GODDAMN THE SADAKO REWORK FEELS SO GOOOOD

I am back from a long dbd break, besides being really busy I really didn't like many of the new killers, knight, skull merchant and especially that alien thing really didn't make it for me and Sadako kept being neglected. When I read she was being changed I got excited until I read the original ptb notes, part of what made Sadako so fun to me was the whole "guess where the survivor is going" to build up condemned so I didn't really like the idea of mapwide condemned and survivors just being able to have more control over her power. I didn't even bother with the PTB because I felt they had gutted her in more ways than one.

Now that I have actually played her on live I must say.

HO

LY

MO

LY

This is the most fun I have had in ages in any game. This is an upgrade to Sadako in every single way possible. besides chase power (which yeah I agree no longer being able to build up bloodlust kind of sucks but Sadako is probably the last killer you should play if you want to wreck survivors in chases)

• Map wide condemned is INSANE, if survivors don't start doing side objectives they are utterly screwed. This is what I think Sadako should have been from the beginning, it feels more thematically appropriate (though it kind of doesn't make sense that TVs turn off when you put a tape on them, you are supposed to be spreading the curse to others to save yourself, but I get why it can't be done balance wise).
• The rate at which TVs turn means you can teleport constantly which I think easily makes her one of the best teleport killers in the game, even more so than dredge because it is more consistent. It feels incredibly fast paced, I really feel like I have control over the whole map.
• At first I thought survivors not gaining condemned from tapes and instead having to hit them was kind of crappy, but after the buffs I found this new mechanic to be AMAZING. It really adds a layer of complexity to her gameplay that I find really enticing, where will the survivor go next? when is the appropriate time to telepport to catch survivors holding a tape off guard? It's the biggest upgrade to her gameplay in my opinion.
• I would have liked a better add-on pass, but still, some of the changes to her add-ons are exquisite, I am kind of sad over iri's tape nerf (people are saying new iri tape is better but I really can't agree, it makes survivors' movement too unpredictable), but some of the buffs really compensate for it
  • I would have never imagined I would ever say this, but videotape copy is easily one of her best add-ons. Why? A huge part of her new gameplay style revolves around teleporting to TVs before survivors can start grabbing tapes avoid the large cooldown when survivors grab a tape in order to be able to build up condemned faster, this makes it so you can teleport constantly making grabbing tapes virtually impossible. The penalty is minimal compared to the effect of having basically insta tvs. I think BHVR should aim to make more add-ons like this one instead of the same boring useless meme add-ons absolutely no one uses.
  • Distorted photo finally being made useful is great and brings back some memories from her old gameplay, pretty appropriate for the add-on I would like to add.
  • Mother's comb is good but kind of overrated in my opinion, a huge part of playing Sadako since the beginning is learning to make reads on survivors to know where they will go, this add-on just makes that easier. I would say that, if anything, it's just really good training wheels for players newer to her condemned gameplay.
  • I would have liked to see more add-ons like Yoichi's net, it's garbage but the concept is cool. Telephone (another horrible add-on) for instance could be reworked so that survivors get more hindered the more stacks of condemned they have.
  • Remote is easily her best add-on now and I really think it could use a nerf, on some maps where TVs are really close to gens (most indoor maps and haddonfield) it is borderline overpowered. 7 SECONDS is HUGE, especially when paired with lethal pursuer (which is already one of the best perks you can currently run on Sadako). 12 meters is also way too generous. Against good Sadakos you probably won't be able to grab any tapes at all with the amount of info it gives you.

I do agree that it may be too much on the survivor side, especially for solos, there are plenty of counterplay options but most are pretty hard to get a grip on for most survivors. Some of the tactics I have found good survivors using so far are:

• Hiding in lockers just when they are about to get downed (they avoid getting the two stacks of condemned)
• Grabbing the tape as soon as TVs turns on (it is really annoying because it kind of kils early game momentum which you most desperately need)
• Using plot twist, basically the locker strategy but better since you can do it anywhere at any time
• Looping her lmao, I literally can do nothing against good loopers. She has ZERO looping potential, and no, invisibility out of manifestation is not antiloop (it makes for some good mindgames though).

Overall a great change. I really don't get all the posts saying she is worse now. They probably are playing her like dredge 2.0 and just teleporting to TVs to get closer to gens which was never the optimal (or even fun) way to play her.