salvificblood
Worst Sub-Zero Ever
There is a thread like this on the Noob Saibot boards and I don't really see Sub-Zero as having a better chance than Noob. In fact, I think he probably has less going for him.
I don't expect NRS to look at this character again but if they were to, what reasonable suggestions would you make for them to consider?
I'll make the suggestions I believe this character would benefit from without becoming top tier, nevermind op:
Standing 2 needs to hit all low hitboxes in neutral crouch and crouch block (that is a given and is technically a fix, not a buff).
Slide needs to be a consistent high crush. It is illogical for the slide not to go under all duckable projectiles and it would help Sub-Zero's counter-zoning in that if he is in the range to punish you for throwing a projectile, the Sub-Zero player will have the ability to make a read and slide to punish and get in. Don't think that this would be an end to Sub-Zero's troubles, it is not a fix-all solution as many of the characters Sub-Zero has trouble against (freddy is an obvious example) have a projectile that Sub-Zero cannot slide punish on reaction. To slide on reaction, he would need to be outside the range at which the slide would actually catch someone like Freddy in the recovery frames of his glove toss. Characters like freddy and Liu Kang have low fireballs too, so Sub-Zero would have to gamble in a big way at any rate as slide is punishable by full combo on block and getting hit out of the slide by a low projectile would just leave him having to respect the next projectile. IAF characters such as Kabal, Kitana, Mileena, etc can all time their projectiles so that even if Sub-Zero slides it whiffs or loses its back active frames as they land anyway. He would, however, have a way in with a correct read, good spacing, and knowledge of the recovery of the projectile he was trying to bypass. How would that be an unfair fix to the slide?
The freeze scaling should be removed from this character. Sub-Zero's pressure relies more on bullying people into the clone, so to speak, than it does on outright block string pressure. 21 repeats with a sprinkling of crossups and d4s are find and dandy but even when you bait somebody into jumping to get out or into pressing buttons by putting out a clone instead of continuing with pressure, you're only getting just over 20% and it is not easy to condition somebody who knows how to counterpoke or flatout interrupt sub-Zero's 21 string into jumping or pressing buttons into the clone.
When you really think about it, Sub-Zero only has his corner pressure (which is his one redeeming feature). Everywhere else, he is just mediocre. He is incredibly bland, insipid and unrewarding even when you make good reads. Why would anybody play this character to win with maybe 5/6 good reads per round (factoring in breakers), when they can play one of the top tiers and win with far fewer reads and, hence, far less effort?
I don't expect NRS to look at this character again but if they were to, what reasonable suggestions would you make for them to consider?
I'll make the suggestions I believe this character would benefit from without becoming top tier, nevermind op:
Standing 2 needs to hit all low hitboxes in neutral crouch and crouch block (that is a given and is technically a fix, not a buff).
Slide needs to be a consistent high crush. It is illogical for the slide not to go under all duckable projectiles and it would help Sub-Zero's counter-zoning in that if he is in the range to punish you for throwing a projectile, the Sub-Zero player will have the ability to make a read and slide to punish and get in. Don't think that this would be an end to Sub-Zero's troubles, it is not a fix-all solution as many of the characters Sub-Zero has trouble against (freddy is an obvious example) have a projectile that Sub-Zero cannot slide punish on reaction. To slide on reaction, he would need to be outside the range at which the slide would actually catch someone like Freddy in the recovery frames of his glove toss. Characters like freddy and Liu Kang have low fireballs too, so Sub-Zero would have to gamble in a big way at any rate as slide is punishable by full combo on block and getting hit out of the slide by a low projectile would just leave him having to respect the next projectile. IAF characters such as Kabal, Kitana, Mileena, etc can all time their projectiles so that even if Sub-Zero slides it whiffs or loses its back active frames as they land anyway. He would, however, have a way in with a correct read, good spacing, and knowledge of the recovery of the projectile he was trying to bypass. How would that be an unfair fix to the slide?
The freeze scaling should be removed from this character. Sub-Zero's pressure relies more on bullying people into the clone, so to speak, than it does on outright block string pressure. 21 repeats with a sprinkling of crossups and d4s are find and dandy but even when you bait somebody into jumping to get out or into pressing buttons by putting out a clone instead of continuing with pressure, you're only getting just over 20% and it is not easy to condition somebody who knows how to counterpoke or flatout interrupt sub-Zero's 21 string into jumping or pressing buttons into the clone.
When you really think about it, Sub-Zero only has his corner pressure (which is his one redeeming feature). Everywhere else, he is just mediocre. He is incredibly bland, insipid and unrewarding even when you make good reads. Why would anybody play this character to win with maybe 5/6 good reads per round (factoring in breakers), when they can play one of the top tiers and win with far fewer reads and, hence, far less effort?
