Mortal Kombat 11 characters - best AI fighters, all the tournament variations
Create them!
Mortal Kombat 11 has a pretty big roster as it is, if you don't include the unlockable Frost and preorder bonus that is Shao Kahn. Each one has a massive array of moves that can be tinkered with for use in both online and offline modes. There's also a bunch of AI fighters that you can create to help unlock stuff and this guide will go over all of that.
Whether you're a newcomer or a veteran kombatant, there's plenty of things to know about Mortal Kombat 11. Head on over to our hub for everything you need to know which you can find in our Mortal Kombat 11 guide. I'd also recommend looking at our Mortal Kombat 11 farming guide for everything you need to know about farming resources to unlock stuff in the Krypt - which you can look at our Mortal Kombat 11 Krypt guide to learn more about. Finally, there's also our Mortal Kombat 11 fatalities and Mortal Kombat 11 brutalities for all those nasty finishers.
Mortal Kombat 11 characters guide
In this guide, we will go over every character's tournament legal variations in a list, as well as show you how to create some of the AI fighters in the game to unlock more stuff.
Mortal Kombat 11 best AI fighters
If you want to unlock stuff in Mortal Kombat 11, the best way to go will be to create a couple of AI fighters. These are made in the "Kustomize" menu in Characters. You'll want to create a completely new build for each variation, so make sure you name it something appropriate for the AI fighter's role.
Two characters stand out in this department. Noob Saibot is a pressure monster, meaning that you can load him out with attacks that augment his combo potential. He'll regularly deal 10+ hit combos on opponents. That said, the AI isn't perfect and that's where Skarlet comes in. She excels at range, so you'll want her keeping away from opponents as much as possible, while hurling all kinds of nonsense at them.
I've included two samples that have worked well for me in the past, but feel free to tinker with them to your heart's content. They will also try to execute Fatalities and Brutalities, which is a nice little bonus to your fight rewards, but they will not actively go for Dragon Challenges.
Noob Saibot "AI Destroyer" build
Stats
- Grappling - 5
- Rushdown - 5
- Kombos - 60
- Reversal - 20
Moves
- Sickle Snag
- (Air) Tele-Slam
- Shadow Slide
Skarlet "AI Sniper" build
Stats
- Zoning - 30
- Runaway - 30
Moves
- Bloodport
- Killer Clot
- Red Rain
Mortal Kombat 11 tournament viable variations
All characters have access to presets, which is valuable because you can locate the tournament viable variations here. This is so that you can ensure you have the tournament legal variations to practice with and I highly recommend spending some time with each. The table below is searchable, so type in the character name to see both of their variations in one place.
| Character | Tournament Variation | Slot 1 | Slot 2 | Slot 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baraka | Marauder | Gutted (Back, Forward + 4) | Gutted (Back, Forward + 4) | Baraka Barrage (Down + Forward + 3) |
| Baraka | Bone Picker | Blood Lunge (Back, Forward + 2) | Blood Lunge (Back, Forward + 2) | Spine Burst (Down, Back + 3) |
| Cassie Cage | Digital Soldier | (Air) Bullet Barrage (Back, Forward + 1) | Kneecappin' (Down, Back + 1) | Flippin' Out (Down, Back + 3) |
| Cassie Cage | Yaas Queen | BLB-118 Energy Burst (Down, Back + 4) | BLB-118 Energy Burst (Down, Back + 4) | Shoulder Charge (Back, Forward + 2) |
