Everybody has to start somewhere.

Ape is charge character. To make most out of his limited combo potential you have to charge. Jumping? Charge during the jump. Getting hit by your opponent? Charge. Pressed any button? Hold down+back if it was crouching button or at least hold back if it was standing button. Even if you are using fhop which requires holding forward, you can charge down by doing df.kkk. Basically to play character with charge moves means hold down+back at every single opportunity no matter what is happening on the screen. Get used to it.

To charge simply hold down for vertical moves, back for horizontal moves (or both down+back to charge both at once). The charge takes 40 or 45 frames (0.75 second) and as long as you hold it the move is ready.
Many combos starting with light or medium button require you to charge beforehand in order to function. If combo starts with heavy or medium>light button you typically have enough time to complete charge during the attack animation.

Without charge (happens all the time) Blanka has to use electrics to do any reasonable punish / damage conversion / pressure. To do electrics you have to input 4 punches under a second. If you try to do it with one button (lp>lp>lp>lp) you will quickly get hand pain and probably fail. So instead do something like lp>mp>lp>mp where you double tap two different punch buttons. Or even all three buttons like lp>mp>hp>lp. On pad you can slide your thumb between two front buttons to achieve the same result.

You can play Jimmy without this special but you will gimp yourself. Difference between poking opponent with cr.mk and poking them with cr.mk>ele is massive in terms of rewards.

Normal electrics have 10 frames startup. VT1 electrics have 12 frames startup but you can still cancel cr.lp into VT1 electrics. You just need to be faster with the piano.
You can also cancel cr.lk into electrics which is hard but still possible to execute with enough practice.

Blanka's critical art (CA = super) is classic quarter circle twice > punch which allows you to fire super whenever you need without charge. However this makes it tricky to cancel charge specials (ball or upball) into super. With other characters like Urien its trivial to do tackle>super (15 frames to cancel). With Jimmy this requires training to be able to do this consistently.

It doesn't matter if you are cancelling upball or ball, nor its strength or VT1, they all have same cancel window into super: first 5 active frames of the move. If your combo route allows you to choose, pick heavy ball. It allows you to cancel into super even if opponent is one dash away (because 5th active frame is furthest due to the move speed; 2.37 reach) and it allows you to use the charge move to input first quarter circle.
Most consistent input i discovered is using negative edge and charge leniency. Input first quarter circle to fire the ball, then do second qcf:
db(charge)>d>f.hp(hold HP)>d>f(release HP)

Optimal combo routes often have sequence x.ball>h.ball which many Jimmy players arent aware of. To pull this sequence off you simply need to input
db(charge)>f.ppp>db(charge)>f.hp
The trick is to realize the second charge has to start the same moment you fire first ball and charge in SAME DIRECTION which you charged for first ball. Fire the heavy ball the moment ape starts to slow down but havent touched the floor yet.
Works both midscreen (one dash or closer to opponent) or near corner (any distance).

Blanka has pretty good cr.lp (okay reach+speed, 3 active frames), it has very high chance of clipping opponent's buttons or movement. If you are fast enough with cr.lp>h.ball, the ball wont come out unless the jab connects.
Practice this. Yes even charge moves can be buffered.

EX or VT1 version of rainbow is pilotable. This isnt very obvious, but you need to hold forward to get two hits and then down to land faster + back to charge the h.ball.
Why not simply use x.ball>h.ball? Because you dont want to side switch in 90% cases!

This sequence is one of the most practical strings for blanka. And also the hardest to do. You need to practice this a lot. Both cr.mk and lp have wide cancel window. If you try to mash this out like normal SFV combo string, you wont charge in time.
You have to delay the cr.mk and lp cancel as much as possible so you can finish charging ball in time.

All 4 combinations are viable. And they heavily rely on your preferred play style or matchup. Playing ape with VS1 feels like complete different character compared to Jimmy with VS2. I heavily recommend you to try both vskills and decide for yourself.

Very hard tool to utilize correctly. It enables Blanka to convert HP button into respectable damage. It gives him meterless left/right mixups both midscreen and in corner. And it can easily turn your opponent frustrated and blacklist you after the game. It gives you "parry" like option to duck under fireballs and high profile moves and punish them. It gives you many extra tools to overwhelm your opponent's mind with. Will they be ready to react to extra 4 new options you can do in neutral? Or will they crumble?
Its downside is that you will be chasing your opponent whole game and you will be time and time again painfully reminded how weak oki game Jimmy has.

