head to head
vs
Dead or Alive 2vsMortal Kombat
Dead or Alive 2 leans Reads (Competitive PvP); Mortal Kombat leans Reads (Competitive PvP).
Dead or Alive 2Mortal Kombat
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 7
Mortal Kombat leans harder on execution: Combo execution and punish timing
Reads8 vs 8
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance1 vs 1
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization4 vs 5
Mortal Kombat leans harder on optimization: Frame data and matchup study converge to known answers
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.