Instant Replay

Play-By-Play Match Analysis for Competitive Mortal Kombat 1 (2023)

Here is where TarkatPierceHer is gonna post her analysis essays of any MK12 match she finds interesting

Every match she covers will also be found in Replay Theater, it is encouraged to watch these sets before reading the analysis to easily cross-reference every event detailed here with the actual video

  1. Epic Zoopa (Quan-Sareena) vs Blachary (Sindel-Tremor)

    2. Quan Chi is a setup-based zoner with many unique options that are very strong in their own niche but tend to have one or more glaring weakness:

    • Standing Back Kick (S4, High) and Down+Forward+Back Kick (CF4, Overhead), which i will be referring to as Portal Kick and Overhead Boot respetively, are two full screen tracking normals that serve many purposes such as interrupting projectiles, mixing the opponent, starting/extending combos and just generally disallowing his opponent from backing away comfortably. But they have two serious weaknesses: Their frame data on block and whiff is really not great and they are easy to forward dash or jump away from, meaning that Quan will only be comfortable using them when either he has his Armour Portal up or if his opponent is at a distance where they struggle to or can't punish them
    • Quan Chi has a number of normals and strings he can use to control the space in front of him and stay at a range where he can start his zoning properly, some key ones are: F21 & F44 which are double disjointed strings that send the opponent far away on hit and block, D4 which is a safe poke and one of the longest in the game, S122 which is an easily confirmable string that has enough pushback on block to enable a spacing trap with S3 which is a very large launcher he can jump cancel for a full combo or a setup, and more. All of these have at least one weakness such as being very slow to come out, unsafe on whiff or block or just not very rewarding on hit, so it's best to alternate between them appropiately to get the most value out of them as possible and not let the opponent exploit them
    • Psycho Skull is a steerable projectile that comes from above the opponent at an oppresive angle, it's safe on block at -5 and can discourage the opponent from jumping as it causes a Ground Bounce on hit, most of Quan's moves can also combo into it with ease, with the EX version being a two-hit launcher that breaks Armoured Reversals and tracks the opponent. Only the normal version has any prominent weakness, needing to be aimed properly for it to hit can cause it to whiff if the opponent dashes away from it or Quan simply misses his inputs during a combo
    • Bone Cage is a trap move that encases the opponent inside a ribcage with about 150 health for a couple of seconds before disappearing, the only way to get out of it consistently is with either a teleport or by jumping away so Quan is almost always very safe to put down a Portal if it lands, the EX version makes it last on screen much longer before disappearing and also gives it a small amount of Damage Over Time while the opponent stands inside of it. The normal version is much slower on startup and recovery than the EX version making it risky to go for in neutral and after single hit confirms
    • Power Portal (Purple) buffs Quan Chi's projectiles: Ground Head Rush sends out 3 skulls now instead of just one, EX Ground Head Rush becomes a launcher that sends Quan's opponent high above him, Psycho Skull sends 3 projectiles in multiple angles that cover a lot of space, Air Head Rush gains the ability to home in on the opponent and EX Air Head Rush becames a launcher like the ground version but is much faster in startup and recovery. It is possible for Quan to move away from the portal either on his own accord or by getting hit away from it, so sequences that include it will generally keep Quan standing still until the Portal is used up, he can also steer the portal towards forward & backwards in case he moves away but it's impractical to use over long distances
    • Fear Portal (Green) pushes the opponnent away from Quan at a rapid pace at the cost of some meter, the opponent can counter this by Dash Blocking through it or using a projectile/far reaching poke to surpass the portal's range so it mostly sees use in situations where the pushback is either guaranteed (such as after a button on hit) or against someone who is taking neutral very slowly
    • Armour Portal (Orange/Red) drains 1/10 of the opponent's meter every time they enter the portal's range or gain some meter on their own and gives Quan a single hit of Armour if his opponent stands in the portal's range for just over a second, letting him blow through his opponents offense, combos and even defense, the normal version goes away about a second after the armour is applied but the EX lasts much longer to the point where Quan can generate his armour multiple times (though he can only have 1 hit of it at a time). This Portal is weak to moves that have large amounts of hit advantage as they can negate the armour even if it is applied frames after they connect, steering this Portal towards Quan when he is moved away may lead to some players ending the combo early to avoid getting punished by Quan suddenly gaining armour right at the end
    Sareena adds to Quan's gameplan in five key ways
    • Old Moon (Forward+Kameo) grants him a better traditional projectile than the baseline Ground Head Rush as the former is quicker to recover and has better frame advantage
    • Demonic Dance (Up+Kameo) grants him an invulnerable reversal that is much harder to punish than his infamously bad EX Tele-Drop
    • Blessing (Down+Kameo) gives him a away for Sareena to body block incoming strikes and projectiles while also supplying him with much needed meter
    • Kia's Blades (Back+Kameo) allows Quan to not spend meter on his confirms and threaten with S4 at longer distances with less risk, giving him more resources to use on his other setups, especially EX zone of waste
    • Sareena gives Quan a +50 health bonus, which he desperately needs as a 900 health character

