Sorry Im late to the party, but I'll divulge into my 2 cents now (Or rather, tonnes of 2 cent pieces)
Disclaimer: I am not trying to sound arrogant, please hear me out (Also note that I play Marksman)
Im sure many EB mains across all 3 variations already know this stuff, but just to reiterate/for people who aren't as aware (understandably):
11B3 has no "real" special cancel options and hence doesn't ACTUALLY tick throw. It does mechanically, but there's no reason not to jump or backdash really. However DB4 (across all 3 variations) might catch neutral and crossup jumps (I know REO posted about the Outlaw db4) but Im yet to test this, and honestly it's too much of a commitment (and Sand Gust, being the marksman/gunslinger db4, can be neutral ducked and possibly backdashed/jumpbacked. Again, I haven't tested, but who honestly would hard commit to a Db4 cancel when you see 11B3 being blocked?)
the 23Frame overhead really is as bad as it seems. There's SOME bias sure. But when I played EB mirror matchups online I reacted to the F1 10/10 times. It's NOT ENTIRELY because it's too slow (because yes Ive been hit by scorpion's overhead online etc) but rather the animation isn't masked by anything. EB steps forwards and pulls his gun out of his holster, and pauses for the camera a bit, which immediately gives you a cue to release crouch and block, and since EB's only other overhead which ISNT A STARTER is 121, which results in a knockdown, you just return to crouch blocking. Not to mention, F1 strings are godly unsafe and has gaps, and is only 1 frame slower than EB's F4 dropkick. I've even ranted about how it's slower than tonnes of other notorious overheads across other Fighting games (Namely Blazblue and Guilty Gear) which I also frequently play, and again, the slowness of the overhead is amplified by the fact that it's incredibly distinct, not due to being incredibly slow as well
EB's grappler game is honestly not great. D1 is his main reliable but commital tick throw. B1 and B2 are waaaaayy too short-ranged, S1 is not only commital, but can be low profiled in itself and is physically hard to input. I won't list the other examples cuz most people know why. But Like, I might as well play Non-Slasher Jason for a grappler game, and not many people even play Jason for that reason. He can tick throw off his Advancing B2 Mid antiair which connects on hit AND block, and everyone knows of his notorious B122 string which is ticked out of as well.
The lack of mids is a serious issue. I personally am sick of playing against mileena and Johnny Cage (or anyone with amazing D4s or low profile abilities) who just mash D4 when they're minus 1-7, like how is that allowed? Johnny being able to check me with a D4 after I block his Reversal kick, and the classic situation where Mileena can meterless roll after blocking EX-Sandgrenade and I can't do anything to blow it up aside from Jumpback punch (I labbed this for ages, F3 doesn't blow up meterless roll after EXSG, and neither does any other button presses) are, imo, some key anecdotal evidence of this problem. Why am I unable to get someone to block after they are minus? Why am I put into a 50/50 situation (Not really, but you get the idea) once I am plus (either from EX-SG, me hitting a D1/D4 or from me blocking a minus move) of D1/D4ing them or actually establishing some 21122, B33 and F1 "pressure"? If they actually choose to finally respect the D1/D4 my "play" gets ended there, tho I can try for another one incase my opponent chooses for a high starter too, but thats another topic. I'm sure people understand this frustration
It seems to me that NRS nerfed EB only with Gunslinger in mind, but even then Id say gunslinger was nerfed too much. Look at Outlaw and Marksman, honestly. Why would outlaw ever use EXsandtoss when EXsandgrenade exists? Gunslinger stance pressure is significantly more scarier and versatile than the other 2, as well as significantly better zoning. Marksman I actually thought werent hit too hard by the nerfs, since all his run cancels sucked anyway and being able to press a button after a guncancel was purely a matchup inexperience gimmick, but his overhead being nearly gone there's not a whole lot of reason to play this variation... besides big damage swaggy combos of course. But does it really matter if you can't ever open your opponent up? Whiff and block punishing players become harder and harder as you divulge into higher level play, and pretty much every other charaacter has better tools to block and whiff punish for higher damage anyway (This is an exaggeration, but still)
The solutions I would present are very similar to the ones alot of other people have presented in this topic post, but basically:
Revert F1, or make it faster and become mid
F3 needs some hit-confirmable element to it, or make it have better hit properties
EXSandtoss needs a non-superduperspecific use
F2 and the strings associated with needs better properties and frame data. Such as hitconfirmability, only providing knockdown on aerial opponents (such that F24 Caltrop ender still exists, and F24 21122 combo route still exists, but F24 on a grounded opponent will allow you to hitconfirm into a launcher)
And as for more vague problems, Id say:
Make Db4 more useful, preferrably with much better startup frames (Referring to Marksman/Gunslinger Db4)
Make Outlaw specific strings actually worth using. Like what the heck is that B2 starter one?
Rework B1 somehow. That move and the string associated with it I have only ever used during the "FINISH HIM" Screen because of how hilarious it is (both literally and figuratively)
EB needs some better tickthrows, which can also be achieved if the hitbox and frame data of his B2 are changed so that it's similar to Jason's B2 in a way
If you have been, thanks for reading
