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Why Play Raiden?

Marlow

Marlow

Champion
I thought I'd just make a thread for fun just to ask people: Why play Raiden? If you had a friend (or I guess even an enemy) and you wanted to convince them to play Raiden, what would you say?

I'm also just curious why other people choose to play him. Is it something specific about MK11 Raiden, something in his move list? Is it based on nostalgia for having played as Raiden in past games? Is it that he's a legacy character, or maybe you just really like electricity?
 
Marlow

Marlow

Champion
Personally, I just really like all the plus frames he has. I really like his F32 string and his 243 string, and all the options he has now off of his B1 strings. To me he seems like a character with a really solid set of fundamental tools, and he gives the player a number of options to use in different situations. Also electricity is pretty cool.
 
Radien-shen

Radien-shen

Noob
I play Raiden mostly because he's one of my favorite mk characters. However I love the way he plays in this game. He's got excellent footies options, very good advancing normals, good 50/50 options, can get 30% damaging combos mid screen and corner and has a teleport giving him one of the best anti zoning tools in the game. He's one of the best well rounded characters in the game. I don't think there is a matchup in the game that I struggle to find a solution for.
 
Metin

Metin

Ermac & Smoke Main
Gameplay;

  • i am mostly using Thunder Wave because i like his mobility in that variation, sparkport game is so tricky, especially far teleport into f4 or f2.
  • Plus frames, stand 3 is my favourite now because it is jailing after pokes. F2 is also a very good tool to open your opponent in mid screen game. New b14 is also a good buff imo. But if i am at fullscreen i love to use AMP lightning Bolt, it is plus you know, ppl seems very eager to answer back by their own projectiles but don't expect my teleport and the full punish.
  • Combos, Storm Cell optimal combos always looks badass, also i am using teleport as a combo ender after 12, it keeps me close to opponent and keep playing mind games. 50/50's, B12 into something, another plus frames, grab etc. At corner; i always end my combos with B2 overhead, it is a very dangerous situation for the opponent.
  • Staggers, everyone expecting B12 into something but if you stagger by B1 and decide go for 50/50 after, it become really useful. Grab also working great. 12 is also a good stagger tool.
  • Flawless Block, i like to use his u2 for jump kicks, it is working Great and allow me to deal some damage. Also f32, f4, f3 all of them are good traps to use fbu2.
i can keep writing the reasons but this is not a Raiden guide treat, so long live Thunder God. i always love Raiden since MK1 and i fucking love that movie Skin.
 
Zviko

Zviko

Warrior
Mostly nostalgia but that applies to pretty much every character I like. He has the most stylish teleport, I still remember trolling my friend with it in MK1. When I first saw MK Conquest and first MK movie I was fascinated with him appearing out of nowhere he was very likeable and funny but also intimidating and badass. So badass even Shang shat his pants every time. For these reasons I will always like him as a character and play him in every game.

From MK11 gameplay perspective he has everything. A very good anti air, good pokes, advancing normals, fast mid, plus frames, projectiles, corner carry and most importantly he can deal with zoners with that stylish teleport which takes fucking 2 slots instead of being his default special I mean what the actual fu....nevermind.

Yeah, he's fun.
 
DixieFlatline78

DixieFlatline78

Everyone Has A Path
All the buffs he's received have amounted to him more or less having the widest range of tools in the game. He has two very good, matchup-bending presets and custom variations that give him a very strong zoning tool kit. His damage, range, corner carry, and anti-airs are great. Discharge is basically Yoshimitsu's Flash and allows him to redefine what constitutes safe offense. His burst move basically let's you safely batter your opponent around the stage
 
xWildx

xWildx

What a day. What a lovely day.
Why play anyone but the absolute top tier when you can make any character play how you want?
 
