Konqrr
MK11 Kabal = MK9 Kitana
When you discuss or list what you think the matchups are, please do so in alphabetical order. Also, they should be listed in either whole numbers or .5 notations.
Matchups are being updated slowly. I will keep adding information as I find time.
7-3 - Baraka
8-2 - Cyber Sub-Zero
Kitana controls the air which shuts down dive kick. It is very difficult for him to get in. Teleport is very unsafe. Even if the CSZ player does it on reaction to an iAF, he still doesn't recover in time to do anything. Teleport is punished by 2~lift. If Kitana has a significant life lead, it is nearly impossible for CSZ to make a comeback. Kitana is one of the few characters that can easily escape the EX Bomb -> EX Freeze trap.
5-5 - Cyrax
Cyrax has a difficult time landing a net on her, but when he does... she loses at least 50%.
5-5 - Ermac
Blocked lift or teleport means 45% combo. Force push shuts down iAF from anywhere but fullscreen, but is nullified by dash blocking. 3/4 screen whiffed force push nets Kitana 40% one bar. Ermac unsafe moves are extremely unsafe when blocked where Kitana's unsafe moves are not punished by big damage.
After Kitana blocks a force push, she can attack with f21. It is not a guaranteed punish, but Ermac is forced to block this or eat a 45% combo. When he starts respecting this option, Kitana can dash block to get in his face.
4-6 - Freddy
Kitana has a very difficult time getting in and building meter. Freddy's big hitbox allows Kitana to pressure him easily when she gets in.
6-4 - Jade
Kitana wins the footsie battle, does way more damage, and nullifies Jade's d3 to avoid crossups and pressure with jump kick -> air fans.
5-5 - Jax
Kitana's low hitbox takes away one of Jax's best pressure tools, f413.
6-4 - Johnny Cage
3-7 - Kabal
Kabal owns the air where Kitana reigns. True iABGs hit Kitana out of ground fan throw which is her only option against iAGB until she is in range. Once Kitana gets in, Kabal's up close game is much better than hers so she must rely on fan damage and projectile advantage to get him to the corner.
Kitana's 2 hits Kabal out of all of his wakeup options and trades with the wakeup saw.
7-3 - Kano
Kitana has way better footsies than Kano. Upball is punished by 21 into whatever she wants. Normal ball is punished by 45%+ combos. It is an uphill battle for Kano.
2-8 - Kenshi
Kenshi is THE anti-Kitana character. He shuts her down in every aspect. She must make good reads (aka guesses) to punish him, and punish hard when she does. Every spirit barge he hits her with gives him a free blocked overhead which builds him a quarter bar of meter.
6-4 - Kung Lao
While it may be hard for Kung Lao to catch her, he has options to punish her every move if he positions himself correctly for them. She punishes him hard. Shaolin fist is punished by 21 into the combo of her choice. Teleport i3 is punished by 2~fan, 4~lift for over 40%.
5-5 - Liu Kang
Footsies. Zoning battle. Liu's low fireball completely shuts down her iAF game, so she has to get in range to make them unsafe. Her d1 is punished by b312 into 37% or 43% in the corner with no meter. If he is waiting for a d1, he is open to pressure and throws which open her superior ground game. He has no safe wakeup moves, all of them are punished for 45%.
6-4 - Mileena
6-4 - Nightwolf
d1 completely shuts down Nightwolf's offense. Nightwolf f31 is duckable on the second hit and punished by full combo. Kitana has no safe answer to avoid unblockable lightning after a shoulder charge.
6-4 - Noob Saibot
Kitana almost always gets the first hit bonus with d1 (blocked shadow is punished by ff~d1). Up shadow is punished by f21 or ex fan. Once Noob is cornered, he has no safe way out and he gets cornered easily.
7-3 - Quan Chi
5-5 - Raiden
6-4 - Rain
5-5 - Reptile
7-3 - Scorpion
5-5 - Sektor
6-4 - Shang Tsung
I do not have much exp here. From what I have experienced, she has no safe distance to throw iAF except from absolute fullscreen. Shang's f434 whiffs a ducking blocking Kitana on the second hit, she can mash d1 to get out.
8-2 - Sheeva
Telestomp is a non-issue due to square boost. You can iAF all day on Sheeva and there isn't much she can do about it.
6-4 - Sindel
Sindel afb hits you, 8%. Kitana air fan hits you, she gets 30-35% from fullscreen. Kitana punishes much harder.
