Mortal Kombat 2011 – Scorpion moves, combos & tactics

General Strategies

Scorpion’s classic juggle combos involving his Teleport and a Spear after a jump-in kick are still intact; however, they are much harder to do and are not really part of his bread-and-butter combos. Scorpion’s best special move is Demon Fire, which is best utilized after any jump-in combo or chain combo due to the opponent’s inability to block it.

Reference:

Attack Name	Xbox	PS3
Attack 1 (Front Punch)  Attack 2 (Back Punch) Attack 3 (Front Kick) Attack 4 (Back Kick)

When close to your opponent, perform mix-ups of 1, 1, and 1, 1, 1, then a small delay; this will make your opponent guess whether to jump away or toward you, allowing you to perform a Demon Fire, uppercut, or Sweep, plowing on the free damage. This also allows you to keep the offense going with your opponent doing a ton of guessing.

If an Away + 2 attack successfullyhits, you can get a free Spear or Jump Kick into Air Throw. Scorpion’s Toward + 3 acts as a good medium overhead attack, and you can keep on the pressure with mix-ups from this, Away + 2, and his Sweep, along with added 1, 1 or 1,1, 1 attacks. Scorpion doesn’t need to use enhanced moves because he can save up for his X-Ray Attack. Scorpion’s X-Ray has the unique ability of teleporting under his opponent; if you are concerned about your combo abilities, you can easily perform this after a Spear for easy high-level damage.

Basic Moves

DOOM SLICE: Toward + 2
BLADE OVERHEAD: Away + 2 (This attack hits overhead.)
UPPERCUT: Down + 2
HEEL KICKS: Toward + 3 (This attack hits overhead)
SHIN BLAST: Toward + 4
SWEEP: Away + 4

Chain Combos

GRAVEDIGGER: 2, 2 + 1 (The second hit of this chain hits overhead)
GRIEVANCE: Toward + 4, 3
DAMNATION: 1, 1, 4
BRIMSTONE: 2, 1, 2 (The last hit of this chain hits overhead)
TORMENT: 1, 1, 1
DOOM BLADE: Toward + 2, 1, 4
DEAD END: 3, 3, 4

Fast Tags (Tag Mode Only)

UNDERWORLD: 2, 1 + 2, Tag
SOULLESS: Away + 2, Tag
This pops the opponent up, leaving them vulnerable to any attacks from the character being tagged in.

Tag Combos(Tag Mode Only)

ETERNAL VENGEANCE: 1, 1, Tag
PUNISHMENT: 2, 1, Tag
AFFLICTION: Toward + 2, 1, Tag
REVENGE: 3, 3, Tag

Special Moves

SPEAR: Away, Away, 1
This is the classic Spear with the same applications we’ve seen throughout the <I>MK<I> series. Using this in the middle of a chain combo or after Scorpion’s Away + 2 overhead attack serves as a good gateway to further damage.
DEMON FIRE: Down, Away, 2
This is an unblockable move that is fast enough to catch an opponent off guard almost at will if used in conjunction with low attacks, such as Sweep and Takedown.
TELEPORT: Down, Away, 3 (can be done in the air)
Use this move to counter projectile-happy opponents. You can also combo it off of any jump attack and can utilize it in juggles.
TAKEDOWN: Down, Away, 4
Takedown comes in handy when wanting to sneak in a low attack in the middle of Scorpion’s chain combos. This also works like a charm in a do-or die-situation once you’ve got the opponent looking out for his overhead attacks.
AIR THROW: Throw (while in the air)
This is best as an effective (and stylish) juggle ender. It also works great after landing a Demon Fire up close, due to an opponent’s natural tendency to jump away after getting hit with one.

Enhanced Moves

The following moves use one bar of super meter.
FLAME SPEAR: Away, Away, 1 + Block
This functions like the normal Spear, but Scorpion hurls two spears instead of one for an increase in damage.
HELL FIRE: Down, Away, 1 + Block
This works like the regular Demon Fire but is much harder to jump away from, as it covers more vertical space than the normal version.
FLAMEPORT: Down, Away, 4 + Block (can be done in the air)
This looks like the normal Teleport but hits twice, thus fooling an opponent and hitting them during their natural tendency to punish a normal Teleport after blocking it.
TAKEOUT: Down, Away, 3 + Block
This functions the same as Takedown but with added damage.

Wake-Up moves

TELEPORT: Down, Away, 3

X-Ray Attacks

This attack uses three bars of Super Meter.
SCORPION STING: 3 + 4 + Block Simultaneously OR LT + RT (Xbox 360)/L2 + R2 (PS3)
This is probably the most applicable X-Ray Attack in the game. You can land it off of Scorpion’s Away + 3 overhead and his Spear, and you can use it within his chain combos and as a juggle ender. Also, you can use it to punish a projectile attempt due to it being a Teleport in itself. Basically, when Scorpion has full meter, he can capitalize on almost any mistake an opponent makes, potentially landing the X-Ray for big damage.

Intermediate Combos

COMBO A (4 HITS): Jump Kick, Teleport, Spear, Uppercut
COMBO B (5 HITS): Spear, 3, 3, Takedown
COMBO C (5 HITS): Away + 2, dash in, 1, 1, Teleport, dash in, Uppercut

Expert Combos

COMBO A (9 HITS): Jump Kick, Teleport, dash in, 1, 1 Spear, 3, 3, Takeout
COMBO B (10 HITS): Away + 2, dash in, 1, 1, Flameport, Teleport, Spear, 2, 1, 1 + 2
COMBO C (13 HITS): Jump punch, toward + 2, 1, Spear, Jump punch, 2, 1 + 2, Teleport, dash in, 1, 1, Teleport, ducking 1, Flame Spear

Finishing Moves

SPLIT DECISION: Toward, Down, Toward, 2
NETHER-GATE: Away, Toward, Away, 3
STAGE FATALITY: Forward, Up, Up, 1

Best Matchup

Scorpion doesn’t particularly dominate any one character to the point where it’s one-sided, but he does handle Baraka pretty well. Demon Fire is the bane of Baraka’s existence in this matchup since he has the weakest projectile game out of the whole cast. Scorpion can almost win this match strictly by performing Demon Fire with varied timing (and distance since it tracks) and either Uppercutting, performing a Spear, or teleporting to safety when Baraka tries to jump in. Whenever a Spear lands for Scorpion, you should end a combo with an Air Throw so that it resets both fi ghters at full-screen distance; this lets him kick off more Demon Fire shenanigans. Baraka has to get in close to give Scorpion trouble and Scorpion has little trouble keeping him out.

Worst Matchup

Scorpion’s move set allows him to fare well against any opposition, but the one that can instinctively give him the most trouble is Mileena. Her special moves naturally lend themselves to be counter to Scorpion’s special moves. For instance, her Ball Roll goes under his Spear. Her Teleport Drop can land on top of him as he’s performing a Spear or Demon Fire. She can perform her Air Sai Blasts very low to the ground so that Scorpion doesn’t have enough time to react with a Teleport (to counter her from behind on her way down) or a Demon Fire (since he gets hit with the Air Sai Blast). This is a very competitive matchup on the surface, but Mileena definitely has Scorpion’s number.