You've been using the wrong Kameo for Smoke this whole time

[@BigMFWrubez]

This is good stuff. I love Scorpion as an all round Kameo for several characters. For Smoke, I gotta lean towards Sektor though. The missles allow you to do the cancel shenanigans and the uppercut/flamethrower are great as well

[@JayPhoenix]

I’ve got Sektor right below along with Lao and then a few others. I think the enablement of 400 damage off them trying to punish/check Vapor cancel is stronger than the actual safety you get from Sektor missiles. Though, the uppercut is such a good neutral tool that’s probably equivalent to the threat of combos from non-enhanced teleport that scorpion gives you. Yknow what I’ll definitely concede that Sektor may be the better pick for a more tight gameplay style. Scorpion better for the sloppiness of my playstyle 😅

[@Dareeti]

These Smoke guides have both been good, crazy quality videos.

[@JayPhoenix]

Thanks Dareeti! Tryna set high standards for everything I put out and y’alls support means everything 💪🏾

[@KidNamedScwagglehorn]

Holy shit, the amount of quality information I learned from this one video was insane. Keep it up

[@JayPhoenix]

That’s what I strive for fam. Glad it helped

[@QuintellThompson]

Jax would work with alot of those type of mix up combos as well. When they are launched, call in Jax to catch them with a back breaker, and able to extend from that

[@MastermindRell]

Jax is perfect for this but the timing with conversions is very critical and tricky.

[@JayPhoenix]

I don’t think Jax can give extension off Vapors and the extension off teleport is a little tight and hard to confirm off random teleports. Still really good though. And Shockwave has some good setups with Smoke since you go airborne with Back 2

[@Kriskrieg]

@@JayPhoenix I've been Labbing smoke/jax a ton, and the tightness is not that noticeable for me anymore. But the main benefit in jax for me is that outside of being able to start combos using viscous vapor cancel. Jax also enables you to turn B3, F4 and the full F1224 string into a full combo. On top of ending your combo's with a smoke teleport and a far jax grab allows you to safely go into ex smoke bomb setting you up for invis oki. even then neutral summoning jax before the end of your combo gets him ready for the unblockable slam which forces your opponent to jump on wake up or armor removing their option to block completly. making it easy to get them back into a combo if you time your own jump in well.

[@JayPhoenix]

@@Kriskrieg yeah I was labbing ground pound setups and there’s some very dirty stuff there. Love the concept of using the assist to end the combo and setup a different look on the invisibility pressure. Right now my go to invis pressure to elder god was just enhance smokebomb after air combo 112 ender but adding more variations is key.

[@rizzz1947]

This is really good, comboing off of the raw vicious vapors denies the overblown counterplay ppl like to respond with against smoke. I personally still like lao, but good to know there's potential for a counter pick if needed, great video!

[@JayPhoenix]

Exactly, add it to the repertoire fam 💪🏾

[@Hakaimono_Gaming]

One of the best guides I’ve seen amazing man!

[@JayPhoenix]

Thank you! There’ll be more coming 🙌🏾

[@_GamingUnmasked]

I used to play smoke scorpion for a while and recently switched to sareena due to the better neutral, meter drain, and higher damage with limited resources. Also sareena down plus cameo can be great at applying and escaping pressure as well.

[@sebastianvipond571]

You explained it perfectly as to why I have a hard time playing smoke in high rank. I'ma try this

[@JayPhoenix]

Thank you! Good luck with ranked!

[@timothydavis4161]

If you’re struggling with smoke on ranked the kameo isn’t the problem BRO 💀

[@sebastianvipond571]

@@timothydavis4161 you're right. I'm bad, I'm just going to play Raiden, Baraka, or Cage cause they are all wayyy easier to play. Thanks for helping me make the change👍

[@SavyGaming905]

@@timothydavis4161smoke is low tier bro get better at the match up

[@timothydavis4161]

@@sebastianvipond571 he’s just as gassed as them BRO bro has unlimited 50/50s and can even go invisible 😂 if you’re losing with smoke it ain’t smoke. I use Geras so idk why you’re mentioning any of those easy to play players

[@gwadoman7660]

I'm really digging the scorpion kameo after watching this. I mainly use Jax for big damage but I think Scorpion is a good option because he can cover almost all of Smoke's mix. Sektor might be the best kameo for him, but at least we have options. Good stuff bro. 👍🏾

[@vantagecontrol]

this is why i felt mk1 is going to be one of the most creative games at NRS, fighting wise. the sheer amount of character/kameo combos is nuts. and to think we're only getting more!

[@JayPhoenix]

Legit limitless possibilities. They’ve cracked the code with this evolution of the variation system.

[@frogmantyla]

that demigod kenshi definitely let his lizard play the game

[@kentrader2489]

Was skeptical about picking up Smoke cause of the vapors game, but after seeing this I will definitely pick him up.

[@JayPhoenix]

Let’s goooo I’ll have a comprehensive guide out for him soon too. Just trying to hit elder god first 😅

[@notfonz9055]

@@JayPhoenixLooking forward to that!

