Getting started
Warming the oven before you stick your meat in.
http://dustloop.com/ggac/index.html
acronyms
HSS_#for Yo-yo SET direction
HSB for Yo-yo BUFFER
HSR for Yo-yo RELEASE of buffer
KSMH for Kick Start My Heart, 236+K
KSMH~P
KSMH~K
Basic Strategy and Gameplan
Normals
What sets Bridget apart from the rest of the cast is, without a question, a set of some of the highest-priority normal pokes in the game. While this does not make Bridget a keepaway character exclusively by any means, it is a solid gameplan in most of the matchups to bide your time at the edge of Bridget's range -- meaning, typically, far outside the opponent's range -- and wait for mistakes.
With this in mind I want to talk about the normals that I feel are most important:
Far 5S f.s
Bridget's equivalent to Axl's standing punch. One of the most aggravating pokes in the game. Can cancel into yo-yo set, 2S or 236K (and a few less important cancels). When you're first starting Bridget, make this your go-to poke.
2P
This, however, is the true god-poke. Loses to more moves than far 5S on a one to one basis and has less range, but is exactly as fast to execute, very safe on whiff and at a ridiculous +3 frame advantage on guard. Also has the same three important cancels -- yo-yo set, 2S, 236K -- as well as 2P, 2K and 2D. After the opponent has blocked this move they cannot interrupt 5K, far 5S or 2D.
2S
Very low priority -- by Bridget's standards at least -- but has excellent flowcharts on block as it can be cancelled into a whiffed 2K, 236K, a yo-yo set or a jump and it can follow after a far 5S or 2P. Careful not to use on its own too often.
2D
No kidding. Some players expect Bridget to base his game around far 5S flowcharts and are willing to take a few risks to get close. One character-length inside its maximum range, 2D is exactly as fast as far 5S and 2P. While disadvantageous on block, it can be cancelled into 236K if you are desperate -- but, more importantly, has enough pushback that most characters cannot make use of your disadvantage. If this hits, go hog wild. Look at 2D as your way to keep people honest.
j.P
Use immediately as you ascend for a jump. This will beat many problematic moves in unexpected situations -- examples are Testament's 6H at its maximum range when Bridget is jumping forward, Slayer's 6H from most ranges when Bridget is high jumping backwards or straight up, etc. Very important in annoying roll FDC runaway.
j.S
Extremely long horizontal range. Can be used to cover an air backdash quite safely, as even if it gets counterhit (which is rare) you will typically be too far away for the opponent to capitalize.
I would advise newer players to stay away from overusing 6S at random and to refrain from ever using 6P in blocked strings.
The Basic Blocked Flowcharts
A long time ago, American Bridget players pretty much all looked like this:
[dash, far 5S, set the yo-yo, dash, far 5S, call the yo-yo back] x N
Bridget has many more options when the yo-yo has been set and especially when the opponent is caught between Bridget and the yo-yo. The most obvious time this situation presents itself is on the opponent's wakeup; throw the yo-yo behind them and you're golden. Learning how to make it happen when the opponent hesitates makes Bridget's simple basic poking a serious threat and can cause people who are not familiar with the matchup to really fall apart.
Optimal strings are dependent on the matchup. What you need to keep in mind is any time you set the yo-yo out, you are handing the opponent a big fat chunk of frame advantage. If they are expecting it, there is usually something they can do to turn the momentum around; some characters always have an answer at hand from all ranges and others simply need to be pushed to the optimal distance.
This all got much trickier in Slash. The forward yo-yo set was slowed down by five frames between #R and Slash. Cancelling level 3 moves into the yo-yo set 5 or 6 was -8 in #R; in Slash, many characters can hit you for free if they know it is coming especially if their in your group you casual with, yo-yo set 5 and 6 pressure works a lot better against characters in a tourney especaiily some with less Defensive Bridget experience. It now lasts as long as many of the game's slowest standing dusts, making it fairly trivial for smart opponents to react to the yo-yo set and escape your pressure. The 4 and 7 yo-yo sets are the same speed as they were in #R, and are in general much more useful in this sort of situation, but not quite the immediate threat that the #R forward yo-yo set was.
With that novel out of the way the blocked flowcharts are actually pretty straightforward; we'll use Ky as an example. If the opponent attempts to take the momentum with Stun Edge after a blocked far 5S, you can anticipate and 236K, then P at the maximum distance of the skid-stop followup. If the opponent expects this, he may try to Greed Sever over the KSMH for the counterhit. To deal with that, you can either set the yo-yo and block or gatling into 2S, either stuffing his attempt or putting him into blockstun. Always remember that 2S gatlings into 2K; this can set up a lot of counterhit far 5S if the opponent flinches on reaction to the animation, and is more advantageous than simply allowing the 2S to finish on its own.
Miscellanies
j.D will get you killed if you don't know how to use it.
The ideal way is 214K, then j.D as soon as possible. Have fun accidentally bursting! This makes the move much more difficult to block, but more importantly it's completely safe on block. You can use this to waste time while you're waiting for the 4set to catch up to you, or as a throw bait, or as an overhead.
