Mortal Kombat 1 is finally in the wild and folks are already diving deep into the capabilities of each kombatant. There’s so many crazy characters in the game that it can be tough to wrap your head around it. So we’ve decided to break down characters through some basic FGC archetypes that hopefully help you choose a main character in MK1.
All-Around: Raiden, Scorpion, Reptile, Tanya, Kung Lao
The all around fighters in MK are typified by their strong normals (non-special moves) and the ability to deal damage from all ranges. Many of these fighters like Scorpion, Reptile, and Tanya can sweep their opponents from much longer distances than the rest of the cast. Raiden, in particular, has a fantastic low game. Some of his strongest combos start from low attacks and he can enhance into big damage.
Nearly every fighter in MK has a projectile or fireball of some sort, but all-arounders often have ways to get past them. This gives you the chance to decide if you want to get into a fireball war or if you want to skip neutral and get in. The choice is all yours with any of these solid characters.
Zoners: Rain, Sindel, Liu Kang, Kitana, Shang Tsung
Zoners are masters of keeping opponents away from them. They want to be as far away from their adversary as possible. Now that’s not to say that they can't deal damage from close up, but they are at their best when peppering projectiles from full screen. If you’re the king or queen of keep-away, then you’ll want to look at some of these characters as you make your way through MK1.
Rain is arguably the most versatile zoner in the game. He’s got some unique water powers that allow him to hit mid, low, high or even out of the air from full screen. He’s even got a full-screen low that launches you into the air if you aren’t blocking properly. And to make matters worse ( or better if you’re playing as him) he's even got a water shield that nullifies his opponent's projectiles when activated.
Sindel is another noteworthy zoner, her hair attacks and scream stun are great ways to halt the offense of nearly everyone. Liu Kang’s range allows him to control the neutral and get in fast if he needs to. Shang Tsung can use his old or young forms to shoot off fireballs from all sorts of directions.
Rushdown: Mileena, Li Mei, Johnny Cage, Nitara
Rushdown is the polar opposite of zoners. Their job is to get in and pummel folks from close range and keep the offense going for forever. In many fighting games, rushdown characters are some of the most frustrating to play against. They don’t give you a chance to breathe and their moves are often so fast that reacting to them is nearly impossible.
Johnny Cage and Mileena are THE rushdown fighters of MK1. Johnny doesn’t have his trademark “Green Ball” projectiles anymore, so he’s got to use his command dashes and Shadow Kick to close the distance quickly. Mileena on the other does have some range, but her sweet spot is up close and personal. She’s got a litany of dive kicks, rolls and up kicks that give her the advantage in a close range scrap. If you enhance her Sai fireball, she teleports then grabs your adversaries and leaves them open to even more damage.
One special note is that Li Mei is also a type of setplay character in addition to rushdown. Set play is all about putting objects or minions on screen to control the space. Li Mei has a lantern that she throws in the air that doesn’t do that much by itself. But if you get hit into it it does big damage. If you’re boneheaded enough to jump into it yourself, it pops you up and Li Mei can get a full combo afterwards. She can also shoot the lantern with an air fireball which sends it to the ground. So if you’re too passive against Li Mei, she can rush you down or control the neutral with her lantern.
Nitara is unique in the sense that her rushdown comes from her air mobility. She’s the only character in the game with a proper air dash so she’s all about flexible movement and bizarre attack angles. In addition to that, many of her moves pop people up into the air which is her domain.
Bruisers: General Shao, Reiko, Geras, Baraka, Havik
These are the big boys of the game. Bruisers are all about hitting you hard. Really, really hard. While MK1 doesn’t really have grapplers, Bruisers often have throw options or ways to combo into throws that can frustrate you to no end. While they also excel at close range, they often lack the speed and versatility of Rushdown characters. So if you’re all about flexing on your foes with the big boys of MK1, here’s the section for you.
Reiko, Havik, and Baraka are more straightforward bruisers. These guys they want to get in and start knocking you around. Reiko’s even got a command run that lets you start the offense quickly. He’s also got extended range on all of his kicks, so he can get to knocking folks around from a bit farther than some of his ilk.
General Shao and Geras are a bit more complex. Shao uses some set play elements with his ax and Geras can use his time powers to replay attacks. With Shao, you can choose to slam the ax into the ground and leave it there for a short period of time. If he combos you while it's out, he’ll slam you into it. But if he’s too far for that, he can magically slam the ax again and cause an earthquake move that you must block low to stop. Geras, on the other hand, is very complex with his time powers and will take some time to master. But once you understand his sand clones you’ll dominate.
Mix-Up/50-50: Sub-Zero, Smoke
These tricky characters are typified by their ability to keep their opponents guessing. A good mix-up character doesn't always have a massive moveset either. Sometimes they've got three or four, devastating attacks that force you to guess high or low. In other instances, they have strange attack trajectories that make it hard to know where the attack is coming from. Either way, if you like confounding your opponents, these guys are up your alley.
In the case of Sub-Zero, he’s all about getting you to guess which ice attack is coming next. He’s got the standard Ice Ball, sure. But where he excels in MK1 is with the new ground ice move. This move hits low and slows fighters, so if you’re blocking high you’re open to a buttload of incoming damage. Get caught blocking low too much and Sub-Zero’s massive overhead Ice Hammer can wallop you.
Smoke is the other sort of Mix-Up character. He’s all about blinding speed and attacking from all sorts of crazy directions. He’s got multiple teleports that can let him extend combos or hit overhead. He can also cancel all of those moves to keep people off balance.
Stance: Kenshi, Shang Tsung, Ashrah
Stance characters have to change something about themselves via a command to access new moves. Generally, stance characters have more moves to memorize than the rest of the cast but that means their opponents have to know what’s coming as well.
Ashrah is the most obvious Stance character as she has two distinct sword forms. The default one is seemingly straightforward. Her alternate stance, however, is where she gets interesting. When in this purple stance, her attacks apply a series of rings around her opponents. If they have rings around them, all moves from Ashrah’s default stance deal more damage. So what you should be doing is applying the rings with purple stance and then detonating them with the default stance.
Shang Tsung functions in much the same way, only without the damage buffs. With Tsung, you should be weaving his old/young forms in and out for maximum damage. While he’s a zoner by nature still, Shang Tsung works the best when you are changing stances to address the situation. The old version’s vertical fireballs are a great way to deal with jumping enemies for instance.
Lastly, Kenshi is easily one of the most complicated characters in the game. He has the ability to summon a spirit version of himself that will attack based on Kenshi’s inputs. During the ghost stance, his normals also change, which means he’s got even more moves to choose from. This stance makes it so his opponents have to watch for twice the enemies.
