What Matchups Are You Having Trouble With?

[Clark L.]

I know this website thinks he’s absolute garbage, but for the most part the ruling opinion is KL is decent in this game. Not S+++ tier but pretty good all around.

What are the specific matchups you’re having problems with? Maybe others who do well in these matchups can shed light on what to do.

For the most part, I’ve played every character by someone who knew what they were doing.

My biggest problem so far is Kabal. Everytime I play a good Kabal, it feels harder than any other character as Kung Lao. Now I could be playing the matchup wrong or just suck in general, that’s fair. But his b1 mid usually gives me a lot of trouble.

So what about you other Lao players?

 

[LightsOut452]

1. Kabal has insanely good normals, like half screen ji2, b1 into mix or cancels depending on the variation and other string 2,2 i think that can be staggered (even if it whiffs, good quick recovery)

Plus, he has a great whiff punishing move bf4 i think (hook slam) that gets him 50% on Krushing Blow

He is very close to S tier, but not quite there yet in my opinion

So yeah, i agree with you on that one.


2. Skarlet keeps Lao away like nobody else, better than the spacing god lord Kabal. Her half screen overheads and lows on block keep her out of Lao's punishes due to the pushback.
Insane zoning options and the move that gets her health back
she got a teleport too i think in one of her variations.
I asked for advice in the Skarlet forum and Skarlet mains are like "just flawless block bro". I know it's a good solution for good players, but im too bad to perform those consistently.


3. Sonya, i don't think i need to explain myself here

 

[Clark L.]

1. Kabal has insanely good normals, like half screen ji2, b1 into mix or cancels depending on the variation and other string 2,2 i think that can be staggered (even if it whiffs, good quick recovery)

Plus, he has a great whiff punishing move bf4 i think (hook slam) that gets him 50% on Krushing Blow

He is very close to S tier, but not quite there yet in my opinion

So yeah, i agree with you on that one.


2. Skarlet keeps Lao away like nobody else, better than the spacing god lord Kabal. Her half screen overheads and lows on block keep her out of Lao's punishes due to the pushback.
Insane zoning options and the move that gets her health back
she got a teleport too i think in one of her variations.
I asked for advice in the Skarlet forum and Skarlet mains are like "just flawless block bro". I know it's a good solution for good players, but im too bad to perform those consistently.


3. Sonya, i don't think i need to explain myself here

Sonya’s Sonya. Idk if anything she does specifically messes with Lao too much. I do know if she doesn’t ex her onion ring you can punish her a lot with divekick and also punish her one string for close to 40%.

With Skarlet, I think simple patience is the key. She’s not dealing ridiculous damage usually when combo’ing you. Patience and picking your spots to go in is key.

 

[Eh SnOwY]

im free to sub zero, all they do is walk backwards and go for 50/50 vortex grabs

 

[NothingPersonal]

Atm I'm having trouble with good players better than me. God damn they're annoying

 

[LightsOut452]

Sonya’s Sonya. Idk if anything she does specifically messes with Lao too much. I do know if she doesn’t ex her onion ring you can punish her a lot with divekick and also punish her one string for close to 40%.

With Skarlet, I think simple patience is the key. She’s not dealing ridiculous damage usually when combo’ing you. Patience and picking your spots to go in is key.

yea Sonya is a difficult matchup for the whole cast, it is what it is.

Skarlet indeed doesn't deal much damage, but i don't think she needs it. it's just hard to open her up, or even get close. I think the only one who is a bad matchup for her is scorpion (that's why i try to learn him as a pocket character). Scorpion does everything that Lao can do, but better.

 

[Clark L.]

Atm I'm having trouble with good players better than me. God damn they're annoying

Good players will do that :/

 

[Clark L.]

yea Sonya is a difficult matchup for the whole cast, it is what it is.

Skarlet indeed doesn't deal much damage, but i don't think she needs it. it's just hard to open her up, or even get close. I think the only one who is a bad matchup for her is scorpion (that's why i try to learn him as a pocket character). Scorpion does everything that Lao can do, but better.

Yea with skarlet, I just try to bully her once I’m in. If she has no defensive meter, hit her with the f1 or f4 as much as possible. Obviously zhat as well. I just try not to let them breathe. And if they have tendencies to wake up with a u3, try to make the read to crossup and full punish.

 

[LightsOut452]

Yea with skarlet, I just try to bully her once I’m in. If she has no defensive meter, hit her with the f1 or f4 as much as possible. Obviously zhat as well. I just try not to let them breathe. And if they have tendencies to wake up with a u3, try to make the read to crossup and full punish.

actually, now that I think about it, many skarlet players do wake up with u3 as soon as I land one combo on them, I'm gonna try and read that better.

You got any tips on fighting Noob?

