Kabal Mortal Kombat 9 Guide

Kabal Legend

iAGB = Instant Air Gas Blast (U/B~U/B+1)

NDC = Nomad Dash Cancel (B, F+4~B+5)

---

Special Moves

Gas Blast = B,B+1

• This fireball can be done in the air. The command to do an instant air Gas Blast is U/B~U/B+1.  You can shoot iAGBs low enough so the opponent cannot walk under them. 
• The grounded version is very unsafe on block. 
• Air born version has much faster recovery and is nearly safe. 
• Standing version will whiff on a neutral crouching opponent. 
• The rule is that only one Gas Blast can be on the screen at a time. If you shoot another one before the first passes all the way through the screen, the first one will disappear. This is only possible with iAGBs.
• Can combo off of an offensive jumping 3 or 4. However, this can be very difficult to do. The correct command for this is offensive jump, B + 3, B + 1. You have to buffer the first B command into the jump kick for the Gas Blast to combo. 
• Doing instant air Gas Blasts at the lowest height will build meter very fast. 
• If you hit a jumping opponent from across the screen the following combo is possible. iAGBx3, Nomad Dash_XRay. 

Nomad Dash = B, F+4

• Very unsafe on block. 
• Does no damage on hit or block. 
• Has some start up, but once he’s moving this move is very hard to interrupt. 
• Very good for punishing jumps from mid to long range. 
• Nomad Dash can be canceled after initial startup with B+5 (NDC).
• You can also cancel Nomad Dash into any of Kabal’s special or Enhanced moves. To do this, simply do the command for the move while you are in the Nomad Dash animation. You cannot cancel into another Nomad Dash.  
• There are cases where you can cancel the recovery of a normal move or string with NDC to give you frame advantage on block. An example of this is Kabal’s F+3,2~NDC into mix ups. 

Buzz Saw = B, B+3

• Very unsafe on block. 
• Useful for long range wake ups as this fireball must be blocked low. 
• Has a large active window so you can easily do a meaty Buzz Saw on wake up. 
• Good two in one mix up with Tornado Slam. 
• If you try to throw another buzz saw too quickly after the first, you will get the Buzz Saw animation but the projectile won’t come out. So you cannot throw two Buzz Saws in a row. 
• Knocks down on hit. 

Tornado Slam = D, B+2

• Safe on block. 
• This is an overhead so it must be blocked standing. 
• Will grab the opponent out of the air. 
• Good combo ender.

---

Enhanced Moves

E Vapor Blast = B, B+1+5

• Cannot be neutral crouched. 
• Does more damage than Gas Blast. 

E Nomad Charge = B, F+4+5

• Much faster start up than Nomad Dash.
• Has super armor at start up only. This makes it one of Kabal’s only answers for fireball keep out. 

E Saw Blades = B, B+3+5

• The second blade gives this move a larger hit box, which makes for even better meaty low wake ups. 
• This move has faster recovery than the regular version but still isn’t completely safe on block. 

E Cyclone Slam = D, B+2+5

• I haven’t found anything unique about this Enhanced move other than the added damage. 

---

Normals

B+1,2,1

• This is Kabal’s main combo started and is safe on block. 

1,1

• This string can lead to a strong 50/50 on block. The mix up is between 1,1~Tornado Slam and 1,1,B+4~Nomad Dash. This should only be applied on block because on hit 1,1,B+4~Nomad Dash is a combo. 

B+4

• Kabal has one of the fastest sweeps in the game. 
• On hit, Kabal recovers quick enough to jump over the opponent for cross up pressure. 

F+3,2

• This string is very strong on block when combined with Kabal’s NDC. After the NDC, you are left at a slight advantage. From here you can throw, jump over for a cross up, or use a sweep/Tornado slam mix up. As well as continue pressuring the opponent with more F+3,2s. 

---

X-Ray

• This move has similar start up to Nomad Charge and also has Hyper Armor. However, unlike Nomad Charge, the hyper armor in this move is in the middle of the animation instead of the beginning. 
• It can be used to go through fireballs but will take the actual damage of the fireball. 
• Can be used the same way as Enhanced Nomad Dash. 

---

Strengths

• Kabal is a very technical character with a high level of execution. 
• One of his main strengths is his zoning and screen control. His iAGB can be used as an amazing zoning tool, but can also be very difficult to consistently execute correctly. For it to be used to its fullest potential, you must do this move low enough for the opponent to not be able to walk under it. 
• His Buzz Saw is also very useful for mid screen wake ups as it is a low fireball. 
• He is able to combo off of multiple situations, however once again the execution can be very strict. One good example of this would be doing an air to air j,3~ Air Gas Blast, Nomad Dash. This takes some strong hit confirming reflexes as well as tight execution. 
• Kabal is able to force 50/50s on the opponent off of several moves on block. However, because his low option, (Buzz Saw) is unsafe up close, you have to be able to read your opponent before you can confidently commit to some of these mix ups. 
• Nomad Dash Cancel is a very useful and tricky tool. The only problem is that you are canceling something that is extremely punishable on block (Nomad Dash). This means that if you mess up the fairly difficult input, you will be punished heavily. 

---

Weaknesses

• One of Kabal’s biggest problems is his overall damage. Though it isn’t the lowest in the game, it certainly isn’t the highest. Many of the float combos and partial combos he gets yield underwhelming damage. 
• Though Kabal is a great zoning character, it can be difficult for him to close space on other good zoning characters. He does not have a teleport and his only moves that beat fireballs are his E Nomad Charge and his X-Ray. Both of these moves take damage as they go through fireballs with Hyper Armor. This means that if you do his X-ray to go through a fireball, but you don’t have enough life to survive the damage taken from the fireball, you will die. If kabal is left with almost no health and the opponent is keeping you out with fireballs, Kabal has an extremely hard time formulating a comeback.  
• I would also consider his high level of execution to be a weakness. Considering the amount of work he has to do to yield such underwhelming damage, while other characters require fairly simple execution and at times to much more damage. 

Comments

[Noobizore]

Nice guides man. Recently been playing mk and sucking ass. Kabal is my fave but I blow with him. I am a noob so I rely on sub zeros freeze.

[smoke1ne]

Best Kabal guide on the net I believe so far thanks a million!