Tips for Improving in MK11

[M2Dave]

kk will do but now I have another question.
Since its a 50/50, setting the AI in this way will result in me getting it right 50% of the time over the long term.
But when you play against a human, there is an element of strategy (for example throwing towards the corner) that wont be present with the AI. So really Ill just be teching and hoping the AI's randomness generator threw me in that direction. How does that help me improve my teching? At best it will help me press the buttons on time but that isnt really my issue

Well, you say that you always want to escape back throws so this method will help you focus on forward throws too. Besides, everything (i.e., anti-airing, combos, flawless blocking, punishment, throw escaping, etc.) that you test and practice will eventually have to be applied in a real match under more demanding and stressful circumstances. I suggest you ultimately play hundreds of games in order to get rid of your bad habit, which represents an initial phase of throw escaping that many players experience. You just have to play more and train your brain to react appropriately.

I've gotten a lot better at throw teaching since release, but that just resets neutral which isnt anywhere near as good as the micro ducking pros have been doing recently. I NEED to learn that timing of ducking without blocking for a bit to then punish whiffed throws.

The timing is match up dependent. The strategy works well against slower mid attacks because there is adequate time to release block (and crouch throws) and press block again to block the mid attack. You still get hit by 9 frame mid attacks and auto-shimmy strings.

Wasn't there an OS with inputting 21 on the right frame to tech both?

There is not. I believe escaping throws in Mortal Kombat 11 functions identically to escaping throws in Tekken 7. Both games only accept the initial input as the escape and any input afterward is ignored. If this option select genuinely existed, tournament players would rarely get thrown.

 

[GLoRToR]

There is not. I believe escaping throws in Mortal Kombat 11 functions identically to escaping throws in Tekken 7. Both games only accept the initial input as the escape and any input afterward is ignored. If this option select genuinely existed, tournament players would rarely get thrown.

I've seen someone of the upper echelon mention it on Twitter so I'd not dismiss it entirely but I see your point and it does sound logical.

 

[Zer0_h0ur]

In regards to throws and tech, I still have prob purposefully teched like 3 throws ever. It just isn't in me.
I have however, ducked a shit ton of throws on read/reaction
My problem here is my muscle memory is too mash d2, which sometimes screws me bc sometimes the throw eats the d2. I need to train my brain to stop a half second after my duck read, and FULL COMBO PUNISH IT
The d2KB is nice but I'm getting 14% thereafter instead of 25-39%!!!
Bad muscle memory lol

 

[Phr4nk]

I spend a lot of time learning and practicing jail timing for the characters I play. Keeping your turn is really important, especially if you're not playing to cash out big damage all the time. Knowing your jails and practicing the timing regularly gives you the reflexes to keep the pressure up regardless of who you play.

Jails are less helpful online because of the lag. People seem to be able to poke out of plus frames with reckless abandon. That said, it's still good info to know and generally very useful to practice.

 

[fireborg]

how does a startup change if you combine a dash with a normal? any way to find out startup / recovery of dashes? thanks

 

[Raider]

Any tips against Scorpion? Yeah, i still can't completely read this character. They just stand there and wait for you do make a move so that they can punish you. He is so safe and fast. I am mostly playing Jade and D'Vorah. I tried playing Skarlet but it's even worse than two mentioned above. I am still not sure about playing Sindel online, especially against Scorpions.

 

[Ck AeroVoid]

Any tips against Scorpion? Yeah, i still can't completely read this character. They just stand there and wait for you do make a move so that they can punish you. He is so safe and fast. I am mostly playing Jade and D'Vorah. I tried playing Skarlet but it's even worse than two mentioned above. I am still not sure about playing Sindel online, especially against Scorpions.

• the best way to counter someone is too learn said character(In my experience) as It all comes down to muscle memory!

People were complaining about him being op But I NEVER Agreed, Due to playing as and against him alot in BOTH
Pre-beta and the normal beta

• He is NOT a mixup Monster, Once you know his moveset, Scorpion is EXTREMELY Predictable!

Sindel is a hard character to beat as Scorpion (For me)

• You play the punish game To Beat the Punishers! Fire with Fire!

EDIT: I Learned this strat through Playing Killer instinct (X1) SINCE LAUNCH

 

[Ck AeroVoid]

• the best way to counter someone is too learn said character(In my experience) as It all comes down to muscle memory!

People were complaining about him being op But I NEVER Agreed, Due to playing as and against him alot in BOTH
Pre-beta and the normal beta

• He is NOT a mixup Monster, Once you know his moveset, Scorpion is EXTREMELY Predictable!

