Mortal Kombat 1/Ghostface

Overview

Strategy

Combos

Synergy

Matchups

Frame Data

Resources

#MK1_Ghostface

Introduction

The Terror of Woodsboro

"The many killers who have worn the Ghost Face mask all share a horrifying trait: they take perverse joy in inflicting pain and taking lives. Armed with a menacing knife, an encyclopedic knowledge of horror films, and a psychopathic compulsion to torture, Ghost Face has become an infamous symbol of terror. No sooner did Ghost Face arrive in the New Era, then dead bodies began to pile up. Panic has seized the realms as its citizens fear for who might be this serial killer’s next victim."

Ghostface is a Rushdown/Mixup killer with a unique "3-in-1" design; he begins as the original Woodsboro Slasher, but as the rules of the Scream franchise dictate that there is always more than one killer, he also enlists the aid of two anonymous Black Dragon mercenaries (the Enforcer and the Assassin) to assist him. Ghostface has generous hitboxes and/or forward reach on his knife-based normals; his gameplan focuses on playing neutral/footsies with these buttons and converting single-hit mixups/Throws (with special cancels or Kameo assists) to begin a kombo and end it with his B3 normal, a fast Mid that restands the opponent with enough advantage to create a vortex that sets them up to guess again. During many abilities that may call an alternate Ghostface onscreen, the character is able to establish further mixup potential by Swapping into the place of another Ghostface killer, spending 1 bar of meter (only required for non-EX moves) to have the swapped killer take his place and gaining new abilities based on the selected killer. His EX specials that allow him to start and extend kombos, as well as his “killer swaps,” make him a very meter-intensive character with decently high reward.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opening Night: Many of Ghostface's buttons and strings are solid and hard to contest; of note is a 20 frame Overhead, a solid B4 sweep, and a trivial hit confirm with F21; Sequels and Reboots: B3, aside from being a respectably fast Mid, gives him a restand they can either extend into further grounded damage or just let it rock for plus frames in the opponent's face, his preferred position; Franchising: Ghostface's three variations/identities allow them to apply a wide variety of mixups; command grabs in the default state, overhead-low in Enforcer, and stance cancels in Assassin. B3 and the EX swap allows them to seamlessly flow from one state to another in their kombos. A Formula That Works: Ghostface's combo structure is pretty straight-foward and Kameos like Scorpion or Mavado create openings everywhere, including his command grab; Slow Pace Builds Tension: Ghostface's special attacks and kombos also have especially long animations, giving their Kameo time to regenerate for the next opening; Now In Widescreen: While they prefer to fight up close, Ghostface has several options to harass enemies at long distance, including a fullscreen Fatal Blow; Critic Proof: Swapping identities practically allows them to tank a single hit; while they will take the full damage of the attack, it also makes them very non-committal in their approach when using the Assassin or Enforcer identities;

Plodding and Meandering: Compared to other pressure characters like Johnny or Smoke, Ghostface's movement is lacking and their long range normals are pretty slow, making their neutral game rough; Lacks Range: Their fullscreen options are also quite slow and only the Assassin Ghostface has access to any projectile, so they're reliant on Kameos to contest at long range; Way Over Budget: Using the Killer Swap mechanic to its fullest potential makes Ghostface especially meter-dependent. Can't Wrap it Up: While Ghostface always has meterless routes available, their damage once the hit is found is low, and especially lacks ways to dump meter to increase the damage. You're (Not) Cornered: Ghostface has an odd disincentive to not corner the enemy; his kombos have almost no corner carry due to frequent and repeated side-switching, and his DB4 does not work in the corner. While this means that he is comfortable without needing a corner, it also means that it is difficult for him to corner the enemy at all if the matchup demands it.

Ghostface
Base Health	1000.00
Availability

Original Ghost Face Killer

AKA "the Woodsboro Slasher," AKA Billy Loomis. Ghostface starts every round with this identity active. If another identity is active, they will switch back to this one after 10 seconds have passed, they are hit by an attack, they land Back Throw, or activate Backstage Pass, whichever occurs first. The Identities have access to the majority of the Original's move list; exceptions will be noted.

