The dog's hard bite was completely unblockable in AC, this made it very easy to abuse against a cornered opponent. The Zappa player is performing this move as an immediate followup to a normal attack on Faust's wakeup, pressuring the opponent to respond to the setup with reversal timing in a way that's ultimately safe. Even a perfect counterplay from the Faust player in this situation would still only hit or trade with the dog, either leaving him vulnerable to Zappa himself or knocked down by the dog's bite, so despite not being a literal checkmate situation it was an uphill slope the Faust didn't even bother attempting to climb.
9:04 ???
The dog's hard bite was completely unblockable in AC, this made it very easy to abuse against a cornered opponent. The Zappa player is performing this move as an immediate followup to a normal attack on Faust's wakeup, pressuring the opponent to respond to the setup with reversal timing in a way that's ultimately safe. Even a perfect counterplay from the Faust player in this situation would still only hit or trade with the dog, either leaving him vulnerable to Zappa himself or knocked down by the dog's bite, so despite not being a literal checkmate situation it was an uphill slope the Faust didn't even bother attempting to climb.