Snake's new 3.0 side-b

[DMG]

Nikita was poorly designed and was hard to balance. This move is much easier to balance and interesting for both sides.

Snake's Uthrow did not get nerfed, however I would not be surprised if it got touched a bit. Probably a higher release point or more end lag. I would love to see his overall throw game expanded on slightly. 90% of the time you just see Uthrow because:

1. CG
2. Lets you sticky
3. Best natural throw for guaranteed followups/vertical combos
4. Also best throw for getting C4 kills

His other throws feel outclassed easily. Dthrow can be useful but Uthrow is overall so amazing for Snake. The dart gun helps make Dthrow and tech chases better, but I would love to possibly see Uthrow tuned a bit and see "better" Fthrow and Bthrow. I know that it makes sense to have them so weak, to make tossing into mines easier and other related things, it just seems a bit cheesy I guess. Put a mine down, walk up and shield saying "let me grab you and toss you backwards herp flerp".

I like Snake overall though.

 

[MagnesD3]

A move can be a good tool and still be poorly designed.

In the end it really just comes down to personal preference I suppose, and if you loved Nikita the change must suck; however, just thinking about each tool design-wise, personal preference not considered, I can't help but think that the tranq. gun is simply the more well designed move.

I hate the reload gimmick and the fact it's awful in air, Nikita had ton of uses for it, it covered many things, the tranq gun just makes snakes ground game a whole lot stronger but I prefer the Nikita by far even if the tranq gun is technically better for snake but I am not fan due to snake being a more defensive character by design, I'm not a fan of the characters gameplay shift, IMO if something isnt wrong with a move don't mess with it.

Imagine if they erased foxes shine, ness's pk fire, sonics spin dash, or samuses boost shot for specials that change their styles significantly, the outcry would be loud. I hope the PMBR sees how silly the change was and goes back but I doubt they will, this and Samus's random ice transformation are the only decisions I think we're poorly made in 3.0 , however at least the ice beam doesn't delete any moves..

 

[DMG]

Nikita was a poorly balanced move, why should it come back? It was a huge pendulum swing of "They can't do anything offstage/onstage about it" or "Absolutely worthless". Asking someone like Ganon or Luigi to deal with the move was an absolute nightmare for balance. The new move will cover an area Snake doesn't cover quickly, will let him set up C4 or combos in a decently fair way (due to the mash mechanic), and it doesn't contribute to GG edgeguards that a "defensive" character probably shouldn't have.

 

[MagnesD3]

Nikita was a poorly balanced move, why should it come back? It was a huge pendulum swing of "They can't do anything offstage/onstage about it" or "Absolutely worthless". Asking someone like Ganon or Luigi to deal with the move was an absolute nightmare for balance. The new move will cover an area Snake doesn't cover quickly, will let him set up C4 or combos in a decently fair way (due to the mash mechanic), and it doesn't contribute to GG edgeguards that a "defensive" character probably shouldn't have.

If it was truly a balance issue than they should have tweaked the move, not erased it, as many snake players loved that move.

 

[Kally Wally]

Not so much "balance" as "design." Other than that one word choice, I agree with DMG 100%

 

[MagnesD3]

It looks like an very poor decision from my end, and I'd be willing to say most snake players would prefer the Nikita to the mk 22, they should have tweaked it way before considering to delete it, other than this and the Samus thing 3.0 is great but when I play snake he definitely feels less fun without his Nikita trap setups to confuse my opponent. I hate being "forced" to play a more offensive snake when it goes against his natural design.

 

[DMG]

Snake Nikita was not great design or balance. There's no great way to balance an aimable, cancelable projectile of that nature.

 

[Tlock]

It looks like an very poor decision from my end.

The best snake player in the world and easily one of the best PM players in the world has explained in detail why it was a good decision from the PMBR's end.

I'd be willing to say most snake players would prefer the Nikita to the mk 22.

I'm glad you know the opinion of most Snake players and can speak for the majority of the collective group.

They should have tweaked it way before considering to delete it.

