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May 24th, 2006

e-mail TakerECW@aol.com for questions.

This is the most complete reference guide for all the characters in UMK3 by me,
Shock (Sinala, MK2KungBroken), with sources from professional Chicago players
Lex, and MOE30W, also with help from ded_ (Bulgaria, aka Psykosonic).  If you
want to be good at this game, you have to read all of the general tactics
information, if you want to be amazing at this game, you have to read information
on at least the top tier, and then developed your strategies for characters you
prefer using.  Use this in conjuction with my juggle and comboing guide, however
there are the most essential, and some difficult in game combos listed in this as
well.  Everything you absolutely need is here.

Current Tier List: (debatable) 

1. Kabal 
2. Human Smoke 
3. Kung Lao 
4. Kano 
5. Reptile 
6. Ermac 
7. Nightwolf 
8. Robot smoke 
9. Sindel 
10. Jax 
11. Sonya 
12. Kitana 
13. Stryker 
14. Scorpion 
15. Unmasked Sub-zero 
16. Jade 
17. Liu Kang 
18. Sektor 
19. Classic Sub-zero 
20. Cyrax 
21. Shang Tsung 
22. Mileena 
23. Sheeva

Abbreviation Key:

PS = Punch starter
KS = Kick starter
U = UP
D = Down
B = Back
F = Forward
HP = High Punch
LP = Low Punch
HK = High Kick
LK = Low Kick
BL = Block
R = Run
aa =Anti Air
JP = Jump Punch
JK = Jump kick
RH = Roundhouse
INF = Infinite
otg = off the ground


Based upon Lex's guide from Shoyruken.com 


Ground Combos: 

Blocked ground combos are very good for two reasons, chip damage and position.
You should almost never finish a ground combo unless you want to use the last hit
as a positional setup of some kind. Stopping a ground combo before the last hit
keeps you close so you can continue the rushdown. 99% of all ground combos push
the opponent back on the last hit. 

example character: Jade 

When someone is blocking, run in and do her knee combo (HK, HK, LK, HK). Stop on
the 3rd hit to remain close, and then go into run jabs. The reason for this is
you can get more guaranteed damage from the chip hits and continue rush,
resetting the trap, and to make sure they are blocking throws and not trying to
counter attack. Restart the leg combo, stop at the 3rd hit, then mix it up, maybe
stick in a standing HK or a dash kick. This is a lot better than completing the
initial ground combo and pushing the victim back, allowing them to counter attack
easier, and continue assaulting them. 


Blocking: 

Blocking in MK is different from virtually every fighting game. Obviously, there
is a button for block, rather than holding back, which eliminates the need for
proximity blocking entirely, and you can buffer moves easily while blocking. A
not so obvious concept about blocking in MK is frame update. Character sprites
are behind by one tick in MK, so you can block things upon the frame they connect.
There is a similar concept in SFA3 called "Blue Blocking" which your character
turns blue and it takes away less guard stun meter. You can essentially Blue
Block sweeps and low hitting attacks in UMK3 by tapping D+BL on or just before
the frame the sweep will connect, and your character will not have to duck,
enabling them to counter faster, or sometimes duck half way, and stand back up
instantly. It is a good idea to learn how to block only when absolutely needed,
so you aren't stuck in standing back up frames after releasing block, rather,
releasing block at the end of the contact and standing up while unblocking. 


Run: 

In simplest usage, the run bar depletes obviously when you press the run button
and forward, and you continue to run by holding forward, not forward+run. You can
hold run and tap forward repeatedly to take small, medium, and large running
steps. If you hold forward+run after the run bar has been depleted in any
situation, the run bar will not refill until you release either forward, or run.
Run bar is depleted in slightly different delegations for an aaLP or HP, a little
more for aaLPLP or HPHP, and on moves like the Teleport Uppercut, and Liu Kang's
Bike Kick. After a pop up combo, you can walk forward and let the run bar begin
to fill up, once you get a sliver of green, you can take a "run burst" and get an
extra HP before many juggle combos. 


Run jabs: 

You can cancel a LP or HP by tapping any other attack button, however, run
performs no action when you tap it (except if you hold it even without run meter
you can no longer do special moves) so there is no chance of throwing out a HK or
LK or blocking, and you can create a rhythm to continue advancing forward, or
doing a double LP, cancel with Run. What this does is it forces the LP or HP to
retract the instant it completes it's contact frame, rather than holding it,
reducing the total jab duration by 1/3. It may not seem like much, but it is in
the heat of battle. The best way to run jab is to keep your meter from emptying
for as long as possible. This means you should hold forward, and alternating
tapping run and LP, and releasing forward briefly during the LP, so the run meter
doesn't drop anymore than it has too. This is a very offensive tactic and
dramatically changes the game when used effectively. Not only does it give you
multiple chances of landing a throw, but its really good chip damage and it moves
the victim towards the evil, evil corners. Doing more than 2 LP run jabs in the
corner will result in push back, so try to keep it to a pace of 2, and mix up
with other attacks when you see an opening. Watch for early counter ducking LKs
or uppercuts. 


Kara jabs: 

Canceling a LP or HP with block can be a very good idea against characters with
fast wake up moves, specifically Kabal. Essentially, you should make it a point
to throw out some LPs, in effort to bait a spin out of Kabal, and cancel that LP
with block so the instant the spin happens, you will go into block frames. As
long as you are holding block on or before the frame of contact, the spin will
not be able to connect, even if you hear the jab sound, nothing will come out,
you will just block. This also sets up the chance for snuffs and throws out of
special moves, especially one that require a forward tap. The LP will either
connect, you will throw them, or you will block. As long as you are dong this
properly there is very little chance a surprise move will get you. You might want
to try practicing against Kabal players, try to get a basic combo or a sweep to
knock him down, then run in and labor an obvious LP. This will generally cause
the Kabal player to react with a wake up spin. On the average player, the Spin
will plow through them, but if you kara jab rather than run jab, the spin will be
blocked and you can punish Kabal. This tactic works well on just about any
character with a special move like this. 


Corner Runjabs: 

Once you have someone backed into the corner and blocking, run up to them and tap
LP, run, LP, run, or LP,LP, run etc. to throw out really fast run jabs. They will
be in the corner, and they will eat pixel after pixel of block damage. Don't do
more than 3 jabs in succession or you will suffer "pushback". The only thing that
the victim can really do is escape with a special move (teleport, fly kick,
square punch, etc), uppercut, or crouching LK. If you can sniff out when they are
going to try to do any of those, do a knee or special move, preferably a
containment. If they block a knee you will be pushed back, so do it wisely to
keep them trapped in the corner. Try to throw out 4-6 run jabs then knee, because
thats usually when people realize that they are losing a lot of energy to chip
damage. If the knee hits, continue to run jab and keep them locked down. Also,
don't forget to hold back while you do the corner run jabs so that they can't
counter throw. If you are under corner run jab pressure, after the first 1 or 2,
try and spam on HK, and you have a good chance of sneaking out a knee lift on
them right as they are about to do another run jab. 


Throw Defense: 

Hold "Back" and you will not be thrown. Up+Back, Down+Back, Down+Back+Block also
works. Many people complain about throws, but throw prevention is pretty easy in
MK, and it's been this way from MK1 through MK4. 


Crossups: 

Im sure you all know have an idea of what this is. Its purpose is a little
different in UMK3. The main purpose of this is to "flip" the controls of the
victim, setting up potential cross up throws. It's also useful to crossup and try
for a jumping HP starter to ground combo, which if timed correctly, can snuff
uppercuts. There are a lot of character specific tactics for jumping HP linkers,
for example, Kabal can often times land within the collision area of an uppercut
and start his combo without getting hit, or Jax and the female ninjas can cross
up while still in the air, and connect a jump punch starter with their foot
behind them, because the attack started before you crossed the other player's
axis, but the collision box became hot after, thus putting it directly behind
them. Another cross up concept is the reverse hitting in general. You can time
sweeps to connect behind you if someone does a shallow cross up to try and land
for a cross up throw. The opponent will land right behind you, and you if you
time it right, the sweep will be out in front of you, and your back side will
touch them. This also works on standing LKs very often in similar situations. 


Crossup Throws: 

This tactic is best used while an opponent is being defensive. The best way to
describe this is when you are at jump distance, do an early jumpkick, so you land
directly on top of the victim, without hitting them. You will land overlapping
the victim's sprite. If you hit LP right as you land, you will have a very good
chance of connecting a throw because they have to hold back to prevent the throw,
and the direction is pretty hard to determine in such a close situation in a
small amount of time. A good example of this is with Kano's upward Cannonball.
You can place this move to descend directly on top of your opponent, and this
results in a free throw very, very often if they don't have time to counter you
before you land, which is limited generally to an uppercut, followed by their
rush down, and your choice of counter uppercut, or Cannonball wake up. 


Special Moves: 

All special moves in UMK3 are "taps". For insance, Ermac's lift is Back, Down,
Back HK. Most street fighter players interpret this as a Dragon Punch motion. It
can work like that still, but keep in mind that all you need to do is register
the BACK switch, then the DOWN switch, then the BACK switch, and hit HK. No fluid
motion is needed and you will find your game improving as you become faster, but
more labored in your direction hitting. This game was made for switches and not
360's. A lot of players have trouble juggling with moves like Kitana's Air Fan,
or even Kabal's air fireball. It's pretty easy to do once you understand how
"taps" work. After an aaHP,HP, punisher, hit Forward+UP+HK for the jumpkick, then
hit Forward+HP+LP to toss out the fan instantly, and very high, enabling a good
follow up juggle. Remember that you can generally buffer move directions with a
pause, and while blocking to hide your movements, and then pressing the
activating attack button shortly after. 


Punishment Mode: 

When certain moves are blocked, they will roll up into a ball and float right
next to a player setting up a punisher juggle. Blocked moves that cause this are
Kano's regular Cannonball, The Ninjas' teleports, Kung Lao's dive kick, Mileena's
Roll, and Stryker's Baton Dash. Other characters who have a definition air
punishment set up are Sektor and Robot Smoke's teleport uppercut, which has
somewhat limited options to punish depending on who you are using, Liu Kang's
Bike Kick, and Mileena's Drop Kick. Other punishment scenarios to look for are
against Liu Kang's Dragon Kick, Kabal's Spin, Sonya's leg grab, Reptile's Elbow
Dash and Ninja Slides. All of these, when blocked, make them stay locked in
place, generally very close to you, free to be countered, but only within a very
brief time. This is not much longer than the amount of time it takes you get out
of blocked so you must react quickly. 


Anti-Air: 

Commonly referred to as "aa" directly in place of the attack which would be used
as anti-air. These are attacks which are used to take someone out of the air. It
is very important to understand every character's best aa opportunities. A
standing HK is a very simple and effective way to anti air someone. Look to use
this in close range if someone tries to jump away from a run jab scenario, but
also sometimes use the run jabs to juggle into a special move. Some characters
can aaHP others out of the air very easily, setting up decent, to super high
damage combos. Off a single aaHP, Ermac can achieve 82% on almost every
character, but Jade can only get 18% when countering a jumping attack. Some
characters should go for RHs on their aa's because it will set up combos, traps,
or other tactics and set ups. The best simple form of aa is the uppercut. Try and
scout early JKs, run under, and uppercut them from the other side. It is a great
psychological tactic. Run under RHs work well also with certain characters who
hit high on the RH. Some characters have special moves which serve this purpose,
like Ermac's lift. It can be used if the person jumps from far away, which can
be baited by use of a non side switching teleport punch. Sindel's scream is
excellent anti air, as well as Kano's upward ball. Kabal's spin can be used as
anti air from even a ducking position. 



Damage Protection: 

This is a very necessary concept in games with single moves that do as much as
21% and no air hit-limit juggle combos. It is a safeguard that makes attacks do
approximately half their normal damage (chip damage is generally 25% normal
damage). Grounded Jump Kicks activate damage protection, so anything you connect
after a JK will do half damage. Certain special moves activate damage protection,
like Male Ninja Teleport Punches, Stryker's Riot Gun, Mileena's Roll, etc, while
others do not, like Robot Ninja Teleport Uppercuts, Harpoons, and Shang Tsung's
Ground Eruption. Cyrax's and Sheeva's Throws can be juggled off of, and they both
activate damage protection. In MK3 they did not, and you could score reasonable
damage off them. This was a pointless change, as they are now even more crippled
than before. Stryker and Sonya's command throws (the Baton Dash and the Leg Grab)
have their own damage protection built in, in which the move itself is reduced to
half damage after 3 hits combo before it, and if you get them in an autocombo,
they will do 1/4 their normal damage if the combo goes beyond 3 hits. Kabal's
spin is the only attack that can turn off damage protection. If you do his pop up
combo, and only the uppercut connects, spin them and let them fall to the ground.
On the way to the ground do aaHPHP, JK, air fireball, and you will get the full
damage for the juggle, plus 1% for the uppercut in his combo, and 1 pixel from
the spin, totalling 45%.

Example character: Human Smoke 

Block a teleport punch from Another Human Smoke,and he goes into punishment mode.
If you are mid screen, do aaHPHP, JK, teleport punch, harpoon, 3 hit pop up,
aaHP, JK, air throw. The result is (with the air throw counting as a hit and
adding damage) 11 hits 68%. To break this down completely and understand where
the DP comes into play: aaHPHP = 13.6%, JK = 15.6%, teleport punch = 9.5%
(activates DP), and now your harpoon does 2.5% intead of 5%, and the 3 hit pop up
do 9% instead of 19%, (the remainder of the hits do what they should do after his
pop up). 

Your new combo is aaHPHP(13.2%), teleport punch (miss)(0%), aaHP (6.6% and
replacing the teleport punch which does 3% more), JK (15.5%) harpoon(5%), 3 hit
pop up(19%), aaHP, JK, air throw. 11 hits 78%. Even if you do aaHPHP, TP miss,
aaHPHP harpoon, the combo will do 1% more than the other. 

This is not always a usable combo because it depends on how close to the edge of
the screen Human Smoke is, but it shows that the same amount of hits, with one
hit doing less damage than the DP activating alternate move, will result in more
damage. 

