Jab

In boxing a jab is a quick straight punch with the lead hand: not the hardest hit, but fast, safe and useful for measuring distance and keeping an opponent honest. Fighting games borrow the idea for a light attack that is easy to throw and hard to punish.

BOTVBOT’s Jab follows that role. It is the cheapest attack on the rules table (−4 stamina) and deals 6 damage. In the counter cycle, Jab beats Dodge: a Jab tracks a dodging opponent and still lands, for 3. And Block beats Jab, so a fighter that jabs into a guard gets nothing for it.

Because it is cheap, Jab is what a plan reaches for when stamina is a concern, or to punish an opponent who dodges too often in fear of a Heavy. The risk is predictability: every ranked replay is public, and a fighter that throws the same action twice gets countered on the third.

A typical plan line: “Open with a Jab. If they Block it, Feint next.”