How To Play With Reptile In Mortal Kombat 1

With Mortal Kombat 1, everyone’s favorite scale-bound ninja has made his triumphant return. You had to know this reptilian rebel wasn’t going to miss two Mortal Kombat’s in a row, but what you probably didn’t expect is for him to look this good. But Reptile’s not back to just steal hearts, he is also here to steal heads. You know, for eatin’.

Related: Mortal Kombat 1: Beginner’s Tips

Reptile is defined by his incredibly strong low game. He has a number of extremely strong moves that will hit your opponent’s toes. This ranges from lightning-quick full-screen attacks to standing normals that can lead into meterless combos that will take half of your enemy’s life away. We’ll show you how to sweep the leg with this iconic green ninja and tip the scales (ha) in your favor!

Reptile Overview

Reptile is an extremely versatile character. His Force Ball is, as it always has been, an incredibly unique projectile for controlling space. He has multiple ways to close the distance between him and his rivals in the blink of an eye, and he can dish out a hefty amount of damage without any meter and without having to rely on his assist.

However, as we briefly discussed in the intro, it is Reptile’s low attacks that really define his game plan. He has a wide variety of excellent lows. Most certainly better than any other character in the game. These attacks will help to open Reptile’s foes up to his charged overhead attack, which pops your opponents up into the air, and his Fatal Blow attack, which deals a tremendous amount of damage (as Fatal Blows tend to do).

All-in-all, Reptile is a beginner-friendly character who can do everything pretty well, and who has reliable routes to dealing consistent damage.

Reptile Special Moves

You’ll notice that Reptile has a pretty healthy amount of specials here. However, while long-time Reptile fans will recognize most of these attacks, some of them do operate a little differently in this iteration of Mortal Kombat.

To avoid confusion with the different platform buttons, we are using the universal numeral notation that is followed by Mortal Kombat players:

Front Punch: 1

Back Punch: 2

Front Kick: 3

Back Kick: 4

Reptile Tips

First and foremost, you are going to make sure you make your opponent respect your arsenal of low attacks. His Tail Of Two Hities (2, 4) string is quite quick, and the second hit is a tail sweep that connects from halfway across the screen. Death Roll (Back, Forward, 3) is absurdly fast as well—it is also just an inch shy of being a full-screen low attack.

Finally, Bloody Trail (Back + 3, 1) starts with a standing low attack (which is very sneaky) and cancels into your Force Ball (Down, Forward, 3), which will pop your enemy up into the air for a juicy combo. Hell, his standard sweep (Back + 4) is surprisingly rangy as well. So, if your opponent isn’t blocking low constantly, take advantage of all these tools.

Once they do start blocking low, it is time to turn to your overheads. Your Devastating Blow (Back + 2) is a chargeable overhead that is safe on block if you hold it, if you fully charge it, and it lands, it will also pop an opponent up for a full combo.

Devastating Blow completely uncharged is pretty bad, just hold it for the briefest of moments, though, and you will get the first level of charge, which makes the move quite good.

It is worth noting that you can cancel the charge or Devastating Blow into another special, including the Death Roll!

Reptile’s Dash Attack (Back, Forward, 2) also, hits overhead, but this is a very, very risky move that you should only use once in a while to keep your opponent guessing.

If you can’t tell already, his overheads aren’t nearly as strong as his lows. Then again, Reptile doesn’t have to just use his own moves, does he? You’ll want to pick a Kameo character who has a strong overhead or two to compliment Reptile so that he can be a complete character. Our top pick would be Goro. Once you have your opponents terrified to stand up, start lacing in those overhead attacks to catch them.

If you are looking for a damaging combo to work on that isn’t too difficult try…

Back + 3, 1, Force Ball (Down, Forward, 3), 2, 3, 4, Death Roll (Back, Forward, 3).

They’ll Never See It Coming

One of Reptile’s quirkier abilities is his Invisibility (Down, Up + 4) special. While you never want to just throw this move out randomly, if you have knocked your opponent away, you are free to turn invisible, then walk up and mix them up. Walk-up throw will often hit, and if they start predicting it, you can just hang back and wait for them to whiff with a button. This makes his invisibility an incredibly useful tool for keeping your opponent confused.

As we will discuss in a bit, you can also use your assists to make your throw deal heft damage, so that pairs quite nicely with his Invisibility special.

Related: Mortal Kombat 1: Kameo System, Explained

Reptile Kameo Suggestions

Reptile pairs well with a wide variety of Kameos, however, with his extremely strong suite of low attacks, it only makes sense to pair him with a few characters who can exploit opponents focusing on low blocking. If you are looking for the best Kameo for landing the overhead, Scorpion with his Hell Blades assist is easily the winner. However, we do think there are a few better options…

Goro

However, Goro is, in our opinion, the best Kameo to pair with Reptile. For starters, pairing his Stomp with Reptile’s low attack arsenal is just guaranteed to give your opponents fits.

However, that isn’t the only trick up Goro’s sleeve. The mid-screen version of his Raise The Roof attack makes it possible to combo Reptile’s “Killer Kick” (1, 1, 4) string into a longer, more damaging combo. Just remember that you will want the mid-range Raise The Roof and input it the moment you see Reptile begin to hop.

What makes this SO good is that if your Killer Kick string is blocked, you can use the short-range version of Raise The Roof to make it safe, and it will leave your opponent in block stun long enough to follow up with another combo.

Also, and this is just a freebee, Reptile’s throw can have its damage nearly doubled if you perform Goro’s stomp attack the moment you grab your opponent. Who doesn’t want twenty percent damage off of their throw? Granted this is expensive, but you could definitely use this to finish off a round!

Jax

We think Jax has a lot to offer Reptile as well. Not only does Jax provide a boost to your health, but Jax’s Ground Pound attack is completely unblockable. Making it easy to harass opponents when they have gotten a little too defensive.

While Jax’s Ground Pound is unblockable, it will hit you as well if you are grounded when it comes out. So, plan to be in the air once you press that assist button!

However, the real star of the show here is Jax’s Back Breaker. With this attack Reptile’s juggles can be extended, and, in some instances, made to be substantially more damaging.

Something simple like Reptile’s Froggy Knee (2, 3) is great for juggles on its own, but pair that with Jax’s Back Breaker, and suddenly there is time to land things like Force Balls. It opens up a ton of combo routes!

Reptile Fatalities

Reptile has two brilliant fatalities. Acid Reflux is performed up close (about sweeping distance away), while Indigestion is performed from mid-screen. This is perfect, as those as the distances nearly every Reptile match will conclude at. When successfully executed, these flashy finishers give our boy a chance to grab a bite to eat, if you catch our drift.

Next: Mortal Kombat 1: Smoke Guide