So I've played a ton of Divekick today and, although it's only day one, I'm already starting to suss out the way a lot of characters play.

HOWEVER, one character I CANNOT fight against at all is The Baz. I just don't get him. Seriously, I get destroyed by about 90% of Baz-es-es I face.

Thus, I turn to the esteemed fighting game community of GB; how do I deal with this guy? I am working on maining Markman, but I feel like he's a terrible match-up against Baz. I also play Dive, and though I can see him being a tad more effect, I'm still puzzled as to what to do against this dude.

The only real luck I've had against Baz is trying to wait for him to make the first commitment and then react. But its super specific to do that because his lightning trail.

Baz banned from EVO

Yep, I've tried starting the match off with a kickback if the Baz tries to do a big horizontal push across the screen so I end up right next to him when he lands. HOWEVER, this really don't work all that often and I typically just get pushed into said corner and get demolished.

NERF INCOMING.

As schultz, I just straight up attack Baz and hope for the best. Most are trying to build kick factor and aren't defending themselves at all.

Having better reactions goes a long way, since the Baz, when attacking, telegraphs his advances pretty far ahead of time. He has to jump, aim his kick, then finally come towards you. During the kick-aiming portion, decide if you should just do a kickback, or try to jump clear above the Baz so that he lightning-kicks under you. Or something character-specific, like if you think he's about to do a horizontal lightning-kick, Redacted could crouch under it. Also, if you're standing on the ground and he makes lightning above you, you sorta just need to have the reactions/self-control to not jump right into it like an idiot.

Like others are saying, going in on him from far away is risky, because he can judge when you'll reach him and make lightning accordingly (if he's good). So wait it out, and he'll probably screw up and end a lightning kick way too close to you, at which point just do a short jump and kick.

Also, if you feel like you're getting backed into a corner, just go for a max height jump and kick your way across the whole screen, because only the best Baz players are any good at mid-air interceptions, and if anything he might panic and throw out a random kick and end up way to close to you and then you can just crush him.

Jefailey shines at kicking him in the face when he does the horizontal lighting. I found him to also be good when Baz tries to get close to use a short angle as Jefailey's standard jump is so pathetically downward. That's my best thought so far for dealing with him.

This actually worked a good amount in my last session. It's crazy how many Baz-ez-es-es are just trying to build meter and absolutely nothing else.

Good breakdown. I definitely just have to see more Baz players and experiment with my movement. Too often I'm just overwhelmed by how differently he plays than everyone else.

Glad to see some Jefaileys actually finding success. I'm terrible with him, but I'd hoped the character would have a presence.

@imperiousrix: but I think Jefailey was supposed to be the joke terrible character, no?

Jefailey can also use his special to take away Baz' kick factor and then dive in and kick him in his stupid face. I'm terrible with jefailey but I've had decent luck against the baz with him.

oh if only, he's the only character I have not one a single match against. Oh, and he's frickin' everywhere.

Go all in offensive on Baz, even if you both attack at the same time you'll win because his kick does nothing outside of Kick Factor or his swing special.

Show them no respect!

@flstyle: but he's got a pretty fast kick, and most people I've seen use the kick gem which makes him... lightning fast. I'm guessing Redacted would probably work best against baz with an all-out attack strategy?

Pray. It's what I do, anyway.

I played against a Baz this morning as REDACTED and couldn't get close. The Baz I played against immediately lept into his corner and slammed his buttons to build meter as fast as he could, to get his kick factor out and fly at me.

It's probably a large part of me not knowing how to play against Baz but I couldn't get close to him without him being able to hit a lightning off and have my fly straight into it.

I need to practice against Baz players more to get an idea.

well the super narrow kick from redacted seems like it would be relatively useful since it's fast and it feels like there'd be more room to hit baz and avoid the lightning strike from the rear. Actually, S-Kill works relatively well against Baz since you can use 3 moves and you teleport. I've just missed baz far too many times to be pleased with using a wider kicking character. Also, I haven't encountered many metering bazeses. He is just OP right now.

Yeah, the guy I played just went for a full meter immediately, and with REDACTED's SUPER SHALLOW kicking angle, it was impossible to close that gap before he filled his meter or without him realising I was coming and intercepting me with ease. Was rough.

@samstrife: could try something like... Mr. N for gap closing with his GTFO and float powers to combat his lightning strikes? I just..... I just DON'T KNOW ANYMORE.

Build meter as fast as possible and use the ground special when you're against a character you're having trouble with. Ain't no shame in it.

Oh you mean fighting him? Uh... Just don't move and give the win away? :D!

Divekick has just released on the European PSN, I will go in on Baz and report my findings.

Some of his moves i don't get yet, like he'll land in front of me and i'll get hit by the lightening which is fucking nuts.

