Thanks for doing this! Great an very complete breakdown!
Some personal notes:
- Bark Skin only reduces damage to 80% of the original damage, so a -20% reduction rather than the 25 to 30 you mentioned. That combined with the short duration makes me think it could be buffed (when they showcased it on stream before release it reduced damage to 66% of the original amount which was much better).
- Thorns aren't really like Erron caltrops, even if you ignore how slow thorns are (the main reason behind them being completly uselss), caltrops added an element of utility by stopping runs. IMO thorns should add some utility because the damage is laughable and 100% not worth it even on meter burn. Even the animation has the opponent's feet being grabbed by thorny roots so something like not allowing them to jump or not letting them dash/MB dash would be nice (but only if the startup if at least halved, CCold and DFate have moves that still hit you even if you're airborne, add utility and are casted in half the time).
- Datura 1 isn't 100% safe on block, I believe it's like -10/11 (IIRC Datura 1 and Datura 2 are equally negative which gives little use for Datura 1 aside canceling MB Datura which is a horrible way to use meter because of damage scaling anyway).
- I wish Datura MB damage scaling worked like Supergirl's breath hold (or some MKX moves like Takeda's punches) where only the first hit of the bunch that connects apply a damage scaling and the rest don't, that would make the move usable as the damage scaling would be 0.95 rather than the current 0.66 from all 8 hits applying a 0.95 (0.95^8)
- I completly agree on the trait working against some of her tools being a bummer, making things not combo or have gaps, not to mention it screwing Kiss, B2D2Throw. IMO if it hits it should give priority to the existing hit-stun/block-stun rather than shortening it and not knock both players on throw animations so it works with your tools rather than against them.
- Agree on the super being crap. IMO all supers should add a layer of utility to respect for having all bars, like characters getting faster reversals, better anti-airs, a layer of 50/50s, full screen options or plus on block pressure. Ivy's super adds none of the above.
- I'm glad you showcased how poor her D2's horizontal reach is. It looks like it's slow because it reaches high, but there are 7 frame D2s that reach as high (Ivy's is unnecesarily high in fact as opponents won't get that high) while having awesome arc range which is the really important factor for anti-airs. If Ivy's D2 was 10 frames it would still be in the mid to bottom tier of D2s.
- Something that I never see mentioned is that her cancel advantage on F21 first hit is amazing (good enough for a MBBounce cancel into combo continuation on hit, that's super unoptimal but it's proof of how much advantage you get), I think it's worth toying with on her pressure with Datura cancels (I haven't explored it that much to be honest).
- Personally my favorite antiair is instant J2 rather than the jabs even if it's slower as it wins in a lot of situations (and you can pick safety over reward by doing a back jump) and as you mention it's awesome air-to-air. The invisible hitbox on the second hit is freaking huge.
- In addition to the awesome walk speed you mention, Ivy's wavedash increase her walk back speed even further.
- You nailed the match up talk, some characters can shutdown her main tools easily, she does well when characters can't do that but a lot of them can. I remember on release everyone would include her in their top10s but lately that hasn't been the case at all as people realize her weaknesses. Even Dragon doesn't use her anymore when things really matter.