And you know that they didn't try this in internal testing already?

When I play snake he definitely feels less fun without his Nikita trap setups to confuse my opponent.

Opinion, you are entitled to share it.

I hate being "forced" to play a more offensive snake when it goes against his natural design.

Natural design? As in how he played in brawl? Characters save for some melee vets do not have a "natural design" in PM. They are designed by the PMBR to fit into the PM environment. Every large scale change to a character has been done for one reason, because it was toxic to the game. It has already been explained in this thread why Snake's nikita was toxic to the game, so it was replaced. Accept and adapt to the change and move on.

 

[FlashingFire]

It looks like an very poor decision from my end, and I'd be willing to say most snake players would prefer the Nikita to the mk 22

Careful, you might lose that bet.

 

[Xethos]

I LOVED the nikita. It really was a good tool. But if you ask me, the tranq is just so much more fun and I would say it's even a better tool. Just my opion, everyone is different. But imo, the tranq is great to have fun with, and is also very useful. I love pmbr's choice with the tranq.

 

[MagnesD3]

Careful, you might lose that bet.

Go to the brawl snake forum and ask how they would feel if the Nikita was taken away then you'd get a pretty good idea I why I say this, this isn't even including casual players or other websites players who play snake.

The best snake player in the world and easily one of the best PM players in the world has explained in detail why it was a good decision from the PMBR's end.



I'm glad you know the opinion of most Snake players and can speak for the majority of the collective group.


And you know that they didn't try this in internal testing already?


Opinion, you are entitled to share it.


Natural design? As in how he played in brawl? Characters save for some melee vets do not have a "natural design" in PM. They are designed by the PMBR to fit into the PM environment. Every large scale change to a character has been done for one reason, because it was toxic to the game. It has already been explained in this thread why Snake's nikita was toxic to the game, so it was replaced. Accept and adapt to the change and move on.

One it's great the best snake player loves the tranq good for him but that's one guy vs. the majority, and as for natural design Zelda, link, samus are characters designed with zoning in mind, snake is similar as he is a defensive trap character so he fits into a similar niche I mean every character has their own thing and they always have for 64 to brawl they never adamantly tried to change their playstyle a either as they didnt want to ailienate the people who loved their styles, this is the same reason PMBR barely touches fox or falco out of fear. As for Nikita being toxic that is just your opinion I think it's a great defensive trap tool and adds uniqueness to the game.

 

[FlashingFire]

I'm not sure what going to the Brawl Snake forums would accomplish, considering we're discussing PM Snake.

Speaking of Brawl newcomers though, the PMBR has done plenty of playstyle changing with those characters - and done it well in my opinion. The reason they choose not to alter Melee high-tiers as much is because they have 12 years of established viability, and they give the PMBR something of a standard to work with. The unofficial motto of PM is "everything is subject to change," so you might as well try to incorporate the tranq into your Snake play for the time being. There's a chance it could revert, but I think it's a pretty small one - the PMBR doesn't want terribly polarizing matchups, and the nikita was one heck of a polarizer.

Edit: Also, just because players like a move is not a good reason to keep it. It's nice when the PMBR creates stuff we like, but the overall mindset is geared toward competitively viable movesets.

 

[MagnesD3]

I'm not sure what going to the Brawl Snake forums would accomplish, considering we're discussing PM Snake.

Speaking of Brawl newcomers though, the PMBR has done plenty of playstyle changing with those characters - and done it well in my opinion. The reason they choose not to alter Melee high-tiers as much is because they have 12 years of established viability, and they give the PMBR something of a standard to work with. The unofficial motto of PM is "everything is subject to change," so you might as well try to incorporate the tranq into your Snake play for the time being. There's a chance it could revert, but I think it's a pretty small one - the PMBR doesn't want terribly polarizing matchups, and the nikita was one heck of a polarizer.

Edit: Also, just because players like a move is not a good reason to keep it. It's nice when the PMBR creates stuff we like, but the overall mindset is geared toward competitively viable movesets.