Example character: Sonya 

aaHP, JK, leg grab 3 hits 43% (no DP) 
JK(DP), aaHP, leg grab 3 hits 29% 
aaHPHP, JK, (personal DP)leg grab, 4 hits 33% 

Example Character Ermac: 

JK, TKS, aaHPHP, JK, TKS, aaHPHP, aaHP, JK 8 hits 52% (counting the slams'
damage) 

aaJK (meaning while both players are in the air) TKS, aaHPHP, JK, TKS, aaHPHP,
aaHP, JK 8 hits 91% (again counting the slams damage) - identical combos, huge
damage difference because the JK hit in the air. 


Pushback 

If you block a normal attack in the corner, the attacker gets pushed back to just
under jump distance (with the exception of LP jabs, as you should know by now).
If you juggle someone in the corner with two LP/HP jabs, or a jab after just
about any other hit, you will be pushed back, but you can cancel this with any
special move. The same thing applies to when you throw out 3 jabs in succession
and they are blocked, the third punch frame will freeze and you will be pushed
back. At any time during the "iceskate", you can cancel out with a special move.


Corner Resets 

This is going to be difficult to explain in text, but I will do the best I can.
So back to what I was saying about crossup throws, when you land on top of them
and the sprites overlap, if you dont throw, the attacker will "ice skate" out of
the overlap. Theres rules for this when it happens in the corner, and its very
useful to know. Let me start out with mock up of the starting positions: 

p1 - player one's starting position 
p2 - player two's starting position 
p1c - player one corner 
p2c - player two corner 
| - wall 

|p1c p1 p2 p2c| 

p2 backs p1 all the way back into p1c so that he can't go any further. Now, when
p2 jumps on top of p1's sprite, he will always be pushed back out of the corner
and p1 will remain in the corner. p2 will not be able to get behind p1 while p1
is backed all the way into p1c. 

so, if p2 is backed all the way in p1c, and p1 jumps on top of p2's sprite, then
p1 will be in the corner and p2 will be pushed out. So why is this useful? Read
about kabals corner trap below and you shall see. 

example character: kabal 

its kabal vs. kabal. im p2 and I back p1 all the way into HIS corner, and he
blocks. I start the corner rj's while waiting for him to let go of block. once he
does, I hit him with the flash (B, F + LK) then the corner reset pushes me back
OUT of the corner. Instead of doing the uppercut combo (which will push me back
on the final hit), I continue to rj until he lets go of block and i hit him w/
the flash once more. Again, the corner reset keeps him trapped in the corner, but
this time I sweep him. The most common reaction to this is to "wake up jump" out
of the corner. So after I hit him w/ the sweep, I hit LP to juggle him
immediatley after he jumps, and I get pushed back cause its a juggle. THEN, I
cancel with the flash during the "iceskate" and spin him in the air. Since his
forward jump brought him out of the corner a little bit, and he was NOT all the
way back into the corner, I DON'T get pushed out of the corner. Instead, he's
hovering off of the ground and I get flipped around, setting me up for an easy
2xHP, JK, Fireball juggle for 42%. 


Fake Ducking: 

When rushing down someone, an interesting tactic to use is a fake duck. Run in,
duck outside of normal attack range, stand up and run in again after they attack
and counter with a combo, or at least a standing HK. This is a great bait move to
throw in every now and then if you are having a hard time getting in for run
jabs. You must be very fast and aware of placement for this to work, it is good
for a character like Nightwolf, or Sonya. 


Glitch Canceling: 

Many special moves in MK have a number of hits you can do before that move is
locked. Moves like the Harpoon and teleport punch have a limit of 4 hits and the
moves are essentially turned off. MKII did not really have a feature like this,
but they start implimenting time limit usage on moves, which still exists in
UMK3. You can cancel a LP, HP, JP, or JK on the frame of contact, into a special
move with a hit limit, one hit beyond that limit. In other games this technique
is referred to as "Just Frames" meaning essentially you have just one frame in 60
to get this to work. 

Example character: Scorpion 

Block a teleport punch, counter with aaHPHP, delayed JK, teleport punch, run in,
aaHP(glitch cancel on contact frame) - harpoon. You have just broken the rules
and done 5 hits before a harpoon. 

Other examples of moves with hit limit cancels: Kitana's Fan lift (0) Sub's
Freeze (1), Mileena's Roll (2), Reptile's Forceball(3), Ermac's Telekinetic
Lift(4). Sindels' scream has very strange properties. The scream itself has no
legal limit, if you connect a single aaHP or LP between screams, you can continue
doing screams until they are too low to the ground, however the general hit limit
is 2. If you juggle 1 HP, scream, 2HPs, scream, you can continue doing single HP,
dancing on that last hit limit. 

After this, you can glitch cancel her scream multiple times: aaHPHP(limit
reached), aaHPHPgc, aaHP gc, etc. This concept in general is a very advanced
tactic and you should stay away from it in game until you know what you are
doing, but the easiest character to practice this with is Sub-zero, as you will
see more gcing with him than anyone. 

Relaunch combos: 

What you must do is do a pop up (launcher) combo and then jump as they arch in
the air. Right before they land you have a small window to connect another jump
punch that fools the game into thinking they are on the ground, making them stand
up and sell the attack standing instead of being juggled. If you mistime it, they
will either be juggled by the jump punch, missed, or they will be able to block
it. Not everyone can relaunch every character due to collision detection. Kano,
Ermac and Human Smoke can relaunch everyone. Sonya, Kabal and Classic Sub-zero
can relaunch a lot of characters, and so and so forth. Some characters are very
hard to relaunch, some are easy when it's the computer, like the Robots and
Sheeva, because they don't block until the combo breaks and their vertical
collisions are taller than others. This means they are touching the ground and
still hittable for longer duration, but they are in blockable frames longer as
well, so ultimately they have just as small a window to legit relaunch. With
characters like Sonya, Ermac, Human Smoke, and Kano, you must pause after their
pop up before jumping forward since they recover faster than Kabal and Classic
Sub-zero. With the latter, you can just hold Up+Forward after the pop up and
getting relaunchers with them is very easy. In general, this is another advanced,
somewhat cheap tactic, and generally not worth it unless you have mastered the
timing. 

Off the Ground: (otgs) 

For some reason at the end of an autocombo, you cannot block on the last landing
frame, or even completely lying on the ground which is why you can sweep after
Jade's and Kitana's 4 hit punch combos and Jax's 7 hitter (minus the the last
hit), or ducking LKs in the corner after many combos. The ducking LKs can result
in free counters however, so do not use them against someone like Kabal, how can
just allow you ducking LK and spin you immediately, Robot Smoke, who can teleport
uppercut for free as well. Nightwolf has a 3 hit kick combo and the first hit is
very low to the ground, allowing him to hit the Robots, Kabal, Kano, and Sheeva
while they are laying completely on the ground in the corner within the duration
of time you have before they can block. In any other situation, if you hit
someone while they are lying on the ground, or in the first landing/blockable
frame you will instantly appear blocking if holding block. If you connect a
standing LK or HK after an auto combo the opponent will appear standing and
selling the hit, unable to block. For characters like Sonya, Jax and Kano, their
sweep recovery is very fast and wake up otgs are possible, however blockable. If
you get a sweep close enough, you can start an autocombo with a knee lift
directly afterwards, and it is very difficult to react in time to block it. Liu
Kang can do this to some extent as well with his kick combo, so can Nightwolf and
Kabal. 

That's it for now folks. Enjoy the read, and start playing.




Classic Sub-zero (updated 11-8-05) 

Classic Sub-zero is ranked very low in competitive play, around 20, I don't have
an exact number to give him, because he can of course be use skillfully and be an
annoying menace due to his two containment moves, super fast, long range slide,
etc. He is a defensive character, and you should focus on baiting freeze or
ground freeze scenarios, but it is possible to go on offense with him and he has
a few tactics here and there. Watch out on his 4 hit pop up because if you are a
hair slow on it the last hit will miss leaving him hugely open. Of course don't
forget he's a male ninja and has really great normals.

Basics moves: 

The Male Ninjas have excellent basic moves, good height and range on everything
in relation to their sprite proportions, their roundhouse is extra wicked and can
connect in almost any situation. The only thing that can be weird about them is
their aaHPs. Sometimes they tend to miss in situations where you wouldn't expect
them to and this is due to kara canceling with run to speed the last hit up, in
this situation, often you can do aaHP,LP and it'll work, with slightly less
damage, otherwise, always take an extra small step in before doing aaHPs. 

The Deep Freeze is an age old move that still has some benefits to it. It has a
hit limit of 1, but breakable to 2, allowing up to 3 freezes per combo, but it's
tricky timing and usually not worth it. Some characters are easier to glitch hit
counter rule break than others, like the Robot Ninjas, Jax, and Stryker. You can
use the freeze as an anti cross up. Scout a cross up jump kick, perhaps in a run
jab situation, and run under their jump, and do the freeze as they kick, it'll
freeze them in air and set up a decent combo. It's got a little more start up
than unmasked Sub-zero's freeze and that hurts it a bit. The freeze is OK for
zoning, watch for jumping backwards opponents and freeze as you see them jump.
Often times the freeze will hit in a situation where they are physically standing
on the ground but cannot block, so watch for these situations. It will look like
you should do an aaHPHP combo, but really you should go for a JK starter into his
pop up combo. Take note that sometimes characters can be nabbed by a freeze when
ducking, especially in close range, especially Shang and Kano. If a person does a
JK, block it and instantly do a freeze as soon as they hit the ground. This is
useful because it's rare a person does a jump kick and lands and doesn't continue
pressure, the chance of them landing and just blocking are slim, and often time
it happens more than once. This will either work almost everytime, or they will
stop doing random jump kicks altogether, making them chance their strategy and
psychologically giving Sub the upper hand. Sub can freeze within the amount of
time it takes for them to land, and even if they block, he's relatively safe. It
doesn't work quite as well as unmasked Sub-zero but still useful. 

The Ground Freeze is a neat and somewhat unique move. A common tactic I see
overabused is run jab, run jab, ground freeze. Sometimes the person will lock up
and wind up slipping, but it's their own fault. It's always counterable, and
harshly at that. You might be able to get away with this once a match, maybe even
once a round if you do one early on and then late in the last match, but it's
probably better to do it when they have less than 50% life left because that will
be a guaranteed victory if they do manage to not avoid or counter it. You can try
doing something like, 4 hit pop up, deep JK, let them hit the ground, run jab LP
to get them blocking and semi stuck, ground freeze. This move also has a hit
limit of 1, but breakable at 2, and it's very difficult to do for some reason.
You cannot do freeze, aaHP, freeze, aaHP ground freeze because the game looks at
it very mathematically. When you freeze them, you cannot ground freeze. If you
already have one hit out before the freeze, and go to glitch break a second hit
on the frame it connects, the game never sees them as unfrozen during the time
the ground freeze would be activated, and a frame too late means the game has
accepted 2 hits and locked the ground freeze. The ground freeze cannot be done
if your opponent is within a certain distance from the wall with their back
facing it (about a character body width), so if you are trying to do ground
freezes and they aren't coming out, that might be why. The real factor here is
their actualy collision box, which moves slightly back and forth during their
stance, and sometimes you can let them stand there, do a ground freeze, and
nothing will happen several attempts in a row, but then it will work. (just some
technical data) 

The Slide is good for adding damage to combos, as a wake up, but don't over abuse
it, as it's easily punishable. It's the fastest of the three slides with the most
range, so it's easier to link into juggle combos. Sometimes you can stick one in
for free after an upper as people tend to jump away, or sticking in an extra
slide after one because often times people do not anticipate a second slide. Also
watch for some misbehaving frames with Kung Lao, Sonya and the Female Ninjas
especially. The slide will sometimes simply not hit them at all like Nightwolf's
shoulder tackle against a blocking Stryker for example, so if you have someone at
danger, a slide is not always the safest route to victory. It is possible to
break through the recovery of a comboer while blocking and slide inbetween hits,
for example the female ninjas kick combo. It has a point of lag in the middle
where you can actually go from standing block to ducking block, and if you time
it right, the slide will come out here and you can beat them to their next hit.
It's a great way to end a match if they are on danger, run in for a chip damage
combo that will beat you, and you interrupt their last hit with a slide and win. 

Classic Sub has one semi-infinite, he can relaunch: Sheeva, Robots, Kabal,
Nightwolf, Kung Lao, Jax, Sub-zero, Shang Tsung, Male Ninjas, Liu Kang, Sonya,
and Kano 

Basic Juggles: 

1. aaHP, freeze, aaHP,HP, JK, slide 5 hits 43% 
2. aaHP, ground freeze, JK starter, HP, HP, D+LP, D+HP, JK, slide 9 hits 51% (try
a deep JK, to standing HK at the end for 55%, might be more of an advanced
juggle) 

Advanced Juggles: 

1. aaHP, freeze, cross up JK, standing HK 3 hits 36% (sometimes you can get a
second JK for 3 hits 37%) This combo is good against characters whom you can't
always basic combo #1 against due to collision boxes. 
2. aaHP, freeze, aaHP, freeze, aaHP,HP, JK slide 6 hits 50% 
3. aaHP, HP, ground freeze, JK starter, HP, HP, D+LP, D+HP, JK, HK 10 hits 62% 

Corner Juggles: 

1. freeze, (reposition if necessary) HK starter, HP, HP, D+LP, D+HP, JK, RH, run
in HK 8 hits 57% 
2. aaHP, freeze, aaHP,HP, JK, HK 5 hits 50% 
3. aaHP, freeze, aaHP,HP, JK, RH, slide 6 hits 60% (or LK on some characters for
6 hits 65%) 
4. if too close to the wall to reposition try aaHP, freeze, JK, RH, run in HK 4
hits 54% (slide or LK is good too, or a straight up JK to start, will all result
in slightly lower damage)



Cyrax 

Cyrax is a low tier character, ranked around number 20 in UMK3. Overall he is the
worst of the three Robot Ninjas, however like Sub-zero, with some effort he can
be a beast. Your main strategy with him is going to revolve around zoning with
his bombs and the net, which has a big collision area and leaves little room to
punish him from full screen. Cyrax's problem isn't the damage he can deal, but
it's the methods of doing it which generally require a lot of tactics surrounding
them. Take advantage of his high damage 6 hit auto off a net for 42% with the
jump kick starter, or go for tactics with a roundhouse, setting up bomb scenarios
against non teleporters. Go for his 3 hit kick combo mixed in with run jabs. Some
downsides overall to the the Robot Ninjas are: they have some juggle advantages
and vulnerabilities in terms of taking hits, watch for them. They can be
relaunched by just about anyone with a launcher combo, easier than most to time,
and they are harder to juggle in certain situations, particularly for Ermac and
Human Smoke. Kung Lao can spin them and I believe Nightwolf after his autocombo
in the corner when it is performed on the "just frame" so not only will you take
the 34% or more from the auto combo but you're stuck in the corner infinite.
Anyone who can get a ducking LK after their autocombo in the corner on anybody
can get a standing HK after their combo on them, for example: Liu Kang, HP
starter, 7 hit combo is 38% + standing damage protected HK is 46%. Also, watch
for openings for the air throw, which is a very neat and under used move. Try
mixing up bombs and nets in the corner with run jabs to keep your opponent locked
down, and when they move go for the air throw. Cyrax can juggle many characters
off his regular throw with a LP to net, the damage thereafter is limited but
none-to-less it is still damage. His throw also has it's own tactics because it
lands strangely. You can try to run to the other side of your opponent before
they get up and go for another throw on the cross up, which if timed right is
50/50. If you are unsuccessful you can go into run jab tactics. Cyrax is a lot of
fun, but overall far too much effort to be successful. 

