Cheetah Balance Patch Wishlist

[Circus]

Cheetah is a solid character who imo is somewhere near mid-tier currently in the game, but I still think that there is room for her to get a buff in the next balance patch.


If I had to give her something reasonable, these are some ideas I'd put forth:

I'm not suggesting she gets all of these at once.
Just ONE of these would be beneficial.

Increased pushback on hit and block on 112
and/or
Increased pushback on hit and block on B11
and/or
Increased pushback on hit and block on 22
Having increased pushback on one of these strings will make it so there will be a reasonable and escapable mindgame afterward because you could short-ranged pounce them, pounce way past them and bait a reaction so you could dive, or go for the MBpounce-drop for some small damage. This already works against the taller members of the cast, but it'd be nice if it worked on the ENTIRE cast

Increased damage on MBpounce-drop
The move I'm referring to is D+MB while in pounce. At the moment is does around 133damage which is ok, but Cheetah is very meter dependent and it'd be useful if she got a bit more damage from an option that is full combo punishable if they read it


What do you guys think?


For reference, here's where I'd have Cheetah's matchups atm for anyone wondering btw:

Cheetah Living Matchup Chart
(Disclaimer: 4/6s are still VERY winnable)

Losing: 11

Batman 2/8 (his backdash recovers fast, his MBBatrangs and MBUprangs stop everything cold on reaction in combination with his trait, and he could get free safe pressure anytime he wants because he builds all the meter in the world while you starve for it. Even bad Batman players will give a good Cheetah a decently hard time but it's a Batman that knows his options in the matchup 100% that will make it feel unwinnable)

Atrocitus 4/6 (he could zone out with breathe and backdashes until he gets cat)
Harley Quinn 4/6 (Harley's J2 is like cancer in jump-in form. It stuffs so many of Cheetah's options)
Superman 4/6 (amazing wakeup options. low profiling F23 is key. not as bad as people say)
Aquaman 4/6 (also not as bad as people say, but he definitely has more options to counter her)
Joker 4/6 (for the same reason he beats Batman. this character is VERY underrated in some MUs)
Green Arrow 4/6
Brainiac 4/6
Wonderwoman 4/6
Darkseid 4/6
Black Adam 4/6

Winning: 8

Cyborg 6/4
Poison Ivy 6/4
The Flash 6/4
Black Canary 6/4
Green Lantern 6/4
Bane 6/4
Gorilla Grodd 6/4
Swamp Thing 6/4

Even: 10

Red Hood 5/5
Robin 5/5
Scarecrow 5/5
Captain Cold 5/5
Firestorm 5/5
Catwoman 5/5
Supergirl 5/5
Fate 5/5
Deadshot 5/5
Blue Beetle 5/5

 

[Tweedy]

If we're looking at a lot of nerfs, Cheetah is dangerous to buff.

 

[ESP-_BLACK]

if mb pounce have more damage then she going be doing like 300+ damage in trait lol the damage is fine the oki you get off it is very strong

 

[Circus]

if mb pounce have more damage then she going be doing like 300+ damage in trait lol the damage is fine the oki you get off it is very strong

I feel that MB pounce drop doing increased damage by even a little would encourage the option more though. Even if it's just by a pinch. Sure in trait she'd do more damage, but I'm sure they could work it in a way that it doesn't do anything obnoxious. Even 300damage with trait on it wouldn't be broken imho because without trait it literally only does 133 at the moment and it's a full jump-in punishable if the opponent reads it.

Again though, it's just my thoughts.

 

[ESP-_BLACK]

what would you increase the damage 2? honestly she just need a walk speed buff and her mb roll should go further is like the 2nd worst in the game

 

[Circus]

what would you increase the damage 2? honestly she just need a walk speed buff and her mb roll should go further is like the 2nd worst in the game

Those two things would be REALLY nice too actually. Especially the walk speed buff.

Her walkspeed is already good, but because she literally has no range on anything except f3 and b3, a walk speed buff would be welcome.

 

[kcd117]

I think cheetah is very solid, the only things I would like to see is a hitbox increase on f23 1+3 to make all hits connect consistently on a juggle, and a the 1+3 grab part of this string to come out faster so it also connects consistently on juggles.

I would also like to see a buff to her trait, since it is basically a very inferior version of superman's trait. Give it armor breaking properties, or make us able to cancel it into a special, or make it + when we cancel a string into trait, idk, just give cheetah a reason to use it out of situational combos.

 

[alkipot]

I've probably said it many times before, but a DRASTIC increase (2x as fast or more) in walk speed would be great. Shit ranged normals in a game where projectiles/space control rules should come with a spectacular walk speed.

Also, one of the gear moves (psycho crusher/crawl) would make her so much better.

