Anti-Bayonetta tips V2

Bayonetta's controversial status has extended to her gameplay and declaring her a Game Breaker. There is some blame directed toward the 0-Deaths and I'll agree with that sort of stuff to a given extent, but I have noticed blame extend to the rose of darkness herself, even going so far as to declare that she has no weaknesses to make use of, even though I had noticed key weaknesses from day 1 and they haven't lost relevance before legitimate balance problems such as the 0-Deaths can even kick in. If I'm this Squishy Wizard player, that underscores that I must doing something right to maintain a reliable track record against the Umbra Witch when I'd be having to deal with dexterity problems. And boy do I have a lot of advice that could help showcase that much. There's always the possibility that it can get questionable, but don't be surprised if it achieves results.

1) Face back often if your character's Back Air is standard fare
The reason for this is because standard Back Airs are your friend. The standard Back Air will be an extended back-kick, which provides both power and reach. The former allows for burst damage and the latter can hit the opponent unexpectedly. Bayonetta particularly wants nothing to do with dealing with either one. Now she can still Witch Time, but a standard Back Air works as a psychological weapon against it because of the reach and can set up for a Forward Smash or Grab this way. Just make sure you won't mind the loss of Back Air access until you can face back again if you will go ahead and use something else to attack.

2) Focus on *HOLDING* the center
Grabbing the center is desirable for the space, of course, but getting complacent with center control against Bayonetta is a good way to run afoul of WT. Holding the center means that Bayonetta has to eventually attack. She can't roll between sides either because her rolls have terrible range, so direct combat with you will be inevitable, and staying around the center will help make sure it happens on your terms.

3) Consider foregoing DPS for surgical strikes
There are arguments that needing to avoid throwing out any attack becomes bad design, but making sure throwing out any unnecessary attack is punished or outright not rewarded well at all is to discourage people from throwing out whatever they want hoping for results, rather than show refined gameplay providing aspiration for overcoming difficulties like what art does. Bayonetta's Witch Time naturally is designed to make sure this happens, because it gets to the extent of being easily comboed or eating a charged Up Smashed for throwing out a Z-Air because you wanted to play keepaway with that misery. However, Witch Time is susceptible to surgical strikes, as it has a low percentage and total of active time for a Counter move*, so Bayonetta shouldn't be too hard to nail with something strong if WT gets baited out successfully, because it's conveniently vulnerable to being busted in a double blind scenario even with a simple soft read attempting to catch an air dodge or some such.

*According to the math with the provided frame data anyway. Math does tend to show intent at least.

4) Set up anti-aggression traps
Witch Time--and in fact, any Counter move, really--has a subtle weakness: the user's mobility momentum drops sharply. An attack placed where it would hit the user ONLY if they don't use the Counter move is great for drawing out the Counter move and likely punishing it, and any time Bayonetta thinks twice about using Witch Time because it also stales makes her increasingly more likely to use her rolls with all the problems that can easily come with it.

5) Bullet Climax is something to consider for an entire given matchup. Do so ASAP.
Some characters, like Jigglypuff, can outmaneuver BC with immense ease when they are in the air, and this will make doing everything else significantly easier for them. If you're a character with bad air mobility and/or high height, don't expect to be so fortunate. Make use of crouching if you do want to be closer as any such character, because even if you still get shot, BC has cooldown issues while the crouching will keep you from being stunned as long. With the right position, you could manage to strike back with a vengeance. In the meantime, remember that Bayonetta has to reload BC every 8 shots. That can help force her to read your movements.

6) Stay wary of the Side B
In its own right, Side B is a persistent threat. It can't burst KO, but it can be used to provide grief against your momentum. If you can't simply go in the air to prevent it from working nearly as well, use your dodge moves so that Bayonetta can't use it carelessly because you could get an unexpected position advantage. Naturally, you still want to go in the air, so see 4 because Bullet Climax is the primary factor against that.

6a) If Bayonetta is in the air, try to be slightly below a straight line in front of her
Afterburner Kick can attack either 30 degrees up, or 45 degrees down. Being a good distance away from Bayonetta and 5-10 degrees down means Bayonetta will miss if she were to use either variation. This can be useful for stageguarding, or even outright edgeguarding with a mobile character.

6b) Use fastfalling to help bait Bayonetta's aggression
It's tempting to stay on the ground and use the shield until Bayonetta cracks into jumping with 5a in mind. This is generally folly, because Bayonetta can use Heel Slide and then Witch Twist right away, which can hit you through shielding and comes out extremely quickly so a shieldgrab may not be an available option anyway. Fastfall empty jumps, however, can provide leg room for reacting to the Heel Slide or anything else Bayonetta tries. Just remember to be wary of Bullet Climax as well if you have to be.

7) (Especially as characters like Ganondorf) Discretion is the better part of valor. Always consider moving back slightly.
IMO, the fun thing about a Melee Tornado/Mighty Glacier hybrid is that when the player successfully closes the distance on their terms and thereby sees the inevitable extreme burst, it's bound to be by their efforts to overcome the involved adversity of getting close when they lack the tools to keep the opponent from having the advantage of choosing when that happens. Since the only active objective would be to melee the opponent, Bayonetta in this case, with decent momentum, it's a good idea to have significant focus on survival once you contest the center, with the idea of trying to get the opponent to move closer and possibly overextend, something Bayonetta wouldn't want to do in any matchup herself. Against Bayonetta in general, this can get you safely away from both Bullet Climax and Side B to give her some aggravation in doing anything. Just make sure to not neglect your offense or the opponent won't have incentive to use variety to punch through your efforts.

8) In general, consider thinking outside the box
You may have noticed empty jumps from 1 and 6b, focus hit traps from 4, and the suggestion of keepaway from 7. These sorts of things fall under a term known as Thinking Outside the Box. Bayonetta exists as an effort to empower females, who are often better about this concept. Remember that, assuming you're male, I don't use the term "always" there for a reason, and regardless of your gender, there could be ideas to dealing with her not listed here and could very well make the umbrella solution of the Nine Dots Puzzle look simplistic. Even something as simple as walking has the benefit of being able to react with the shield more easily or throw out a surprise tilt, quite possibly a Down Tilt to discourage Bayonetta from staying on the ground, as a startup move. Just remember the drawbacks of anything you consider so that you don't get caught off guard in your ideas.

9) Above all, be steadfast and never panic
Bayonetta doesn't have a lot of net power in general behind her. She can rack up the damage, but her kill moves are few and far between and ultimately easily identified. When her nastiest traps are disarmed, Bayonetta is bound to be the one panicking, and that will do her no favors. Maintaining momentum will help avoid the aforementioned nasty traps.

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At the end of the day, while Bayonetta still has a controversial, though still workable, personality, I think her gameplay ultimately works out quite nicely, and certainly would once the key problems are addressed and especially addressed well in a patch. Hopefully this will cut down on the people screaming to burn the witch.