Sindel is a hard character to beat as Scorpion (For me)

• You play the punish game To Beat the Punishers! Fire with Fire!

I guess this can be aplied to everyone

 

[Nevan_PTF]

Any tips against Scorpion? Yeah, i still can't completely read this character. They just stand there and wait for you do make a move so that they can punish you. He is so safe and fast. I am mostly playing Jade and D'Vorah. I tried playing Skarlet but it's even worse than two mentioned above. I am still not sure about playing Sindel online, especially against Scorpions.

It's key to be patient, know his strings and how to block them correctly and bait/punish TP.

Some general tips:

• duck the spears and punish the recovery, 20f, I imagine nitro kick can punish or an advancing normal will punish him;
• if he's playing Reborn, care for the TP Cancel into throw, Scorpions throw range is quite something, but he is at -8f after the cancel, from a string;
• don't jump in on him or trying to jump over a spear, it will tag you;
• B2 is -10fob;
• always blocking low is great B1,4,1 is MID LOW LOW and -15f ob, F4,2,3 is LOW OVERHEAD MID and -8ob;
• if he's Searing Rage, 99,9% are, F3,2 is MID OVERHEAD LOW and -25ob;
• Spin is MID and -20ob, even AMP, and 37f recovery;
• TP is HIGH, -20fob normal and -14fob AMP - remember that Reborn can delay a bit the AMP;
• walk up throw is strong, so stay sharp for walk and throw and be ready to tech. He has a KB on his toward throw, so they'll try to get that failed tech from you and then another toward throw for the KB;
• be ready to react to is B3, it's a 27f start up and you can D1/D3 him out of it. If you block B3 it's -5;

In a nutshell, punish the shit outta him. Once you have the life lead, just turtle, he needs to come to you.

Scorpion demands you to be on your toes, he can get the life lead pretty fast and be a pain in the ass if you aren't familiar with him. I had to hit the lab for some time to debunk some of his fake shit.

 

[Ck AeroVoid]

It's key to be patient, know his strings and how to block them correctly and bait/punish TP.

Some general tips:

• duck the spears and punish the recovery, 20f, I imagine nitro kick can punish or an advancing normal will punish him;
• if he's playing Reborn, care for the TP Cancel into throw, Scorpions throw range is quite something, but he is at -8f after the cancel, from a string;
• don't jump in on him or trying to jump over a spear, it will tag you;
• B2 is -10fob;
• always blocking low is great B1,4,1 is MID LOW LOW and -15f ob, F4,2,3 is LOW OVERHEAD MID and -8ob;
• if he's Searing Rage, 99,9% are, F3,2 is MID OVERHEAD LOW and -25ob;
• Spin is MID and -20ob, even AMP, and 37f recovery;
• TP is HIGH, -20fob normal and -14fob AMP - remember that Reborn can delay a bit the AMP;
• walk up throw is strong, so stay sharp for walk and throw and be ready to tech. He has a KB on his toward throw, so they'll try to get that failed tech from you and then another toward throw for the KB;
• be ready to react to is B3, it's a 27f start up and you can D1/D3 him out of it. If you block B3 it's -5;

In a nutshell, punish the shit outta him. Once you have the life lead, just turtle, he needs to come to you.

Scorpion demands you to be on your toes, he can get the life lead pretty fast and be a pain in the ass if you aren't familiar with him. I had to hit the lab for some time to debunk some of his fake shit.

Exactly What I said, But Better explained!

 

[Nevan_PTF]

I just expanded on your post hehe

 

[Juggs]

People seeing this thread now keep in mind I made this back in June of last year. Some things I or others mentioned may be outdated at this point.

 

[Kindred]

If there is one thing I realized as I played and thought about this game more is this:

I see a round as a series of scenario/situations.

These situations can be an exchange we had of an attack/defense. For example, a situation could be when I did my F43 string as Liu Kang and my opponent poked after blocking it.

These situations are influenced by other variables such as health difference, location on the map, if a FB is in play, and who was the last person on the offensive.

I try to think of what the opponent did last time we were in a similar situation so that I can chose the best response. I hear a lot of people say things like "But if I do X, my opponent can just do Y" and I think that's the wrong way of looking at it.

I look at it as "what is the probability that my opponent will do something other than what they did last time we were in a similar situation?"

If there is a low probability that my opponent does something other than poke/attack after blocking my F43, then I will opt to flawless block/Special cancel instead of blocking & risking losing my turn.

Sometimes I might be wrong, but as long as I go with what is most likely in each scenario, I will end up winning in the long run.

