Match Footage - Kotal Kahn Kotal Kahn Video thread

[Graviton Six]

You do realise the irony in you saying you dislike top tier characters with safe rushdown, 50 50s or zoning and then saying Honeybee using D'Vorah who has all these is an exception, right?

Difference is her rushdown is high execution and after the nerfs her cancel links are 1 frame I think. There is a reason why Honeybee is like the only D Vorah doing so well in tournys, everyone else is busy going for the easier rushdown characters like Sonya, Cassie, Erron, Tanya, Kung Lao.

I watched most of the matches and I never felt like he was just hoping for knockdowns, his reads and footisies helped him the most. I mean he even beat Sonicfox's Tanya and forced him to switch to Erron. I was impressed by his skill, not by his character.

 

[Buiu]

@Jeffrey Wolf . super happy with may performance not so much with how i did against Nikolasss' ermac i should have stoped jumping her is the @GGA Wafflez of anti-airs in mkx. but afterwards i beat Rm devils ermac off stream. i think im getting better every week against Dizzy, placing right under the best player this community has is a huge confidence booster. i love Kotal and look forward to competing at evo.
-and yes ive played my teammates so often that they will punish the gaps after F1 B2 or b122 and 114 so ive learned to either do overhead sword (it is punishable but ive noticed if they are looking to armor they either will get hit or just not punish) or do nothing(ie. do b122 nothing to bait out a enhanced shocker and punish it, jeep in mind b122 is negative but some moves cant punish so study your match ups)
- using enhanced sword toss in pressure is amazing if they dont have a bar for armor, it sets up for a throw, more pressure , it pushes to the corner, and build another bar if done correctly. it makes your the enemy play your game and feel uncomfortable.
thanks for the props

pretty much this, u resumed the mind game right there. i just think de d4 and d4 canceled in the special are the most valuable tool for high level matches, since good player dont wanna jump randomly and eat the hammer

jc np ex for example punish EVERY especial follow up,in every string, amored or not, no gimmicks. its a nightmare

see the match kitana prime vs alucard on ceo, he amored f1b2 everytime, and its a easy reversal to do on reaction.

 

[mattnin]

Does anyone know if there is any Alucard video out there of CEO and where to find?

 

[Jeffrey Wolf]

@mattnin, you'll need to sift through this:

http://www.twitch.tv/teamsp00ky/v/6652007

Happened upon an early Alucard match at the 54 min mark.

 

[Jeffrey Wolf]

Kitana Prime match is at 1:35:00

 

[Klesk_1]

Check this match out. Kotal Vs Grandmasters Sub - He was taking the absolute pi$$! LOL

 

[Hellbringer]

Check this match out. Kotal Vs Grandmasters Sub - He was taking the absolute pi$$! LOL

So you critisize quark for playing against what u call a bad player when this player was 100 times worse? Interesting

 

[Klesk_1]

So you critisize quark for playing against what u call a bad player when this player was 100 times worse? Interesting

the point of my video wasn't to show off my level of play which is typically demonstrated against someone who is equally good. This was to show how bad HE is and more importantly what a lot of my ranked matches are like. I am neither good or pro, nor pretend to be.

 

[Mr Aquaman]

Great display of War God v Summoner Quan

Don't let him breathe, for reference this man was 3-0 against me in tourny till this point, and lost to angelo in 3 mirrors by 1 hit, he's an amazing quan

And Hollywood Cassie, this man was top 8 at TCW

 

[Buiu]

Great display of War God v Summoner Quan

Don't let him breathe, for reference this man was 3-0 against me in tourny till this point, and lost to angelo in 3 mirrors by 1 hit, he's an amazing quan

And Hollywood Cassie, this man was top 8 at TCW

its good to see you playing wg again. Much better imho

 

[Mr Aquaman]

its good to see you playing wg again. Much better imho

Playing only Blood for awhile def helped me with kotals buttons, having less to no options increases foosies 100% haha

Once the rust was off + armored launcher = success

 

[Jeffrey Wolf]

@Mr Aquaman, thanks for posting these. Definitely helps to see theory in action.

I assume your thoughts are similar on the Ermac match up? I made it to loser's finals at GGA, but then got bodied by N1k0lasss, and I'm not looking to repeat the mistake.

