This is what I think they will do to Zod, followed by comments of what I think they should do instead:
What I think NRS will do = -
What I think they should do= *
-Remove the glitch where he can initiate an animation cancelation "tool" after doing an air normal in the air and then grabbing/trying to grab the opponent with the trait within the first couple of frames he lands.
*They should not remove this, but only fix the shaking/flame carpet he can create, eternity knockdown he can get from a back/neutral throw cancel. By letting this stay, you could set up situations where you sacrifice damage for a mid throw mix up, mid MB laser mix up, faster recovery on 1 zod rifle shot to set up a mix up. This would add to the depth of Zod and not be overpowered as you are giving up guaranteed damage for a mix up that is hard to execute.
-Remove or make his normal cancels in to trait throw easier
*They should leave this alone, since it is a good but very important tool for Zod, that is only available when he has his trait out. Removing it will be a huge loss to Zod and making it easier to execute just makes this tool too available for my taste. I like that you have to set up this technique right to make it available and it adds to the depth of Zod's gameplay.
-Remove his dash cancel in to trait grab
*Another important tool that Zod needs if his trait is going to be more than annoying when activating it from a distance.
-Remove the hard knock down on d1 and d12
*By removing this you take away a LOT of Zod's pressure with trait out, and you are essentially saying: the trait is supposed to be used from far away to annoy the opponent. These 2 strings, if canceled in to trait, gives Zod a way to pressure up close, and without them, Zod will need to use the 123 ender which does not set up a mix up since they can just jump out of a ground laser, or to use it from a distance where he can't pressure.
I think NRS stated at one point, that they left the ability to grab off of normals the way they did, because they thought it would be a neat thing to be able to do, but that would be hard to do consistent. At this point I can do the normal cancel in to trait grab with several strings and normals without a problem even online. It just comes down to practice. My bnb in to trait is d1 ender xx trait, cross up j2, slash, f2 xx trait grab. I can't remember the last time I missed this cancel.
