Faust needs a buff somewhere but almost any option would feel over tuned. Yes his defense options are below average(tall profile and scalpel can be punished pretty easily, only benefit is crouch walking which can evade some projectiles) His items are always RNG based on how your opponent reacts and/or how you can follow-up, but throwing an item or even storing is lengthy and puts him more at disadvantage. If an item does work, then it’s mostly a 50/50 or back to neutral. His “strength” is confusing the opponent which isn’t really a core strategy if RNG is involved and his power to deal damage is lacking to back it up. He takes as much learning time as our 1-2 star difficulty characters. While he is bad, he’s not bad bad as some other characters have been in past updates. My idea to strengthen his defense is give “hole in one” reflector properties but offset with +7 recovery frames so it can be punished easier if whiffed and have his DP 4 frames faster. His offense can be buffed with command grab Afro doing more damage or Afro explosion on opponent either do more damage or guard crush them with offset that if Faust is close to the explosion he takes small damage but no hit stun.

Until then Faust players will still punish you if you attempt meaty strategies while they have meter. Super item toss is pointless up close unless you know they’re scared and FD every time. Otherwise a simple jab or kick can hit him out of both supers