The reason I mentioned the brawl forums is because thats where you would find the most snake mains and imo would be the best place to try and attract new snake players to pm, telling them that they are losing the nikita would probably not go over well.

I agree that many of the changes to the brawl newcomers have been great but the additions that were made improved their playstyle or added a new level of depth to it due to the character lacking, snake was great before he nikita may have not taken the most skill to use effectively but it was good without being broken and allowed for tricky gameplay which is why enjoyed snake as i cover the serounding area with traps and various things to manipulate the opponent into were I would want them, then i might start and offence, his playstyle was perfect as is, now I cant do that as effectively now I have to use my side b on my opponents oki or as apart of the ground game, while having a silly gimmick with the reload system. Thankfully I dont main snake but I enjoy using him or rather did, hopefully the pmbr will revert back to the nikita but I doubt they will since they spent so much time on the mk 22... If I did main him I would be rather upset.

 

[sneakytako]

They should totally rework forward throw and back throw, they are both utterly useless imo. If you're near the edge a grab release is easier to set up gimps.

Tranq is amazing, like people have said it covers an area that was previously difficult to cover with snake. Nikita was silly, although I like nikita tranq is just too fun to give up. My only complaint balance wise is how it takes forever to reload, but it reloads when you respawn. I'm not sure how to articulate my qualm, it just feels silly that it's easier just to wait to respawn to get tranq darts back. Maybe load tranqs one at a time like needles? Idk.

Edit: I think I know how to say it: the tranq management feels shallow because the way tranq darts reload when you die. If this didn't happen players would have to think more about their dart count rather than just spam darts at high percent just because you can, but at the same time I would like to see reloads be easier if this were the case.

 

[DMG]

Bthrow and Fthow currently ARE good for throwing into mines, but it's a bit shallow and cheesy in that regard. I would pick one throw out of Bthrow or Fthrow to be stronger, which seems fair given that Snake also lost Nikita for silly edgeguards.

 

[sneakytako]

I'd rather just dthrow near mines and setup a mindgame. If it's at a percent that a mine would kill, you could probably just walk them into it anyway.

 

[Professor Pro]

They should totally rework forward throw and back throw, they are both utterly useless imo. If you're near the edge a grab release is easier to set up gimps.

Neither throw is utterly useless.
Both throws have low KBG (knockback growth) allowing you to consistently with a lot of the cast throw your opponnent into a mine with their DI having little to no influence on if they can escape lol.
B/F Throw > Mine > C4 is a standard kill setup.

Bthrow and Fthow currently ARE good for throwing into mines, but it's a bit shallow and cheesy in that regard. I would pick one throw out of Bthrow or Fthrow to be stronger, which seems fair given that Snake also lost Nikita for silly edgeguards.

Would your intention be to help Snake by making one of his throws stronger out of curiousity? Because unless one of them was a killing throw (which I think most people would agree isn't necessary) this would make him worse since you would be taking away a solid setup.

Snake also doesn't need any compensation in the edgeguard department then what he curremtly has for Nikita imo.

 

[DMG]

I don't know what exactly I would do with his Fthrow and Bthrow, because the prior basis for them existing was easier ways to link into Mines. A "regular" character would not have those throws normally. Having dart gun also contributes to tech chases arising from Fthrow and Bthrow... I think they are cooler now because of it but I dunno. It feels very weird to have a character with two throws dedicated to this idea or setup, while he also has the ability to walk with people during a grab which further helps him achieve the dream. We're basically throwing a lot of resources and tools towards the strategy of tossing people strategically into traps (becuase lets face it, you don't need this many throws or the walk ability to set up a general tech chase), and ironically on many characters his Uthrow is still overall more useful because of how much free stuff he can get out of it.

It's not how good or how bad the setups are for the throws, but the amount of emphasis and effort thrown into making it work. It would be nice to see some variety is all. He's lucky to not have "bad" throws by any means, but maybe a little less focus in that area and instead trying a better edgeguard throw or some other property might be interesting.

