Kotal Kahn Mortal Kombat XL moves

After a week of playing this and only picking and maining Kotal Kahn with a score of over 300 wins and just 12 losses. 11 of them having to do with serious 1 second delay lag.

I will say his forward shoulder is absolutely amazing. You can pressure with it and be safe. Can also hit confirm off some of them if your reactions are on point or you realize he is getting annoyed and starts to press buttons for an easy 32% combo without meter.

I say practice his combos after a shoulder hit and make sure it hurts.

Kotal Kahn has a huge problem getting in on some characters. I found it hardest against Quan Chi. However with patience and using his God Ray you can force the other to dash or jump at you.

I feel many people are having trouble full screen because they use his special moves too often. They are all slow and hard to time.

It's much easier to use his God Ray and put it on yourself. It stays for a very long time and heals you up nicely as you take chip at the same time. Do this while slowly moving forward and you wont have issues vs keepaway characters I promise.

His F2 is very unsafe against good players. I would only use that as a hard punish or block string mixup if they are mashing buttons. However it still gets beat from jabs.

I feel his biggest disadvantage is when someone continues to jab inbetween your block string pressure. Kotal Kahn is slow and his moves has no types of armor or priority. Just set up the shoulder and make good reads. Kotal Kahn play needs patience.

I use his War God variation because he has more mix up opportunities and can make himself 100% safe on many block string combos he normally wouldn't be by connecting his Saw Blade special attack after every combo. It can also act as a very good anti air if the person abuses the jump. Its also one of his best wake up ex options.

Kotal Kahn is very underutilized and I feel is a secret high tier. Damaging combos and very good pressure if used the right way. His God Ray and shoulder bump normal are two moves that should be used often.

Simple BnB combos I found easy to master and use as a good punish against just about anything unsafe:

F1, F2 (Wait a millisecond), F1, F2, EX Air Takedown, F2 (Perform this move as quick as possible to get the opponent juggled at right height. You can just mash), Can then end it with a normal grab or another air Takedown. Will do around 36% to 39%.

This combo works for all Variations and can be extended for massive damage when putting in a 3 button combo into special after the EX air takedown.

Hope this helps. This is all I found so far. Sure pros can find a lot more but this is what helps me and seems to be defeating even the best online PS4 players in every room. It's about the patience.

Kotal Kahn is a very strong character, however he is at a severe disadvantage vs projectiles. All of his moves have very slow startups. I haven't found the most optimal way to deal with it. The best I came up with is trade hits and try to to dash forward with F2, B3 - F2, F1,2 also covers a decent amount of distance.

Dude this character is amazing sun god class is godlike. I can get over 40% meter less I am learning him u on Xbox one?

This guy is a powerhouse. Able to do 30 to 50 percent with just a single punish. His forward 1-2 combo is a great punisher and combo starter to an easy 30 percent. His totems are hard to use. Stick with the defense totem. His saw blade is also very good for 50/50 mix ups that also lead to a good 30 percent if guessed wrong. His only flaw lies in his projectile/get in game. Other than that I feel he will be underutilized and be a secret tier until a pro masters him.

It seems that for optimal damage with Kotal Kahn, you can connect three forward+2 Rising Fists, into either forward+1,back+2 Tenchalli Rush, or back+1,2 Metztli, into Air Takedown, or Sun God Choke, or Saw Blade...

ALL VARIATIONS:

Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+1,Back+2, Air Takedown. Meterless 33% damage.
With Blood Offering = 44% meterless damage.

Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+1,Back+2, EX Anti-Air Throw, Forawrd+1,Back+2, Air Takedown. 41% damage 1 meter.
With Blood Offering = 52% damage 1 meter.

Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+2, Back+1,2, Air Takedown.
Meterless 32% damage.
With Blood Offering = 44% meterless damage.

Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+2, Back+1,2, EX Anti-Air Throw, Back+1,2, Air Takedown. 41% damage 1 meter.
With Blood Offering = 52% damage 1 meter.

SUN GOD:

Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+2, Back+1,2, Sun God Choke Lv.1 Meterless 31% damage.
With Blood Offering = 42% damage meterless.

Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+2, Back+1,2, Sun God Choke Lv.2 Meterless 33% damage.
With Blood Offering = 44% damage meterless.

Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+2, Back+1,2, Sun God Choke Lv.3 Meterless 36% damage.
With Blood Offering = 47% damage meterless.

Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+1,Back+2, EX Anti-Air Throw, Back+1,2, Sun God Choke Lv.3 43% damage 1 meter.
With Blood Offering = 55% damage meterless.

Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+2, Back+1,2, EX Anti-Air Throw, Back+1,2, Sun God Choke Lv.3 41% damage 1 meter.
With Blood Offering = 55% damage meterless.

WAR GOD:

Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+1,Back+2, Saw Blade. Meterless 34% damage.
With Blood Offering = 45% meterless damage.

Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+2, Back+1,2,2, Overhead Sword Strike. Meterless 35% damage.
With Blood Offering = 47% meterless damage.

Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+2, Forward+1,Back+2, EX Anti-Air Throw, Back+1,Forward+2, Overhead Sword Strike. 40% damage 1 meter.
With Blood Offering = 52% damage 1 meter.

