SaltFace NS
Ultimate Mileena Exterminator
Since the beginning of MKX there has always been this debate on which variation is best with Mileena. Most people will say that it's Piercing & some say Ravenous now (mainly due to my tournament placements with it). Some nowadays even say that it's Ethereal after the recent buffs. I'm writing this thread here to explain why without a doubt the Ravenous variation is Mileena's best variation as of right now.
Let's look at the facts & break the character down. With no variation added Mileena has no...I repeat NO OVERHEAD starters outside of the F3 or MB Ball (which of course requires meter). This first fact here hurts the Ethereal variation. Ethereal is super meter dependent in order to have a safe wake up, getting ok damage, or being able to actually mix an opponent up. I feel that at high level this variation just won't cut it when fighting the higher tier characters.
Now let's look at Piercing. Piercing does offer some pretty good tools. You get sais with your B1,2 string, you gain the low sai that every Mileena player swears is the greatest thing on Earth, you get two unique strings & enders for your combos. Once again Mileena's core problem with NO OVERHEAD starter outside of F3 & MB Ball still exist. You do however gain the re-stand resets (which is an awesome tool to have) but I say it's not very powerful due to the fact that it's only a mixup once you have meter. Low Sai isn't that great to me due to the fact people at high level jump it almost on reaction & punish me for it hard. So to me her quote on quote zoning in this variation isn't even that strong.
Now my reasons for playing & choosing Ravenous over the other two. My biggest reason is that the core weakness of NO OVERHEAD starter or option without meter outside of F3 no longer exists. If your opponent wants to block low all day you now have the Low Pounce option which will hit them over & over again until they stand. You can tick throw into it as well off of a safe string which always gives you practically a free 50/50 every time someone blocks a Standing 2. Eventually it can open up the opponent by forcing stand blocking & now F4 now becomes useful. The High Pounce being -7 is a blessing since most characters have no way of punishing it & it makes many unsafe things Mileena has safer. Since you know you can't be punished MB Ball becomes a 50/50 after blocking High Pounce because it will hit any counter poking option your opponent tries to do. Once that fear is instilled in them they think twice at swinging at you & it opens up more offensive options for you. The final usefulness of the High & Low Pounce is the ability to control the position of you and your opponent on the screen. And the anti-wake up game that exists in all variations is still prominent in Ravenous.
This is a small breakdown as to why I feel Ravenous is Mileena's best variation.
@Mr. Mileena @Method @theGabStandard @Blonde_Huntress @SonicFox5000 @all other Mileena mains.
Care to elaborate fellas?
Let's look at the facts & break the character down. With no variation added Mileena has no...I repeat NO OVERHEAD starters outside of the F3 or MB Ball (which of course requires meter). This first fact here hurts the Ethereal variation. Ethereal is super meter dependent in order to have a safe wake up, getting ok damage, or being able to actually mix an opponent up. I feel that at high level this variation just won't cut it when fighting the higher tier characters.
Now let's look at Piercing. Piercing does offer some pretty good tools. You get sais with your B1,2 string, you gain the low sai that every Mileena player swears is the greatest thing on Earth, you get two unique strings & enders for your combos. Once again Mileena's core problem with NO OVERHEAD starter outside of F3 & MB Ball still exist. You do however gain the re-stand resets (which is an awesome tool to have) but I say it's not very powerful due to the fact that it's only a mixup once you have meter. Low Sai isn't that great to me due to the fact people at high level jump it almost on reaction & punish me for it hard. So to me her quote on quote zoning in this variation isn't even that strong.
Now my reasons for playing & choosing Ravenous over the other two. My biggest reason is that the core weakness of NO OVERHEAD starter or option without meter outside of F3 no longer exists. If your opponent wants to block low all day you now have the Low Pounce option which will hit them over & over again until they stand. You can tick throw into it as well off of a safe string which always gives you practically a free 50/50 every time someone blocks a Standing 2. Eventually it can open up the opponent by forcing stand blocking & now F4 now becomes useful. The High Pounce being -7 is a blessing since most characters have no way of punishing it & it makes many unsafe things Mileena has safer. Since you know you can't be punished MB Ball becomes a 50/50 after blocking High Pounce because it will hit any counter poking option your opponent tries to do. Once that fear is instilled in them they think twice at swinging at you & it opens up more offensive options for you. The final usefulness of the High & Low Pounce is the ability to control the position of you and your opponent on the screen. And the anti-wake up game that exists in all variations is still prominent in Ravenous.
This is a small breakdown as to why I feel Ravenous is Mileena's best variation.
@Mr. Mileena @Method @theGabStandard @Blonde_Huntress @SonicFox5000 @all other Mileena mains.
Care to elaborate fellas?