[@xquantumx7052]

This is an excellent and well thought out reasoning my man. I’ve been using Jax and sektor with smoke but I’ll take a look at scorpion

[@JayPhoenix]

Also good kameos but that vapor confirm into 400 damage will change your life, trust me

[@FAM0US-M0NSTERS-]

If Smoke gets any buff in the upcoming expansion I hope it's just opening up the cancel window. I really like playing this character, but I just cheese with Frost

[@lewisjones284]

Yeah, but Cyrax with the white palette goes hard with Smoke

[@nacho__063]

The design of this video is really well planned mate. Good shit

[@JayPhoenix]

Thank you! I like to take my time with these 😁

[@PaccManXL]

This actually useful af cuz all i do is just get poked and comboed off one string so think i might pick up scorpion, w vid

[@adhirg]

I use Scorpion to get meterless conversions off of almost everything, and Sub Zero for certain matchups. with Sub, you confirm anything into freeze, hit a string into VV cancel into F1, 2, 1+3 and then go from there with whatever combo route you run. I haven’t found any other kameos that fit my Smoke playstyle like Scorpion or Sub Zero. maybe Frost for additional mix, or Stryker if I can figure out how to combo with the grenades. Scorpion’s up kameo can also combo off of the throw at the end of F1, 2, 1+3. up kameo off of low teleport, neutral kameo for Vicious Vapors and his full jab string / F1224 (in case anyone had any trouble with the links).

[@Dark_Soulful]

W video. You can also turn single button hit confirms into good damage if you have your cancels down. F3, f1, and 1 are good buttons when canceled into vapor dash. F3 is especially good for this, because of the mind game of that string.

[@JayPhoenix]

Yup, I think I have a clip in the end of the video where I catch someone with the F3 Vapor F3 opening

[@Oleg.the.Sunwarrior]

Wow. Great guide and nice explanations!

[@MastermindRell]

Bruh I needed this. You have a subscriber. Smoke main here and been trying to avoid reena and exploring other options. Sonya for him is legit too but I’ve been looking at Goro and Jax but the timing is tricky for conversions. Scorp might be the guy although I don’t like using kameo twice in one instance for damage. But the pressure is there. Excellent video btw 👌🏾. Also to note it would have been better if you specify which Scorpion assist connect with each string. (The far mid or close )

[@JayPhoenix]

💪🏾 Scorp makes things very lenient to confirm from. Goro is good too! Just more precise. And Jax even more tight but doesn’t combo off the random vicious vapors you hit in a match. I’ll be making a comprehensive guide but real quick: Vicious Vapors Timing is right before the twirl and second hit of the move. Mid Fireballs anywhere outside the corner. Close Fireballs in the corner is best. Teleport Far fireballs as soon as the slide is about to finish before the uppercut Those have been the most reliable for me

[@JayPhoenix]

Oh, and for the F4 kicks Far Fireballs as soon as you input the move Close Fireballs in the corner

[@MastermindRell]

@@JayPhoenix you the goat for this 🙏🏽. I’m hitting the lab to see what’s up and cause SMOKE on mtfers. Thx for the feedback 👌🏾. I’ll be here for the guide.

[@JayPhoenix]

@@MastermindRell no problem fam! Hope to see you in those high ranks 💥

[@gamersupreme7980]

The smoke and fire build is cooking

[@JayPhoenix]

💨🔥

[@fuboftw3925]

Heard 3rd strike music and I instantly subscribed

[@JayPhoenix]

One of my fave tracks!

[@WalkBesideMe]

Scorpion?? Hmm guess we found the fire to the Smoke.

[@JoaoVictor-jq2ip]

Nice. I don't play smoke, but I intend to play him one day and for me stryker is the best kameo. Stryker makes smoke safe (actually plus) and is way better in the neutral. I prefer that than go for higher damage.

[@JayPhoenix]

Yeah Stryker has a lot of varied utility. Smoke has a few deficiencies in move data though to the point where I feel like he can’t play the pressure game like Liu Kang for example where you get worn down off strings. Maximizing the hits you do get are important against the top characters who have all the safety plus damage. But you’ll be able to come to your own conclusions when you get around to playing him of course! I do plan to make a more comprehensive guide for Smoke and other characters. Maybe it’ll pop up on your feed when you decide to play him 😁

[@jacobwooten977]

Dude is a professor, thanks for the info

[@JayPhoenix]

haha thanks for the compliment

[@DetrasDeTiImbecil]

Scorpion kameo is a fucking goat of combo extensions in the game

[@aramp]

what a gem of a channel

[@JayPhoenix]

That means a lot ❤️

[@thedayhunter6829]

i dont know why nobody talks about stryker, you can cover his blockstring and smoke cancels with bombs, confirm into full combos even

[@JayPhoenix]

I wrote off Stryker early on as an average assist but I may have to explore deeper 👀

[@LastPrimeGaming]

Stryker good but he doesn’t provide damage high level players want high level damage… even the kasual player wants high damage

[@sammythijs8641]

Stryker is the most slept on Kameo right now it’s hilarious what kind of buffoonery you can do with him

[@thedayhunter6829]

@@LastPrimeGaming i mean… 35% meterless, 42%+ with 1 bar seems competitive enough

[@LastPrimeGaming]

@@thedayhunter6829 kang gets that with sareena and no meter

[@chrisville004]

Shout out to all my smoke mains🫡

[@Aidan3035.]

Keep making these smoke videos 🙏

[@JayPhoenix]

🫡 Tryna get that Elder God rank for the next vid 😏

[@fearless-4496]

Definitely adding scorpion to my arsenal and also Frost is underrated pick for smoke I use her as my main for smoke and she does a lot for him would love to show you some things

[@JayPhoenix]

Oooh, i didn’t find anything super spicy with Frost, I’m interested 👀

[@hdizzly]

Great idea with the Scorpion air fireballs. The thing I’m not seeing is any good answers for someone trying to out-zone you like you do with Kung Lao’s low hat.

