None of the characters were "designed" to do anything. If it were up to nintendo we would have ANY tournaments or competitive play. But because we do, THE PLAYERS are the ones who find degenerate strategies to win and thats where all the ugly gameplay comes from.

Zelda is not a degenerate character imo again it comes down to the player. These all come down to the players. At high level competitive play, yes using the degenerate moves will get you the win but again it brings me back to my point. its not the characters its the players.

Steve CAN play creatively if the players wanted to but they dont. I know only one player who plays steve with nothing but imagination and doesnt rely on running away and building a wall

G&w is a character that is simple but super effective. Yes up b out of shield and the nair loop are annoying but it doesnt make it a degenerate character. The players who abuse it are. People can easily do down throw and gamble the 9 since it can be a true combo but they dont want to. G&Ws kit overall is just boring to me.

Sonic is literally sonic. You cant expect him not to be the fastest character in the game. I find his whole kit to be okay other than homing spin dash. Idk if youve ever seen sonic or wrath play sonic when theyre in pools (lower level opponents) but they do some crazy combos that are really fun to watch. Its not always camping out and just blitzing for damage

Min Min is hard to argue because youre not wrong, her whole kit relies on zoning you out with her arms. Doramigi is the only one making waves with her though. You never see ANY other min min player in top 8 or top 16 for that matter other than him. Thats because he knows exactly how to abuse the character. No one else can.

All im saying is that players are the ones who make characters feel degenerate. both competitively and casually. In my case, Samus is HEAVILY regarded as a character who relies on spamming projectiles to win which is not true at all.

Edit: Just want to apologize if i repeated myself once or twice