 

[Clark L.]

actually, now that I think about it, many skarlet players do wake up with u3 as soon as I land one combo on them, I'm gonna try and read that better.

You got any tips on fighting Noob?

I’ve only played one super good noob, and that’s xSmokex’s. The biggest tip is don’t jump in. A good noob will f3 you out of the air 99% of the time. But I think that’s universal. I feel noob can’t zone you too too much because of the recovery. If you’re reading ghost ball or shadow, you can usually punish with teleport. Also I think straight hat does well against noob from longer distances outside neutral.

 

[LightsOut452]

I’ve only played one super good noob, and that’s xSmokex’s. The biggest tip is don’t jump in. A good noob will f3 you out of the air 99% of the time. But I think that’s universal. I feel noob can’t zone you too too much because of the recovery. If you’re reading ghost ball or shadow, you can usually punish with teleport. Also I think straight hat does well against noob from longer distances outside neutral.

Yea his zoning doesn't really concern me, it's not that scary.

It's the strings where he basically sends out his clone to hit you and you can't whiff punish them cause his clone got no hurtbox. I get caught by that a lot into 35-40 ish percent combos

 

[Clark L.]

Yea his zoning doesn't really concern me, it's not that scary.

It's the strings where he basically sends out his clone to hit you and you can't whiff punish them cause his clone got no hurtbox. I get caught by that a lot into 35-40 ish percent combos

Yea, that one strings pretty annoying to deal with. I feel like the only thing to do there is read he’s going to throw that out and do the one thing I think you should not do (jump in), because you’ll jump over the clone and punish with a j2

 

[Clark L.]

Yea, that one strings pretty annoying to deal with. I feel like the only thing to do there is read he’s going to throw that out and do the one thing I think you should not do (jump in), because you’ll jump over the clone and punish with a j2

But it’s risky, he hits like a truck

 

[Ravager]

All of them
Being serious though, mostly Jacqui. Can't find time to press a button with that string cancel. (Don't know its proper name.)

 

[devdot4]

I always have trouble against Sub-Zero or Erron Black.

 

[Vslayer]

Jade and Kabal, which is hella weird cause I played both these characters in the beta, Kabal most of all.

 

[devdot4]

Jade and Kabal, which is hella weird cause I played both these characters in the beta, Kabal most of all.

That 3 day tower made me want to hate Kabal on a whole new level.

 

[Clark L.]

I always have trouble against Sub-Zero or Erron Black.

What about them specifically do you have trouble with?

 

[Suntory]

Kabal - I learned the hard way to respect his B1.
Skarlet - As a Lao player, I use her as my secondary, and I feel like I'm better off playing the mirror or finding a 3rd character (Scorpion I guess?)
Jacqui - Upclose is a nightmare.

 

[Clark L.]

Jade and Kabal, which is hella weird cause I played both these characters in the beta, Kabal most of all.

Actually, jades another one if they play it super turtle-y

 

[devdot4]

What about them specifically do you have trouble with?

With sub-zero, I almost always forget to getup attack or getup roll instead try to breakaway when most his attacks don't send you flying up. Also that 3 hit combo that has overhead in it. I just need to remember these things.
Now with Erron Black, I just can't handle the barrage of attacks he does to you, and the Overhead boot to the face and leg sweep are the 2 moves I generally can't block properly.

 

[Vslayer]

Actually, jades another one if they play it super turtle-y

Yeah, and I'm just learning him too which is probably why XD I have trouble against these characters even with Cass. He has some good buttons and he has been downplayed so much, but I feel like whiff punishing is the way to go with him. Especially if you want that crazy damage off of that KB string.

 

[YoungTeezy 305]

Yea his zoning doesn't really concern me, it's not that scary.

It's the strings where he basically sends out his clone to hit you and you can't whiff punish them cause his clone got no hurtbox. I get caught by that a lot into 35-40 ish percent combos

If noob does b1 1+3, I will always check him with a hat toss.

 

[YoungTeezy 305]

Anyone with an air projectile can control the pace over Lao. Teleport is not an option as a get-in tool Lao must walk his way in. With other characters, I can whiff dive kicks for mobility since it has almost no recovery.

 

[Clark L.]

Yeah, and I'm just learning him too which is probably why XD I have trouble against these characters even with Cass. He has some good buttons and he has been downplayed so much, but I feel like whiff punishing is the way to go with him. Especially if you want that crazy damage off of that KB string.

For sure

 

[LightsOut452]

Anyone with an air projectile can control the pace over Lao. Teleport is not an option as a get-in tool Lao must walk his way in. With other characters, I can whiff dive kicks for mobility since it has almost no recovery.

yea i learned that whiffing dive kicks in between projectiles can cover a lot of distance, like half the screen.

the problem starts when they have a double projectile, like baraka, sonya, liu kang etc.