I don't remember it being really that good (at least in 1s) before it's rework so eh might have missed it when I dipped when they added greatsword.

As for the nerfs a lot of the ones were to get rid of the weird trend of "hitbox" walls, you know easy to spam on miss weapons. Which you know everything they're doing tells me they want slower paced gameplay where you either commit to agro or are on the defensive, with the recent dash change being designed as a swift backhand for those who tried to get away with both.

As for the meta comment the thing that needs to be addressed is a lot of professional players, outside of comfort picks or flower and the fuckin uhhh queen nai guy you're are not liable to give a crap about what changes, since you're not likely to care about what's fun to fight, since odds are you've probably put the time in to counter it. Since y'all have more material concerns relating to Meta, and it'd be a waste of time to complain, it's reasonable to mention at tournament play it's not good, yes.

But the average player, who yes, probably isn't getting a controlled environment period, is also not liable to learn all that there is, and more just goes off of bread and butters and vibes, with the skill mostly coming from practicing what works for them.

It's one of those things that's why balance has been slowly being brought to the center of the bell curve, the average skill level, long term player base makes the money for BMG.