Need help and tips

Hi everyone, just joined here. I love MK to death but after 20+ consecutive losses, I get frustrated. People online are just ungodly good at this game, or maybe I just suck hard.

I am best with Ermac, he was my first character. Then I started using Reptile and Sub-Zero. I really never win with Reptile and sometimes with Sub-Zero.

I just need some help because it seems whenever I do anything, it's the wrong thing at the wrong time. I am really getting tired of losing when my opponent has a flawless victory. I have watched a lot of videos showing the characters combos but I just need help with stuff like when to jump, what to do when this and that. I know thats a very broad question but i could memerize every combo in the game but if i dont know how to play then it's useless
 
You should try finding people about on your level or a bit higher to play with. Secondly you shouldn't just spam a combo just because it can be very damaging, mix in high and low combos to throw your opponent off. If your opponent is blocking, anticipating a combo you should either start off with a low attack or a throw or if your playing with ermac or sub zero use their unblockables (both of theirs are b2) which can lead into their most damaging combos.
 
Yeah I guess I need to use different combos. I mean any character can be good if you practice so its not the character that is bad, its probably just how i handle him. My gamertag is AndroxineVortex so if anyone wants to add me just say you are from the forum. If we could get some practice battles and you can point out what im doing wrong i think that would be the best way to help me out.

Thanks!!
 
Agree with above
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Yeah I kinda thought saying Gamertag would have been a good giveaway XD
I live in the U.S

So yeah if anyone is down for helping me out with some practice matches that would be fantastic just send me a req and also make sure you send me a message saying your from the forum. Oh and if we do end up practice fighting then i guess try to have a mic. That would help a lot.

Thanks for the responses and help
 
Yeah I guess I need to use different combos. I mean any character can be good if you practice so its not the character that is bad, its probably just how i handle him. My gamertag is AndroxineVortex so if anyone wants to add me just say you are from the forum. If we could get some practice battles and you can point out what im doing wrong i think that would be the best way to help me out.

Thanks!!


Ok

Don't listen to the 2nd post when he talks about using any combo and mixing it up. there is no mix up in combos so there is no point in doing a combo that does less damage than maximum damage for that particular moment. Besides if he ment strings to mix up pressure to break defense. Ermac is a special case as he isn't that versatile in bringing out large damage through conventional block break. The most he does is 10% off of his lows/mediums/grabs.

If you block a long delay move like Scorpion's Teleport or Smoke's teleport then you should always use the highest damage output combo you got in your arsenal. ALWAYS.

The only time you should use a less than full damage combo is if a lesser combo will come out quick enough to punish. For instance, Jade's highest damage combo starter is B1, or 3. Those moves are actually pretty slow on startup. So lets pretend these two moves come out in 12 frames. If the opponent's move that's blocked has 10 recovery frames, then you won't punish in time before he can block. So at this moment it's more beneficial to use her 1,2,2 combo, which comes out in like 6 frames(guesses), although the damage is a lot less, it's GUARANTEED damage because they can't block in time.

Situational combos are also another reason you should be aware of. IF a combo puts you in a better position at the end of it you should go for that instead.

For instance After a teleport punch from Ermac during his basic combo. Most people do 2,2 Into FORCE push, This is maximum damage but not always optimal. If you're fighting a johnny cage and you wish to zone him then yes do 2,2 force push. If you're fighting Sektor or Raiden. You DO NOT want to do 2,2 force push because they have teleports and can on reaction punish you for your far projectiles. You want to stay on these guys so after teleport punch off your combo. You'll do a F4, which will leave them standing in front of you at a disadvantage. Giving you free pressure, If they try to escape free combo. if they block, you can build meter with pressure, or grab, or charge an unblockable.

So pay attention and think. Don't just do random combos. One will always be better choice than another in the same situation.

If you're ermac player, your mix up options aren't that good. You got a low starter F4, and a reactionairy blockable overhead U+4. I advise using unblockable timing mixups as a more effective mix up vs going low/overhead with ermac. As they don't really lead to anything major.


Also as a Ermac player you need to take advantage of every high damage combo opportunity so get those down. Because a huge part of ermac's game is playing on the fear of high damage you opponent displays.

Ermac if he wins a air-air punch will get a free combo. lift immediately upon landing on the ground.

People who know how to fight ermac will cross up jump you constantly on your wake up. IF he's within range don't force lift on wake up if he's cross up jumping you'll whiff. IF you think he's gonna pressure you on your wake up w/o a cross up jump then go ahead and force lift on wake up. If he's waiting for force lift, just stand up and grab him. He's cared of lift, you can grab in time.

Uppercut is a full combo if you land it as a anti air. So when you see someone jump at you from midscreen, uppercut them for a full combo. I also uppercut or Nuetral jump punch cross up pressure, to maximum damage.

