Smoke Mortal Kombat 9 Guide

Special Moves

Smoke Cloud = D, B+2

• Fast fireball that homes in on the opponent.
• Launches the opponent on hit starting strong juggles.
• Fairly safe on block. Only being punishable up close by very fast moves.
• Does no block damage.
• Will not whiff on a crouching opponent. 
• Can hit an air born opponent as long as they are close to the ground.
• Can be used in combos but is subject to the very low vertical hit box that applies to air born opponents.
• If the opponent is moving forward they will beat the tracking of this fireball and it will go past them.
• If you choose not to combo off Smoke Cloud, you will get additional damage when the opponent hits the ground.

Shake = B, F+1

• Counters almost all projectiles including Stryker’s guns and Noobs clones.
• If you successfully counter a fireball, the opponent will freeze until you hit them.
• After the counter, you recover fast enough to safely turn invisible or teleport away to create space.
• You can keep the Shake counter active for about 4 seconds by holding the 1 button.
• You can dash cancel out of the Shake animation.
• Smoke is unthrowable during the Shake animation.

Air Throw = 1+3 (while in the air)

• It’s possible to combo a Smoke Cloud after a successful air throw which will yield very high damage combos. However, the key to doing this is hitting with the air throw as low to the ground as possible. This allows Smoke to recover fast enough for the Smoke Cloud to connect.
• Air throws have higher priority than normal air attacks and can combo off of Jumping 3 or 4.

Smoke Away/Smoke Towards = F, B+3/B, F+3

• Fastest way for Smoke to move around on the screen.
• There is a window of invincibility in the middle of Smoke Away/Smoke Towards, however you are vulnerable at the start up and recover of this move.

Teleport = D, B+4

• One of the fastest teleports in the game though it still has vulnerability frames at start up.
• Very unsafe if the second hit is blocked.
• First hit does no block damage.
• Can be done in the air as an “air to air” attack or in combos.
• It can be very difficult to punish on whiff so at times you can use this move to get out of corners when playing keep away.
• If you connect with this move in the corner, you can combo with D+1, Smoke Cloud.

Invisibility = D, U+3

• Smoke becomes translucent but still visible on screen.
• Lasts 5 seconds.
• After the five second duration expires, there are no recovery frames. You simply become visible again.

---

Enhanced Moves

E Smoke Bomb = D, B+2+5

• More damage and a higher hit box than the Smoke Cloud making it must easier to catch opponents out of the air. However, it still will not catch the opponent out of the top of their jump arch.
• Unlike Smoke Cloud, this version does block damage.

E Vibration = B, F+1+5

• Acts as a counter to all Mids, Highs, Throws and projectiles.
• Does  not counter lows.
• Does not work on X-ray moves.
• Has some start up so it won’t always stop lockdown situations.

E Smokeport = D, B+4+5

• Ads a third hit which is very unsafe on block.
• Leaves the opponent closer to you on hit.
• The only use for this move other than the added damage is the hope that you catch the opponent off guard with the third hit. Otherwise it is the same as Smoke’s Teleport.

E Vanish = D, U+3+5

• Smoke completely disappears from the screen.
• Lasts about 2 seconds longer than Invisibility.
• More useful than Invisibility. However, it’s hard to justify using meter for something that does no damage.

E Phase Away/Phase Towards = F, B+3+5/B, F+3+5

• Moves farther and faster than the non-enhanced version.
• Invincibility frames activate faster than the non-enhanced version but still are not instant.
• Smoke has no vulnerable recovery frames. 

---

Normals

B+2,3

• The first hit is an overhead which must be blocked standing.
• Can combo into Smoke Cloud and is hit confirmable.
• Safe on block.

B+3

• This is a fairly good anti air and can be canceled into Smoke Bomb which is hit confirmable.

3,2

• One of smokes best combo starters.
• Safe on block.

3,D+1,2

• Second hit is an overhead and must be blocked standing.
• Smokes most damaging combo starter.
• Very useful as a combo filler.
• Safe on block.

D+1

• Smoke's D+1 is very fast and has a very high active hit box for a sit jab. It can be used to keep opponents from jumping away from your lock down. 
• A setup for this situation is 3,D+1,2 (blocked), opponent tries to jump over you for a mix up, D+1.
• This is a very useful setup as it can be applied to several situations. 

---

X-Ray

• Smoke’s X-ray can be held for 5 seconds by not releasing guard. 
• Only has armor in the initial startup frames but the move itself is a teleport so it can avoid attacks after the armor runs out.
• Very unsafe on block.
• You can dash cancel out of the hold animation of this X-ray.

---

Strengths

• One of Smoke's strengths is dealing with fireball pressure. Not only does he have a fast teleport and a fast X-ray, he also has Shake. Shake will instantly counter almost all fireballs and can immediately discourage their use. Characters who rely heavily on fireball pressure like Kitana and Sindel will struggle heavily against Smoke. 
• Smoke is a very good run away character and can quickly teleport away from his opponent with his Smoke Away moves. 

---

Weaknesses

• Smokes biggest weakness is ironically his inability to deal block damage from across the screen. If the opponent has a life lead, Smoke literally can not deal damage from far away without taking risk. His Smoke Bomb does no block damage. In fact, his only special that does block damage is his Teleport punch which is extremely unsafe on block. What this means is, if your opponent gets a life lead, Smoke has to take significant risks to formulate a comeback.