I remember a while back Mike saying that he would want to add fight requests into the training mode like USF4 has, did that idea get scrapped?
Yep. :^( Not enough time to do everything (see: replays) and too much community ridiculousness on some useless junk (see: taunts).
It's not that I don't imagine uses for those moves (hell I don't play these characters lmao) but it's more like it's mostly just fluff that no one uses because there are better tools for the job.
This is just naive.
Squigly has an instant overhead j.LP (12f, can't be thrown) and an overhead F+HP (22f, can be thrown). People use F+HP all the time, because there are many situations in which it is available when j.LP is not, like after a blockstring or as a staggered uncombo attack.
I see no one use Bella s.HK 2nd hit overhead or Eliza 3rd s.HP overhead and I'm almost 99% sure this won't become the meta in #10YearsTime.
Of what possible significance is "I don't see this used"?
When people started playing, nobody did midscreen assist kills. Does that make them useless?
Nobody used Painwheel's armor much at all. Does that make it useless?
MMDS uses cr.MK as his assist with pretty much every character he uses. Other people don't. Does that make them useless because it's not widely copied?
Nobody used Lenny-Argus after the change until I showed people how to. Does that make it useless before then? Or does it just mean there are uses that are not widely adopted yet?
Is SG a game in which strings are predetermined and normals can't be cancelled into specials except in small given windows? Or is this a game where you can cancel the visible startup of an overhead into a low, combine it with a low assist, or cancel a slow move into a command throw or super?
At least make comparisons that make sense.
Mostly what your post says is "I do not understand how gimmicks work".
In 3s, Urien has a F+MP->F+HP chain, and the 2nd hit is overhead. It doesn't combo, and it is not really used much...except that since nobody uses it, it becomes a good mixup tool once in a very long while. And at those times, it'll win you matches.
Merely having a hit be overhead means it's something the other player has to REMEMBER. I used this all the time in MvC2, since I picked an overhead assist with Juggernaut - a 50f overhead, mind you.
If you see the 2nd hit of s.HK coming you have to STAND UP, which lets Cerebella do Lv3 (or Diamond Drop if they're feeling brave, since lots of people - even good players - will not be holding
upback if they barely remember about an overhead).
If you see the 3rd hit of s.HP coming you STAND UP, which lets her try for Albus. And either situation lends itself to a low hitting assist, as mentioned. It's just one more thing that you can use to your advantage because it takes brainpower from the opponent. If they don't remember, they get hit, so they must remember, which means thinking about immediately defending instead of the next step ahead.
A gimmick is, by definition, something you don't see all the time. But that definition MEANS it is not useless. Because yomi exists, optimal play at neutral is not always the best choice.
With this stuff happening in the middle of a match, sometimes it can be that one little extra bit of distraction you need. It being a poor choice instead of a good choice means the opponent is less likely to even be considering it.