Kano thread - "One dead Lin Kuei, in a tick!"

Just taken him for a testdrive, this is my new main for sure!

I play rush down Kano, but man..his knife kills Sub Zero!lol

come on, why play me in ranked with him??? You definitely need to utilize his ball, I think you used it once the whole match.
 
come on, why play me in ranked with him??? You definitely need to utilize his ball, I think you used it once the whole match.

Yeah I do need to use it more, but ive only been using him about 2 days. I knew my 2 day Kano stood not much chance against your Seasoned Jade, but i need the match up experience as I pretty much ran into an army of SZ and Scorpions before encountering you.

Up Ball is easy, I find his normal ball a bit strange and weird to do.
 
Yeah I do need to use it more, but ive only been using him about 2 days. I knew my 2 day Kano stood not much chance against your Seasoned Jade, but i need the match up experience as I pretty much ran into an army of SZ and Scorpions before encountering you.

Up Ball is easy, I find his normal ball a bit strange and weird to do.

I randomly use kano, and with the evil dpad I find doing his normal ball and air ball extremely easy. I normally jump a lot so it catches people a lot.
 
Yeah I was on stick when we fought.

It's a curious thing, my fightstick. I find I can play better on a stick with some characters, but then other characters I play better with on the pad.

Anywho, yeah I need to master doing regular ball on reaction. Up ball is easy, but regular ball is 8 frames, you can punish some projectiles at midscreen with that, and it goes over Sindel and LK's low fireballs.
 
come on, why play me in ranked with him??? You definitely need to utilize his ball, I think you used it once the whole match.

Matchup experience? And yeah his ball is pretty weird.

I do like how you can do three 2,1,2's in a midscreen combo. I also love how up ball gets people EVERY time.
 
Matchup experience? And yeah his ball is pretty weird.

I do like how you can do three 2,1,2's in a midscreen combo. I also love how up ball gets people EVERY time.

I will always use 212 as a juggle launcher or midway through but I try and end juggles with his F12. It does more damage and you're more likely to drop 212 then F12.
 
Yeah I like to do his b1,1,2 as well. Im using a lot more rushdown and chokes day 2. He seems to be worth working on.
 
So far I have found that Noob Saibot, Smoke, Cyrax and surprisingly, Jade are all pretty hard match ups for Kano.
 
I posted this in the TYM community guide, figured I should post here as well:

As a Kano main for one week here is a list of my full knowledge on the character. Right now I am mainly focusing on matchup experience.

Anyway here is what I have so far:

Throw Setups:
Kano has a lot of throw setups that you will want to use.

F1,1 throw
B1,1 throw or B1,1 3 throw
D1 throw
2,1,2 throw

Low Pokes
His best pokes are probably d1 and d3, although D4 has a pretty good range. After each poke you can follow up with a knife. This is good for pressure strings and catching your opponent off guard. I also like to follow up a D1 with a choke, as his choke is safe on block. If it hits them it makes it even better. After a D4 I usually follow with an upball(can be punished, but usually isnt. Use sparingly however).

Pressure Strings
I play a rushdown Kano with a little bit of zoning. Here are some of my favorite strings to use up close and personal:

b1,1,3- can follow up with a dash b1,1,3 knife if it hits. If its blocked you can either throw, choke, or low poke. Basically I find it is one of his best pressure strings, as many people are tricked by the last 3. You can also just use 1,1 to mix it up
F1,1- Can follow up with a throw, low poke, knife, up ball, choke, etc. Plus you can sometimes get away with doing 2 F1,1's in a row if your opponent isnt blocking enough. Adds pressure and is a very quick attack.
2,1,2- When hit leads into an easy 35% with 2,1,2 dash 2,1,2 dash 2,1,2 up ball. When blocked you can still follow up with throw, choke, low pokes, or an upball. The great thing about this string is sometimes it will hit them on the third strike, even if it whiffs on the first two. Or they will let go of block too early, and you can still get off 30% combos.
B2,3- This one is only good if you know the range and when to use it. It is pretty punishable and slow, but the range will get some people, and when it hits you can end with a knife for extra damage. Use sparingly.

Zoning
This is the Kano most people are used to fighting. Spam knives until opportunity for a ball. There are better ways to do this. First off spam knives, keep spamming until they get close, once they get within range(especially if they are jumping in) do an upball to get farther away. Or you could surprise them with a Ball or Air Ball while they are trying to get in close. Some say zoning is Kano's strong suite, I disagree. However it still can be effective and can win matches. I would not suggest revolving your ENTIRE Kano around zoning though, but that is just me. Also, LEARN TO BALL EVERYTHING ON REACTION. This makes things a whole lot easier.