Robot Ninja Basic Moves: 

Standing HK is topps, uppercuts are somewhat bad in the sense they tend to miss
in crucial situations similarly to Kung Lao's, for instance you have to take a
step in if you want to counter a punishable move sometimes to hit an uppercut.
The robot Ninja roundhouse is late on the hit and has some funky corner issues,
good range, low height, better on far away jump ins. LPs are really good for
double run jabbing mid screen, they keep in tight on the opponent because you
have to be closer to connect them. Sweeps have good range and recovery is the
same as female ninjas. JK is good, jump punch is kinda tight and ball like, and
is easily counterable. Ducking LK is quick and pointy, excellent to get out of
runjabs or prevent them. 

The Net is his primary containment move. You can often times trade a hit for it,
like a jump kick or jump punch can be snuffed with a well timed net. If you do a
net from full screen and your opponent jumps backwards to clear it, run forward
with Cyrax right as he recovers and they will land in the net, setting up his 6
hit with a starter, or a roundhouse to bombs. You can buffer a net to escape run
jab scenarios as well because it only needs a couple frames and doesn't even have
to be on the screen yet to be active. Use the net in juggle combos to extend them
a bit. The net has a limit of 2 hits before it is disabled, and can be broken to
3 with some timing, you also must pause briefly between connected usage. For
example: aaNet, aaHP, net, aaHP, net (the nets do not count as part of the combo)
and now finish it accordingly. An active net disables bombs, and his air throw,
but not his teleport. Watch for when the net connects and the opponent is
touching the ground. Generally a person will be holding block in this situation
and the net will not connect, but there are many occassions where things are
happening too quickly, but the point is, you should go for the 6 hit autocombo
with a starter. The Net is also excellent against sweepers. You can trade a sweep
for a net very easily and it's worth it. 

The Bombs are a very unique containment move and are a big part of his zoning
strategies. You can set bombs up in patterns to do big damage combos, as they
remain dormant for a few seconds each. There are two types of bombs, normally
referred to as "close" and "far" but a better terminology for them would be
"midway" (no pun intended) and "tracking" because the B,B version makes the bomb
land midway between Cyrax and his opponent, and the F,F version, always lands
where the character was upon the command input for HK. They have a number of
limitations. Two bombs can be on screen at once, they can be done instantly after
one another, a third bomb can be out in a succession after the first one goes
off, but not if another bomb/general hit connects after the first bomb, thus
reconizing a limit of 1 hit before bombs are disabled. For example: aaHP, instant
bomb drop, compared to aaHPHP, no bomb drop. A bomb cannot be done while a
contained net is active, but can be dropped after one in the same manner as after
an aaHP from a contained air net, because the net doesn't count as a hit in the
combo. Your best bet with bombs would be to do something like: place a midway
bomb from long distance which generally keeps the opponent at bay unless they
are a teleporter and they will wait until it explodes, then a tracking bomb or a
net to make them move around, particularly towards you so you can throw out a HK,
RH or even aaHP, JK to snuff them, and make them land back on the bomb, setting
up an easy 53-56% or upwards to 68% juggle depending on the character. If they
jump backwards, try and use the net follow tactic by running towards them and
making them land in the net. You can also try doing things like dropping a midway
bomb, and running to it, stand over it so you can safely plant another bomb, your
opponent will be hesitant to move near you because the other bomb is about to go
off. From here you can start doing mix ups and mind games with the bombs and keep
your opponent off their game. A good tactic is keeping someone locked down on a
bomb, and letting off so they will jump, then HK them back down to set up a
combo. 

The teleport is a dangerous move. Cyrax is very vulnerable during it both in air,
and briefly on the ground. It is useless for transit against someone like Kabal,
as a spin will totally whipe him instantly, or a male ninja because of their
containments. Use is sparringly for escapes but never over abuse it. It is rare
that you can make use of it during juggle combos except to get out of the corner
to the other side of someone when you want to exploit a corner juggle. For
example: Cyrax in corner, aa net, aaHP, net, teleport, aaHP, net, aaHPHP, JK,
aaHP, air throw -7 hits 63%. You can also use the teleport on projectiles with
significant recovery to get close and counter, but it's not as fast as something
like Kung Lao's teleport which works the same way but invertedly. 

Cyrax's air throw is strange, as it is a command throw. The motion is D-F, BL,
and then press LP while you are in the air and near your opponent. It has good
priority when activated, but that leaves a lot of room for error as it has a
specific route to travel towards the opponent and where he is under them depends
on how well it will connect. If you do an air throw while someone has left the
ground through the ground, like Sektor, or Kung Lao, it will cause some funny
glitch scenarios. Use the air throw to extend juggle combos, and use it as
transit moreso than the teleport because it is fast and hard to punish, not to
mention overtly unexpected. The best way to use it to get close to your opponent
would be as they are falling, this way it creates a very obtuse hyperbola,
causing him to get close to the ground faster than it would be if they were high
in the air and he has to float a bit. Use it after roundhouses and JKs to get in
close very fast if you are not using bomb tactics. Making Cyrax fast,
maneuverable, accurate, and vicious is the key to making him win. 

Basic Juggles: 
1. aa net, aa(HP,HP), net, aa(HP, HP) air throw 5 hits 41% 
2. throw, aaLP, net, aaHPHP or JK, air throw 25-26% 

Advanced Juggles (There are tons of bomb variations that require set ups): 
1. Bomb, RH into bomb, aaHP,HP (another HP possible on many characters) air
throw, 5 hits 56-63% 
2. aaHP, net, aaHP, net, aaHP,HP air throw 5 hits 41% 
3. aaHP, net, aaHP, net, JK, air throw 5 hits 41% 
4. aaHP, aaHP, net, deep JK, aaHP, air throw 5 hits 50% 
5. (corner) aaHP, aaHP, net, JK, RH, air throw, 61% 
6. (corner) aaHP, net, JK, net, JK, RH, HK (or air throw) 5 hits 69%-70%, 
only works on some characters, situation generally does no present itself, 
but some position can be done in the corner while they are in the net, 
timing is crucial 

Lucky Far Tracking-bomb with predropped Mid-bomb setup: 
1. bomb(far away) connects with bomb(mid) dropped soon after, then a third bomb
dropped instantly after the first (essentially juggling off each bomb towards
you) RH onto third bomb, aaHPHP, aaHP, air throw 8 hits 84%



Ermac 

Ermac is a high tier top 10 character, he is ranked 8th but in the right hands
can be considered top 3 as his combo/juggle ability is unparalleled in terms of
average damage per combo coupled with the relative ease. He is played very much
like Human Smoke, except without air throw tactics. His average combo ability is
around the 50% or more on anyone at anytime. I will list many specific character
combos in his juggle section. What you are going to try and do with him out of
the ordinary teleport methods is anti air HP counters on jump ins and what you
can do with that is cancel the HP with block so you cannot be accidentally hit
and if you do hit your HP you still have plenty of time to cancel with a
Telekinetic Slam (TKS). Watch out against Kano and Nightwolf JKs because they
tend to still over prioritize aaHPs if you don't time it right, instead aaRH
them. Against agressive players you can throw out a TKS sometimes after a blocked
auto combo, and they will get snagged by it. Against jumpy or overly aggressive
players you can stick in a TKS after an aaHK if you so choose to use it over the
aaHP, and often times it will get them on their wake up. Don't over use it. Run
and knee jab mix ups, teleporting away from and landing next to are a must but
watch out because players can scout the teleports and position themselves to get
in the way of what you might think is a safe teleport, punishing you for it. His
walking speed is slower than Human Smoke's so multi jab juggles need to be timed
more rigidly. The only combo you should ever use midscreen is HK, LP when rushing
down, and off starters. 

Male Ninja Basics moves: 

The Male Ninjas have excellent basic moves, good height and range on everything
in relation to their sprite proportions, their roundhouse is extra wicked and
can connect in almost any situation. The only thing that can be weird about them
is their aaHPs. Sometimes they tend to miss in situations where you wouldn't
expect them to and this is due to kara canceling with run to speed the last hit
up, in this situation, often you can do aaHP,LP and it'll work, with slightly
less damage, otherwise, always take an extra small step in before doing aaHPs. 

The Telekinetic Slam is one of the most broken and unique moves in the game,
however you need to learn how to max out the combos off it. Its properties are a
little unorthodox, as it does damage, but does not count as a hit in a combo
(unless you hit them before the first bounce in which it doesn't do damage). It
does not activate damage protection and has a limit of 4 hits before it is
locked, and this means 2 usages per combo are about the norm. There are ways to
stretch it to 3 uses but they have to be absolutely perfectly time with no room
for error so it's not worth getting into because you really can't get any more
damage than normal this way conventionally. Your standard set ups are going to
be either hit, TKS, hit, hit, hit, TKS -or- TKS, hit, hit, hit, hit, TKS, etc.
Make sure to try and labor the 3 hit succession just a bit to elapse the time
limit inbetween uses, which isn't noticable usually. Good set ups for the TKS
are anti air HPs if someone JKs early, this the perfect time to aaHP and cancel
to a TKS. From here a guaranteed 78% damage combo is possible on almost every
character, more difficult on some than others, but on characters like Shang you
need to be slightly more rigid with the timing and max out about 75%, otherwise
it's not worth trying the extra hits, and on a lot of characters 82% standard
counter from a standing aaHP is possible. Remember that the TKS doesn't count
as part of a combo it also doesn't add to the damage for some reason, so for
every TKS you use in a combo, add 5.5% to the end damage read outand 3% in DPed
combos, generally two should always be used in a combo so that's 11%. In the
corner you can set up a TKS combo off an aaRH easily. Remember to run cancel
all your jabs during juggle combos to allow more time for extra jabs and JKs.
It is possible to glitch cancel (on the frame of contact) up to 5 hits before a
TKS, but it is not recommended.
 
The Teleport Punch is a great move if used for escaping and overall positioning
and manueverability. If you use it too much players will see your patterns and
counter by getting in the way of it and blocking. If you are experienced enough
with the placement and timing you should be able to teleport almost anytime it is
available (it has a small time limit between usages) and not get punished. Use if
when you are getting up to escape run jabs, HKs or knee starting combos. Ermac
turns invisible when he does the teleport punch and is still actually on the
screen moving until he lands or shows up on the other side of the screen. If you
are air thrown or Bike Kicked, for example, before you leave the screen Ermac
will stay invisible until he is hit by another move. Take advantage of this, an
invisible Ermac is an even dealier Ermac. Try only to teleport when you have 2/3
of the screen behind you or at least a total of 2/3 screen distance between you
and your opponent in some manner. This would mean, you can have half a screen
behind you and your opponent is standing right next to you, you'll wind up
landing about sweep distance away behind them. It is best to try and get the
placement down to land right next to them even if they are blocking, this sets
up free throw potential and/or rush down. Watch out for counter sweeps, LKs, HKs
or uppercuts if you rush in immediately. Utilize the teleport punch as a combo
extender but try not to actually hit them with it as it activates damage
protection. Its limit is 4 hits before it is locked, has a small window of time
limit recharge and you can stretch it out to 2 uses per combo if done right. A
good way to start a DPed juggle combo would be to aaRH an incoming JK and hit a
teleport punch on the other side before they land. After this do a TKS, wait, RH,
again, teleport punch, TKS again, to standard finish of choice. Do not use the
teleport punch as a safe guard chip hit when someone is on danger because it only
does about 2% chip damage and danger can mean the person has 4% life left. It is
common to see people lose matches they should have won because of this. In order
to connect his teleport punch on characters like Shang Tsung, Liu Kang, female
ninjas, Robots Ninjas, and Sheeva in mid screen standard combo situations, after
his HK, LP pop up, jump forward and wait until he starts coming down on the flip
to JK, then instantly cancel to the teleport punch. This makes him line up better
with them. You can also glitch cancel the teleport punch if you want to get
fancy. 

The Green Spark is a standard, slow starting fireball and is only good to use as
a combo terminator. In most cases if you realize you're not going to be able to
get 3 aaHPs at the end of a juggle (it's noticable on how the aaHPs connect after
the second TKS) you can subsitute aaHP,HP, aaLP, fireball and that will usually
connect and is compenstable upon reaction. There are no tactical uses for his
fireball. There is never a time when a fireball can be used as a last resort on a
jumping back opponent with him when a teleport punch would be better and more of
a guarantee. In general the fireball leaves him too open because it takes him
forever to recover, you can jump over it easily, and he stays in one position. 

Ermac can relaunch all characters in the game like Kano and Human Smoke. Some
characters are more difficult than others, in order to best line him up, you
should do his pop up, pause slightly before jumping forward, and punch at the
last possible moment. 