 

[Sixth-Sense]

i absolutely love the tranq gun, incredibly fun and it really brings out character for snake, the Nikita was alright in the design aspect but balance wise it was freaking terrible for so many characters, not to mention how incredibly cheesy it was to edge guard with that move

 

[SpiderMad]

I can't play Snake anymore with the new side-b

 

[DKMikey]

So, I kept wondering how to grab drag. Then I realized it's with the D-Pad. Using a Wiichuck setup. Even after figuring out how to do the DACUS...*sigh*. Well, there goes my main character. As a Snake main before though, love this new Side+B. Much better than the Nikita.

 

[EastCoastEddie]

Question about the reload: Can it be done after the first shot of tranq? I've only ever been able to do it after the second shot.

I love the new side B. Snake actually has a deadly neutral game now! Even if a character is defensive they still need offensive tools. Between grenades and up b, that's all the defense you need in my opinion. I felt like Snakes biggest weakness was his approach game and this gives him a mid range move that needs to be respected. I think that's huge!

Also I've always thought because his forward and backthrows have virtually no knockback growth, this makes them really good for frame traps imo. So you can throw off stage, go for a forward air, and even if they escape you can get a down air, another forward air or a back air depending on positioning. I think this is all due to the forward or back throw putting them into the same position off stage.

 

[Professor Pro]

Yes the Tranq can be reloaded after the first shot, you must be doing it wrong if you can't reload after the first shot, remember there's a 6 frame window in where you are able to do it so just make sure you are pressing it fast enough.

And yes, Tranq definitely makes Snake a better character, which means imo the wanting of Nikita just comes down to personal preference really, which is a fair position which can't really be argue against.

 

[EastCoastEddie]

Yes the Tranq can be reloaded after the first shot, you must be doing it wrong if you can't reload after the first shot, remember there's a 6 frame window in where you are able to do it so just make sure you are pressing it fast enough.

And yes, Tranq definitely makes Snake a better character, which means imo the wanting of Nikita just comes down to personal preference really, which is a fair position which can't really be argue against.

Thanks man. I'll hit the lab. It just seems odd that I can consistently get it after the 2nd shot. Ah well -- practice makes perfect.

 

[Xethos]

Really? Ive only been able to do it after the second shot too. I just figured it was made like that. I get it 100% of the time after my second shot, and 0% of the time after my 1st...

 

[SpiderMad]

And yes, Tranq definitely makes Snake a better character, which means imo the wanting of Nikita just comes down to personal preference really, which is a fair position which can't really be argue against.

Could you go into detail about why you like the Tranq more than the Nikita, and why you think it makes Snake better: in what sense did you mean better? Fairer? More well rounded with now less dominant match-ups? Tranqs pretty dumb to me, there's no reason to use it in the air or on aerial opponents, and it just lends itself mostly for d-throw/tech-chase game which I'm not so into seeing: and to top it all off it makes the opponent go into a Mashable daze which I'm not a fan of the Mashing mechanic. Nikita was something one of the people I play with would use often, certain characters indeed struggled against it more than others: it definitely asked you to bring your A game concerning movement management. Concerning edge guarding: if it was your time to go from that thing it was your time to go. Facing it often along with using it myself, I appreciated the move for what it was. I found going for momentum drifts or b-reverse/wavebounces while starting it in a SH to usually be the most optimal and fun. Too much is missing with Tranq, it doesn't make me feel like Snake's more complete, I'm not even suppose to short hop with it at all.

 

[Professor Pro]

It's better as in it fits with his design well and better as in he is actually a better character, as in 'if there was a tier list it would make him slightly higher' better.

And I don't even need to go into a long detailed into why I prefer Tranq over Nikita and why I think it's a better tool, a few simple statements will pretty much make my point of view.

- It's a better neutral game tool
- It's a better tech chase tool
- It threatens people at range
- Better tool from the edge

Also another mostly overlooked aspect is how it forces people to play and Jolteon brought this up because he was feeling the effects.
Basically before you could safely stay grounded against Snake because he couldn't do anything to threaten you but now people tend to pre-emptively play more aerial based in order to avoid it and this consequently leads to people getting DACUS'd more for being airbourne which is a huge benefit imo.

