Mortal Kombat 1/Peacemaker/Introduction

Introduction

Extreme Patriot

"Christopher Smith, the Peacemaker, cherishes peace with all his heart. So much so, that he will kill anyone and everyone necessary to get it. That is why he molded himself into an unstoppable soldier. Peacemaker believes himself as the greatest expert in weapons and warfare. But Peacemaker's heroism masks a troubled soul. Raised by an abusive father, Peacemaker is an extreme loner. Only recently, as a member of the secret team assembled by A.R.G.U.S. for “Project Butterfly”, has he learned to trust and rely on others. They became the family he never had. Now thrust into the Mortal Kombat universe, Peacemaker has vowed to bring peace to the realms. He won't stop until he finishes the mission."

Peacemaker is a rushdown/brawler archetype with zoning and counterzoning qualities, having strong options for playing keepaway and anti-airing opponents as well as for advancing in to convert into kombos from a distance and/or push the opponent towards the corner; his slower F41 string is effective for playing neutral and safely advancing in and/or hit-confirming. He has two strings with Throw enders, s22 (which will restand and is cancellable into select attacks) and B24 (which only grabs crouching opponents and knocks down with oki); both enders will grab attempts to kounter Peacemaker without an armor reversal and can be used to condition mixups with Mid or Low options. He has two Eagly assist projectiles, DF4 (a Low side-switching launcher) and DB4 (a -15 retreating Mid that is hard to punish and converts into juggles with Kameos); Eagly can also be called to attack the opponent’s Kameo (Down + Flip Stance) which disables them for a duration and prevents Breaker. Peacemaker has additional projectiles such as his fast DB1 anti-air and his BF1 gunshot, as well as options that can destroy, absorb, and/or reflect projectiles (i.e. EX BF3 jump-cancel launcher, FDB3 Force Field); other specials can also allow him to quickly advance on his opponent especially when safely covered by Kameo assists (i.e. BF2 Human Torpedo, DB2 Anti-Gravity).

Strengths

Weaknesses

Open World Combos: Peacemaker has a wide array of combo starters and enders, meaning pretty much any stray hit can be followed up from at any point on the screen. This also grants him high damage potential for relatively few, if any, resources. His high damage can destroy lifebars in about two or three touches, scenarios that are realistic thanks to this next point: Fighting for Peace: Up close, Peacemaker keeps his opponent on their toes with his 22 strings, forcing them to choose between a unique Kameo or Enhanced special cancellable Throw (221+3) or a dropkick that's only punishable on Flawless Block (224). He can also stagger this to call out anyone challenging the armor gap. 221+3 also restands in combos, allowing for extensions for more damage or 12 frames of advantage that's especially dangerous in the corner; Keeping the Peace: Peacemaker's defense is also quite strong with projectile immunity (and a fast reflect when Enhanced), both of his Eagly projectiles (a low hitting combo starter and a -5 at point-blank mid projectile), a teleport series, and... TORPEDO: Activate: Human Torpedo remains a decent armored reversal in the game owing to its speed (being both fast to start up and fast while traveling) and full screen range. Kameo Ambush coverage allows him to effectively get in at will in order to start his offense; Anti-Gravity: PM can take flight at any time to slam opponents with an Overhead that does surprisingly high chip damage; for opponents expecting an easy Up Block or Flawless Block, he can cancel it to land without an attack to resume his offense; Kameo Suppression: Eagly can be summoned to attack the opponent's Kameo if they are on screen, shutting down that option for the opponent and putting the burden of freeing the Kameo on them.

Nerfed Health: Balance changes across patches for PM include a 50 HP nerf which naturally affects his choices of Kameos; Gone to Roost: All of Eagly's moves share a cooldown, meaning Peacemaker has to commit to an option lest he be locked out his stronger moves. Suppressing a Kameo with Eagly also disables the ability to summon him as a projectile, adding a small cost to such a powerful ability.