 

[Mr Aquaman]

@Mr Aquaman, thanks for posting these. Definitely helps to see theory in action.

I assume your thoughts are similar on the Ermac match up? I made it to loser's finals at GGA, but then got bodied by N1k0lasss, and I'm not looking to repeat the mistake.

Very similar.

Here are some things I noticed, you got him corner a few times in game 1. He armored just fine the first time around when you neutral jumped into a B1 I believe. When hes sitting on a bar you can OS a b1 or f1 into armor to beat it, if you want to cover all options toss an ex low his way. That way you are not punishable just in case he blocks high. I started using it more and more recently in a few mu and its helping. Especially Tanya. The second time you got him cornered you 114 threw into plus frames and went for throw, not even going to say that's not a good option, but I would have made him respect the plus frames before going for it, unless its someone I play a lot and knows the data. Third time around you did the ever beautiful df2 ender. Forward dash njp to mess up his inputs, then you d1 into mixup, he gets a hellova jump out. So its mostly bad luck that whole match. Try keeping is classy with a b12 or b14 shennany into mixup or since you had meter into a nice mb toss to build another bar and force another mixup. Which if he knows the MU he will try and armor out and you can use this as a bait situation as well. Match his meter build with air toss full screen, or check him with a god ray to force movement in. Game 2 you had a great jump read and f2 dropped, I also have this problem. f1b2 may be the better option to hit more consistently.

Just a few things I saw. Great kotal though!

Feel free to critique mine as well, I am far more open nowadays then my stubborn ares days

Also any shinnok advice lol, I always keep it close but man that char is a problem

 

[Jeffrey Wolf]

@Mr Aquaman, thanks for the advice. Most of my "fixes" after rewatching the footage were different from yours, so I really appreciate the alternate perspective. I'm especially intrigued by the B1 OS armor move, on the opponent's wake up, you mention, as that's something I haven't played around with yet, but could work quite well against a slower character like Ermac. Good call.

As for your matches above, I didn't notice much in the way of lost opportunities. In fact, I was mainly impressed by your conversions in a few tough instances, as well as your character knowledge, regarding the gap in Cassie's forward advancing string. My only big critic would be about your use of Kotal's F12 string. A slow character like Quan can't effectively punish it, but faster characters like Cassie definitely can, so you should be careful about relying on it too much or it will come back to bite you if you ever slip into autopilot.

In terms of the Shinnok match up, sure thing. After the nerf to his meterburn Hellsparks, I don't find him to be nearly the problem he was before. In either Impostor or Bone, you'll have to deal with the vortex, but the vortex, due to the frames, is fairly predictable. Since the low is the fastest, that should always be your default, and then you wait to react to the overhead (which is tough at 18 frames, but feasible). Also, keep in mind that he can only continue to the low combo (at least in Impostor) if he has a meter, so if he doesn't, you can default to the overhead. The throw is definitely a pain to stop and hurts with the damage buff, but if he uses it, it's actually good, since now you're out of the vortex. Really, the Shinnok player should only throw to close out the round, or perhaps when out of meter, so those are two good times to watch for it, teching based on where the nearest corner is. Beyond that, it's important to keep in mind that Shinnok's only viable wake up in Impostor is the EN Shoulder Rush and in Bone is the EN Low Sweep, both of which are full combo punishable. That means you can abuse him when he has no meter, and even when he has meter, in Impostor, the risk/reward for his EN Shoulder Rush is so bad that if he hits you with it, it's not a big deal. Lastly, for his Hellspark pressure, now that it's only +14, you can often jump out, as you see me do at the 38 second mark and 2:12, or armor through, at 2:48:

I hope this video also helps show the rest of what I've discussed, against a skilled player, as I think most would agree that GGA Max is a good representative of the Shinnok community. Despite how useful the move is that Shinnok steals, I think in time most Shinnok players will switch to Bone in the Kotal match up and try to zone him, but that's another conversation. Oh, one last thing, regardless of which variation Shinnok is, you can armor through his 1123 string, between the 2 and 3, which is always fun =)

 

[TotallyNotKotalKahn]

Great display of War God v Summoner Quan

Don't let him breathe, for reference this man was 3-0 against me in tourny till this point, and lost to angelo in 3 mirrors by 1 hit, he's an amazing quan

And Hollywood Cassie, this man was top 8 at TCW

the commentator called the f1 "Pork Shoulder" muh sides.

