....with the rule change do you get to have both abilities or just one? I mean plus 2 to def in close combat and get to choose if you take auto knockback?

You get to use all the abilities for Cr as they come up. Let's take a character with say 4 clicks of front-loaded CR.

When it is attacked in close combat, it gets +2 Defense and you can state that you are going to take KB from the attack. So the cc attack hits and (for example) your fig takes 2 damage...and therefore 2 squares of KB...off the elevated terrain! But...your character still has CR on the dial after taking damage, so it would ignore KB damage!

I just wanted to point out that while taking knockback on any attack with Combat Reflexes is optional, the other parts are not - they are active as long as the power is, and the only way to get rid of them is to turn off Combat Reflexes altogether.
For instance, if you for some reason WANT your Close Combat fig to be hit by an attack, you can turn off Combat Reflexes in order to avoid the +2 defense bonus. However, if you do, you cannot choose to take knockback.

well what about forceback? what if you use FB to sent someone into a wall would they not take damage? because of the combat reflexs yes or no?

If CR is showing at the moment the character hits the wall, it will not take knockback damage. So in your example, the figure would not take damage.

That's not quite correct.
COMBAT REFLEXES (OPTIONAL): Modify this character’s defense value by +2 against close combatattacks. This character may choose to be knocked back by any attack from which it takes damage.Knockback damage dealt to this character is reduced to 0.

emphsis is mine. This allows a character to get the +2 to def. and still stay adjacent to the attacking character

thanks for the speed in which you replyed.