Chapter 4.2
Kill Options: Finding ways around
As everyone and their grandma knows Bayonetta has an unreasonably hard time killing in Ultimate, but that doesnt mean you have to pack up your bags just yet. There are a few methods we can employ to circumvent her inability to close out stocks. These methods will be the topic of this chapter.
Verse 6
Edge Guarding
Even with Bayos extreme recovery strength, edge guarding is high risk activity, but the reward of closing a stock makes the risk worth it. You risk retaliation and even more so you risk over extending, either by going out too far and/or misusing resources.
BA Nair/Uair is one of Bayonettas greatest edge guarding tools if only for the fact that you dont expend your recovery specials. By doing the extended version(BA) you create a constant hitbox that your opponent has to deal with. The hitboxes are fairly low strength but will knock the opponent farther from stage or into the side for a stage spike the former being most preferable as its likely they could tech the stage. I can just see a Captain falcon doing a stage tech into Dair.. anyways! BA Uair is slight better to BA Nair, only cause the hitbox covers more screen area making it much harder to air dodge
WTw1 is great against opponents trying to come to ledge from above or you can drop below and catch them if they're far enough out. Is often a good low risk option because after you hit the move you can jump right back to the stage. The knockback of WTw1 will put the opponent infront of you, so it's best to do it pointed away from the stage, You can push them out further by doing a jump fair string after which can just kill at really high percents. You also can go into something like AbK > JcWTw2 > Fair/Nair if you want to be stylish, but it's the less safe option as you use more resources and your opponent could potenially slip out.
WTw2 can have the same effectiveness of WTw1 but your more likely to hit WTw2 when chasing an opponent high up off stage, in this scenario Jump canceling WTw1/WTw2 is best to optimize height and mobility. Unlike WTw1, things like Fair and even sometimes Dair can be done directly after so you dont need to spend your jump.
AbK is not really much of an edge guarding tool. It can be effective for chasing an opponent far off stage and oppressing them with your other tools and it can be used to catch them and carry them either further off stage or into a blastzone. More than anything though, I believe AbK is best for retreating. Having a high amount of horizontal distance, it is good for getting back to stage especially if you've spent most of if not all of your vertical resources edge guarding. BA AbK does have a slight increase in horizontal distance(about a block in the training room), something to consider when recovering.
Aerials can be effective but are more likely to be following up on a special as opposed to using them on their own. Their usage on their own would be no different than if you used them as kill options. The exception being Fair 1 can be used to push out unsuspecting opponent, but combing Fair 1 into itself isnt all that reliable, at most you might be able to fake them out and get Fair 1 > Fair 123. trying for more than that wouldn't be reliable.
WT does have a place as an edge guarding tool, primarily though as combating your opponents attempt to recover. Certain Up Bs like Ness/Lucas or King K Rools are hard to challenge with just a move. By using WT you can contest them and either continue the edge guard or just close the stock.
Verse 7
Conditioning
With Bayos combo focused moveset, conditioning the opponent to expect certain follow up couldn't be easier. For example, a easy follow up after Dtilt would be Fair. After doing this combo enough, the opponent will begin to expect it, this is when you punish!... well kinda. You see conditioning is only half the battle.
Before utilizing a conditioned option, you must know what your opponent prefers to do when put in a disadvantage. The actions they have to choose from can fit info three categories, Defensive, Aggressive and neutral. A defense option might be airdodging either in place or away/ to the ground. Aggressive would be going for an aerial and neutral would simply be doing nothing. All these options are available to them when you attempt to punish a conditioned opponent, and the option they prefer will depend both on the player aswell as they character they are playing.
Now back to the example, you've used Dtilt > Fair 10 times and know its what they expect, you get another Dtilt and now have choose the best option for their preferred response. If they air dodge, charging a smash attack is good to punish after the invincibility ends, depending on stage positions and percentage getting a grab can also be effective. If they're more aggressive going for WT can be effective, spot dodging pushing the landing is also a good option. Neutral is the least likely option to be picked but is Also the hardest to prepare for, in this case its likely they're aware of the conditioning and are waiting for you to commit to an option they can punish themselves. For a neutral response, patience is your friend.
Verse 8
Baiting
Bayonetta still benefits from a bait and punish play style in ultimate, her punishes just arent nearly so brutal. Baiting is quite similar to Conditioning but is more general. You dont have to play half a set of even half a match to successfully bait.
To put it simply, Baiting is when you perform a noncommittal action in hopes of getting a response from your opponent for you to then punish. Baiting methods fit into two categories, Moves and Movements. Moves refer to the actual special and attack inputs where as Movements refer to where you position your self on stage and in the air. Now let's go over how this relates to Bayonetta.
Moves
The majority a Bayonettas moves are have a fair bit of endlag, she doesn't have any deceptively quick FAFs built into her kit(think Smash 4 ganon upsmash). The only exception is Bullet Climax... kinda.
BC does have a relatively decent amount of endlag, but the up side is you can cancel it! Once you begin charging BC, you can only cancel once it's been fully charged. Because of this you can bait out an option from your opponent and that you can punish. The most common use of this is when you're opponent is recovering high to bait out an air dodge. Depending on their position you can punish with a smash attack or if the air dodge farther off stage you can more easily edge guard the opponent as you've made them use a resource.
I've seen Upsmash used as a way to bait an opponent on ledge but besides that Bayo doesn't have much in the way of moves
Movements
Movement is probably the most important tool you're given in smash. When it comes to Baiting there are many options that movement gives you, or even lack of movement. Standing still, or just walking away can bait the opponent to approach. For bayonetta this is something to consider greatly, as her biggest weakness is a lack of approach options. What can be more effective how ever is making your opponent think you're going to approach.
Short hopping/fast falling is a great way to bait out an option from an aerial opponent. By going towards them and retreating, you're creating a space they think is safe to be in, or atleast that's the idea. Say for example you Sh and they air dodge away, depending on percent you can punish with an Aerial or AbK/WTw to go for a combo.
Dash dancing is good to keep your opponent guessing on where you'll be. A good what to use it for baiting would be to dash in then do a dash back. That's dashing out then immediately back in towards the opponent. The bait lies in them thinking you're not approaching any more. Say dashing in makes them shield, but when they see you dash out the might stop shielding cause they think they're safe but really have made themselves open for attack. You can even take this a step further. If your opponent expects you to dash back, they're likely to stay in shield you then can change your option and just dash in for a grab Or even dash back into a grab if an attack is what they expect. Whats important here is to keep the cards in you hand, when youre the one making the choices like that youre in Advantage, and for Bayo its best to stay there as long as possible.
This chapter proved much more difficult to write than I anticipated, I believe thats largely due to the fact that these concepts are a bit out of my league, baiting and conditioning atleast. Hopefully the information i provided is helpful or can get you thinking about ways to incorporate them into your own playstyle. I may revisit this chapter if anything ever becomes more clear to me or i find a better way of explaining things. Here are some videos on the topic of baiting that may explain the concept better, one video goes over the idea of giving up space as a way to bait out an opening. One video uses melee for an example but the concept can still be applied to smash as a whole
Space baiting
Baiting breakdown
Did I mention baiting?
As for the next chapter, it will cover something i seemed to have over looked....
