Mortal Kombat 1/Ermac/Introduction

Introduction

Collection of Souls

"Ermac is a collection of souls, bound together by Quan Chi's dark magic. The souls within him were intended to function as a group mind. That part of the spell is temporarily undone, however, when Ermac is defeated by Mileena. During that period, one of the souls in Ermac's collection takes control of his group mind. It is that of Emperor Jerrod, deceased ruler of Outworld and husband of Empress Sindel. He rejoins the royal family, aiding Empress Mileena's reign. But when Ermac's collection of souls reestablishes its control, Ermac retreats to Outworld's shadows. No longer Quan Chi's slave, nor bound to the royal family, he must find a future worth fighting for."

Ermac is a rushdown/mixup archetype

Strengths

Weaknesses

MKX Lite: Soul Charge can be cancelled with a dash, granting Ermac the ability to engage or disengage pressure at will and creating mind games between cancelling and letting it rip; dash cancelling this in neutral can also be used for meter build; Float Cancels: Ermac has Float to further open up his combo, mixup and pressure games on top of the mobility it offers; Launching Armored Reversal: Enhanced Lift gives him a combo opportunity with Kameos like Janet Cage, a great tool against gaps in strings and on wakeup (although there is a significant flaw noted on the opposite side); Mana Shield: Death's Embrace gives Ermac an additional lifeline by draining meter instead of health when he gets hit; Shimmy God: His throw animation is unusual compared to the rest of the cast as it resembles some of his other attacks, giving him a strike/throw game that can be harder to defend against.

High APM Requirements: Ermac's gameplan is reliant on dash cancels of different flavors; Bad Armored Wakeup: Challenging gaps is not a problem for Ermac but waking up is a different story: the attack hits High meaning the opponent meatying with a Low makes it whiff.