Bal-Bas-Beta is indisputably best

It’s time for Yomi to get some love/talk. To start it off I wanted to share some thoughts about the only character in Yomi I want to play anymore. And that character is, the lovable bot, BBB.

BBB is an interesting character to start. When new to him and especially if you’re new to the game you’ll go through four phases with him (there are more but no one I know of has reached the fifth phase). The first phase is the OMG! this character is so complicated. Phase two is pfffft, this character is so basic. Phase three is Aaaaah! this character is so hard to play (in a different way from phase two). And the phase I think I find myself currently in is How do I stop my brain from melting when playing tournament sets?

I’ll go through the the phases in greater detail:

Phase 1 - OMG! this character is so complicated

BBB has some of the largest text boxes on his abilities. His innate warps the game more than any other innate in the game. For players new to the game and casual players it can be difficult to wrap their mind around what is even going on at range. My irl opponent is a casual player and we used to play Midori vs Valeria all the time. Now that I only want to play BBB (because he’s indisputably best) I haven’t even wanted to try and explain BBB’s range and overdrive to her. In addition I always feel pretty bad when playing BBB in QM and I get paired up with a new player. The first time I acquire range and that wall of text takes up the screen all I can say is, Showy (sorry). However, once you complete this phase you can enter into the phase of Bot snobbery.

It is a bummer for me that I can’t play BBB irl. If I could I would have a real shot at phase 5 (for better or worse).

Phase 2 - pfffft, this character is so basic

So by this point you’ve got range and Overdrive internalized (maybe not Overdrive though) and it becomes second nature to you. BBB sets the game to range and it’s “yeah, I know how that works”. In this phase of BBB experience the friendly bot might seem boring to you. He doesn’t have the “flash” of some of the rushdown characters. He blocks for cards, he plays them. He gets to range and plays the same card 5+ turns in a row. Yeah nothing to see hear, move along.

Phase 3 - Aaaaah! this character is so hard to play (in a different way from phase 1)

If you haven’t moved along from BBB by the time you get to this phase you’re either dedicated to BBB or you have unfortunately quit on the indisputably best character in the game. After you’ve acquire the needed BBB knowledge to really start playing him (phases 1 and 2) you will see that BBB is an incredibly deep and fun character to play. He’s like a slower DeGrey but instead of being awarded with furthering your win condition (DeGramage) you are rewarded with safety and a much more powerful bot (efficient BBBamage?). If you stick with BBB through this phase it can pay off. Just need to learn the ins and outs of the mus and dedicate some serious time to BBB.

Phase 4 - How do I stop my brain from melting in tournament sets?

Despite what you snobs in phase 2 think, those losers, BBB is a very mentally demanding character to play. There is so much patience and reads required to play BBB well that it can snap the mind. I find my tournament play with BBB can really start to degrade over a set.

Early games can go like this “yeah I’ll block 5+ turns in a row, what of it?”. Then by the middle of the set the nerves can start to fray a little bit. Maybe you call out the throw and smash them with BBB’s Pilebunker (6 poke) and then you’re on top of the world. But then the set goes into the late game and you’re going mad because you’re thinking “I blocked so much in the early games he’s got to be onto me. He just has to be on to me. He’s going to throw me, he’s going to throw… it’s definitely a throw. I’ll get him with a normal.” then you lose combat to an attack/dodge then the thinking goes “okay, okay, okay the poke didn’t work that time but he’s got to be running low on fast stuff, certainly he needs to block I’ll get him with the normal this time.” then it’s another attack/dodge “alright, alright he’s got a lot of stuff he can do but certainly this time it will be a throw, it’s got to be a throw. I just have to get to range, please be a throw.” then you die and your brain turns to mush and you’re a frantic lunatic for the rest of the set.

