Looking for a 2nd Main

Jago is the only character I have ever played for more than a week, and I’m looking to pick up a 2nd main. I’m hoping this will teach me things that will help me in all fighting games in the future.

My issue is choosing one, of course. I want a character that covers Jago’s bad matchups, but since he’s a Shoto, I’m not sure what they are. I don’t have any REALLY bad matchups. Maybe a few that are slightly skewed, but not anything crazy.

So, since I don’t know what my bad matchups are, I don’t know who to pick to counter them.

Should I stick to jago then? Pick another Shoto? Pick a zoner? Idk.

Some background that might help yall help me:

I’ve always used Jago because I never wanted to experience what it was like to have a “bad” matchup or a “good” matchup. I like focusing on mind games instead of tool set, so I always wanted to have an experience where all of my wins and losses were MY fault instead of the result of a bad/good matchup. I think this decision has helped me a lot but now I need to learn how to take advantage of setups and how to exploit weaknesses in my opponents. I need to know what it’s like to have a true weakness, and work around it, and also know what it’s like to have a true strength, and exploit it.

To be honest, even though this is my current line of thinking, I don’t even know if it IS the right decision. Maybe I shouldn’t pick a second character? Maybe shotos are the way to go? So maybe it’s better to ask the question more broadly:

" is there a lot to learn from picking up a second character? And if so, who in the cast would teach me the most?"

Thanks.

Well then a character I think would be good is someone like RAAM. He has a lot of strengths and weakness. When he is up close he does a lot of damage, has set ups and mix ups. But from a far he is no threat and doesn’t have the easiest time getting in. Which means zoners give him a problem but he likes characters that have to go in. Hope my suggestion helps.

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Allow me a question.

For this kind of discussion I think it’s almost as important to note character matchups as it is to note players struggles. Take Jago out of the equasion for a moment. Are there specific characters (maybe besides Eagle since he’s new) that give you trouble?

Really hard time - none

Hard time - Gargos, Eyedol,

Kind of hard time - Glacius, Shadow Jago, Spinal

I think Rash and Eagle give Jago a hard time.

This question truly depends on your level of patience and commitment. If you truly want someone with similar tools that works around your playstyle I would recommend: Thunder, Glacius, Orchid, Kim, and Eyedol. I ordered them from least to most difficult in my opinion.

Thunder is fairly straightforward with a forward moving special that can be compared to laser sword and a lowcrushing ankle slice special that has good range. His command grab makes his pressure similar in nature and forces blockers to move where Thunder can take advantage. Main disadvantage is not being able to get in as easily as Jago, which is saying something. Though he is relatively easy to pick up.

Glacius has good tools and traps, where he lacks with pressure he can easily setup combos via hail or shatter. He does fairly good damage with shatter and beefy damage up close should your opponent lockout. He has fairly similar strength to Jago but his weaknesses stem from his floaty jumps, large hitboxes and poor pressure without hail. Fairly easy to learn and more complex to master his setups and pressure.

Orchid is a little more difficult in the sense of setting up combos and mixing her manuals for nonlinear gameplay. Her grenade setup is her main advantage as much as it is her disadvantage as she doesn’t have the best of tools to keep opponents pressured if someone gets the hang of baton pokes going low, high or being charged. She takes more time to figure out and master but being Jago’s sister, she has strong resemblances to her brother.

Kim, despite what everyone says is a truly special character. She hits like a tank with stocked up meter. She has a great overhead and nice offensive pressure with her pokes. Her neutral is incredibly solid and overall she feels like a truly rewarding character as she, in my humble opinion, is the character that defines the player best. Her weaknesses come from the player but also from her strong lack of tools in comparison to Jago. Getting a hang of her parry can also take some getting used to.

Eyedol is by far closest to Jago in his warrior form. He has a solid DP that can also be juggled or just used as a wakeup option. A forward moving special and great mace bash special that strongly resembles laser sword with a downward momentive that works incredibly well for pressure. Obviously his weaknesses come from his random switching and his mage form if you aren’t accustomed which is why he can be difficult and take more patience to learn thoroughly. His mage form can be used equally well but is different than someone may be accustomed to.

Personally, I recommend Kim. You learn a lot, you feel incredibly rewarded as she depends a lot on player strength… and you get to say you beat someone with a “weak and ugly” character.

Kilgore is a hard matchup aswell. 4 me anyway.

You used to use Omen exclusively? What happened? I know you used Omen more than 2 weeks?

Let me piggyback off Tiger’s advice to try Kim. Strengths and weaknesses will be a thing now. If you were to use her, you’d gain (as in, what she has that Jago does not)…

  • A slightly faster (maybe longer reaching) overhead than Neckcutter.
  • Grounded move cancelling via dragons.
  • Strong shadow cashout damage even at L3.
  • Plus on block katas that are throw, special, dragon and shadow cancellable.
  • Parry that catches nearly every attack in the game (with some exceptions) and can open a combo with a dragon.

You would lose…

  • A meterless invincible reversal for AA and wake ups.
  • Access to a projectile unless you’re in instinct.
  • Access to a true battery ender.
  • Limited oki from L2 or higher damage enders.
  • Flipout.

With your matchups that you listed, Kim beats Gargos and Spinal (easily imho), works well against Shadow Jago, and can deal with Warrior Eyedol (Mage is a problem). Glacius remains a problem as well. So while you’d cover those matchups, you’d have to be a little concerned about being counter picked yourself with characters like Sabrewulf, Maya, Aganos, Kilgore and a few others.

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Jago’s main weakness is that he struggles at long range, so if you’re looking for a character that would help with his weaknesses then it makes the most sense to turn to either a character with good zoning options or a character that can easily close the gap. Both are true of fulgore, so I’d say you should give him a shot.

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Of course I would say Omen but you might not like his low damage output.

Kim Wu? She is another footsie character and has lots of tools to deal with zoning.

I would highly suggest Cinder. You can play him up close, mid screen, or far away when you need to. The MU’s you described are just about even with Cinder. Shago may still be tricky. The best thing about him is that he is REALLY fun to play. What do you think @swordman09?

He’s good at dealing with characters with good mobility because he himself also has good mobility. Not to mention that he has a good DP. And yes, he can be fun when you’re experimenting with him. Especially when you can pull off the stuff you do in training mode in a real match.

As for the matchups, I think Cinder does fairly well against Eyedol. I still feel that he might struggle a bit against Glacius and Spinal a bit if you don’t know what you’re doing. Cinder might have an easier time closing the distance against Gargos but he still has to deal with the problems every other character has against him.

Sadira! Choose Sadira!

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Lol.

Once upon a time, I played every S1 character for 1 week each. It was some of the best fun ive had in KI. But Sadira…

She was the most fun! I honestly think about her every time I think of changing characters. She will stay in the back of my mind for now.

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