see it.

It works regardless of where you’re at

 

[VELL1]

It works regardless of where you’re at

I've been trying for half an hour and can't make it work. Can you post a video?

It only works for me when Liu is a bit far away, but if he is close, he always clips me.

 

[ExpectFlames]

It works regardless of where you’re at

Bro does this work for female hitboxes or character specific to kitana? I've been running cetrion this would be God tech

 

[Parasurama]

Bro does this work for female hitboxes or character specific to kitana? I've been running cetrion this would be God tech

Character specific - I do not think it works with Cetrion though.

 

[Suave]

That only work at the edge of his F4 range. It doesn't work if you are up close to him. At least it didn't work for me. If anyone can do it consistently and there is a trick to it - I'd love to see it.

You might be reacting to late. Make sure you are using a string or poke that has 7 start up frame.

Also even though you can low profile it, experienced liu kangs will bate it out and stagger the string and steal their turn back or go into low fireball. I'd say just practice on your reads, you may have to disrespect some strings some times, and play a lot in the mid range area. Try to get him to whiff the string so you can get the punish.

 

[Juxtapose]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

@LawAbidingCitizen I am indeed using Highborn.

@Orochi and @xKhaoTik Thanks guys, I'll try that and practice it!

 

[VELL1]

You might be reacting to late. Make sure you are using a string or poke that has 7 start up frame.

Also even though you can low profile it, experienced liu kangs will bate it out and stagger the string and steal their turn back or go into low fireball. I'd say just practice on your reads, you may have to disrespect some strings some times, and play a lot in the mid range area. Try to get him to whiff the string so you can get the punish.

I mean I can poke him out of the string no problem, even full punish it with 12....

I am just saying that low profiling his 2nd or 3rd kick doesn't work. Can someone post a video of kitana standing dead close to Liu and lowprofiling his kick?? I don't think that's possible.

 

[xKhaoTik]

I mean I can poke him out of the string no problem, even full punish it with 12....

I am just saying that low profiling his 2nd or 3rd kick doesn't work. Can someone post a video of kitana standing dead close to Liu and lowprofiling his kick?? I don't think that's possible.

It’s not the second hit. It’s the 3rd

You literally block the first hit high, then block the second hit low. Let go of block for the 3rd hit and it whiffs. Punish

 

[VELL1]

It’s not the second hit. It’s the 3rd

You literally block the first hit high, then block the second hit low. Let go of block for the 3rd hit and it whiffs. Punish

I mean, go to learning, step close to Liu, and try doing it. You can’t do it when he is close to you. It only works at a bit of a distance.