And also you can use tranq with Shorthop or Fullhop to get people with the tranq on platforms or literally just an empty hop to late tranq shot as a mindgame.


Also apologies on saying you can reload after the first bullet, it wasn't originally like that and it's not intentional and will be fixed in the next distant update.

 

[TommyDerMeister]

I can't play Snake anymore with the new side-b

Exactly how I feel. Snake is dead to me.

 

[NiPPs]

Just giving my input on how i feel about snake new side b. From playing numerous games with rolex i feel side b is useless for the following reasons in no specific order:

- completely useless to airborne opponents but as pro was saying, your oppenent is forced into a more aerial game if tranq is really even something to be that afraid of.
- you can instantly mash out of it before snake can stick/grab/punish you
- you are immune to it while wave dashing (possible glitch but maybe not since you can be considered airborne maybe? idk, i dont know the technical stuff of this game)
- Instead of tech chasing them with it, another grab into a chain grab/c4/ side tilts/side smashes is more consequential than getting hit by the tranq gun. The lag from using it doesnt allow snake to reach his opponent in time in most cases before they can mash out. the higher the percent snakes opponent is, the longer he has to run after the tranq gun. (this is not factoring down throw into the equation just f/b throw.)
- a general re-grab follow up can't be shielded which makes grab the better option 9/10 time.
- the only time it seems superior is if a unchaingrabable opponent techs the ground after a grab and u predict where they tech and tranq them after but even if u do they can instantly mash out of it...

just general observations but this sums it up in my opinion.

 

[MagnesD3]

Exactly how I feel. Snake is dead to me.

Yeah as of right now brawl snake is our only option but brawl is an inferior game, its a shame that I cant enjoy one of my favorite trap characters like I did, hell I would have rather had nikita nerfed to hell than delete it!!

 

[FlashingFire]

- PMBR changes one move in Snake's moveset.
- Snake is suddenly unplayable.

Seems legit.

 

[Xethos]

Yeah as of right now brawl snake is our only option but brawl is an inferior game, its a shame that I cant enjoy one of my favorite trap characters like I did, hell I would have rather had nikita nerfed to hell than delete it!!

I have to things to say

1. The nikita limited the amount of fun and playability for both the user and the opponent. It created a monotone situation every time. First few times when my friends saw my nikita kills, there was some hype. Later on, people hated it- and i agree that it got old, however reliable it was.

2. This is an opinion, but brawl isnt a bad game. Everyone looks at how slow it is and tripping and declares it bad. It takes a different playstyle. Maybe what m2k said is true, that you have to play gay in brawl, but there are still insane combos and insane hype in it. Dont believe me? Check out salem v m2k, the csmera literally fell over and got disconnected due to hype. I myself enjoy brawl for what its worth, as much as pm, melee, and 64.

 

[MagnesD3]

I have to things to say

1. The nikita limited the amount of fun and playability for both the user and the opponent. It created a monotone situation every time. First few times when my friends saw my nikita kills, there was some hype. Later on, people hated it- and i agree that it got old, however reliable it was.

2. This is an opinion, but brawl isnt a bad game. Everyone looks at how slow it is and tripping and declares it bad. It takes a different playstyle. Maybe what m2k said is true, that you have to play gay in brawl, but there are still insane combos and insane hype in it. Dont believe me? Check out salem v m2k, the csmera literally fell over and got disconnected due to hype. I myself enjoy brawl for what its worth, as much as pm, melee, and 64.

I didnt say brawl is bad I just consider it inferior to PM my favorite smash game, secondly I used nikita mostly for trap setups or to create a distraction to confuse my opponent the tranq doesnt fill that role, it doesnt scare in air it seems useless then there is the fact it takes for ever to reload, nikita killing never really happened much when playing as I used it only to gain positional advantage even when edgeguarding the opponent wouldnt get hit by nikita unless they were too far out and needed to die anyways, but it allowed for tricky edge guard setups that worked. While the techchase tool may be "technically" better for snake I find it extremely unfun when compared to the good old nikita, like I said before I would rather have it nerfed than deleted like they did...

