Frankly I’d have been happy if in addition to those nerfs we got one of the things that we wanted (fireball invincibility for U2, better jump mk hit box, ex tsurugi back to super form), but noooooo, we got charged hayate buff 
Target Combo cancelling:
Can we now link from jabs to target combo 1 xx mp.hayate? I know we could link jabs to mp xx mp.hayate but having that would give more mixup options
The charge time for Hayate is not as long as the hold time. You will reach lvl5 long before the Hayate automatically activates. Doesn’t make the buff very useful outside of meaties though.
As I said in the dlc thread, TC1 might give us a new BnB after karakusa. As things are in AE right now, the most damaging combo one could get after karakusa (and without meter) was s.HP xx HC, s.MP xx Hayate. With the one-frame link, this combo takes work to get consistently. If one was having trouble with the link, he could add s.LP after the HC to hit confirm into s.MP. Problem is, the extra s.LP would cause the combo to miss on some characters.
With TC1 being special cancelable, we have the following: karakusa, s.HP xx HC, s.LK~MK, hayate. It would roughly be the same damage as the other combo, but easier to do and would undoubtedly hit all characters. Meet our new BnB guys.
I wonder if EX oroshi will combo off of TC1…
S.MK only combos with lp Hayate though. Damage would be there but it’ll limit post hayate options.
My thoughts on the nerfs are that they’re not even that bad, nothing game changing to say the least. Ok, the EX-Karakusa nerf is pretty ridiculous but the damage reduction on Fukiagi is not a big deal to me. Also, I like that she can cancel TC1 now, hope that sticks for release.
What I can’t understand is WHY they buffed her charged Hayate. I think I only use a charged hayate after an extreme Shoryu reversal bait, Focus crumple (in the corner) or after a stun (If I can’t be bothered to throw a Tsurugi out there). It’s as if they just couldn’t bring themselves to give her some extra frames of advantage on blocked Hayate and threw in some charged nonsense because they felt they should at least do something. xD
That aside the health nerf is just…it’s just 50 health. So we’re back to super there…didn’t bother me then, doesn’t bother me now.
As for the extra 3 seconds for Tanden Renki… I can’t honestly say I use very often in a proper match. I’m too busy with EX specials and wrecking face with “Hayate Snipers” (Using EX-Hayate from halfway across the screen or max distance to catch people unaware while they do silly things 
).
Either way she’ll still be good and now even better thanks to the 6 ton nerfbat the twins and Fei took to the face. Thought I still think Yang was overly nerfed :S
can you not chain into s.lk?
You can combo MP Hayate from s.MK as well.
Hace, you can chain into S.LK but you currently can’t do the MK afterwards if you do.
Mafamaticks, you can combo MK into MP Hayate, and with the target combo MK, you will be able to do the same.
S.HP > HC > Target Combo will not be the new BnB over FFS due to S.MP being able to be plinked unlike S.LK.
LK can be plinked with “back.”
TC buff is a good buff. FAs are obviously much riskier with this option, and some punishes require s.LK, and adding roughly (due to scaling) 50 damage, 100 stun, and 40 meter is great! It can also be used for new buffer poking X 2, and it does more damage than s.MK punishes, but with a frame less start-up!
Karakusa, s.HP xx HC, s.LK xx s.MK xx EX Hayate does more than s.HP xx HC, s.MP etc, as well as with MP Hayate. Same thing if add 2012’s LP Fukiage to the mix. However, with EX Tsurugi, s.HP xx HC, s.MP wins out, but only then. So yeah, it sort of replaces MP now. Plus you can hit-confirm it on block without committing.
Also, s.HK buff is sick. I’ll be the first to say I mash that shit against some characters once I get pushed back to a certain distance, and after certain blocked moves. To make it better just makes my pants happy.
I don’t care about the EX Karakusa nerf as long as dash up EX Karakusa still works on certain characters that you can’t dash up and Karakusa otherwise. Cammy and Balrog holding back = sometimes even AE EX Karakusa whiffs.
Health and Fukiage nerf, I don’t care. Significant in the long run, but per match I don’t think it will win or lose many. Technically we build meter faster with FA absorbing and getting hit with less health … take the good with the bad, you know?
You guys are missing one thing about charged Hayates. Stunning an opponent into fully charged Hayate will make her stun combos that much deadlier. This is actually a significant buff.
Are you talking about doing a lvl5 on a stunned opponent? Personally, I wouldn’t recommend that. You only get 190 damage minus scaling and a knock down. I much rather lvl3 focus and go for reset or full combo for more damage.
The only thing I see Makoto getting in 2012 is s.lk -> s.mk -> strong hayate / lvl2 jab hataye as hayate follow up. I see potential there.
I wasn’t even thinking about the numbers for TC once Karakusa and Hayate are thrown in the mix. Good stuff.
-I don’t use s.HK as much as I should, guess I should change that habit, especially since it’s going to be better.
-Ex Karakusa: I don’t care either, I hardly ever used it for defense unless the opponent was right in my face, in which case, the nerf means absolutely nothing. As for offense, I generally make sure my opponent is too scared to move before I go for a grab, so no problems for me there either.
-I feel pretty stupid for not realizing your point on the Charged Hayates since I use them in the corner after I’ve landed a stun. It’s level 3 that causes knockdown, right?
What about charging Hayates in the corner after a stun and following up with the B&B Fuki, Tsurugi combo? I’m not really a numbers guy, but wouldn’t that be worth the damage?
Full charge focus gives more meter, and is faster to get to. I’m not certain but I think it might be possible to get out of a stun before someone fully charges a hayate, if not it would be close.
You can juggle Fukiage after a charged Hayate, much like EX Hayate. In fact, in AE, after three hits into a stun, charged Hayate is the most damage possible outside of Super and Ultra combos.
You don’t have to fully charge the Hayate. With HP Hayate, she’s basically fully charged a little after she says “Here I come!”
it combos with MP and ex
I still wonder about ex karakusa.
I agree with what’s been stated, I only use EX karakusa when I read something and they’re in my face. But karakusa is the one command grab with the least priority.
I actually use that lk mk target combo a lot. It’ll be nice getting a hayate afterwards.
I think the location test is going to be the big thing as far as Hayate charge. Everything else is pretty obvious.
There are always other changes made that aren’t listed in the blogs. I wonder what else we might find out come loketest time…
Go double check, I just did. By the time she finishes saying “here I come” she has only just hit charge level 4. Matter of fact in japanese VO she hasn’t hit it by the time she finishes saying it. Full charge focus is still faster by quite a bit.
The thing is, you reach charge well before the game forces a release but the time to reach level 4-5 is still long.
It is a 44frame charge to reach level 4 and a 64 frame charge to reach level 5. They all also have a startup frames after you release the charge. 8F for LP, 15F for MP and 20F for HP. So to hit a level 5 charged hayate is AT MINIMUM a 84F move.
Fully charged focus is a 50F charge and 14F animation. So 64F total. meaning that it is faster than even a LP fully charged hayate which is at minimum 71F. If you want to go with something of nearly equal speed you can go with a level 4 charged MP hayate which is a minimum of 59F and does 5 more damage than a full focus. However a full focus gives 60meter, hayate only gives 40 on hit.
FYI You hit level 5 at 64F for all versions of Hayate, and you can hold the charge for 124F total.
Focus slaps two levels of scaling on your follow ups though.