Question - Kotal Kahn Which are Kotal's best variations?

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

I hated MKX for the first few months. I could not pick a character, I was super emo about Nightwolf, Kotal was shit, 50/50s were everywhere, run mechanics suck...yadda yadda yadda. Everyone has felt this way at some point unless that someone has won over 100k playing it.

Anyways

Patch hits and everyone loses their fucking minds! Kano botom 5, Kenshi botton 5 Kotal top 10. Wait wtf? Kotal top 10? I don't know that I buy it. Alucard...aka the best Nightwing...is a god with Kotal. Some may call him a "War God" get it?

Anyways

War god was by far his only viable variation people said. Everything was unsafe and he had no good armor but now with the Patch he is top 10? I'll be honest, for the first time I'm really into the game. Its not my favorite game. Ill still put in Destiny over this most days, but I'm having fun with Kotal for the first time and actually trying to learn MU.

So which is it? Which are his best? Is War God still #1? Does Sun God's new buffs make him better? Blood God's damage is highest in game and it can actually be done in game? Below is all the Kotal buffs and what I want to know is...which ones are the best and why?

Also please tell me if he is actually top 10 and why?

• Kotal Kahn - Adjusted several regular attack collisions to hit more consistently on ducking opponents and in combos
• Kotal Kahn - Away+FP has 9 startup frames (down from 10)
• Kotal Kahn - Away+BP now low crushes and has 25 startup frames (down from 27)
• Kotal Kahn - Towards+FP,BP is now -6 on block (up from -14)
• Kotal Kahn - Air Takedown attack priority now happens on frame4 (down from 8)
• Kotal Kahn - Mace Parry & Master Mace Parry now works against most projectiles
• Kotal Kahn - Mace Parry now has 7 startup frames (down from 9) and Master Mace Parry now has 1 startup frame (down from 4)
• Kotal Kahn (Blood God) - Kotal now gains meter on being hit and when blocking while Obsidian Totem is active
• Kotal Kahn (Blood God) - Blood Offering will now add its damage to an active Blood Totem
• Kotal Kahn (War God) - Sword Shake & Sword Quake are now a hard knockdown
• Kotal Kahn (Sun God) - has a new move Soul Spark (Towards,Down,Away,FK) which will grant him 1 level of Sun God Power
• Kotal Kahn (Sun God) - Increased the life gain from Soul Scorch and meter gain from Soul Burn

 

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

@Pnut
@Mr Aquaman
@UltraDavid
@LeeVanDam
@Qwark28
idk who to tag lol

 

[DelSchokoladenSaft]

Idk, all seem pretty equal now. Really, tag me man.

 

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

@DelSchokoladenSaft

 

[Kingshootahz]

Top 10 nah I used to play war God and some sun God and even with these buffs kotal doesn't have all the tools of a top tier character, you can still stuff blood God's offense, you can still stop sun God's advances, war god is still easy to telegraph and you will still eat zoning for breakfast, lunch and dinner even If you don't like the taste of it. He shines in comebacks that's what I'll give him and he relies heavily on controlling the momentum in the match if he loses his footing he's gonna eat all the 50/50s,true vortexes,corner shutdowns and zoning shutdowns in the game. I'm u not downplaying him, he's just still a lot of work but if you like him shit don't let me stop you go ahead I'd say they are all viable sun God especially with his new I can go supersaiyan charge up no more having to land your grabs just gotta be on top of your game always.

 

[Mr Aquaman]

War God is still the most tournament viable imo. Sun God will take awhile to learn but will see great play. I heard alucards been messing with him, so if true I am very interested too see the new tricks in play. Blood god is mu dependent. Games last very long with defense totem and you can get xray in every round. I just started this style and it's scary. New blood totem is sick if you connect a f1b2. Full combo into blood sac then any next combo is a kill combo meterless with obsidian totem out as well. Projectile antispam tool. If there's recovery a parry xray is a momentum or game changer and added dmg. But war god, I can write forever. Respect the paddle.

 

[Hellbringer]

Im playing alot more with bloodgod then i used to. The b1 buff changed alot for his game and the airthrow working better. I still feel wargod is best variation but in some mu's i prefer bloodgod wich wasnt the case prepatch.

