This is a poor example.
Brawl stall then fall Dairs in general were terrible unless you were Sonic, that much is agreeable. However, Wario's Dair is nothing like TL's, ZSS's, or Sheik's stall then fall Dairs. It is actually useful (comparatively) and generates enough hitstun to combo off of it at higher %s mainly because he bounces off of the opponent when he hits them with it. In fact, it's actually apparently too good right now because we removed the vertical KB boost Brawl had, so Wario's Dair currently works better than it is intended to.
Secondly, anything that doesn't work as intended can be tweaked to work as intended. Wario's Dair (the ground pound or whatever you wish to call it) can't be done without it being a stall then fall, it would look very weird, yes? And would be very silly if it didn't fall the way it does. You can also jump cancel from it to a certain point (you cannot jump cancel it after that certain point though and no you cannot jump cancel when you hit someone with it). So even if you do it on accident offstage, if you're quick to react you won't SD and can jump accordingly to save yourself.
I'm not sure why you think Wario's Dair is "a huge set back" just because of Brawl's failed attempts at the very same things... remember Brawl in general does a lot of things wrong as well and using those wrong things to compare them to isn't really good in the grand scheme of things especially since this project is attempting to be a successor to Melee. Meaning it can have things like stall then fall Dairs that actually work.
I'm of the opinion though that it is too early to judge Wario's Dair like you are doing so since there's really no metagame for this project yet since... you know... it's not even out of the Alpha stage yet. Comments like these while give us an idea on what people think of what we're doing (thank you btw) but also don't really contribute much because it's theroysmash.
I'd grab parts out of your post but it's so well ordered I won't touch it!
I'm glad there are things like safety nets, in a way, with jump cancelling being added to the little tricks you're attempting to add. Good way to progress with making changes.
I wouldn't refer to Brawl in means of calling it a hurdle/set back to compare. Simply put, on the progression to making a new game 'to reflect/be a successor to' something with certain qualities and traits that 'didn't' work, adding something in the sense that it's directly comparable to something that didn't work without much difference isn't a step forward. Henceforth, making these steps is like stepping sideways and producing possible (inevitable) side effects that will have to be moved around later to move forward.
Around may be the wrong picture lol. The concept is great, and the safety nets are great to hear about, as I never did see that in my time with it. Which is why I both say that it's going in a great direction, and as well that it's got great minds putting it together well. At the same time, the way that something was added uneccessarily that, through the development of it's ancestors, hasn't even come remotely close to working, shows that there is going to be an abundance of 'extra' work to be put into it for it TO work. If not, these 'hurdles' as I'll call them, won't be 'hurdles' anymore, but side effects. Or poor results of not getting over the 'hurdles', resulting in 'not that good' quality wise.
To sum that up.
When things don't work, it's a shame. It'll be tough to make things like that work. It's completely doable, and I'm sure everyone, including the staff doing so, have total faith in the people doing it to make it work as best it can. It's just 'scary' seeing it there at this stage, since if it does NOT work after all of the work is put into it, or if it's stubbornly NOT removed even after all the work is put in and it still doesn't work, to know that there is that chance. It's not something that has worked before, and that makes it something that could really hurt the game if it's not 'fixed' or 'fitted' properly. Which it still needs 'fitting'. One might not be too bad, but there are many in many areas. They add up. But that's why it's in Alpha stage. :D
I hope you can get it to work, and I 100% believe you can.
Just take your time, because it is a hurdle when looked at from all sides of it that way, and hurdles need work, or they suck.
get it? :D
<3
TY for your work. Hopefully you've had plenty of support and help in areas you like along the way.
It's super fun already!