[@JayPhoenix]

That’s actually why I think Scorpion shines. Vapor cancelling through projectiles will sometimes get you stuffed out by the projectile. But if you don’t cancel, you kept the projectile invincibility and can catch their recovery, and only Scorpion and Goro can extend the Vapors attack. (As far as I know) You also have the option of jumping a bit more at full/mid screen and looking for the startup frames of characters projectiles or kameo projectiles like Lao and catching them with a teleport. With Scorpion you can turn it into max damage off meterless teleport.

[@hdizzly]

@@JayPhoenix good idea. I didn’t realize that vapor cancel let you get hit by the projectiles. I got wrecked by a reptile player that kept doing double acid bubbles and couldn’t figure out why he kept getting me even though I was doing the vapor teleport cancel. I’ve been looking to change it up so I’m going to try your combo extender ideas with Scorpion!

[@JayPhoenix]

@@hdizzly Reptile is one of the tough ones tbh, that acid bubble travels so slow you sometimes don’t whizz by. Just need a bit of luck tbh 😅 I hope you like the scorpion assist, Goro and Lao are pretty neat too.

[@mibbzx1493]

Ngl that Smoke taunt inbetween rounds with that teleport cancel is one of my favorite in the the game. Top 10 for sure 7:20

[@JayPhoenix]

He’s so swaggy

[@juliocesarferreraparicio4497]

Dude great video thats how you breakdown a character i subed to show support

[@JayPhoenix]

More videos on the way!

[@CharacterCrisisTV]

Jay, you're making me consider picking up this game and this character.

[@JayPhoenix]

Idk how much you enjoy MK generally, but the game has a lot of sauce and multiple flippy ninjas to choose from 😂 And the assist options can give you lots of setplay

[@CharacterCrisisTV]

@@JayPhoenix Haha, haven't enjoyed any since they went 3D. But you're changing my mind dawg. I'm loving these cancels and I love me some setplay!!!

[@JayPhoenix]

@@CharacterCrisisTV lol yeah I’ve picked up that we’re aligned in gameplay styles by our mains 🤣🤣 The core gameplay is absolutely fun, almost marvel-esque, and I recommend. But if you care about a “complete experience” maybe wait a few months until they actually finish the game. And if you’re super against predatory monetization then probably don’t get it at all lmaooo

[@CharacterCrisisTV]

@@JayPhoenix I completely agree Jay. We have the same affinity for characters and pressure structure. I think I'm going to take the dive my guy! Thank you for the inspiration FR FR. Your smoke is inspirational!!!

[@JayPhoenix]

@@CharacterCrisisTV respect brother! Add me if you’re on PSN! And if you’re not I can cop the PC versions of the games we play so we can get some sets in sometime! Bout to get back on that Lancelot wave once Granblue drops 😈 (I swear, if you also play Granblue and play Lancelot that’s straight comedy)

[@lordcorporal4247]

But smoke is banned against 6arakin what will I do?!😂😂😂

[@reapers0001]

Underrated channel fr

[@JayPhoenix]

🙏🏾

[@Labrynth-13]

As a smoke main, this is a major change and i am super willing to test it because it is super interesting andbi love using Ninja with Ninja.

[@Labrynth-13]

Your explanations and showcase were amazing and honestly it makes me excited to try it

[@JayPhoenix]

Hope you have fun with it! Neutral can be a bit challenging at times but once you put them in pressure you definitely reap the benefits

[@ballistic2527]

Yo great find. Thanks for the sauce

[@JayPhoenix]

You’re very welcome

[@sammythijs8641]

Totally see the appeal of Scorpion, started with him as a smoke main. At the end of the day though, scorpion gets you arguably the best combo conversions but is lagging anywhere else. Scorpion: Adds by far the most combo flexibility out of all kameos without the need for setups. Shit ton of extra dmg to many things , especially s1 starter and teleport Does not help much in neutral Kung Lao: armor break setups (hard) Hard-to-block setups (easy) Strong neutral presence About 5% extra dmg with spin (easy) and benefits s1 starter plus frames (on demand) Sektor: Armor break setups (easy) strong neutral presence (setup) Strong Plus frames (setup) A good restand Unsafe unga bunge can be covered by his ambush (setup) Frost: Very cheap ice orb setups after f12+13 for mix/plus frames Fullscreen presence Mediocre plus frames (on demand) Chip dmg gimmicks Stryker: Don’t know how this man walks with all these people sleeping on my dude Neutral presence (on demand) Strong plus frames (on demand) Extra 50/50 options (on demand) 7% extra combo damage (hard) Armor break setups (easy) Can cover any unsafe nonsense you do on demand with ambush. A good restand I believe Stryker offers the best middleground of all the other Kameos he’s competing with but similar to Sektor, he is harder to use. A stryker that uses ambush grenades well can be very taxing to play against. At any moment he can throw out a +6 overhead and nobody is stopping the user from throwing out random shit, you can just press ambush and any punish attempt from opponent will be blown up, hell If they are close you can even pick up a punish from it

[@JayPhoenix]

Phenomenal breakdown with some stuff I wasn’t even aware of at all, thanks! I have Scorpion in the top tier for him simply off the virtue of Vicious Vapor confirms and making it real RPS. That said, it does require your neutral to be really strong (and against some characters it doesn’t even matter how good your neutral is because theirs is so powerful) All those you mentioned I think are right there with it though, and Goro for the same reasons as Scorpion, less damage but the punch can make you plus. Frost doesn’t feel as strong to me though, I think she’s below the others. I could be wrong, havent experimented much with that one. But I will explore more, you make very valid points!

