Got to play today. Rock is about a billion times better.
The horizontal distance on his ground throws has been increased so much. ROs all over the place. However, 2B+G combos will have to change. You can't hit 2B+G, 8B; you can hit 2B+G, 9B, but nothing else. 1B+G, 22B is completely gone, maybe 3A+G, 22B as well, but I didn't test it much. However, you can hit 9B after if you really need damage. Should try 1A and 6B+K as well to compare damage.
3A+B wallsplat is weird. I only got it once, because it seems like it only happens at angles. If their back is to the wall you don't get the splat, but if they're angled you get a really low splat, so I don't think you can get a CT out of it. Meh.
2A+K is HUGE now. The fact that you can choose between 4 different ground throws will make it so much better for mixups. Instead of always spamming B, they have to worry about 3A+G, and if they're spamming they're not going to get out. However, it's much more confusing to use and I don't quite have the hang of it. But a major buff.
Looping throws works very well now, way more damage. However, after about the 3rd 3A+G, B+K they will just get up. There's nothing you can do about it.
Rock DOOM COMBO still works. 2B+G, A+B looks like it pushes even further and is less dependent on getting the right angle (I got a 2A+B RO where I'm sure I would have needed an 8A+B in SC4).
6B+K will still whiff a lot if they're crouching. Bullrush still stands up, so you can get thrown out of it up close. :X
Also, 66K has a new sound effect, like a wolf snarl. I didn't think they could make Rock more manly, but they have. And now I want to use that move all the time. O_o
Didn't get to try the new command throw. Frankly, I just can't do it. I had a lot of trouble playing on pads, and that was with all 4 shoulder buttons. Now I have to choose very carefully which moves to pick with only 2 shoulder buttons. I've gone with A+K and B+G, but that means I have no way of doing CFA or Armour Purge reliably, which is a shame because Rock's CFA looks really good: pretty fast, looks like it has a bit of a TC, and you get a GT.
Tourney tomorrow and I'm really hoping we can get vids. I'm loving new Rock.
I have not been able to type properly at all this week. What the hell.
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Not Rock directly, but Kratos looks very strong. However, Rock gets free CTs after all of his flying combos, you just need to step the right way to avoid the GC or you won't recover in time. His flying kick is super lame, though, and makes him hard to keep down because he can use it to avoid a lot of mixups, since it has a TJ and a huge backstep, which will avoid 2A+K, throws, 6K, 3B, etc. If he whiffs or you block you can get a CT.