The general consensus seems to be that Mileena is mid tier, though I think she's perhaps the single most balanced fighter in this game, or at least one of them. When it comes down to raw potential without taking into consideration learning curve, etc... I think she's high tier. She reminds me a little of Ivy from SC(though not as complex)... Ivy is placed anywhere from top to bottom tier because of how easy it is to just play her terribly. Mileena, likewise, is very easy to be terrible with. She does not have any easy options, really, and the first time you play her you're surprised by how careful you have to be.

Much of the time when playing Mileena you have to be completely certain your move will hit or you'll get half your life bar beaten out of you. I think this is the main reason she's not ranked higher, because her low damage really isn't much of an issue, she kills pretty fast with short counter-combos.... She's surprisingly good when played defensively, and I think most people wouldn't think to play that way with Mileena unless they were really dedicated to learning her.

Some say she's just below Kitana as the top female, while others say she's better than Kitana(which is probably true, but Kitana is just 10x easier)... I think she's better, simply.

Tom Brady has in fact, been quoted to saying that Mileena is better than Kitana.

Tom Brady was saying early on that pre-patch Kung Lao is not the best character in the game. Nowadays he's saying that post-patch (nerfed) Kung Lao is the best character in the game.

Just saying...

I agree with a lot of what is said here, mainly the point regarding how calculated you have to be with her. She is very balanced and can win with just about any play style be it zoning, rush down, etc....that said, you have to be prepared to break your normal attack strategy when someone has you clocked.....that's the tough part about mileena, being able to switch gears mid-fight and still be effective. I feel like once that is understood is when you can be a solid mileena against high level opponents. You have to be a multi-dimensional fighter, and more knowledgeable about matchups then when controlling most characters.

pretty near the bottom. she's a very spammy character with not much juggle potential to anybody who knows how to block.

I'd say that teleport sai cancel alone puts her in the top 10. Past that, she's a jack of all trades. She's got decent rushdown, decent damage, and above average zoning and mix-up.

...Have you ever played Mileena? ... Ever?

Spamming with Mileena is a terrible decision. You'll self-destruct in a matter of seconds.

The trick with Mileena is to hit people when what they have done prevents them from blocking. She is evasive enough to accomplish this.

I've noticed your posts quite often and realised that you trash every single character except for your favs! Mileena is not spammable AT ALL! That's why ppl don't pick her online....coz she takes time to learn and spamming with her means certain loss. Plus she has amazing juggle potential, probably having the most pop up attacks and the best special moves to connect them! Get your facts straight before posting about a character you obviously have no clue about...