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Question - Reptile How Good is Reptile?

How good is Reptile?


  • Total voters
    182

Mutton

Noob
B3 and f2 feel like really good pokes to me; many characters cannot punish B34 and spaced right even fewer can.

Right now the issue I'm finding is that he just doesn't really do damage; I'm hitting about 30 with a single bar off everything but a F312 which goes up to close to 40.

Oh, and his combos are a pain in the ass, especially online. Although nobody is blocking b3 xx EX db4 yet, but good lord does he have trouble building meter.

I am miffed that his variants are bland as hell though. I might be leaning towards Nimble; Noxious just doesn't seem to add enough damage, and I've got some ideas for setups to beat armor and let him run his 50/50 using it.
 

YOMI DJT

LIn Kuei Champion
Different variations? His variations are flat out a joke in comparison to the majority of the cast. Most characters got either a zoning, anti zoning, rushdown, grappling or all of the above while reptile got Grundy trait, poor man flash trait and useless variation lol.

Noxious is by far his best imo (damage boost, kills comebacks, and builds meter safely).

Nimble is cool but again requires meter, something Reptile has trouble building. If you could block like Flash could then I'd consider it his best. The fact it doesn't change block stun and reduces chip damage in half really leaves you scratching your head.

Deceptive is literally wasting a bar to cut combos short to do invisible block strings or mixups when his 50/50 is already strong as hell. Oh and he loses stealth while blocking...
I think he is still good and needs to be fully fleshed out and his variations are all viable. Try not to look at what other chars get with all their variations.
 
He's just way too unsafe IMO. As the game progresses and people learn what's what, Reptile will start to get blown up a LOT more because he essentially has no safe pressure. He can zone a little bit and rush down a little bit, but he'll never be the best at any one thing, and he's annoyingly meter-dependent. I still like him but I'm not sure why...
 

Sulfur

Winning feels better when you take a little damage
He's just way too unsafe IMO. As the game progresses and people learn what's what, Reptile will start to get blown up a LOT more because he essentially has no safe pressure. He can zone a little bit and rush down a little bit, but he'll never be the best at any one thing, and he's annoyingly meter-dependent. I still like him but I'm not sure why...
his pressure is in his 50/50 is it not? that's what the tradeoff s for being high risk, you get high reward.
 

dribirut

BLAK FELOW
He's just way too unsafe IMO. As the game progresses and people learn what's what, Reptile will start to get blown up a LOT more because he essentially has no safe pressure. He can zone a little bit and rush down a little bit, but he'll never be the best at any one thing, and he's annoyingly meter-dependent. I still like him but I'm not sure why...
Exactly. People who still think he's really good are the same people who never punish his dash/claw/slide/ballistic off a block string/ overhead jump/ etc
 

XxXAntiJoshXxX

Herpetologist - The Study of The Reptillian
I appreciate it man! I used to be considered one the good Reptile guys, I've made top 16s at Majors before but never in the Top 8, I'm not in that upper godlike level lol.

Reptile imo struggles with exactly what he did in Mk9 except unfortunately it will become worse as this game evolves in my opinion. Reptiles problem in Mk9 was he didn't have a poke game so he was constantly having to put his lifebar on the line using his command dash to escape pressure rather than being able to keep people in check with pokes like the majority of the top tier. Reptile here is the same except his Dash is no longer 6 frames so now he will have to use his Ex slide to get out of pressure since his poke game is the same as his best mid at 9 frames.

So when he faces the top characters that have 0 on block strings with 6 frame pokes or normals there will always be the hesitation of "do I try to poke in hope they are trying another string and risking getting hit by a poke which will leave you subjected to the wide range of 50/50s OR do I continue to block and try to counter poke? In most cases the option of dashing isn't even available since its 7-8 frames now so any 6 frame poke will always beat it out at the highest level.

Its odd really, on paper if you were to compare MK9 vs MKX you could very easily argue MK9 Reptile is better since this Reptile is completely 1 dimensional as his zoning is horrendous and he has to be in your face for 50/50s but the power of 50/50s, especially one as quick as Reptiles does make him REALLY scary on knockdown.

