To list off in order:
- Our normals have the longest reach in the game, and provide some of the highest on-hit advantages. We are also one of the few characters with an actual "low"-hit on jab in the form of d.1. Most moves have ghost hitboxes, and even when blocked there's a constant risk of tick throws. b.1 is probably the best stand-alone normal in the game. Its speed aside, its +16/+12/+3 on hit, block, and whiff respectively. He is probably the only character who has a move that leaves him at advantage when he MISSES with it. d.1 is +17 on hit. b.1 d.1 is a true blockstring. 113 is +3, b.23 is +5, Standing 1 is +20 on hit.
- One hit of armor is more than enough in most cases. Few characters have multi-hitting moves that trigger when hitting armor, let alone fast enough to trigger if so. One hit of armor for free on everything (including a 16 frame overhead, and a 10-frame Uppercut), especially armor that triggers on frame 0. The moment the input is made and input, if Bane can use any attack or there is any gap whatsoever, the armor will take effect. Add also projectile invulnerability at level 3, another free hit of armor, armor breaking... Venom gives us pretty much every tool we need to dismantle everything that isn't zatanna. In retrospect, very few characters even have the tools to combat venom.
- Slow jump speed yeah, but in exchange every jump-in gives us a tick throw on block, j.2 can be done as you leave the floor, body press gives us a huge hitbox that crosses-up and messes with inputs. Blocking it in the corner after a proper set-up is incredibly hard. If you don't have a wake-up to answer it, you have to hope you get lucky or hope that your dash is going the right direction. j.2 has massive reach, and it'll beat out a lot of d.2s including the ever-hyped DS d.2. j.3 creates a situation that can jail into standing 1, as can j.d.3. Slow jump speed even helps us sometimes. If we jumped faster, some of our best set-ups wouldn't work.
- Predictable mix-ups. Name me another character where everything has the potential to be a 33/33/33 mix-up. It doesn't matter that you can predict it, what matters is that you can't stop it, and its always in our favor when you guess. Hell, he wave a mix-up game when we are blocking other character's block-strings. No other character has so many options just off of the fact that we have armor as a omnipresent threat. Doomsday runs a train on most people after MB Venom, but against Bane he has to take a guess despite being at advantage. No other character has that.
- Mb b.3.
@GGA 16 Bit can tell you, it doesn't always work. I've seen him go for Mb b.3s ala Ra Helios's advice, and I've seen
@GGA Max click off of it and get a punish because DP recovers faster. Not to take shots at 16 bit, he is phenomenal, but he knows best about this kind of thing. Bane's armor can trade with yours, and if he does it with a lead-in (d.1, d.2, b.2, b.1, etc) his armor might even beat yours out. Its all a matter of timing, and if you try to Mb b.3 a Bane expecting a d.2xxBP, you may end up eating a charge for your troubles. While I would like to pretend MB b.3 decimates Bane, the fact of the matter is if you are blowing all of your meter guessing after his blockstrings (which by the by leave us at about +5 on average), Bane is able to counter with his own MB b.3s (since we don't need meter and ours is always slower meaning it hits after your hit is over), block, trade armor hits, or go completely over it with stuff like VU and MB VU.
@Espio tried to MB b.3 me a few times in our sets last night as MMH. I'm sure he can testify that Bane has ways to avoid it. If you take a blockstring and Bane goes into a frame-trap (like 113 113, for example) Bane might end up knocking you out of armor for a free full-combo punish.
- Bane can cancel his jump-ins into MB b.3, and he can empty-jump. Its a nice theory to do it on his jump-ins, but you only have so much meter. Also unless he is splashing over your corpse, Bane usually won't be in the air.
- You can't react to command grab. You can make a read, but its a touch-box. Its faster the closer you are (with 20 frames marking its maximum distance, I think its about 5 frames faster at point-blank) or at least thats what I've seen through my testing. Even if you can, it recovers fast. If your Mb b.3 isn't fast, Bane can block it. If your MB b.3 is too fast, it'll trade with the armor. If it fits in that sweet-spot of speed, and you make the read, then sure. However, otherwise its easier said than done.
- Bane can beat or go even with a good majority of the cast simply because he has armor. Level 3 is icing on the cake, and it makes him in the discussion for top 5/top 6. A Bane usually will only use level 3 to pump out a 68% combo, and very VERY few MUs have going level 3 as a good idea in the neutral. Very very few. So the idea that level 3 Bane is needed to be viable is a bit of bad information, he is viable with level 1 venom because one hit of free armor on everything mixed with all of the corrections I made for you above make him viable along with good representation, good technicians, and smart players. Level 3 makes him broken.
- Debuff is a bill. You have 6 seconds to get from one side of the screen to the other against a character whose normals reach 1/3 of the screen and can AA almost any jump-in, who is still decently fast and has still-potent distance gaining ability with his backdash, who still has access to universal armor, can RESET his debuff using a transition or other cinematic, can still block. If you get hit by ANYTHING he is out of debuff and you are back in the blender. I'm sorry, but there is only one or two characters in this game who can even close the gap safely, and even they aren't always able to get optimal damage. Bane will always or almost always get the full duration of his level 3 buff. You, the opponent, will never get the full duration of his debuff. You'll be lucky to get any of it.
- Bane's base un-venomed damage isn't even that low. I can still get about 40% meterless and venomless. However, he isn't made to be played without venom, and adding just one level makes all of his damage worth any debuff you might take. As far as efficiency is concerned, Bane's trait gives him more damage than any other trait in the game (Flash's included), even adding in the debuff. 68% is a percentage that you can't simply "get back". As much of an "illusion" as it may be, at the end of the day he is taking less damage and dealing more while in trait. You are hardily ever "dealing" damage, you are just trading most of the time against a tank that keeps getting stronger. Even just trading DP on wake-up is favorable, and its our weakest special. Thats the big point you are missing, you don't play the neutral against Bane. You have to consider "how is my damage on wake-up"? Most of the match may very well be spent trying to chalk up a bit of damage against his buff bod.
I could go on, but I don't think I need to. Please let me know if you have any further concerns or doubts and I will answer them as such. While your points are fair, and somewhat true, there doesn't exist a character who can take advantage of everything barring 1, which no one plays (and hasn't been fully explored)
Oh yes please. Begin the downplaying again. We scored huge the last 6 patches because people wouldn't learn him. Lets make them think he's not good again and get more perks. I'll start...he hasn't got enough air options and should have an air dash akin to Superman's.
