The ZSS to Bayonetta comparison baffles me to some extent. Bayonetta does not straight up outclass ZSS in every area. Pre-patch Bayonetta I would have probably agreed on, but post patch Bayonetta, comparing even to post patch ZSS, I do not agree.
The straight up, pure similarities include:
- Amazing (if not the two best) recoveries and disadvantage states.
- Fantastic and stylish combo and punishing games.
- Both have "ladder" combos that can lead into death.
- Both are tall, hot women ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) with strong Back Airs.
That's about where the
true similarities end. The two
are not as similar as people like to believe; on paper yes, but when you start to break them down you see the finer differences.
I'll start with the basic stuff; If anything, I want to say Bayonetta's punishes are more open, possibly more common to see due to the myriad of ways she can get them started. Bayonetta drops her overall punishes much easier than ZSS due to a variety of variables such as weights, timings, SDI and Rage. That and the fact that people still don't know the best ways to escape her combo game reliably also amplifies their effectiveness to some degree.
In the contrary, ZSS's punishes are a little more strict, but are what I would call, more deadly; they are less prone to being dropped. Now, this is in no way saying that Bayonetta's are not deadly in her own right, but more, if Bayonetta gets a Dtilt on you near the ledge, if you don't know how to DI or SDI, you will very likely be taking 30-40%% damage easy; stock loss is a possibility, but the stars have to be aligned in all areas for this to be the case. This is in contrast to ZSS, who may get a simple Nair or Dsmash into Flip Kick spike and end your stock right there. Yes, Witch Time is a thing and that can end stocks too but post patch it is not all that common anymore unless it's Witch Time into a KO move.
Another misconception I see is that people seem to believe that Bayonetta can finish stocks for free. At around 90%, unless you get that Bair, offstage gimp or Witch Time, she's going to be struggling to get that KO; Witch Twist and ABK have too much knockback to follow up on if the opponent DI's correctly (straight up or down for Twist, and in most cases down or down away is better for ABK; this means Uair cannot hit you).
ZSS has one thing that is absolutely more notable over Bayonetta, and that is movement speed/mobility. Bayonetta's merely average movement speed isn't really a huge problem all in all, but it does grant her less areas to quickly get that punish if she's not in range. ZSS's speed works hand in hand with her punish game. See a poor ledge getup from mid stage? No problem!; that's a free Dash Grab or even Nair which can end the stock. Bayonetta's can also possess more issues against faster characters like ZSS herself, Fox, notably Sonic, or even Captain Falcon; it can become hard to safely punish everything these characters can throw at you from their safe distance.
Their neutral games are... similar. Both of them require spacing around their opponent attempting to poke and get that initial confirm. ZSS's neutral is what I would call arguably safer though, thanks to her possessing pretty much a sword in her Zair, and her speed only makes her ability to weave in and out of the opponent easier. Effectively, with ZSS it's more poke
outside of the opponent's range; with Bayonetta it's more poke around
inside the opponent's range with Nair and Dtilt until something gets started. ZSS's Nair and Bair are also incredibly quick and safe to throw out too, again, only boosted by her mobility.
I also want to say Bayonetta's disadvantage state is often overhyped. DISCLAIMER:
absolutely one of the best in the game, but Bat Within really isn't as amazing as people like to make it out to be; it is nothing more than a glorified airdodge. If Bayonetta uses Bat Within at the wrong time, it puts her into a
worse position than if she could have just airdodged normally. Example: if Mario Up Tilts Bayonetta into his Up Tilt strings into an Usmash, or even Dthrow into Usmash and Bayonetta gets out with a Bat Within, Mario can still regrab her; she'll have eaten the lower damage from the Up Smash but Mario can then regrab her. Meanwhile ZSS still has a frame 3 intangible get out of jail card that not only works as a psuedo-airdodge, but also resets neutral and positioning, allowing her to relive pressure more easily. Bat Within is amazing and life saving in many situations, don't get me wrong, but I would more than likely take Flip Kick with it's properties and usages over Bat Within in most cases. Simply straight up saying Bayonetta's disadvantage state is better than ZSS's is in my eyes very much debatable (and for both sides really; both have their advantages). While not indicative of their disadvantage states on the whole, I will also mention that while it's hard to edgeguard/gimp Bayonetta, certain characters do indeed have the tools they need to gimp her effectively. You do not gimp ZSS as well as Bayonetta.
I will finish by saying that I still believe Bayonetta to be the higher ranked character; in no way is this post an attempt to make Bayonetta look bad, or even make ZSS seem better than Bayonetta. What Bayonetta brings to the table often works more often for one reason or another, and her overall potential is something that is worth placing her higher for in the first place. I will also note that the risk ZSS takes whenever she uses a grab incorrectly is also a big flaw she has, which is something Bayonetta doesn't have to worry about. What this post is though, is an attempt to show how ZSS is not simply "inferior Bayonetta"; she's far from it. I think the fact that ZSS mains like Nairo and Marss haven't switched from her to Bayonetta speaks a lot too. If she really was inferior, I suppose this would have happened by now, a bit like 2ManyCooks with Doc, for example.
(and in case you cannot tell from my signature, I do use both of these characters; one other thing they do have in common is that they are soooo fun to play as and amazing to watch)
