This one is a really hard poll to pull off, so let’s be clear about what moves are considered:
-Only grounded normals(no jumping ones)
-Only normals(LP, LK, MP, MK, HP, HK) and command normals(Back + HP, Forward+HK…)
-PPP and KKK moves are not included
-It has to be an attack. Power devour(Spinal), Fortify Chunk(Aganos) or Deception(RAAM) are not included. Grenade toss(Orchid), albeit delayed, hits, so is included. Carbine shots are not included, since you can’t use them if you are out of ammo. It’s a very particular one, tho.
Since Polls only allows 20 normals, I will choose 19 and add an “Other” option for the non present ones. Maybe I’m not choosing the best of each character, I’m improvising a bit, please feel free to correct me. This is a really hard to do list, multiple choices, so I expect to see “other” with a lot of votes
Overpower really stands out among all of them imo. One hit, confirmable, plus on block, great range, chargeable to have more advantage, more range, and possibly be unblockable, and fast startup…it’s the best normal in the game, or at least the best I can think of right now.
I don’t really have enough experience with overpower, but it’s really hard to not pick any of Tusk’s sword normals. So I picked his s.mp. I actually would probably have picked his c.HP because it shuts down any kind of jump or even cross ups so completely, plus it has deflect. But his s.MP is a move that is almost always safe to throw out and is a fantastic footsies tool for him.
Yeah, Tusk’s normals were dificult to choose. MP, HP, c.MP and C.HP were considered. At the end MP and C.HP were my choices, and I decided to go with MP.
Yeah, I mean identifying what’s good is easy but picking the best is hard. I need to use MP more often but I have stolen whole life bars just by getting someone in the corner and mixing up c.HP and throw. Yeah, there are lots of mixups in the corner but this one is so damaging…
I foresee a majority of votes going to Overpower, and I don’t necessarily disagree - it is certainly a top contender. I voted Orchid’s grenade because it has most of what Overpower’s got going for it, with a few subtle differences that I think makes it slightly better (and slightly worse) situationally. Mostly, my vote was in case literally everyone agrees with Overpower, I felt like Grenade Toss is worthy of a little representation.
It is a single hit, disjointed, projectile with modular range and timing. It’s advantage is sort of ambiguous thanks to the latter two. It allows the possibility empty-jump-cross-ups/fakes, on top of whatever standard mix-up fare. Buttons cancel into it. It can, however, be beaten by projectile invincibility - where Overpower cannot.
Also, while voting, I totally forgot Overpower at full charge is unblockable. Overpower is probably better overall, but I think Grenade Toss is near enough, and a little more versatile.
EDIT: Oh yeah! Overpower is confirmable too… that move alone is practically reason to play Wulf.
No doubt overpower. It’s fast, travels far, one hit (so non shadow counterable), plus on block, can beat out armor, and is unblockable when fully charged.
Yeah, Orchid’s grenade is a good choice as well. It’s basically responsible for the potency of her vortex, for example, and there’s no doubt in my mind that it changes Orchid’s gameplan more than Wulf’s overpower changes his. It’s not a bad choice at all
Cr.MK hands down. 6 (or 7?) frame low that hits from that range? It’s not even close IMO.
If it wasn’t a discussion of grounded normals, her jump+HK easy. Since it is grounded normals, I guess I’d give it to fang for overall utility, but to be honest I’m partial to her stand HP and stand HK - they’re marvelous poke buttons.
Disjointed blockstun is a powerful tool. I think it speaks a lot to the power of Grenade that her entire INSX is a complimentary disjointed projectile. There’s also the benefits of having a disjoint to hitconfirm or tack on unbreakable damage with, but the blockstun is the real star performer. I would say contender for the #2 spot, if the majority concurs Overpower FTW.
@Dayv0 Top 5 is really difficult… between command normals and plain ol’ buttons, I have a hard time distinguishing raw/contextual power levels from intrigue. Also, there’s a ton of frame data I don’t know off the top of my head (i.e. most of it). With that said -
5. ??*
4. Shago - f.HK
3. Riptor - Carpet
2. Orchid - Grenade
Wulf - Overpower
*frame data unfamiliarity renders #5 undecidable, but I like Fang (adv?), Aganos new f.HK (adv?), Arby’s df.HK… this game has a lot of really good f.HK’s. What’s that about?
You could make a top 5 in no particular order, maybe with Overpower as best, the other 4 as “contenders”
I would not put that one among the best normals of the game. It’s not even best Aganos normal, which IMO is c.HK. Huge hitbox, huge range, not so easy to punish, has projectile properties(so can’t be, for example, countered by Hisako when only the projectile hitbox connects), it’s a HKD, so set ups re-chunk, placing a wall, meaty…