| Cetrion | Force of Nature | Earthquake (Down, Down + 3) | Delay Boulder Bash (Hold 2 during Boulder Bash or Bouncing Boulder) | Shattering Boulder (Down, Back + 1) |
| Cetrion | Spring Cleaning | Geyser (Back, Forward + 4) | Geyser (Back, Forward + 4) | H2 P0rt (Down, Up) |
| D'vorah | Buzzed | (Air) Ticking Time Bug (Back, Forward + 1) | Strepsiptera (Down, Forward + 3) | Parasite (1, 2, 1 + 3) |
| D'vorah | Arachnophobia | Widow's Kiss (Down, Back + 3) | Widow's Kiss (Down, Back + 3) | Deadly Swarm (Down, Down + 1) |
| Erron Black | 52 Kard Pickup | Enhanced Locked and Loaded (Back, Forward + 4) | Outworld Gunslinger (3, 2) | Scud Shot (Down, Down + 3) |
| Erron Black | Barking Irons | Cattle Toss (Down, Back, Forward + 1) | TNT Toss (Down, Back + 1) | Enhanced Rattle Snake Slide (Back + 7 during Rattle Snake Slide and Boot Drop. Also gains cancel.) |
| Frost | Frost-Byte | Cryogenic Crown (Down, Back + 2) | Cryogenic Crown (Down, Back + 2) | Arctic Barrage (Back, Forward + 4) |
| Frost | Ice Machine | Auger Lunge (Back, Forward + 4) | Glacier Calving (Down, Down + 1) | Microburst (Down, Back + 4) |
| Geras | New Era | Stepping It Back (Down, Down + 7) Modifies basic attacks and can cancel out of basic attacks. | Stepping It Back (Down, Down + 7) Modifies basic attacks and can cancel out of basic attacks. | Sand Pillar (Down, Forward + 3) |
| Geras | Infinite Warden | Quick Sand (Down, Back + 3) | Gauntlet of the Ages (Down, Back + 2) | Bed of Spikes (Back, Forward + 2) |
| Jacqui Briggs | 1st Round KO | Lethal Clinch (Down, Forward + 3) | Cybernetic Override (1, 1, 2) | Robo Grappler (7 during Throw Escape) |
| Jacqui Briggs | Next Gen | Grenade Launcher (Down, Back + 1) | (Air) Dive Bomb (Down, Forward + 3) | Tech-Dome (Down, Down + 3) |
| Jade | Emerald Defender | (Air) Razor-Rang (Down, Back + 1) | Upward Razor-Rang (Down, Back + 1) | Edenian Spark (Down, Back + 3) |
| Jade | Jaded | Pole Vault (Back, Forward + 3) | Pole Vault Cancel (Back + 7) During Pole Vault | Amplify Blazing Nitro Kick (7 during Blazing Nitro Kick) |
| Jax Briggs | Grinnin' Barrett | Duck and Weave (Back, Forward + 2) | Briggs Barricade (Down, Back + 3) | Ripped (Down, Back + 4) |
| Jax Briggs | Hunker Down | Quad Grab (Down, Forward, Back + 1) | Burning Hammer (Back, Forward + 4) | Expert Grappler (2, 2, 1 + 3) |
| Johnny Cage | Shock Jock | Mime Time (Down, Back + 1) | Brass Knuckles (Down, Down + 2) | Caged Rage (Down, Back + 4) |
| Johnny Cage | Show Stopper | Say Cheese (Back, Down + 3) | Say Cheese (Back, Down + 3) | Throwing Shades (Down, Down + 2) |
| Kabal | Mean Streak | Rolling Buzzsaw (Down, Back + 1) | (Air) Straight Buzzin' (Back, Forward + 1) | Dash Cancel (Back + 5 during Nomad Dash) |
| Kabal | Clean Cut | Low Hook Grab (Back, Forward + 2) | Nomad Spin (Down, Back + 2) | Extended Hook (Down, Back + 3) |
| Kano | Ripper | Lumbar Check (Down, Back, Forward + 2) | Rack Off (Down, Forward + 4) | Manhandled (2, 2, 1 + 3) |
| Kano | Dirtbag | Vege-Mighty (Down, Down + 3) | Molotov Cocktail (Back, Forward + 4) | Chemical Burn (Down, Back + 4) |
| Kitana | Fan-Fare | (Air) Fan Flutter (Down, Back + 2) | Ground War (Back, Forward + 3) | Royal Protection (Down, Forward + 4) |
| Kitana | Highborn | Half-Blood Stance (Down, Back + 4) | Half-Blood Stance (Down, Back + 4) | Edenian Razors (Down, Back + 2) |
| Kollector | Back in the Pack | Up Demonic Mace (Down, Back + 2) | Demonic Clutch (Down, Back, Forward + 3) | Fade Out (Down, Down + 3) |
| Kollector | Spare Change | Bag Bomb (Down, Forward + 1) | Vial of Sorrow (Down, Back + 1) | Demonic Comet (Modifies both Vial of Sorrow and Bag Bomb to give aerial variants) |
