What are the most appropriate actions to take right after blocking?

[Liquid Swordsman]

First off, just to give a heads up and to be straightforward with you guys, before hopping on MK 11, I never played much fighters outside of MK9 and I've only spent a little amount of time on MK 10, so I think for me it's safe to admit I'm still kind of a novice learner in this FGC world. I'm even still trying to study all these fighting game terminologies like whiffing, free, neutral, block plus, etc.

A couple of things I notice going into casual versus or KL, my defense seems well improved and there doesn't appear to be any sign of struggle. I'll always randomly dash/walk back and forward combine with a block as a method for my defense and it seems to work. However, KOTH seems to be where the experts likes to kill time and that's when things get tricky for me because there's always those 1 or 2 very knowledgeable advance players that'll shut me down as if my defense strategy that I used outside KOTH are completely meaningless.

Whenever I attempt to block something from them, something about their strings completely throws me off. It's like I no longer have any control with any sort of movement. It's like one of those episodes from Dragonball where the villain surprises his opponent by paralyzing him with some mysterious special attack. That's how I feel when blocking and most of time it doesn't matter what button I press because the result just ends with me getting pummeled to the floor. Although, that could just be my way of reacting whenever I panic and half of the time I don't even notice what buttons I pressed that cause me to get myself punished.

Being aware though, sometimes I'll do simple inputs like D1, D2, D3 constantly or just go for the occasional bread and butter string. Watching others attempt it on a video or KOTH match after they block, it seems effective and like a walk in the park for them, but when I do it, it's like the complete opposite for me and I don't know why.

Anyone knows the do's and don'ts you must take once you release block?

 

[Lex Luthor II]

Well that's the entire name of the game in MK11, staggering, making the opponent not sure of when to let go of block, mixing it up so you won't take your turn or you'll let go of block too early and eat an attack.

Throwing, d1s, or quick mids if you have any are good places to start after blocking. Some characters have good backdashes which can create space then whiff punish but that can be dangerous. Some characters have good reversal attacks, like Kotal's command grab, which you can input just before it's your turn and you can quickly get them. But basically, to be the highest level you can be, you have to learn every character and all their strings/special abilities so you know when it's your turn and how much time you have to do something., But that's a lot of work.

 

[Evantabes]

First off, just to give a heads up and to be straightforward with you guys, before hopping on MK 11, I never played much fighters outside of MK9 and I've only spent a little amount of time on MK 10, so I think for me it's safe to admit I'm still kind of a novice learner in this FGC world. I'm even still trying to study all these fighting game terminologies like whiffing, free, neutral, block plus, etc.

Shameless self promotion but check out Fighting Game Glossary for any fighting game related terminology.

As for your actual question it's pretty dependent on the situation, spacing and frames and whatnot. If your opponent does something minus and you think they're gonna press you can try to poke or interrupt them with a string. If they're minus and you think they'll respect you you can try to enforce your offense and stagger a string or throw them. If you think they're gonna try to run away and reset to neutral you can chase them by dashing or use an advancing move. This is something that just comes with experience and knowing your options and reading your opponent's actions.

 

[Gaxkang]

The most basic interaction is you block something, usually something only punishable with a D1, and then you decide whether to try to jail say your standing 1 string, or a fast mid if you got it or you go for a throw.
Some strings you may find are punishable with something other than a D1, if the string is completed.

If the opponent hits a button the jail should work, if they block they will block the jail attempt so you don't want to finish the string (usually). If you go for a throw and they block, you throw them. If you go for a throw and say, they hit (or mash) D2...likely you will get krushing blow comboed.

But sometimes the spacing will be such your throw won't reach, making you even more likely to get D2'd. So you'd want try to jail, or I would anyways.

On a separate note you when block someone's D1 when they poke you, you hit your D1 and go go thru the above.

If you block a D1 I think you're supposed to be able to back away or dash away too, if that would work for something.

But some stuff people do isn't punishable even with a D1, or the pushback makes them safe. Even if ya got an advancing string, it just won't be good enough.

And when you're blocking someone's string...they don't have to finish it. Or they may cancel into a special at some point.
Tick throwing can be a thing.

 

[Art Lean]

Have you tried both racial and homophobic slurs followed by a quitality?