Under normal circumstances, 5D is almost prohibitively unsafe. It's a whopping -19 on block, and many players are able to consistently block it on reaction. With the yo-yo behind the opponent, the story is a little different. 5D can be buffered into 214K, and the post-dust homing jump can be executed with any of the three upward directions. There is an option-select trick you can do off of this by buffering the 5D into 2147K. If the dust was blocked, you will cancel into the roll; otherwise, you will do the homing jump as normal, without using a roll.
This sounds so stupid, but running Starship FRC as okizeme is a deceptive throw bait. Starship has an extremely long and completely invincible startup time of thirteen frames; this gives an antsy opponent enough rope with which to hang themselves, so to speak. In the event that you guessed wrong and they blocked, just FRC it.
Rolling Idou FDC effectively allows Bridget to quadruple-jump when the yo-yo is out. If you are not actively poking at the opponent, you can try wasting time with this. The input is 214(K)~S. Careful to be precise with your inputs; if you accidentally tap 7, you will use up your double jump/airdash option and probably not even notice it.
Possibly to make up for all the ways he can sneak in a tick throw, Bridget has possibly the worst throw in the game when the yo-yo is not onscreen. The damage is very low and it leaves you in the opponent's throw range. Throwing is still an important part of your mixups, but be very careful that what you're doing after the throw is safe. I personally simply walk backwards outside of throw range and go for pressure; a somewhat common mixup after a throw from Japanese videos is either throw bait (usually Starship FRC) or yo-yo set into blocked pressure, but it seems to get dealt with on reaction fairly consistently.
B&B combos
2K 2P 2P 2P 2D
Don't laugh. This combo will knock down at a decent distance for oki and serves as a long, grueling burst bait. You need to land this just once to get a chance at something much more damaging. The 2D can be hit by bursts, but not on reaction to the hit.
2K>c.s(1) >6P> c.s(1)xx 236K~P
More damaging ground combo that knocks down, but is more of a commitment on block and especially on FD and is very burst-unsafe. Good follow-up to a yo-yo return or Roger Rush that connects on standing opponents.
2K 5S©(1) 6P 5S©(2) 236K, P
Connects only on crouching opponents.
The following combos are typically for maximizing damage at the end of a string, and are less common as level 3 moves into yo-yo return require much stricter yo-yo placement than #R:
With the yo-yo behind a standing opponent, 5S(f), yo-yo return, IAD j.P j.P j.P j.2S, land 5P 2D
There are several variations of the airdash string -- against most of the taller characters, I prefer IAD j.K j.S j.P j.K.
With the yo-yo behind a crouching opponent, 5S(f), 236K (whiff) P
Useful for cornering the opponent.
Deep j.D, 6S, jump forward j.S j.2S double jump j.S j.2S
2D, FRC, 5K, 6S, jump forward j.S j.2S double jump j.S j.2S
2D, 236K, RC, 6S, jump forward j.S j.2S double jump j.S j.2S
Against airdash, 6P 6S jump forward j.S j.2S double jump j.S j.2S
Against other jumping attacks, 6P (CH), wait, 6S, jump forward j.S j.2S double jump j.S j.2S
623P, FRC, 6S, jump forward j.S j.2S double jump j.S j.2S
623P, FRC, jump forward j.P j.2S double jump j.S j.2S
Blocked blue burst, Running 5K, 6S, jump forward j.S j.2S double jump j.S j.2S
Mixups and Okizeme
Delayed Yo-Yo Return
Very simple 50/50 mixup. With the yo-yo behind the opponent, press and hold H. You now have two easy options:
6K, release H, dash, 5S©(1) 6P 5S©(2) 236K, P
2D, release H, optional short dash, 6S, jump forward j.S j.2S double jump j.S j.2S
The followup combo listed for the 6K variant is the most damaging tensionless combo. Any ground combo will work; you can choose to simply use burst-bait strings.
Roger Rush high/low mixup
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
The most useful mixup off of this is in the corner:
236H, running jump, low airdash j.K j.P j.2S land 5P 2D
236H, running jump, land, 2K ground combo or 2D FRC combo
While some of the old midscreen mixups involving this move are technically still possible, they are so subpar that I really don't feel like covering them here. There are almost always superior options. Roger Rush is a good option on okizeme off of 236K, P, but mostly for the blockstun and guard gauge manipulation.
2D Okizeme
On the opponent's wakeup, you generally have enough time to set the yo-yo back, dash in and do a gatling combo long enough that the yo-yo finishes sliding behind the opponent.
The easiest option is 2K and then both hits of close 5S, like this:
2K 2P 5P 2P 2D, dash, 4set, dash, 2K, 5S©(2)
By the time the close 5S has completed, the yo-yo should be at its destination. From there you can follow with a blocked string, a roll, whatever.
Your dirty little secret here: This is actually rarely a truly perfect meaty. The opponent will often have just enough time to backdash easily or one-frame jump. The best workaround is to try to work out a few strings that punish them if they want to get antsy and use those to set up the more optimal okizeme. A basic example:
2K 2P 5P 2P 2D, dash, forward set, 2S, yo-yo return
In somewhat deep, this will snag most attempted backdashes out of the air and set up a running j.S j.2S double jump j.S j.2S. If your reflexes are very fast you can attempt to hold the hardslash button if they guard the 2S but release if you catch their backdash.
In general Bridget has less in the way of straightforward, easy mixups off of a knockdown compared to #R, but is just as capable of short bursts of lockdown.