Basic Juggles that work on everyone: 

1. HK, LP, JK, teleport punch, TKS, aaHP,HP, fireball 7 hits about 42% 
2. (for a punisher) aaHP,HP, JK, teleport punch, TKS, aaHP,HP, fireball 7 hits
about 53% 
3. punch starter, HK, LP, aaHP, TKS, aaHP,HP, fireball 7 hits about 43% 
4. (for a punisher) aaHP, TKS, aaHP,HP, aaHP, TKS, aaHP,HP, aaHP, fireball 8 hits
69% 

Advanced Juggles: 

These are maxed out combo situations that work faithfully with little risk of
failure on all characters except Shang, Sonya, Liu Kang, and Sheeva. Adjustments
are required for the slightly lesser damage combos on the specific opponents
mentioned with usage of one less HP, or a fireball instead of a JK at the end,
downgrading the combos by about 15% 

1. HK, LP, JK, teleport punch, TKS, aaHPHP, aaHP, JK 8 hits about 47% on
Sub-zero, Jax, Stryker, and Male Ninjas, you can walk in after the HK, LP, and do
a RH, then teleport punch, perform the TKS motion backwards because the teleport
punch usually juggles behind him, for 48% 
2. punch starter, HK, LP, JK, TKS, aaHP,HP, aaHP, JK 8 hits 52% 
3. (for a punisher) aaHP,HP, JK, teleport punch, TKS, aaHP,HP, aaHP, JK 8 hits
58% 
4. aaRH, teleport punch, TKS, aaRH, teleport punch, TKS, aaHP,HP, aaHP, JK 8 hits
62% 
5. (for a punisher or counter to a jump in attack) aaHP, TKS, aaHP,HP, JK, TKS,
aaHP,HP, aaHP, JK 8 hits 82% 
6. (Opponent at Midscreen) TKS, aaHP,HP, teleport punch (miss), aaHP, JK, TKS,
aaHP,HP, aaHP, JK 8 hits 82% 
7. try and stick in an otg (off the ground) HK LP after his TKS for some neat
looking juggles HK, LP, JK, teleport punch, TKS, HK, LP, aaHP, fireball 8 hits
46% 

Advanced Corner Juggles (watered down): 

1. HK, LP, JK, RH, (or aaHP), TKS, aaHPHP, JK, RH, HK, (or LK) 9 hits 64% (58%) 
2. punch starter, HK, LP, RH (or aaHP), TKS, aaHP,HP, JK, RH, HK (or LK)9 hits
66% (60%) 

Corner 100% juggles: 
1. TKS, aaHP,HP, JK, aaHP, TKS, aaHP,HP, JK, RH, LK (works on just about everyone
and is good if someone does a projectile in the corner and Ermac is about half
screen away) 
2. aaHP, TKS, aaHP,HP, RH, TKS, aaHP,HP, JK, RH, LK 
3. aaRH, TKS, aaHP,HP, aaHP, TKS, aaHP,HP, JK, RH, LK 
4. suJK, TKS, aaHP,HP, RH, TKS, aaHP,HP, JK, RH, LK



Human Smoke 

Human Smoke is a top tier character, ranked #2 of 23 available characters in the
game. He has one of the highest combo potentials for starting a combo on the
ground. Essentially, 2 mistakes and you are done. The only thing that makes him
better than Ermac in terms of tactics is his air throw, but the air throw alone
brings him tier level up dramatically. Male Ninjas can play a nice defensive game
and he is one the best to make use of that with because of the available damage
he can deal in those situations, not unlike Reptile and Ermac. They all have huge
damage opportunities on defense, but it is possible to rush down with them as
well. There is a common misconception that Human Smoke is just a clone of
Scorpion, who is gray and smoking, with no difference in moves. In reality, Human
Smoke is much more powerful than Scorpion because he has pop up combos, and he
also has a slightly faster walking speed, which makes certain juggle combos
easier. His damage range is anywhere from 10 to 35% more at any given time in the
same situation as Scorpion. Run jabs and safe teleports are your game. Make sure
to only use his HK, LP combo when rushing down, or off a jump punch start. Many
players will use his 4 hit combo (the one Scorpion should use) because of reflex.
Remove that from you brain because it is worthless. Anti air HPs and roundhouses
are a must, and can easily link into 50%+ combos, make sure you have the timing
down, and know which characters can be anti air HPed easily. Mix up his run jabs
with knees, for example, double run jab, run in, knee, run jab, knee, knee, and
keep them guessing, but watch for an opening to set up his pop up combo. Don't
forget about his airthrow, and try and get them low on cross up attempts. When
run jabbing, sometimes an opponent will jump away, watch for a juggled LP and get
them with a harpoon afterward. Also pay attention to collision detection. For
some reason when male ninjas duck and block, a lot of distance gets between them
and the attacker, causing their combos to miss, like Jax and Kabal. When Jax's
first punch in his combo, or Kabal's uppercut misses, capitalize on that with a
harpoon, or run in and combo. 

Male Ninja Basics moves: 

The Male Ninjas have excellent basic moves, good height and range on everything
in relation to their sprite proportions, their roundhouse is extra wicked and can
connect in almost any situation. The only thing that can be weird about them is
their aaHPs. Sometimes they tend to miss in situations where you wouldn't expect
them to and this is due to kara canceling with run to speed the last hit up, in
this situation, often you can do aaHP, LP and it'll work, with slightly less
damage, otherwise, always take an extra small step in before doing aaHPs. 

The Harpoon (or Spear, I tend to throw both words around randomly) is an
essential move as it is a very quick containment and relatively safe to do from
full screen depending on the who the opponent it. It's good on wake ups as it
seems to have a hit box in front of him before it even comes out. You can try
throwing out a harpoon afterward a combo for mix ups on jumpy players. It can be
linked in juggle combos with a normal limit of 4 hits before it, and can be
broken to 5. It can counter many simple standing attacks for free. You might want
to also get the feel down for players who jump back and snag them on a landing.
Anytime you connect a Harpoon with Human Smoke, it means at least 50% on every
character. Learn the best combos for specific characters, but most of them are
vulnerable to his bread and butter 56%. A situation where you might be able to
consistently connect a spear would be when running jabbing, then doing a teleport
punch without leaving the screen. At this point a lot of players try to jump in,
hit a spear right as they are coming down, into a convenient combo of choice. You
can also just throw out a spear as weak up at this point on characters who don't
have teleports. 

The Teleport Punch is a great move if used for escaping and overall positioning
and manueverability. If you use it too much players will see your patterns and
counter by getting in the way of it and blocking. If you are experienced enough
with the placement and timing you should be able to teleport almost anytime it is
available (it has a small time limit between usages) and not get punished.
Essentially think of the screen's width as 1 unit, and then if there is more than
half of the entire screen behind you and the opponent combined, you are safe. Use
if when you are getting up to escape run jabs, HKs or knee starting combos. It is
best to try and get the placement down to land right next to them even if they
are blocking, this sets up free throw potential and/or rush down. Watch out for
counter sweeps, LKs, HKs or uppercuts if you rush in immediately. Utilize the
teleport punch as a combo extender but try not to actually hit them with it as it
activates damage protection. Its limit is 4 hits before it is locked, has a small
window of time limit recharge and you can stretch it out to 2 uses per combo if
done right. Do not use the teleport punch as a safe guard chip hit when someone
is on danger because it only does about 2% chip damage and danger can mean the
person has 4% life left. It is common to see people lose matches they should have
won because of this. In order to connect his teleport punch on characters like
Shang Tsung, Liu Kang, female ninjas, Robots Ninjas, and Sheeva in mid screen
standard combo situations, after his HK, LP pop up, jump forward and wait until
he starts coming down on the flip to JK, then instantly cancel to the teleport
punch. This makes him line up better with them. You can also glitch cancel the
teleport punch if you want to get fancy. 

His Air Throw is very useful on jumpy opponents, remember to tap block in air a
few times any time you leave the ground just incase they do as well. Use it on
cross attempts, it's not quite as useful in sweep situations as Jax or Kano's,
but still possible to do. It's good to link at the end of juggle combos. 

Human Smoke has one sketchy infinite, in which you can perform his bread and
butter combo over and over by intentionally breaking it at the D+LP. The window
to achieve this comboable break is approximately 1 frame. It is almost worthless
to try because you can throw away a match trying to do this. The combo breaks and
allows you to perform his Teleport Punch and Harpoon over and over each rotation. 

Human Smoke can relaunch every character in the game, like Ermac and Kano. This
is done by performing a launcher combo, jumping along with the opponent as they
are flying, and as you are about to land, connect a linked HP, which is
unblockable if they are close enough to the ground but are still considered in
air, and then the autocombo is free. It is useful against certain characters, as
some are easier to relaunch than others. Difficult/pointless relaunch attempts
are Stryker, Sindel, Female Ninjas, and Male Ninjas. Everyone else is pretty
easily relaunched by Human Smoke. 

Basic Juggles: (this is adding 1 hit and about 7% for air throws in damage
protected combos and 14% for regular combos since the game does not count them as
part of a combo) 

1. HK, D+LP, D+HP, aaHP, spear, HK, D+LP, D+HP, JK, air throw, 10 hits 48% 
2. HK, LP, JK, teleport punch, spear, HK, D+LP, D+HP, JK, air throw 10 hits 53% 
3. jump punch starter, HK, LP, teleport punch, harpoon, HK, D+LP, D+HP, JK, air
throw 10 hits 55% 

Advanced Juggles: (Harpoon makes corner combos easier to set up) 
1. jump punch start, HK, LP, deep JK, harpoon, HK, D+LP, D+HP, aaHP, JK, air
throw 11 hits 62% 
2. (on male ninjas, Stryker, Sub, Jax, Kano etc) HK, LP, RH, teleport punch,
harpoon, HK, D+LP, D+HP, aaHP, JK, air throw 11 hits 57% 
3. aaRH, teleport punch, aaHP, aaHP, harpoon, HK, D+LP, D+HP, aaHP, JK, air
throw 11 hits 62% 
4. aa(HP,HP), teleport punch miss, aa(HP,HP), spear, HK, D+LP, D+HP, JK, air
throw 11 hits 68% 
5. jump punch starter, HK, D+LP, D+HP, spear, Run close to corner if already
near, HK, D+LP, D+HP, JK, JK, air throw, 11 hits 65% 
6. aaHP,HP, JK, teleport punch, harpoon, HK, D+LP, D+HP, aaHP, JK, air throw 11
hits 68% 
7. aaHP, HP, teleport punch whiff, aaHP, JK, harpoon, HK, D+LP, D+HP, aaHP, JK,
air throw 11 hits 78% (BP) 

Corner punishers: 
1. (very close to wall) aaHP,HP, harpoon, HK, D+LP, D+HP, JK, RH, HK 9 hits 60% 
2. (very close to wall) aaHP, RH, harpoon, HK, D+LP, D+HP, JK, RH, HK 9 hits 71% 
3. (very close to wall) aaRH, harpoon, HK, LP, harpoon, HK, D+LP, D+HP, JK, RH,
HK 11 hits 72% 
4. (half screen distance from wall) aaHP,HP, JK, aaHP, harpoon, HK, D+LP, D+HP,
JK, RH, JK 11hits 83% 
5. (sweep distance from wall) aaHP,HP, JK, RH, harpoon, HK, D+LP, D+HP, JK, RH,
HK 11hits 93% 


You can add two HPs before the final JK, air throw to the Robot Ninjas, Jax, and
Sub-zero, but it is very difficult to time, and two LPs on male ninjas, adding
only 1% to the finished combo.



Jade 

Jade is lower end mid tier character ranked roughly around 16. You're going to
want to stay on the ground with her, abuse her return boomerang, projectile
protection whenever needed or even as a distraction, run jabs, ground combo chip,
but throw in pauses and then stick in a standing HK to get people who rush when
they suspect you are stuck in a broken combo. Throw out her dash kick every now
and then as it is very safe in many situations except the obvious ones, ie: vs
characters with containments. Always does her 4 hit HP HP D+LP D+HP combo, and
add an unblockable sweep after it on everyone, which will do more total damage
than her 7 hit combo which is nerfed for human players for some reason, doing 10%
less than the CPU. On some characters you can stick a standing LK after the 4 hit
combo, like Jax and the Robots, on Sheeva you can stick in a standing HK, and
even on Jax with rigid timing. Her overall juggling and combo ability is
extremely limited, she has no useful or damaging juggle combos, although huge,
impossible to set up, theoretical, corner combos for her do exist. Just remember
to abuse the suddenness of her moves and stay on the ground. Double dash kick
counters are fun to do for 22%. Also there's the weird hit boxes the female
ninjas have which can make certain juggles harder to do on them. Many characters
cannot do their HP beginning to a combo if they get a starter, lowering their
overall damage effectiveness helping her out slightly but not a whole lot. Double
run jabs in the corner are great, watch for openings to get her combo. 

Female ninja basic moves: 

The female ninja uppercut is average, nothing to write home about, their standing
HK is great for far away jumpers trying to stay out of range for anti air HPs, it
doesn't have as much height as some other characters, but the collision detection
is a good distance from their body hit box, so it has good priority. Their LP
jabs hit lower than most so they can run jab Stryker when he's ducking and
blocking, and they good range. HP jabs have average range, sweeps are silent
which is a plus, and they have some distance to them, however are slow on
recovery compared to the fast sweepers leaving them potentially open. Ducking LK
has some decent pointiness and distance, standing LK hits a bit lower than usual.
Their roundhouse is very close range, better off going for a standing HK on jump
ins, but the RH can often be used in run underneath jump in situations because
the placement is perfect for that. Their jump punch has limited range and is
close to their body, bad for cross ups on ducking blocking opponents. 