Arqwart

Arqwart

D'Vorah for KP2 copium
  1. Combo power - multiple launch options available through variations, good damage
  2. Mobility - teleport is one of the best specials in the game
  3. Options - jack of all trades with each option being usable at a minimum
  4. Corner pressure - has his traditionally insane corner carry, and his long reaching normals + good pokes give him good corner pressure
  5. KBs - his two main KBs (punish and throw) are both great and will be seen in basically every match
 
D

Deleted member 5032

Guest
I almost exclusively play RoboCop because I'm some sort of masochist, but out of the standard kast, Raiden is one of my favorites. I like that he's an MK1 OG (and my variation looks as close to OG Raiden as possible). I like that he's pretty straightforward to play but still has a ton of options and hits hard with just about every conversion. He's like Lao, but I don't need to be a methhead to play him. If they just gave him back his damn Superman "HADAWADAWAH!!!" I'd seriously drop RoboCop to main him.
 
Rude

Rude

You will serve me in The Netherrealm
Play Raiden because he's very good in this game. Great mid, hella mobility with teleport, etc. He's annoying as shit to fight.
 
Szkarad

Szkarad

( • )( • )ԅ(≖⌣≖ԅ)
Apart from the lore, great voice and great visual design, I feel that Raiden is a jack of all trades and he can play all distances well. Zoners have no chance against him with his teleport, his footsie moves like F1, F2, F3 are great against characters who shine up close and he can put some pressure up close. Nothing he does is amazing, but he can do pretty much anything depending on the circumstances. It's all about you picking a strategy depending on your enemy weakness.
 
Trustful_Whale

Trustful_Whale

Warrior
Raiden's always been my fav, but Spawn shot him in the face for this game as a very special occasion.
I like lightning and godlike or immortal beings, pretty much.

For actual MK characters it's Raiden, Fujin, and Tremor for me.
 
Mandolore1123

Mandolore1123

Man of Science Who Wields the Living Lightning
I used to main Black Adam in the Injustice series, so I naturally gravitated to the lightning character that is Raiden. More importantly, I love how NRS changed his playstyle in MK11. He has great mids, good staggers, good damage, and decent plus frames. He still has his struggles (because I don't use Thunder Wave very often), but to me this character is the one I never get bored of using. I love looking at his visuals, I love his quotes, his intro cinematic, I love theory-crafting on how to further optimise my play and keep improving. No matter what character I find myself interested in, I always go back to Raiden after a while, and it feels great to play as him. His play style fits me very well i think.
 
Obly

Obly

Ambiguous world creator
I know this is the opposite of what you asked, but I'm someone who really wants to play Raiden but can't.

I played a ton of Raiden in MK1 and MK2, and that's Raiden for me. You look at that now and see a goofy dude flying around in his pajamas, ululating a bunch of gibberish, but it doesn't matter; that gibberish is the sound of Mortal Kombat for me. That Raiden felt dark, dangerous, and powerful. And maybe it's only my imagination--you couldn't quite tell in those early days--but I always pictured Raiden as Asian, like his inspiration character from Big Trouble in Little China.

In contrast, I just don't like modern Raiden aesthetically. He definitely has some cool lightning visuals, his gear is interesting, his skins are mostly nice (except the ones where he looks like a Christmas present--can't stand those), but his face and voice acting kill it for me (just like some people can't go near Sonya because of Ronda, who actually doesn't bother me at all).

Don't get me wrong, I think his voice actor is talented--I love his Joker, I just can't stand his Raiden. "Dark Raiden" feels like an angry old coot yelling at a bunch of kids to get off his lawn. "Light Raiden" feels like a nice-guy dad who put a basket on his head and joined his kids in jumping off the couch doing electric fly impersonations. After seeing the first MK11 release trailer (Raiden vs. Scorpion), I had high hopes this Raiden would recapture the old feeling, but he just doesn't for me. No more ululating, no more feeling dark, dangerous, and powerful--just a wet noodle version of my image of Raiden.