- PMBR changes one move in Snake's moveset.
- Snake is suddenly unplayable.

Seems legit.

If I didnt use the darn thing so much it wouldnt matter but it was an important tool to the way I played snake.

 

[TommyDerMeister]

1. The nikita limited the amount of fun and playability for both the user and the opponent.

?!
I would be having more fun playing Snake if Nikita was in, that's like, part of the point we've been trying to make. We enjoy Nikita more because it's better.

- PMBR changes one move in Snake's moveset.
- Snake is suddenly unplayable.

Seems legit.

For me, I've hated most of the major new attacks Snake has been given. I've hated the utilt uppercut move since day 1, it's ugly as hell, and the animation looks worse now than in 2.6. I hate the new fsmash, also an ugly looking move. The crawl attack, and Low nade toss (though I did not like the change of High nade toss input to holding up as opposed to back), and the MGS grab/drag mechanic with the dpad are are pretty cool new additions since they weren't replacing a large part of Snake's moveset that people coming from using him in Brawl we're used to. I don't see the problem with keeping old moves and just adjusting the properties to make them fit better. Plus, the tranq being added in so late compared to the other attacks is a bit annoying too. I'm just tired of having to keep adjusting to new moves every update.

The latest new move is sort of the last straw for me, if they don't end up changing sideB back to Nikita in the next update, then I have to go play some other character that I would rather not be playing, which isn't fun for me.

 

[SpiderMad]

Nikita was a poorly balanced move, why should it come back? It was a huge pendulum swing of "They can't do anything offstage/onstage about it" or "Absolutely worthless". Asking someone like Ganon or Luigi to deal with the move was an absolute nightmare for balance.

It definitely set up a hurdle for those characters, I think shield push back being lowered (Melee) would have it a bit more manageable on-stage but it'd still be a daunting edgeguard. That's the main problem I saw for it, but the characters can't deal with a host of things including Nikita from their weak movement/recovery. The Nikita never got close to worthless even on-stage vs good movement characters with the right mine/grenade placements and such. I'm not sure on what I'd do with Snake, although not yet giving Tranq a thorough chance yet besides how much I already hate it: I think I might have a nerfed Nikitta like Magnes said, and let the "niche" uses of it being a bad move lend itself to those who know when and how to use it like Falco/Fox's fair (Similar to your own past statements on Diddy's side-b, keeping the distance but nerfing the abusively good grab frames). Testing new options like you guys are doing now is likely the right thing to do to see if something can surpass the Nikita in design.
This Tranq ain't doin it for me though.

-The Tranq limits you to primarily use it on the ground due to being decided to be effective only on the ground to not be over-centralizing as Pro put it. If you had to say start the Nikita on or super close to the ground to use it (as many people do, similar to how newer Link or Diddy players don't jump while pulling bombs or bananas) that'd make me enjoy the move less besides actually making it a lot worse in terms of what freedom drifting/B-reversing/Wavebouncing gave to it

-The state of the Mashing mechanic: which shouldn't have the control stick's toggle between axis count as inputs. This easily accumulates to more inputs than pressing the other buttons: leaving it to be the most crucial to wreck havoc on to escape in time which does a number on the lifetime of it. The Mashing mechanic should have to do more with timing in my eyes.

- PMBR changes one move in Snake's moveset.
- Snake is suddenly unplayable.

Seems legit.

I was indifferent when I first saw it on an accidental stream of 3.0 by Rat, and I suspected "Nikita Spammers" to be sad. It hit me kinda hard when I got my hands on 3.0 for how moderately but effectively I used it.

