After playing carl so long on controller/pad im pretty confident that i could pull off the same things that another Carl main could pull off on stick. My carls not all that amazing but i can get by with him just fine on controller. Maybe he can be played on stick to his full extent but i would not know cuz ive never played on a stick.
EDIT
It prob just seems that way when someone trys to play either of those characters A(X) B(Y) C(B) D(A)
Or.....the ps3 way but i dont know the button layout( Square,triangle,O, X?) Not sure about litchi but for carl it makes it to where you cant input moves for Nirvana and Carl at the same time which makes me understand what people mean when they say you cant play them right. Though most people dont try to change the controls around and play the character on controller......