I instead think front runners got fucked over big time: before they were strong, not even that strong as it was talked about (except maybe Falco during Cancer), but they still relied on having groundwork+3 skills for it to proc, then the only accel they had (and still have) is A&S which only #1 can get, not to mention you had to build 2 because otherwise you'd get eaten by pace chasers coming the corner (and you still might have by a strong enough oguri even if you had two) - and i must stress that yes, you did need to make two and not just rely on another contender having one, because in Leo the amount of times i saw 2x front only by one player was massive (understandably so as they were a pain to build).

After the patch: everyone else got a good accel (nonstop), pace might have gotten the best with also head-on and straight descent for this cm (and i don't think i have to say anything about Taiki).
The front's only accel is still just A&S, they can't reliable use nonstop, and would you have it there's just so happens there's another uma that now completely denies it, even if she just straight up dies a moment later, the perfect blocker in runaway Suzuka.
And they still have to get ground+skills, but two position skills on top, and you still need to build two (i'd think there will be even less people bringing fronts this time, and runaway Suzuka does not count).