6-4 - Skarlet
4-6 - Smoke
4-6 - Sonya Blade
6-4 - Stryker
7-3 - Sub-Zero
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Matchups are being updated slowly. I will keep adding information as I find time.
7-3 - Baraka
Konqrr said:Baraka has a hard time getting in and doing damage without meter. He also has a hard time building meter. Some of Baraka's best pressure tools (22 1+2) are so slow that they leave him open for a full combo punish if you jump out. His best tool (Blade Charge) is only safe from max range.
Anti-Blade Charge Wakeup Tech - On Baraka's wakeup up close, jump back and if he does a Blade Charge, you get a full combo with JIP (you must use 2)~EX Air Fan, then JIP~f21.
Anti-Spin Wakeup Tech - Using the same setup above, jump back and if he does a Spin, throw an EX Air Fan then jump in for a full combo.
The catch? - Baraka can hesitate on his wakeup and hit you with a Blade Charge on your way down from the jump back if it is timed right... but then you can scout this and air fan early or ass away.
NOTE: Kitana and Kung Lao are the only characters who can get a full combo off of a JIP while jumping backwards. Kung Lao doesn't require meter while Kitana does.
8-2 - Cyber Sub-Zero
Kitana controls the air which shuts down dive kick. It is very difficult for him to get in. Teleport is very unsafe. Even if the CSZ player does it on reaction to an iAF, he still doesn't recover in time to do anything. Teleport is punished by 2~lift. If Kitana has a significant life lead, it is nearly impossible for CSZ to make a comeback. Kitana is one of the few characters that can easily escape the EX Bomb -> EX Freeze trap.
5-5 - Cyrax
Cyrax has a difficult time landing a net on her, but when he does... she loses at least 50%.
5-5 - Ermac
Blocked lift or teleport means 45% combo. Force push shuts down iAF from anywhere but fullscreen, but is nullified by dash blocking. 3/4 screen whiffed force push nets Kitana 40% one bar. Ermac unsafe moves are extremely unsafe when blocked where Kitana's unsafe moves are not punished by big damage.
After Kitana blocks a force push, she can attack with f21. It is not a guaranteed punish, but Ermac is forced to block this or eat a 45% combo. When he starts respecting this option, Kitana can dash block to get in his face.
4-6 - Freddy
Kitana has a very difficult time getting in and building meter. Freddy's big hitbox allows Kitana to pressure him easily when she gets in.
6-4 - Jade
Kitana wins the footsie battle, does way more damage, and nullifies Jade's d3 to avoid crossups and pressure with jump kick -> air fans.
5-5 - Jax
Kitana's low hitbox takes away one of Jax's best pressure tools, f413.
Did you guys know that you can punish Jax's f+4~overhead with d+1, dash up 2~lift into combo? As in, you block the d+4, then let go of block and d+1 and it interrupts the OH in the air then you juggle.
6-4 - Johnny Cage
Konqrr said:He has a hard time building meter until he gets in. He has a hard time getting in. Cage f32 whiffs if Kitana blocks the 3 and ducks the 2. She can then punish with a full combo. Because of the constant barrage of Ground and Air Fans, Cage is blocking a lot while trying to get in. This opens up her throw game. A properly timed d3 with Kitana avoids all of Cage's wakeup options and allows her to punish them after she recovers.
She controls the MU. She cuts off his means of getting in with IAF, max range d+1, 2,1 and standing 2 blows up deep jump kick. Her fast backwalk speed cancels out his fast dash block speed. jk~fan gives him problems since it can beat standing 1 AA and anti-crossup d+1. Her d+3 is low and good for poking out. She has ass to escape. d+1~cutter to check him mashing too many buttons in his pressure.
3-7 - Kabal
Kabal owns the air where Kitana reigns. True iABGs hit Kitana out of ground fan throw which is her only option against iAGB until she is in range. Once Kitana gets in, Kabal's up close game is much better than hers so she must rely on fan damage and projectile advantage to get him to the corner.
Kitana's 2 hits Kabal out of all of his wakeup options and trades with the wakeup saw.
7-3 - Kano
Kitana has way better footsies than Kano. Upball is punished by 21 into whatever she wants. Normal ball is punished by 45%+ combos. It is an uphill battle for Kano.
2-8 - Kenshi
Kenshi is THE anti-Kitana character. He shuts her down in every aspect. She must make good reads (aka guesses) to punish him, and punish hard when she does. Every spirit barge he hits her with gives him a free blocked overhead which builds him a quarter bar of meter.
