Paulo was in the OBS stream tonight, and Tom Brady went ahead and asked if dashes could be cancelled. This was his response in the chat.

Pakostevens: you can dash->runcancel->block/jump/attack/backdash cancel the run

Pakostevens: if you have energy

When asked if energy was the same as meter, he responded with this:

Pakostevens: not super meter. the energy gauge

Pakostevens: you can dash,run,attack

These comments are copied and pasted from the chat and can be double-checked in the stream archive. Unless I'm misinterpreting Paulo, we can pretty much say goodbye to dash cancelling with normals/blocking.

However, if the run-cancelling is what I'm interpreting it to be, the MK9 dash pressure may live on as a resource-dependent mechanic. It's hard to pass judgment now. This is one of those things where we're just going to have to wait and see. This may end up being incredibly smart in the long run.

My biggest worry is this: if run-cancel pressure works the same as MK9 dash pressure, and run-pressure is energy-dependent, then that means the other player KNOWS if you have the resources to do it. That may hurt the meta-game.

(keep in mind, pushback was also a huge factor in MK9's dash pressure; pushback may work differently in MKX)