Hey it's another opinion about Anji changes!

Yep, here we go. Basically doing only to rant and get get it out of my system.

Sooo, compared to many people I actually waited to see the changes in action before calling him dead. Hey, maybe the way they structured him with his buffs makes actually sense? Maybe the Kou oki isn't that big of a deal considering his better neutral, and maybe his CH fishers don't matter that big? Anyways, I'm no pro and I'm no scrub either, as said only ranting here.

Let's get the good things out first. Anji's neutral is definitely better. The faster 5S and 2S feel actually recognisable, instead of previously he feels a threat in neutral without having to rely on Spin. I got so many knockdowns of abare 2P into 2D, I way actually surprised how relevant it is. His j.D is really good now it feels, no longer Leo can just heavy projectile and then jump slash and win. Nagiha nerf feels basically insignificant, I still did got enough Kara Nagihas in neutral to not really feel a difference.

The butterfly oki is also a lot better, just having more options. Kara Nagiha is really hard to combo from though, but just what the threat of Rin alone opens up is crazy. In the corner butterfly is actually oppressive right now I feel, no longer that weird jank where they could jump out of a meaty button and such (used 2S otg as it seems to beat DPs).

And the bad stuff... Now I didn't think much of people saying he lost his identity or so. He definitely is a different character now. I can see the idea, they wanted to make Fuujin blockstrings and butterfly oki more potent, and they succeeded with it. The problem which I experienced is that Fuujin blockstrings are now decent (kinda like how they always should have been) but you rarely get actually any butterfly oki. His neutral strength doesn't lead to anything at all most of the time. He always was a gambling character kinda, but now gambling in neutral feels actually awful because even if you guess right and get maybe even a big counterhit, you get basically nothing out of it unless you are near the corner. Fishing for 5H and 6H and charged Fuujin counterhits was a big part of his neutral, and even with his 5S and 2S being better he still has to use those buttons to win. But they all actually feel awful to hit now, and none of the lead into butterfly oki. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal at first, but after playing a bit I definitely recognised that I severly lacked opportunities to set up butterfly oki. The most common cases were now only after a Spin or when I could get two Kous near the corner so I could make a non meaty Shitsu happen. Like damn, I actually didn't think that it would be that drastic, but it absolutely showed after a while, especially in matchups where getting hard knockdowns is basically king like against Potemkin.

I am actually a bit flabbergasted right now just how big of a deal it is when I thought it wouldn't be. He feels like he doesn't belong into the game actually, it's way more whack than I thought. And I can't see how he would be too good with the charged Fuujin still launching and Kou still giving a hard knockdown, it was basically the reward for getting there. Now they bounce back and it makes you wonder why you won't play a character with better neutral but that gets actually something from his engagement.

I can only hope they were too scared to make hin good and overnerfed him into one direction, and will 'fix' him in the next patch. Because whatever he is right now, this ain't it.