This version of Johnny Cage is not at all like MKX or even MK9 Johnny Cage with a bunch of pressure. MK11 Johnny Cage is primarily a whiff-punishing, heavy-conditioning, strike/throw mix-up kind of character who can annoy opponents at a distance as well.
His pokes are amazing, especially that D4, which jails into F3. Speaking of F3, that normal either is hit-confirmed into 44-NP, or on block you can still throw out 44, or go into a throw. If your opponent is ducking the F3, that's when you start using F44 to make them block. Condition them to block, then throw them.
Mr. Carlton has easy hit-confirms from any of his strings into his specials, and his fireball is one of the best in the game because of its high speed. You can really harass people from distance or even mid-screen and interrupt their zoning, especially someone like Kano.
He is really lacking in the KB department, but that's probably the only buff that he needs. The boy is good otherwise and requires thought and patience. If he can give a character like Geras a hard time, he might not be nearly as bad as you claim he is.
I think it's stupid to say that if someone hasn't used a particular character, he shouldn't be allowed to have an opinion on that character. Still, it's obvious that those who are saying how great Johnny is either used him very little or not at all.
The only thing you said that I agree with is about his pokes. Scorpion, Noob, and Baraka are the only characters I can think of that can out D4 Johnny, because of their pokes' range.
Cage's force balls are good, but you can't block after using them. If Cage and Kano were to trade projectiles, Kano would always win, because he can block immediately after throwing a knife. Force balls are meant to be used intermittently, and I'm assuming only after F4 too, because both force balls whiff after F3.
Cage isn't just lacking when it comes to crushing blows, he just doesn't have anything viable period. I have over 1,000 matches with Cage, and I landed his mime parry crushing blow only once online. I landed his amplified nutpunch crushing blow only once in the towers of time. I landed his F43 crushing blow about 6 or 7 times which came down to luck, or my opponent was trash.
Conditioning and annoying your opponent works wonders when you're playing only one match in Kausal then quitting. When playing sets against good players, that's where you notice what little effort was put into the character. Almost every match ends up with your opponent simply blocking low and turtling, anticipating grabs, because without grabs, Cage is worthless. Good players aren't going to let you constantly throw F3s out without spamming pokes or uppercuts. It's very easy to break away from grabs in this game. You can't rely Cage Rage, because sometimes it doesn't even charge properly. Sometimes I have to use it 5 times in order for the unblockable punch to proc. Fun fact: Cage Rage was originally supposed to be Scorpion's move, but it was given to Cage at the last minute. Which further proves how rushed Cage is.
His second variation needs to be completely reworked. There's no argument here. Playing without a variation is actually better. In my opinion, the specials in general are gimmicky and stupid. A camera flash for a stun move? How ridiculous is that in a fighting game? Why even use Cage if he doesn't have access to his nutpunch?
It's not fair that we have to work 3 times as hard and actually think about what we're doing, whereas Jax can just vomit out those bullshit overheads at whim. Most good Cage players aren't even asking for an overhead, just some buffs, yet everyone is shouting how great he is.
I'll go as far as to say that NRS is trying to ruin Johnny Cage for obvious reasons. Cage was always arrogant and always talked, but he always backed up his shit. Especially in MKX as he defeated Shinnock. In MKX he had funny lines, but he was mature. In MK11 he's just a douchebag with a trash moveset. In the story mode it always looks like he's wearing makeup, and he wears these ridiculous, over the top, bright colored pink and purple outfits.
Somebody should remind NRS:
Johnny Cage should be A tier (he isn't right now) not only because he's an original, but because he's the reason, not Liu Kang, why MK exists. He deserves buffs.
Back on topic about Sub Zero, I don't think he's overpowered, but his overhead is too fast. It was a blatant lie for NRS to say this kind of stuff wouldn't exist in this game, but 50/50s high damage combos still exist for some characters, the popular ones that is.
