So far I think he's okay. He bullies super hard right now because most people don't know the match-ups. He has a good footsie game with B3, D2, F2, sparks, D4 and even D3. If you're in Necromancer (imo his best overall variation, besides the potential MU specific imposter) he has the flick and db1 unblockable as well which make for some incredibly good okizeme.
Yes he is reliant on meter, but look at how he is balanced: He builds meter exceptionally well with hell sparks hitting on block 3x (incredible meter building for one special, that also SPACES the opponent). Factor in that there is 0 risk in spending meter because low spark is meter burn hit-confirmed rather than something like say a Takeda Ex Teleport, and the fact that becuase low spark is essential to his game he converts damage off of literally anything he touches you with.
Thinking he will be mid-high tier, not top as it stand unless I am heavily overestimating his gaps. He excels at controlling space and whiff punishing, he is not supposed to be a rushdown or mix-up oriented character. Due to this throwing and spacing traps are essential to opening up your opponent, anyone who is still eating raw B3's is simply inexperienced and does not accurately represent the MU.
I will be recording a video soon, just been hella busy with exams. Ideally I would like voice commentary to go in depth but I'm missing my headset atm (broke) so until I grab a new one simple text comments may have to suffice.
EDIT: ATM i feel bone shaper is utterly inferior to both of the other variations, unless i'm missing something extreme it removes 2-3 of his best tools and gives him a new string and special which he does not need anyways. Why does a low mb launcher matter when all he has is lows is another mb combo launcher? It doesn't do significantly more damage (as of yet) to justify its usage. It's nice at absolute full screen where it is very safe on block and you can exploit its ridiculous range but aside from that.... :\