Mortal Kombat 9/Sub-Zero

Sub-Zero

An assassin of the Lin Kuei clan, Kuai Liang commands the power of ice and cold. Unlike other members of his clan, he and his older brother, Bi-Han, were abducted as children by the Lin Kuei and trained in the techniques of assassination throughout their lives. Though his codename is Tundra, he has now assumed the mantle of Sub-Zero to honor his brother after Bi-Han's mysterious death. With the help of his fellow Lin Kuei Smoke, Sub-Zero tirelessly hunts the one who killed his brother.

Moves

Basic Attacks

Name

Command

Damage

Notes

Front Punch

fp

3%

high bufferable

Back Punch

bp

5%

high

Front Kick

fk

5%

high bufferable

Back Kick

bk

9%

high

Crouching Front Punch

d + fp

2%

high bufferable

Crouching Back Punch

d + bp

12%

high uprcut

Crouching Front Kick

d + fk

1%

low bufferable

Crouching Back Kick

d + bk

3%

low bufferable

Angled Jumping Punch

during angled jump, fp or bp

4%

med

Angled Jumping Kick

during angled jump, fk or bk

7%

high knockdown

Straight Up Jumping Punch

during straight up jump, fp or bp

5%

med groundbounce

Straight Up Jumping Kick

during straight up jump, fk or bk

5%

med knockdown

Command Normals

Name

Command

Damage

Notes

Swipe

b + fp

5%

high bufferable

Force Claws

b + bp

5% / 7% / 15%

Hold bp to charge up; 3 levels of charge; med / med / unblockable ; level 3: knockdown and frozen

Big Leg

f + bk

7%

med bufferable

Sweep

b + bk

7%

low sweep

Throws

Name

Command

Damage

Notes

Throw (Away)

b or n + fp + fk

1% + 4% + 4% + 3%

throw

Throw (Towards)

f + fp + fk

1% + 4% + 4% + 3%

throw

Kombo Attacks

Name

Command

Damage

Notes

Frosty

fp --- fp

3% --- 5%

high --- high ; 1st and 2nd hit: bufferable

Cold Feet

fp --- fk --- f + bk

3% --- 5% --- 8%

high --- high --- med ; 1st and 2nd hit: bufferable ; 3rd hit: flatten

Arctic Blast

fp --- fk --- b + bk

3% --- 5% --- 6%

high --- high --- low ; 1st and 2nd hit: bufferable ; 3rd hit: sweep

Ice Pick

b + fp --- bp --- fp

5% --- 5% --- 10%

high --- med --- med ; 1st and 2nd and 3rd hit: bufferable

Ice Cold

b + fp --- bp --- bk

5% --- 5% --- 9%

high --- med --- low ; 1st and 2nd hit: bufferable ; 3rd hit: sweep

Frost Bitten

bp --- fp --- bp

5% --- 3% --- 9%

high --- high --- high ; 1st and 2nd and 3rd hit: bufferable ; 2nd hit: knockdown and frozen ; 3rd hit: knockdown

Ices Up

bp --- fp --- bk

5% --- 3% --- 11%

high --- high --- high ; 1st and 2nd and 3rd hit: bufferable ; 2nd hit: knockdown and frozen ; 3rd hit: knockdown

Tundra Slice

f + bk --- fp + bp

7% --- 10%

med --- high ; 2nd hit: knockdown

Winter Blade

bp --- bp --- bp

5% --- 3% --- 6%

high --- high --- med ; 1st and 2nd hit: bufferable ; 3rd hit: flatten

Cold Steel

bp --- bp --- bk

5% --- 3% --- 8%

high --- high --- high ; 1st and 2nd and 3rd hit: bufferable ; 3rd hit: knockdown

Chill Out

fk --- f + bk

5% --- 7%

high --- med ; 1st hit: bufferable ; 2nd hit: flatten

Fast Tags

Name

Command

Damage

Notes

Absolute Zero

bp --- fp --- tg

N/A

Tag Kombos

Name

Command

Damage

Notes

Freezer Burn

fp --- fk --- tg

Based on Teammate

Arctic Assault

b + fp --- bp --- tg

Based on Teammate

Ability To Freeze

bp --- bp --- tg

Based on Teammate

Tag Kombo Attack

Attack from Teammate's Tag Kombo

10%

high flatten

Tag Specials

Name

Command

Damage

Notes

Tag Assist

d , b + tg

0%

Performs Icebeam ; frozen

Tag Attack

d , f + tg

9% + 3%

Performs Powerslide ; low + med ; knockdown

Special Attacks

Name

Command

Damage

Notes

Iceball

d , f + fk

0%

frozen ; If performed on an already frozen character, 6% damage and unblockable

Slide

b , f + bk

9%

low knockdown wkup

Ice Clone

d , b + fp

0%

frozen wkup

Ice Puddle

d , b + fk

0%

unblockable frozen ; Cannot be buffered into ; If performed on an already frozen character, 0% damage and sweep

Enhanced Special Attacks

Name

Command

Damage

Notes

Icebeam

d , f + fk + bl

0% (6%)

frozen ; If performed on an already frozen character, 6% damage and unblockable

Power Slide

b , f + bk + bl

9% + 3%

low + med ; knockdown

Ice Statue

d , b + fp + bl

0%

frozen

Ground Freeze

d , b + fk + bl

0%

unblockable frozen ; Cannot be buffered into ; If performed on an already frozen character, 0% damage and sweep

X-Ray Attack

Name

Command

Damage

Notes

Deep Freeze

fk + bk + bl

5% + 16% + 12%

1st hit: high , has armor when charged

Finishing Moves

Fatality

Kode

Distance From Opponent

Fatality 1

b f d f + bk

Sweep

Fatality 2

d b d f + bp

Sweep

Fatality 3 (DLC)

f d f + bp

Close

Stage Fatality

f d b + bp

Varies

Babality

d b d + bk

Jump

Move Analysis

Basic Attacks

N/A

Command Normals

Big Leg

Bufferable overhead. Use Ice ball if connects, use ice clone if it's blocked.

