Zetterburn - Remove the Stagger from his Side-Special#237

Zetterburn does too many things too well. Fast, relatively heavy, good recovery, pressure straight from hell. Those things alone would make him a strong character, but he also has access to large hitboxes and comboes incredibly well, both for percent and kill confirms. Nowhere is this more noticeable than his gimmick: Fire. This gimmick, by itself, is so utterly frustrating to me. Not only does it deal continuous damage, but it also increases his kill power dramatically.

^We all know this part.^

Ok, be that as it may, why nerf the projectile specifically?
Considering both players are grounded, which is often the case because dash-dancing and wave-dashing are so powerful in this game, a long range, horizontal projectile like Side-Special is absurdly neutral-defining. It forces an option from the opposing player, either shield, counter, spot-dodge or jump. By itself, this isn’t an issue. The issue is the risk-reward. Side-Special has COMICALLY little recovery, to the point that, if you aren’t already counter-attacking while it’s being executed, you are likely not making it in time for a proper punish. This, mind you, is a move that does damage, instant and over time, has no resource or cooldown to manage and, if it connects, leads into a full combo. If it connects on-shield, it’s a free opening for pressure. Maypul’ projectile doesn’t stagger. Lox has meatball, but that one suffers from relatively slow startup and flies slowly.
The closest comparison is Wrastor. And, unlike with Zetterburn, Wrastor’s projectile is actually balanced. It also staggers, leading into a combo, but it’s on a significant cooldown. It buffs Wrastor, while Fire effectively nerfs an opponent. The moves are similar, so why does the objectively stronger character have the far superior version of this move?

Some will argue that the move isn’t used all that much in top level play. That is a short-sighted argument to make. As soon as Zetterburn is a slight distance away, both players playing “footsies”, the move is always something the opponent has to keep in their mental stack.

There are dozens of ways to nerf Zetterburn and some of them should have been implemented months ago. But, personally, nothing feels more frustrating than a brawler-type character having one of the best projectiles in the game.