One of the biggest announcements for Mortal Kombat 11 so far was that Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa would be reprising his role from the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie in the newest iteration of the game.
Arriving as the first DLC character in the game, Shang-Tsung is known for his ability to command the souls of the dead – and as one of the main villains in earlier games.
In MK11, aside from all the fantastic fan service NetherRealm is adding via Shang Tsung's arrival, we're also seeing the first great zone controller and mid-range maestro get added to the game.
After a good 40 minutes playing in the lab with Shang Tsung, we're impressed with NetherRealm's choice to add him to the roster as the first DLC character. Allow us to explain.
“You couldn't ask for a better first DLC character than Shang Tsung.”
Daily Star
The base roster or MK11 has some great rushdown characters, and some fortified strong, bulky units at its core, too.
Kotal Kahn, Shao Khan and Geras make great use of pressure and spacing but still need a decent window to windup their attacks.
The like of Johnny Cage, Scorpion, Scarlett and Frost command space well, but are limited by attack power and strong counterplays from rapid opponents.
Shang Tsung feels like a solid all-rounder that fills a gap in the roster from launch. With his traditional skull summons that can pull enemies in from behind, or with his Reptile-inspired slide, he's got options to close gaps actively or defensively.
His Smoke-inspired projectile counter allows him to bait enemies from range, too – pulling them into his bread and butter combo attack that comes with its own high/low mixup built-in (and if you try and poke him out of the wrong one, you activate his Crushing Blow – you've been warned!)
This means Shang Tsung has utility to bait out more defensive players, and the capability to put pressure on the more aggressive ones.
By combining that with his Soul Steal ability (which handily extends most his basic combos), you can add even more unpredictability to the necromancer, using your opponents own skills against them if you get even one combo in.
Shang Tsung, then, is not a beginner character. You need to have a decent understanding of basically the entire in-game roster if you want to use him to the best of his ability, and the spacing and timing you need to keep in mind to best use his high-damaging combos aren't as forgiving as, say, Erron Black or Kitana.
That said, for scene enthusiasts or hardcore players, you couldn't ask for a better first DLC character than Shang Tsung.
With the Soul Steal move, he brings something new to the game – a gimmick that he's had for the last 20 years in terms of lore, but one that has finally been really impressively recognised here.
Shang Tsung is going to open up the meta in massive new ways… and he's only the first character to be put in the game.
Honestly, if MK11 continues on tRead More – Source
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