Okizeme for dummies?

[Hakkai_Requiem]

Hello, BB beginner here!
I am totally lost with the very basics of okizeme. If I google the topic I almost always find only the definition of it as "wake up game", but that does not really explain much
In Rachel's character subforum I found character specific options and that, on the other side, is too in depth for me.

What I am looking for is some VERY basic and broad theory of okizeme that is general for all characters, so I can later understand character specific options and more complex mechanics.
Is there any guide of this sort?

[Airk]

I don't think there's a guide, but I can do a quick and dirty explanation.

To really understand oki in BB, you need to first understand the wakeup options. Those are detailed here, but to summarize:

• Quick Tech; No invulnerability, happens fast, no visual cue
• Forward roll; Tiny bit of invulnerability, moves you forwards, can roll through the opponent if they are close enough.
• Back roll; Some invulnerability, moves you backwards, can roll through the opponent if they are close enough (and behind you). Essentially useless in the corner because the invulnerability wears off before you stop rolling, and there's no backwards to move to.
• Neutral Tech; Full invulnerability, obvious white flash.
• "Delay Tech"; Neutral tech done later, to mess up your opponent's timing.  Vulnerable to being picked up into a new combo if your opponent is ready for it.

Okizeme in BB boils down to trying to restrict your opponent's wakeup options as much as possible.  In an ideal world, you want to be able to force your opponent to neutral tech and block (or maybe DP, though I think some characters have setups that beat most DPs) on wakeup.  For example, Rachel has some setups where she can deploy George on top of an opponent who is knocked down in the corner, and George will activate while they are waking up, so if they try to roll, quick tech, late tech, or neutral tech and do a non-invulnerable move, they will get electrocuted, so they are forced to wake up with a neutral tech and then either block or DP, since anything else will result in them getting hit by George.

Other characters have different sorts of setups that cover different tech types, though for most of the cast, it's harder to cover all the options, and it's virtually impossible for anyone to cover all the options midscreen, so most oki happens in the corner in BB (since in the corner, back roll ceases to be a meaningful option.).  The most basic form of corner oki is simply to stand far enough away that your opponent can't forward roll past you, and then throw out an appropriate attack based on what they do, but this is actually much harder than it sounds, because of Quick Tech and Delayed Neutral tech, which, between them, forces you to react to things over a fairly wide span of time (and quick tech also doesn't have a good visual cue that it is happening, making it harder still to react to.)   This is why most forms of oki involve some sort of move that lasts a long enough time that you can throw it out there, and it will catch quick techs and forward rolls, allowing you to focus on a neutral or late-teching opponent.

Does that help?

[Kuuhaku]

Yeah. As Airk mentioned the idea in BB is to restrict as many of their wake up options as possible and ideally go for neutral tech which is the easiest for Rachel to start her 50/50 mix up game.

In this game Rachel's go to moves for knock down are

3C - This is mostly used mid screen, but okayish in the corner if you space it so they're hit with the tip of 3C.
4B - Used mostly in the corner. Probably the most used knock down option.
5CC (corner only) - This is more restricted due to 5CC being used to wall splat the opponent into an airborne state for her combo paths. It has SMP so if you use it in a combo and try to knock down with it they'll air tech.

So their options when they're knocked down is to immediately neutral tech, late neutral tech, roll (forward or backwards), and quick get up. The super basic setup is knock down into 2A (and this applies fairly universally in BB). 2A (for most characters) chains on whiff meaning that even if 2A does not hit anything you can hit 2A two more times even if your timing is a bit off and 2A also hits characters in OTG (on the ground) state.

So to cover neutral tech you wait for them to tech (you'll hear a sound and they'll flash white) and you time your 2A so that it hits them on the first frame that they can do anything. If they're not blocking, they will be hit. If they are blocking, that's a free pass to start your pressure. You can also 2A them if they lay on the ground and try to Quick Tech (holding down while they're on the ground to get up late) or late tech and they will be hit. If they roll, you can dash towards them and 2A them out of their roll (they will be hit unless you are late and if you are a bit late they'll be forced to immediately block).

More advanced: Neutral tech into backdash which can be punished similarly to rolls (chase after them and hit them out of their backdash recovery) but is a bit harder to do. Neutral tech into reversal which you beat by baiting the reversal. Not teching which you 2A to pick up into a blue beat combo or if they're not teching so they can get a chance to air tech (intentionally not teching late into a combo) you do a move slow enough to reset them into a new combo.

Rachel's strength is that she has other tools to also limit their options. And her tools are also much more safe. So, for example you do a knock down move and then cancel that move into summoning pumpkin. On their wake up you can wind the pumpkin down while Rachel is blocking and as long as you time it properly if they do anything that's not blocking they will be hit. If they do a reversal, Rachel will block the reversal and be given a free punish combo. This is very dangerous because essentially their options are to block and gamble at whether they can block the 50/50 or take a bigger gamble which since Rachel herself isn't doing anything, she has plenty of options to stop them. There are some exceptions with characters who have moves to deal with meaty projectiles, but there are alternative options to deal with them.

Also in this game because George has increased recovery during the summon, it's more for scaring people into trying to dead angle or reversal. Or laughing at Tager if he tries to wake up backdash.

[Hakkai_Requiem]

Thank you both!
Airk basically explained exactly what I was looking for and Bohemian Polka delivered the right tools I needed to grasp the more advanced stuff.
That's GREAT! Thank you

Just two more questions:
1) What's the best way to train okizeme in training mode?
2) A bit off topic but...what does SMP mean? I can't find it in the glossary

[Kuuhaku]

Easiest way that I know of is to set the CPU (with neutral tech and emergency tech option) to jump. Jump has 4 frame start up (for most characters) and if you hit them out of jump start up they will be hit on the ground. If you hit them in the air then you're way too late. For rolls, set them to block immediately (so do like a short throw combo into knock down). If you hit them and they're in the air you did it correctly.

SMP = Same Move Prorate. Some moves have additional heavy proration if you use the same move twice in a combo. For Rachel his applies to 5CC, 4B, and 236A.

[Airk]

Bohemian Polka has a good suggestion there for how to learn meaty timing ("meaty" being the term for an attack that hits on the first frame when a character is no longer invulnerable during wakeup.) but that's not quite the same thing as training "okizeme"; If you have a character like Rachel who has a good option that covers all the bases, I would suggest first finding some good oki strategies for your character and then setting the training dummy on 'random' wakeup and using the same jump action setting that BP mentioned.  Then do a combo, and follow your strategy.  If your opponent gets hit during their wakeup, it means you successfully covered that wakeup option.   But you'll need to do this a bunch to make sure you're covering all the bases.  How much value this has depends heavily on how strong your character's oki options are though, so you might be better off asking THAT question on the Rachel forum.