[@sammythijs8641]

@@JayPhoenix yeah Frost is only here because you get to set up ice orb safely after f1-2-1+3. Smoke has reasonable corner carry and if done in the corner the opponent can do very little about it. Record Smoke and Frost doing this setup to you in the corner and you’ll notice how dirty it is. Everything else is just serviceable at best for smoke What I personally think is just cool with Stryker is, similar to Scorp, the new conversions you get. You can set up close grenade on a knock down and can connect F3-vapor cancel into 32 launcher, this usually can’t link but if timed right the setup breaks armor and grenades connect right after f3 allowing it to connect to 32. This same thing applies to his s1 starter, 1114-vapor cancel-32 does not work. However, if you press back kameo at correct time you, close grenade will make the link work for Smoke. Input to do this is 1-1+back kameo-1-4-vapor cancel-micro dash-32 into your combo off choice. Dmg is really good for no bar as well but

[@JayPhoenix]

Yeah I’ve seen the frost shenanigans and it’s definitely dirty. Just not strong enough for me to buy in to her with the other options I tested some Stryker last night and I’m feeling the options for sure. Gonna test out these knockdown armor break setups today, thank you!

[@Drews.Dining]

Awesome video man great stuff

[@daverayz3064]

oh yea good shit, smoke needed this that sareena assist was mad stale

[@Igoezhamm16]

i see this Duo every time i go on KL 😭

[@JayPhoenix]

Damn I haven’t ran into a single other Smoke with the combo yet up through the 8th rank. Good luck out there 😅

[@Igoezhamm16]

@@JayPhoenix ohhh there out there trust me and good luck to u too bro

[@nick8416]

And little tip. His cancels don’t have to be timed perfectly… you can spam the cancel input and it will work 100% of the time but you didn’t hear that from me.

[@vtossmyglock6717]

Try Sonya it’s a great kamo with smoke you can keep them off the ground and keep up the combo

[@Fazushi]

Smoke jax has been a solid combo for me but I think scorpion might be too good to ignore

[@JayPhoenix]

If Jax could combo off vapors I’d put him up there with Scorp but that’s the one thing keeping me from giving him the credit lol

[@notpaper-cr6ni]

I say it depends on your play style. With sareena offering a projectile threat, scorpion offering deeper mix, and sector adds a safety net to smoke. you can replace Sek with lao but to me that’s the top 3 kameos for him. All are effective just depends on what you want to add on to smoke.

[@JayPhoenix]

Yup Lao and Sektor right there in the mix for top choices with Smoke

[@XxJunPe4chxX]

Scorpion helps so much!! Such a good kameo!!

[@Thevishisland]

I've been using kung lao and it's really good for me but maybe I'll try scorpion

[@JayPhoenix]

I really like Lao also. There’s definitely some matchups like Raiden where the low hat might be necessary to outplay him since he has that double low combo starter that blows up Smoke’s strings that all pretty much start high. My only mark against Lao is that I haven’t found a use for his ambush assist. I don’t think Smoke gets anything crazy like Liu Kang grab combos.

[@yolomasta6940]

A Kameo I've been using with Smoke that's been really fun is Darrius

[@JayPhoenix]

The mix master!

[@ReneGade405]

After watching this imma try out smoke hopefully he'll solve my character crisis good video though

[@JayPhoenix]

Never hurts to give ‘em a try. I also have a basic combo video guide that may help you get started.

[@Kratosx23]

I just picked up Smoke and I picked Frost because I played a Smoke and he had Frost as his cameo and I could never guess when he did forward 32 if he was going to go for the overhead or the Frost low, it worked on me pretty bad so I picked him up and it's going ok for me with that kameo, not too bad. I'm sure Frost isn't optimal for Smoke but you can 50/50 with the low/overhead or low/low freeze and even low/overhead/low freeze and get a full combo. I mainly need a cameo that's gonna allow me a conversion opportunity like Frost or Sareena since I can never open up anyone without it.

[@JayPhoenix]

That Frost 50/50 will take you far. You probably already know this but there’s also an ice ball reset. After the f121+3 string, you can call ice ball and then grab them. I think it freezes even if they tech the grab and you get full combo. I think Lao would be a nice evolution to your playstyle, the conversions aren’t as easy as with Sareena or Frost in terms of low overhead strings. But it can help you level up your stagger pressure game which will round out your offense and teach you how more levels of opening people up without having to take too much risk.

[@justinhurst9402]

She is fine, once you get to higher levels you just need to be able to get your f3 cancel down but most importantly you need to get your smoke bomb invise down. Get the timing of the hit you can do in the air to a t and you will have a much easier time opening up your opponent. You got to invise in higher level play.

[@JayPhoenix]

She’s not bad by any means, just that Scorp (Lao,Sektor,etc) open up so much more and vary the playstyle/mixups while Sareena’s best traits are extending ground starters and preventing breakers. But absolutely invis is the key to winning at a higher level.