    Round 1, Match 1 (Match Breakdown)

    Zoopa starts out the match by placing down a Fear Portal and Blachary answers by reaching under it with a D3, both players promptly disengage by backdashing and setting up their offense, Blachary activates Crystal Armour and starts Dash Blocking in preparation to get in on Zoopa while he has a Power Portal active; Zoopa uses his Power Head Rush to stagger Blachary long enough to backdash and use Kia's Blades, which Blachary only contests by hitting Sareena with a D3 from afar. Blachary continues dashing forward as Zoopa tries to use his Overhead Boot and whiffs, and the former reacts in time to punish with a standard F1 > Scream route; Blachary chooses to end the combo early in order to activate Crystal Armour again then proceeds to go with a not so risky F4 > Kartwheel, Zoopa chooses to punish this by performing S12 > Fear Portal to push Blachary away and allow a neutral reset after some counterpoking from the latter.

    Round 1 Match 1 (Analysis)

    Zoopa's choice to start the match with an inmidiate Fear Portal is questionable, because Sindel can perfectly counter it with a far reaching poke. This is exactly what happened here, and as such he also lost out on the flexibility he could get from First Hit Bonus, in this scenario he would've had better chances by trying to either stuff Blachary's approach with F21, D4 & Old Moon, or by trying to shimmying arround D3's range so he could whiff punish with Overhead Boot. It is possible that Zoopa was expecting for Blachary to start the match with a Low or Instant Air Hairball, which could've made the portal a safe play, but we can't be sure. However, Blachary's choice to counter the Fear Portal with a D3, instead of F1 > Scream, allowed a neutral reset to happen, meaning that Zoopa was still free to set up his Power Portal and Blachary was forced to spend resources on Crystal Armour in order to safely get through. In addition, Blachary's choice to use Low Hairball while this was happening was ineffective in stalling out Fear Portal's duration, as he still needed to Dash Block for a few moments.

    This failure to outlive the Fear Portal also bought Zoopa enough time to use Power Head Rush before Blachary could use any of his standing buttons to pressure, and then backdash into a range he's comfortable in, but Zoopa's choice to use Kia's Blades instead of a less comittal move was a crucial mistake. As that move is much too slow to catch Blachary and left both Quan & Sareena vulnerable to further pressure, the play here would be to condition Blachary into sitting still using either a faster projectile (Old Moon, Head Rush), a projectile that covers a lot of space (Psycho Skull, Air Head Rush), any of Quan's disjointed normals, or Kia's Blessing to let Zoopa back off further while Blachary swatted Sareena away.

    Seeing that they were getting dangerously close to the corner, Blachary was emboldened to keep dashing forward, catching Zoopa off guard as he did his Overhead and hitting him with a strong setup. His followup is also very good as well, using Kartwheel to force out Zoopa's Fear Portal skewed the risk-reward in his favour compared to using Scream for the same purpose.

  2. Epic Zoopa (Quan-Darrius) vs Too Trillion (Rain-Janet)