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Captain Cold: Redesigned

foxof42

Thanksgiving corner game, going ham and stuffing
I hope you didn't wander in here thinking that I was about to propose a few minor changes to the character. Nope, this is a completely ridiculous, biased, and absurdly unlikely buff wishlist that only exists as a creative outlet of frustration.

I think that just in terms of the number of winning or even MUs, Cold is now at the absolute very bottom of the roster due to Swampy and Joker finally getting much needed buffs. Here's a different take on the character that I think would balance him/justify his spot in the roster. I'll try to make some of this brief because it's the same stuff that the community has been saying since the beginning.

Normals:
Standing 2 is now a mid
Standing 1 starts up at 7 frames
Increase cancel and hit advantage on 12
F23 +1
213 is special cancelable
B2 starts up at 8 frames
B232 ends mid

Trait/specials:
Here's where things get weird. His super is what is now his lvl 3 trait, cryogenic blast. The current animation for his super is now a full screen freezing projectile that replaces his current MB cold blast. Like Firestorm's, it *does not trade* - the animation requires the beam making initial contact and holding contact. It punishes moves like black magic and from the deep from midscreen and punishes jumping at fullscreen. It combos from D1 and 12 with greater scaling than puddle. It is unsafe.

Trait charges passively and charges faster when manually charged. You start with one bar of trait. The projectile properties buff between the different levels of charge remains. You should only ever have to be at lvl 0 projectile if you utilized a trait move.

Force field now tics towards freezing an opponent for any moves exchanged on hit or block. Hold his pressure, take tics. Pressure/combo him, take tics.

D4 (two bars of trait) now modifies cold blast to do more damage and temporarily slow an opponent. This can stack several times until freezing. If a projectile hits someone jumping at midscreen, it provides enough gravity to link MB cold blast to freeze. If you confirm a standing hit into cold blast, you have enough hit advantage to jail standing 1 into 12 or 1, D1. New midscreen and corner combos are made possible. Trait can still be charged while active to gain the projectile buffs. The effect lasts a good 9 seconds.

Level three trait is the glacier grenade. Freezing animation is made completely consistent during combos to indicate when a freeze will occur. The current damage nerfs are nullified.

Death-cicle MB has its own hp and requires more than one touch to destroy. It has roughly 170 health. Holding down during the startup of death-cicle causes it to track to the opponent's location on the startup of the move. When death-cicle hits an airborne opponent, it causes a HKD with significant hit advantage.

Frost field now behaves like a smaller version of the globe. It slows the opponent but should not last long enough to freeze. The move can be held to extend the time the bubble is out but cannot stack. It can be meter burned to come out faster and remain out for the maximum amount of time.

Big freeze is -6 unless meter burned. Big freeze can be held before release and cancelled by dashing or by charging trait. It still must be meter burned immediately once released in order to freeze. Puddle lasts for even less time and primarily exists for setups, optimal combos, and whiff punishing. If you want to turtle to charge trait, MB death-cicle becomes the better option.

There you go. The character just became a lot more versatile and interesting with a flexible game plan that allows for greater creativity. The objective will always be "freeze them," but how you get there will be significantly less linear and hopefully more engaging for both the player and the opponent.
 
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MysTiiK_V

"For Mother Nature"
Omg like i dont even care about this character at all:p, I agree he needs buffs and so does my character. Waiting on NRS to do it right next patch
 

snort

Noob
I mean he said F/T is top tier, Grodd is top tier, Manta beats Catwoman, etc etc etc. Sonic isn't always right.
He's right about Cold though, he was low mid tier and they nerfed him, doesn't need much more explanation then that.
 

foxof42

Thanksgiving corner game, going ham and stuffing
This character may or may not need buffs but 110% needs fixes, especially to his buttons. He's in a weird place. He needs to be balanced towards the *entire cast* instead of only towards his two winning MUs. (Cat and Flash.) I'm fine with him getting less 7/3s and 3/7s in exchange for 5/5s across the board. Get him out of this awkward pocket pick status.
 

foxof42

Thanksgiving corner game, going ham and stuffing
Cold literally has to be winning majors for you guys to think he's just okay. Got it.
When the *only* person to use him competitively with any level of success outright says he won't be using him until he's fixed, I think it speaks volumes. Sonic isn't always right, but I don't think it's some hot take to say that there are things about his design that don't make sense. For example, he's a setup character with no HKDs with hit advantage enough to setup. If you just tweak a few things, he could be great.
 

MysTiiK_V

"For Mother Nature"
This character may or may not need buffs but 110% needs fixes, especially to his buttons. He's in a weird place. He needs to be balanced towards the *entire cast* instead of only towards his two winning MUs. (Cat and Flash.) I'm fine with him getting less 7/3s and 3/7s in exchange for 5/5s across the board. Get him out of this awkward pocket pick status.
yeah, i hate characters that are designed like that, loyalists don't have any hope if their character is just 7-3 and 3-7
 

AkioOf100

I play Raph
remove him and replace w/ beast boy

jk in all srsness he should be made into the cryokinetic version of him from the 1 comic he actually had it in, it'd be better in this game. it'd give them an excuse to give him some useful neutral w/ ice-powers + ice weaponry.
 
This character may or may not need buffs but 110% needs fixes, especially to his buttons. He's in a weird place. He needs to be balanced towards the *entire cast* instead of only towards his two winning MUs. (Cat and Flash.) I'm fine with him getting less 7/3s and 3/7s in exchange for 5/5s across the board. Get him out of this awkward pocket pick status.
He doesn’t beat cw no more and I think cold vs flash is now a hard 5-5 I may not agree with op changes but it’s something I suppose he doesn’t need buffs just maybe a few tweaks that’s it stop fucking with stuff that doesn’t need too lol
 

foxof42

Thanksgiving corner game, going ham and stuffing
He doesn’t beat cw no more and I think cold vs flash is now a hard 5-5 I may not agree with op changes but it’s something I suppose he doesn’t need buffs just maybe a few tweaks that’s it stop fucking with stuff that doesn’t need too lol
Agreed, he needs tweaks. But no, this definitely does need to be messed with. Maybe - no, DEFINITELY not my self-indulgent wishlist, but something that gives him the ability to play better neutral beyond charging trait.

The current patch nerfed lvl 2 trait but buffed level 3 and reduced puddle time.
NRS is saying they want him to be used for more than turtling on glacier grenade but aren't giving him enough tools elsewhere to make sense of that decision. I actually agree with the decision. I think it's very limiting to be locked into that one game plan that makes or breaks a matchup. They now just need to modify his tools enough to make sense of that decision. That's why I proposed swapping level 2 and 3, starting with 1 bar, and making trait more accessable. All the glacier grenade shenanigans should still be there, but they shouldn't be the end-all be-all.