 

[Mr Aquaman]

the commentator called the f1 "Pork Shoulder" muh sides.

hahaha really!?

 

[Mr Aquaman]

@Mr Aquaman, thanks for the advice. Most of my "fixes" after rewatching the footage were different from yours, so I really appreciate the alternate perspective. I'm especially intrigued by the B1 OS armor move, on the opponent's wake up, you mention, as that's something I haven't played around with yet, but could work quite well against a slower character like Ermac. Good call.

As for your matches above, I didn't notice much in the way of lost opportunities. In fact, I was mainly impressed by your conversions in a few tough instances, as well as your character knowledge, regarding the gap in Cassie's forward advancing string. My only big critic would be about your use of Kotal's F12 string. A slow character like Quan can't effectively punish it, but faster characters like Cassie definitely can, so you should be careful about relying on it too much or it will come back to bite you if you ever slip into autopilot.

I was actually having terrible execution error doing f1b2 all night, I finally got back to my old method and corrected it by the weekend, but yeah, that was not meant to happen haha. It cost me winners finals game 3 or 4 I believe.

 

[Jeffrey Wolf]

Ah, makes sense. I hate it when F12 comes out instead of F1B2. Funny enough though, watching your Quan matches made me realize that it can be a good tool against slower characters that you're trying to shove to the corner.

 

[Hellbringer]

Played a set last week vs blake.

 

[Jeffrey Wolf]

@STB Hellbringer, thanks for the upload. Are you looking for a critique or did you just want to share?

 

[Hellbringer]

@STB Hellbringer, thanks for the upload. Are you looking for a critique or did you just want to share?

It would be much apreciated if you can give some pointers on what to improve on and on what i should stop doing. I dont have much knowledge of the kitana mu so would be great to get some tips or just advice in general

 

[Jeffrey Wolf]

Sure thing. I'll add some comments later today/tomorrow.

 

[Harry Otter]

Here's my blood god! My first tie match ever lol

 

[Jeffrey Wolf]

@STB Hellbringer, a lot of good stuff in your matches. I was impressed with how you:

- Used nearly every worthwhile string and unique attack that Kotal has, while also mixing in throws.
- Ended a lot of your strings and pressure with Sword Shake/Cancels. Very few players are using this tech yet.
- Punished Kitana's in your face float with EN OH Sword, though there were other times you missed this opportunity.
- During a lot of the matches, were patient (which you have to be against a character Kitana).
- Chased her down with a really nice F2 ant-air, though you didn't get the full combo conversion.
- Tried to use regular Saw as an anti-air.

Some recommendations:

- After hitting with EN OH Sword, you were using B122 into Sword Throw or Shake. While these can be good setups, I would have like to see you go for the standard F1B1 Saw ender for continued, in your face, oki, to mix it up.
- We didn't use to have to respect Kitana's wakeup, but now we do. You know this I'm sure, it's just an adjustment. As Aquaman recommended to me a bit ago, doing a standing or crouching 1 into EN OH Sword can blow up some character's armored wakeups. I haven't tried this against Kitana yet, but maybe. Not 100% since she goes airborne.
- You used F12 a decent amount. Against a character like Kitana, which has relatively slow buttons, that's not a big deal, but be careful about relying on it too much, or you'll get blown up by other characters.
- Saw very little D1 or D4 pressure.
- I liked the idea behind the EN God Ray in the last match, but I find it often doesn't work out. I think if you had kept the meter, used the other to work your way in behind EN Sword Throw, it could have won you the match.
- Speaking of EN Sword Throw, I didn't see much block pressure. The second 1 in 114 might whiff on her, can't remember, but you can use strings with gaps to achieve the same effect (i.e. B122), especially when she doesn't have meter.
- OS the F1B2 string will give you the best risk/reward. This is something I still need to work on too.

Again though, solid play overall. Hope the above helps!

 

[Jeffrey Wolf]

@ADMIRALpancake, wow, I've never seen that. Is it only on match point that both characters get more life?