New Player Questions!

Norieaga

New member
Hey all, I've been a member here for a while. I bought MK when it released, played it for a while and then shelved it for some reason. I'm primarily a Street Fighter player (since forever) but would like to really learn MK9. I'm very unfamiliar with it but I used to play the older MK's back in the day. So, got some general character questions for you all:

1. Who is the best zoner? I'm thinking of trying a very defensive character, that's always been my speciality.
2. Who has good rushdown and good zoning all together?
3. Who has the easiest execution requirements?

My apologies if this thread is stupid, I'm just very new to MK as a whole. So far I've been looking to main either Jax or Cyrax, based off of aesthetic appeal. Do they fit my criteria at all?

Thanks!
 
Okay so 1st, I have to plug in Kzaoo's MK9 fundamentals thread. Use this to get familiar with the game.

http://www.trmk.org/forums/showthread.php/28162-MK9-Basics-guide

2nd, I suggest Kitana, Freddy, and Noob for zoning. Stryker is an honorable mention but requires precise timing.

As a new Cyrax player, I wouldn't say he is not a zoner nor a rushdown character. His specialty are Bomb/net traps - his resets makes him one of the most dangerous fighters in the game but it's not always guaranteed. He is most dangerous at "jump in punch" distance as there is alot of animation going on durring his spacials so keep your spacing. Cyrax bomb/net is often beat by most projectiles and advancing normals and has one of the most unsafe teleports in the game (full combo punish). Besides all that, Cyrax has an unlimited amount of 100% combos so once mastered it only takes one mistake and a little bit of meter for the match to flash right before your eyes.


Edit: Dammit Kzaoo! I forgot Kabal.... I have failed you master (commits Hara-Kiri)
 
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1. Who is the best zoner? I'm thinking of trying a very defensive character, that's always been my speciality.

Sindel has a reasonably good zoning, as well as Noob. But you'll soon find out that simply zoning will not win a match against experienced players. Instead, try characters with good zoning and rushdown and mix the two up. Kitana has decent zoning/rush down, for instance.

2. Who has good rushdown and good zoning all together?

I'd say Kitana, Kabal and Kenshi are good at zoning and rushing, but you might feel comfortable trying every character and finding one which fits your playstile better.


3. Who has the easiest execution requirements?

Personally, I think Scorpion and Johnny Cage.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far, I've read them all and am going through that fundamentals guide (awesome work, by the way). What is the opinion on Jax? Does he fit any of my criteria? Eventually I'll mess around with every character.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far, I've read them all and am going through that fundamentals guide (awesome work, by the way). What is the opinion on Jax? Does he fit any of my criteria? Eventually I'll mess around with every character.

Try him see if you like him. Hes a good allround character, some of his stuff is solid to do. He can zone but hes better when hes in close or cornered an opponnent. Hes corner games good but for me it quite difficult to pull off.
Try him out.
 
Most new players play as Kung Lao. At least based on what some ppl have been saying. When I tried him, he's actually not hard to learn. I still don't know his long combos but I can still get away winning with him. Kratos is also a good choice. Those like to throw projectiles or keep hitting will get countered instead due to one of his special moves. Kitana is easy to learn too. Mileena, Jade, and Sindel took me time to learn but I became very good with them. Jade is a powerhouse, Mileena is very quick, and Sindel is a good zoner, like what others have been saying. So those I've mentioned are all my mains.
 
Jax is a good character indeed.

Zone wise he has his ground pounds which you can dash cancel out of into baiting your opponent and a fast projectile.

In my opinion you'll have too much fun playing Jax up close cause he is a very good rush down character. A low, high string that catches people off guard most of the time. Not to mention that the string (low, high) can be cancel into his dash punch and Gotcha grab. An overhead special movie, an anti-air, a fast as hell uppercut. Plus you can wake up dash punch if they pressure you too much.

Jax is really fun to play as, if you can get close into your opponents face then your practically set.
 
Plus 100% damage resets in the corner. Problem with Jax is that he has too many holes in his strings. Alot of them can be poked and armoured through
 
True enough.
Then again you could counter armor with armor

unless your Johnny cage and you counter his counter armored move with EX nutpunch that has invincibility frames on it.





Jax isn't much of a zoner. Infact he has problems with MOST zoners.

he can semi compete against mediocre zoners with his zone tools. But for the most part not really.

Most of his ground pound set ups come from after you do a move that grounds your opponent. So you have time to do an unblockable mix up, w/o them chucking a projectile in your face.




Cyrax can be played as a zoner against many of the match ups. and he has 80ish percent combos with 1 bar of meter. Trade net, and you get a HUGE combo as long as their grounded.

Unblockable bombs filling the floor and net, as well as AA grab. Can make it hard for your opponent if they lack really good zone tools to get around this stuff. Example Johnny cage and sonya have to work around Cyrax's zoning a bit.

While noob saibot doesn't. He can make cyrax come to him.
 
I think some of this is a bit technical for a new player!
Scorpion is the easiest player to learn the moves IMHO....very quick to learn even decent combos and moves.
 
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