It turns out that continuously blocking for long strings of time through out 5 or more games is a really hard thing to do. Even if it’s the correct thing to do it is still super hard. The nerves just go bad and you want to start getting aggressive with your super slow attacks and you just get smashed. You have to give your opponent a reason to throw you and to do that you need to block a lot. Things of course depend on the opponent and the mu but erring on the side of blocking too much is better imo then not blocking enough. At least if the opponent throws your block you’ve now made them willing to throw. “Okay, okay, okay, okay, he threw me once he must be willing to throw again I’ll just play normals until it wins combat.” (this quote is taken from a BBB mush brain player don’t follow the advice of this quote).

In order to help players get out of phase 4 (because I believe there is a phase 5) let me leave you with some quotes from the best Yomi character BBB:

“Mastery comes from within”
“You must master yourself before you can truly compete”

Phase 5 - Madness or Transcendence

Depending on how you deal with phase 4 and your level of mental toughness phase 5 could be one of two things. Either phase 4 has defeated you and you are reduce to a quivery mass of hysteria and need to be taken away in a straight jacket where you are heard mumbling in your sleep “he just has to throw here, there is no way he isn’t throwing” or “0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0” or many other things that have been defeating hopeful BBB champions for centuries.

The other possible outcome for phase 5 is the one I hope to achieve. This version of phase 5 has you reach a level of mental toughness so high that you never snap and keep a level head for the whole set. At this level you continue to block a good amount through out all games of the set and you never chase the throw rabbit. To achieve this level it requires many hours of dedication to BBB but if you can pull it off you can defeat any foe while playing mono BBB. Indeed, if you can reach Bot Transcendence you will be an unstoppable force. In order to become this unstoppable force you must do as BBB said and “realize the inner mysteries of Yoga”.

Those are the phases of BBB play that I believe exist. I hope you enjoyed this because this write up is going to keep me in phase 4 for a long while “I told every one I want to block a bunch, the throw must be coming, it has to be coming”

Going to throw out my current BBB mu chart to get as much BBB talk as possible, keep in mind this is from a self proclaimed phase 4 BBB player:
:grave: 4.75
:jaina: 5.0
:midori: 6.5
:setsuki: 4.25
:rook: 6.5
:degrey: 4.75
:valerie: 4.0
:geiger: 4.75
:lum: 3.75
:argagarg: 4.75
:quince: 5.25
:onimaru: 4.75
:troq: 5.25
:menelker: 4.25
:persephone: 6.0
:gloria: 4.0
:gwen: 5.0
:vendetta: 4.5
:zane: 4.25
I expect for a Transcendent BBB player all those numbers will be at least 9.0

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I really hate to give a BBB player advice, but I guess that’s the world we’re living in: no one without a 0.0 or 0.2 speed attack is throwing BBB in the late game with confidence.

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I’m definitely in some amalgamation of phases 2 and 3. I’m not confused by BBB’s abilities but I struggle with making the right choices.

Also, I was under the impression that Jaina was a counter to BBB. Would you be willing to explain your thoughts on the matchup?

The thing with the mu is BBB will die big time if he tries too hard to get to range. However, if he just plays a standard game he goes pretty even with Jaina.

In the early game he has J to trade well or beat all of Jaina’s combo starters. Single A beats every combo starter clean. The speed of K is also okay in the mu and is less scary putting it out there when you suspect a blodge.

Late game BBB has 9 (if he still has any Js to go with it) and AA to trade solidly with all of Jaina’s fastest stuff, 9J of course only does well if you have at least 19 health. Also BBB has the faster throws on top of that 0.2 ace so he can deal with Jaina’s end game mix up very well.

So block for aces poke Jaina early with J and A. Get her with a few throws if you can. Then play the end game dance of throw/AA. This mu ends in draw a lot (comparatively speaking).

Yeah, most of the throw thoughts were created by characters with fast attacks. I’m never too concerned about a grappler trying to throw me.

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I’m not a Yomi player (no-one to play against, and no desire to spend any more money on the game having only got the now-obsolete first edition), but I do enjoy reading Yomi discussions - and I love this term. Is it in common use, or a beautiful one that you’ve just made up? I think it deserves to become standard, either way :slight_smile:

Talk to me about these numbers? Why is this one almost as easy as Rook and Midori? Seems like 2.4 is an attackrange she dominates that would only be challenged by your Ace. She could also also get them back through dodging into throws, and in general use Bare Your Soul to get rid of key range cards like K or Q - or J to dominate neutral even more with her 2 and J.