[@OmegaLupus]

You should try darius he has some good set up combos with the grab combo and if you time your throws you can get a combo with it as well

[@JayPhoenix]

Darius is cool too, just a little limited and Lao gives similar utility with low hat for mixups as well as the wake-up armor and combo extender spin

[@likenoother6561]

I personally never found kameo to be necessary for damage output smoke. He already has good meterless damage and even better 1 bar damage. I find the utility of like a sektor sub or lao kameo to be stronger. Sektor missi le gives you consistenly strong oki and can make things safe. Sub gives you armor to help even more in neutral and can confirm into freeze for more damage. Lao hat gives you continuous plus frames on top of pressure and low hat to make them fear that more than your overheads

[@JayPhoenix]

I’m not so much in it for the damage with Scorpion as I lean on his ability to convert off vicious vapors (to make the pressure scary, to punish projectiles for 400 damage, and clean up cancel accidents) and meterless teleport extension. Thus saving meter for invisibility. But the points you and others make about those other Kameos are absolutely right up there with what Scorpion provides. I’m on the fence about which one comes out on top but they all really should be incoporated into a Smoke main’s toolkit for matchup coverage

[@Omnigear]

I am a Smoke main with Scorpion since the start. And I am so happy this video confirmed that it was a good decision. I hated the Sareena bandwagon.

[@JayPhoenix]

Affirmation is always good but as long as you having fun then you always made the right decision 💪🏾

[@0mr0z0]

jokes on you been using him since day 1

[@JayPhoenix]

🙌🏾 You were onto the sauce before me for sure. I didn’t pick up the tech until maybe the second week of playing.

[@BCreeper]

Meanwhile me choosing my fighter/kameo: "I just think he looks cool"

[@JayPhoenix]

and aint nothing wrong with that

[@willfarmer9873]

You are spittin

[@that1indianguy664]

Try out jax and Kung Lao if u get the chance! Jax doesn’t give u neutral but if u open ur opponent up once then u have the chance to win with a couple unblockable setups and Kung lao gives u neutral and cheap mixups

[@JayPhoenix]

I’m definitely sold on Lao for certain matchups. Jax I would like more if he could convert off vicious vapors to make the pressure scarier. His teleport conversion is also worse than scorpion while requiring more precision. Unblockable setups are a boost for sure but the Scorp overhead and escape options are sooo good.

[@FateMissedDeath]

The vicious vapors was always my biggest issue in playing Smoke, I just can't get it done consistently if at all and it made me drop Smoke for Kung Lao. But watching this inspired me to practice Smoke some more, especially since i never used him with Scorpion Kameo either.

[@sociogenic-gizmo1712]

Try inputting the cancel input twice when you do it, "spam" it per se, eventually you'll get the timing down better and doing the input once will be a lot more consistent. I think it's a problem for all smoke mains that maintaining 100% consistency is really difficult, especially online.

[@JayPhoenix]

Do it! I’m putting up a starter guide soon that may have some tidbits to help out when you pick him up again.

[@JayPhoenix]

@@sociogenic-gizmo1712 yup, I fully accepted that I will mess up the cancel at least one out of every five times. The great thing is that people miss the punish on it half the time that they block it even in elder god rank 😅

[@sociogenic-gizmo1712]

@@JayPhoenix unfortunately I've had a long streak of people poke punishing during my cancel pressure but because of this video I've decided to switch from darrius to scorpion. I've implemented intentionally not canceling to get little bits of damage but darrius kick is not worth using after that so the 7% is all I could get. That scorpion fireball after the vapors is crazy and is a huge addition. Oh and smoke's armored move is terrible, I hate it so much... 9 times out of 10 I get hit out of it or it goes invisible when I don't want it to. so the armored back kameo will be another good addition. Great video thank you for opening my eyes to scorpions potential

[@FateMissedDeath]

Bet, I'll be looking forward to checking out that guide!

[@Flextreme.]

The second I head you say Vapor Cancel online is scary to use because of all the Inconsistencies I hit subscribe. Thank god another Smoke isn't afraid to complain about a legit problem with his playstyle online. I get flamed all the time because I've been screaming Vapor Cancel is a 50/50 on myself.

[@JayPhoenix]

You know the pain! I have lost countless games off not getting a cancel or two that I tried to do 😵‍💫 I **feel** like Smoke is a little difficult to use for that reason. Because inputs in this game feel a tad bit ‘sticky’ if you know what I mean.

[@BizKit167]

As the time passes since the release of the game I see less and less smoke sarenna players online

[@JayPhoenix]

Mhm, things get figured out and they gotta move on to the next cheese haha

[@Person_person_the-second]

I’ve dealt with too many basic smokes and sareenas, a few scorpion and frost kameos, and a very toxic Peaky Blinder using lung lao kameo. I’d say all are pretty good tbh. Frost being the worst of the four since her use is only the 50/50s and no other combo extenders since she’s a summon assist.

[@JayPhoenix]

Yeah I’m not a Frost believer. The ice ball reset is cute but I rather the damage or kung lao hat + invisibility

[@corrxptt]

great video man

[@-sugandeesnuts-]

Been a smoke main since beta hung Lao and sektor are easily my boys best options

[@JayPhoenix]

I love what they provide too. Got them right up there with Scorpion and Goro

[@Ocean5ix]

To me the best by far is Sektor. Ever since I became TheWayneNumber1’s disciple and studied his gameplay I realized how Sektor makes you party hard with Smoke without consequences. With him it doesn’t matter what’s safe and what’s not and the vicious vapors become a threat if you call missiles between moves. Also a good tip I don’t see people mentioning.. when you use the smoke bomb invisibility you can’t see but Smoke falls from the sky. You can press a jump in button and combo from there. I like to go for the 2, F3, 2 route since it makes it very hard for the opponent to guess a invisible mix of overhead, low, overhead.