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Normals and Strings

Grounded

1 / 12 / 122 / 123

1

File:MK1 Ghostface 1.png

File:MK1 Ghostface 1 hitbox.png

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1

Standing 1

Startup	Active	Recovery	Cancel	Damage	Chip	Guard	On Hit	On Block	On Flawless Block	Cost
7	2	19	18	20	3	H	+17	+1	+1	-

A simple jab, with a simple and decently fast followup. Not bad for antiairs, and catching with S1 can be followed up with 221+3 or B3 into EX Swap to continue the combo. Two followup options:

• 122 follows up with a quick, gapless shoulder check for a solid knockdown. Mostly used improvisationally in high-gravity situations as a combo ender, as the fast startup of all three moves means it is almost guaranteed to land if the first jab landed.
• 123 is a low that provides a brief suspend, enough for kameos to pick up. In the base and Assassin identities, 123 is mostly used as a safe jab confirm with a kameo pickup, but in Enforcer it becomes a safe 50/50 against Windmill Kick. Note that Windmill Kick causes a different suspend than 123, and not all kameo moves will be able to pick up from both (notably Mavado's cords can pick up from 123 but not Windmill Kick). Kameos which can identically pick up from both options, such as Scorpion, are premium choices to supercharge this mixup.

D1

D1

File:MK1 Ghostface d1.png

File:MK1 Ghostface d1 hitbox.png

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d1

Underhanded

Startup	Active	Recovery	Cancel	Damage	Chip	Guard	On Hit	On Block	On Flawless Block	Cost
7	2	23	29	20	3	M	+13	-8	-8	-

It's a good crouching jab. Especially useful to Ghostface because in their base identity, they can tick throw into Father Death (the command grab) or cancel into Psychotic Dive for a mid vs. grab 50/50 - once the enemy starts respecting the 50/50, they can do no cancel into standing normals to steal a turn. Not as big a part of the offensive gameplan in the other two identities, but Enforcer can still cancel D1 into EX rekka to try and armor through their counterpoke and possibly start a combo (for two meter spent).

2

2

File:MK1 Ghostface 2.png

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2

Rough Cut

Startup	Active	Recovery	Cancel	Damage	Chip	Guard	On Hit	On Block	On Flawless Block	Cost
9	2	25	19	30	4.5	H	+17	-5	-5	-

Important general purpose string with decent reach. 221+3 is a crucial part of nearly every Ghostface combo, giving him a jump cancel and decent damage, while being easily confirmable and safe on block. 222 is a rare example of a string cancellable on the third hit, expanding its utility in combos and pressure.

Every identity finds a unique way to use this string; the original can tack on the run stance at the end of all three hits to get a frametrap, a command grab mixup, or a pickup if the final hit happened to connect. Enforcer's first hit of 222 starts up in 6 frames, allowing for -7 punishes, and can lead the safe three hit string into a safe three part rekka for an extended confirmable blockstring. Assassin can combo from the suspend of 222 with a knife stance cancel.

d2

File:MK1 Ghostface d2.png

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d2

Cut Up

Startup	Active	Recovery	Cancel	Damage	Chip	Guard	On Hit	On Block	On Flawless Block	Cost
10	3	43	N/A	140	21	H	+25	-4	-14	-

3

3

File:MK1 Ghostface 3.png

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3

Gale Force Boot

Startup	Active	Recovery	Cancel	Damage	Chip	Guard	On Hit	On Block	On Flawless Block	Cost
14	2	27	27	50	7.5	H	+15	+3	+3	-

d3

File:MK1 Ghostface d3.png

File:MK1 Ghostface d3 hitbox.png

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d3

Shin Spike

Startup	Active	Recovery	Cancel	Damage	Chip	Guard	On Hit	On Block	On Flawless Block	Cost
9	2	23	22	20	3	L	+13	-8	-8	-