Mk9 Reptile Pros: EX Fb was +1 on block, recovered instantly and had AA properties (forceball animation he got low to the ground and put the forceball in front of him) - 321 string was 0 on block throughout every hit and was hit confirm-able on the last hit - One of the highest damage outputs in the game - Acid Hand (overhead special) could be canceled into on d4 or 321 for a true block string with push back leaving you at only -4. EX Dash was also +5 on block but there was a gap and people could armor out if they had meter - Invis could be used as a pressure tool and was only -2 on block when cancelled into. Forceball were meaty mids and only Mileena could roll under them or Kabals silly d4 could consistently go under them. Builds meter quickly due to projectiles and command dash. Best looking combos in the game with the NJP

Cons: No poke game as I mentioned earlier and one of the slowest AA normals in the game, slide was -2 on hit and an awful combo ender lol.
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MKX Reptile Pros: 0 on block 50/50 although b34 is -7 and can be full combo punished by you guessed it, the top tier characters with 6 frame starters or pokes. F2 has incredible range and can be used to check people advancing and can be used to do Air to Air combos, something he couldn't do at all in Mk9. Slide is actually positive on hit and is a great combo ender with actual follow up options. d4 is still very good and his 21 string is 0 on block, although both hits after it 21(2)(4) are both full combo punishable as they are -8. f4(1)2 is an overhead.

Cons: No safe specials, Everything Reptile does is full combo punishable with or without meter. Forceballs are not meaty mids which means any move that low profiles in this game will go under them leaving his FB ender setups virtually useless since most characters can actually d4 under the forceball while you are trying to advance in. SubZero can actually punish every FB ender with normal slide before Reptile can recover in time. Cannot counter zone or zone at all. His best bet is spit in hopes of a trade since EX forceball barely recovers faster than the normal fb this time around. Does not build meter quickly since he can't use most of his special moves in zoning or in block strings and his main string f412 is -5 and -6 throughout and has to be hit confirmed on the 2nd hit rather than the last. Can no longer do the NJP combo and FBs scale insanely in combos :(

If hes going to want to dream of being with the eventual top tier of this game, I think he needs EX FBs to be meaty mids + on block with instant or better recovery , Klaw needs to be an overhead and safe on block, and he needs at least a 7 frame poke.

Damn that was a lot lol. Even with all this hes still super fun to play just a completely different version of Reptile from the past incarnations with how much of non-zoner he is. What do some of you guys think? @THTB @RM Cossner @Denzell @G4S J360 @colt @R.E.O.

I 100% Agree with all of this. Force Balls need to be mid again, and I feel that Reptile needs either a Safe special OR EXClaw to be an overhead. I seriously miss doing EXForce Balls while Juggling to continue combos. We will have to see what NRS changes in the future.
 
I badly miss the MK9 EX force ball...used to be you could mess with Mileena by charging up an EX slow ball, and if she teleport kicked on reaction she'd get blown up because it actually grew in size/had AA properties. Not anymore.

But that's even not that big of a deal. It's the lack of safe offense that will hurt Reptile most in the end. We have it way better than Kenshi and people like Rapzilla are out there doing work, but what happens when people get wise to the fact that you don't actually have to respect Reptile after a f+4, 1, 2, forceball blockstring? Or really anything? Then you either get bopped then and there or go on the defensive, and that's not somewhere our Zaterran friend wants to be with those slow-ass jabs.

Also his d+4 lost a bit of range. Fuck that.

I probably sound saltier than I actually am...Reptile's still my favorite and he does still have some good points in this game such as high run/walk speed and his new f+2, 1 (and dat flip kick). I just think it's going to be an uphill battle.
 
Reptile is a character that occurs to me as being in the top half. He will give low tier characters a lot of trouble, but the top tiers will probably give him just as much trouble as he gives those low tiers.
 

JHCRANE 14

GO VOLS!!!
I was just watching JWong stream and he said he thinks Reptile could be the worst character in the game. No joke.

I just don't see it.
 

JHCRANE 14

GO VOLS!!!
I badly miss the MK9 EX force ball...used to be you could mess with Mileena by charging up an EX slow ball, and if she teleport kicked on reaction she'd get blown up because it actually grew in size/had AA properties. Not anymore.

