I played Kim Wu up to level 50 almost exclusively in ranked matches. It’s been a while and while I am not good with her (I’m not that good in general) I definitely agree that the idea that she is a paper doll is not correct. She can compete and she can certainly compete at the level of play that most people calling her low tier are playing at.
She has some bad matchups. Yes. But she has a lot of very decent buttons that people need to learn to use correctly. And her dragon kick is not a DP - it’s a different kind of tool that has different uses. But it does have uses. She just requires a level of precision that is usually not required in KI characters.
I would certainly support some tweaks. Her movement speed buff was a great change. In my hands her dragon counter could use a few more active frames. It’s pretty exacting. Also, it would be nice if countering some moves didn’t leave you open for a punish. I’m sure pros can learn all that stuff but it’s just a drag for me when it plays out “yes, I got the dragon counter!” “■■■■, I’m eating a combo anyway.”
As far as the shadow counter, I just don’t like that design decision. I thought it was a hugely positive development that they evened out the SCs for S3, and then right off the bat they introduce Kim with a lousy one. SCs are something I still struggle to get right, and it just feels bad to get one with her that drops or otherwise fails when other people would succeed. I make no claims to be a balance expert but it’s hard for me to see how Kim Wu becomes a monster of her SC gets adjusted to work like most every one else’s.
But yeah, Kim Wu is not the Dan of KI.
