A Killer Instinct Guide for SFIV Players by Infil

Kan-ra is capable of summoning sand traps on the screen through a variety of moves. Sand traps form the staple of Kan-Ra's offense and defense and are needed for him to escape defensively or perform any scary mixup offensively. There are two main ways to summon a sand trap. The first is through the Spike special move, which places a sand trap directly under the opponent's feet, regardless of where they are on screen. On hit, Spike will knock the opponent into the air either towards Kan-Ra or away from him, depending on the strength used. The second way is via any heavy kick normal. On the ground, crouching HK plants a sand trap directly in front of Kan-Ra (coincidentally, this is also a strong anti-air button). Standing HK kicks a dust cloud at the opponent, placing a sand trap about two character lengths away from Kan-Ra. And finally, jumping HK causes Kan-Ra to perform a vertical dive kick directly into the ground at high speed, creating a sand trap where he lands; this move itself does not have a hitbox until waves of sand splash out after the sand trap is created, though, so it can be easily anti-aired. You can have only one trap on the screen, but it stays there forever until it's used.

Kan-Ra has multiple ways to use these sand traps. He can use them for mobility; while standing on top of a sand trap, performing a super jump motion ( ) will launch Kan-Ra high into the air, and performing a dash will send him flying across the screen at jumping height. This can be used for surprise approaches or clutch corner escapes; while in the air, if Kan-Ra doesn't like what he sees, he can always press HK to slam into the ground and create another trap. He can use them to enhance his zoning. While standing on top of a trap, performing the Whirl special move creates a cloud of dust the travels the entire screen, destroying projectiles. He can use them for defense as well. Pressing three kicks at once will activate the Sacrifice special move, an invincible reversal that makes Kan-Ra explode and appear on top of his sand trap, perfect for corner escapes if the trap is mid-screen, but it's highly punishable if your sand trap is near the opponent. And lastly, he can attack remotely with insects out of his sand trap, causing slowdown curses to his opponent on hit, or recapturing them and teleporting Kan-Ra close for a combo starter. Note that all uses of the trap except for the insect attacks will extinguish the trap.

Having a sand trap on the screen is extremely important for Kan-Ra, as without one he has no reversal attack and no way to threaten from full screen. Placing a sand trap is not especially difficult, but if an opponent is in your face, it's unlikely you will find an opening, so being proactive about keeping sand on the screen is very important.

Whirl (shadow OK), Swarm (close range only), Dune (HK in air), Antlion (+HK, requires sand)

Whirl is the closest Kan-Ra has to a "normal"-looking special move out of all his combo starters. He spins violently and moves towards his opponents, recapturing them from the air and tossing them around in his tornado, but he leaves them grounded at the end for follow-up doubles or linkers, and is safe on block. A close-range Swarm attack will also start a combo, which does more damage if you cancel a normal like +HP to start an uppercut punish, otherwise stick to Whirl. If the opponent happens to get caught in the sand explosion from Dune, Kan-Ra can convert into a combo as well. Antlion might be his most unconventional combo starter, but it's also one of his most common. Kan-Ra summons a huge antlion out of his sand trap, wherever it is on screen. If it snatches the opponent, it recaptures them and immediately teleports Kan-Ra close where he can begin doubles or linkers. While not super powerful on its own, its use in full-screen traps and combo situations is vital for Kan-Ra.

He also can use his combo trait to cancel particularly pesky long-range Dhalsim-esque normals directly into the linker version of Spike, starting a combo. While not technically openers, these moves are still extremely useful, especially to tag nervous opponents who are standing near a trap.

The Whirl linkers hit 2, 4, and 6 times for light, medium, and heavy respectively, while the Spike linkers teleport Kan-Ra close and hit 2, 3, and 4 times, causing a giant sand cloud which will obscure whichever auto-double or manual Kan-Ra chooses to use next. Use audio or hitstop cues to break the auto-double, or try to react to the Spike linker instead, if you're looking to break at this point in the combo. Swarm is the most damaging linker and is fast enough during lockouts to squeeze out a few damage loops. Shadow Whirl hits 10 times, but the effect is largely cosmetic. Trying to break a shadow Whirl linker is extremely easy and can be accomplished simply by mashing MP+MK to strike any 3 of the 10 hits.