The Dash Kick is fast, in fact sudden, and is also extremely safe in many
situations that it shouldn't be. There are very few close range attacks that can
hit Jade while she's in her recovery frames, but projectiles always work, however
the start up time for most projectiles is too long to capitalize even if done
immediately from too far away. The best way to counter her dash kick is to
anticipate it, not block it and run in with a counter combo, or just simply
uppercut. This move can be used repeatedly, similarly to Nightwolf's shoulder
tackle, and it has a limit of one hit before it is disabled, two can be done in a
row in a combo. It's range is about half screen, and best used when you are very
close to your opponent as it's very difficult to block upon reaction. After her
autocombo is blocked, you can stick in a dash kick to counter a rush down, or you
can use it against crossovers sometimes. It can hit some characters who are
ducking like Kabal and Shang Tsung, and sometimes you might want to stick in a
ducking LK after her 4 hit combo, then a dash kick as they are getting up, it's
either going to hit as they are getting up, or be blocked, and is relatively
safe, except against Kabal for instance. Use the dash kick to counter virtually
any attack if you block because it's that fast. This is all part of her
pitbulling strategy. Occassionally stick in dash kicks after run jabs in the
corner, specifically watch for openings when they are about to jump, setting up
small juggles. You can also glitch cancel it to 2 hits before it, for example,
aaHP, aaHP, dash kick, however not useful. 

The Boomerang is used for zoning. She has 4 types, straight across, upwards,
downwards, and a straight across return which is the best one to use, but
remember to watch for players who will expect return spamming and just duck, so
stick in a downward one, or on jump aways stick in an up one. Jade is not so much
about damage, but chipping away and this move makes certain of that. You can spam
the boomerangs for eternity so long as you time them right, remember to not abuse
them against teleporters and watch for opponents who will trade a hit like an
uppercut and use it to remove the recovery. Against characters with containments
they can do the uppercut, get hit by the return boomerang, and then
freeze/harpoon, etc, creating big damage. Mix up the usage of the boomerang,
don't depend on it, make them make mistakes. Throw in dash kicks here and there
against some characters while using return boomerangs to keep them guessing. 

The Projectile Protection is very useful in it's intuitiveness. Jade is
temporarily immune to all projectiles except Sindel's scream, Kitana's Fan Lift,
Sindel's air fireball, and a few other special case situations. You can use the
PP to remove recovery time from push back in the corner with juggles, increasing
damage slightly if you are ever in the situation where a ninja teleports and
winds up in the corner. You can also use it to stop the push back on triple run
jabs in the corner. This way your opponent will try to get out and capitalize,
but you will instantly recover and can counter-counter them with a dash kick,
standing HK, sweep or autocombo and set up further tactics. 

Basic Juggles: 

1. jump punch starter, HP, HP, D+LP, D+HP, standing HK 6 hits 40%, standing LK,
or sweep will do less damage but connect on more and more characters
respectively. 
2. (for a punisher) aaHP,HP, aaLP, boomerang, 4 hits 30% 

Jade has no useful advanced juggles, but here's a few that can work if you are in
the right situation. 

1. (in corner against opponent trying to jump out) Dash kick, Dash kick, LK 3
hits 35% or sometimes HK for 37% 
2. (opponent in corner) RH, dash kick, HK, 3 hits 43% 
3. (as a corner punisher) aaHPHP, PP, JK, RH, HK 5 hits 60% 
4. (Jade in corner) run under a jump, RH into corner, dash kick, RH, HK 4 hits
60%



Jax

Jax is considered at the bottom of the top tier barrel ranked at #10.  He's a
sweeper, a zoner, a back breaker-er, and ground combo crusher.  He's got a lot
of options but he struggles against teleporters and other top tier characters.
Take advantage of old tactics like standing HKs, ground pounds, sweeps, watch for
cross ups and hit the back breakers, sweeps, keep away with missiles, sweeps,
rush down with run jabs and the 7 hit combo but be careful on male ninjas and
some other characters because often times the 7 hitter will whiff on the D+HP
(HK, HK, D+HP) leaving Jax open for a free counter, in some cases disastersouly
damaging because he is the easiest character to juggle, oh yeah and sweeps.
Play as cheap as possible with him, perhaps even turtle or read other players,
and play safely because he can be annoying to rush down due his range.

Basic Moves:

His LP run jab game is questionable because they hit slightly higher, allowing
more chance for him to be uppercut or ducking LKed, his HPs hit high as well, and
set up easy air juggle aaHPHP, JK, air throw for about 44%.  His standing HK has
good range and moderate height, excellent for anti airing half screen jumpers.
His standing LK also has good range and positioning.  His sweep is among the
fastest in the game, abuse it.  His ducking LK is a hair slower than some, but
has good distance again.  His RH has very limited range, but good height, useful
for run under RH situations.  His uppercut has a lot of height and range, but
some characters can slip through it on cross ups, which is when you should for an
anti cross up backbreaker.  All of his air attacks are very good.

The Gotcha Grab is a sudden, fast move that is very safe to throw out randomly
and the only real way to punish it consistently is to sweep when it comes out.
There are obviously other ways to scout and punish it, so don't rely on it as a
certain way to catch someone but it often does get people off guard and against
blind rush down.  With exact timing you can stick the Gotcha Grab in his 7 hit
autocombo midscreen against Jax, and unmasked Sub-zero for a bit of extra damage
that isn't really worth the effort, 51% with a punch starter, vs guaranteed 47%
on everyone with a sweep instead, 47% with a LK on most characters, and 48% with
a HK on a bunch.  It is very useful for punisher combos, and in the corner off
his autocombo, which can be extended significantly against many characters.

Single and Double Missiles are great zoning moves because they take up a lot of
space and move Jax backwards, so if someone jumps over one he is generally safe.
In UMK3 they added charge time to the single missiles, and this also effects the
doubles.  If you fire a single missile, you have to wait a few seconds before you
can fire a double, or another single, and vice versa.  They were too broken in
MK3 and decided to add this limitation to balance him.  You can still use the
double somewhat for zoning, or avoiding certain attacks with extra protection.
You can mix the single missile with run jabs, and the double missile will hit
teleporters from full screen as they go off screen.

The Dashing Fist is a sudden move that can be useful to an extent, used as a
wakeup particularly when getting up.  Try to buffer the move without making your
movements known as it is easily scoutable in that situation.  In certain set ups,
the Dash Fist will make Jax bounce off the opponent and move backwards, making
him slightly safer than he would be normally.  Do not over abuse it because it
hits high and is easily duckable and punishable.  It is possible to use this move
to get you closer to an opponent as a method of dashing, but it is inadvisable,
and you can also use it to extend corner combo juggles.  It is also useful to get
you out of certain situations and go back into zoning or sweeps.  Sometimes you
can use it as anti air and it generally makes Jax wind up right next to the
opponent so you can go into run jabs, a combo, or sweep strategies as well. When
used as anti air it can cause some glitch type scenarios where it will make Jax
and his opponent push off eachother in opposite directions either facing towards
or away and can create some opportunities for other tactics.  There is no limit
as to how many Dash Fists you can do in a juggle, nor is there a time limit
inbetween so you can literally just frames a couple of them in a row in the
corner as a humiliation juggle after his 7 hit combo.

The Ground Pound is another returning move from MKII, but it was given more start
up frames to balance it, however it is still useful, and unblockable and only
avoidable by jumping.  It keeps your opponent on guard at all time and might put
them in bad situations when they might not want to be in the air.  Not many
people actually use this move in UMK3 because of how much slower it is than the
MKII version, but when used properly it becomes an annoying factor in a match,
particularly if you time it to connect as soon as they hit the ground on a jump,
this will force them to jump if they see it coming and they have to immediately
decide whether they are close enough to counter the ground pound with a jump kick
or a jump punch start to combo, straight up, or backwards.  If you time and space
it right, you will be on the advantage when they land on their second jump and be
able to once again resume your now nasty, cheesey sweeping and back breakering
techniques.

The Backbreaker is his golden move, because it is perhaps the most useful move in
his arsenal, even though simplistic in usage and design.  Air throws have
tremendous zero frame priority in MK like regular throws in just about any game,
including MK itself, but you can't avoid them in air or tech hit, and they
generally do significant damage, in the mid-high teens and this is for one move
that sets up tactical scenarios, generally accompanied by a JK before hand,
increasing damage to about 30%.  Whenever someone tries to cross up jump punch or
jump kick you as you are sweeping them to a bitter end, anticipate it, and
immediately, unhesitantly and committedly, jump forward, or straight up and tap
block, and you will backbreaker them right back to the ground, then immediately
return to the sweep fest.  This tactic is also used with Kano and perhaps even
more so.  Even when you aren't sweeping, watch for any possible chance to get a
backbreaker because it is also a psychological move.  It makes people rethink
what they are doing if you get them with it, 2, 3 or 4 times in a row because
they think for some reason their cross up is going to work this time.  Always
remember to tap block a few times while you are in the air even if you aren't in
a natural situation where you would instinctively backbreaker someone because
chances are you'll hit it.  Remember that Robot Smoke's radius for his air throw
is very large, pretty much 360 degrees around him while Jax's has a bit less area
to deal with.

The Multislam is simply a special throw, in which you perform a normal throw, and
tap HP several times to get 3 more slams.  There isn't much more to it other than
you can go back into sweep tactics after it!

Basic Juggles:

1. aaHP, Gotcha Grab 6 hits 27% (add an extra aaHP, but requires stepping forward
a bit depending on the opponent)
2. (as a punisher) aaHP,HP, JK, air throw 4 hits 44%
3. Add a HK on Male Ninjas, Sub-zero, Jax, Stryker, (Robots, Sheeva require a
small step forward), and a few other characters, for 39% instead of 33% on his 7
hitter, leaving off the last B+HP, a standing LK works on a lot more characters,
for 37%, and a sweep will work on everyone also for 37% and sets up tactics, you
can do his Gotcha Grab with perfect timing on Jax and unmasked Sub-zero for a few
more %.

Basic Corner Combo - Juggles:

punch starter, HK, HK, D+HP, HP, BL, LP, B+HP, with your choice of finish:
1. HK - 50%
2. RH - 51%
3. gotcha grab 13 hits - 53%
4. uppercut - 54%

Advanced Corner Combo - Juggles
punch starter, HK, HK, D+HP, HP, BL, LP, B+HP, with your choice of finish because
certains combos work more faithfully on specific characters:
1. RH, HK - 10 hits 59%
2. JK, Backbreaker - 10 hits 59%
2. aaHP, dash punch, HK - 11 hits 60%
3. aaHP, dash punch, aaLP, gotcha 16 hits 65% (against Robots, Kung Lao, Jax,
Sheeva...)
4. JK, aaHP, dash punch, HK, 12 hits 68%

Corner Juggle Punishers:
1. aaHPHP, dash punch, HK 4 hits 40%
2. aaHPHP, dash punch, aaLP, Gotcha Grab 9 hits 52%
3. aaHP, JK, aaHP, dash punch, HK 5 hits 56%
3. aaHPHP, dash punch, JK, backbreaker 5 hits 58%
4. aaHP, JK, aaHP, dash punch, aaLP, Gotcha Grab 10 hits 68%



Kabal (Updated 3/16/06) 

Kabal is far and beyond the #1 character in UMK3, and for that reason, I will get
into a bit of counter Kabal strategies as well. He defines the top tier. There
are many specific tactics that need to be used against him to stand a chance, and
these tactics can be spilled over into general gameplay as well. He essentially
dictates the match and really the only way to beat Kabal is to frustrate him and
force mistakes. You really have to take advantage of jab canceling with block, in
which you bait spins out of the Kabal player, and the result will either be a
snuff, a block, or a throw. You should try to stay on the ground against him as
much as possible because the spin dash will get you everytime, particularly in
cross ups. Teleporting Ninjas Ermac, Human Smoke, and Scorpion can give Kabal a
lot of trouble, with Scorpion having the least chance due to his low damage
combos, also Sub-zero seems to be a good counter for him as well as Nightwolf.
What makes Kabal even more dangerous is he can turtle as well as rush down, to
both extremes, and mix it up in game constantly. Expert Kabal players can place
jump away kick to fireball traps low enough to the ground to not be hit by
teleport punches. He has ok damage combos starting from a knee lift, and good
damage basic juggles off a simple spin. Serious damage can be dealt in the corner
with multiple JK air fireball juggles. His rub jab pressure is unparalleled
because of the Spin Dash always lurking around, even though his damage was
slightly reduced from UMK3, the ease of him getting 3 combos becomes very
apparent when you just don't feel like being stuck under run jab pressure and a
spin plows through your ducking LK. Counter run jabbing Kabal will usually result
in you being thrown because of some awkward throw priority in that situation.
When a Kabal player begins his rush down specifically run jabbing like crazy, you
might want throw out an uppercut before the first run jab even comes out, also
try uppercut him when he lands after a JK and watch when he does his 5 hit combo
because if it is even slightly slow the uppercut will miss and you can capitalize
on him. 

What you want to do as Kabal is run jab pressure as much as possible. Stick in
knee lifts every now and then, watch for guard breaks and spin, or combo, if you
spin, make sure you add a jump punch or jump kick to his autocombo. You can play
keep away by doing low air fireballs and watching for spin opportunities if they
leave the ground. His game pretty much revolves around the run jabs and spin set
ups. Corner runjab pressure should be in the form of double run jabs (LP,LP run,
LP,LP run as fast as possible) and occasionally stick in a knee lift for his
combo, but don't do the pop up combo, do the 4 hit kick combo, as it does 24% vs
15% for the 5 hit, and the same rule applies if you get a spin in the corner, and
cannot push them out to set up a multiple JK air fireball juggle, except you
should add a jump kick starter. You can stick a ducking LK in after the 4 hit
kick combo in the corner, and if they attempt to rush out after the stun of the
kick, this is a good chance to get a spin, or a RH to a spin in the corner, which
can hit certain characters and make them end up standing and not in the air, and
it is unblockable. Jump Kicks also can cause this scenario, so watch for it and
make sure that they are not actually on the ground before trying a juggle combo
when you will get his hook swords instead. 

