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https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2017/may/22/does-deadshot-actually-need-nerf-injustice-2-pros-and-cons-constant-balance-updates/
Does Deadshot actually need a nerf in Injustice 2? The pros and cons of balance updates
Posted by Justin 'AdaptiveTrigger' Gordon • May 22, 2017 at 7:37 p.m. PDT
So Injustice 2 has yet to be out for a full week but there is already a debate going around concerning a very specific character: Deadshot.
Does this character need to be nerfed? Is it too early to even be considering this question?
There are strong arguments for both sides honestly.
On one hand, it's an extremely polarizing playstyle that is essentially only fun for one player. While the strategy of "spamming" (not true zoning) is easily beatable, it's not always within the capabilities of the more casual audience to do so - which makes up most of the game's playerbase, like it or not.
Still, the game has only been out for an extremely short period of time. If there is a solution to Deadshot, not enough time has actually been given for players to explore the meta.
The zoning archetype
First off, I think a lot of the problems here stems from the commonly accepted opinion that zoning is "easy" and "dumb." Rushdown playstyles are more likely to be praised by the masses.
Playing the keepaway game is not always as easy as depicted. Usually when a character has very strong zoning tools, their upclose tools suffer as a result.
Does Deadshot have weak upclose tools to justify his zoning? Originally the character was advertised by Steve "16Bit" Brownback as being "kind of a high risk, low reward mixup character" up close.
Click image for animated version
Deadshot is armed with a low down light attack that is -3 on block, a back and light that is a low that is -1 on block, and that low can go into an overhead for a low, overhead attack that is also -1 on block.
This makes it hard to see if the Deadshot player is going to transition into the overhead part of the string, or keep pressuring with the part of the string that must be blocked low.
Overall, I think this makes Deadshot's up close mixups a little harder to react to than originally intended. It doesn't really occur to me as "high risk, low reward."
Does the community understand the meta well enough?
There is a common argument that NRS should've learned from their previous games where characters like Deadshot were designed. For example, it was determined that Kano needed to be nerfed in MK9 and Deathstroke needed to be nerfed in Injustice 1.
I don't think that argument applies so easily. While it may (or may not) be true that those characters needed to be nerfed in those games, Injustice 2 has a different set of tools available for players to use.
For example, while there are a few exceptions, most of the players that went up against FOX|SonicFox in that Deadshot video did not bother to utilize the meter burn roll option one time. This is a move that is obviously designed to get in on zoning characters like Deadshot.
If Deadshot were to be nerfed before the meta were to be fully developed, then we may never find out how powerful Deadshot truly is. It's possible (though seemingly unlikely at this point) that the reaction to Deadshot is a knee-jerk on the community's part.
When does a character need to be nerfed? What is good for the game?
Ideally, I think it is best to have a character nerfed when it is properly determined that a character is extremely over centralized to the point where a large percentage of the players at tournaments play the character.
It is likely that Deadshot suffers at least a bad match up to Black Adam. It is also nice that characters do have universal tools to fight against Deadshot such as meter burn rolls and jumping from the right distance as I understand that Deadshot is said to have bad anti-airs.
This occurs when a character has no bad match ups and/or their advantageous match ups are too far in their favor. In games where patching was not an option, the banning option was often discussed if not outright utilized for characters such as Akuma in Super Turbo and Meta Knight in Brawl.
This is of course the ideal scenario. Not everyone will see it this way.
And this is where a big part of the problem comes in. At the end of the day, NRS has to cater to what the majority of the community wants for the game to survive.
It's not enough that Deadshot's gameplan is beatable - it also has to be easy to at least fight against. If a player feels completely helpless against a character like Deadshot, they are likely to not want to continue playing the game.
Essentially, the game online has to cater well to a casual experience. The people I'm referring to are likely to never visit a site like this.
They just play the game. These type of players aren't going to spend a great deal of time in the lab.
As a result, there has to be a balance that NRS must strike in order to keep as many people happy as possible. This is no easy task...
Should Deadshot actually be nerfed? My opinion.
So, do I actually think Deadshot should be nerfed? Yes - but don't crucify me before reading this entire segment.
In terms of his zoning play style, I'm in favor of playing the "wait and see" game. As for the low negative frames on his up close mixup tools, I'm more in favor of seeing that nerfed but I'm also willing to wait on that as well.
What I'm referring to occurs to me more as a bug than a nerf. Deadshot's Bullet Barrage special (down, back, medium) cannot be clashed.
This comes across as being unintuitive on what can be clashed and what can't. There doesn't seem to be a rule that states that projectile attacks can't be clashed, except for this particular attack.
Back plus heavy, forward plus heavy, and supers are really supposed to be the only unclashable attacks. I think this is fine as it is clearly stated.
Newer players will become confused on this whenever they try to clash it. This creates a confusing experience.
It is also worth noting that these are taking advantage of Deadshot's "high risk, low reward" mixup options. Safe, unclashable damage from overheads and lows.
