UMK3 Tier list discussion (taken from Phoenix's thread @ MKU.com)
Let's make a fair comparison that not many people have considered, that I think of when people throw Kano's name around with top tier characters. Take a serious look at the differences between Kano and Liu Kang. This is a basic outline and no damage amounts will be included. So if you really want to know more details, look it up at ultimatemk.
Alike (both have these or very similar abilities)
-generally low maximum damage in all midscreen combos, even with Kano's chokehold combo sleepers to rushdown
-popups, relaunchers
-poor runjabs
-good anti air, Liu's rh and Kano's upward ball
-The cannonball can come out of nowhere, as can a slower bike kick or flying kick. All 3 have above average wakeup, the cannonball traditionally voted with the best wakeup of them...and perhaps of all moves in the game.
-Their jks are both tricky to aahp. Kinda useless to exploit sometimes because better players can scout this and just aarh instead with chars like H. Smoke and Reptile. Other chars that counter this with good rushdowns will run through and sweep, or fake the sweep and go to runjabs on Liu or Kano's landing.
Now the tricky part...
Differences
-Kano's corner combos and traps can be devastating, whereas Liu's options are no so fortunate. They may both have corner infs, but the difficulty can make them staggering to pull off, especially online.
-Kano's sweep is undoubtedly better, being much quicker.
-Liu's got afbs, Kano's got the slow startup blade toss from full screen. They're both essentially worthless except on distractions/rare wakeups, but share the rare zoning usage.
-THE AIR THROW. Liu can't really compete with it...Liu's anti air evasion with afbs is WAY slower than Kabal's or Kitana's.
Conclusion
Kano holds abilities that Liu Kang does not, such as his quicker sweep, cannonball wake up, and air throw. However, if you break it down a little further, these things shouldn't propel Kano to the top of the tier list.
-the sweep is short
-the cannonball is not dramatically quicker than the flying kick, and both are punishable
-the air throw doesn't add much damage to the already terrible damage totals, and is only successfully aborted by open jp combos or late jks.
So tell me? What is Kano, other than a slightly better Liu Kang? I often see people write that he's "easy to use because of his sweep and simplicity of charging lk while rushing"...which brings us back to the loophole that the list is NOT about player skill. His damage and capabilites are far below that of the top tier. He's even interchangeable with the upper part of the mid tier, I mean why not? When you compare sweeps, Jax and Sonya can compete. The air throw is just one special, nothing more than topping on a juggle or crossups. The cannonball can be anticipated or even baited like any other wakeup. This is, of course, just my personal opinion based on firsthand experiences playing and learning from others. Kano can be fun as hell to use, but he sucks compared to the chars in the traditional top tiers that are posted. My point is that Kano doesn't seem to be SO much better than Liu that he's cast as one of the best, with the few improvements above.
Side note: Please don't try to tell me that you could make these improvement comparisions with any 2 characters. If you have a rebuttle, then I would like to know your response without anyone belittling or creating tension. The last time I made a stance on characters being overrated, it didn't go too well lol. So be nice.
