Sadeyo

Makoto's average damage without loop is not really all that great. about 2.1~2.9k and that's if you sacrifice oki. Her corner damage is much better, especially with meter, but her standard mid-screens simply don't have the pushback that loop does. Space loop allows three things. A: About 50 Heat Gain, B: A strong oki game, including a ground cross-up that I just learned about like 5 mins ago. C: Massive pushback from midscreen, usually ending in the corner. These along with rasing her average damage to 3.7~4.8k are what make the loop pretty much essential IMO. Other than that, she's hard to get in with, her pressure is pretty unsafe, her priority is kinda meh (as you saw when I was playing against Tao), and she some really horrid reversals. You can play her without ever looping, but the sad truth is, that it's pretty essential, which is what makes me think it was an intended combo instead of a "happy accident" by ASW.