These are Ermac basics, and theories

Allow me to explain your "mix ups"

Your mix ups with force push or his projectile should be timings. Don't do them back to back, as that's really predictable. Walk backwards from your opponent, and mix up the timings of your projectile zoning. IF they want to catch you they have to drop block and approach sooner or later. You're gonna try to force push JUST as the let go of block. Once you get them with this enough times, then they will try to stand there and block and wait for the "Guess push" you'll realize this once you sit there for a full second, try to catch them dropping it and they didn't bother letting go of block the entire time. You have put in the fear, time to start up close pressure with.

3,1 3,1,2 B4,3(I think) F4, Grab, Are your best options up close. Occasionally UP+4

pay attention to patterns.

Lets say you jump in punch on his block. You go for F4, to mix him up. HE blocks it. That means he's in the habit of blocking high for jump in punch then immediately blocking low. That means you'll want to do Jump in punch (next time the opportunity arises) and do a U+4, or grab instead.

Know that 3,1,2 when it lands gives you a free jump in scenario. They can't do anything to stop you from your jump in punch other than block.

Cross ups while you're pressuring.

My favorite pressure tool is 3,1, over and over again. to break out they have to low jab or jump at just the right time after 1. If you call out the cross up jump after 1. Do a uppercut just after 1, then you get a full combo.

If they low jab you as a habit instead, the instead just finish your 3,1,2 the 2 will hit them before they low jab.

any other questions please ask.
 
I'm not an Ermac player but i'll try to help as much as i can...I've fought many Ermac players before and most of them are extremely good with Ermac, always pulling over 30% damage every time they catch me...anyway,,Mortal Kombat 9 is not all about combos...haters always message me "You fight like a p*ssy,,learn more combos you noob." i get that message a lot!!!

I'm not that good of a player,,but i do have a good winning record with a win/lost ratio of 3:1. And i've play some of the best in the game... My english is not very good since it's not my first language but i hope this make sense lol...In order to get more win in MK9, you have to learn these four things: Combos, Strategy, Spamming, and Mind Games.

COMBOS: Know about your character..which combos start faster..which combo end up with an over the head..which combo end with a low hit...which one is a walking combo (walking combo is one where your character move forward while throwing punch and kick ex: Liu Kang juggo combos)..which one is a stationary combo (Cage combo that start with a knee into a few kicks)...

STRATEGY: This, in my opinion, is what separates different players...as a Mileena player,,i usually like to start the match with a cheap, quick dash poke to my opponent just to gain an instant extra bar...what do you usually do at the beginning of the match? block, jump back, jump forward? what do you usually do if you jump kick your opponent and he block? what do you usually do after that? do you quickly grab your opponent? or do you throw another jump kick before you grab? or do you just block after your jump kick was being blocked? Some smoke players like to knock their opponent down and quickly teleport to the other side to prevent their opponent from doing a wake up attack..that's a strategy...As a Cyrax player,,when i face someone with a rush down character,,i tend to plant a bomb close to me..with a bomb close to me,,it makes it harder for a rush down character to pressure me...i just keep replacing the bombs..that's one of my strategy with Cyrax when i face a good rush down character like Johnny Cage...

SPAMMING: It's okay if people online call you a spammer...most of the time,,it's all about winning lol...people who label others as spammer are also spammers themselves..it take one spammer to know another.....it's just that a lot of the time they're so concentrate on the other person's spamming that they forgot that they're also spamming as too...what ever work,,keep doing it...if you pick Noob and someone pick Johnny cage,,keep your distant and spam shadows..don't forget to go forward and attack when it is the right time..mix things up a little to surprise your opponent..i once face a good Ermac player who stay far far away from my Johnny Cage..all he did was throw projectiles,and when i get closer and closer or jump over his projectiles then he use Ermac's force push or force lift..but when it is the right time,,he did come forward and throw a few good combos that caught me off guard...

MIND GAMES: Mind games is when you force your opponent to guess what you're going to do next..or when you trick them into doing something wrong so you can take advantage of it...for example,,if you're Scorpion,,use hellfire on your opponent..a lot of the time after he got caught with hellfire he'll jump forward to attack and that's when you jump with him and do an air grab...As a Cyrax player,,after i hit my opponent with a command grab,,i like to follow with an incomplete combo..just throw a one-two punch and then do another command grab if the opponent is still blocking..the next time he might think that you will do the same again,,but instead,,after the command grab,,hit him with a complete combo..or follow up after the command grab and just do a regular grab..most players will still be blocking after they got hit with a command grab...Also as a Mileena player,,i like to poke my opponent which will put them into the mindset of sit-blocking and that's when i do the split kick that pop them up...

Just mix things up and you will be able to win some good matches..
 
Ok

Don't listen to the 2nd post when he talks about using any combo and mixing it up. there is no mix up in combos so there is no point in doing a combo that does less damage than maximum damage for that particular moment.
I didn't mean to use any combo (every character has combos that have absolutely no advantage over any other one and may even put you at a disadvatage) I meant instead of spamming a high combo that can lead to 30% damage you should use a low combo even though it might only lead to 24% damage if they're expecting a high combo.
 