4

Stab

4

File:MK1 Ghostface 4.png

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4

Stab

Startup	Active	Recovery	Cancel	Damage	Chip	Guard	On Hit	On Block	On Flawless Block	Cost
18	1	24	21	50	7.5	H	+13	-5	-5	-

Stab: The Sequel

44

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44

Stab: The Sequel

Startup	Active	Recovery	Cancel	Damage	Chip	Guard	On Hit	On Block	On Flawless Block	Cost
18	3	22	29	30	4.5	M	+13	-3	-3	-

Stab Trilogy

444

File:MK1 Ghostface 444.png

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444

Stab Trilogy

Startup	Active	Recovery	Cancel	Damage	Chip	Guard	On Hit	On Block	On Flawless Block	Cost
18	3	22	N/A	70	10.5	M	+31	-5	-5	-

d4

File:MK1 Ghostface d4.png

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d4

Shin Slice

Startup	Active	Recovery	Cancel	Damage	Chip	Guard	On Hit	On Block	On Flawless Block	Cost
11	2	30	26	30	4.5	-	+11	-10	-10	-

Aerial

j1

j1

File:MK1 Ghostface j1.png

File:MK1 Ghostface j1 hitbox.png

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j1

Jump Scare

Startup	Active	Recovery	Cancel	Damage	Chip	Guard	On Hit	On Block	On Flawless Block	Cost
9	3	39	14	50	7.5	OH	+4	-16	-16	-

j2

j2

File:MK1 Ghostface j2.png

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j2

Raising Stakes

Startup	Active	Recovery	Cancel	Damage	Chip	Guard	On Hit	On Block	On Flawless Block	Cost
11	3	39	17	50	7.5	OH	+4	-16	-16	-

j3

j3

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                  No results

j4

j4

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                  No results

Identities

The Original Ghost Face Killer can use his Back Throw, Backstage Pass, its variants, and Always Outnumbered to switch to their alternate Identities: the "Black Dragon Enforcer" and the "Black Dragon Assassin." During these attacks, hold the Throw button for the Enforcer and Stance Switch for the Assassin. The identities lose access to the Original's Father Death, Psychotic Rush and Psychotic Dive special moves but retain everything else in the default moveset.

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Hold Throw during certain moves

AKA Kobra. Gains a 6f S2 and an additional string, 214, alongside 222 and 221+3, as well as Horrorshow, a rekka attack, and Windmill Kick.

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Normals

2

Korba Strike

2

File:MK1 Ghostface enf2.png

File:MK1 Ghostface enf2 hitbox.png

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2 (Enforcer)

Kobra Strike

Startup	Active	Recovery	Cancel	Damage	Chip	Guard	On Hit	On Block	On Flawless Block	Cost
6	2	25	17	30	4.5	H	+17	-5	-5	-

Hold Stance Switch during certain moves

AKA Kira. Gains a slightly faster Overhead B2 that extends to B211, alongside projectiles with Knife Toss (which is cancellable for combo extensions and pressure) and (Air) Knife Toss, Nightshade, a restanding projectile that Stuns when enhanced, and Kano's Black Dragon Ball.

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Normals

2

Circling Teeth

B2

File:MK1 Ghostface assb2.png

File:MK1 Ghostface assb2 hitbox.png

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b2

Circling Teeth

Startup	Active	Recovery	Cancel	Damage	Chip	Guard	On Hit	On Block	On Flawless Block	Cost
18	14	25	44	49	7.5	OH	+13	-7	-7	-

Fatal Blow

Flick of the Wrist

BLK+SS

File:MK1 Ghostface fatal.png

File:MK1 Ghostface fatal hitbox.png

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BLK+SS

Block + Flip Stance

Startup	Active	Recovery	Cancel	Damage	Chip	Guard	On Hit	On Block	On Flawless Block	Cost
24	3	90	-	350	17.5	H	+17 (KD)	-60	-60	See note

• Character must be at 30% health or less, Kameo must be available

Overview

Strategy

Combos

Synergy

Matchups

Frame Data

Resources

#MK1_Ghostface