Basic Moves: 

Kabal's run jabs are excellent, and compliment his rush down very well. His
standing HK and uppercut are very good and useful. His standing LK has about
average range as does his sweep. His JK and JP and excellent in many situations,
and his roundhouse is fantastic for long range anti air, keeping him out of snuff
range. It's up there with Kung Lao but not quite as good as Liu Kang's which has
height and distance. His ducking LK is a bit short on range, but on occasion you
might want to stick a random ducking LK inbetween run jabs to entice your
opponent to attack, and wake them up with a spin. Take advantage of his own cross
up ability, as Kabal often times will land next to someone without getting hit
by a counter uppercut, and in from there you can sneak in a JP to combo. 

The Spin Dash is probably Kabal's most important special move. It's collision box
and collision start up are very large/fast and ultimately broken. The only things
that can beat it out are usually accidentally timed jump kicks, or intentional
run jabs that turn into accidental throws. There are a few other moves here and
there that can beat the spin, but generally not timable. You can throw Kabal out
of the spin from any distance with perfect timing, but expert Kabal players will
not do random spins if they know it has a chance to be blocked. Expert Kabal
players also tend to have a "Psychic Spin" ability in which they know exactly
when you let off your guard. Utilize the spin on cross ups by performing the
motion (B,F LK) backwards, as (F,B) and hit LK as soon as they cross Kabal's
axis. It is a good idea to get good at performing the motion while ducking, as
that is it's most useful feature during cross ups. The spin has a limit of 1
usage per combo, and 1 hit before it is locked, breakable to 2, for example
(aaHPHPgc) Spin after a teleport punch on male ninjas. In MK3 he could spin
twice in a row for no particular reason but that was removed. The Saw Blade is
disabled while the spin, wobble, or drop out duration of the Spin Dash is active,
this was also changed from MK3. Use the spin after an anti air HP, or a high
contact air fireball to set up big damage mid screen juggles. After an anti air
spin, it is easy to get 42% on just about everyone except Shang Tsung with
aaHPHP, JK air fireball. If you spin on the ground, a generally good damage
combo is jump punch starter, 5 hit pop up, JK air fireball. If you decide to go
for tactics over damage, you can do a deep bleeding JK instead of the fireball,
and go back into run jabs, even if it is late and gets blocked and this sets up
more chances to get another spin. If you spin someone in the air who has an air
move, like Sindel, or an air throw, once they drop out of the spin they can
escape the drop with that air move, so don't waste time and let them drop if they
are too high or they will be able to surprise counter you. When you do a pop up
combo with Kabal, sometimes the combo lags slightly depending on where they are
when the first hit happens, and it looks as if the uppercut isn't going to
come out. If your opponent releases block to capitalize the uppercut will hit.
Spin them as they are falling, but do it somewhat low to the ground since you
only have one hit in memory for the combo. Let them drop out and then do aaHPHP,
JK air fireball, but make sure they will not be able to drop-counter. The point
of doing this is because the remainer of the combo will now do full damage, and
the Spin will also have done a whopping 1 pixel of damage, for a total of 45%.
This also works in a much simpler scenario, after a grounded JK. When it
connects, immediately do a spin when you touch the ground and spin them before
the hit the ground, afterwards you can do his aaHPHP, JK, air fireball for 59%,
vs 36% with the damage protection. Use the spin on occasion as wake up, but
players with counter Kabal knowledge know to bait that wake up spin with a fake
run jab, canceled to block. The spin can plow through a standing HK or LK after
Kabal is knocked down, so watch for that, and you can also counter just about
anything with the spin after you block. You can also break out of the wobble
frames (not the spinning frames) with any special move, but Kabal players should
never allow this to happen. 

The Fireball (Eye Laser) is another integral move in Kabal's arsenal. You can use
it to zone because Kabal can instantly touch the ground after a low one, or you
can use a high one to knock a jumper down, in which case you should watch for a 
free air spin, setting up and easy 56% combo. You can use the air fireball to
bait an uppercut counter on a jump in and avoid the contact, enabling you to then
run jab pressure. Nightwolf can give Kabal trouble at times, but if you notice
they are reflecting your low air fireballs, intentionally do one that will go
over, or through Nightwolf's head and spin him. Use the air fireball in corner
juggles to extend them up to 3 times on anyone with the right timing, being high
JK contact, low air fireball contact, rejump, repeat. You should never use the
ground version of this move except to extend a combo, but only use it if it's
going to finish them because the recovery is long. It is also a useful tactic to
use the air fireball's push back on Kabal to get him safely over projectiles one
jump backs. 

The Saw Blade is generally useless. If you do happen to catch someone with it on
the ground, you can't do anything after it anyway because they can block. If you
get someone with the saw in the air as they leave the ground to jump over it, you
can spin them and do his bread and butter combo for 53%. The Saw Blade has a
limit of 2 hits before it is locked and has no useful comboing scenarios. If
Kabal is hit at anytime while the Saw Blade is out, it will disappear and not
connect on the opponent. 

Kabal can relaunch combo the Robots, Sheeva, Sub, Nightwolf, Jax, Kung Lao,
Sonya, Kabal. 

Basic Juggles 
1. Spin, jump kick starter, HK, LK, HP, HP, D+HP, JK, air fireball, 9 hits 41% 
2. aa spin, aa(HP,HP), JK, air fireball 5 hits 42% 
3. aaHP, spin, aa(HP,HP), JK, air fireball 6 hits 49% 

Advanced Juggles: 

1. near corner, spin, jump kick starter, HK, LK, HP, HP, D+HP, JK at peak, pause
and fireball just before you hit the ground, then JK immediately again, pause
slightly, air fireball, JK, airfireball (you should be able to get at least 2 JK
airfireballs on every character) 2 volleys is 11 hits 56%. 3 is 13 hits 70% and
you can stick an unblockable sweep at the end on some characters resulting in a
maximum of 14 hits 76% 
2. aa spin near corner, aa(HP,HP just out of corner pushback range) JK,
airfireball 2 or 3X depending, can result in 72-100%, on 2X, stick in a running
HK at the end, for 86%. 
3. Spin, jump kick starter, HK, LK, HP, HP, D+HP, R, aaHP, JK, air fireball 10
hits 44% (works on male ninjas, jax, Stryker, and Sub-zero, add a second aaHP on
Jax for 11 hits 47%) 
4. aaspin, JK, aaLP, JK, airfireball (on male ninjas, Jax, Sub, Stryker) 5 hits
50% 
5. aa air fireball, spin, aaHPHP, JK, airfireball (on male ninjas, Jax, Sub,
Stryker) 6 hits 61% 
6. aaSUJK or aa air fireball, spin, JK, aaLP, JK, airfireball (on male ninjas,
Jax, Sub, Stryker) 6 hits 61% 
7. aaHP,HP (glitch/just frame cancel to spin), aaHPHP, aaHP, JK, airfireball (on
Scorpion, Smoke, and Ermac block teleport punch especially easy, hit them before
they fall out of the spin because they can escape) 8 hits 62% 
8. JK (grounded) spin, wait till they fall out of the spin, HP, HP, JK, air
fireball 6 hits 59%



Kano (updated 3-12-06) 

Kano is ranked #4 of 23 in UMK3 by popular consensus, however, in current
competition, with upgraded combos, Reptile is fighting for this spot. He is the
best sweeper due to his options. You have the knife uppercut which hits ducking
opponents, very useful, the regular cannon ball which is instantaneous, and the
vertical ball is equally as useful, off a sweep. Air throw is very good, but low
damage, he can link his close range HK easily off a sweep as a wake up, so can
Jax and Sonya, but Kano can get it on more and results in about the same damage
mid screen for all three if they do. When rushing down, never go for any combo
except HK, D+LP, D+HP, if you connect it, walk in, aaHP, JK, air throw, it's 3%
less than if you did it with HP, HP, D+LP, D+HP, and when rushing in, the HP
whiffs, so it's worthless. If you connect a jumping HP, do the 4 hit pop up,
aaHP, JK, air throw, for 48%. Kano has various air combo finishes for a variety
of character scenarios. Always remember, sweep, sweep, sweep. 

Basic moves: 

His jump kick is nice and pointy, leaving little room to be countered by simple
moves, his uppercut has good distance but sucks if someone jumps to land in close
or tries to cross up so you're better off going with the air throw. His sweep is
super quick, his standing HK is great anti air when you need it fast. His jabs
have little range, his ducking LK is awkward and clunky but gets the job done.
His jump punch is very round and ball like, easy to counter since the collision
box is so close to his own. His knee lift is more like a close range low kick,
almost as useful as Nightwolf's obvious stomp. The roundhouse hits pretty high
and has average range. 

The air throw can be abused much like Jax's backbreaker. Sweep when safe, look
for cross up jump kicks, if they do, jump straight up, forward or back, and air
throw em back down, go right back into sweeps, run and knee jabs are good, don't
do too crazy on them they are easy to counter. Air throw is ok to extend combos
but only adds about 5-10% depending on Damage Protection or not. He has other
options after his pop up which are better than using the air throw, however the
air throw allows him to more easily go back into what Kano does best, and that's
sweep. 

The Manhandle is really only useful in combos, it has almost no purpose other
than a risky wake up mid game, and it's rare you see it connect and it leaves
you wide open. Players abuse it against scrubs because they don't expect it and
it has a psychological advantage otherwise due to the exaggerated manner. If you
do get the mandhandle miscreen, it is possible to juggle a LK, or cannonball off
it. Use it especially after corner juggles follow by a HK or cannonball for extra
damage. 

The horizontal and now a vertical Cannonball are very useful in UMK3. Use the
vertical ball particularly for anti air. From after a close blocked sweep you
can use it to land directly ontop of turtling opponents and as soon as touch the
ground you can throw, beating out any attack they try if they aren't holding
back, and often times when you land on someone and they don't try anything they
aren't holding the proper direction to prevent throwing anymore and it's almost a
free throw, or a 50/50 situation. You're going to want to make sure that during
Kano's decent it is tricky to guess which side he will be on, or else this will
not be effective. Don't over abuse this tactic because it doesn't take long to
start scouting it and positioning for easy counters. It is a similar concept to
Sonya's bike kick however she doesn't go into a real punishment mode off it. The
vertical ball is also a good method of escape from run jabs, and is an ideal anti
air move obviously, as almost nothing can stop it except air throws. 

The regular Cannonball is a fast moving attack that you should use in close
range as a wake up, or to counter virtually any standing attack within close
range as well. You can also use it as transportation against turtles and zoners,
it gets you right on top of them and sets up the chance for a wake up pop up
combo as long as you stay out of blockable range. You can also use it to extend
combos as well. 

The Knife Uppercut is a low hitting attack with some decent range. You can use
it in juggles, as a wake up on ducking opponents, or sometimes as an anti air if
you are too far away for a HK, or roundhouse. Kano's recovery vs the opponent's
when it is blocked is very close to being the same, but Kano generally ends up
vulnerable afterwards. 

The Knife throw is a standard, no frills projectile, except it has quite a bit of
start up animation before it becomes an actual object so it's easy to avoid. It's
a bit higher than others, like Sheeva's fireball, making it easier to duck, but
it is a bit better at hitting opponents when they jump back. You should probably
not use it in juggle combos, as there are better options than it in all
situations. 

He has three infinites in the corner that work on some characters, you can mix it
into his corner combos off launchers. You can simply repeat the mandhandle over
and over, which requires precise timing, and also, aaLP or HP, cancel to
Manhandle works as well, but is increasingly difficult as they tend to still get
some push back, making it harder to complete. 

Kano can relaunch every character in the game, like Ermac and Human Smoke. This
is done by performing a launcher combo, jumping along with the opponent as they
are flying, and as you are about to land, connect a linked HP, which is
unblockable if they are close enough to the ground but are still considered in
air, and then the autocombo is free. It is useful against certain characters, as
some are easier to relaunch than others. Difficult/pointless relaunch attempts
are Stryker, Sindel, Female Ninjas, and Male Ninjas. Everyone else is pretty
easily relaunched by Kano. 

Basic Juggles: 
1. JP, HP, HP, D+LP, D+HP, aaHP, JK, air throw 7 hits 47% 
2. JP, HP, HP, D+LP, D+HP, aaHP, knife throw 7 hits 40% (Knife uppercut 42%,
mandhandle, 45%) 
3. aaHP, JK, air throw 3 hits 31% 

Advanced Juggles: 
1. JP, HP, HP, D+LP, D+HP, deep JK with LK and charge LK, mandhandle, release for
cannonball, 8 hits 57%(can be done midscreen on some characters) 
2. (In corner especially against teleporters) aaHP, JK, aaHP, mandhandle,
cannonball, 5 hits about 63% 
3. JP, HP, HP, D+LP, D+HP, aaHP, JK, cannon ball 8 hits 50% 
4. aaHP,HP, JK, cannonball 4 hits 43% (BP) 
5. (in corner) JP, HP, HP, D+LP, D+HP, JK, HP, mandhandle, cannon ball 9 hits 60%
6. (as close to corner as possible without being pushed back) JP, HP, HP, D+LP,
D+HP, JK, RH, manhandle, cannon ball 9 hits 66%



Kitana (updated 11-11-05) 

Kitana is a mid tier character in UMK3, right around 15 give or take, which is
still a far cry from her status of MKII combo queen possible top 3. Her damage
was drastically reduced due to the fact her fan lift activates damage protection,
and if you connect her fan in a combo any hits after it are also damage protected
so you're best bet is to try and not use the fan lift unless it's use for drastic
anti air prediction. In punisher combos you're better off try to go for the
aaHP's without the fan to air juggle resulting in about 50%. Run jabs are her
game, the female ninjas have really great placement on their run jabs, and
remember to abuse the hell out of double run jabs with her. Remember to use the
sneaky 3 hits of the kick combo, leaving off the last B+HK, and lacing in a
standing HK if they try and capitalize on what they think is a broken combo. On
all characters except the female ninjas, Sindel, Sonya, Sheeva and Shang Tsung,
you can stick an unblockable just frames sweep at the end of her fan combo, for
example, JP starter, HP, HP, B+LP, F+HP, sweep as soon as you possibly can is
41%, and very easy. Her overall comboing ability is limited, low to average
damage (25-50% at a time, yes at this point 50% damage is average since it's half
a bar and 100%s and infinites are possible). Don't forget about the weird hit
boxes the female ninjas have which can make certain juggles more difficult, and
also a lot of characters cannot do their HP beginning to a combo if they get a
starter, possibly lowering their overall damage effectiveness helping her
slightly but not much. Kitana has some throwing tactics as well, along the lines
of Cryax and Robot Smoke. Her throw ends early and your opponent is very close to
you so can run in and attempt another free throw depending on if they are doing
to try and jump over you or not, or go right into run jabs, or run behind them
before they get up and attempt a cross up of sorts, try and stick her kick combo
in there as well. 

