Regarding the New Fukua Shadows (New M.Shadow Hitgrab) 8/25/16 (new patch notes posted today)

[Lydz]

I know I'm still relatively new to Skullgirls (Been playing for about 8-9 months) and especially to the SGC, but I feel I still want to make this thread just to get everyone's opinion on these new Fukua shadow changes that have occurred over the past month or so, starting with mine.
...Or maybe this thread will be lost in obscurity, that might happen too.
Anyways, I guess I can start things off with this: the first time I saw the new shadows and how they can be held for five seconds, initially I was okay with it. I guess what bothered me about them was the fact that the patch as a whole is considered a "balance patch" and yet they changed something so majorly as this, but for the most part I was okay. Dealing with the M.shadow that came with the change was pretty simple thanks to a few small combo videos I looked up about a week after the patch was in beta.
The real problem is the update that came after. The update that came Monday. M shadow changed completely from an anti-air secondary launcher, to a hitgrab. Yeah. Now, when I read the patch notes for this, I was calm and was actually okay with the hitgrab since I like using the armor grab with Fukua (I'm trash I know) but then I actually tried it in the lab and played with some friends in beta. I know it can combo off of J.hk, but that's not good enough honestly. Fukua can no longer deal with zoners and as stated before, has lost her anti-air and secondary launcher. Overall, she's no longer an all around character. Honestly, I'm not upset about the hitgrab shadow but more annoyed. I'm not sure how Mike Z thought this was supposed to make Fukua more viable. Sure the hitgrab is a good assist, but if you look at my profile, I'm a solo player. How does a hitgrab shadow add to Fukua's viability and overall gameplay?
What are your thoughts on these new shadows, more specifically, the new hitgrab shadow? I would love to hear from some Fukua mains especially for their opinion.
And also, thanks for reading.

 

[Lex]

Not a Fukua player so bear that in mind.

Her new M Shadow allows you to convert from full screen fireballs doesn't it? That is a pretty big deal. It also breaks armour so it is good vs characters like Band and chair less Beo who might try to get in on you via armoured moves (Brass, chair less sweep, etc) though L Shadow did do that before. M Shadow wasn't used against other zoners that much before, it was used for zoning characters who wanted to get in on her so she shouldn't have any worse of a time versus zoners now than before (perhaps even better as now once she gets in she can stay in with a bunch of crazy resets and set ups).

The way you talk about the changes ("not sure how [] this was supposed to make Fukua more viable"), I think it's worth pointing out that, alongside Double, Fukua is supposed to be getting nerfed due to how strong she is (based on the number of times she has appeared in top 8s in tournaments). That's why she has undergone some pretty drastic changes. Looking at the changes, I think it is safe to say that she isn't supposed to play the same as she used to, and that's ok. It just means you'll need to spend some time getting used to her increased focus on crazy resets and mixups instead of playing more keep away with her M Clone providing a wall.

Again, speaking as a non-Fukua player who only occasionally dabbles in her; I think she is a much more interesting character now and she still can do a little bit of everything while having to work a bit harder for that initial hit.

 

[skull person]

I'm not sure how Mike Z thought this was supposed to make Fukua more viable. Sure the hitgrab is a good assist, but if you look at my profile, I'm a solo player. How does a hitgrab shadow add to Fukua's viability and overall gameplay?
And also, thanks for reading.

Fukua in retail is the best character in the game and M Shadow vortex plays a big part of that.

I think the goal with the new Shadow was to give her more tools to compliment her set ups and get nice conversions while removing the extremely boring M Shadow left right loops.

sHK can be used as a poke or in combos now and M Shadow will speed up to pick up for conversions.
Letting M Shadow go with fireballs leads to long ranged conversions.

M Shadow can easily convert off of air throw, ground throw, command grab and H Drill now where other shadow holds made it difficult and relied on you to be very close to them.
It picks up speed and increases distance traveled to fullscreen if the opponent is in hitstun.

I don't think this change makes her more powerful solo if you want to compare it to the old M Shadow vortex, but the M Shadow vortex wasn't removed because the new M Shadow is better.
The old M Shadow was too powerful and extremely boring to play against or watch, hence Fukua receiving all these changes.

 

[Lydz]

I really love the day I posted this even more changes have been made. Like, ayyyyy lmao. Anyways, it'll take me a few days to make my own opinion about the new changes so until I return to post my new opinion, I want people to still post here

 

[Cadenza]

She's completely fine