Is Ermac worth the money in Mortal Kombat 1? (2024)

Ermac was recently made available to download and play in Mortal Kombat 1 for everybody. He was absent for all of Mortal Kombat 11 (aside from a small cameo in the Krypt), so it's nice to finally see him back.

However, the Ermac in Mortal Kombat 1 isn't the same as the Ermac from Mortal Kombat 9 and Mortal Kombat X. The character has undergone some notable changes since we last had the opportunity to play as him. Are these changes enough to make him worth the money or did NetherRealm Studios mess up his redesign?

First off, I think it's worth pointing out that Ermac looks really cool from an aesthetic standpoint. Like many other Mortal Kombat fans, I thought Ermac didn't look very good without his mask when he was first revealed in the Kombat Pack trailer.

Fortunately, it would seem that NetherRealm Studios heard the feedback. Ermac now keeps a mask over his face, except during his second Fatality which is certainly one of the better Fatalities in Mortal Kombat 1 so far.

It also now feels like fighting an army of souls when going up against Ermac. Previously, it felt more like there wasn't always enough distinction between Ermac and Kenshi since they were both just effectively using telekinetic powers.

Now, you can actually see Ermac summoning souls of bizarre creatures to attack with some of his moves. Needless to say, Ermac's specials a lot more animated than before.

As noted during Ermac's Kombat Kast, Ermac now functions as a rush down character in Mortal Kombat 1. This is quite a change to how Ermac operated before as he was effectively a mid-range zoning character in Mortal Kombat 9 and Mortal Kombat X.

It becomes clear rather quickly that Ermac does not have the full-screen presence that he used to have. However, his teleport and the low-profiling properties of his Air Hungry Hands special can keep other zoning strategies in check.

Additionally, I also noticed that Ermac doesn't have very many attacks that leave him at a frame advantage on block. Only his standing 1 leaves him at +2 on block while his Sinking Feeling string and sweep are both neutral on block.

It's worth noting that his fully charged Spirit Punch special is +5 on block, but that's probably not going to be relevant very often due to how long this special needs to be charged to achieve this. Aside from all of that, everything Ermac has is -3 or worse. A number of his specials are even in the -20 to -30 range, which means that he can be punished pretty hardcore if he's not careful.

Despite all of this, Ermac does actually function very well as a rush down character. This is thanks to how much reach his buttons have and thanks to his Spirit Punch.

In particular, his Spirit Punch can be forward dash or back dash cancelled. Based on the situation, Ermac can use the cancels of his Spirit Punch to either steal a turn or whiff punish frantic button presses from the opponent.

Needless to say, the usage of Spirit Punch will now effectively be the crux of Ermac's game plan in Mortal Kombat 1. Using this is something that will take practice, but is very much worth it to do so.

Ermac's combos have also become quite a bit more complicated than how they used to be. I only recently figured out that his Shrieking Souls can be jump cancelled or dash cancelled after hitting, which is necessary for extending combos.

Admittedly, I haven't quite figured out how to jump cancel after hitting Shrieking Souls to continue a juggle, but I've seen it work in clips and videos. Either way, the menu doesn't indicate that this special has any of these properties or how they work, so it's not the most intuitive interaction.

Additionally, his teleport, whether grounded or airborne, can now end as the ground version or air version. As such, Ermac's combos actually require quite a bit of execution now.

It's funny to think that Ermac has previously been known by a meme that declared him to be "Easy Mac," though he was never really a top tier before. Instead of being easy to pick up and play, he's now an execution intensive character that's fairly difficult to play.

Ermac doesn't feel as flawed as Quan Chi did upon his release, but he also doesn't feel overpowered yet like Peacemaker did before the nerfs. Therefore, it feels like Ermac is a good candidate for mid or high tier right now, but time will ultimately tell on that front.

Regardless, Ermac is definitely a good pick for combo technicians and lab monsters. While he's no longer "Easy Mac" Ermac, there's still enough there for longtime fans to simply play him casually.

Overall, I'd say that NetherRealm Studios did a pretty good job with Ermac's redesign in Mortal Kombat 1.