 

[jonesy261]

Hey guys some advice needed. I was a hardcore mkx player I played that game so much. I maimed liu kang duelist, and Quan chi sorcerer. I’d like to think I played it at a high level. I played mk11 at first for a month or two, then I quit and couldn’t put my finger on why I quit. I’ve now returned, and I’m trying to find a character to play. I’ve been labbing characters day in day out, learning combos etc. I jump online and get absolutely smashed every game. I feel like combos are irrelevant and there’s no skill gap to this game. I finally realised that I stopped playing originally because I can’t adapt to the meta that is poke poke poke poke poke grab grab grab grab. Any advise on how I can either adapt or pick a character that’s better suited to what I’m used to?

 

[Vhozite]

I’ve been labbing characters day in day out, learning combos etc. I jump online and get absolutely smashed every game. I feel like combos are irrelevant and there’s no skill gap to this game. I finally realised that I stopped playing originally because I can’t adapt to the meta that is poke poke poke poke poke grab grab grab grab. Any advise on how I can either adapt or pick a character that’s better suited to what I’m used to?

100% no disrespect, but the biggest thing you or anyone else can do to get better is to approach the game with the mindset that MK11 is MK11. Abandon all preconceived notions about how the game should be and approach the game as it is. This was easy for me since MK11 is first real foray into to series, but I’ve seen plenty of that attitude in Street Fighter where “X game is bad because this isn’t like Y game”. For the purposes of winning in MK11, other games don’t matter.

With that out of the way, the next things you can do is stop focusing on combos. Learn one or two BnBs for punishes, but otherwise you should be focusing on the basics like movement, whiff punishing, anti-airing, etc. The overwhelming majority of my damage as relative beginners comes from stray pokes, anti-airs, throws, and super basic combos like 2 hit string xx special. The bottom 3 tiers of KL are chock full of players who can do YouTube combos perfectly every time but have no concept of footsies outside of throwing out raw and unsafe specials.

I can’t really recommend a character because other than liking combos I’m not sure what kind of gameplay you’re into, but I can give you some super basic tips that help me as a relatively new MK player. In no particular order:

1. Learn to jail. If you learn nothing else learn a basic jail off your D1 to establish some kind of offense when you earn your turn.

2. Learn a basic stagger. I play Frost...sometimes it’s 134, sometimes it’s 132, other times it’s 13 into b1, 13 into throw, etc.

3. Take your turn on block. Even if you can’t get a punish off something put hitbox on the screen to make them respect your frames. Don’t be like me and eat -10 pokes into throw because you’re too passive! If you block a d1 mash your own d1 like it owes you money to take your turn if you have to.

4. Don’t get frustrated by zoning. Keep your cool and work your way in methodically or react to something you can punish and stay on them. Remember you can duck the majority of meterless projectiles.

5. Play the tutorial...even if you only look at the parts you aren’t familiar with. Don’t be the guy online who can do 50% combos but doesn’t know how to use wake up options.

 

[Stanlos]

It's key to be patient, know his strings and how to block them correctly and bait/punish TP.

Some general tips:

• duck the spears and punish the recovery, 20f, I imagine nitro kick can punish or an advancing normal will punish him;
• if he's playing Reborn, care for the TP Cancel into throw, Scorpions throw range is quite something, but he is at -8f after the cancel, from a string;
• don't jump in on him or trying to jump over a spear, it will tag you;
• B2 is -10fob;
• always blocking low is great B1,4,1 is MID LOW LOW and -15f ob, F4,2,3 is LOW OVERHEAD MID and -8ob;
• if he's Searing Rage, 99,9% are, F3,2 is MID OVERHEAD LOW and -25ob;
• Spin is MID and -20ob, even AMP, and 37f recovery;
• TP is HIGH, -20fob normal and -14fob AMP - remember that Reborn can delay a bit the AMP;
• walk up throw is strong, so stay sharp for walk and throw and be ready to tech. He has a KB on his toward throw, so they'll try to get that failed tech from you and then another toward throw for the KB;
• be ready to react to is B3, it's a 27f start up and you can D1/D3 him out of it. If you block B3 it's -5;

In a nutshell, punish the shit outta him. Once you have the life lead, just turtle, he needs to come to you.

Scorpion demands you to be on your toes, he can get the life lead pretty fast and be a pain in the ass if you aren't familiar with him. I had to hit the lab for some time to debunk some of his fake shit.

Thank you for this. I despise this character with the fury. Of a thousand zillion exploding stars. And it is even worse as they are always poop tier Wi-Fi to boot. I will study this and try to stay motivated