Last weekend, Midwest Championships 2015 went down in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and, like many tournaments, included competition in Mortal Kombat X. The top eight was filled with a ton of talent, seven of which comprise Team YOMI, a strong group of competitors playing mostly out of Atlanta.
During the early portions of the losers bracket, teammates DJT and Michaelangelo were paired up, the latter quickly going up one game thanks to his solid Quan Chi play. DJT, not wanting to be outdone, made the switch from Sub-Zero to Johnny Cage, and that’s where the shenanigans began.
See, Cage’s fisticuffs variation comes equipped with Speedbag (b12), a string that can be stopped early or repeated ad nauseum. While relatively safe, there are gaps between hits, meaning characters with armored moves or quick normals should be able to escape the pressure it applies. Unfortunately, Quan Chi isn’t among that list.
As you’ll see in the replay below, DJT uses this string as both a means of harassing Michaelangelo in the corner and creating mixup opportunities that can lead into longer, actual combos.
If you read the Shoryuken front page on a regular basis, you probably noticed DJT do the same thing during an exhibition at Combo Breaker. But please, don’t mistake his use of this gimmicky tactic as lack of skill. A former Evo champion, DJT would eventually make his way to Midwest Championships’ grand finals and completely dominate teammate Slayer–with Tempest Kung Lao, mind you–by a score of 6-0.
Should this be corrected in future updates? Who knows, but you gotta respect someone doing whatever it takes to win, even something that’s sure to lose admirers. Godspeed DJT.
Source: PandaxGaming, special thanks to Honzo Gonzo for his input.