How to use meter
Kano has one of the best X-ray's in the game. Unblockable, 40 something percent damage, pretty fast. I have only used it twice XD. I play very aggressively and that includes using a lot of meter. If they try to jump in EX upball or EX knives will net you some nice damage. If they are zoning you can EX Ball to get in close. If they are putting pressure on you EX choke to get out(not sure if it is armored or not, will test it later). Be smart, but dont be too conservative. Keep in mind Kano's EX knives dont scale in the corner either.

Combos(I dont use many tbh)
Midscreen:

2,1,2 dash 2,1,2 dash 2,1,2 upball
2,1,2 dash 2,1,2 dash 2,1,2 ball(or knife)
B1,1,3 dash B1,1 knife
B2,3 knife

Corner:

B1,1,2 2,1,2 2,1,2 upball
B1,1,2 2,1,2 D4 EX knife
2,1,2 d4 EX knife
2,1,2 d1, d1, d1(Looks hilarious)

Like I said this is after a week lol. That is pretty much all I have so far.
 
Zoidberg, midscreen after B112, if you're quick you can dash in for 212, followed by f12 into special. If you end this with an ex special you can get like 37 or 38%

I don't know how Isaac does it, but he uses ex knives as a reset mid screen, but I'm not sure that's possible or if nrs patched that.
 
Zoidberg, midscreen after B112, if you're quick you can dash in for 212, followed by f12 into special. If you end this with an ex special you can get like 37 or 38%

I don't know how Isaac does it, but he uses ex knives as a reset mid screen, but I'm not sure that's possible or if nrs patched that.


I must admit I've fallen in love with kano, I was just toyed with him, but last night a friend and I have really gotten in to him.

I'm only getting 10 hits 33% with ex upball at the end, am I not letting the 2 hit? Nope it's definitely hitting.
 
Beatdown, I have found unless you throw EX moves into his juggles, he is not capable of massive damage.

But yes, I really like Kano. He even won me 1 game off of Squirrels Smoke.

I have to admit, I seem to like the brawlers in this, ala, Baraka and Kano. Tried Cage again in the training room last night and I just find him boring. Infact I tried Cage, Kabal and Raiden and I just don't find them that interesting. Raiden seems kinda cool, but for now, Kano is my new main. Im concerned now that CSZ is not as good as I once thought.

By the way BeatDown, many people agree with me that Jade vs Kano is actually in Kanos favour. Beware Jades and Noob Saibots.
 
Beatdown, I have found unless you throw EX moves into his juggles, he is not capable of massive damage.

But yes, I really like Kano. He even won me 1 game off of Squirrels Smoke.

I have to admit, I seem to like the brawlers in this, ala, Baraka and Kano. Tried Cage again in the training room last night and I just find him boring. Infact I tried Cage, Kabal and Raiden and I just don't find them that interesting. Raiden seems kinda cool, but for now, Kano is my new main. Im concerned now that CSZ is not as good as I once thought.

By the way BeatDown, many people agree with me that Jade vs Kano is actually in Kanos favour. Beware Jades and Noob Saibots.

PLay treadmills csz and you will reconsider, makes me want to pick him up, 43% mid screen combo ><


I don't mind kanos low damage, 30% is good enough for me. His knives are very fast and good for zoning and his upball gets people all the time, and he has some good mix up and very good tricky pressure with f11 and b11 into over head.
 
Some of my personal combos with Kano:

jp, B112, dash, 212, dash, F12, special 33-34% (if you use ex move like Ex knife, you can get this upto 38%)

*Jp, 212, 212, 212, ball

*Jp, 212, 212, jk>>air grab

*Jp, F11, B11, Ex Knife, ball

B2F1, grab or knife 20% I think

Jp, F3B2, 212, F12, Special

*cant remember damage

My advice as a Kano player, try and start a juggle with B112, as it does more damage than F3B2 and 212, and try and end with F12 as it does more damage than 212 or F11.

Kanos Ex Knife is very good if you want to close in on your opponent. The recovery for it is amazing and while they are still blocking you are already dashing or jumping in. Very good pressure tool. I've been playing around with F11, standing 11 and F12 into grab for nice block pressure.

Here is a very tricky, but powerful corner combo:

Jp, F3>>Ex knife, d1, ex knife, d1, ex knife: 51%

Believe it or not, Kanos B1 is actually a pretty good AA. If you read your opponent, go B11. Kano goes forward but lowers himself. If it hits, of course you can cancel into a special and away you go. However it has to be B11. B112 as an AA whiffs on the 2.
 
Last edited:
PLay treadmills csz and you will reconsider, makes me want to pick him up, 43% mid screen combo ><


I don't mind kanos low damage, 30% is good enough for me. His knives are very fast and good for zoning and his upball gets people all the time, and he has some good mix up and very good tricky pressure with f11 and b11 into over head.

