Mortal Kombat 11 Pro Players Uses Mercy On Opponents At Combo Breaker 2019

The success of the recent Combo Breaker 2019 event revealed that the fighting game community remains very much alive to this day. However, behind the scenes there appeared to be some trouble brewing, particularly for Mortal Kombat 11, considering this was the game's first ever tournament. It appears that not only were some of the pro players dominating their opponents, they were not afraid to use the Mercy mechanic.

The Mercy mechanic was first introduced way back in Mortal Kombat 3 after which it wasn't seen again until Mortal Kombat 11. In essence, what this does is to give your opponent a small amount of life, around 20%. It is activated by performing specific moves during the Fatality screen. One can consider it as adding insult to injury. Using this mechanic generally means that you are confident enough to beat your opponent, even after already beating them.

Back in April for example, a Twitter user by the name of DeoxysSucks revealed that when his opponent triggered Mercy, he took advantage of it and won the match.

Indeed, in typical games, giving "Mercy" can be considered fun. However, it becomes a whole different story when done in a professional tournament. Apparently in Combo Breaker 2019, a number of pro players were doing such a thing. Doing it in a tournament is showing maximum disrespect, to say the least.

This was highlighted in the match between Leah "GRPT|Gllty" Hayes versus IVWHAT|Shino. Fans of fighting games know that when it comes to Gllty, it's not just about beating opponents but doing it in style. It comes as no surprise that she took advantage of the Mercy mechanic.

In the first game, Gllty activated Mercy against Shino. What surprised fans was that she also had little life left. Shino took advantage and won that game. In the second game, with a little more life left, she again activated Mercy, and this time won, tying the match 1-1. One would think that was enough, but she again triggered Mercy and lost the match. That means that she actually had the chance to win, but squandered it with the Mercy triggers.

It may have been fun for fans, and it appears that some people at NetherRealm Studios were amused as well. Development Chief Ed Boon in particular tweeted what he thought about using Mercy, and even included that hashtag #KouldNotBeMoreProud.

Time will tell if more pros will be using Mercy in future tournaments. What do you think? Is it okay for pros to give opponents “Mercy”?