[@JayPhoenix]

Many others agree with you so far in the comments! I’m of the mind that I’m just not clean enough with execution to maximize Sektor and Scorpion is stronger for the sloppy players like myself lol Yeah that’s my first layer string off smoke bomb invisibility also. Nobody blocked that until late Grandmaster/God rank in kombat league lol Then I do f3, vapor cancel, f3 as the second layer and it’s free lol

[@Ocean5ix]

@@JayPhoenix Actually, since we're talking about our main, does the F3, 2 cancel into 3, 2 feels very inconsistent to you? I made it to God, played 40 hours of Smoke and this cancel still feels very weird, like most of the time I press the buttons with the same timing and it doesn't combo. It feels like the window is like 1 frame or something.

[@JayPhoenix]

@@Ocean5ix fam, everything feels bad lmao I thought it was just me but so many others are saying everything feels inconsistent game to game. I chalk it up to the netcode and the way that inputs seem to be eaten. I’m also trying to push through to elder god and I’ve choked so many sets just off it not registering a confirm or a cancel.

[@Ocean5ix]

@@JayPhoenix I honestly drop it even on practice. I've tried everything, from trying to make one precise button press to just mashing 3 after the cancel but sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I would love to just know exactly what am I doing wrong but there's no visual feedback or anything. It just doesn't work consistently. During matches I know why I personally drop stuff, when it gets hype and blood boiling, I tend to rush inputs and since the cancels have to be on time I miss them. But this one specifically, F3, 2 cancel is a toin coss every time.

[@JayPhoenix]

@@Ocean5ix I often miss grabs after the vapor cancel. I’m curious if maybe the block button has something to do with it. Try releasing block as cleanly as possible after the cancel before you input the next string. There might be a little input buffer going on where the game holds the block input for a few frames and prevents other buttons from registering 🤔 At least that’s what it feels like when I’m nervous and trying to get a clutch throw input out from my vapor cancel.

[@benedictnwoguji7005]

I love this tyoe of videos Just subbed now👌

[@JayPhoenix]

Appreciate you! I do a mix of these type of vids and more comprehensive character guides

[@Ares91k]

Just started playing smoke but i really dont like serena and this video is awesome. Great tech. I cant wait to use scorpion with him now. Ty so much!!!

[@JayPhoenix]

Yeah Sareena just felt so limiting. Your gonna love all the options scorpion opens up

[@peterk3556]

Before or after the Patch scorpion gives the best damage for smoke 37% no meter or 45 % one bar sareena gives you no damage

[@jimdino77]

Was hoping u highlighted the other moves as well. Serena and Scorpion just seem like the combo characters. What other benefits do they provide?

[@JayPhoenix]

Yeah scorpion is **the** combo extender. The ambush is what elevates him above sareena though because you can combo extend off special moves like vicious vapors whereas Sareena only extends off moves you could already combo from without her. Scorpion also has the additional 30 frame overhead combo starter and spear escape option that can absorb more hits than your regular armored wake you and totally invalidate some of the nastier setups in the game like Sektor missiles.

[@siqueirasso94]

I have the impression that Smoke is the equivallent of MK11's SubZero in this game, which i like, but i am reluctant to play him because of this "vapors cancel" string. I think it's a little too complicated for me

[@JayPhoenix]

Funny you say that because I didn’t play much of 11 but I did play Sub in my little time with the game 😂 Yeah the vapors cancel is honestly annoying sometimes but pulling it off flawlessly is rewarding

[@fransont21]

Smoke also works well with goro as kameo.

[@JayPhoenix]

Goro is great too. You trade off some damage but Goro adds extra safety and stagger potential which can be better in some cases.

[@dred814]

Good content, very insightful. But demigod lvl kenshi? Nah, he whiffed like 6 uppercuts.

[@JayPhoenix]

Lmao, well they got a decent ways through KL playing like that is all I can say 😅 To be fair to them, this was like the second or third match and they were baited in to really trying to punish my high string starters and grabs off pressure.

[@ReyTheGreat809]

Lao is probably his best Kameo. He gives him more utilities and mix up opportunities. Plus I believe low hat is plus 2. Scorpion is good for kombos and damage. But overall, I believe is Lao.

[@JayPhoenix]

Lao is great. I’ve got the best kameo as a close race between Lao, Scorp, Goro, Sektor At that point I feel like playstyle dictates best Kameo

[@PistenDeer]

I haven't fought a single Smoke that hasn't used Sareena so far.

[@JayPhoenix]

They’ll ditch the training wheels soon enough

[@2ndai385]

I still think Sektor Smoke is pretty geart didnt really get bit by the Scaling nerfs like scorpion did. Missile also is nice for Oki to help break armor and teleport punch is pretry good for combo starting.