I know CSZ has good damage, but his specials are so ungodly slow. While he has good match ups, he gets slaughtered in his bad match ups. I like his mind games, but CSZ gets blown up very easily. No armour moves, and all his specials are punishable. He has nice little traps though, but they are very situational. Every time I play Tread and pick CSZ, he never plays the mirror!

A good CSZ combo: ice bomb, dive kick, teleport, njp, u4>>slide....42%
 
I know CSZ has good damage, but his specials are so ungodly slow. While he has good match ups, he gets slaughtered in his bad match ups. I like his mind games, but CSZ gets blown up very easily. No armour moves, and all his specials are punishable. He has nice little traps though, but they are very situational. Every time I play Tread and pick CSZ, he never plays the mirror!

A good CSZ combo: ice bomb, dive kick, teleport, njp, u4>>slide....42%

thanks for the combos. I think mirror matches are very boring and don't show true skill of the character.
 
Some of my personal combos with Kano:

jp, B112, dash, 212, dash, F12, special 33-34% (if you use ex move like Ex knife, you can get this upto 38%) 11 hits 37 ex up ball

*Jp, 212, 212, 212, ball 11 hits 33%

*Jp, 212, 212, jk>>air grab 10 hits 31%

*Jp, F11, B11, Ex Knife, ball I can't do this, kind of awkward lol

B2F1, grab or knife 20% I think with jip 23%, 27% with ex knife and 21% with ending it with an upball.

Jp, F3B2, 212, F12, Special with upball it does 34%

*cant remember damage

My advice as a Kano player, try and start a juggle with B112, as it does more damage than F3B2 and 212, and try and end with F12 as it does more damage than 212 or F11.

Kanos Ex Knife is very good if you want to close in on your opponent. The recovery for it is amazing and while they are still blocking you are already dashing or jumping in. Very good pressure tool. I've been playing around with F11, standing 11 and F12 into grab for nice block pressure.

Here is a very tricky, but powerful corner combo:

Jp, F3>>Ex knife, d1, ex knife, d1, ex knife: 51%

Believe it or not, Kanos B1 is actually a pretty good AA. If you read your opponent, go B11. Kano goes forward but lowers himself. If it hits, of course you can cancel into a special and away you go. However it has to be B11. B112 as an AA whiffs on the 2.
............
 
............

Thanks for the "translations" BeatDown.

B2 is an overhead. Once you've hit them with a couple of F33 or F3B2 and forced them to block low, this is where you can start the B2F1 or B23 into specials for mindgames. If you like rushing (like me), ending with choke keeps you close. Plus, choke move seems to really aggravate people. And a salty player is a player that makes mistakes.
 
Kano is the very definition of "pressure" in this game, as he can seemingly put pressure on from any range.

His up close game is better then I thought. Where I like to dash in with F11 and then mix it up with choke grab, D3 into B112, a few games with Zoid today showed just how good his tick throws are. After F11, you cannot D3 Kano before he goes in for a grab. Im not sure if D1 beats this, but I found I could only escape F11, throw by jumping or letting go.
 
First numbers are Kano's matches won out of 10.

Baraka: 6-4
Cyrax: 5-5
Cyber Sub Zero: 5-5
Ermac: 6-4
Freddy: 5-5
Jade: 5-5
Jax: 4-6
Johnny Cage: 5-5
Kabal: 4-6
Kitana: 5-5
Kenshi: 4-6
Kung lao: 5-5
Liu Kang: 6-4
Mileena: 4-6
Nightwolf: 5-5
Noob Saibot: 4-6
Quan Chi: 6-4
Raiden: 5-5
Rain: 5-5
Reptile: 6-4
Scorpion: 5-5
Sektor: 6-4
Shang Tsung: 5-5
Sheeva: 6-4
Sindel: 6-4
Skarlett: 5-5
Smoke: 4-6
Sonya: 4-6
Sub Zero: 6-4

That is all off the top of my head. THERE IS NO WAY it is 100 percent correct. I am just trying to get some good discussion going so we can get a good matchup chart going. Ill try to post this on MKU and TRMK as well.

This is just a starting point for a matchup chart I am starting. I want to see as many discussions as possible so that every MK site has a good reference to Kano's MUs. The MU chart above is no where near correct I would guess, it is just an exoskeleton if you will.

Now I hate to do this but I must remind you all of the following:
1. This is an OFFLINE matchup chart. Think offline
2. Matchups are based on how many games each character could win out of 10 IF BOTH CHARACTERS ARE PLAYED TO THEIR FULL POTENTIAL. So dont just say Kung Lao is 10-0 Kano because you whoop KL's online.
3. Try to think of Kano's best tools vs. the other characters best tools.

I know a lot of people on this site are very knowledgeable, but considering some recent posts, I had to make sure.

Edit 1: Kitana and Nightwolf to 5-5, Noob and Freddy to 4-6
 
Last edited:
Top