Bayonetta Matchup (Charizard)

Matchup Summary (Win Condition and Game Plan)

This matchup gets ugly fast if Bayonetta touches first, because Charizard’s huge hurtbox lets her keep carrying him sideways and juggling the landing for a long time. The tradeoff is that once Charizard blocks the stopping point of her strings, his punish is much heavier, so opening neutral with raw fair or bair too often only feeds the exact whiff-punish game Bayonetta wants.
At the same time, Bayonetta is not especially durable and her close-range pressure becomes much shakier when the move that ends on shield is called out. Charizard does better by shifting position with walk speed and air drift, forcing overextensions with Flamethrower and preemptive coverage, then taking the turn back with Up Smash, Up B, grab, OOS nair, or OOS fair.
The frame table also shows a clean split. Jab 1-3, rapid jab finisher, tilts, dash attack, every smash attack, dair, neutral special, and side special all give Charizard meaningful shield punishes through Up Smash (6f), Up B (9f), and grab (10f). By contrast, fair 3, bair, uair, and Up B do not consistently lose to an in-place answer, and forcing those punishes only walks Charizard back into Bayonetta’s next burst or landing mix.
For kills, it is more repeatable to push Bayonetta sideways and finish at ledge with bair, Up Smash, or forward smash than to brawl in center stage. Overchasing offstage and giving up stage control usually helps Bayonetta more, so the stronger plan is to wait onstage, cover the recovery landing, and cash out on her low weight first.

Full Move Frame Quick Reference

Win Condition Checklist

• Shift your position with walk speed and air drift, then use Flamethrower and preemptive hitboxes to force only the overcommitted Bayonetta entries.
• After blocking jab 1-3, rapid jab finisher, tilts, dash attack, any smash attack, dair, neutral special, or side special, punish every time with Up Smash (6f), Up B (9f), Grab (10f), OOS Nair (11f), or OOS Fair (11f).
• Do not force in-place punishes on fair 3, bair, uair, or Up B. Step forward and cover the next landing or escape option instead.
• Once you stop her pressure, do not let her drift back to center for free. Walk her to ledge, cover jump with bair, and catch high landings with Up Smash.
• End stocks through ledge pressure and heavy shield punishes instead of dragging the game into a long center-stage scramble.

Actions to Avoid

• Throwing out raw fair, bair, or forward smash first and giving Bayonetta the whiff punish starter she wants on Charizard’s large hurtbox.
• Treating fair 3, bair, uair, and Up B as automatic shield punishes and whiffing into Bayonetta’s next burst option.
• Letting blocked jab strings, tilts, dash attack, side special, or neutral special go unpunished and handing Bayonetta extra pressure turns for free.
• Chasing too deep offstage, getting the position flipped by her recovery mix, and giving away the ledge kill chance that Charizard should be holding.