Sniper rifle. Safe on block long range attack which has to be reloaded between shots. This vskill enables you to lame out your opponents. It gives them reason to try jumping on you. It makes them nervous seeing you charging it. Will they risk trying to interrupt you? Or stand there scared to act? This vskill transforms MK button into very respectable and deadly pressure button. And it gives ape access to 300+ damage combos without spending meter. With VS2 you wont care Jimmy has weak oki options, just use every knockdown for reloading.
The downside is that it takes forever to reload. You will die again and again to mistimed / misplaced reloads. It takes a lot of experience to know when and where its safe to use it.

Respectable standard (not overpowered) 2bar vtrigger. It makes all Blanka specials better and enables you to convert ANY button into ~300 damage combo (even without charge). Most notable is fireball invincibility on all ball specials. Pick this against heavy fireball spammers (Ryu, Sagat, Guile) or if you feel like playing honest. This vtrigger alone will make guile scared to throw another sonic boom. It gives even your long range pokes (cannot be cancelled normally) okay damage conversion and good oki on hit.
If you play correctly and dont get overly greedy, you can easily pop this vtrigger twice per round. One of the specials gives you ability to guard break. And this vtrigger gives you few extra left/right mixups.

The robbery. The scam. The instant skip neutral and guess for your life vtrigger. This thing gives ape wings. Literally fly in any of the 8 cardinal directions. If you master this vtrigger your comebacks (read: robberies) will get into YouTube highlights compilations!
It takes a little practice to understand and fully utilize this VT, but the payoff is stealing wins and your opponent crying online to nerf it. Its on par of Urien's mirror vtrigger. Practically unavoidable left/right mixups. Its great, its glorious, many people play Jimmy just for this vtrigger.

In some combos you can swap h.ball with l.upball and vice versa which does same damage and stun, but leads into better oki. I intentionally didn't include x.ball>x.upball because it does only 20 more damage, no oki and its horrible waste of meter. Don't ever use it unless it kills.

Three lights gives enough time to charge ball, otherwise you need to charge beforehand or use ex.electricity for any damage conversion.

Best pressure button, best meaty button, 4 active frames, fastest button. The best button.

Low check, cancellable into ele.

Good range for light button, cancellable. But most of the time you want to use MP (better poke) or cr.LP (faster, safer on whiff, keeps down charge).

Really good jab, cancellable, fastest button, 3 active frames, bufferable into ball.

Most of the time you want to use medium buttons both for pokes and for fishing for counterhits / pressure (cancel into electrics).

Excellent poke, use to frustrate enemy. It has damage conversion with VT1.

Good versatile anti air. First two active frames can be cancelled. Offers 10 more damage over cr.mk but has less range so use in combos only when you are sure about spacing, typically after jumpin.

Typical overhead which can be charged to be +4 on hit and only -2 on block. Charging takes ages and it has sound clue to make it even harder to confuse your opponent. That said people will think they blocked regular overhead, buffer 6f punish which you will block and then counter-punish them. You can charge back while you charge the overhead.
You can sneakily kill opponent with 300hp left which wont be looking for the overhead yet.

Respectable low short, cancellable, only -1 on block allowing you to keep pressure with proper spacing, very good range. On counterhit comboes into VS1>p or cr.mk.

With VS1 this is begginer trap. Bad damage, no oki, punishable on vshift, whiff or neutral jump.
Instead go for cr.mk or lk.
With VS2 this is your main offense button which you use for pressure.
Very easy to hitconfirm. Very solid damage conversions. Can be used as shimmy button but its tight. vs2 = not charged, VS2 = charged

The big boy buttons. Use only when you know what are you doing.

Very respectable button, great payoff if you are using VS1. Crush counter. Shimmy button. Cancellable.
Offers meterless left/right mixup with VS1.
After crush counter you can microwalk if close or fhop (possible side switch).
With VS2 HP button isnt as relevant, but you still want to use it for crush counters, pressure and for when you have VS2 charged.
Crush counter combos involving VS2 involve a lot of decision making (corner, charged, exbar) on top of usual possible side switch. You still have to fhop between hpCC and the followup.

Massive reach (longer than sweep), very slow, safe on block, crush counter. Use with caution.
Cancellable into super and roll. You can finish any blockstring with cr.hp and turn it into space trap.
On crush counter you get little rewards but great oki.

