Thought of a real simple change to Cody that would improve him dramatically but in a kind of boring way:
crLP remove 1F of recovery.
Move becomes +3/+7. Makes crLP - crHP possible so Cody has an actual reliable hit confirm into a heavy attack as well as a way to confirm to a force standing without an FADC allowing him to combo to HK Ruffian - EX FADC - U1 on crouching opponents for 2 bars instead of 4 (normally needs to FADC after a criminal upper)
Also makes his frame traps better since crLP is his main button.
crLP -> crMP becomes a 2F frame trap
crLP -> sMP becomes a 3F frame trap
crLP -> clsHP becomes a 5F frame trap
crLP -> crHP becomes a 4F frame trap.
Able to walk forward for 1F after a blocked crLP and still be safe (You don’t move for 2F after pressing a direction so you need a minimum of +3F to actually move AT ALL)
Able to confirm into sweep (previously only could do clsMP -> sweep)
And most notably: greatly buffs his damage output
generally his main confirmable combos are:
from a slight distance: crLP, crMP xx MK Ruffian Kick (184/230stun)
or crLP, crLP, crMP xx MK Ruffian (179/250stun))
crLP, crLP, crLP, crLK xx HP Criminal Upper (166/307stun)
hit confirm at point blank: crLP, crLP, crMP xx HP Criminal Upper (200/334 stun)
F-MP, crLP, crMP xx MK Ruffian (219/300stun)
F-MP, crMP xx MK Ruffian (224/280stun)
clsHP, crMP xx HP Criminal Upper (288/476)
This would boost a bunch of his combos up both through the damage from the crHP and the fact he can reliably combo to full hits HP Criminal Upper which is 30more damage than MK Ruffian:
crLP, crLP, crHP xx HP Criminal Upper (232/414stun)
crLP, crLP, crLP, crHP xx HP Criminal Upper (222/412stun)
F+MP, crLP, crHP xx HP Criminal Upper (272/464stun)
clsHP, crLP, crHP xx HP Criminal Upper (312/564stun)
Basically it would mean he’d no longer need to be point blank and landing closeHP to really be doing damage comparable to characters like Dudley. He’d be able to do bigger damage from hit confirms and from outside of throw range.
Probably be too good though tbh.