CrazyFingers
The Power of Lame Compels You
Alright! So as we all know this character needs some serious help. As you also should know we won't get that till after the IPS finals that are coming up which is completely understandable. But honestly, what does this character need in order to make him more viable. He's so unbelievably close but he just has really, one problem. He's the literal slowest character in the game. So here's my list of things I feel would improve this character just enough to make him a solid mid tier (maybe even upper mid tier) character. Here we go!
Make B2 9 frames
This I feel is the change he probably needs the most. As anyone who plays the character or anyone who's done their lab work will tell you, Swamp Thing's fastest standing mid is 13 frames. This is straight up, not good enough to compete in any capacity. Most neutral heavy characters have 10, 9 and even 8 frame mids to contest pokes when characters are barely minus outside of poking the opponent. It would also give him a way better frame trap game due to the fact that sometimes D1 will whiff after his plus frames as well as his D2 so it's very VERY hard to enforce your plus frames against a lot of the cast. B2 only being 13 frames makes it so that he also has a hard time punishing some things (Grodd's Stampede is 100% safe due to this unless you can get that just frame punish) Overall this change alone would shoot this character up the tier lists.
Make D1 6 frames/Can't poke out of D1 xx Green Thumb
An issue you will find consistently is that Swamp Thing's counter poke/stagger game suffers heavily from the fact that he as a 7 frame D1. With a 6 frame D1 he could use his frame data to a much more efficient extent (using his 0 on block B23, using his barely negative stuff to start enforcing the opponent needing to poke after they block it instead of using a standing string) Another change I'd put on his D1 is making it so that D1 xx Green Thumb can't be straight up poked out of. No other grappler has their poke into command grab poked out of, it seems a bit silly to me that Swamp Thing is the exception to every rule involving grapplers in this game.
Improve His Backdash
Mobility is a huge issue with Swamp Thing and while this seems intentional, it seems as though the intention is way too effective, creating a jump arch that makes Glacius sad and a backdash that looks decent until you realize the amount of recovery in comparison to the distance traveled is laughable at best. I'm fine with his jump arch being floaty, it's honestly become a staple to the character (though i wouldn't mind this being changed NRS) but what he really needs is a better backdash. Defensively, this character is ass. MB B3 is 35 frames so it always gets broken, his jump backs are OKAY but again, floaty jump arch. A backdash with either more distance or less recovery plus a 6 frame D1 should be more than enough to improve this while still having him have flaws in his defense.
LUXURY BUFFS
These are buffs that countless people have said are 100% necessary but in my opinion, they are more luxury buffs than anything. They would definitely make the character more viable, but what i listed above should be enough to make him a solid character. Here we go
S2 Is a Faster Mid
Now this is one that would make him a pretty scary force to be reckoned with. Currently at 30 frames, Swamp Thing's S2 is the slowest non B3/F3 button in the whole game and hits overhead. However the idea i and many other Swamp Thing players have thrown around is "wouldn't it be nice if this thing was like, an 18 frame mid? instead of a 30 frame overhead?" this would give us a way more usable tick throw option and a DEADLY mind game of either getting plus frames or our opponent eating a tick throw. This would SURELY improve his effectiveness by a large amount.
Less Floaty Jump Arch
This is probably the one i've heard the most from people. And yes, i would absolutely love to not be on the moon and have a normal fucking jump arch. This would allow him to play the game in an overall more effective manner entirely.
Speed Up Back 3/Forward 3
Another change toted as 100% needed, Swamp Thing has a 35 frame B3/F3, making it the slowest button in the entire game (B3s and F3s included) therefor it's the easiest bit of armor to break in the entire game. This creates a shit defensive option that will hinder you more than help you 80% of the time. Speading it up to be on par with some of the other slow B3s in the game would help the character immensely.
So! That's the buff thread! I know we've had countless variations of these but for once I think we can all agree on these changes. Let me know what you think of them in the comments, discussion, as always, is encouraged!
Make B2 9 frames
This I feel is the change he probably needs the most. As anyone who plays the character or anyone who's done their lab work will tell you, Swamp Thing's fastest standing mid is 13 frames. This is straight up, not good enough to compete in any capacity. Most neutral heavy characters have 10, 9 and even 8 frame mids to contest pokes when characters are barely minus outside of poking the opponent. It would also give him a way better frame trap game due to the fact that sometimes D1 will whiff after his plus frames as well as his D2 so it's very VERY hard to enforce your plus frames against a lot of the cast. B2 only being 13 frames makes it so that he also has a hard time punishing some things (Grodd's Stampede is 100% safe due to this unless you can get that just frame punish) Overall this change alone would shoot this character up the tier lists.
Make D1 6 frames/Can't poke out of D1 xx Green Thumb
An issue you will find consistently is that Swamp Thing's counter poke/stagger game suffers heavily from the fact that he as a 7 frame D1. With a 6 frame D1 he could use his frame data to a much more efficient extent (using his 0 on block B23, using his barely negative stuff to start enforcing the opponent needing to poke after they block it instead of using a standing string) Another change I'd put on his D1 is making it so that D1 xx Green Thumb can't be straight up poked out of. No other grappler has their poke into command grab poked out of, it seems a bit silly to me that Swamp Thing is the exception to every rule involving grapplers in this game.
Improve His Backdash
Mobility is a huge issue with Swamp Thing and while this seems intentional, it seems as though the intention is way too effective, creating a jump arch that makes Glacius sad and a backdash that looks decent until you realize the amount of recovery in comparison to the distance traveled is laughable at best. I'm fine with his jump arch being floaty, it's honestly become a staple to the character (though i wouldn't mind this being changed NRS) but what he really needs is a better backdash. Defensively, this character is ass. MB B3 is 35 frames so it always gets broken, his jump backs are OKAY but again, floaty jump arch. A backdash with either more distance or less recovery plus a 6 frame D1 should be more than enough to improve this while still having him have flaws in his defense.
LUXURY BUFFS
These are buffs that countless people have said are 100% necessary but in my opinion, they are more luxury buffs than anything. They would definitely make the character more viable, but what i listed above should be enough to make him a solid character. Here we go
S2 Is a Faster Mid
Now this is one that would make him a pretty scary force to be reckoned with. Currently at 30 frames, Swamp Thing's S2 is the slowest non B3/F3 button in the whole game and hits overhead. However the idea i and many other Swamp Thing players have thrown around is "wouldn't it be nice if this thing was like, an 18 frame mid? instead of a 30 frame overhead?" this would give us a way more usable tick throw option and a DEADLY mind game of either getting plus frames or our opponent eating a tick throw. This would SURELY improve his effectiveness by a large amount.
Less Floaty Jump Arch
This is probably the one i've heard the most from people. And yes, i would absolutely love to not be on the moon and have a normal fucking jump arch. This would allow him to play the game in an overall more effective manner entirely.
Speed Up Back 3/Forward 3
Another change toted as 100% needed, Swamp Thing has a 35 frame B3/F3, making it the slowest button in the entire game (B3s and F3s included) therefor it's the easiest bit of armor to break in the entire game. This creates a shit defensive option that will hinder you more than help you 80% of the time. Speading it up to be on par with some of the other slow B3s in the game would help the character immensely.
So! That's the buff thread! I know we've had countless variations of these but for once I think we can all agree on these changes. Let me know what you think of them in the comments, discussion, as always, is encouraged!
