How to face a Bayonetta (Mindset)
Kdawn - May 19, 2017In the past, my encounters with Bayonetta have been irritating. Her seemingly unending combos get in your head, and you can't ever find an opening to deal any decent damage. As someone who counter-picks this high-tier character, I know her amazing strengths. However, there are a few ways to give yourself an advantage over this terrifying character.
1. Bayo's don't like approaching.
Bayonetta players don't like approaching. Her approaching options are Heel-slide and N-air. Not only are her approaching tools limited, they're also not effective against shield. Someone who plays defensively will have an upper-hand. There is one problem with playing defensively, however.
2. Dealing with Bullet Arts.
Bullet Arts can force you to approach, as they have long range and cannot be reflected. A Bayo who camps and fires Bullet Arts provides a huge problem for a large number of the cast. However, a character with a projectile can give Bayo troubles. Bayonetta's Bullet Arts only deal 0.5%. That's the lowest damage dealing projectile in the game. If your character has a low ending and starting lag projectile, it will certainly beat Bayonetta in damage dealing. Just note if the Bayo uses Bullet Arts in the air and camps, punish her landing with your projectile. Now, if your character doesn't have a projectile, you must have tricky movement. That way, the Bayo will make a wrong move, and leave herself open for an attack. Hit her, then run. Now you just need to beat her in the neutral.
3. Force her to win neutral.
This is pivotal. You have a higher chance winning the neutral when Bayo approaches. Bayonetta's tend not to grab, which means shielding is a viable option. Don't sit in shield for long periods of time. Just shield when she's going to attack. A way you can make her attack is to scare her by running up to her. If you do that, she will most likely throw out a move to keep herself safe. That's when you shield. When facing a Bayonetta, force them to approach, win neutral, then the situation back to neutral. What I mean by that last step is when you win neutral, hit them with an attack with decent knockback or give yourself a large amount of space between you and her. Rinse and repeat.
4. The ledge
What about when she's off the ledge? Unless your character has a large disjoint or a counter, I don't recommend keeping Bayo off the ledge, as her recovery options are nearly impossible to penetrate. When you knock her off the ledge, move away and put her back in neutral once she gets back, or punish when she tries to get back on stage from the ledge.
5. How do I do any of these steps?
If you are confused on how to apply any of these steps, you may need to learn to recognize patterns. What happens if you run at your opponent. Do they throw out an attack, do they roll, do they spot dodge, sit in shield, or even jump? What do they do when they approach you? Memorizing patterns of your opponent is important. SSBM tutorials have a video that I recommend watching. It's about the neutral, but can be applied to different situations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCPC202uwR4
You may be wondering what should you do when she's combo-ing you or puts you in a disadvantaged state? Unfortunately, to expound on that would take many, many more paragraphs, due to her numerous options in her advantageous state. There are many blogs and videos that tell you how to deal with this. My goal is not to tell you how to escape a characters traps, but how to avoid them, as escaping a trap won't guarantee you won't fall in another one. Just remember this: Don't overextend against Bayonetta.
This blog post was written by a SSB World community member. Share your Smash 4 knowledge by creating your own blog post now.
Share your feedback:
You must log in to comment.