Slide, low check, round finisher. Decent vtrigger activation. Anti fireball tool. Many combos can be finished with slide instead of ball for better oki but less damage. Low profile from frame 6. Goes under many attacks.
Upper body fireball invincible from frame 7. Can be used as anti fireball tool against slower moving projectiles. Corner escape: when opponent is out of sweep range and you have VTA ready, you can slide>VTA>grab them into corner.

One of the better sweeps in the game, 8 frames startup. On max range opponent's counter sweep may not reach. Does 20 more damage than slide.
Can be spaced to be safe on block in most matchups. One example is fgrab in corner followed with sweep as meaty.

Alternative combo starter, same startup as HP, 5 active frames allowing you to cover both quick and backrise in corner. Cancellable into hop. Risky anti air. Can crossup. On hit you can combo into cr.mp (10 more damage) or cr.mk (more range). Forces opponent to stand on hit. Use in your block strings to beat delay tech.

With VT2 Jimmy can literally fly. Without VT2 ape is very grounded character forced to play footsies or test opponent's reactions with hops and matchups knowledge with (rainbow)balls and VS1 duck into "mixups". Dont jump much. Prefer grounded combat.

Blanka doesnt have good horizontal button for back/forward jumps nor any air-grab nor air knockdowns limiting his air-to-air combat capabilities significantly. No dive kicks.
Difference in reach+timing between j.hp and j.hk is big enough to pay attention to which you use and alternate between them. It can make opponent's AA whiff, trade or be too late. VS1>k launches you into air under different angle but doesnt change any frame data.

Very strong cr.mp AA tool. Can easily stop crossups, just (micro)walk backwards to adjust the angle and then hit it. Blanka is at least +6 after succesfull anti-air cr.mp which is free pressure.
You can also cancel the anti air into hop if timing is right (first two active frames) for far away jumps and practical side switch.

Hands down, if blanka has down charge nothing beats Upball. But you need that down charge AND pick correct version. Hard to use. Light version has potential to AA even neutral jumps.
If upball trade hits you get free juggle into ball/slide/VS2. Ex version is fully invincible.

Preemptive anti-air rainbow ball is most suited against opponents who love to jump A LOT, or if they have dive kick or air fireballs. The biggest reason to use rainbow instead of conventional AA is the payoff and fireball invincibility.

Standing heavy kick hk offers 20 more damage over cr.mp and guaranteed cancel into hop (side switch), but it is slower and riskier option. Blanka is at least +8 after AA HK and +1~3 after AA HK>fhop.

Panic option is jump back into light kick bj.lk. This should be your last resort how to deal with dive kicks and crossups, not your primary one because you are giving up space and missing on damage + pressure.

Players with enough Blanka matchup experience will utilize increased amount of neutral/back jumps spam. They do this to punish slide and ball. If Jimmy had good horizontal jump buttons this wouldn't be big problem. But he doesn't.
So to punish this silly behavior get used to quickly reacting to their jump with fhop>upball. Fhop allows you to quickly close distance without losing down charge. Dont forget even if the upball trade hits you can still juggle into slide/VS2/ball for extra damage.

Blanka buttons have okay reach, but nothing fantastic. Serviceable. No 3 framer hurts a lot in some matchups.

Crouching jab is cancellable and has good reach. This is your main punish for very close situations.
You dont have luxury for hitconfirming due to rather big pushback on hit. Know your opponent frame data, be sure of spacing and hit it!

Low short has excellent reach and decent combo routes. You still dont have any luxury for hitconfirms. Dont use ex electrics, hopelessly out of range.

After blocking overhead (-7 on block unless you face priviledged character) think about about spacing. Close? Refer to 6f punishes. Not close? Press MP.
Side note: MK also has 7 frames startup. If you go for this as punish, you need to block their move point blank and have VS2 charged otherwise you are wasting damage output/oki.

Sweep has great range. EX ball>h.ball is also great choice. Super has 8f startup as well. All said and done blanka trully misses heavy button with 8f startup and it hurts a lot.

HK or HP. HP will be in range almost always. HK if you are running VS2 and dont have charge.

Seth -4 this isnt sweep, doesnt even hit low. However seths cr.hp
is like "little slide", is -7~-10 on block: use cr.mk. Old zeku -8 cr.hk is fast enough to sweep even old zeku back but its way better to use cr.mk. Honda, Gill -9 From here you can use h.ball as punish (cancellable into super).

All other sweeps in the game are -10 or more. Recommended punish is HP if its tall character (zangief, urien) or if you blocked the sweep close. Otherwise ball/upball or simply sweep back.