Female ninja basic moves: 

The female ninja uppercut is average, nothing to write home about, their standing
HK is great for far away jumpers trying to stay out of range for anti air HPs, it
doesn't have as much height as some other characters, but the collision detection
is a good distance from their body hit box, so it has good priority. Their LP
jabs hit lower than most so they can run jab Stryker when he's ducking and
blocking, and they good range. HP jabs have average range, sweeps are silent
which is a plus, and they have some distance to them, however are slow on
recovery compared to the fast sweepers leaving them potentially open. Ducking LK
has some decent pointiness and distance, standing LK hits a bit lower than usual.
Their roundhouse is very close range, better off going for a standing HK on jump
ins, but the RH can often be used in run underneath jump in situations because
the placement is perfect for that. Their jump punch has limited range and is
close to their body, bad for cross ups on ducking blocking opponents. 

The Fan Lift is a criminally pathetic waste of a containment. If you look at it
from the perspective that "free damage is free damage" then fine, use it. But I
would say avoid using it almost altogether unless you scout a jump in and lift
them but the most damage you're going to see midscreen is about 28 - 30%. It
would have been fair to not have damage protection on fan lifted moves but kept
the damage protection on the post fan throw moves, or perhaps only damage protect
post fan throw moves if you get a fan lift before it, but I'm getting off the
point here. This would have brought her tier level up considerably. Whenever you
might not be rushing down with her, always remember to buffer the fan lift so you
can perform on command if you so wish to use it. It is possible to get an aaHP
before a fan lift but it is not very practical, however the normal limit of hits
before the fan lift is disable is 0, meaning you can't combo anything before it
under normal circumstances. 

The Fan Throw is still a great move and she can use it almost exactly like she
did in MKII. Remember to throw them low to the ground so she lands quickly and
can block or counter. A commonly over used tactic is fan throw from full screen,
run in behind it and expect to get some free chip damage. Against experienced
players this is not the case. You will most likely get swept or even take an
uppercut, or counter containment during your labored journey to small amounts of
damage. What you might want to do is try a fan throw followed by her wave punch
from time to time. That will get her in close to them a lot quicker, putting the
fan right over their heads as she lands and making it difficult to counter with
an uppercut and standing up after the fan to HPs timing is critical, and from
there run jab city to kick combos, or simply a throw to beat out their counter
move, or mash out a ground combo as soon as you land as well. Don't over abuse
this tactic because it is almost the exact same concept as running in after a fan
throw, use both and mix it up, keep them guessing. If they jump to avoid the fan
throw they will get hit by the wave punch, if you don't do the wave punch watch
for the jump in and set them up for a fan lift. Remember to only use the fan in
air, and never ever on the ground. Occasionally throw one high if you expect a
jump in. Her style is almost hit and run but you can change it to hardcore
offense anytime you get in close with those run jabs. You might want to try an
early or deep jump kick, pausing to a late fan throw in order to bait someone's
counter, this way you can nip them with a fan on a close quarters JK. 

The Wave Punch is a pretty neat move that is great anti air for jumping forward,
straight up, or back opponents. It's easy to scout and the D, B HP motion is easy
to pull of instantly if you see someone so much as leave the ground. Battering
someone down with Wave Punches can have the same psychological effect as air
throwing someone on cross ups constantly, it forces the person to change their
strategy, possibly to something they are unable to keep up with. You can use it
for mobility to an extent, but expect to be punished for abusing it. You can
sometimes juggle a LK or HK in the corner after her wave punch depending on the
character and how high it connects. 

Kitana has no known infinites. 

Basic Juggles: 

1. punch starter, HP, HP, B+LP, F+HP, sweep 6 hits 41% 
2. fan lift, JK, air fan throw, wave punch 4 hits 22% 
3. JK, fan throw, uppercut 3 hits 33% 
4. (in the corner) fan lift, JK, air fan, RH, run in HK 5 hits 30% 

Advanced Juggles: 

1. aaHP,HP, JK, air fan, run in, aaHP, wave punch 6 hits 53% (you can add an
extra aaHP on Stryker Jax and Sub-zero for example, or aaLP,LP or some other
characters adding a little more damage 55-56%) 
2. (corner punisher would have to start about half screen distance from the
corner) aaHP, HP, JK, air fan, aaHP, wave punch 7 hits 60% 
3. (same set up as 2.) aaHP, HP, JK, air fan, RH, run in HK 7 hits 65% 
If closer to the corner, single aaHP is also possible and results in 6-7% less
damage but more than acceptable damage for Kitana. She has many variations here
and there on her juggles, these would be mostly ideal situations.



Kung Lao 

Kung Lao is ranked #3 of 23 in UMK3. A top tier character to say the least with
incredible maneuverability and high damage juggles, with infinite possibilities.
On the defensive, you have to force people to make mistakes, like leaving the
ground. This sets up spin opportunities and then leads into juggle infs and
respins. Watch for certain characters who can outprioritize the spin, like Kano.
His jump kick will often times beat out the Spin's collision box range. Your
best bet is to keep moving, using low to ground dive kicks and staying away from
the teleport unless you are guaranteed they will not be able to counter you, and
so you can connect a JK to powerful 7 hit autocombo afterward. Early jump punches
canceled to Dive Kicks are also useful. 

Basic moves: 

His HP can be used as anti air to set up the damage protection-free version of
his infinite, but you have to commit to that HP connecting, and it's not so easy
since it doesn't hit quite high enough for most characters. His LPs are good for
run jabbing but as to what you can do when they release block is limited to his 3
hit kick combo. His standing HK and RH are excellent anti air, his standing LK
has somewhat less range than others. His sweep has slightly longer range than
some and his ducking LK is quick and pointy, very good for escaping run jabs. His
uppercut has a very weird collision area. It will miss often times, especially
against the teleport uppercut, so rather try to go for single aaLP, JK, whiff
dive kick to infinite if possible. It also sometimes miss at extremely close side
to side range, for instance when a Robot Ninja or Sindel lands right next to you,
and is bad for direct overhead crossup snuffing but will connect just as they
pass behind you. In situations where you see an uppercut available, it might be
better to opt for his spin. 

The Spin is his most valuable move. It sets up all his options. From a spin, it
is time to deliver whatever variation of infinite combo you wish. There is no
limit to the amount of spins you can do in a combo, which is very broken and
dangerous, however, you must place one hit between each spin usage to allow for
another. The Spin can be used in some cases almost like a Dragon Punch, but it's
collision box, even though improved since MK3, still has some awkwardness to it,
so try and figure out the best way to time a counter spin. Oftentimes it is a
good idea to allow them to pass over you, and do the spin in reverse. Utilize the
spin in corner juggles. You can link the spin to the end of his 7 hit autocombo
in the corner on the Robot Ninjas and Nightwolf, and if you catch someone just
off the ground in the corner with an autocombo so that the entire combo juggles
them, it is quite easy to then link a spin on just about anyone with the extra
falling height. Utilize the Spin to get your opponent out of the corner in juggle
combos if you don't wish to be repetitive or "lazy" with your now already broken
infinite combos. What you must do is allow Kung Lao to pass the other character's
axis in the corner after whiffing a dive kick, so that when the spin connects, it
sends them out of the corner. You might also want to try performing the F-D-F
motion backwards while still in the air, and hitting the F+Run the instant you
hit the ground. You can also allow your opponent to fall a bit and be sure that
they are to your side, and as quickly as possible perform the Spin normally. Try
to stay away from using the Spin too much. It is possible to bait people with it
from cross screen by just doing the Spin action without tapping at all, you will
recover quickly, but if you tap Run during the spin at all, you will be held in
spin animation longer. 

The Dive Kick is another very important move, and what's more important is
learning how to miss it well than even hitting it. It is a great transport move
and if you do them low to the ground it confuses your opponent and it's very hard
to hit him and intentionally get in the way of to block it. "Whiffing" the Dive
Kick is essential to performing Kung Lao's cross screen infinite variants. It is
a good idea to do the Dive Kick instinctively after connecting jump kicks, or
using it to avoid an incoming counter jump kick. There is no limit to how many
Dive Kicks you can do in a combo, but remember you don't want to be connecting
them. Use it sparingly against opponents for damage, as it puts him in punishment
mode when blocked. Try to do the Dive Kick and land next the opponent or behind
them, and go for the 3 hit kick combo if they are ducking. 

The Hat Throw is a slow projectile that has an arch to it, so it cannot be easily
ducked or swept under. Kung Lao, Sindel and Sonya can easily ducking LK under it
from a variety of distances. Sindel and Kung himself can duck it from a very
large half screen window considering the move is generally not designed to be
duckable. You can use it to add variety to corner combos, but it doesn't really
have much other use, you might be able to stick it in with run jabs every now
and then but this sets up nothing and runs the risk of being blocked and
countered. 

The Teleport is a questionable move. Some people know how to use it, some will
never know. The best way to use it is on a baited projectile, and countering into
the jump kick to 7 hit combo. If you ever do a teleport while your opponent is
neutral, you asking to get countered. Spamming on the attack as he's coming up
will sometimes help against people, but it is inadvisable because you will most
likely not land the 7 hit combo. You can use the teleport in the corner to make
his juggle infinites look more elaborate. It possible to teleport out of the way
of sluggish run jabbers, but it is all in all just better to use ducking LKs. 

Basic combos juggles: 

1. aa Spin, R, aa(HP,HP) hat throw, 4 hits 25% 
2. aaHP, JK, dive kick 3 hits 31% 

Advanced Juggles: 

1. spin, R, aaHP,HP, JK or JP, whiff dive kick, aaHP, repeat across screen 
2. (In corner or from previous combo) spin, JK, spin (inf, and there are tons 
of moves you can throw in for variety, Kung Lao can spin off just about all 
his normals and the hat throw) 
3. aaHP,(HP- may be necessary) JK, whiff dive kick (repeat til corner or dead) 
4. 7 hit autocombo, juggle spin, straight up jump kick, whiff dive kick, spin out
of corner, into cross screen infinite variation. 

Sheeva, Shang Tsung, and the Female Ninjas all are slightly harder to juggle
infinite than others, you must be more selective about how you hit them,
specifically doing a certain routine against them, whereas against other
characters you have a lot of freedom to change things up.



Liu Kang 

Liu Kang is a another one of those lower end of the mid tier characters, ranked
in the neighborhood of 17th, who can be a pain in the right hands. He has a
number of options to play around with, wake up bike kicks, dragon kicks, air
fireballs, High/Low Fireball mix ups and the roundhouse of God. Mix up run jabs
with his 4 hit kick combo, and when midscreen always do his 7 hit combo rather
than his pop up when it is available for free, or off a jump punch starter. The 7
hit with a jump punch does 39%, and his pop up combo to JK, air fireball, dragon
kick does 32%, not worth the effort. In the corner it is possible to link a
sweep, standing LK or HK after his 7 hitter, and sometimes it is a good idea to
throw a low fireball out after the 7 hitter, and mix that up with a high one once
in a while to keep them guessing. The only time you will want to use his pop up
combo is in the corner to set up multiple airfireball juggles, as it is 
elatively easily to compensate for the lost damage, but not by much. He has a
very nice punisher that requires a bit of timing, aaHPHP, JK, air fireball,
dragon kick in this case, without the double damage protection of his pop up
combo, does 56%. It is a very useful tool to counter Human Smoke and Ermac's
damage if you catch a blocked teleport, make sure you take a running step before
you do the HPs, and cancel the second HP with the run button to allow yourself
more time to get the JK high in the air. Abuse his roundhouse as much as you can,
and try to link dragon kicks off it mid screen for some psychological advantages,
as it is very easy to know when you will connect a Liu Kang roundhouse. Everynow
and then throw out a wake up bike kick from close range, similar to Kano's
cannonball. 

Basic moves: 

Liu Kang is the only character in the game to use his rear fist first to punch,
subsequently, this has no affect on his juggling ability. His jabs in general are
pretty normal. His sweep has normal range, but a bit of recovery to it. His
uppercut is pretty good, but his HK hits noticably lower than some. His JP and JK
are very high, similar to Kung Lao's in MKII and has an easy time beating out
others because his forward and back jumps are a bit higher than everyone else's.
His ducking LK is not as good as say Sonya's, or Kung Lao's, but it gets the job
done, as well as his ducking LP for run jab escape. The straight up JK is a
little short on range. His roundhouse is amazing. It has ridiculous range and is
almost impossible to not connect it. Use it often, and use it well. It is
possible to juggle a Dragon Kick off it if you happen to hit it close enough. 

The Dragon Kick is a fast, horizontal air attack with some strange properties.
If you are too close to an opponent, the Dragon kick will go over them and land
instantly on the other side, this might actually be something you will want to
use because it will create some temporary confusion but as long as you know what
the situation is you can take the upperhand. If the Dragon Kick is blocked, Liu
Kang will land, and then go into a double animation where he is vulnerable to
ground combos for an instant, timed to coincide with the recovery of the other
character. You basically want to use it to extend combos, and occasionally as a
wake up or a sudden attack. Like any move, it becomes easily scoutable with
overuse. 

The Bike Kick is used similarly to the Dragon Kick, except it can possibly lead
to further damage in the corner, and occasionally you can combo a standing LK off
it mid screen if you get it out right on time. If you get it in the corner and
are overlapping your opponent when you land, it is easily possible to get his 7
hit combo off it with a sweep for 47%. From there you can run jab and mix up. The
Bike Kick is a very good wake up attack because its collision starts up quickly.
Do not over abuse this or people will bait it, and Liu Kang will go into
punishment mode when it is blocked. You can use it to extend corner combos as
well. 

