The infinite *did* help though. No lie.
Just to throw in my own perspective on some of the stuff people say:
1)
ICs kill you from a grab anyhow. Oh how I wish. Once a player is really good at spacing, positioning, and camping, it's a nightmare to get a grab on them at all. Then it has to be a solid, sync'ed grab. Then they have to not mash out, and not be outside of the edge range to trigger Nana's AI to perform the handoff. And not know how to smash DI d-throw d-air. On top of that, adding more reps of escapable techniques increases the odds they will get out. So I have to get these magically nice grabs and rely on my opponent's incompetence to take their stock after the fact. And they have to not ever mash out before I can even start the whole thing. Unless I get a guaranteed d-throw CG on the other guy, it is a nightmare to set up even an ordinary chaingrab, let alone an infinite. Then I have to not mess up the whole thing. This "IC grabs = death" is mostly mythical because people never learn how to get out or reduce the number of solid grabs you can get as an IC--the handoff notwithstanding. Oh, and since I mentioned mashing...
2)
HOLY **** MASH OUT. I have grabbed people who were good at mashing before and they break out before I can even do a grab attack, at like 50 percent. A perfectly sync'ed grab that would have led to an infinite and I don't even get the opportunity to hit a joystick direction. But people are in the habit of DI'ing and they never mash. I already get like 1 wobble-worthy grab per game at most against good players, I'd hate to think what would happen if they learned to hit more buttons. I'm honestly amazed people never realized that this was viable. I get a grab and people just sit there doing nothing, waiting for death. I almost want to pause the match and tell them, "you know hitting buttons gets you out of grabs faster right?"
3)
They would do worse without it. Let's just say for some reason you took out Fox's up-throw and then said "it must be broken b/c you take it out and he does worse." We would slap you. Remove a powerful tool from a character's arsenal and their effectiveness dwindles. Also, see point 1; no infinite means reliance on escapable techniques. Of course they do worse without it. What's the surprise here?
I know the central issue here is character control loss I just wanted to throw it out there anyhow, because it's on my mind regarding the topic. And moving onto *that* topic...
I do not regard it as losing control of your character because the moment the infinite is solidified, your stock is gone. You are just taking a breather. In fact, you are getting the opportunity to sit and reflect on what happened, to think, to plan. If you pretend you already lost the stock, then what you are getting during the infinite is a BLESSING. Because there's still a chance the IC messes up the rhythm or finisher and gives you that stock icon back, and in the mean time you have time to figure things out. I have to sit and make sure I don't screw up, the other guy gets to relax or plan as he sees fit.
The character control thing is you thinking that just because your character hasn't exploded into stars and beams of light that it's still alive. You ****ed up big time and died, and now you're just waiting for the formality to wrap up. That's it. You don't have a stock anymore, so stop acting like you do, and if providence gives it back to you for a short time, be thankful.
My comparison would be air-dodging off the stage. So what if you can pick where you want to fall while you die? Character control is not always tied to the ability to survive. Or say you're Falco trying to up+b while Fox has ledge invincibility above you. You can pick when you want to up+b all you want, you can even opt not to do it at all. Doesn't mean you won't be a sitting duck when Fox comes down to shine you, and it doesn't mean your stock isn't as good as gone assuming basic competence from the other guy.
You have to make a multitude of mistakes to allow the ICs to infinite you. Far fewer mistakes go into completely losing your stock in countless other situations, even if you have the illusion of control while you wait to leave the level boundaries. With the infinite you've still got a shot at living, even if it's the IC screwing up.
Finally, why don't I apply this same logic to the freeze glitch? Because the **** thing can render the match unfinishable. That's enough for me. In order to use it to any actual effect, the player has to actually *end it* so he can attack the opponent without running the risk of being DQ'ed for creating an infinite stall situation (another rule which neatly covers the other main potential issue with the infinite).
For reference on the use of freeze glitch in combos,, see these videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4rO-16MS0w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4OBY4R4870
