Illuminose
Smash Ace
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2015
- Messages
- 671
Minordeth
frame trapping is one of bayo's strongest attributes in advantage state. she can cover many different angles of escape with her various hitboxes, and they have low enough of end lag to frame trap in each other. for example, up b can frame trap an air dodge into nair or uair, potentially. uair frame traps air dodge into another uair or nair or up b, depending on the scenario. to cover landings, bayo can do a sh aerial into a dtilt or up b (as seen also when she does dtilt fair, covers air dodge with another dtilt or up b). those are just some examples, obviously excluding using the extended hitboxes to cover air dodge. bayonetta is the single best character in the game at frame trapping opponents in her overall advantage state.one of the things i think that people still don't get about bayo is why her neutral is strong. if you watch salem play, he's fighting neutral against diddy, sheik, cloud, sonic, pikachu, etc and contending extremely well, frequently either going even or winning more exchanges than he loses. his sets against zero this weekend were not defined by his punishes, but rather his ability to combat zero's style of diddy kong neutral. bayonetta is one of the best characters at forcing the match to play at her pace because she has so much control over how she engages her opponents, a trait we saw salem exploit to the fullest.
bayonetta's defensive capabilities are absolutely unparalleled because you can't really force her into a bad position - she has the best disadvantage state in the game by far, and she can always cover herself with many hitboxes and options. anyone who has watched a top bayo knows what i'm talking about, but to give you an idea, she can cover many approaches with dtilt, up b, sh spaced nairs, bair, bullets, drop off stage and immediately side b, etc and always has the potential to witch time a predicted attack or escape to platforms/ledge if she feels uncomfortable with engaging. in many cases, even if you could approach her and find an opening, the risk/reward is so lopsided that you have to push your openings and advantages with incredible care. for example, you could try to punish a whiff, but she can often cover it with up b or something else and either reset or turn the attempted punish into a devastating combo. even the characters with the best approach options in the game have to play with patience and care against bayonetta's tight, lethal defense.
the thing that people often cite is that bayo has a lackluster approach game. i think this is true to some extent, but it misrepresents how bayo should play the game and the actual consequences she faces for this. bayonetta has rather mediocre options out of dash, as her dash attack and dash grab are both quite underwhelming, and she lacks an effective rising aerial to approach with other than fair against taller characters. she can use up b and escape safely (usually), but that's about it. the hallmark of good bayo neutral is solid use of short hops, walking, and perfect pivots to apply pressure to her opponents. that way, she can mix up her spacing and apply all of her different options like dtilt (pp, out of walk, tomahawk, step dash), spaced nair, fair, bair, up b, tomahawk grab, and dive kick. although she might not have the best overall approach options in the game, the important part is that she can throw out a lot of things safely and cover you trying to punish her whiffs, so she can essentially toss out options and bully you into gambling with an approach or giving up stage. if you give up stage, now you're in a bad position because essentially any miscalculation can lead to death. try to jump out of the corner? she can kill you. try to aggressively escape the corner? she can kill you. sit in shield and patiently find your opening to escape? she can throw you off stage and potentially kill you unless you have a recovery that just won't get gimped. it's not checkmate because she cannot do everything at once, but every option you pick to escape the corner is gambling with your stock. so, bayonetta can't really force her way at you in the same way a sheik or fox can, but she can bully you with safe options and mixups really well until she finds some opening and converts it into big damage. this is why bayonetta can still play patient and smart from behind, which is the usual reason why not having amazing approach options can become an issue. the additional layer to this that i haven't mentioned is that bayonetta's 'lackluster approach options' can become highly effective mixups when sprinkled in alongside the things i mentioned, which is why you'll see top bayo players go for and get grounded side b, dash attack, or dash grab against characters that absolutely have the options to deal with them if that's what you're relying on.
if it wasn't clear, i do think bayonetta is the best character in the game, as i have since like last fall. people were so convinced that she'd be adapted to, and she has, but *surprise* there was (and still is) a ton of room to develop bayonetta's neutral to contend more effectively with top tier neutrals and punish game to counteract sdi/di. i think enough characters can reasonably fight her (even or slight disadvantageous mu) that we shouldn't go into discussions of whether she's broken or banning her or anything like that, but i think it's abou time that we realize this game has a true best character. bayonetta is not leaps-and-bounds ahead of cloud, sheik, or diddy, but she is the best character in the game.
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