[@2ndai385]

Your also just safe for your mistakes unlike any other kameo except like striker. Stryker and Smoke allow you to play mad ignorant

[@JayPhoenix]

I’ve definitely got Sektor and Lao above Sareena as well. Covering unsafe stuff to get real ignorant is oppressive and definitely shines more than the Scorpion assist in some matchups for sure I’ll have to experiment more with Sektor for a fuller picture though. Only labbed him for a little bit.

[@2ndai385]

@JayPhoenix I have a feeling though Stryker will be the next Cyrax like how Cyrax was the New Sareena. Still Sarenna ambush does help keep you safe on smoke. Square wave is also fun on smoke but Sonya kameo assit also got hit if you use it to many times to do stuff with Regular smoke port. Gotta think of new combos

[@JayPhoenix]

@@2ndai385 Mhm Mhm. I ran into a Stryker earlier and was totally unaware up to that point how nasty he can be. Can’t wait till we get even more to explore.

[@JustinKeithD]

Well put together video but just want to say that KBL rank means literally nothing because you are put into a hidden skill bracket. Someone who isn't very good could be an elder god because they are put against opponents with similar skill.

[@JayPhoenix]

Fair point but I feel like mmr wasn’t very pronounced in season 1 At the time of recording. Very few people on console had gotten to God/Elder God. Only a few 100, so the skill bracket stretched to include all the best players. In Season 2 it for sure leveraged the hidden mmr more based on season 1 results. But, it also made it easier to rank up just by going ~ .500 win rate

[@highbredsmoke]

Heres why that dont work it takes full cameo for that 420 when serina takes one bar for 410 and two bar for 444 this is also letting you still have full power meter to break out or do 491 so no scorpion is not better you just feel guilty for no reason

[@JayPhoenix]

Sareena can only extend grounded starters, can’t get 400+ off vicious vapors to make the pressure real, can’t extend off teleport confirms, can’t extend off f1224, armored wake up isn’t as good as scorpions, doesn’t give the extra overhead mixup. Meter drain is good but Scorpion has too many positives over her.

[@nick8416]

But smoke gets 30% meterless off of every touch and 40% every bar. Why do you need more damage? Utility would be much more beneficial in the form of hard to block setups with Lao or strykers plus frames to cover the gaps.

[@JayPhoenix]

I go into that in the video, Scorpion gives you the 400 minimum damage on every combo without needing to spend bar which you can then use for more invis. And gives 500 for round closers. Also gives non-ex teleport confirms into 400. The combo potential is just the gravy though. Vicious Vapors cancels are completely fake and just a knowledge check. Good players are gonna take the risk of eating 70 damage and just press on it. The ability for Scorpion to confirm a vicious vapors hit into full combo is the real meat on the bone. And it opens up vapor pressure that's more honest rps. Then the meter to go invisible after high damage setups or in neutral closes the gap between the higher utility assists like Lao and Sektor. But those two are still right there imo with Scorpion pick

[@nick8416]

@@JayPhoenix Definitely about to hit elder god again with smoke 😂

[@JayPhoenix]

@@nick8416 yeah, nobody below God is prepared to counter invis, even random full screen smoke bomb invis And then the other elder gods get abused by the smoke bomb invis > teleport when they try to anti air I think I almost 15 game streaked through god to elder in one session lol

[@nam6282]

Why they gotta make the VV cancel so hard for us casual players

[@Deception96]

I wish you showed the inputs for these combos so I can work on them in practice mode

[@JayPhoenix]

I’ll be putting up a video with the inputs once I get my PC set up this weekend But for now, you can create your own routes with these instructions: Perform vicious vapors and use Scorpions Down+Kameo assist right after the first hit of vapors when Smoke is doing the little spin The final hit of the vapor special should lead them into getting juggled by Scorpion’s fireballs From there you can do whatever, I like to walk forward and do the f121+3 string then teleport

[@JayPhoenix]

Another one is, off teleport, call the Up + Kameo assist from scorpion anytime between hitting them with the teleport and the uppercut part of the move. This should get you a juggle and you can jump 112 or try to extend with Enhanced teleport Those are the two fundamental concepts to getting the combo extensions with Scorpion and you build from there with whatever you find comfortable

[@Deception96]

@@JayPhoenix ah thank you so much this was very helpful.

[@Valkyrie-Kain]

A lot of people don’t know this, but when you go invis you can open with a falling attack straight into a string. So when you tp you can use your 2 into low string mix up is really good for a lot of people who don’t know. Then when they do know you can switch with a back 2 instead of forward 3

[@JayPhoenix]

Yup yup And when people start fuzzy blocking it, you can mix in vapor cancels while invisible to do double forward 3 before the overhead.

[@traviszombeck7379]

I’ve been playing smoke and scorpion since day 1, your conversions are nice but you’re missing out on 45% dmg with the duo I don’t see you do

[@JayPhoenix]

👀 Do tell! Share the tech 🙏🏾

[@Dark_Soulful]

Nice, I main Smoke/Scorp.

[@JayPhoenix]

Our army growsss

[@hammo4168]

I tried this and I cannot get the timing down. Any advice on when to execute the ambush attack?

[@thababybeastsz]

Nah im stealing this

[@JayPhoenix]

Steal away fam, the tech is yours now 😈

[@thababybeastsz]

@JayPhoenix nah cuz i just reached demi god with smoke/frost (frost allows a reset and freee invis) but i got outdamaged 1st game so yea this is looking good

[@JayPhoenix]

That Frost 50/50 stays strong all the way to god rank haha But yeah the damage is needed when defenses get better

[@XYz-_-zYX]

Ive only used scorpion with smoke cuz i can do alot of combos without needing bar

[@JayPhoenix]

Yup, having the meter available for invisibility without losing out on damage is crucial once people are blocking the standard mix.