6-4 - Kung Lao
While it may be hard for Kung Lao to catch her, he has options to punish her every move if he positions himself correctly for them. She punishes him hard. Shaolin fist is punished by 21 into the combo of her choice. Teleport i3 is punished by 2~fan, 4~lift for over 40%.
5-5 - Liu Kang
Footsies. Zoning battle. Liu's low fireball completely shuts down her iAF game, so she has to get in range to make them unsafe. Her d1 is punished by b312 into 37% or 43% in the corner with no meter. If he is waiting for a d1, he is open to pressure and throws which open her superior ground game. He has no safe wakeup moves, all of them are punished for 45%.
6-4 - Mileena
Video of the new tech:
Originally discovered by DanCock 10 months ago:
I will apologize in advance for not being able to provide a video to explain, but I will do my best to do so.
I thought I would experiment more and with the suggestion from 7L, I tested and confirmed that blocking the first telekick then dashing out of the way of the second and throwing Mileena as she lands is guaranteed exactly like it is after a long combo in the corner ended with standing 2 or d1 and they try to get up by jumping out or ducking (only here, they can't use a wakeup attack to escape with). If timed properly, she cannot duck under the throw.
What does this mean? Obviously you get the forward throw and OTG setup or you can bait a wakeup and punish hard. But more importantly, you can attack with ANY other move that is around 12 frames or faster (possibly even 14?*) and they cannot duck it. I have gotten a 33 to connect before they could duck which can be confirmed into Cutter.
Sadly, because of how fast you have to attack after the dash, you cannot use 21. You may be able to input a down or forward direction then go neutral into 21, but you risk doing a rogue Fan Lift which will be punished. I say, just stay away from using 21 in this setup at all. You could opt for a b3 into EX Fan or Lift, but you cannot hit confirm that. You may even be able to use 11 which you can hit confirm into EX Fan or Lift or Cutter.Somberness said:* Technically, you are +16, not including a few frames to get out of the way completely. 3 isn't a true high and will usually hit anyway. If it was a high, it should be guaranteed, provided the hit box makes contact.. It seems that few characters can actually do this while stand blocking the first hit. Sindel & Kitana only?
If a sai is used immediately (it usually is) and you of course crouch block the second hit, the disadvantage is more on the teleport. You can use 2~ex fan which is easier to do than d1~ex fan.
Another plus is that whenever a Mileena player does EX Telekick, they buffer the Air Sai quickly. With how fast this setup happens, they will be inputting the Air Sai when you either throw them or throw out an attack. They may even be mashing 1 to get the Air Sai to come out so they will automatically escape any backthrow attempt, so make sure you do the forward throw. They are not thinking to block halfway during this move and are likely to be hit. If they press block in anticipation that I might do this tech, either their Air Sai will not come out because they are blocking, or they go for it and get EX Air Sai wasting yet another bar and they do not want that.
You may not think this is good and you can easily just block both kicks and punish, but I suggest you mess around with this. This is definitely a problem for Mileena.
Let me know what you think... perhaps I will borrow the Hauppauge from my friend and try to record a session of punishing Mileena wakeups to show you exactly what I am talking about.
EDIT: Unlike in the video, you can standblock the first telekick and dash out just the same.
Kitana does not have to block Mileena's 42 string after blocking an u4. Simply walk back and it will whiff then punish with 21 or f21.
Konqrr said:Mileena's low hitbox is not an issue for Kitana, and d4 is just a nuisance. Jump Kick -> Air Fan will hit her. Mileena has to play unsafe to do her damage and when something is blocked, Kitana punishes very hard. She can aaRoll you on crossup if you get predictable. Kitana's JK -> Air Fan hits Mileena out of her aaRoll attempt if timed properly.
Mileena's JIP~b34 or JIP~b3~EX Roll is just a shenanigan. You can block both easily once you train yourself on it.
Now for kitana against mileena. This used to be a bad MU back in the day, then we figured out the MU, then it became 5-5. But in today's metagame and the playstyles of both characters, I honestly feel like kitana wins. Yes, kitana can't throw fans, but she has advantageous MUs in which she can't throw fans. Also, even tho mileena can zone her, the zoning is average and is nothing to fear. Kitana can affords to make a couple mistakes because mileena's punishment (against kitana) Is not that great, whereas Kitana's punishment reaches +40%. Mileena's d4 can be a nuisance, but it is nothing like Sonya's and with a good read, it can be blown up with f21 or jk~fan. Upclose, kitana beats her upclose IMO . She out footsies her for sure. If kitana gets the life lead, she can just sit back and make mileena come to her.
