3H+K is whif punisher.... I thought his range & space was the best thing about him.
I would disagree with that because while he has better range than most characters it's not better than what he can do to you up close. At long range he has:
3H+K- Not very fast and is telegraphed. People hold this on reaction so you can really only use it for whiff punishment if you aren't being ballsy. Stuns on hit.
214PPP-Cant speak on this but it launches on normal hit and is unsafe on block.
214K- plus 2 on block but like 3H+K is a mid kick, so people will hold this too.
These moves are definitely serviceable but not enough to make a gameplan around IMO. Compare those to Ayane's:
11K - fast evasive tracking move.
236K - fast long range whiff punisher
11P - fast evasive guard break for +5
33KKK or 33KK2K (from BT) - low hitting tracking kicks that stun.
Her rolling throw and rolling jump kick from BT.
3H+K - good range guaranteed 94 damage combo on counter hit if you are able to hit with the 4K BT launcher.
The reason I say his whiff punishment game is not as good as Ayane's is because he cannot win games by forcing people to whiff moves like she can nor are his options better than hers. If you try to play him that way you are relying on people making mistakes because he isn't evasive and lacks fast ranged options so he cannot bait and punish moves.
Up close / mid range Hayate has:
236T - guaranteed 72 points of damage.
236P- mid range whiff punisher.
41236T-unbreakable combo throw that launches (Imagine what he could do with this on the home stage. I should test some stuff out.) Inflicts 97 points of damage on hi-counter when you complete the throw and slams people into the environment for additional damage.
9P - Stuns on normal and counter hit. 9PP is a 2 in 1 that cannot be held or evaded in any way when the opponent is stunned.
3PP - Unholdable stun. 3P alone is hold bait that allows him to get 97 points damage off of Hi-Counter Nakiryu.
PP string guard breaks - +1 isnt really all that great IMO but its something. You can use them to work in 236T or stun / continue pressure.
2H+K - The opponent has to respect your options after this stun because its like +8 at the least. So almost everything you do will beat them out.
3K - safe on block and hit. stuns on counter hit. Really good move to start the stun game with.
His wind dash P and T.
You can see that Hayate has way more options up close / mid range than he does at long range. Hayate excels when his opponent is stunned. He hits hard without having to CB and all of his juggles and throws slam people into the wall so there is a chance you can inflict even more damage when you have your opponent cornered. If you try to play a defensive whiff punishment based Hayate you neglect this strategy and most of these moves which will neuter his damage output because you are busy trying to land counter hit 3H+K, 214PPP or 214K. With the occasional 236T throw punish when your opponent does something unsafe.
EDIT: I'm not saying you should be blitzing people with Hayate either. You have to play a controlled rushdown game with him. You move in when the opportunity presents itself and after you complete combos give yourself some distance and repeat the process. He is too unsafe and has poor mixups so he cant use a pure rushdown strategy.