Is Makoto Really THAT Bad?

I always believed that Makoto wasn't that bad in SSF4 and that there was some untapped potential that would eventually be figured out. I was sure that her Hayate cancel (canceling the recovery of a normal attack with a fake Hayate) would be broken in a way that made her a real threat.

Recently, Justin Wong has won two tournaments using Makoto! The video below shows how Justin plays Makoto, and it turns out that the cancel may not be as useful as I thought. He does use it to cancel the recovery on a c.MP at least once, but does not use it in combos. He uses MP, MP links very often. In fact, he uses standing and crouching MP constantly. If standing MP gets a counter-hit, he links the c.HP sweep afterwards. He constantly uses Oroshi (the overhead chop) not just as anti-air, but as a counter to many attacks. It also lets him mix up the opponent with an occasional c.LK into Hayate combo. Then, when they least expect it, he can grab them with the Karakusa.

Another interesting technique is Justin's use of Makoto's amazingly fast dash. He dashes towards and away at key moments, often putting himself into perfect range for a c.HP sweep. He dashes under jump attacks to completely avoid them. Makoto's dash may be her best asset; you can totally rush the opponent down or quickly retreat as the situation permits. I think it is safe to say that she is NOT worse than Hakan!