Shao Kahn all the way, and a Liu Kang vs Shao Kahn final is long overdue

TOURNAMENT BATTLE - CHAMPIONSHIP:
Liu Kang versus Raiden
#26 Supreme Ranking #2
12 wins 8 losses Record 34 wins 7 losses
Final Battle (2020) Best Result Champion (2019)

It seemed as if the sands of time had settled on Mortal Kombat 11, but our perspective quickly became about its Aftermath as new fighters rewrote recent history. This fresh chapter cast everything in a new light as overlooked fighters came to the fore. Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge reminded us of the klassic era, but it was the destiny of a new timeline that spurred us to ask the endless question: Who reigns supreme?

Liu Kang: Earthrealm's chosen warrior became Mortal Kombat Champion in the klassic tournament, but was denied a heroic future when he became a revenant of the Netherrealm. The Shaolin warrior gained a reprieve when he was dislodged from the past by Kronika's timequake. With the power of Raiden, his destinies were fused and he ascended to the status of Fire God. In Aftermath, he sent a team back in time to protect Kronika's crown from destruction, but will he determine the fate of the future as new Keeper of Time? His path to the 2020 final saw the defeat of: Fire God (R1), Noob Saibot (R2), Johnny Cage (R3), Kronika (QF), and Shang Tsung (SF).

Raiden: Earthrealm's sworn protector who guided fighters through the klassic tournament, but became tainted by his own involvement in escalating conflicts. The Thunder God was purified when his past self was brought forward by Kronika's timequake. After leading the battle against the mad Titan, he sees his inevitable corruption across multiple timelines that all pit him against Liu Kang. The Thunderer therefore bestowed his godly spirit upon the chosen warrior, who succeeded in combining their powers to defeat Kronika. Raiden's fate hangs in the balance in Aftermath, but will he rise or fall? Raiden's path to the 2020 final ended: Hotaru (R1), Kai (R2), Sheeva (R3), Kenshi (QF), and Shao Kahn (SF).

It appears the fate of Mortal Kombat is as unstable as ever. Nothing is certain, with new iterations of the past rewriting history across increasing timelines. We attempt to make sense of our present in the final battle of the 2020 Supreme Mortal Kombat Champion tournament. Icons have been restored to prominence, but was their collision as fated as it seems? Only those who exit the Void will shape our future as we ask the ultimate question: Who reigns supreme? Choose your destiny! FIGHT!

A little anticlimactic having raiden in the final again but Fire god liu is a great development and he's a worthy winner. Never thought it would happen to be honest.

I'm very interested to see where liu goes next. I wonder if he will replace raiden in the past like they teased in aftermath or if things will reset and go back to normal.

Liu Kang should have won last year for being so amazing in 11 so it's good to see him here. Kang vs Kahn would have been a much harder vote for me - Kang takes it.

Let me consult the Elder Gods on all the reasons Raiden has no business being a two time champ.

poo kang

Liu Kang has defeated Raiden to become 2020 Supreme Champion!

This is not only the first time Liu Kang has been crowned champion, but also the first time he has reached the finals! His best result prior to this was Round 3 in 2018 - a year of anticipation for MK11. His poor record, and the impressive ascension of Fire God Liu Kang, likely contributed to the overdue success. To celebrate "Fire God Liu Kang" has been unlocked as the new default MKO site theme.

This year's tournament started as a postscript for Mortal Kombat 11 and the newly released Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge movie, but was soon swept up in the announcement and release of Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath!

Characters featured in Aftermath generally performed well, with Liu Kang, Raiden, Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung, and Kronika all reaching the finals. Sheeva, Fujin, Nightwolf, and Sindel also performed well despite a difficult draw. Sindel was the most controversial of the exits, eliminated by over performing absentee Kenshi in Round 2.

In a year when medical professionals recommend the wearing of facemasks to prevent the spread of coronavirus; this was ironically the first Semi Final to be completely without the much discussed iconic masked characters!