An entire special move change is a big thing especially when it's goal is to be used entirely different. Even the small things can have a huge impact the developers might not have a full grasp on. Making Pit's arrow shot cooldown slightly longer removed the small open window at the end of a SH given you performed it early: giving it Wolf's laser like wavelanding/AGT'ing ability along with DJ. Pits didn't utilize this technique when they had the chance, and thus never felt the full impact of the nerf; meanwhile I'm left feeling like a Wolf main who lost his ability to WL out of laser and the depth and movement enjoyment packed there in. Pit was thus to remain more or less stationary with his arrows like Zelda was after 1.0: making them similarly more defensive, less technical, and dumb to watch.

For me, I've hated most of the major new attacks Snake has been given. I've hated the utilt uppercut move since day 1, it's ugly as hell, and the animation looks worse now than in 2.6. I hate the new fsmash, also an ugly looking move. The crawl attack, and Low nade toss (though I did not like the change of High nade toss input to holding up as opposed to back), and the MGS grab/drag mechanic with the dpad are are pretty cool new additions.

You agree Brawl's u-tilt in its entirety had to go though right? High nade toss being moved to up was a little of a struggle since I've used Brawl Snake and been playing since 1.0 before that was implemented in 2.5: but it quickly became apparent to be the way more natural direction it should have been.

 

[TommyDerMeister]

nah that old utilt animation could have stayed. it's better than what he has now. the gigantic broken hitbox had to go, yes.

 

[SpiderMad]

Why doesn't it fit into your category of ugly, is there a martial art move similar to it?

 

[TommyDerMeister]

he actually looks like he's trying to attack someone with the old utilt, as silly as that kick looked.

new utilt is the p*ssiest looking uppercut I've ever seen. and they managed to make it look worse in 3.0

 

[Juushichi]

did u kno that snake's new utilt is a pretty faithfully replicated sfiv ryu cr. HP?

 

[Professor Pro]

For some reason I can't quote posts on smashboards, so if someone can quote NiPPs and tell him I'm replying to him it would be helpful lol.

NiPPs - I find it interesting that this is your summation from playing Rolex lol, from your description of how you feel it is I'm like 95% sure Rolex doesn't know how to use the Tranq, if he can he should upload some videos of him attempting to use the tranq in game. Also everyone I've played against with Tranq can instantly feel how much better it makes Snake in the neutral and how much more you have to respect Snake and no-one has ever felt 'This move is close to useless' or 'Nikita is better than this' and I can also feel how much better Snake is while I'm playing which is why I have a strong feeling Rolex doesn't know how to use it.
How do you feel the Nikita is better in terms of effectiveness in gameplay? If you don't know how to answer you could always ask Rolex?

The Nikita is a straight up noob-killer, people who don't know how to play against it get destroyed, people who know how to play against it, just roll or block it and you get NO rewards from it except edgeguarding.

- you can instantly mash out of it before snake can stick/grab/punish you
No, you can't lol, you can even get a free grab at close-mid range 15% if they are close to you unless someone starts mashing frame perfectly the moment they get hit and then buffer rolls immediately, which 0% of the community does. And at higher percents you can most definitely get a free grab, C4, or Fair WITH MASHING. Complete misrepresentation.
- Instead of tech chasing them with it, another grab into a chain grab/c4/ side tilts/side smashes is more consequential than getting hit by the tranq gun. The lag from using it doesnt allow snake to reach his opponent in time in most cases before they can mash out. the higher the percent snakes opponent is, the longer he has to run after the tranq gun. (this is not factoring down throw into the equation just f/b throw.)
What do you mean the higher the percent the longer he has to run after the tranq gun....the lag is the same...and this basically was your first point as well which I don't agree with, it obviously is percent dependant, but it would be OP if they were asleep for any longer than they are.
- a general re-grab follow up can't be shielded which makes grab the better option 9/10 time.
I'm confused at what this critique for tranq even means

TommyDerMeister - In reply to 'I'm just tired of having to keep adjusting to new moves every update. The latest new move is sort of the last straw for me' Snake has stayed relatively the same relatively since 2.1 except for different KB and angle value changes, so you can't be talking about Snake when saying that you feel you have to get used to new moves every update lol.