But that's even not that big of a deal. It's the lack of safe offense that will hurt Reptile most in the end. We have it way better than Kenshi and people like Rapzilla are out there doing work, but what happens when people get wise to the fact that you don't actually have to respect Reptile after a f+4, 1, 2, forceball blockstring? Or really anything? Then you either get bopped then and there or go on the defensive, and that's not somewhere our Zaterran friend wants to be with those slow-ass jabs.

Also his d+4 lost a bit of range. Fuck that.

I probably sound saltier than I actually am...Reptile's still my favorite and he does still have some good points in this game such as high run/walk speed and his new f+2, 1 (and dat flip kick). I just think it's going to be an uphill battle.
Unsafe offense? You are correct in that he is unsafe on all specials but he has a ton of safe normals.
 

JHCRANE 14

GO VOLS!!!
I 100% Agree with all of this. Force Balls need to be mid again, and I feel that Reptile needs either a Safe special OR EXClaw to be an overhead. I seriously miss doing EXForce Balls while Juggling to continue combos. We will have to see what NRS changes in the future.
Ok, I'm playing the game right now and it says Forceballs hit mid. The opponent can not neutral crouch them. Am I missing something?
 

JHCRANE 14

GO VOLS!!!
I appreciate it man! I used to be considered one the good Reptile guys, I've made top 16s at Majors before but never in the Top 8, I'm not in that upper godlike level lol.

Reptile imo struggles with exactly what he did in Mk9 except unfortunately it will become worse as this game evolves in my opinion. Reptiles problem in Mk9 was he didn't have a poke game so he was constantly having to put his lifebar on the line using his command dash to escape pressure rather than being able to keep people in check with pokes like the majority of the top tier. Reptile here is the same except his Dash is no longer 6 frames so now he will have to use his Ex slide to get out of pressure since his poke game is the same as his best mid at 9 frames.

So when he faces the top characters that have 0 on block strings with 6 frame pokes or normals there will always be the hesitation of "do I try to poke in hope they are trying another string and risking getting hit by a poke which will leave you subjected to the wide range of 50/50s OR do I continue to block and try to counter poke? In most cases the option of dashing isn't even available since its 7-8 frames now so any 6 frame poke will always beat it out at the highest level.

Its odd really, on paper if you were to compare MK9 vs MKX you could very easily argue MK9 Reptile is better since this Reptile is completely 1 dimensional as his zoning is horrendous and he has to be in your face for 50/50s but the power of 50/50s, especially one as quick as Reptiles does make him REALLY scary on knockdown.

Mk9 Reptile Pros: EX Fb was +1 on block, recovered instantly and had AA properties (forceball animation he got low to the ground and put the forceball in front of him) - 321 string was 0 on block throughout every hit and was hit confirm-able on the last hit - One of the highest damage outputs in the game - Acid Hand (overhead special) could be canceled into on d4 or 321 for a true block string with push back leaving you at only -4. EX Dash was also +5 on block but there was a gap and people could armor out if they had meter - Invis could be used as a pressure tool and was only -2 on block when cancelled into. Forceball were meaty mids and only Mileena could roll under them or Kabals silly d4 could consistently go under them. Builds meter quickly due to projectiles and command dash. Best looking combos in the game with the NJP

Cons: No poke game as I mentioned earlier and one of the slowest AA normals in the game, slide was -2 on hit and an awful combo ender lol.
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MKX Reptile Pros: 0 on block 50/50 although b34 is -7 and can be full combo punished by you guessed it, the top tier characters with 6 frame starters or pokes. F2 has incredible range and can be used to check people advancing and can be used to do Air to Air combos, something he couldn't do at all in Mk9. Slide is actually positive on hit and is a great combo ender with actual follow up options. d4 is still very good and his 21 string is 0 on block, although both hits after it 21(2)(4) are both full combo punishable as they are -8. f4(1)2 is an overhead.

Cons: No safe specials, Everything Reptile does is full combo punishable with or without meter. Forceballs are not meaty mids which means any move that low profiles in this game will go under them leaving his FB ender setups virtually useless since most characters can actually d4 under the forceball while you are trying to advance in. SubZero can actually punish every FB ender with normal slide before Reptile can recover in time. Cannot counter zone or zone at all. His best bet is spit in hopes of a trade since EX forceball barely recovers faster than the normal fb this time around. Does not build meter quickly since he can't use most of his special moves in zoning or in block strings and his main string f412 is -5 and -6 throughout and has to be hit confirmed on the 2nd hit rather than the last. Can no longer do the NJP combo and FBs scale insanely in combos :(

If hes going to want to dream of being with the eventual top tier of this game, I think he needs EX FBs to be meaty mids + on block with instant or better recovery , Klaw needs to be an overhead and safe on block, and he needs at least a 7 frame poke.

