Netherealm Studios's Mortal Kombat 11 provides a breadth of content for its player base, from the massive Krypt to daily changing Towers of Time, and its Online Kombat League. The 11th title in the legacy Fighting Game series provides one of the most visually impressive entries in the genre ever. And with deep and technical systems and mechanics Mortal Kombat 11 has garnered a massive casual and competitive scene. With the release of Aftermath, Mortal Kombat 11 gains a huge expansion to its campaign, introduces new fighters to the title, provides every player with free Friendships and Stage Fatalities, and more. Mortal Kombat 11 is not only one of the best titles in the controversial series, but one of the best fighting games on the market.
Among the latest characters added to the expansive roster of Mortal Kombat 11 Netherealm Studios chose to bring back the powerful Sheeva. A member of Goro's race, Sheeva returns to the Mortal Kombat series with, arguably, her best iteration to date. The powerful female character is one that fans have been asking for since her last playable iteration in Mortal Kombat 9. Alongside an updated graphical style, the newest version of Sheeva brings a variety of new playstyles for the character through her 3 competitive variations. This guide aims to assist players in learning Sheeva. Providing players key information to truly master the character.
Sheeva's Normals in Mortal Kombat 11
Sheeva is one of the more versatile characters in Mortal Kombat 11. Unlike other characters in the title, Sheeva is equipped with 3 variations that are all competitively viable. Additionally, Sheeva possesses a variety of powerful normals that separate her from the majority of the cast. A "jack-of-all-trades" style of character, Sheeva is a solid choice for new players learning Mortal Kombat 11, or veteran players who simply want a well-rounded character. Sheeva has established herself among the best characters in all of Mortal Kombat 11.
When discussing what makes Sheeva such a powerful character, the first topic that needs to be discussed is her powerful grappling game. Alongside her variety of useful command throws, Sheeva possesses some of the best standard throws in the game. Her back throw leaves Sheeva with a significant amount of frame advantage, allowing her to establish some devastating offensive pressure. So when playing Sheeva be sure to utilize her back throw to continue her overwhelming offensive pressure.
Another aspect of Sheeva's toolkit that makes her such a devastating offensive powerhouse, is her oppressive mix-up game. One example of this is her versatile back 3 (X on Playstation and A on Xbox) as it provides the character with a long-reaching overhead strike. This allows Sheeva to keep players who tend to block low in the midrange honest, as she possesses a devastating mix-up tool even in mid-range combat. Alongside her mix-up opportunity this move possesses, it also contains a devastating Krushing Blow attached to this move. Dishing out an easy 30% for landing this move under its Krushing Blow requirements, this is a major aspect of what makes Sheeva such a powerful character.
Several other noteworthy attacks are Sheeva's Forward 1 and Forward 3. Forward 1 is a long-reaching advancing mid-attack, which when used wisely can be a major aspect of her offense. As it serves as a useful "buffering" attack, that can lead to a powerful combo. Forward 3 is a relatively long-reaching high attack that serves as a launcher for Sheeva and can provide the character meterless combos if used correctly.
Examining Sheeva's Variations in Mortal Kombat 11
Unlike many of Mortal Kombat 11's characters, Sheeva possesses three variations that are equally powerful. Each one can find success at a competitive level or online. Making her one of the most versatile characters in the game.
Sheeva's first variation can be described as a more footsies based character. This variation revolves around the wise use of an anti-air command grab. Which serves as either a combo extension or simply a very useful anti-air tool. Alongside this special move, Sheeva gains access to a long-ranged unblockable, slamming attack. Which can provide Sheeva some interesting mind-games in a neutral situation. When amplified, Sheeva engages in a slower version of the slam and this second slam can be canceled. Given the chance for a player to try and jump over the second slam, this allows players to cancel the slam, anti-air the jumping enemy, and continue establishing their superior understanding of neutral. Finally, this variation provides Sheeva her infamous Dragon Drop which provides the character powerful anti-zoning potential.
Variation 2 is a much simpler gameplan, as it is a more traditional combo-heavy variation compared to her others. It provides players Sheeva's Dragon Charge, when amplified, provides the character a launcher to dish out some devastating combo damage. Secondly, Sheeva is given a useful anti-zoning tool in her Shield Toss, which beats out other projectiles when held down for a period of time. This variation is not only one of the easiest to play, but it provides the character an easy way to dish out massive damage.
Variation 3 is one of the more powerful among the three, and it is due to the heavy emphasis this variation places on mix-ups. The major gimmick of this variation is her advancing special move, Death March. This allows Sheeva a variety of follow-ups out of this marching stance and can rack up on damage due to the constant pressure and mind-games provided in this variation. In conjunction with this march, Sheeva is given a powerful set of mid and low command grabs. Which can be canceled from blocked strings, or simply done in neutral. The ability to mix up her command grabs, Sheeva is one of the hardest characters to deal with within the game. As she is capable of racking up significant damage after a few wrong guesses in neutral. Sheeva is truly one of the few 50/50 characters in the game, as she is a nearly impossible character to block when she begins initiating her offense.
Mortal Kombat 11 is available on PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One.