With VS1 most damage you get by neutral jump hk, 2nd place is HP(cc). Simple. If you dont want side switch (midscreen), use x.rainbow instead of x.ball. Blanka has exceptional j.hk which allows him to use neutral jump punish on DPs where other characters dont get such option such as Ryu's EXDP.
With VS2 there are a lot of choices to pick the best punish. Use HP(cc) only when other options are out of range or too slow.

With VS1 the shimmy button is HP without a doubt. It has the range, crush counter potential and damage output. All you need.

With VS2 the choice isnt as easy. HP is still an option, but without charged VS2 the reward isnt as great. For that reason use MK instead. Longest grab range in the game has Alex (1.0). Train the shimmy on him and then on Bison (0.9 reach).
Once you master spacing and timing on these two characters you will easily use MK as your goto shimmy tool.

One of the biggest reasons why you find Jimmy so low on tier lists is his weak oki game. Midscreen you get good oki (threaten meaty grab on wakeup) only from few selected moves which are hard to implement into Blanka's game plan properly.

Best meaty tool is (button cancelled into or raw) electrics (+4ob, on hit knockdown granting another good oki) followed by LK (+3ob, 4 active frames). Honorable mention is HK which has 5 active frames allowing you to cover both rise options but leaves you -4 on block.

Forward hop(28f) carries ape further than two dashes(16f). D = delay, W = micro-walk.
Some moves like slide or v.ball offer really good oki in theory but in real match the spacing and long active frames makes it tricky to go for meaty due to timining changes you need to adjust for on the go. Be aware.

Many people will tell you that Jimmy's biggest strength is the ability to keep opponent guessing and surprising them with setups they haven't seen before. Its sort of true but mostly because nobody knows the matchup.

Never use heavy ball raw. Hitconfirm into it. This is the signature move which makes everybody call ape brain dead character. This is the reason they hate us. This is why they call us monkey instead of Jimmy! Apart from the obvious ways how to use ball (combo extender / finisher, whiff punish and neutral block check), you can use light ball as the slowest dash in the game (opponent will be too scared to press button)
or as block string finisher (some characters don't have punish on block OR your opponent doesn't know the matchup. Test if they can punish it. If not, feel free to "spam" light balls).
In VT1 ball gains full projectile invincibility and juggle potential, making your opponent scared to use projectiles at all. In VT2 you can cancel all balls, upballs and rainbows into "Rolling cannon", making them safe on block or even plus and on hit into big damage.

Good (but hard to use = can whiff easily) anti air. Ex version fully invincible from frames 1~16. Apart from using it as typical EXDP to blowup meaties on your wakeup and frametraps it has one other function:
auto correction to beat left/right mixups.

Spam light rainbow in neutral to annoy and condition your enemy. There is no sound clue difference between meter less versions. Make them feel safe or even trying to pursue you and then use medium or heavy version to catch them off guard!
Ex and VT1 version gives you strike invincibility from frame 3, great for escaping corner, even from 3f frame traps. And they give you option to "drive" the flying and with it endless possibilities of mixups and setplays such as
baiting anti airs!

Whiff light version at full screen and then don't press anything. Blanka will then say what he thinks about his opponent. Its excellent round finisher. You can also use the Birdie/Zangief trick of cancelling button>command grab. I guarantee you it will work at least once per set.
Ex version has full projectile invincibility. Use approximately two dashes away from fireball spammer on reaction to punish fireballs. Don't forget you have to "drive" the ex version the same way as you drive the rainbow balls.
You can time command grab as meaty (for example on hard knockdown such as CC sweep>cr.mp>l.cmdgrab)
and even if they wakeup with neutral jump you can still AA them in time. If they jump back you can even super them midair!

Nothing makes your opponent more confused than VS1. One of the hardest tools to master and properly use in matches. Use to duck under fireballs, dashpunches, divekicks and generally high profile buttons.
Can be cancelled into fhop, bhop, wild lift (punch) and raid jump (kick). Its sort of stance. Dont be afraid to experiment with various sequences to see which works the best for you. The trick is to cancel the duck on first possible frame so opponent has less time to realize what is going on. Dont forget you can cancel cancellable buttons (hp, cr.mk) into duck even on block.
It gives you acess to many meterless left/right mixups. Few examples:

Blanka style "fireball" or more accurately ground bash. Use every opportunity (knockdowns) to charge which gives you access to many applications such as anti-fireball.
Whiff punish for moves which are typically safe on whiff.
You can cancel VS2 charging very quickly into (back)dash, creating mind game on its own. Use just outside their effective range. If they dash/walk its free punish, if they jump dash away from (or under) them. With some conditioning your opponent will just watch you charge it for free.