I've tried to pick him up several times, but can't stay interested. Which is really frustrating because he's the only original MK character I'm interested in. I know I could switch to the Lambert skin, and yeah, he's an improvement, but even Lambert (who's god-like in his own right) isn't quite the Raiden I want. Plus he's sounding pretty rough these days. :(

Anyway, hope this doesn't offend any fans of modern Raiden! Aesthetic taste is purely personal, so no digs intended or implied!
 
Marlow

Marlow

Champion
Obly said:
I know this is the opposite of what you asked
Click to expand...
Reported, banned, downvoted.

Just kidding. I totally get it. Honestly, Raiden seems like kind of a dufus in the MKX and MK11 story mode. For a supposedly all powerful protector he sure seems to screw up a lot.
 
Mandolore1123

Mandolore1123

Man of Science Who Wields the Living Lightning
Obly said:
I know this is the opposite of what you asked, but I'm someone who really wants to play Raiden but can't.

I played a ton of Raiden in MK1 and MK2, and that's Raiden for me. You look at that now and see a goofy dude flying around in his pajamas, ululating a bunch of gibberish, but it doesn't matter; that gibberish is the sound of Mortal Kombat for me. That Raiden felt dark, dangerous, and powerful. And maybe it's only my imagination--you couldn't quite tell in those early days--but I always pictured Raiden as Asian, like his inspiration character from Big Trouble in Little China.

In contrast, I just don't like modern Raiden aesthetically. He definitely has some cool lightning visuals, his gear is interesting, his skins are mostly nice (except the ones where he looks like a Christmas present--can't stand those), but his face and voice acting kill it for me (just like some people can't go near Sonya because of Ronda, who actually doesn't bother me at all).

Don't get me wrong, I think his voice actor is talented--I love his Joker, I just can't stand his Raiden. "Dark Raiden" feels like an angry old coot yelling at a bunch of kids to get off his lawn. "Light Raiden" feels like a nice-guy dad who put a basket on his head and joined his kids in jumping off the couch doing electric fly impersonations. After seeing the first MK11 release trailer (Raiden vs. Scorpion), I had high hopes this Raiden would recapture the old feeling, but he just doesn't for me. No more ululating, no more feeling dark, dangerous, and powerful--just a wet noodle version of my image of Raiden.

I've tried to pick him up several times, but can't stay interested. Which is really frustrating because he's the only original MK character I'm interested in. I know I could switch to the Lambert skin, and yeah, he's an improvement, but even Lambert (who's god-like in his own right) isn't quite the Raiden I want. Plus he's sounding pretty rough these days. :(

Anyway, hope this doesn't offend any fans of modern Raiden! Aesthetic taste is purely personal, so no digs intended or implied!
Click to expand...
I find it ironic that in the story Fujin goes on about how Raiden chastises him for being too emotional and attached to the mortals, when Raiden is the one who sees Liu Kang as a son, he is the one who gets corrupted by Shinnok’s amulet and was basically willing to do anything and everything to save his realm while Fujin was nowhere to be seen in MK9 lol. I can’t speak for the older games as I never played them, but I think NRS had a lot of potential story for Dark Raiden and how he was shaping up to be a major character in MK11, only to be shafted before he could do anything significant :( To quote Sub Zero, “Such wasted potential”
 
ogrimtitan

ogrimtitan

Mortal
I actually feel like Raiden gets a bad rep in the story. Like if you look back at what he's had to fight to keep Earthrealm safe, has he really done that bad? Talk about a tough war to win. But if his job as "Protector" is to protect, he has done that to a large degree. Yeah not perfectly, but a lot of what went wrong was either unavoidable (Shinnok's rise), not his fault (what happened to Liu Kang), or pretty damn understandable (turning "Dark"). Why he's seen as so blundering and stupid is a bit beyond me.
 
Darth Mao

Darth Mao

Your Tech is Mine! #buffRaiden
MK11 Reveal, SonicFox (Sonya) vs Rewind (Raiden). Raiden stomps the ground, a lightning bolt falls from the sky. He yells, "Yet again you failed!"

Insta main
 
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