The trick to getting all 3 Forward+2 Rising Fists to hit is in the Spacing of the 1st one. You can't be too close. Kind of delay the 2nd one, and immediately input the 3rd one.

If you messup the 1st or 2nd Rising Fist it is ok, you can recover it by just finishing it off with an Uppercut, Down+2.

Forward+2, Down+2 = 21% damage.
Forward+2, Forward+2, Down+2 = 27%

21% to 27% isn't so bad for a botched combo attempt.

And Just remember that Starting with Forward+2 isn't a safe option. Only use it when an opening presents itself for a nice punish.

It's been well documented here already that Blood God's damage buff combined with Blood Offering allows for 42% in 2 hits and 91% in the corner, but what about a midscreen extension? Turns out, with a little timing, the five hit combo of f2 f2 1 1 3 can be followed up with an X-ray. Add in Crystal Totem and Blood Offering, and the result is a 71% MIDSCREEN combo. Pretty nuts if you can land it.

Kotal khan is a fantastic character. War god is his best variation. It gives you access to very good high low mixups and a df2 which can help make a lot of your strings safe against most of the cast.

Best strings.
114-fastest punishment string and safe on block
212- fast string that ends with an overhead
f1,b2- your best midrange/footsie tool. it is -12 on block so Learn the option select off this move to make it safe.
*Os is in war god mode. Input f1,b2 and df. you can visually confirm if it hits or gets blocked. if it hits you dont press 2 and you can continue your combo. If it gets blocked, press 2 and you get saw blade which is only -5, compared to -12.
b3,2- Nice 2 hit string that ends with a shoulder charge, safe on block and great for attempting to advance
b1,2,2-good range and decent punisher, ends with an overhead.

Kotal khan good normals, very good mixups, and armor on most his special moves. War god should be the variation of choice, sun god and blood god only really offer a better projectile. But you kotal is not a fireball character. Practice catching characters jumping at you with his anti-air throw it keeps people grounded, which allows you to utilize your strong pressure more effectively. characters like ermac with flight, goro stomp, and kung lao teleport you can all catch with grabs on reaction.

Kotals only weaknesses are strong zoning characters, utilize neutral ducking,run, and your normals that move you forward to fight these characters.

Did anyone figure out how or where to get his Blood Offering brutality?? Please someone help!

I'm using the Sun God variation the most since I love me some command grabs and I'm liking this guy quite a bit. A very useful kombo that I found was this:

1,1,4 cancelled into EX air grab, F2,B1,4 cancelled into command grab

Note that 114 is safe on block so it can be thrown out there and hit confirmed. The B1,4 after the F2 can be a bit tricky at first and you can always switch it out with 2,1 for 2 percent less damage.

Best thing about it: If you win with it (and has charged the command grab up to level 3) you get the awesome Dry Rub brutality.

This goes all characters. When trying to punish attacks, if you use a normal move it will come out 1 frame later because recovery from blocking is 1 frame. So trying to punish a move that is -6 will mean you need an attack with 5 frame startup unless its a special attack. Special attacks start up normally because they are reversals.

Kotal Kahn is a high damage character with good close range tools. He's aggressive, and you can compare him to someone like E. Honda or Zangief, depending on what variation you pick. I personally prefer Sun God, for it's command grab, but the other two have their own variations (Blood God in particular can lead to absurd damage output when you stack his two damage buffs)

The downside to all of this is that Kahn is slow. His normals take a bit to come out, his dash is decent but not amazing, and he lacks a teleport or other easy way in. The best solution for people keeping you at range is to wait for a mistake, and use a meter version of his saw blade for a chunk of damage, and knockdown. Also, if the opponent gives you time, use B3, F2.

Kotal's F2 is one of the best punishes in the game. He almost feels like playing Kazuya or Heihachi in a Tekken game, because he'll make it HURT if you wiff.

His variations aren't as defined as some of the rest of the cast. Sun God seems to be the most consistent variation. War God might be a good choice if you know the opponent is going to be playing around with long ranged attacks or zoning, as it gives him better projectile options. Blood God often doesn't pay off, unless in knockdown heavy matchups. Even then, normally you can get more off of Sun God in those situations, but your mileage may vary.

Try out Kotal Kahn if you want something that plays outside the traditional MK mold. He's great for people used to heavy hitters in games like Street Fighter, and feels like a better version of Lobo, for Injustice vets. Add a little bit of Tekken style bait and punish, and you've got Kotal Kahn in a nutshell.

So far Kotal has been my favorite character to play as. He looks badass and his moves are devastating. I personally use the sun god variation about 80% of the time. I pick the war god if I suspect my opponent will try and cheese my by projectiles or by sitting in the corner crouch blocking. If my opponent does that, then use your EX sword toss when they fire their projectile. Also remember that his sword shake is unblockable. If you need to close space, I recommend trying to run and hit b1,2,2 combo and if you are sun god then you can do you sun choke move right after this. As the sun god you EX projectile is also much faster to help in long range fights. I also recommend moving with the d-pad and rarely using the stick with kotal. Have fun and I hope these small tips help!

I'm pretty sure the variations are all mixed up. I think Variation A is Blood God, B is War God, and C is Sun God.