The Low, High Fireballs and Air Fireballs still have some use, but limited to
generally full screen tactics and zoning. You can throw out a low or high
fireball after his 7 hit combo to keep them pinned down, and air fireballs are
good as well for pinning down, but try and keep them very low. Air Fireballs can
also be used to extend corner combos, by doing JKs as early and high as possible,
then doing the Air Fireball as low as possible, enabling you to rejump and repeat
a few times. Unfortunately since all his attacks are double damage protected
after the pop up, his corner combo damage is very low for the effort it takes to
do them. 

Liu Kang has a hard time relaunching characters because of the height and arch of
his jump, but it is still possible to relaunch combo Jax, The Robots, Sheeva,
Kung Lao, Nightwolf, Sub-zero, Kabal and Shang Tsung, but it is hardly worth the
effort as the added damage for just one relaunch is about 13%. 

Basic Juggles: 
1. jump punch starter, HP, HP, B+LP, aaHP, JK, airfireball 7 hits 28% 
2. aaHP,HP, JK, air fireball or Dragon Kick 4 hits 42% 
3. Bike Corner (in corner), HP, HP, BL, LK, LK, HK, LK, sweep, standing LK, or
standing HK depending on opponent 9 hits 47-48% 

Advanced Juggles: 
1. aa(HP,HP), JK, air fireball, dragon kick 5 hits 56% (BP) 
2. jump punch starter, HP, HP, B+LP, late JK, airfireball, dragon kick 7 hits 32%
3. jump punch starter, HP, HP, B+LP, deep JK, aaHP, JK, air fireball 8 hits 32% 
4. (close to corner as a punisher) aaHP, JK, air fireball, RH, Dragon Kick 5 hits
66% 
5. (close to corner as a punisher) aaHP, JK, air fireball, aaHP, high fireball,
standing HK 6 hits 69% 
6. (Half screen from corner as a punisher) aaHP,HP, 3X JK air fireball (over 100%,
and you can leave off the 3rd JK air fireball and replace it with roundhouse,
dragon kick if you don't have them high enough off the juggle)
7. (Near corner), jump punch starter, HP, HP, B+LP, JK, air fireball 3X, aaHP,
fireball, standing LK doable on just about every, but very difficult in concept,
13 hits 50% (you can also finish it with RH, run in HK, or RH dragon kick also
for 50%)



Mileena (updated 3-12-06) 

Mileena is considered a very low tier character, probably around 22nd of the 23
in UMK3, and third in terms of the three female ninjas. She has overall low combo
damage, not much in terms of options, almost everything revolves around the roll
hich activates damage protection miserably. She, like Cyrax, requires a lot of
effort to be a force in the game, and there are some expert players here and
there who can use her, however she still just doesn't cut it against most top
tier characters. Fortunately the female ninjas have strange collision boxes
making it harder to juggle them, and maxed out combos are unlikely in most cases,
watch for slip ups and counter based on their character design. Some characters
cannot get starters on them at all, and both ground attacks after a JP or a
straight up JK will whiff, however in the corner a lot of these characters are 
able to get starters on them, but still some cannot, it depends on how close you
are when the jump attack connects. An underused tactic the female ninjas can
abuse is by leaving off the last hit of their kick combos if the opponent blocks
the first three, and pausing ever so slightly, then doing a HK as they try to
rush in, which happens very often. Even if they don't it hits blocked which does
slightly more chip damage than finishing out the combo and doesn't give them as
much time to recover and counter, setting up other situations in your favor. 

Female ninja basic moves: 

The female ninja uppercut is average, nothing to write home about, their standing
HK is great for far away jumpers trying to stay out of range for anti air HPs, it
doesn't have as much height as some other characters, but the collision detection
is a good distance from their body hit box, so it has good priority. Their LP
jabs hit lower than most so they can run jab Stryker when he's ducking and
blocking, and they good range. HP jabs have average range, sweeps are silent
which is a plus, and they have some distance to them, however are slow on
recovery compared to the fast sweepers leaving them potentially open. Ducking LK
has some decent pointiness and distance, standing LK hits a bit lower than usual.
Their roundhouse is very close range, better off going for a standing HK on jump
ins, but the RH can often be used in run underneath jump in situations because
the placement is perfect for that. Their jump punch has limited range and is
close to their body, bad for cross ups on ducking blocking opponents. Their JK is
one of the best in the game. 

The Roll is an interesting and complex move to say the least with lots of uses.
It is by definition a containment move as well, similar to that of Reptile's
forceball, however Mileena's distance from the opponent and positioning is not
always exactly the same making juggle combos for her difficult to guarantee.
Mileena can run in sooner depending on what frame she is in when the roll
connects. The roll can be used to prevent anti air cross ups if timed correctly.
As the player jumps over you, buffer F,F,D instead of B,B,D and do the roll as
they start the air attack, you will roll under them, causing the occasional
forward flip towards Mileena reaction which is ideal, enabling better juggle
combos. It is relatively easy to perform the flip towards roll by timing the
contact just on the opposite side of the oppent as they fall, try this during
punishment combos with aaHP,HP, B,B, pause, D, HK for the late roll and ideal
spacing. The roll can also be used on a delay, so you can buffer B,B, D, wait a
good second and then surprise with the roll as if you were the CPU and didn't
have to perform any motion, similar to usage of Stryker's baton throw, which can
abuse the same delayed button hit concept. There are many players who abuse the
roll constantly, and pay for it, please do not be one of these players. It is
possible to abuse the roll and be successful, it just takes good judgement on
placement. The roll can also be used as a wake up to escape run jabs, smilar to
Kabal's spin and Sonya's bike kick, but if it is expected, a simple kara jab will
block it and set Mileena up for a punisher combo. The roll has a limit of 1 usage
every other hit and is locked at 3 hits, so that means you can combo 2
legitimately. Also look for chances to use the roll in the corner, don't just
throw out a random ball because of the likelihood of it being blocked, but watch
for an attempt to uppercut and buffering B,B while jabbing at times. 

The Teleport/Drop Kick is a very slow attack and should be used as a total
surprise, perhaps no more than once a round, it is easy to scout, predict, and
counter, and any time you can use it in a combo, you could do 2 or 3 more hits
with something else resulting in higher damage. 

The Sai Shot is still spammable as it was in MKII in terms of speed, however it
is not as effective. The Prophet says "It looks like she's aiming at airplanes or
something with them." What he means is, they are way too high in the air when she
releases so they are easy to avoid, and he would be right. You can still try to
spam them, use them in combos as well, for zoning, etc. You can charge HP for the
sai shot while run jabbing with LP, if you see them try to jump out of the corner
you can jump back and release HP hitting a sai shot knocking them back into the
corner, and you can also try to juggle again before they hit the ground. 

As far as I have tested, Mileena can only relaunch the robot ninjas, and Kung
Lao, even Sheeva can always block her relaunches, others may be possible, as I
sort it out I'll post it. 

Basic Juggles: 

1. punch starter, HP, HP, HK, HK, D-F LK, aaHP, drop kick 8 hits 37% 
2. punch starter, HP, HP, HK, HK, D-F LK, JK, sai 8 hits 40% 
3. roll, R, aaHP, roll, R, HK, 4 hits 24% 

Advanced Juggles: 

1. aa(HP,HP), roll, RH 4 hits 31% 
2. (from ground up directly infront of opponent or a cross up jump kick), JK,
roll, aa(HP,HP), JK, sai shot, 6 hits 39% (leaving out the sai shot might make
the combo easier and will result in about 5% less damage and this can be applied
to all other combos ending in a sai shot) 
3. (off a flip towards Mileena punisher set up) aa(HP,HP), roll, aa(HP,HP), JK,
sai shot 7 hits 41% 
4. aaHP, JK, roll, R, aaHP, HK 5 hits 42% 
5. aaHP, JK, roll, JK, sai, 5 hits 44% 
6. aaHP, JK, roll, R, aaHP,HP, JK, sai shot 7 hits 50% (doable on male ninjas,
Kano, Jax, Stryker, Sub-zero, etc) 
7. (near corner) aaHP, RH, roll, R, aaHP,HP, JK, sai shot 7 hits 52%



Nightwolf 

Nightwolf is ranked #5 in UMK3. He is devastatingly fast, has exceptional damage
combos off a simple rush down with no set up required, his attacks are useful,
have little recovery, or have no limit. Definitely a top tier character to say
the least. His rush down is virtually unparallel in the game, and his mix ups are
quite useful. He's a very easy to use character overall. He cannot autocombo
starter on the female ninjas with either his punch or kick unless in the corner,
and combos against them are not as easy, so that hurts him against them. His
stomp also misses them quite often, so look for counter players using the female
ninjas to exploit Nightwolf's collision box weaknesses because damage is the key
with him and they are less susceptible. Nightwolf can run through sweeps if timed
properly and begin his autocombo. Never do his 5 hit autocombo that ends in a HK.
Rush down is extremely important. 

Basic Moves: 

Uppercut is solid, overall good priority and placement, HK has range, but not as
much height as others, RH is average range, good for run unders, if you can time
an air air roundhouse with him, you're better off countering with an aaAxe,
aaAxe, aaHP, JK, or the likes for more damage and the same amount of effort on
the initial counter hit. His sweep is virtually identical in range to the male
ninjas, and has the same speed/start up/recovery, which is average. His LK hits a
little lower than usual, and has a little less range. His run jabs also has just
a little less range than others, his HPs are about average range, and also hit a
little lower. His ducking LK has good range. JP has good cross up properties. The
close range kick is a stomp that hits extremely low and is very useful, his close
range punches hit very high and miss constantly so always rush down with stomps.

The Axe Uppercut is a great and unique move, considered a containment move
because you can always get at least one free hit after it. It is possible to
combo multiple axes, usually in any combo if you do two axes with some kind of
extra juggle hits you will result in almost 45-50% even without a starter. It is
an amazing cross under tool, anytime someone cross up jump kicks you, you can do
the axe the opposite way and it will hit them on their way down even if they are
attack, it's almost fool proof and very hard to recounter it unless it is baited
and even still it can hit, it's like Kabal's spin only not as much damage can be
done after using it. Remember that if you do an axe uppercut in combo and it
misses Nightwolf is vulnerable and characters can capitalize on this. During his
blocked combo it is sometimes better to leave out the axe because he can even be
beaten out of it in that situation. 

The Shoulder Tackle is your friend. It has very little recovery, but it is not
invincible, it can be abused, but it can be scouted, it all depends on zoning.
It hits ducking blocking characters except Stryker who is completely immune to
it, and occasionally some characters can duck and block while it is coming and
not get hit for chip like Kung Lao, and Sonya for example. It's good to finish
juggle combos with as it does about the same amount of damage as a HK/JK and gets
them into position to set up more tactics. Don't do the tackle from too far away
because it's easily beaten by sweeps and try not to buffer it with obvious
stepping. Sometimes it is useful to buffer it with running steps, so, hold run,
tap forward, release run then forward again and tackle to get in close. The run
in creates a defensive posture for the opponent and they will attempt to counter
based on running velocity but when you change the run into a tackle you are
coming in with a move instead of being totally vulnerable. If someone is ducking
and blocking you can usually get two tackles out before they are comfortable to
release block and try to just duck it and counter, so you should then skip the
tackle and run in with his combo and get them sleeping. Make sure you mix this up
a lot and don't fall into a pattern yourself or people will pick up on it. The
tackle is also surpsiringly good for anti air especially in extremely close
range, or even as an anti cross up, it will move backwards and somewhat appear
to track the opponent. In the corner it is easily possible to get mulitple rams
if you run jab and the opponent tries to jump out of the corner. Time a HP or LP
jab to hit them in the air, then another HP, cancel to tackle, tackle for up to
4 hits 42%. This is a very special case scenario when they are in the corner but
it's entirely possible. 

The Projectile Reflection move is pretty much what you see is what you get. You
bounce projectiles back to your opponent. This move can get you in a lot of
trouble, especially against Kabal. Players like to use it against the purple ball
but a smart Kabal player will place the ball to scrape of Nightwolf's head and
plow through him with a spin, severely punishing the overzealous Nightwolf user.
It's best to use this move against characters who have a containment projectile
like Sub-zero and Cyrax because this results in a free HK starter to autocombo,
resulting in hideous damage of upwards to 60% and beyond. It will not reflect the
harpoon or Stryker's Riot Gun for example. 

The Bow and Arrow is a tiny projectile with unreasonable vulnerability and
recovery. If you connect a move before the arrow, it will start up extremely
fast, making it a lot easier to combo with, and even still it does very little
damage. In any situation where you can combo an arrow, you can combo something
else that does more damage. The fast arrow is active any time your opponent is in
non neutral recovery frames, so you can send it out after an uppercut when they
land as they get up and sometimes they will jump right into it, or after a
roundhouse early to keep them where they are on the defensive, as offense is
Nightwolf's main game. If your opponent is jumping away you can sometimes keep
them pinned temporarily at full screen with fast arrows off a just frames
concept. This is a pretty much worthless tactic and the arrow should be used very
little as there is only one major purpose for it and that's to knock opponents
back down before they even get up, also a predictable tactic. It's a match
winning move for when someone is at danger and can't even block it. 

Nightwolf has a corner infinite that works on Kabal, Sektor, Cyrax, Robot Smoke,
Sheeva, and Kano. You can repeat his 3 hit kick combo over and over. The timing
is incredibly easy, you can wait until they completely touch the ground and for
whatever reason it still hits. It was designed to whiff but apparently these 6
characters have slightly larger collision detection when laying on the ground.
Abuse this against corny Kabal players in the corner. If you can lead them there
and get them into the corner, kara jab them and try to make them spin you while
you are close to the corner, and then break out the infinite on them. 

You can also use this infinite concept these character midscreen after an
autocombo as a sleeper or wake up detector. A lot of times people like to jump
away, uppercut, or wakeup when you get in close and try to rush down, however,
Nightwolf can combo after the axe uppercut combo with his stomp before they have
the chance to do any of this on these characters. Even though this is blockable
you might find many anxious players who will receive a double combo at least
once.
For example, HP starter, 5 hit combo, axe, axe, walk in, sleeper stomp 5 hit
combo, axe, axe, HP, JK is 15 hits 76%, and that's a very easy combo for just ONE
i