Damn that was a lot lol. Even with all this hes still super fun to play just a completely different version of Reptile from the past incarnations with how much of non-zoner he is. What do some of you guys think? @THTB @RM Cossner @Denzell @G4S J360 @colt @R.E.O.
Ah, ok. Meaty mids. I understand now.
 

DubiousShenron

Beware my power.
Reptile is very good. He has an amzing set of tools, but he doesnt excel at any of them, well, maybe he excels at movement, but his mixup and zoning game is sub par. I would also like to notew that Nimble variation has insane meter build for this game and the f412 combos into Basilisk build 1/2 a meter back so doing a Basilisk combos takes essentially 1/2 a bar which is sick for reptile since he depends on meter a lot.

Reptile seems very strong but it will take skilled hands to take him to the top. He is EXTREMELY setup oriented and his playstyle is a lot more scientific/experimental than characters like GM sub and Bowjutsu
 
Unsafe offense? You are correct in that he is unsafe on all specials but he has a ton of safe normals.
But none of those safe normals are legitimately good blockstrings or lead into any sort of damage (AFAIK). Kung Jin out here getting 27-30% off a jab.
 

JHCRANE 14

GO VOLS!!!
But none of those safe normals are legitimately good blockstrings or lead into any sort of damage (AFAIK). Kung Jin out here getting 27-30% off a jab.
When you say Kung Jin getting 27% off a jab I guess your talking about the d1 on an airborne opponent? Because Reptile can get an easy 20% doing that too.

Also if I'm not mistaken isn't Kung Lao's Spin the fastest start up move in the game and Reptile can block the reversal on his f412 string. How is that not a good block string?

Maybe I'm seeing something wrong here.
 
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When you say Kung Jin getting 27% off a jab I guess your talking about the d1 on an airborne opponent? Because Reptile can get an easy 20% doing that too.

Also if I'm not mistaken isn't Kung Lao's Spin the fastest start up move in the game and Reptile can block the reversal on his f412 string. How is that not a good block string?

Maybe I'm seeing something wrong here.
That is stance specific, for some reason you push back further in open stance making it work there but not closed.

Reptile is safe though, I don't get people in this thread. The on hit OS is a thing, you can easily OS it into combo starting specials to get more out of your VERY safe options.

Now a more valid complaint would be that he has no fast normals to make use of his vast amount of neutral on block normals, which is actually a problem.

Reptile seems pretty damn solid to me, I don't have much in game experience with him because online is terrible and offline only happens every so often, (plus I main Kotal not Reptile) but Reptile seems to have plenty of options for pretty much every situation, including a 5 frame punisher which is incredible I think.

His damage is only average, but damage is far from being everything, especially when a character has such a diverse toolset as Reptile seems to.
 

tatterbug4

Bug of tater's
He's very good dependent in match up.

Unsafe on everything I don't know what yall are talking about. His OH is safe his b34 is almost un punishable and his damage happens a lot because of his set ups
 

NRF CharlieMurphy

Kindergarten Meta
Deceptive has the unique ability to tank a hit and not take damage

So normal invis can tank one hit

ExInvis can tank the hit and use the start up armor.

I still think that both normal invis and basillisk should last as long as they do now... but startup in less frames. right now they're pretty hard to get out there at all. Which makes these two variations starve your meter.

the ex versions should have 1-2 frames shaved off the time to execute and last 3 seconds longer...

and for the love of..... add some damage to his f21 and b2. Especially since f21 REQUIRES meter to even combo and is by far his best whiff punish tool.

they do nothing... which leads to his shit damage. Everything scales fine... those two just need to do MORE initial damage.

If they aren't going to make the normal claw an OH... then his Pounce should let him get more than a simply combo when it lands in the neutral.

I don't think he sucks.... and maybe the REST of the stupid good characters will fall down to where he is now