 

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

War God is still the most tournament viable imo. Sun God will take awhile to learn but will see great play. I heard alucards been messing with him, so if true I am very interested too see the new tricks in play. Blood god is mu dependent. Games last very long with defense totem and you can get xray in every round. I just started this style and it's scary. New blood totem is sick if you connect a f1b2. Full combo into blood sac then any next combo is a kill combo meterless with obsidian totem out as well. Projectile antispam tool. If there's recovery a parry xray is a momentum or game changer and added dmg. But war god, I can write forever. Respect the paddle.

Talk to me about blood totum

 

[SHAOLIN]

Like Mr Aquaman, said War God is still Top 8 material ( meaning its a VERY good chance you'll see him in Top 8 of a major).

Its just with these new buffs, Sun God & Blood God are tournament viable now.

 

[BigMilk]

Just so you know, it was a completely different alucard than the one who played nightwing

 

[mattnin]

Blood God is my favorite to play but I still feel Sun God is better and War God even better than that. In my opinion, the best buff of the last patch was b1, and all Kotal variations received that. The parry buff is good to have, but still just doesn't compare to the mixup potential that War God has and his increased pressure due to b1. Sun God Choke has more use than totems in my opinion.

That being said, I'm happy where Blood God is on the tier list. He's not worst, he's not the best, and generally people respect Blood God players and give kudos more. Is he tournament viable, not really.

 

[mattnin]

War God is still the most tournament viable imo. Sun God will take awhile to learn but will see great play. I heard alucards been messing with him, so if true I am very interested too see the new tricks in play. Blood god is mu dependent. Games last very long with defense totem and you can get xray in every round. I just started this style and it's scary. New blood totem is sick if you connect a f1b2. Full combo into blood sac then any next combo is a kill combo meterless with obsidian totem out as well. Projectile antispam tool. If there's recovery a parry xray is a momentum or game changer and added dmg. But war god, I can write forever. Respect the paddle.

I'd sure like to see some of your new BG gameplay. If you have any videos or plan on streaming, please let us know!

 

[Rager Da Prince]

I honestly feel sun his is best variation , After watching the Tom fuzzy guard WGKk video. Tho I kinda always felt SGKK was better.

 

[Rager Da Prince]

O and please tag me next time.

 

[TodaysAgenda]

War god is still the most tournament viable IMO but the patch did add a lot to Kotal. I think the best changes were the 9 frame b1, increased priority on air grab, the ability to go to lvl 3 in SG, and making the obsidian totem build meter. I don't believe Kotal is a top ten character (he's ridiculously solid), however in a skilled players hands like @Mr Aquaman or Alucard he can definitely make top 8's and perhaps even win.

Blood god is fun and helps to learn footsies, neutral, and how to play Kotal better overall since the options are so limited in the variation, but I still think it is his weakest variation. Constantly putting up the obsidian totem means an xray practically every round, tons of meter for breaker, and rounds lasting a minimum of 40 seconds as you can easily take 200% damage before actually losing (lol)

Now if BG would receive an armored launcher it would be a different story

 

[Jeffrey Wolf]

With the recent patch, my characters either received multiple buffs (i.e. Kotal and Sub) or nerf/buffs (i.e. Mileena, Reptile, and Tremor). Needles to say, I had a fair bit of lab work ahead of me to figure out where everyone fell, and still do, but a few days ago, looking at all the info, I settled on Blood God and plan to use him almost exclusively for GBS season 3, which I'll be able to attend much more frequently than season 2.

While I agree with what people have said about War God (better mixups, armored launcher, etc.) and definitely think that it's easier to beat newer players with him (i.e. he's great for getting you out of pools), at the highest level, I think Blood God can be just as viable. The problem is, to get to that level, you need to be very strategic about your Totem choices, as well as Offering and Ray, in addition to knowing Parry inside and out, and all optimum combo setups (i.e. the OTKs), which is going to take quite awhile. However, I find the challenge and level of research associated with this interesting, thus my decision to main him.

As for the exact things that I think make BG viable:

- The change to Obsidian Totem's meter gain. As people have already said, the meter this gives him is crazy. Not only will it give you X-Ray every round, but you'll probably still have a bar or two to spare for extending combos. This is huge, as one of BG's biggest weaknesses is his wake up, but now you have his X-Ray, which is one of the best in the cast: it's safe, hits airborne opponents, and can connect full screen, which gives him a new offensive tool as well. If his X-Ray wasn't so great, this buff wouldn't be as important, but the way it is? Wow, it's wonderful. Also, of course, with increased meter you can max damage anytime you do connect, as well as use Breaker more frequently (though I'm not a fan of that tactic), which will further extend the length of the round.

