Hear me out... Psycho Man is one of the most powerful champions in the entire game
Noodle this, noodle that. Ebony Maw 2.0 this, Ebony Maw 2.0 that.
Seatin called Psycho Man very underwhelming. KT1 called him a noodle and didn't acknowledge his phenomenal utility and control. Most of the community is sleeping on Psycho-Man.
Psycho Man possesses an insanely powerful ability in which he can quite literally control a fight, a game breaking mechanic. After throwing an sp2 in doubt mode, he places a special lock debuff on the opponent and makes the opponent very passive, allowing a smooth heavy rotation in the corner. Coupled with his insane power gain in this phase, he can literally spam unblockable sp2s and heavy chain in the corner for every single fight. Obviously this will not work in certain scenarios like debuff immunity, debuff shrug off, or unstoppable, but where it works, he is arguably a top 3 option in the game for it. Let me explain why and let me explain what I perceive "control" to be in this game. Quake possesses the most powerful ability in the game, which is that she can hold heavy in the corner and shut off all abilities, do damage on the opponent, and keep the opponent at 0 bars of power (barring passive power gain). She is by far the most broken control champion in the entire game. After Quake, I perceive Doctor Doom to be the 2nd best control champion because of his insane control of fights through his rotation. After one sp3 in a fight, Doom basically has the opponent locked down forever, while doing some insane damage, controlling power, and nullifying buffs. Most would probably consider Ghost to be the 2nd or 3rd best control champion, but when we consider control, I don't think she makes the top 3. Obviously, she's the 2nd best champion in the game and is also 2nd best utility wise, while hitting insane damage numbers, but when it comes to control, she has no real way to control AI behavior. No power control (Hood synergy is nice for tanking sp3s), no taunt, no AI controlling behavior to make them more passive/aggressive, etc. Most champions can function just fine without this control aspect of a kit, but in Psycho Man's kit, it makes him stand out. Barring anti-debuff and other niche anti-Psycho Man nodes, Psycho Man can keep the opponent locked down in the corner for the entirety of the fight. A super powerful ability. This alone, regardless of damage and other utility, is a broken ability. Extremely powerful.
But that's not all. Psycho Man can do other things. In a fight where you don't necessarily need power control, he can keep up a passive heal block with nearly 100% uptime, gain power from different scenarios such as hitting into the opponent's block, and reduce the ability accuracy of opponents while performing certain attacks. He also has critical resistance higher than any champion's base crit rate, making him an anti-crit tank against critical hits, an extra safety net. I would not call him a tank by any means though because of his average health and block proficiency.
Lastly, I want to address the "noodle" talk about Psycho Man by saying that yes, his damage is not top tier, but he is in no way a noodle. In fact, if you're going for a damage rotation in a certain fight, his damage is great. Let's look at stats real quick (5 star rank 5 sig 200). Off the sp2, he can gain a fury buff, increasing attack by nearly +3000, a huge attack bonus. This can stack twice, summing up to a +6000 attack bonus. This is massive. Absolutely massive.
- Nick Fury's fury boosts his attack by roughly +4100
- All 3 of Medusa's fury buffs together increase her attack by roughly +1300
- 1 of Doctor Doom's fury buffs increases his attack by roughly +3900
- Max Binary Ignition CMM (5 fury buffs) increases her attack by roughly +3500
- Stealthy Spidey's fury passive increases his attack by roughly +5500 (this is his fury potency at sig 200, which grants him +40% fury potency)
- Captain America IW's heavy attack with 5 kinetic charges grants him a fury passive increasing his attack by roughly +5800, lasting 5 seconds
Enough of the comparisons, I think it's clear that Psycho Man, when he needs damage, has the numbers to compete with the top dogs. His damage is not always going to be +6000, as it depends on his rotation. If you're going for the special lock heavy spam, you won't be keeping up the fury buffs, but that doesn't really matter because you'll have the opponent locked down in the corner. The damage won't matter in those situations. When you need damage, the massive +6000 attack bonus will be waiting for you. So, please no Ebony Maw comparisons...
Overall, Psycho Man is an amazing champion, filled with tons of utility, damage when it is needed, but most importantly, one of the most powerful control abilities in the entire game (in my opinion at least).
So bust those cavs open in sets of 10, grind out the 5* arena until you cry, hoard crystals for the next 6* featured, for when the community realizes how great he really is (Human Torch-esque mistake), the apology from Psycho Man doubters will need to be as loud as the disrespect.
