That's actually a pretty fair way to add difficulty and learn match ups. If everybody has a "offense/defense/mix" variation then the hard tower can be stacked with the variation made to counter yours. It will most likely be random.

See, my first thought was that it would be completely random. It's certainly the easiest route. But it'd be cool if they are going to take the extra time and add some sort of formula to the mix so that even if you're playing on "Novice" or "Beginner", you'll be challenged based on whatever variation you've chosen.

Examples include (and Idk how well these matchup because well...I haven't played yet but I'm going by the descriptions) :

Hat Trick Kung Lao VS Lackey Ferra/Torr
Commando Kano VS Tempest Kung Lao
Sorcerer Quan Chi VS Thunder God Raiden

ect ect...

Good question. This is speculation on my part but I have a feeling that it will be random for the most part, and maybe on the harder difficulties you will be matched against variations that are "good against" whichever character and variation you choose.

I am scratching my head about this too guys. The variation system is really going to be tricky on online modes.

Hopefully it takes a while for tier lists to come out, seems like after they do a lot of characters are chosen less online, and you end up fighting the same 3 or 4 characters over and over lol

Which is why I'm not a big fan of those lists. But at least they're aware of what needed to change from MK9 to MKX, and the characters will be MUCH more balanced.

Yeah I don't pay much attention to tier lists, I just play as the characters I enjoy lol and yeah I have a feeling everything will be really balanced this time around, which im excited about.

I really hope they put effort on the arcade mode this time. It must not be random and be based on the variation you choose. Also there must be many towers to choose from and of course there must be master tower with max difficulty and all the fighters to face, including mirror fight etc.


Also there must be ranking system that records your points during arcade and upload it to the server so everyone in the world could see and try to beat you, kind of like you're going to arcades and see the record of someone and try to beat it. booN said that this will be available to some extend but only if you dare a friend. Fuck that and make it as I said, it would be kooler.

Yeah this is something I would like, bring back the point/score system MK1 had and make it so you rack up points in the arcade ladder and it has a leaderboard of who has gotten the highest score and people can try to beat it.

I too am hoping Choose Your Destiny makes a return. At least make it SEEM like you care about the casual players. Not just the competitive and onliners.

Also, will you be variation locked? Will you be able to choose a variation for every opponent you face, or will you only be able to choose another after you lose? Will the a.i. counter pick when you choose differently, all questions that will hopefully be answered after we turn the game on...(or before)

I like the idea of the ladder match-ups and I think it's going to be the way they go at least with the hardest difficulty they will go with this route.

And also Commando Kano is a very very bad match-up for Tempest Kung Lao.

Tempest Kung Lao is very defensive and Commando Kano needs to get in close to attack since his a grappler so Kung Lao's Orbiting shield will counter him easily.

A lot of good ideas and questions here. I'm really anxious to see the Arcade Tower now.

I imagine you'll be locked into your Variation choice, but I'd expect the option to return to player select to return.

Now, ya see? This is how bad I'm going to be at trying to figure all this stuff out.

Thanks for that though. I'm really hoping the strategy guide will delve deep into these matchups so I've got something reliable (besides myself) to go on.

Easy, the AI opponents are random + random variations and after you pick your character, you select your variation before eaeach fight.....