Kitana is a character that gets a majority of her damage through punishment, rather it be counter poking or a unsafe move. Mileena is a very risky character, and that's something kitana loves. One mistake and mileena is eating huge damage.
6-4 - Nightwolf
d1 completely shuts down Nightwolf's offense. Nightwolf f31 is duckable on the second hit and punished by full combo. Kitana has no safe answer to avoid unblockable lightning after a shoulder charge.
6-4 - Noob Saibot
Kitana almost always gets the first hit bonus with d1 (blocked shadow is punished by ff~d1). Up shadow is punished by f21 or ex fan. Once Noob is cornered, he has no safe way out and he gets cornered easily.
7-3 - Quan Chi
I agree with all the talk on the QC mu here. I barely play the MU, pretty much just the times I've played Dink. My strategy for when I had to play him at EVO was to mash low pokes after almost all neutral situations. I never wanted to be stuck blocking. What can he do about it? Besides block the low and counter poke with his own low pokes, which still doesn't force you into blocking. As far as I know all his ways to start the rune trap are high and/or slow.
5-5 - Raiden
6-4 - Rain
5-5 - Reptile
7-3 - Scorpion
5-5 - Sektor
6-4 - Shang Tsung
I do not have much exp here. From what I have experienced, she has no safe distance to throw iAF except from absolute fullscreen. Shang's f434 whiffs a ducking blocking Kitana on the second hit, she can mash d1 to get out.
8-2 - Sheeva
Telestomp is a non-issue due to square boost. You can iAF all day on Sheeva and there isn't much she can do about it.
6-4 - Sindel
Sindel afb hits you, 8%. Kitana air fan hits you, she gets 30-35% from fullscreen. Kitana punishes much harder.
6-4 - Skarlet
Konqrr said:I know that there are a lot of things Skarlet can do too, but from the Kitana standpoint, it definitely feels like I have an advantage.
- Skarlet's zoning is horrible. You take 3-4% and trade 8% air fans.
- Kitana's normals and footsies are better.
- Skarlet's dagger cancels leave her open to jk~af combos as she cannot block during the dash cancel.
- Kitana punishes tele-stab with full combo.
- You can bait wakeups from Skarlet and if she commits to an attack out of red dash, she gets punished with ex fan into full combo.
4-6 - Smoke
Konqrr said:Kitana cannot throw out any pokes safely because of Smoke Away and Smoke Bomb. If you whiff something and he has meter, you lose at least 65%. Kitana's normals are too slow to do anything about a blocked Smoke Bomb in a blockstring and she has to be careful to not counter poke his d1 and d3's because trading with a Smoke Bomb is always a losing battle and he gets a full combo.
What she has going for her -> iAF all smoke bombs, if close enough she can use ex for a full combo. Footsies range (just outside sweep distance), Smoke has no safe specials except for smoke away. Shake is a non-issue because Kitana does not fight Smoke with iAF or ground fans. Cutter, Fan Lift, and Square Boost beat Shake.
4-6 - Sonya Blade
BillStickers said:- Sonya players, for the love of CHRIST, please stop downplaying iADK. I've played Blake's Sonya many times, and iADK is not full combo punishable at the lowest level and from the correct spacing. The best you get is a block string or a throw attempt. Morty's much-heralded Sonya guide even says this.
- It's insane to me how Sonya players claim to be able to deal with Kabal's ridiculous zoning, yet are somehow free to a slower, less damaging projectile.
(Kabal gets a full combo + pressure off of an iAGB).
- Once Sonya touches Kitana, Kitana's options are very limited (basically to walking/jumping backward). Poking is out of the question (hello divekick), ducking is ill advised (d1 comes out in 5 frames after msf1), going for b3 gets you ex cartwheeled, etc.). Sonya has an UNIMAGINABLE number of 100% safe options, while Kitana's best play is 1/4 to 3/4 screen away. Even at that space, Sonya has no trouble turtling and/or safe baiting.
- Are we even remembering that Sonya's strings come with free, SAFE, 33/33/33s? Kitana has NONE of that bullshit. If anything, this showdown did nothing but put Sonya players on blast for being too fucking predictable.
The strange thing is that almost all Kitana players I know have played Sonya (Me, Blake, Mr. Mileena, rev0lver, Khaotik) at some point, so we are well aware of the limitations of both characters. This is undoubtedly a 6-4 for Sonya.
6-4 - Stryker
7-3 - Sub-Zero
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