| Kotal Khan | Ascension | Huehhueyi (Down, Back + 2) | God Ray (Down, Forward + 4) | Kahn-Cut (Down, Forward + 2) |
| Kotal Khan | Totemic | Eztli Totem (Down, Back + 8) or (Down, Forward + 8) (Equip a maximum of two totems) | Tecuani Maul (Back, Forward + 4) | Air (Tecuani Pounce) (Back, Forward + 4) |
| Kung Lao | Lotus Fist | Orbiting Hat (Down, Back + 1) | Orbiting Hat (Down, Back + 1) | Omega Hat (Down, Back + 1) Augments Orbiting Hat. |
| Kung Lao | Hat Tricks | Guided Hat (Back, Forward + 2) | Z Hat (Down, Back + 2) | (Air) Teleport (Down, Up) |
| Liu Kang | Luohan Quan | Shaolin Stance (Down, Down + 1) | Low Fireball (Down, Back + 1) | Dragon Parry (Down, Back + 3) |
| Liu Kang | Wu Shi Legend | Energy Parry (Down, Back + 2) | Dragon Fire (Down, Back + 4) | Dragon's Gifts (Down, Back + 4) Augments Dragon Fire. |
| Noob Saibot | Seeing Double | Ghostball (Back, Forward + 1) | (Air) Tele-Slam (Down, Up) | Shadow Slide (Back, Forward + 3) |
| Noob Saibot | Dark Sabbath | Spirit Ball (Back, Forward + 1) | Shadow Portals (Up, Down + 7) | (Air) Sickle Port (Down, Back + 4) |
| Raiden | Thunder Wave | Sparkport (Down, Up) | Sparkport (Down, Up) | Storm Cell (Down, Back + 2) |
| Raiden | Raijin | Electric Burst (Down, Forward + 2) | Quick Charge (Down, Back + 3) | Electric Current (Down, Back + 4) |
| Scorpion | Reborn | Hell Port Cancel (Hold Down or Toward while performing Hell Port) | Hell Port Cancel (Hold Down or Toward while performing Hell Port) | Demon Slam (Down + 6) |
| Scorpion | Searing Rage | Death Spin (Down, Forward + 4) | Death Spear Combo (2, 1, 2+ 4) | Burning Spear (Down, Back + 4) |
| Shao Kahn | True Kahn | Ridicule (Down, Forward + 8) | Ground Shatter (Back, Down + 4) | Wrath Hammer (Back, Forward + 2) |
| Shao Kahn | Risen Emperor | Annihilation (Down, Back + 3) | Up Wrath Hammer (Down, Back + 2) | Dark Priest (Down, Down + 1) |
| Skarlet | Heart Pierce | Dagger Dance (Down, Back + 1) | Bloodport (Down, Up) | Blood Ritual (Down, Back, Forward + 1) |
| Skarlet | Blood Drive | Blood Flow (Back or Forward during Amplify Blood Ball) | Blood Flow (Back or Forward during Amplify Blood Ball) | Cell Siphon (Back, Forward + 4) |
| Sonya Blade | No Holds Barred | (Air) Ops Drop (Down + 6) | Krushing Counters (Down, Back + 3) | (Air) Marching Orders (Down + 4) |
| Sonya Blade | Ring Master | Energy Rings Charge (Hold 7 during Amplified Energy Rings) | (Air) Downward Energy Rings (Hold 7 during amplified (Air) Energy Rings) | K.A.T. Turret Drop (Down, Back + 4) |
| Sub-Zero | Dead of Winter | Deep Freeze (7 during Ice Ball) | Deep Freeze (7 during Ice Ball) | Cold Shoulder (Back, Forward + 3) |
| Sub-Zero | Thin Ice | Frigid Storm (Down, Forward + 2) | Death-Cicle Barrage (Down, Back + 2) | (Air) Polar Axe (Down, Back + 2) |
| Shang Tsung (Kombat Pass) | Fire and Brimstone | Ground Eruption (Down, Back + 1) | Ground Eruption (Down, Back + 1) | Infernal Skull (Fire Skull can now be amplified twice) |
| Shang Tsung (Kombat Pass) | Soultaker | Screaming Soul (Back, Forward + 1) | Soul Well (Down, Back + 2) | Scatter Souls (Down, Forward + 3) |
This concludes our Characters guide, but you can also look at our Mortal Kombat 11 farming guide for everything you need to know about farming resources to unlock stuff in the Krypt - which you can look at our Mortal Kombat 11 Krypt guide to learn more about. Finally, there's also our Mortal Kombat 11 fatalities and Mortal Kombat 11 brutalities for all those nasty finishers.