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Game balance aside, what are your most and least favorite variations in the game?

Some people hate it, some people love it, but imo, the variation system is great.
It adds an element to the characters which normally can't be done without making them too OP.

My most favorite:
Ethereal Mileena: teleport is a really nice addition. my favorite variation in the game.
Summoner Quan Chi: netherrealm bat fits his persona well
Hat Trick Kung Lao: swaggiest character in the game. both the specials and the outfit
Crystalline Tremor: love the sound effects
Posessed Kenshi: great way to reimagine the Sento
Impostor Shinnok: for stealing opponents move "that is a gods power"
Necromancer Shinnok: aside from the stupid bone arms, the specials fit him very well
Master of Storm Raiden: cool uniform and cool looking specials
Blood God and War God Kotal: fits his Aztec persona
Cut Throat Kano: b121 is the coolest looking string in the game

Least Favorite:
Balanced Kenshi: lame name, lame specials, and wheres the sword normals?
Deceptive Reptile: lazy design
Displacer Raiden: same as above
Tempest Kung Lao: the hat glow looks stupid and out of place.
Shaolin Kung Jin: adding a chakram is a bit too excessive with the weapons. He already has a bow/stick
Tigrar Goro: Dude has herpes on his back
Covert Ops Sonya: Bland. They should have give her back her upwards bicycle kick
Special Forces Sonya: actually very fun, but drone looks dopey and lame.
 

CoolChameleon

Kamoflauged
Most Favourite Sun God:
Sun choke is probably my most favourite move in the game, the animation for the level 3 sun choke is awesome, and fact that its unblock able and has an easy input is just awesome. Also i think the yellow looks good on him.


Least Favourite Kobu Jutsu:
My most hated character to fight, its also boring to watch, its always the same combo ender(34~Flipkick)the whole match is just B1 pressure, so this variant is just very boring to me.
 

Doctor Rektangle

Think outside the Box
Favorite Spectral Ermac. He's got swag, grace, a psycho crush. He's got gimmicks doesn't rely on a 5050. I feel like I got to earn my wins. That and it's god damn Ermac!

Least Favorite: Commando Kano. He's just so... bland... I mean I was going to put slasher Jason here but even I find myself using more moves/plus frames and getting more mileage out of his tools. That and we'll he IS Jason after all
 

aldazo

Waiting for Havik
Too many fun variations to list, there are even chars that don't have a variation I don't like, Erron Black and Quan Chi come to my mind. On the other hand there are very few variations that really disappointed me, some for being plain lame and others for being almost useless: Bojutsu, Hat trick, Unbreakable, Cryomancer, Displacer, Kobu Jutsu.
 

Hidan

Where the hell is Reiko's wheel kick
Unstoppable Jason: glowing mask during heal and resurrection animation. the thunder... omg the THUNDER, JASON LIVES and the sweet horror tune
Warrior Predator: his face is better in game than some of the movies, the laugh on self destruct, YAUTJA strike and backhand uppercut since 1986
Necromancer Shinnok: because that's what Shinnok really is

.... I can't write them down, there are too many, I like the variation system too
 

Skkra

PSN: Skkra
Unbreakable Sub Zero and Cutthroat Kano are my two favorites in the entire game. They both feel like they embody the feel of the characters perfectly.
 

Dankster Morgan

It is better this way
Favorite:
Fisticuffs cage: looks awesome does nothing else
Unbreakable sub:^
Dualist Liu:^
All of Kotal look awesome
KW goro
Assassin kitana
Ninjutsu scorpion
Cryomancer Sub
Hollywood cassie

Worst:
All of raiden
Deceptive reptile: just when I thought he couldn't get fuglier
Warlock Quan
 

Pterodactyl

Plus on block.
All of Kotal's variations are fun to watch and to play.

Doing disgustingly high damage combos in Blood God is one of the most satisfying things in the game.
Landing consecutive tick throws and timing parries to boost grab damage in Sun God is one the most satisfying things in the game.
Doing crazy Macuahuitl mix-ups and space control in War God is one of the most satisfying things in the game.
 

Matix218

Get over here!
My favorite variations in the game are:

Hellfire scorpion because I love his fbrc's and I love flame aura

Cybernetic kano because we finally get to use his eye laser

Dualist liu kang just because I think it looks cool (I don't even play the character, just think it looks awesome).

Possessed Kenshi because (again) I just think it looks so cool.

Crystalline Tremor: I love the look and idea of the crystal armor and the color looks cool as well

I dint really have a least favorite TBH, I think NRS did a great job with the variations for the most part
 

Wigy

There it is...
All reptiles variations are incredibly lazy, one special difference between them and two of them copied from their previous game.

fisticuff. As it is without any purpose, just no reason to ever use it.

I like bloodgod, massive risk character well designed IMO, he has 95% combos and isn't OP

Kobo jitsu tanya, is completely braindead and top tier which is shitty design.
 

Espio

Kokomo
Lead Moderator
Favorites:

Ravenous Mileena- The idea of her being able to bite opponents to heal herself is a fresh idea and her ability to use grabs for conditioning is probably as close to a female grappler as NRS is going to get in MKX, which is hype. This variation is one of the best fitting variations for just about any character as it makes sense from a diversity standpoint as well as story/lore standpoint so it fits the characters very well while offering diversity so it's a win-win. It also shows off Mileena's awesome facial redesign.

Dragon Fangs Goro-This is probably the Goro that is most like previous incarnations of Goro due to his trade mark arm blades, fang spin, telestomp and green fireball all in one variation. For Goro fans, this is the fan service variation. Insanely fun to play and his overall tool kit fits and compliments Goro's core base design while also staying true to the lore of Goro as a character.

