When PPJ played GRR he didn't even try to use Hawkgirl. He went straight to a counter pick. And when that counterpick lost he went straight to ANOTHER counter pick.
Have you ever been counterpicked like that in a tournament? It doesn't make you feel good about the game.
I would have liked to have seen PPJ at least try Hawkgirl against Bane. I would have liked to have seen Tyrant go a full set with Grundy. Overcoming a bad match up is the definition of hype. Unfortunately it looks like this game might have match ups bad enough that high level players don't even want to try
PPJ Plays the HG/Bane matchup pretty much every week at GGA and started CPing Zatanna against it because he can't do it as well as he'd like (EDIT: I have been informed that I am wrong on this.). That and Lex is most definitely not a CP for Bane. In fact the fact that he can power through Lex armor is actually quite a problem. I know I'm going to be rewatching that set quite a bit to see how to do the matchup correctly.
Also CPing in tournament? Yeah, I'm well aware of that feeling; I mean I play Joker after all.
That said, if CPs are indication of poor balance, what exactly are you looking for? If you want characters with unique strengths and weaknesses, then the only way to balance that out is to make it a game of counterpicks, a game where characters keep each other in check.
You want characters without bad matchups, those do exist in fighting games, and they are ALWAYS S tier for that exact reason. You're asking for balance but then you want characters to have positive or even matchups across the board?
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that NEC is definite proof that the game is balanced, but it is a pretty good sign for the future, especially when you consider this was the 1st tournament after the latest balance patch.
Raven vs. Grundy.
Most people really do not care if there are no overall dominant characters. By balance people mean 5-5s across the board, not counter-picking your main's bad-matchups, no uphill struggles unless your opponent doesn't know the MU. MK9 in tourneys has excessive counter-picking and it was lame as hell.
Personally, I'd prefer characters to be locked in at the start of the tourney (and this applies to all fighting games, not just Injustice). Register with a character and you have to use it for the whole thing. Bad MUs would not be tolerated by the player-base anywhere near as much as they are now.
If you do that then 3/4 of the cast will NEVER show up in tournament. Why would you play someone like grundy and risk being locked in against a HG than go someone with all 5-5s?
Seriously, people who think CPing is a sign of poor balance have not thought this through.
I know this match wasn't on stream, but is there any chance this was recorded? I want to see more of his Lex (And hopefully learn from it).
