@the.hamburglar b121pngc is not - actually it's 0 on block
@thlityoursloat I don't want to come over as an asshole since I play this character a long time and while you're right at some point I think I know better about his gameplan so I'll try to give you some facts.
counterzoning:
yes ferra is super good as a counter zoner but there are ALOT of characters who can get around it. here's a list of characters who don't give a shit about ferra:
-acidic alien (no projectile to absorb)
-demo sonya (grenades can't be asborb)
-kenshi (no projectile to absorb)
-mileena (recovers too fast. you can only counter low sai on read)
-takeda (kunais can't get absorbed, ronin sword keeps you at distance)
-full auto (you can't absorb all hits of here machine gun but can hit her during recovery but so can she. super lame mu)
-hqt predator (recovers to fast)
-imposter/boneshaper shinnok (this mu is horrible in general but hellsparks takes the cake there is almost no way around it for ft)
-ct kano (recovers too fast. you can get one trade and then get shit on)
-gunslinger erron (hard to absorb everyting. though low grenade can be full combo punished even midscreen)
- df/ff (I don't think df is that bad tbh if he reads your toss you have to held some chip but ff with flame active is a nono)
-mystic ermac (no projectile to absorb and has excellent screen coverage)
-summoner quan (you can asborb skulls but that's it and you won't hit him probably when he's airborne)
-(maybe sektor? haven't played this mu too often tbh so I can't say much about it)
when ferra gets thrown you can avoid getting hit by her by jumping back. pretty much everyone I play figure this out at some point. ferra needs about 2,5s to get back on your back. at mid or close range I couldn't care less since I get my lackey d1 but fullscreen this means you have 2,5 seconds to zone me without the smallest risk. I can't get closer, I can't trade and you get at least chip damage for free.
now to the fun part. it seems since you mentioned bane charge it is only availabe in lackey. vicious and ruthless both have something similiar but it is not as good as lackey charge.
let's compare dvorah and ruthless since you mentioned them ( I main them both
)
main pressure tools
dvorah: f112wgc (~+12)
ruthless: b12(1)pngc (+2(0))
=> so what does it tell you? dvorah is +12 after her wgc, meaning she can cancel into s2,s1,d3,d4 as a single, string,cancel into puddle on hit to jail again or wgc again for mind games. ruthless on the other hand jails into... nothing. BUT you're right he has armor but only during recovery. when I cancel on the first frame and try to follow up and my opponent trys to armor or poke it doesn't give me too much. it's a great tool though since you can absorb their reversal (as long as it doesn't hit multiple times) and punish them. it's a read for both sides because it's kinda risky not to cancel when your opponent is aware of this and reads it (who cares about armor if the follow up too slow)
however f2pngc and s4 pngc can jail into b121 which is pretty cool.
follow up when respected
dvorah: f22wgc,b1wgc,112wfc,f112wgc,2wgc etc
ruthless: f2,b12,b1212,d3
=> this is where it splits up. you said they have similiar 50/50 game but it's not true at all. after f112wgc dvorah can go for the 50/50 and on block she's still safe. ruthless has good possibilites though. f2 is a low and with -7 relatively safe(jax,lao,reptile can punish it). b12 is 0 on block and a nice stagger as long as ferra isn't on his back you can follow with a nice d1. b1212 is safe and the last hit hits OH which alot of people don't know. d3 is something bio does a lot after b121pngc which I don't really know why but it works for him. though they can't follow with 50/50 and his pressure ends at this point. you can't cancel until ferra is back so hold whatever ft is doing and you'll be fine.
neutral:
dvorah: f1,f2,d4,d3,d1
ruthless: f3,b1,b2, lackey d1,njp
=> well it's no secret dvorah as a top tier neutral game. f1 has wonderful range and is a quite fast advancing mid with 12 frame startup. after that she can go for stagger or just her full pressure thing. ft has f3 which doesn't reach as far and is 15 frame startup but it's really not but at all. you can cancel it into wgc, go for stagger or to f32 and go for stagger since they're both only -3 on block. though it's pretty gimmicky and garantuees you nothing you just have to play it smart.
otherwise dvorah has really good reaching normals and pokes overall with her long limbs. ft's b1,b2 are also good reaching but not as good as dvorah's normals. however when ferra is thrown and you get lackey d1 I'd take it over dvorah's pokes anytime. also their njp is godlike there is no deny to that
fullscreen options:
dvorah: db1
ruthless: bf2,db2f
both are great anti zoner. however dvorah can always puddle while ruhtless is limited to ferra.
anti air:
dvorah: s1,d2,njp
ruthless: d3,s1,njp
now this is where it gets shitty for ft. dvorah has a super good s1 to anti air which makes crossovers generally no problem to punish. her d2 is absolutely godlike and makes jip really hard to get through. her njp is also really good.
ruthless on the other side has d3 which is okay for crossovers but only for those who don't go vertical too much and there are not many jip that don't are like this. it works sometimes but you're taking a big risk going for this while dvorah's s1 is piss easy to aa with. s1 works against some jip since d3's horizontal reach is buttcheaks but it's slow and doesn't work all the time. there are just too many characters that can jump in or cross over with literally no risk. njp works as a read as well or njk for cross overs but yeah overall ft's aa game is weak.
One point I think every ft main agrees with you is that the damage is too high. I think no one would care if only vicious has access to the ex tosses ruthless would still do well.
I guess there are many more points since they both have more to offer than this but I think you get the idea of the comparison. is ruthless good? fuck yes. is he top 5? no but they're definitely top 10. are they a potato? no. whoever thinks this character is a "pick up day 1 and magically win every match" is wrong. they're really good but they have flaws and plenty of bad mu's. there is no reason thinking they're better than alien, mileena,johnny,kano or sonya.
so yeah hopefully you change your mind about them. if not at least you got some mu tips for them.