The Swarm ender is Kan-Ra's best. He launches the opponent over his head, jumps up, and summons a free shadow Swarm, which slowly tracks the opponent from above, making sure they can't easily jump away, and Kan-Ra lands in time to still meaty the opponent in case they try to backdash or jump before the Swarm reaches them. Many of Kan-Ra's trickiest setups need both a sand trap and a Swarm on screen, and this ender is a great way to get the most expensive part of this equation in play. His damage ender is also pretty important, since Kan-Ra's combo damage is incredibly small without it, but very respectable with a level 5 shadow Clutch ender. His launcher ender will send the opponent straight up, and leave a sand trap directly under them. If you're able to launch them into a Swarm attack, you can recapture with your newly created sand trap using Antlion and continue the combo! If you have your opponent cornered at the end of a round, finish them with the Whirl wall splat ender, then throw them; they'll start the next round cursed.

Normals to watch: Kan-Ra has aspects of Dhalsim in his play style, which includes the use of Wrap normals (standing MP, standing HP, +MP). These are the normals that can cancel directly into a Spike linker, as per his combo trait, and they're very useful for keeping opponents at a distance, or preventing them from jumping or reversaling through a trap. Kan-Ra has numerous notable jumping normals, including the wild bandage-swinging HP which crosses up from extremely confusing distances, the pesky MK which forces the opponent to stay in place while Kan-Ra lays a Swarm, and the multi-hitting MP which is great for pressure from a super dash. Note that Kan-Ra can cancel all his jumping normals into an air Swarm and then attack yet again on the way down after! Up close, Kan-Ra needs to make good use of crouching HP and crouching HK as anti-airs, +MP for pressure strings, and +HP as a hard-hitting, but slow, normal that is useful for beginning your uppercut punishes.

It should also be noted that, in addition to the Antlion recapture out of a sand trap, Kan-Ra can also summon a scorpion tail at two different angles using +LK and +MK. If the tail hits the opponent, they will be cursed with a slowness spell; all their moves will have higher startup and recovery, and every character will jump much higher and slower than they normally do. Each of Kan-Ra's regular throws will also curse the opponent. The throw curse lasts for 8 seconds, while the tail curses last for around 4 seconds. The timer will get reset if they are hit with a second curse; the effects do not stack.

Specials to watch: Kan-Ra's special moves are wild and varied, but are important for understanding his game plan. Apart from Whirl (a combo starter) and Spike (places a sand trap under your opponent), there are two more crucial special moves in Kan-Ra's arsenal.

The first is Swarm. When used close, it hits immediately and is an opener, but most of the time, you will be using this move at range. Kan-Ra breathes out a swarm of bugs close to his face, lasting a different amount of time depending on the strength, and you can have up to five of these on screen at once (each of the LK, MK, and HK strengths, plus an air shadow Swarm and a grounded shadow Swarm). The shadow Swarms slowly start to move towards your opponent horizontally, tracking their position until they dissipate about 6 seconds later, often making sure they can't jump or move forward. If they get hit by a grounded Swarm, you're able to combo (for example, if you can snipe them with a Wrap normal from a distance). If they get hit by an air Swarm, you can recapture them if you're close enough for a Whirl, or if you have a sand trap nearby and can pull out your Antlion.

The second is Clutch, a ranged command grab that grabs the opponent with Kan-Ra's bandages and slams them down (note that shadow Clutch is very high damage, but not 0 frames after the shadow freeze, so it's typically used as a ranged punish). Once you've grabbed the opponent, you can steer yourself forward or backward a fairly substantial distance, which will hopefully place you in range of one of your traps. If you manage to bounce them into a Swarm, or above a sand trap, that's just what you need to continue your combo via an Antlion recapture. If Kan-Ra doesn't have any traps nearby, the grab is the start and the end of your damage; still respectable, but not overly threatening. This is why Kan-Ra is so setup heavy. Strong placement of Swarms and sand traps, followed by ranged Clutch/Wrap normal mixups can lock an opponent down.

General strategy: Kan-Ra probably has the highest learning curve of any character in Killer Instinct. He's punished strongly for his mistakes; even simply blocking a jump-in while you don't have a sand trap on the screen might spell doom for your current life bar without a clutch combo break. But when his opponent is half-screen to full-screen away, Kan-Ra really shines. Use Spike special moves to lock them in place while you build meter for your shadow Swarms, and harass them with Wrap normals when they try to approach. If you land a hit, finish them with the Swarm ender (hopefully near one of the sand traps you've placed) and mix them up with Clutch and bounce them into a trap, or various normals that start combos by themselves. Kan-Ra's potential skill ceiling seems almost limitless, and players are finding out new trap setups every day, but it will require some careful play to avoid getting the sand kicked out of you for a mistake.