Proposed Shugoki Rework ver 1.1

I proposed another Shugoki rework that didn't get as much traction as I'd like, but one user had a lot of good feedback that made me give it further thought. So here's a new one, with a few more details, better descriptions, and maybe not quite as broken a version of his hyper armor as before. Let me know what you think.

• Unblockable heavy attack stance, AKA the Sumo Stance. This is the biggest one. It would be similar in concept to the Highlander's offensive stance or the Shinobi's chain-spin. He would take a wider stance, knees bent, kanabo up on his shoulder, ready for an attack. This stance prevents stamina regeneration, and slows his movement, but he can perform a wide dodge that opens into a light. His stance is hidden in this state, and he never changes position to visually indicate it, as opposed to the Highlander's stance. Also similar to the Shinobi's chain-swinging, he slowly drains stamina in this stance-- if you need a lore/logical explanation, perhaps he's holding his breath in order to release a mighty warcry. From this stance, he can launch heavy unblockables that are considerably faster than his normal ones(but still not too fast to parry-- roughly about the same speed as Highlander's, perhaps faster since he can't move in his offensive mode unlike Highlander), a very quick light where he jabs you with the pommel of his kanabo for slight damage(this doesn't break the stance) or a grab. This grab has him reach forward with his free hand, pull the opponent close, headbutt them for a daze and stamina drain, then throw them, in the same way as the post-guard-break throw. Hence, if the headbutt brought their stamina to zero, they'll stumble and fall. None of these are cancelable, however, and while they are all uninterruptible, they can still be punished by a dodge-strike. --EDIT: The stance also restricts the use of lights-- from the stance, attempting to light attack will instead go into a zone attack.--
• A stumble punish. The fact that a Shugoki can stumble someone and his attacks are still too slow to get a punish-- it seems like sometimes they recover fast enough to block a light, even!-- is ridiculous. This would be my answer to this, something of a combination of his Demon Ball throw and the Centurion's knock-down-jump-attack-punish. When his opponent is down, he can stand in front of them and perform a side heavy to smash his kanabo into them to send them flying in the direction his attack was going, like a golf ball. An appropriate punishment for getting stumbled by the slowest class in the game.
• More hyper armor. In the game's current state, his hyper armor is worthless against all but the hardest of reads. Certain classes are able to get through it no matter what. During his normal unblockable heavies, he should be uninterruptible by anything at all, period. Once he's launched the attack, it's going through-- your only option is to parry or dodge. The Hyper Armor up/down system should instead only apply to his non-attacking state, and require two lights or one heavy. This defends him against light spam by allowing him to answer with an interruptor, unless he either instinctively tries and fails to block them, or is too greedy and tries for a heavy.
• Make Charge of the Oni useful. It's a completely worthless stamina drain right now. You barely flinch your opponent when it makes contact and you charge right past them before you can capitalize, now going into a basically fresh fight missing over half of your stamina. There are several ways to make it useful, but I would personally make it something of a way to punish people for trying to run away. Make it so that when you make contact, you grab onto them and carry them the full length of the charge before throwing them(much like a GB throw) in front of you at the end of it, confirming a light, or a heavy if you hit them against a wall. With this now being a truly useful ability, I would allow it to bind to forward-dodge+guard-break as well, instead of requiring the Shugoki to sprint for it.
• A light combo. Landing one light as Shugoki is hard(it takes as long as some assassin's' heavies), and the damage it does isn't particularly hefty. This would be a reward for landing his slow light, allowing him to combo a light into a second, very fast light confirm, similar to the Warden's double-light combo. This would then further open into a streamlined heavy, which would come out a bit faster, much like the Highlander's light-heavy combo. Furthering this, a player would be able to enter his Sumo Stance before the enemy has recovered, giving even further, albeit slower, mix-up potential.
• A charging opener. This would be similar in principle to the Lawbringer's charge opener, but much less powerful. Simply put, the Shugoki can now come out of sprinting with a very fast light, which does open into his double-light confirm. However, this light has even further reduced damage from his normal Light, but does come out extremely quick, requiring him only to land a very quick jab with the butt of his weapon. This attack comes from the opposite side of the Crashing Thunder opener, and tracks dodges in the direction it comes from, meaning Assassins who turtle only to punish openers with dodge attacks will be punished for it, as if you dodge in the wrong direction from the opener it hits you, but if you dodge in the other direction, you risk being hit by a heavy, if the Shugoki did indeed open with Crashing Thunder instead.
• On the topic of openers, I would make the second attack in Crashing Thunder unblockable, meaning it is once again parry it or dodge it.
• And now, a slight nerf(but a buff in another way): Demon's Embrace. I know, the tier list says "without Demon's Embrace, Shugoki has nothing" but this is a new Shugoki. In this proposed situation, aside from being completely uninterruptible because of his new Hyper Armor, Demon's Embrace would act much the same, except for one simple change-- a flat damage, and a flat heal. No more letting people get you down to low health just to Embrace them and instant-kill them for a near-full heal. The only exception to the heal amount is that is also heals you any damage taken during the Embrace, thus making it an effective 'cure' for bleed/poison in duels, and removing its tendency to be a free 'please attack me' window in team fights. I would also make it so it drops the opponent in front of you, so you can get a light while they're down. The golf-ball-swing is not available on an opponent knocked down by Demon's Embrace.
• The biggest nerf I would offer would be a slight reduction to damage almost across the board. I think I've given him some decent mixup potential, so the amount of damage he currently deals per attack would be somewhat unfair. I would make the stance heavies deal only about 3/4 of the damage the regular unblockable heavies deal, and reduce his regular unblockable heavies by about 10-15%. 5-10% for Demon Ball and the golf-swing equivalent.

TL:DR: New ability Sumo Stance is a lot like Highlander's Offensive Stance, but with truly hidden direction, hyper armor, and slightly fewer options. Opponents who stumble against a Shugoki will be punished with an attack similar to Demon Ball. Most of his attacks become truly uninterruptible, or harder to interrupt. His passive Hyper Armor takes one extra light to go down. Charge of the Oni now has a use either as an opener or as a punish for cowards who run. A light combo gives him a little more damage that he can actually get with a level of consistency, and allows for a neat chain that can be followed by unblockables. He can charge into you for a light which tracks dodges in its direction, meaning Assassins who always turtle to punish openers with dodge attacks may be punished. The second attack of Crashing Thunder is unblockable. Demon's Embrace is now more fair for both parties. To make up for all the new utility, he now has reduced damage.

Overall, I've tried to give him more options to sort of become a more beginner-friendly version of Highlander, who is harder to use but would also have a higher skill ceiling due to having more options that take advantage of cancels, feints, and his crush counter.

Thoughts? Suggestions to add onto this?

^please ^have ^mercy ^downvote ^fairies, ^i ^would ^like ^to ^have ^a ^real ^discussion