Ermac is so broke. They really need to nerf him.

no. they don't.

How can you even say that? Him, Kung Lao, Raiden and Cyrax dominate all the tournaments. Unless you want to change the name to Raikungermrax Kombat and scrap all the other characters, those guys need toned down.

this, he's fine as he is. I am starting really enjoy using him.

I'm not one to usually call for nerfs or boosts until they've thoroughly been documented, but Ermac IS a VERY difficult opponent to punish. Most of his moves are very safe, his speed is above average, and his range is unparalleled. He can pretty much dominate the entire playing field in the right player's hands, and he far outclasses many other characters with moves that simply have higher priority and fewer weaknesses to exploit.

It always sucks to have your favorite character nerfed if you've found a good strategy to exploit, but in the spirit of fairness, I think Ermac should receive a minor nerf, either a slower start-up to some of his moves or tighter window to execute them, with possibly more frames of recovery to allow slower fighters, like Jax or Quan Chi, a fighting chance to execute a counter.

It would be more preferable if opponents had moves that allowed them to escape or punish Ermac more easily, because Ermac's entire moveset seems geared to doing the same to any character. When the best strategy for fighting high-level Ermac players is "dash forward, block, dash forward, block, hope he makes a mistake, and pray", something is a tad wrong.

This

I found ermac to be very useful online LOL

without spamming that is.

Let's nerf Raiden and Lao first, since they're of more pressing importance. Ermac is very beatable for some characters (Smoke comes to mind) so I don't think it's required that he get nerfed at all just yet.

Garlador is right BUT.....

Its not like Ermac is not beatable.. true that he will get a technical advantage vs some of the other characters but hey! fighting games is alot about matchups...

When u wer cornered whit Kano by Ermacs tele-push, u cud have throw a knife in between pushes if fast enough im pretty sure...

I still think that Ermac can tele-push,tele-push one after an other a bit too fast tho....

ermac is clearly broken

Negative Sir, I could not. I can toss those knives at will, there was no space.

Yeah. I wish to clarify that I don't think Ermac is broken, or that he's unbeatable, even when he's in the hands of a good player, just that the difficulty one has to try and beat him is significantly higher than that of nearly the entire roster (though Kung Lao and Raiden are in the same boat).

Can it be done? Absolutely, and I do it routinely. However, such a large number of characters in the cast, not just a few, are going to have problems with Ermac. Nearly all CQC fighters, or those with a higher emphasis on CQC to be effective, like Kano, Jax, Sonya, Baraka, Sheeva, Jade, and Sub-Zero, are always at a significant disadvantage when facing Ermac, with too little options available to counter him or two slow in general to ever pressure Ermac into a defensive position.

Again, your opponent is only human, and I often find a few openings to exploit and heavily punish when I face him, but the effort needed to find those holes in his defense and punish him for them are far fewer than the vast majority of the cast, while his offensive game makes defending both a necessity and a very difficult thing to do. He's a beast in the game, perhaps a smidgen too much for my personal tastes.

It's just a bad match-up. Noob can totally take Ermac though.

I'd prefer the other characters just get buffs instead of nerfing the ones that are already strong.

That's the ideal solution, but it's opens up the risk of unbalancing the other characters in different ways and it also is far easier to nerf ONE character than to buff 27 OTHER characters.

there's tier list for a reason in fighting games...he just happens to be one thats high on that list...but there is no need to nerf him...poeple just need to come up with better strategies against him

Hilde isn't not beatable either, but if you screw up, even once, you're DONE. Ermac is almost as bad.

Garlador said it perfectly. Dash blocking and praying isn't a good strategy to have to resort to and the game developers should know this.

Seems like everyone arguing against a nerf are the ones who like to exploit the cheapness of his moves.

so, kano just doesnt match up very well with ermac.
doesnt mean he's broke.
im pretty sure somebody with a teleport (raiden, kung lao, scorpion, most of the cast etc) would be able to escape in between his force pushes.

I dont believe in cheapness, there are moves, and there are exploits. An exploit is something that cant be counteres (glitches, or infinites).

Right now I believe Ermac could infinite someone, his push needs to be a little bit slower, or recover slower.

Well that sucks, if you HAVE to pick a character with a teleport every time some scrub picks Ermac.

No thanks. I'll take the nerf instead. Every character should be able to beat every other character without having to resort to extreme measures like the constant dash blocking. That's the entire point and the very definition of balancing.

You're right. Kano isn't a good match up. Neither is Jax. Or Sonya. Or Jade. Or Baraka. Or Sheeva. Or Johnny Cage. Or Sub-Zero. Or Reptile. Or basically anybody who doesn't have a really effective teleport. Believe it or not, MOST of the cast does NOT have teleports to exploit or use to get out of Ermac's traps.

So if a teleport is the only means to effective escape his force push, and most of the cast does NOT have a teleport, then that means the vast majority of the cast is at a disadvantage.

I won't scream for a nerf just yet, mainly because I'm waiting to see if any good counter-strategies that don't require specific characters and specific moves emerge, but if they don't then, yes, Ermac would need a nerf.

It's just simply more reasonable to even the playing field for one character so all fighters have a more fair fighting experience than to scramble to buff everyone else or give everyone a teleport move just so they have a fighting chance against a moderately good Ermac player.

Nah... even tho i still think that the tele-push move is a tiny bit too fast to do one after an other... when im trying to get inside vs Ermac,im not praying that i wont gonna be caught by tele-push...i fake my way in and if tele-push cathes me,well thats too bad..it dosnt do that much domage anyway...

You know... i like to use Cage vs Ermac.... Cage have no teleport... but he is fast.....and deadly at close range... Hilde puts you Ring Out if she catches you.... but thats an other story...

I find Ermac not be a challenge. All you have to do is block, simple. I find he can be punished like anyone else.. The only character I have a problem with when facing a good player is Lao. He is way to unsafe and unpredictable.

ERMAC is not broken he has no MID properties in this game aside his Jump in 2. Go to practice, Set dummy to "ALWAYS" Block & "Duck." Go through Ermacs stuff everything Registers as High. Every move in this game of his can be blocked. You get Chip Damage granted. But it's not bad. DUCK LOW is all I will say. Every Ermac is Avoidable if you Duck & Don't Jump Over & Over. Use Uppercuts on Him if he gets to Close. Simple.