- While on Totems, the change to Blood Totem. Previously, Blood Totem was very isolated in its use, only really being effective if you were trying to deny the opponent Breaker, but these situations were few and far between, as not many combos allowed you to add a Totem mid combo, and putting a Blood Totem out in the neutral was risky, as one hit and it's gone. Now though, with how it functions with Offering, it's definitely worthwhile. Not only do you get all of your health back from the Offering when the Blood Totem ends, but you get a big chunk of meter, just from the Offering! Obviously, Blood Totem is still tricky to get off, but the fact that it makes your Offerings free, plus gives you meter, in addition to its regular applications, without a doubt a Totem you should try to incorporate into your game plan. It's almost as if the designers knew this when they gave us a faster B1.

- Not only does having a faster B1, that hits crouchers more frequently, do all of the regular things you would expect, but it also makes using it mid combo easier, which in turn makes Toteming mid combo more viable. In fact, nearly all of BG's bnbs can now sneak in a Totem. If you already have a Totem out, this is irrelevant, of course, but if not, this can be the perfect time to add in a Crystal Totem for the additional damage and follow up chip, or a Blood Totem for the knock away Offering set up. Please don't think I'm saying that Kotal couldn't do this before. For the most part he could. But the changes to B1 make these combos more consistent and more damaging, and thus more viable replacements for his usual bnbs. If that wasn't enough, the utility of the new Blood Totem setups make these combos all the more worthwhile.

- Parry buff. As mentioned previously, learning all of the applications of Parry, as well as the timing, is going to take a long time. However, out of all of the characters in the game, BG has the best risk/reward when it comes to a Parry. Characters like Kitana, Kano, Sonya, and Liu Kang take a medium risk (because they recover fairly quickly), for a medium reward (for most, a set amount of damage; Sonya is the best, since she can meter burn for a full combo or get even more damage for an X-Ray, but that's three bars). Characters like Unbreakable Sub and Sun God take a high risk (since they recover fairly slowly), for a good reward (Unbreakable usually gets 30%ish meterless and Sun God can, as we all know, dish out considerable damage, especially if the recovery of the Parried move allows for a full F2 combo). BG though, can either take a low risk, with Obsidian Totem out (since even a big combo will only do 15-20% damage to him), for almost the same solid reward as SG, or he can take a bigger risk, with no Totem out or Crystal out, for a huge reward (50-60% combos, or even more). So, because of the changes that were made to give Parry more viability and the fact that BG can manipulate the risk/reward, I think in time, it will be a defining part of the character.

Obviously, I could talk about this all day, lol, but this is getting a bit long, so I'll stop there. Hope that helps!

 

[Sage Leviathan]

War God is probably best simply due to the armored OH launcher.
Sun God and Blood God seem to compensate for what the other does not have, and have promptly risen on the tier list. Sun God seems to build the most meter of the three. Obsidian Totem is now one of the best specials in the game.

Something that's actually very important: War God and Sun God can convert midscreen off of b122. Blood God cannot.

Not top ten yet, but he's getting there.

 

[Mr Aquaman]

Jeff hit some heads with the BG buffs, there is no downfall to blood totem over crystal after say a f1b2 punish. F1b2 crystal gets you 44% avg max. Well blood will net you mid 30's, stop there meter gain, gain meter, gain a great amount of health, and net you a free blood offering to end the combo, the combo ends right before totem ends so its almost guaranteed to get the health and meter off. Depending on whether your opponent wakes up or if you ended with a full screen KD you can crystal up, and then the next strike will kill. Or you can Obsidian to lame out while sitting on a damage buff'd strike or punish on deck while still getting meter, and taking half damage, and at this point, XRAY may already be in play, almost half lifer, which would be round in theory. Fun Stuff.

 

[Jeffrey Wolf]

@Sage Leviathan, BG can combo off of B12 into AA Grab, which is what you'll be hit confirming into most of the time anyway. Plus, BG can combo into X-Ray off of B122 mid screen, which I just found out the the day. Obviously, B12, EN AA Grab is the more efficient choice, but man did it feel swag =)

 

[Jeffrey Wolf]

Btw, good luck to all Kotals at TFC this weekend. I'll be cheering for you!