Does Deadshot actually need a nerf in Injustice 2? The pros and cons of balance updates
Posted by Justin 'AdaptiveTrigger' Gordon • May 22, 2017 at 7:37 p.m. PDT
So Injustice 2 has yet to be out for a full week but there is already a debate going around concerning a very specific character: Deadshot.
Does this character need to be nerfed? Is it too early to even be considering this question?
There are strong arguments for both sides honestly.
On one hand, it's an extremely polarizing playstyle that is essentially only fun for one player. While the strategy of "spamming" (not true zoning) is easily beatable, it's not always within the capabilities of the more casual audience to do so - which makes up most of the game's playerbase, like it or not.
Still, the game has only been out for an extremely short period of time. If there is a solution to Deadshot, not enough time has actually been given for players to explore the meta.
The zoning archetype
First off, I think a lot of the problems here stems from the commonly accepted opinion that zoning is "easy" and "dumb." Rushdown playstyles are more likely to be praised by the masses.
Playing the keepaway game is not always as easy as depicted. Usually when a character has very strong zoning tools, their upclose tools suffer as a result.
Does Deadshot have weak upclose tools to justify his zoning? Originally the character was advertised by Steve "16Bit" Brownback as being "kind of a high risk, low reward mixup character" up close.
Click image for animated version
Deadshot is armed with a low down light attack that is -3 on block, a back and light that is a low that is -1 on block, and that low can go into an overhead for a low, overhead attack that is also -1 on block.
This makes it hard to see if the Deadshot player is going to transition into the overhead part of the string, or keep pressuring with the part of the string that must be blocked low.
Overall, I think this makes Deadshot's up close mixups a little harder to react to than originally intended. It doesn't really occur to me as "high risk, low reward."
Does the community understand the meta well enough?
There is a common argument that NRS should've learned from their previous games where characters like Deadshot were designed. For example, it was determined that Kano needed to be nerfed in MK9 and Deathstroke needed to be nerfed in Injustice 1.
I don't think that argument applies so easily. While it may (or may not) be true that those characters needed to be nerfed in those games, Injustice 2 has a different set of tools available for players to use.
For example, while there are a few exceptions, most of the players that went up against FOX|SonicFox in that Deadshot video did not bother to utilize the meter burn roll option one time. This is a move that is obviously designed to get in on zoning characters like Deadshot.
If Deadshot were to be nerfed before the meta were to be fully developed, then we may never find out how powerful Deadshot truly is. It's possible (though seemingly unlikely at this point) that the reaction to Deadshot is a knee-jerk on the community's part.
When does a character need to be nerfed? What is good for the game?
Ideally, I think it is best to have a character nerfed when it is properly determined that a character is extremely over centralized to the point where a large percentage of the players at tournaments play the character.
It is likely that Deadshot suffers at least a bad match up to Black Adam. It is also nice that characters do have universal tools to fight against Deadshot such as meter burn rolls and jumping from the right distance as I understand that Deadshot is said to have bad anti-airs.
This occurs when a character has no bad match ups and/or their advantageous match ups are too far in their favor. In games where patching was not an option, the banning option was often discussed if not outright utilized for characters such as Akuma in Super Turbo and Meta Knight in Brawl.
This is of course the ideal scenario. Not everyone will see it this way.
And this is where a big part of the problem comes in. At the end of the day, NRS has to cater to what the majority of the community wants for the game to survive.
It's not enough that Deadshot's gameplan is beatable - it also has to be easy to at least fight against. If a player feels completely helpless against a character like Deadshot, they are likely to not want to continue playing the game.
Essentially, the game online has to cater well to a casual experience. The people I'm referring to are likely to never visit a site like this.
They just play the game. These type of players aren't going to spend a great deal of time in the lab.
As a result, there has to be a balance that NRS must strike in order to keep as many people happy as possible. This is no easy task...
Should Deadshot actually be nerfed? My opinion.
So, do I actually think Deadshot should be nerfed? Yes - but don't crucify me before reading this entire segment.
In terms of his zoning play style, I'm in favor of playing the "wait and see" game. As for the low negative frames on his up close mixup tools, I'm more in favor of seeing that nerfed but I'm also willing to wait on that as well.
What I'm referring to occurs to me more as a bug than a nerf. Deadshot's Bullet Barrage special (down, back, medium) cannot be clashed.
This comes across as being unintuitive on what can be clashed and what can't. There doesn't seem to be a rule that states that projectile attacks can't be clashed, except for this particular attack.
Back plus heavy, forward plus heavy, and supers are really supposed to be the only unclashable attacks. I think this is fine as it is clearly stated.
Newer players will become confused on this whenever they try to clash it. This creates a confusing experience.
It is also worth noting that these are taking advantage of Deadshot's "high risk, low reward" mixup options. Safe, unclashable damage from overheads and lows.
