Before the patch:
Outside of punishes depend on Down 4 > After a down 4 hit, Strike/Throw OR spam S1 CAN'T jail into anything else > After a S1 hit on block > Strike/Throw
Jailing from S1 into Forward 3,4 not a great option as its a flawless blockable and leads to a full punish without spending meter to Up 2 or duck throw into Down 2 KB. Hit confirming off a single hit Forward 3 100% impractical after a blocked S1
After the patch:
Outside of punishes depend on Down 4, Down 3, Down 1 > After a down 4, 3, or 1 hit, Strike/Throw OR jail into S1 CAN jail into strings by they are NOT worth jailing into as every string is defeated by crouch block (All overhead strings can be interrupted/ONE string that hits low that's not F3,4)> After a S1 hit on block > Strike/Throw
Jailing from S1 into Forward 3,4 not a great option as its a flawless blockable and leads to a full punish without spending meter to Up 2 or duck throw into Down 2 KB. Hit confirming off a single hit Forward 3 100% impractical after a blocked S1
I literally cannot explain it better than this.
As for being un-optimized without have F3 confirms... this is an absolutely heinous point. This is so far beyond the truth that in actuality a Shao Kahn player is actually MORE optimized by not attempting to hit confirm F3. I can guarantee with absolute certainty that you are not consistently hitting F3 hit confirms in real matches. If you can, then post proof. Then me and the entire MK11 community can start listening to your Shao wisdom instead. As an aside, Videogamezyo... Best Shao Kahn player in the world unarguably, doesn't advise hit confirming F3.
Post proof you can hit confirm F3 consistently. I can bet that without a good bit of luck you won't be able to do it even 10 times in a row IN PRACTICE MODE. And for me to even come close to believing that you can land F3 to a degree of consistency that it is an actual legitimate tool that Shao Kahn has, do it 20 times in a row IN PRACTICE MODE.