Here's some stuff that I and the Ike Skype Chat have been talking about.
Hoboz Suggested Changes for Ike in the Next Patch:
- Revert aspects of Ike's tool kit to 3.5 states, namely:
* Ike's U-Throw being reverted to the 3.5 release point.
* Ike's QD Attack (and maybe the endlag if that effects QD Attack) being reverted to 3.5.
- Ike's Nair changed to be 1 frame faster by removing 1 frame of start-up (active Frame 6 then)
- Lower Ike's Dash Grab to land on crouching opponents (such as Jigglypuff and Kirby)
- Give Ike either his Japanese Voice or a new Voice Actor (as manly as ****ing possible)
What does these changes solve in Ike's defects?
1. QD Attack and U-Throw check Dash Dance abusive characters better by allowing for more potent conversions at ranges where Dash Dancing is most effective. Ike won't be hopelessly swinging for openings, allowing for a more interactive match.
2. QD Attack and Dash Grab changes help check Crouch Cancels and Low Profiling. Ike currently has no tools to interact with these strategies at most percents (or ever), leading to a lot of frustration.
3. Nair provides some very mild defensive spacing against approaches, which he generally lacks due to his extremely slow disjoints.
4. Makes him feel more badass and fun when he bends you side ways with signature punishes, heavy sounding sword swings, and less cheesy sounding lines.
5. Overall, these changes provide more reliable conversions which he generally lost from 3.5 to 3.6 while not really affecting his relative power level. His current conversion tools make the game slower and less fun in general. All of these changes would allow him to have a combo game against the entire cast.
How do these changes affect Ike and the rest of the cast?
- Most of Ike's generally even or good match-ups will remain unchanged in how they are played.
- Ike's bad match-ups will likely continue to be his bad match-ups, but will be more fun for the players by preventing singular options (such as Crouch Canceling, Low Profiling, Dash Dancing, and Air Camp) from exclusively dictating how the match is played, while still keeping them as potent options in the MU.
- His punish game will be more normalized and consistent across the cast with an U-Throw that doesn't send well past the top of BF's platforms at 0%.
Yes, these might look like some might powerful changes, but I want to point out I would generally go with these changes if they would be granted across the cast. I definitely think Pit, Bowser, D3, and other possible characters would benefit greatly from having improved tools to also mildly correct their defects and add consistency to their punish games.
Lastly, seriously, after seeing Umbreon and Ripple do their own postings on this, I highly recommend -every character forum- post one of these and try to come up with ideas.