MK11 Guide: How To Play Against The Joker featuring LawKorridor

Often regarded as one of the most challenging characters in the MK11 roster, The Joker can prove a hard opponent in the hands of any player. Thankfully, there is a sense to the chaos at the end of the day and understanding how Joker players want to approach, stagger, and combo, will help in drafting a plan of action.

That is why we joined forces with LawKorridor today, to bring you DashFight's guide on how to play against the Joker.

Mortal Kombat 11 | How to Play Against The Joker | Guide by LawKorridor

The Joker's Basic Moves

• 1, 2, 1 - You can duck and D2 it.
• 1, 2, 3 - It is safe at -6.
• F1, 4 - some small pokes can punish it.
• F4, 4, 2 - It is safe with pushback, be careful.
• 2, 1, 3 - Not a lot of characters are able to punish this string.
• 2, 1, 4 - Most characters can punish it as it is -19.
• F2, 1 - Safe at -4.
• F2, 1, 2 - Some characters can punish it.
• B3, 2, 4 - the last hit can be flawless block for a punish.

Against Bastsy Pew Pew (BF3) you can jump over the first two bullets to close the distance if you are far/fullscreen. If you are close, such as after a special cancel, you can still jump over it and get behind your opponent, except in the case of F2, 1 due to the pushback. In the same vein, Batsy-Poo (BF1) can be ducked and some characters, like Fujin, can punish it.

KAPOW is -20 on block and even with its pushback practically every character can punish it. For BOING you should use the best anti-air your character has, D2 might not cut it. If you don't trust yourself to land it, then maybe try an air-to-air hit, as a good horizontal hitbox will tag The Joker first.

Jack in the Box (DB4) is a very annoying move to deal with. Up close you can use the fact that is -14 to punish it. however, if the move does not trigger immediatly, it will result in a neutral exchange. This is very important to practice and get right since one allows you to punish, the other would result in you being punished. If your main does not have a reversal move then you should flawless block it. Lastly, Joker players will try to use it to close down on you, don't let them, dash up and block the attack, it will be more advantageous to you to take the space than to leave it open for them.

Fatal Blow Tips

Since The Joker has a 50/50 with his fatal blow, it's important to know how you can get out of those situations or not be in them in the first place. 1, 2, 3 & B2, 3 are fakes, you can low poke to counter and go from there. The general rule is to keep a far distance and use your resources to keep him away and ideally finish him off to kick off the next round.

How to Counter The Joker

The six rules LawKorridor lays out for dealing with The Joker are:

1. Keep away, don't let Joker rush you down, try to zone him out, and never rely on the same move to do this. Make them play in your tempo.
2. Take the throws, Joker's throws will put a good distance between the two of you, thus rule 1 is followed.
3. Avoid the corners, either altogether or if you end up in a corner situation teleporting out if you have the ability to do so.
4. Punish the high Attacks, as you figure out the pattern your opponent is most comfortable with, look for the gaps and openings to punish those highs.
5. Punish BF4, a lot of players will try to trade with it by dashing up, if you see your opponent doing it, then you can punish it. Also, try not to mash out of them, it won't be good.
6. Punish and poke D4, keep Joker in Neutral and you can punish D4 with a jump attack, though it's not recommended to rely too much on air attacks unless your character is already good in that.

Best Matchups Against The Joker