  • Perse has low hp so range turns don’t have to do as much to be super effective.
  • his AA is frustratingly fast and damaging
  • you WILL run out of steam super fast trying to always avoid range
  • BYS doesn’t do enough and is super inconsistent
  • he actually has the fastest throw in the match up
  • Perse generally has a slow start and can’t easily avoid or get out of a nasty range cycle early on.
  • his options on knockdown are actually very good.
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In addition to what Shax said Peres is really soft to range once she gets taken their. Only Q and AA to deal with normals and Q. On top of that BBB being a robot makes him immune to Perse’s tittilation.

@robinz I wish I could take credit for it but it is common Yomi lexicon. Not sure who came up with it.

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Blodge is also older than Yomi, I saw it used about Blood Bowl something like twenty years ago. Possibly independent inventions of course.

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Bal-Bas-Beta being the best makes sense to me, because his knockoffs empower Onimaru’s single Ace attack, which is so good, so if BBB’s knockoffs are that good, then BBB himself being The Best just follows.

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There are several things I find interesting about my like of all things BBB.

While both BBB and Arg are based on the same Street Fighter character I have no real interest in playing Arg. My only real interest in playing Arg is because of the safety provided by BS. Although, there are several things that make me prefer BBB’s brand of safety and play him over Arg.

-BBB’s brand of safety incentives playing blocks because the opponent doesn’t want to lose to normal attacks/K. While Arg’s brand of safety incentives playing lots of attacks to beat the throws that are meant to beat BS.

-Once Arg is safe his options aren’t any more powerful and can be thrown. BBB becomes way more powerful at range and can’t be throw so he has safest of all plays in the game. BBB doesn’t get any free damage though and requires specific cards to do well at range.

-Because of how they get their safety differently Arg plays on a low hand and BBB plays on a large hand. I much prefer to play on a large hand.

-Despite how Arg likes to play on a low hand he is probably the most consistent character in the game. As long as he has an ace and an attack in hand he can beat any mix up in the game. BBB requires a lot of parts to make his safety work.

Despite my comparing BBB to Arg and to Degrey (in the OP) I think the character BBB has the most in common with is Midori. This is probably part of the reason I gravitated toward this character.

-Both characters have a weaker and stronger mode. They both start in their weaker mode.

-They both have to build up to their stronger mode by blocking a lot.

-They require specific cards to make their stronger mode work.

-They both have a card that can make their weaker mode a lot stronger for a turn (9 for BBB and T for Midori).

That may not seem like a lot of similarities but when playing BBB I can definitely feel my Midori experience coming into play. Now I just need to learn how to block even more then I did when playing Midori (Midori isn’t as scary to throw as BBB).

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Really tho, BBB has the two coolest attacks in the game.

Long Range Q and 7 attack.

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Robo Headbutt is the most satisfying attack to land IMO. Gwen J comes in second but it isn’t close at all.

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I prefer Arg over BBB for mostly the same reasons you listed in favor of BBB. That being said, my go to comparison for “weaker Arg” is Perse.

I landed it twice in a row vs @flagrantangles in casuals last night. SO SATISFYING

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I don’t know, 60 damage MC and first turn CMB/pilebunker rank pretty high for me.

CMB is not an attack. :stuck_out_tongue:

I’m assuming he meant he pilebunkered a CMB on first turn

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I can’t remember which thread I originally made the comment that I can’t really play Yomi irl any more because all I want to do is play BBB and I’ve only got casuals to play against at this point. I just found out a way around this problem. I can play BBB but can’t use long range. Now I get to play the best character more and get experience playing out of range. Playing with out any possibility of range can be really stressful so it’s seems like great practice to do it this way. BBB irl is back baby!

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