I didn't mean to use any combo (every character has combos that have absolutely no advantage over any other one and may even put you at a disadvatage) I meant instead of spamming a high combo that can lead to 30% damage you should use a low combo even though it might only lead to 24% damage if they're expecting a high combo.

You really Should only be comboing off hit confirm, most good combos come from moves that are punishable on block.

Of they are blocking wanna do safe quick moves to pressure them into making a major mistake to hit confirm combo.

Don't just do combo strings on block in hopes they let go and eat it.

Are you talking about just pressure? If so I think your made it confusing by calling strings combos
 
Thanks everyone for the fantastic responses! I am still working on Ermac but i think I have found Reptile and Sub-Zero to be my true forte. Again my main problem is doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. I usually start off the game with a low slide because people tend to try and either start a combo or just block but they typicaly don't duck and block. I found that to be very helpful.

But it's like in situations like this that really kill me: Okay an opponent is throwing a repeated combo at me. Let's just say it's scorpion and its just the 1,1,1 combo. At the end it never seems i do the right thing. I try to start a combo of my own but his goes first. Jumping doesn't work because his attacks keep coming. I try grabbing but again he always strikes first. It seems that my biggest flaw in online play is that I am easily flustered. If there's a character that is rushing me and I am forced to block and be on the defense, it seems I can't get out of it. I suppose wake-up attacks would do but they don't always work for me.
 
Once you get knocked down from trying to jump after Scorpion's 1,1,1 string immediately roll back. If your standing and blocking, a special like Reptile's slide should bypass that bs. Or just wait it out until you find a gap in his button press and punish it. Patience is key.
 
Thanks everyone for the fantastic responses! I am still working on Ermac but i think I have found Reptile and Sub-Zero to be my true forte. Again my main problem is doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. I usually start off the game with a low slide because people tend to try and either start a combo or just block but they typicaly don't duck and block. I found that to be very helpful.

But it's like in situations like this that really kill me: Okay an opponent is throwing a repeated combo at me. Let's just say it's scorpion and its just the 1,1,1 combo. At the end it never seems i do the right thing. I try to start a combo of my own but his goes first. Jumping doesn't work because his attacks keep coming. I try grabbing but again he always strikes first. It seems that my biggest flaw in online play is that I am easily flustered. If there's a character that is rushing me and I am forced to block and be on the defense, it seems I can't get out of it. I suppose wake-up attacks would do but they don't always work for me.

you have to learn to recognize the moves that being used.

Scorpions 1,1,1 is fast enough you have to wait til all 3 hits end. Once they end do a D1. To poke him once you poke him, you have advantage. Meaning you will have air superiority if you both jump at the same time as long as you attack first.

It also means, you can probably chain a D4 to push him back more if he doesn't jump. Once you've poked him far away from you. MOST people's response to your poke spam is to jump in at you. Pay attention to when he likes to jump when you start poking. Then anti air him.

(clone with subzero)
(EX forceball with REptile[charge it]) are just some examples.

2,2 is also a anti air with subzero.

not sure about other ones for reptile.

You also have nuetral jump punch.

Point is when they spam low frame moves on you, it's time for you to poke them out of it after the last hit of the string with a really fast low poke.

I think reptile can elbow dash after blocking 1,1,1 before another 1,1,1, comes at you. You just have to buffer it while you're blocking so that when you let go you already pushed back.
 
you have to learn to recognize the moves that being used.

Scorpions 1,1,1 is fast enough you have to wait til all 3 hits end. Once they end do a D1. To poke him once you poke him, you have advantage. Meaning you will have air superiority if you both jump at the same time as long as you attack first.

It also means, you can probably chain a D4 to push him back more if he doesn't jump. Once you've poked him far away from you. MOST people's response to your poke spam is to jump in at you. Pay attention to when he likes to jump when you start poking. Then anti air him.

(clone with subzero)
(EX forceball with REptile[charge it]) are just some examples.

2,2 is also a anti air with subzero.

not sure about other ones for reptile.

You also have nuetral jump punch.

Point is when they spam low frame moves on you, it's time for you to poke them out of it after the last hit of the string with a really fast low poke.

I think reptile can elbow dash after blocking 1,1,1 before another 1,1,1, comes at you. You just have to buffer it while you're blocking so that when you let go you already pushed back.

Just to clarify, is poking when you just hold down and keep doing a low kick to keep the enemy at bay? I suppose that would work unless they used a projectile. And again it's not that I had a particular problem with Scorpion I just used him as an example lol

Thanks to everyone who helped me, and I will have to try out my new advice. If I have any future questions I guess I will put them here in this thread. Bye!
 
Just to clarify, is poking when you just hold down and keep doing a low kick to keep the enemy at bay? I suppose that would work unless they used a projectile. And again it's not that I had a particular problem with Scorpion I just used him as an example lol

Thanks to everyone who helped me, and I will have to try out my new advice. If I have any future questions I guess I will put them here in this thread. Bye!

Yes you down 1 or down 3 generally to poke and stop their pressure giving you a chance to either gain distance, anti air, or apply your own pressure.
 
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