One move that I kind of want to talk about is how surprisingly tricky of a move leaf shield is. I remember back in the 3DS days when this move was generally considered to be Mega Man's worst move mainly due to its' horrible frame data. A few buffs later and more labbing, leaf shield is now one of Mega Man's more important moves and is right up there with lemons when it comes to how frustrating it is to deal with.
What's great about leaf shield is that it has a multitude of uses such as using it for getting grabs, preventing opponents from landing a hit or grab sometimes, used as a projectile, footstool gimps, and can even jab lock. Not to mention that this move gets even better whenever you have a metal blade in your hands as an item. I remember Dire who commentated the ScAtt vs DJ Jack match back at CEO 2016 with Logic called Mega Man the best character in the game for like 5 seconds when he has both a metal blade in his hands and leaf shield active. It's almost like your opponent can't even do anything during that time. Against some of the fast characters like Fox, Captain Falcon, and Sonic, leaf shield can be an absolute godsend to have for you to defend against their constant pressure and possibly even gimp them.
As beneficial as leaf shield is for us, that's not to say that it doesn't have its' flaws and can even cost you a stock if you use it at the wrong time. For starters, even with the speed buffs it has received, it still has s*** frame data; coming out at frame 50 and the first active frame is frame 54. The frame data for when it's used as a projectile is also nothing special since it comes out frame 22 and the first active frame is frame 56 although it's safer if you use it in the air onstage. So if you're going to put up leaf shield, it's best to do it when your opponent is from a far enough distance to where they can't punish you, like being offstage depending on the character. Next off is that it loses to counters. Against someone like Bayonetta, this moves almost becomes irrelevant because if you get near her with leaf shield active, she can just witch time you easily if the Bayonetta player knows that he/she can do that and we all know what that'll lead to right?
If there is one thing that you can not do in any match up is put up leaf shield offstage while trying to come back to the stage or near the ledge where your opponent is in range to punish you for it. If anyone remembers watching Kameme vs Ally back at EVO 2016, then you saw Kameme losing a stock TWICE after getting knocked offstage and using leaf shield while offstage. As Ally was able to recognize what Kameme was doing during those moments, he punished him with a bair both times since leaf shield takes a while to come out. You can also accidentally sd while offstage if you're not high enough to where you can avoid that happening. It doesn't matter if you wait for leaf shield to disappear or to immediately throw it to get rid of it, you're screwed either way if you're too close to the blast zone. Even if you're still alive, you're still in a very vulnerable state and can easily get set up for getting spiked or might not recover after using Rush because you were too low. It's definitely a situation to be cautious of before committing such an option.
Those are my current thoughts on leaf shield right now. Does anyone else want to continue the leaf shield discussion by adding something that I didn't cover, or give another move/tech the spotlight?
