Mortal Kombat features Fatalities and age-old blood feuds, so it’s easy to think of the online tournament scene as a battleground with no rules. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s an unspoken online etiquette that starts on the character select screen and doesn’t stop until well after the results.
We pulled data from the community and spoke with Open Series players, the self-ascribed “villain” of the EU, LawCorridor, and NA crowd-favorite K7_Showoff to learn more about respect in Kombat League, PlayStation Tournaments, and beyond.
No Fatalities first round
Fatalities are fun. They define Mortal Kombat, and give the franchise showmanship opportunities that other titles don't have. The gory finishers continue to become more intense in presentation and length thanks to increasingly powerful consoles. Now in the Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate era, Fatalities are fifteen-second long victory animations, but for losing players the experience feels more like extended torture.
LawCorridor outlined the first big community no-no. “In Kombat League, it’s usually when someone Fatalities first round,” adding that “it’s considered very toxic.” For a player with a rep for being “toxic” himself, it’s interesting to see how even the bad boys have basic rules about not rubbing it in your opponent’s face too much (LawCorridor defended his reputation, stating that “It’s usually to put on a show for the viewers”).
K7_Showoff agreed that saving your Fatalities for the end of a set is the best move. “It’s the #1 unspoken rule.” He stated that whipping out a Fatality too early “is seen as disrespect in the community and is generally frowned upon.”
Give a mercy, get a mercy
At the end of a match, you have the option of granting mercy to your opponent, giving them a sliver of their health back to continue the fight. This mechanic returns in Mortal Kombat 11, originating in Mortal Kombat 3 as a sort of mental counter to the Fatality mechanic. Sounds good right? Not always.
LawKorridor named another faux pas of online Mortal Kombat play as “when someone mercies and you don’t mercy back.” If the favor isn’t returned in kind, that might hurt a bit. LawKorridor added that if you go down this path “you will be called names lets just say that, haha.”
In week 2 of the December 2020 Open Series, LawKorridor made a promise to mercy after every set and delivered. It’s definitely worth a watch.
No "dancing on the grave"
What’s a nice and quick way of saying this? Let’s just go with “dancing on the grave.” When an opponent is down and out, why disrespect them and showboat over their body? Doing this “after the first game or during the match” is not okay, according to K7_Showoff. This is kind of a no-brainer, since taunting can definitely tilt the already tilted player.
“There is no such a rule against these kinds of in-game BMs,” LawKorridor said. While there’s nothing wrong with mind games, blatantly disrespecting the opponent is not cool.
No cord-pulling
It goes without saying that disconnecting during a match is bad form because it disrupts the overall playing experience and just makes you look like a sore loser. “Rage-quitting” is a terrible habit since learning from losses is necessary to improve in the fighting game community.
Dipping out of a match just because you’re doing badly is one thing, but there are those who force disconnects for more nefarious purposes. Last year, a player forced DDOS attacks on opponents to cause disconnects, thereby keeping ladder points on the hacker’s side. Since these points are at stake when you compete in ranked, you might as well stay in your match and play out the loss instead of quitting and getting lumped into the messy world of cord-pulling.
If it feels BM, it probably is
The big takeaway is that if it feels bad-mannered, it probably is. Avoid negative voice chat, and watch what you say on social media and stream. It’s not only about what you do in-game, but what you do leading up to the game and coming out of it. You never know if what you say or do will come back to haunt you.
Also, remember that some rules are situational. Elements of showboating might be okay in person, but less so online where you are trying to respect the time of your opponent. “In high-level tournaments, I think there is more the factor of getting inside your opponent’s head, rather in ranked it’s just toxic,” said LawKorridor.
The best rule of thumb might be to assume everyone you play deserves respect. If you’re ready to show your best manners off, join the Mortal Kombat 11 Open Series right here on the Competition Center and make the world a better place, one match at a time.