i get you but lets focus on what you said at first, if they don't have meter, dude you start with one bar in this game and meter building especially on takeda is easy. i can accept the weakness up close, if they holes in his mid range game were covered up, i have no problem with that anymore, but the fact that its super easy to get through means he doesn't even have a strength mid screen and farther because its unsafe.
Can't speak to how fast other characters can build meter against him but as Raiden I need to be on you to build, and if I don't have meter for whatever reason it can be annoying.
Just took Takeda to the lab for a bit and could have possibly found a solution to the gaps in his mid range game.
Testing against Lao's Cyclone almost all whip moves except maybe one(don't remember, 21 I think unless done at absolutely max range) can be made safe with teleport cancels which means they have to armor with an advancing move to punish if you're spacing properly.
Then I tested the string against Reptile's Slippery Slide. It blew up all of his teleport cancels; however, if you just delay your teleport slightly for the reversal timing then he reversals toward your old position and you teleport to the other side. In this case, Reptile's slide puts him full screen and he recovers quick enough so you can't do anything about it.
When I tested this against Raiden(my main) for my regular reversal options to blow up Kunai, if I Electric Fly and you delay teleport: I waste a bar of meter, you get a free Far Kunai punish for some free damage, and you're full screen with a favorable neutral for Takeda. If I Shocker and you delay teleport, you're directly behind me, and recover in time for a full combo punish.
From there you create a mind game off of teleport: are you going to cancel or delay? Does your opponent want to spend a bar of meter preemptively and possibly get full combo punished for it, or is he going to wait and see if you cancel? Hell, I only tested against a 6 frame reversal, against slower ones YOU might be able to punish on reaction to his reversal for all we know. And if he respects your options, you might even be able to cancel into more pressure first since he is playing a reaction game.
Then off of that mind game you can start Kunai'ing more because your opponent could be watching for your teleport shenanigans.
Probably tricky to implement, but I just gave you your options that covers your midscreen holes. Now go find punishes for the rest of the cast, and make a thread for the rest of your fellow Takeda's. I don't feel developing tech in depth for a character I don't play.
Edit: You CAN react to reversals(if you want you can even watch where "REVERSAL" pops up on the screen). Only debate would be whether or not Close Kunai is within the realm of reaction(11 frame SU).
In the lab I can just barely react to the Close Kunai animation and input my reversal to punish. But I'm testing this alone and can't really set it to do either Close Kunai or teleport so hard to say if I am just reacting to Takeda doing any animation or if I could do it for Kunai only ten out of ten times without doing it for teleport. Even then in a tournament setting it seems like only the very best would be able to react, as they're is just barely enough time it seems.
But I'm glad tech isn't being buried beneath the mountain of salt like I thought it would, and I hope the Takeda players in here that want to actually improve their meta, versus those who are just here to complain, are seeing it and taking it to the lab themselves.