Kombo Attacks

, string

• On hit cancel the third hit into ice ball.

• On block finish with and throw a clone.

• • Easy hit confirmable string into ice ball. Also good anti-air.

, ,

• Can be finished with an ice ball on hit to get another dash up kombo.

• On block or hit can be cancelled into a safe clone.

Special Attacks

Ice Clone

Good for anti-air and shielding. Use it to control space and keep opponents in corner and pressured. Once out it lasts for 3 seconds.

Ice Ball

Unsafe on block up close. Keep opponents in check with Ice balls. Remember you can shoot them while a clone is out. Try to bait them into projectile wars and you will most likely tag them with a ball.

Ice Puddle

Very unsafe, only to be used for mind games against other players. Best cancelled into after the b+1 2 4 string to catch them blocking on wake up.

Slide

Hits low and is a staple to Sub's mind games and his entire strategy. On hit the opponent can't roll recovery either.

Enhanced Special Attacks

Ice Statue

Lasts on screen 5 seconds as opposed to 3 for the standard clone.

Ice Beam

Rather than a ball, this freeze comes out as a beam, use this if the opponent likes to jump your balls and it'll hit when they come back down.

Ground Freeze

Instead of a small puddle this version freezes the entire ground in front of Sub. Slow start and only use with mind games and heavy blockers.

Power Slide

Does an extra hit and swaps sides with the opponent, good when trapped in a corner to turn the momentum.

X-Ray Attack

Dashes 2/3rds of the screen.

Blockable.

One hit of armor AFTER releasing the charge, it doesnt have armor before that.

Can be charged to delay the attack to hit jumpers or to mix up the opponents timing.

Can be chained into after

Basic Strategy

Sub is an adaptable character that's is typically used in two main ways, neither is "better" as they're just a different style and depending on the opponent should be switched between.

Defensive/Zoning:

This type likes to get an ice clone out to stop fast rushes and will throw ice ball from cover. This style works best against characters without "special" projectiles that say freeze or trap sub zero on hit. Pure damage projectiles wont stop the freeze and full combo afterward. A player using this type revolves around frustrating the opponent into making hasty and stupid mistakes.

Offensive:

This type will do his best to stay in your face and cancel his attacks into the clone or slide as much as possible to keep the opponent on the defense. Trapping the opponent in the corner is the end goal of this type.

Regardless the type of sub you use I find that it's critical to develop your own hybrid of these types and throw your own little tricks in to surprise opponents.

Advanced Strategy

N/A

Combos

Bread and Butters

7-Hits: Ice Ball Slide

8-Hits: Ice clone Straight Up Jump Punch Dash + , , , Slide

8-Hits: Anti-air: into Ice Ball + , , , Slide

9-Hits: + Ice Ball Straight Up Jump Punch Dash + , , , Slide

Jump-in Combos

• N/A

Combos With Enhanced Specials

• N/A

Combos With X-Ray Attacks

1. + , Ice Ball Straight Up Jump Punch Dash + , Dash , , Xray

Corner-Only Combos

44%: + , Ice Ball Straight Up Jump Punch x2 + , , , Slide

Style

Lockdown type character with Ice clones and balls.

Matchups

These will be updated as I gain experience. Kratos and Freddy not included yet cause Freddy isn't out and Kratos is banned.

They are all from my personal experience, not saying these are 100% accurate.

Jax: 7-3

Johnny Cage: 7-3

Kano: 7-3 - Try to bait out up balls by jump in cloning, make sure to constantly be wary of the balls cause a block on a horizontal ball gives a FC. Slide under knives when mid range.

Sonya: 7-3 - Throw a clone and stand behind it since blocking the arc kick bounces her into your clone, slide under projectiles.

Baraka: 6-4 - Stay away from him at all costs, Baraka is huge for damage if he gets in on any character, pop a clone and throw ice, you still have to fight smart but this is in Sub's favor.

Kenshi: 6-4

Liu Kang: 6-4

Noob: 6-4

Reptile: 6-4

Sektor: 6-4

Shang Tsung: 6-4

Sheeva: 6-4 (not enough experience)

Stryker: 6-4

Quan Chi: 6-4

Cyber Sub-Zero: 5-5

Jade: 5-5

Rain: 5-5 (no idea yet, really)

Scorpion: 5-5

Smoke: 5-5

Sub-Zero: 5-5

Kabal: 4-6

Kung Lao: 4-6

Nightwolf: 4-6

Raiden: 4-6

Sindel: 4-6

Cyrax: 3-7

Ermac: 3-7

Kitana: 3-7

Mileena: 3-7

Skarlet: 1-9