Maxi = Brawl's Captain Falcon
Hmm...i'll try to go into detail but concisely why i disagree with u Rico.
Firstly though, i think Rekano summed up a bit, but i think it's much harder to explain what he REALLY means in words. At least what i think he means.
Rico in your post you said Maxi is punishable on block all the time basically, yet you haven't gone into what you're referring to exactly. We all know what are the unsafe stuff and the safe stuff. For instance i can point out a few examples where it's extremely difficult to punish, some can't punish at all without taking pretty big risks.
33bA blocked
RC aB blocked
4B blocked
RC aA blocked
RC B blocked
namely 4B and 3B, this attacks is 'unsafe' however how often are you punished for using this personally, reaaaallly? and of course i don't need to explain why. Maxi's loops generally operates on that principle really. Buying advantage because of the existence of his uninterruptable strings. This has always been his case since day 1. However the difference in SC4 now is that they've made G cancelling slower on his basics. They toned down bs across the board, i think it was only fair the did the same for him. The only one i truly dislike is AA, that was unnecessary and a BRUTAL nerf.
AS for the lows, i never said he has a plethora of them, what i did say is that i would do a plethora on the ones i listed. Sophie has zero great lows either. The ones i listed work well for me. Although i do consider his 1A and FC 1A as good lows, simple cuz of their properties. Too bad they're readable.
There are situations where BL B is hard to block. Post RO A, 33bA to name a few that work on block, and i also have wakeup setups where BL B is uninterruptable but i won't get into that now. There aren't much attacks that lead to BL btw. You normally get there through looping.
2KK is good cuz it's pressure, and it's MUCH safer than people think. Given the soulgauge system, them blocking isn't such a bad thing. I never suggested mixing 2KB (eew). 2KK is NCc, which is it's most important property to me. You think his throws are less useful cuz they shaved 5-10 pts of damage off? that's a horrible way of thinking man. Throws are improved in this game regardless of the damage reductions, you should do them. The wakeup after his throws are suprisingly good. I won't get into detail with that right now either
Laughable risk reward? feel free to point out some examples for me. I think if i risked doing 4B delayed LO BK and i manage to hit LO BK on CH -> 2B+KB combo, as opposed to them interrupting it with something that HAS to be fast, and in most cases weak damage (3K, 2A). I think that's pretty darn good risk reward. What are you using that is laughable?
Maxi has never been much of a juggler but now he has some crazy setups post combo. Interruptable attacks all over the place. You say he gets creamed for attempting juggles, i'm not sure what u meant. 9K vs lows, 44K safe on block, 3B(CH) vs highs and post stuns. Where is the risk really?
My maxi isn't loop heavy, but i use it when i know they're forced to hesitate. Most of the time when i HAVE been interrupted it's usually with a horizontal K, mostly 3K. I don't think that's unreasonable.
Also, lastly, when i said most players didn't go research (not playing experience) enough of Maxi to make certain claims, i was not directing that at you at all. It IS a general consensus, and i can guarantee you that it IS true. Many players simply ducked out prematurely. Either way that shouldn't be taken as an insult. I stopped playing Tira, but i admit i haven't researched her to even 25% of her ability (and i did do a bit of research on her)....should i feel insulted if someone told me this? How many characters u feel people actually researched THOROUGHLY. To say that means you have means you've essentially mastered that character no?