 

[Error404]

War god and Sun god will always have better mix-ups and wake up options. Although the feeling of hitting 60+% in a real matchs is amazing.

 

[DoctorSexual]

If we were ranking tools in terms of importance for this fighting system, without including every single tool type, I would personally rank them something like this.

Top tier
1. Safety
2. Armor
3. Mixup potential (50/50s)


Mid
4. Space control (teleports, mobility, projectiles)
5. Wakeups
6. Pokes

Low
8. Raw damage
9. Buff abilities

In Blood and Sun, Kotal is severely lacking in or completely missing 1,2,3,4 and 5.

War can be considered deficient in many of those categories as well, although not to as great of an extent.

In summary, I dont think Blood or Sun will ever be tournament viable in their current form and in order to make them truly viable we're still gonna need some huge additions.

 

[DavS13]

Jeff hit some heads with the BG buffs, there is no downfall to blood totem over crystal after say a f1b2 punish. F1b2 crystal gets you 44% avg max. Well blood will net you mid 30's, stop there meter gain, gain meter, gain a great amount of health, and net you a free blood offering to end the combo, the combo ends right before totem ends so its almost guaranteed to get the health and meter off. Depending on whether your opponent wakes up or if you ended with a full screen KD you can crystal up, and then the next strike will kill. Or you can Obsidian to lame out while sitting on a damage buff'd strike or punish on deck while still getting meter, and taking half damage, and at this point, XRAY may already be in play, almost half lifer, which would be round in theory. Fun Stuff.

What are your inputs for crystal totem combo off of f1b2? I can get 40% max with f1b2 db1 b14 ex grab b14 grab. Also for the blood totem combo off of f1b2 how do you end with blood sacrifice? Seems to me that ending in f12 is the best to push them full screen, get the blood sacrifice, and having the totem almost guaranteed to expire without getting hit.

 

[Jeffrey Wolf]

The most consistent F1B2 Crystal combo, for me anyway, is F1B2, CT, B14, EN AA Grab, F2, B14, AA Grab = 46%. So, identical to yours, just sneak an F2 in there. If you want to get fancy though, you can do F1B2, CT, D1, F2, B14, EN AA Grab, F2, D2 = 48%, but it's tight.

As for Offering setup enders, it's very screen/character dependent, but D2 and Throw work fairly well, as does 114 canceled into Offering in certain combos, as well as F1B2 into Offering.

 

[UltraDavid]

Personally I feel Sun God is now his best. I'd say sun, then war, then blood, but that all three are viable.

I think sun is the best because there's no range where he has no options. War can still get zoned out, but with parry and sun charge, sun can deal with zoning while making the opponent not even want to zone. Midrange, all the Kotals now have safe options and a real antiair grab, so war god's ability to end strings in df2 for safety is less important, although still good. Sun's command grab mixups are no less safe and in some situations safer than war god's overhead and low. F12 being safe really opened up the command grab imo, since it gives a credible tool in midrange/pressure that opponents have to respect on block more. The grab/not grab mixups also lead to more damage more consistently than war overhead/low mixups imo.

That said, war still has extra safety in strings, controls more ranges, and has better wakeup attacks, and those are all important.

So I feel sun is more versatile, but it's also a matchup thing. Where Kotal wants to get in, I think sun is better. Where Kotal needs to control space and have good armored moves to escape bad situations, I think war is better.

All that said, the one I've actually been playing most is blood heh. I agree with the posters above about the improved totems being good and parry making anti-zoning more viable. In fact blood might have the best anti-zoning options for Kotal. On one hand, putting up a crystal and parrying a fireball makes your next ex sunstone do ridiculous damage on hit or block, and the opp has to respect the danger of trading. On the other, putting up a defense totem means you can walk and block or parry and not worry about the chip or mistiming a parry and eating like 4%. It's also just really fun to make decisions about which totems to use when. Getting good at it is hard but there's a really high ceiling there imo! Too bad about blood's lack of mixups, but with faster b1 and safe f12 Kotal can make some pretty credible frame traps, and blood god can capitalize on them like no other.

Anyway, I see sun and war as being legit contenders to win a major. Blood god I'm not sure but I think it can make real top 8s. Kotal is good!