Last year's debuting MK11 fighters saw mixed results: Kronika's Quarter Final loss to Liu Kang greatly improved on last year's Round 2 result. Geras also remained a strong performer, improving on his already high #19 ranking. Cetrion and The Kollector were hard done by with exceptionally difficult first round match-ups.

The Kollector was the worst performing fighter this year, plummeting -16 ranks. Great Kung Lao was eliminated before a compelling cameo in Aftermath's story mode could save him from a harsh -15 drop. Non-combative story mode character Kharon caught the ferry to a low rank of #82, down -14. A -10 drop from last year leaves Cetrion in need of retribution. Former top rank Erron Black continued his drift, down -7.

Ferra/Torr emerged as an interesting case study for the annual tournament: The MKX duo debuted with a strong reception for their mysterious E3 reveal in 2014, following it up with a peak performance in 2015. Their subsequent decline was completed this year with the first ever 0% result recorded, losing to perenniel fan-favourite Sub-Zero!

For the most part 2020 was more about strong gains than steep losses. Kronika was the most improved, while Reiko achieved an inconceivable +10 ranks off the back of dubious DLC rumors. Forgotten assassin Jataaka also managed a strong +9 rise in the lower ranks. Sheeva, D'Vorah, and Tanya were up +7, while Jacqui Briggs and Kai climbed +6.

The ambiguously named Fire God, who appeared as a sub-boss in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, was the only new inclusion in this year's tournament. The relative unknown fighter debuted at #63 after losing to Liu Kang in Round 1.

Only 14 of a total 90 characters are ranked in the same position after this year's results. 5 of those characters are in the Top 16, but the rest of the order has been noticably shuffled, with at least one top ranked klassic falling out!

If voting returns in 2021 it will be the 10th annual Supreme Champion tournament. Its expected to be a year when Mortal Kombat makes its cinematic comeback, and the game series takes another step with new content.

If you'd like to see a 10th tournament and have suggestions - now is the time to post them! Suggest ways to make it a special one, or just characters and match-ups you might like to see.

MK Online thanks everyone who voted in daily user polls, helped spread the word on social media, and discussed results on Discord. Special credit goes to those who have gotten into the spirit of the project and took the time to post thoughts on the forum. Would've liked to hear more from you!

I missed the last few rounds. Shao Kahn should have beaten Rayden IMO.

Liu Kang wasn't a particularly worthy winner IMO, but I am glad he beat Rayden in the final.

it would have been really interesting to see the voting totals this year. I get the impression they were a lot lower than previous years, basing that on how much the percentages change when I myself voted, and also some of the more dubious results that occurred.

Would we be able to see the rankings?

Wait, what? Liu Kang won?! Ah, well... at least it wasn't Scorpion... or Sub-Zero... or Rayden...

Since you're asking for suggestions, it would be great to see the tournament done in a different format than seeded one on one matchups. They have become very predictable and repetitive, and the same characters always advance (with slight variations from year to year).

Maybe instead, you can make the format more like a competition reality show, and one person per bracket is voted out each round until there's one left standing in each bracket to then merge and whittle down? That way, there's room for surprise and strategy. People can campaign and form alliances, etc.

Example from this year: It is time for Sub-Zero, Ferra/Torr, Jax, Goro, Nightwolf, Kano, Havik, and Fujin to enter the gulag. One will not survive. Cast your vote on who should get the fatality. Next round is group 2, then group 3, etc.

We used to have a forum game that worked sort of like that. It was called Boot and Immune. All characters are listed, and users are asked to post "boot x immune y" where x and y are characters. If a character gets 7 boot votes, they're out. If a character gets 7 immune votes, they cannot be eliminated for the remainder of that round or the following round, after which point their vote tally resets to 0/0. This continued until only 2 fighters were left standing, and then everyone votes for a winner. 16 of these games were played, leading up to a grand final round to determine the champion.

If this is something we want to do in the interim before next year's tournament, I can put it all together.

Gawd.....remember all the drama B&! caused! 😂

Among the best drama this site has ever had lol

Agreed! Those were good times lol.