 

[EntropicByDesign]

I think I favor giving her a blowgun.

High dart you can mb to make mid. Low dart you can mb to be chip death on block and active for 42 seconds. Darts that zigzag through the air. Up darts that AA. Darts that knockdown. Darts that steal meter. Darts that, I dunno, dart better? Than the other darts. Instant air darts. Darts that aren't really darts but infact are command grabs fired through a tube with air and spit. 50/50 darts. 50/50/50 darts. 100/0 darts. 0/100 darts. So many darts.

I am very sleepy.

 

[EntropicByDesign]

Darts.

 

[JesterSMX]

I just want a launching string or mb db2 to launch. She needs to be able to get damage on a punish.

I think trait and mb pounce are really good. Changing something could break her.

 

[Badboy Takuma]

two wishes:
1- trait activation like black adam (fast combo extender)
2- bd2 MB now pop up instead of hkd

faster walk speed would be appreciated

 

[ImperatrixSindel]

I also think her walkspeed going up would be a huge help.

The #1 thing I think she could use though is one of her gear abilities in base kit -- either the spotted torpedo or the creeping predator, just one. Right now her neutral game is so limited and these moves help so much. They give the opponent something to worry about rather than knowing that in the neutral she's, well. Neutered.

 

[ESP-_BLACK]

I just want a launching string or mb db2 to launch. She needs to be able to get damage on a punish.

I think trait and mb pounce are really good. Changing something could break her.

I was experimenting with that yesterday its just better go for dbf1 ender and dont mb at all and go for a mix up

 

[Zionix]

She needs quality of life changes mostly.

Push back on f3 (on block) needs to be normalised.

B1 needs a bigger hitbox

223 needs to be safe

Lunge cancel with down down so she doesn't have to dash out will give her better neutral but also allow more creativity on offence for those who are willing to practice.

Making more pushback to do lunge cancel mix is just adding to brain dead risk reward. Game doesn't need more of that.

As a buff if we are being generous I'd give a better horizontal hitbox on her d2, and possibly make her b1,1 plus 2 on block.

 

[ESP-_BLACK]

she dont need to be plus 10 next to you midscreen lol.
223 hould be sage no need be -30

 

[JesterSMX]

I was experimenting with that yesterday its just better go for dbf1 ender and dont mb at all and go for a mix up

Depends on the matchup imo. Try it on green lantern set to wakeup. There are others too. That setup also uses every frame of trait. It runs out during mb pounce but you still get full trait damage.

Edit: Green Lantern was a bad example. J3 will beat his wake-up on this setup but not j1. Do it on Dr Fate.

 

[Basic Stupidity]

Better gear

 

[Error]

She needs quality of life changes mostly.

Push back on f3 (on block) needs to be normalised.

B1 needs a bigger hitbox

223 needs to be safe

Lunge cancel with down down so she doesn't have to dash out will give her better neutral but also allow more creativity on offence for those who are willing to practice.

Making more pushback to do lunge cancel mix is just adding to brain dead risk reward. Game doesn't need more of that.

As a buff if we are being generous I'd give a better horizontal hitbox on her d2, and possibly make her b1,1 plus 2 on block.

223 on hit should also be similar, though not as good as Bane's f2d3 in terms of hit advantage imo.
Going with better range on b1 I would like the gear ability savage slam, that way she gets a good advancing 11 frame punish for a bar and b12 grab has an actual reward for landing it.

 

[ImperatrixSindel]

Better gear

This is truly the most essential Cheetah buff.

 

[Meep8345]

This is a really scary character to buff she could easily be absolutely insane she's already pretty good

 

[bishbash]

I like the idea of more range on b1 and less pushback on f3 on block, first time I saw that was +10 I thought guaranteed d1-tick but sadly often out of range.

 

[Espio]

Considering the top tiers are more than likely getting toned down notably and her doing pretty good against quite a few of the common tournament characters already, I don't really think she needs much of anything.

Maybe a couple quality of life changes like some gaps addressed, but nothing too crazy. Her offense and mix is solid enough. She is just a niche character.

I don't think her having a couple weaknesses like weak neutral justifies too many buffs or changes. Her weak neutral keeps her from being insane considering how incredibly mobile she is on offense and defense.

 

[RevonKnight]

I would put out that her Blood Lunge stance wasn't hit by Darkseids Omega Beams. The same goes for Catwomans Cat Stance and Harley Quinns Tantrum Stance.

 

[RevetLeafing]

Those two things would be REALLY nice too actually. Especially the walk speed buff.

Her walkspeed is already good, but because she literally has no range on anything except f3 and b3, a walk speed buff would be welcome.

Cheetah's backdash makes up for her walk speed, which isn't even bad at all