[@NerdLegionInc]

i've been using goro since he lets me be unsafe on alot of things and just convert off stuff I shouldn't be able to. But scorp is good as well. Also i hate that rhino mask so much xD

[@JayPhoenix]

Yeah Goro is pretty wavy and also gives a Vapors hit confirm into full combo which is they key ingredient to the fear of the vapor cancel pressure. The only drawback is the lack of high damage extension off raw teleport, but that’s not super crucial. Using the punch for safety and plus frames is reaaaally good though. Maybe better than the Scorpion overhead. I rate Goro right under Scorpion for Smoke. But I could change my mind on it. They’re close

[@YuriusSan]

Not me bro.

[@soldierswag4884]

Its all good , but bro the smoke cancels dont work Online its impossible

[@JayPhoenix]

I know, it’s rough. But not impossible. Easy to get flustered though.

[@naidenb1743]

Respect

[@JayPhoenix]

💪🏾

[@buckshotgaming4066]

Is there an easier way to do the vicious vapours cancel? I struggle with it online

[@JayPhoenix]

Sadly I don’t have the secret 😔 I advise you to just practice and try to acclimate to the lag of any given match as quickly as possible. You’re bound to mess it up honestly, everyone does even the best Smoke players. What I *can* tell you is to not let it tilt you. When I keep composed after messing it up I’m usually able to claw myself back into the match and win.

[@caidenhanson4440]

I’m not saying your bad or anything I also think scorpion is great with smoke but that kenshi from his performance could not be a Demi god my man was throwing d2 everywhere

[@JayPhoenix]

Lol well it’s casual matches so I think they were just playing unseriously. This was I think the second or third game and I had peeped that Kenshi wanted to check my high starting strings (Smokes biggest weakness imo) with uppercut so if you notice, I delay the moments I take my turn with those strings against him trying to bait the uppercuts. If I played into the strat then Kenshi would look like a genius, but instead they looked foolish 😅 Kenshi may also not be their main character too which would explain them defaulting to things like uppercut and sweep in tense moments

[@LappyAwoo]

What is the timing to call scorpion ambush? every time i do vapors the fireballs miss and the combo drops, it seems extremely inconsistent, do you only press the kameo button or do you press a direction too?

[@JayPhoenix]

It might be missing because of the range not your timing. What I’ve found most reliable is anywhere outside the corner, use down + kameo. Off the top of my head, I think the timing is between the first and second hit of the vicious vapors slashes. But I can double check later. In the corner, neutral kameo button is the most reliable to not drop the follow up string. Off teleports, I prefer up + kameo for combo extension

[@SabinAlbei]

somebody can you help me with the EX DB4 11 EX DB4 11 and so on maybe even get 3 DB4 11 using all my 3 meters, this is what happens I am dropping one of the 32 from Smokes string to be sure I get the follow up 1 2 GRAB, then launch with EX DB4 for 112 getting maybe 35% with Frost, 39% with Sereena, (one kameo call) but I want to learn the kombos that finish or extend with another DB4 11 not just one, I have my practice settings with everything set to REFILL, I get the first EX DB4 very easy cause I think/feel the GRAB (slash animation) is so slow it allows me to calmly prepare the first EX DB4 then 112 for the damage I mentioned above but I want to use an EX DB4 11 and continue with another DB4 112 leaving me with one bar let's say. When I try to do the second EX DB4 after hitting the opponent in the air with 11, I see the following animation: Smoke like slides below the falling opponent ending everything there, or, he does the move but a bit late dropping the kombo as I see it reset to 70% the usual damage for DB4....any tips on when to input 11 + EX DB4, what should I look for at what time or when during the animation? Even any tips to not skip one 32 from the string, if I use two 32's I drop the kombo at the GRAB time/moment. I did see it connect two or three times during the entire evening and was like yay, but idk for what reasons it connected those times...

[@tron_k_wave2013]

I play smoke scorpion since 2 weeks now and i think it needs to be nerfed .. you can do 45% damage with one bar and 50% with two bars .. its a 2 touches round

[@JayPhoenix]

As long as Cage exists in the game the way he is, Smoke needs the damage lol

[@tron_k_wave2013]

@@JayPhoenix we need a balanced game

[@agreen31]

Smoke and Scorpion were my first team. Traded him for Kung Lao so I can low-hat all the people you content creators have conditioned to up block his forward 3,2 string. Don't get me wrong I enjoy having to learn and adapt as the rest of the community does, but with as hated as Smoke is (which is the character I selected as soon as I saw the trailer for him) people have made playing him hell 😂😂

[@JayPhoenix]

Lol yeah Lao is such a boon to the neutral game. I’m just a maniac and love that Scorpion enables me to threaten fighting game terrorism at any time I always lead off with forward 3, smoke cancel, forward 3 to check their up-block tendencies before committing to the full low-overhead string.

[@agreen31]

@@JayPhoenix I stopped committing to it entirely unless I do his air teleport cancel mixup 😂 just ain't worth it

[@agreen31]

Especially in God ranks

[@Wayn3z]

Hear me out smoke with goro 🤣

[@JayPhoenix]

I’m looking into it and he might be better 🤐