Stunt Double Cage- NRS finally adding a more complex layer to Johnny Cage's shadow abilities was a very welcome change. A lot of changes to characters didn't make sense, but this change to Cage made a lot of sense due to Cage harnessing his shadow powers more effectively against Shinnok and it also just gave Cage a new layer to already established powers. Well done change and a fun variation to boot.


Least Favorite-

Kobu Jutsu Tanya- I'm a big fan of chip damage characters, but I just cannot bring myself to find this design interesting to watch or play as.

Possessed Kenshi- No explanation or context provided for this design and doesn't fit the character of Kenshi at all, just seems like Kenshi is a character lacking enough intrigue for three variations that really speak to the character.

Mournful Kitana- Kitana not throwing fans is like Scorpion not throwing his spear or Sub-zero not freezing people, it just does not work for the character and takes away the feel of playing Kitana as a whole. It is also bland and lazy. If you're gonna give Kitana Jade's staff and other attacks, at least give her several staff strings/normals, staff overhead and I don't care if it makes sense, but they should have just added flash too. Basically what I mean is: if you're gonna take away Kitana's trade mark moves, at least make Mournful (a homage to Jade feel like a fresh, fun/unique experience that makes it feel worthwhile).

Ancestral Kung Jin- Lazy, unoriginal, pretty much all of his arrows are just a rehash/reskin of Green Arrow's arrows (stun arrow functions the same as ice arrow/same for fire arrows). The only Interesting thing is the vampire arrow, but it's not enough to redeem the boring, uninspired variation.

Sorcerer Quan is the coolest character ever. Chip spell is the most fun way to take someone out. Plus, his Down1 is now 6 frames, making the mid-to-high change on Raiden´s Forward1 now redundant. How can you not feel great about that?
LOL so trolly, I love it.
 

xZoro

War God.
My most favorite aesthetically is definitely Crystalline tremor,
My most favorite TO PLAY however, has got to be cryo sub,

My least favorite is all 3 variations of tanya, because she should go back to quan chis lair, (The kitchen) as she isnt welcome here.
 

Under_The_Mayo

Master of Quanculations
@Espio I must agree with you about Stunt Double JC! I picked him up a couple weeks ago and he´s a blast. And so interesting. It´s like having access to Kenshi´s old Spirit Charge but with a rushdown character.
 

The Celebrity

Professional Googler
Favorite: Ronin Takeda... MK got a Ninja Jedi.

Least Favorite (by looks): Tied between all Goros and Full Auto Jacqui.

Least Favorite (from the way its played): Kobu Tanya. What I mean by this is that I think its a cool variation and I love the weapons, but the way its played is very boring. It could be played exciting, but unfortunately she's too good at what she does to really benefit from a different playstyle.
 

omooba

fear the moobs
Favorite Spectral Ermac. He's got swag, grace, a psycho crush. He's got gimmicks doesn't rely on a 5050. I feel like I got to earn my wins. That and it's god damn Ermac!

Least Favorite: Commando Kano. He's just so... bland... I mean I was going to put slasher Jason here but even I find myself using more moves/plus frames and getting more mileage out of his tools. That and we'll he IS Jason after all
IMO he's the best character in the game
please don't eat me tym
 

Groove Heaven

Jobber-baron
Favorite: Markman Erron Black - The first variation I even tried out in this game. The rifle + 2 pistol setup is tight as hell, unload looks awesome, and the cancels are really fun.

Least favorite: Kobu Tanya - Her character design is a little uninspired, and I just don't like her animations. Couple that with how obnoxious Kobu is and it's just...ugh.
 
Fav
Kitana Royal Storm
Erron Black Gunslinger
Liu Kang Dragons Fire (Dualist looks great too)
Scorpion Hellfire
Mileena Piercing (Rav is fun too)
Tanya Dragon Naginata
Cassie Hollywood
Reptile Nimble
Ermac Master Of Souls (Spectral is cool too)
Dvorah Swarm Queen
Raiden Thunder God
Sub Zero Unbreakable




Least Fav
Kitana Mournfull .. I miss the fans
Erron Black ...Idk I like all his variations
Liu Kang Flamefist cause he has no bicycle kick there
Scorpion Inferno..got repeative and annoying
Mileena Ethereal ..lack of good combo enders
Tanya Pyromancer
Cassie Spec Ops
Reptile Noxious
Ermac Mystic ..seems kinda pointless to use
Dvorah Venomous cause her pressure is annoying with that variation
Raiden Master of storms
Sub Zero Grandmaster & Cryomancer ...they annoy me

Idgaf about the other chars or their variations to be honest
 

Gesture Required Ahead

Get on that hook
Fav is Unstoppable. The chain looks really cool and I like the glow effects. Also, RESURRECTION!
2nd is Noxious. One of the few elements in the game that reward defense (not exclusively, but still).
3rd is Commando. A shoto with a Blanka Ball, air Blanka Ball, multi-directional Command Throw and a high/low counter? Sounds like a dream SF character. Too bad he's in the wrong game.

3rd least fav is Unbreakable. Seems like they took Cyber Sub Zero and took out nearly everything that was cool from him and only leave the parry.
2nd least fav is Inferno. It's very out of character for Scorpion. Pre-MKX most would never think of Scorpion as someone who has underlings to help him fight. I mean, his 2 signature moves have the purpose of getting him close to the opponent so why would he be sitting back and summoning demons?
least fav is Brood Mother. You have a cool hoodie character. You take out the hood. That's very insulting.