General M2Dave Should things like Difficulty Curve and Technical Nature of Character be used in the factoring of these characters? People can say MMH is top 1 all day but if they can't use orbs effectively, he loses a lot of points
Anyways, here is Zod
Offense: 2/5. Zod's not the best at opening people up. He really only has one natural 50/50 and his footsie tools are only OK. He's got an untechable knockdown, but they're booted too far away that he doesn't get much use out of it for things like Vortex and whatnot. In trait though, he is a maximum 5. However we cannot factor Trait into this category since he's limited without it. Not to mention he doesn't always have it like someone like Batman would always have Bats.
Defense: 3.8/5. Zod has a parry. That alone greatly improves his defense by helping defend against frame traps. Zod's main defense is his superb backdash to boot. He's got a good get off me move/footsie tool in Phantom Strike, and even to a certain degree, his s3. Not to mention anything into MB laser will kick the opponent out of ZOd's face and leave him at advantage. But good as all that stuff is, Zod does not have good wakeups. They can both be stuffed. And as for the .2, that's because of his lack of MB b3. Zod is a heavy meter using character, which means that he will likely not have the resources to dedicate to said MB b3. It's not GONE, but I don't really see myself using it as much as a certain Raven who came in third at NEC.
Trait 5/5. Main poster said it's 5/5 SO IT MUST BE TRUE! Non jokingly, Trait gives zod free approach, free interactables, and hella deep mixups
Damage: 2.7/3. Most practical Zod combos cost anywhere from 35-40%, and he can get good damage from small strings. However, almost all his damage requires meter or Trait. High damage, but loses a little for being more conditional than someone like Bane or Superman.
Zoning: 3/3. Side Arm is fast and can be delayed, catching dashers. Trait can lock them down if needed. And most importantly, a slow Zod ball can cut off huge amounts of space for the opponent. He just controls so much of the screen that approaching him is a nightmare. Not to mention, he's a zoning character who can get a full combo off his zoning(Trait)
Anti-Zoning: 3/3. Side Arm is a decent enough tool to stop most zoners, same with MB version. Zod Balls are the big thing though, as having one of those while a zoner is trying to snipe you can trade and leave you at advantage given their large on hit stun time. Furthermore, Zod's ability to put them anywhere onscreen can cut off certain important spots some zoners need to be at onscreen(Superman, GL, Hawkgirl). And that doesn't even add in Zod's trait complicating things.
Mobility: 2.8/3. Zod's mobility is comparable to Black Adams: Similar dashing, similar jump back into forward rushing charge move, similar use of move to close gaps(f2). The only reason Zod isn't at max is because his walkspeed is garbage. It's not THAT important in this game, but it's still important to note.
Interactable control: 3/3. I'm sorry, but a power character who can just chuck eveything at you for almost free is a scary ass character. His anti interactable control is also top notch, using air Zod Charge to bait and deny interractable use by the opponent. Hell, he can even combo off some non-bounce interactables, like barrels that travel(can't confirm at the moment, but I'm pretty sure this is true). And when it does come to Z bouncing, it greatly improves his combos using his j2 xx Zod Balls. You can usually get one or two even late in a combo.
Total:25.3. He mostly just loses points in offense, and even there, someone could probably justify more points if they include trait in this category, unlike me.
Also, technical difficulty would be 5/5, but not sure how that would factor into the total. Maybe half the score rounded down would be deducted from the total? So -2 for Zod?
