Most and Least Versatile Characters

REPTILE 0009

REPTILE 0009

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So what characters do you think have the most and the least versatile and well-rounded gameplay-wise?
Most Versatile: (In no particular order)
-Nightwolf
-Scorpion
-Mileena (Believe me, she's more versatile than she's given credit for)
-Liu Kang
-Ermac
-Kitana

Least Versatile: (In no particular order)
-Noob Saibot
-Jade
-Baraka
-Sheeva
-Johnny Cage
 
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Put Johnny up there for least versatile. If you play Johnny you are good for one thing, and one thing only. BEING IN YOUR OPPONENTS FACE 24/7. He can't do much else, and he struggles against good zoning.
 
A good player can add dimensions to the play-style of any character, but in no particular order, these are the characters I feel are naturally versatile or a bit lacking.

Most Versatile:
- Sub-Zero (I've won a number of games zoning hard, rushing down like crazy, and everything in-between.)
- Reptile (His zoning and rushdown game are both great.)
- Kitana (Plays a great keep-away game, but has some good, fast combos to deal with pressure up-close.)
- Raiden (His Torpedo a fantastic wake-up, his teleport is the fastest in the game, his projectile isn't bad, and he can really do work from up close.)
- Liu Kang (He's got a lot of safe pressure strings, great mix-ups, and his fireballs can let him zone effectively.)
- Nightwolf (He's pretty effective from all ranges, can rushdown, counter, and zone when the need arises. He's not the strongest at any one aspect of play, but he can switch things up really well.)

Least Versatile
- Noob Saibot (Fantastic zoning game, but next to no combos outside the corner.)
- Scorpion (He's got a good pressure game, but I've never had any trouble beating him down once I get to mid-range. He's too dependent on 50/50's to be consistently effective.)
- Baraka (I've yet to see any kind of game for him deeper than mid-range and even his mid-range game is weak.)
- Sonya (Never had much trouble with her from a distance and she has some serious match-up problems. Her rushdown game is great, but she's too one dimensional.)
- Johnny Cage (Similar to Sonya in that he's crazy-good rushdown, but has limited options elsewhere even with his Force Ball.)
 
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Mileena may be versatile to you, but I have trouble sometimes against people know what's coming. I have to mix up A LOT when against those types of people. I don't think she's the most versatile.

I will agree on Jade though. Poor think only has two launcher, one which is usually only good for overheading low blockers. I've won plenty of matches with her, it's just the same 2 combos with her.
Sonya too, she ain't got really nothing to work with. Only "good" Sonya I played just used her kicks. Arc kick, sweep, mid kick, jump kick, air kick... and he wasn't that hard to beat.
 
I imagine no one's mentioned Kung Lao because it's too obvious?

I'm not sure I agree with Jade. Her mid-range game is obviously where she's strongest but she's got some pretty speedy moves up close as well. Her pole vault move also has a pretty weird hitbox (for both hitting and getting hit) which helps keep people guessing...she just gives off the impression that she can be all over the place and it can be intimidating trying to time a good counter sometimes especially against players who are constantly maintaining pressure. Granted she's not awesome from a distance (like most characters without a teleport) but unlike Johnny Cage et al. she doesn't need to be in the opponents face to be effective...she only needs to get to midrange. Plus her flash kick and hyperglow are good for helping her get to where she wants to be in a pinch. Her ExBoomerang is also pretty handy for keeping your opponent busy while you get into better position.
 
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DCP said:
Put Johnny up there for least versatile. If you play Johnny you are good for one thing, and one thing only. BEING IN YOUR OPPONENTS FACE 24/7. He can't do much else, and he struggles against good zoning.
Click to expand...

Started learning Cage recently. I've found he can get past zoning with his EX dash kick move (sometimes he takes dmg from it, sometimes not. See my inconsistency thread :) ), tough to get past good zoning without meter though... I've had some luck zoning people out lately with his projectile, I have to dash back to keep em out cause its too slow compared to ppl like Kang and Kano

And I agree with aj327, Kung has got to be the most versatile character in the game. He has tools for everything it seems.
 
aj327 said:
I imagine no one's mentioned Kung Lao because it's too obvious?
Click to expand...

He's got a lot of options, but in my experience I've been able to zone Kung Laos out like crazy, especially with Sub-Zero. Ice Clones can hurt his ability to close quickly. Stepping in front of a Clone or just throwing out a 2,2 can wreck his Teleport. Keeping distance helps negate the effectiveness of his projectile mix-ups and mid-screen or deeper tends to be outside the range of his Spin lol. A good Ermac or Reptile can cause similar problems for Kung Lao in my experience. He's got a good number of options, but a lot of the Kung Laos I've played get out-zoned pretty hard.
 
Most Versatile: (In this order)

Raiden
Nightwolf
Kano
Smoke
Mileena
Ermac
Kitana
Liu Kang
Scorpion

Least Versatile: (In this order)
Sub-Zero
Baraka
Sheeva
Johhny Cage
 
W-A-R-L-O-K said:
Most Versatile: (In this order)

Raiden
Nightwolf
Kano
Smoke
Mileena
Ermac
Kitana
Liu Kang
Scorpion

Least Versatile: (In this order)
Sub-Zero
Baraka
Sheeva
Johhny Cage
Click to expand...

I'm not trolling or anything, just curious. What makes you think Sub-Zero is so rigid? I see him as a fighter with lots of s--t going for him. A good Sub-Zero player really mixes it up on his opponents.
 
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Most versatile
-Scorpion
-Raiden
-Cyber Sub
-Kung Lao
-Jade
-Sektor
-Cyrax

Least versatile
-Johnny Cage
-Shang Tsung
-Liu Kang
-Sub Zero
-Striker

I almost gave least versatile to my best character sheeva. But she really does have versatility and a nasty array of useful unblockables. Her biggest disadvantage is she has no viable wake up attacks, is very slow and circumstantial to start combos and a bigger target than the other players. She does have versatility in her ability to take out projectile spammers, punish overly agressive players and teleporters, close distances with her forward BK kick, use her down up teleport to either kill blockers or preempt which way someone will jump to avoid it to still hit them with said teleport.
 
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