 

[Onryoki]

The best thing to do is to learn and check which moves are minus and which moves are plus on block. Then you look at what your fastest normal moves are and what your opponent fastest moves are. If they do something that’s -8 on block that means that their followup move is 8 frames slower than if they regularly do it. If they are +8 on block it means their move is 8 frames faster than normally.

If you check and learn/memorise these things then you will know what to do after you block someone’s move.

 

[Liquid Swordsman]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll try my best to put these to good use and possibly get back to you if I have more questions.

Have you tried both racial and homophobic slurs followed by a quitality?

Maybe.....just the quality part lol.

And I might've called a few people an asshole, but that was over a pair of $500 sunglasses.

 

[Marlow]

it seems effective and like a walk in the park for them, but when I do it, it's like the complete opposite for me and I don't know why.

Sometimes it's just the experience factor, and knowing the timing/flow of a match. I'd liken it to playing a musical instrument, or learning to cook. I can watch Jacques Pepin chop an onion, and he makes it seem effortless. I try and chop an onion and it never looks half as smooth.

 

[Obly]

Just to note one other thing. Folks have mentioned the importance of knowing how plus or minus your opponent is after their attack. That's definitely true but it's just one part of the equation.

Frame advantage is relative--it's just the difference in timing between when you recover (and can take another action) and when your opponent does. But different strings and moves also vary greatly in the absolute amount of block stun they impose.

Like, two different block strings may both be -5 -- meaning you recover 5 frames before your opponent does -- so they're "safe" (you have no move that can punish them before they're able to block) but it's properly your turn (you're at enough advantage to get out a fast button or move before your opponent can interrupt you). But the absolute amount of block stun still matters a lot:

• Some buttons and strings (like pokes) don't impose much stun, so you both recover quickly (though still 5 frames apart). You can let go of block and input your next move right away and it will come out.
• On the other hand, some strings impose a lot of stun. You both recover more slowly (again, still 5 frames apart). You can come off block but if you input your next move too quickly, it just won't come out. It looks like you can move but you're really still in stun. People often describe it as feeling "stuck" or "frozen".

It's better than it used to be. NRS made a patch change where they added an input buffer (I think 5 frames before you leave stun) so you don't have to be frame-perfect anymore in taking your turn. But it's still easy to get stuck if you're not aware of it and just trying to mash out your button as quickly as possible.

Just one more thing to learn with practice and experience, unfortunately. If there's a particular string your opponent is doing that's really causing you trouble, go into practice mode and pay close attention to how long it takes for you to recover after blocking. If you're feeling frozen in place, it probably means you need to delay your input slightly until right before you come out of block stun.

Tom Brady's YouTube channel has some good videos about this (or it did at one point; he seems to take his videos down a lot). He talks about how to look for visual cues, like when your hands move back to neutral. The cues also differ depending on whether you block standing or crouching. Just a tough mechanic to master, unfortunately.

 

[Onryoki]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll try my best to put these to good use and possibly get back to you if I have more questions.


Maybe.....just the quality part lol.

And I might've called a few people an asshole, but that was over a pair of $500 sunglasses.

I’m also quite new to MK11, but me knowing a fighting game at a higher level has helped me.

 

[scrubjesus111]

Ordered by consistency for me:

1. *Reversal throw
2. Poke/poke into backdash/poke into special
3. String that starts with anything but a high
4. Hold up (jumping is abusable in MK11)
5. Reversal special (depends very much on the frame data and properties and spacing)
6. Shorthop (very occasional)
7. String that starts with a high
8. Reversal backdash (I’m slow w dash inputs for some reason so maybe that’s just me)

Tip: mix in all of these options according to what you predict your opponent will do. Be unpredictable.

Or

Tip: Don’t feel bad about abusing something if it works. If they can’t anti-air, keep jumping!

*Reversal throws are very strong since it’s very likely the opponent will block after doing something minus, and if they mash pokes it beats that too.
Note: if they start ducking your throws then you mix in #3

Tip: if the opp is backdashing on block often then you’ll have to bite the bullet and do an advancing move when you guess they’re about to backdash.

 

[Kiss the Missile]

Varies on your opponent tbh. Lot of players go full autopilot. If you make a conscious effort to make note of what they do and when, you can shake up their gameplan pretty bad. Usually forcing them to panic and make up shit on the fly, or to keep doing it and hand you the win for free