Yeah but risk reward is always inherently negative towards the agressor when poking at first. Like any poke it can be baited and dealt with accordingly not to mention the positional advantage you lose on block so it seems like an absolutely justified move.
Hmm... Im not sure he necessarilly needed it but this is an excellent addition to his midrange game. I like it actually, NM by design should be a total mid-long range powerhouse and this helps that gameplan tremendously.
Well partisan tested it with aPat's CE and blocked it successfully. He did mention tho that he wasnt sure if it was -9 or -8, since it was hard to tell if the CE was inputed by frame 1 because of the block stun.