Just played my first The Baz with my Mr.N, lost 3-5, didn't feel one-sided at all, pretty confident against future Baz's.

He seemed really difficult to fight against when my friend and I were first playing yesterday, but with a character that has fast dive you can usually counterattack his horizontal if you get the timing down since he has a decent amount of wait on his rotation. His diagonal kick is fairly trash and I've been able to beat that pretty easily.

No idea, that dude is fucking me up constantly.

Got to agree with those saying Mr. N. The timing is super tough but you have to catch Baz on his foot area as he comes through with his kick. I just frauded a Baz with Mr. N, think it was a bit of a fluke but felt good all the same!

@oursin_360: I'm pretty sure the lightning goes forward past him a bit so that would be why.

Whenever someone plays Baz, I play as Shoals and hope for the best.

I've had a lot of success just being overly offensive. I'm still mainly playing Markman, and though I typically play everyone else slower and use his stupid gimmicks, against Baz I just pick Dive gem and go straight at him. It's not a 100% effective strategy, as a smart Baz will recognize what I'm trying to do and change up his strategy, but it works well enough for now.

did you guys not see a Baz kicking ass at a tournamnet until Justin Wong came around and was like fuck that I',m rushing him down since his lightning actually takes a few frames to hit despite it being on the screen.

Stay close to him. I've been playing a lot of Baz lately and people can shut me the fuck down if they just do that.

He seems annoying to play against like Shoals.

As a Redacted player, I just can't figure out Baz. I can't ever seem to get close enough and if I do he just goes across the entire screen.

One time on arcade ladder, I randomly selected Uncle Sensei and I made the Baz a fraud. I did this by doing Sensei's hand boot divekick whenever The Baz was either on the ground or getting ready to aim his lightning in the air. Though one round, The Baz kept flying over me when I just stood in the middle of the arena.

Playing as Kung Pao my strategy was to just get in his face, a (Kick) (Kick) will move you forward enough that you should be able to punish him if he tries to attack you.

Generally I believe Baz wants you to get mind fucked due to the lightning's delay. He wants you to hang yourself but you really have to do the same to him. If you have to, read your opponent's lightning habits and take it slow.

the trick is to watch his jumps. If he's doing the thing where he goes vertical just don't move, he'll sail right over you. Just try to stay close and as long as you're in the middle he'll have to come closer to you eventually or you win on a time out.

My trick against Shoals is to just stick close to (right under) her. The nature of her first kick means that she can't kick straight down, so as long as you remain relatively close she can't hit you at all, and you can just wait until she sails down and do a really shallow kick to take her out.

Seems like sound advice. I did HORRENDOUSLY today online (dippin' below .500), but Baz doesn't really scare me too much anymore. I try not to get psyched out round to round and if he catches me with a lucky bolt I just reset and take the next round as if it never happened.

I've switched to Kick, and with a the dive gem it seems he's not too tough to rush in against and get him to panic.

I look for ways to rush him down and will not let him kick-factor. Kung Pao has worked well for me.

According to Iron Galaxy, if you trade with The Baz, you will win every single time.

I play Kick or Kung Poa, and Baz gave me the most trouble as well. Just understanding that his foot actually does nothing, and playing counter-kicker is was finally helped me deal with him.

Generally if you see someone pick Baz and 10% Meter you know what's up.

The baz is cheese, but i finally figured out that you just don't worry about his kicks at all. Try for dual exchanges. He basically throws off whatever timing you develop in the game, so if it feels like the right thing to do, do the opposite.

I've said it in other threads, but I've absolutely dominated Baz with Shoals (about 70/30 win/loss ratio). Bait him into making the first move with your initial kick, then secondary kick him when he makes his advance. Since you only need to worry about hitting him (he CANNOT hurt you with his initial kick), you actually have a massive advantage over him at first. The ONLY problem is if you get cornered you are fuuuuuuuuucked.

Haven't had much luck with other characters, but remember: it's the lightning that kills you. He's not actually that cheesy/OP, he just requires a VERY different playstyle to beat and I feel like it's going to be a Ken in Street Fighter IV situation: the word gets out that he's awesome, so EVERYone uses him, so EVERYone else knows how to counter him.

Yep, just wait for him to make the first move and go straight at him. He even shows you the precise angle he's going to come at you, so all you need to do is nail the timing and you've got him. I'm not good at this game, but I almost never lose to The Baz. I think he also has the benefit of having a reputation of being OP, and so you get a lot of terrible players being him.

When I first started playing, I had a lot of trouble with Baz, but now that I've managed to wrap my head around how he works, I think he probably is the weakest character in the game. Generally, the only two ways Baz can win is if you panic and jump into his lightning or if you allow him to build meter. In the case where he focuses on building meter, rush him. Otherwise, just focus on counter kicking and avoiding his lightning, keeping in mind that his kicks can't actually hurt you.