Heyo. I've come to realize that whiff cancel, while a good idea, doesn't mesh well with the current game design. Yes, making it take burst is a good step, but it still is far too powerful.  Free cancel is a much better alternative, which doesn't possess the same issues. Having both seems unnecessary. 

Whiff cancel, as it is, diminishes the importance of reads and other predictive measures. If my opponent makes a bad move, I will naturally attempt to capitalize. Whiff cancel eliminates the ability to capitalize (mostly. you can read the whiff cancel, but that doesn't give you much to work with.)

I understand that it can be another tool -- for example, baiting someone in before whiff cancelling -- but it currently allows for sloppy plays, and punishes predictive gameplay. I don't think it should be removed, but perhaps it should be toned down. In most situations, it either forces the opponent to use their own whiff cancel (if they have one), or get comboed for trying to exploit a bad move.

Could yall explain what part of this I got wrong? I love this game, but whiff cancel feels kind of under baked. Thanks in advance!

In my own (and limited) experience, whiff cancel gets fucking destroyed by frame traps. Keep in mind a VERY important aspect of whiff canceling: they can only do something that has a hitbox so if u use a move out that'd hit them relatively fast they just wasted the burst to get counterhit instead XD.

Also if u suspect there might be a whiff cancel incoming bc u outspaced them or something like that u can use a free cancel on the punish move. If they dont whiff cancel u get the free cancel back since u did hit them and it wasnt a combo. If they do whiff cancel u get to adjust accordingly (they must throw out a move) and either parry, use an invincible move with Iniciative or just change your position so they whiff again and then cash out.

But again this is from my limited experience so i might be wrong lol

whiff cancel used to be a lot more powerful, but i've toned it down. Generally it is a counterable move - you must act with the knowledge that the opponent has it available to them. Tournament-wise, no top players have complained about it, and i don't consider it to be degenerative play, but we're still working out the details.

Whiff Cancel is honestly kinda weak, the fact that you can only convert to Attacks or "Hold" which leaves you vulnerable for a while yet, means that its a shoddy defense tool if the opponent is actionable, often you'll just use a different attack thats still gonna get dodged or beat out, whereas Free Cancel just straight up lets you feint

lets say its a preemptive burst

U try to escape a combo BEFORE it happens

This is true. It's all true. Everything said here to one extent or another is totally true. I remember when Whiff cancel was one of the biggest mechanics in the game. Free cancel supplanted it, and my goodness, it's been better for it. Though, two goons throwing everything and the kitchen sink at one another with 4 whiff cancels, was actually pretty fun ngl. But like, for actual serious play, whiff cancel was prolly the most annoying and dumb thing. An option to make it cost less would be fun to re-create the stupid crap we used to do back in the day though lmao.