Its command dash, 28 frames long. Airborne on frames 10-19, can switch sides. For best results combine forward and back hop with other moves to frustrate your opponent. In low ranks all you need to kill opponents is nonstop cancelling block strings into fhop and repeat until they are dead.
In corner can be used as anti-delay tech (airborne cant be grabbed).

Classic super, 8 frames startup, 10 frames of invincibility. You can combo into super from all specials (cancelling electrics and upball is hard) and many buttons.
Can be used as anti-fireball tool on reaction. The reach is very solid (fireballs have extended hurt box).

VT1 gives blanka access to unique special giving him great oki even from buttons which you cant usually cancel like cr.hp and mp. You can charge it up and score guard break. Guaranteed guard break on sweep crush counter. Guard break has massive damage scaling so finish into reset or mixup
It is projectile invincible from frame 5 so it can be used as anti fireball tool on reaction. It can also catch neutral jumps.

The infamous vtrigger giving Jimmy wings, making his signature move ball PLUS on block, allowing him to skip the neutral and get drunken on the power the few privileged toptiers like Seth, Urien, Cammy or Akuma.

Any existing combo can be extended by cannon up to three times. First use costs one third of meter, following cannons (until you touch the ground) costs only 10%. So on hit you should aim for all three uses, ideally moving your opponent into corner. Alternatively you should save last 10% for final mixup on opponents wakeup. All in all, you don't get more than 3 separate uses per round. Make it count!
In corner you can simply aim all cannon followups upwards with zero worry about timing. You still land faster than your opponent for good oki afterwards. Alternatively aim last (3rd) cannon down for quicker landing for super finish.

Don't forget you can fire the cannon in all eight directions, don't be shy an try out your own cannon sequences, there are a lot of viable routes.

The idea is very simple: first ape forces opponent to block ball and then cancels into cannon granting him point blank pressure OR left/right mixup under certain conditions.
As you can see, many options leads into "unexpected" side switch, giving your opponent extra option to worry about on top of the usual block/tech guess. On light ball if you delay slightly the cannon it wont side switch. And yes Jimmy can definitely test matchup knowledge of your opponent and just use h.ball from full screen, they most likely will think its +2 but its fake. You are -2 in almost all unwritten combinations.

Cannon gives Blanka very solid way how to close rounds by super chip kill while opponent still has around 200hp left. The sequence is so long you can gain one EX bar just from making opponent block all these specials.

Yes, ape can cancel x.upball into cannon even on block and potentially save yourself from full punish. You should know though its still punishable. Be aware.

Many Jimmy combos have built in sideswitches and dropping any combo involving ball leaves you stuck in corner. So any new Blanka players will OFTEN find themselves stuck in corner. Luckily ape has extra tools for escape.

Good opponent will stay just out of sweep range to deny his opponent any real possibility of sweep>VTA>blender. But Jimmy has slide. Its not realistically possible to stay out of Blanka's slide range. So go for it. Even if you don't have VTA ready its still worth a shot. It goes under fireballs, its range is practically infinite and it can low profile typical long range buttons your opponent will use to keep you guessing in corner.
Be aware if you have VTA ready really good opponents will try to predict the slide and neutral jump in advance. In that case look at other options bellow.

A lot of players like to mixup corner pressure with jumps. Neutral jump, jumpin, crossup, all these options lose to upball. Simply stay calm, block their pressure and get that down charge. Once their feet leave the ground shoot heavy or light upball. It will get you out of corner and even give you oki. All you need is simply to stay calm and collected. Simple.

Almost unstoppable escape option. Strike and projectile invincible from frame 3. This special can bust through common frame traps, crossjumps, normal jumps, air fireballs, dive kicks or even if your opponent is neutral jumping (to bait and punish the slide). Hold forward to pilot as far from opponent and corner as possible.
How is this different from using x.upball? You dont lose 300+ health to CC punish if your opponent does button>block and still escape.

Blanka has really long poke buttons. Sure they are slow to come out but their reach can throw your opponent rhythm off. Ryus aren't used to get counter hit from their cr.mk>fireball. Just a single mp poke can give you the opportunity to walk or jump away.

Yes its incredibly fake and risky but you cant make ape guide without mentioning this option. It side switches and if your opponent isnt expecting it, it will get you out in blink of an eye. I recommend you to do instant tech or backdash after the fhop to minimize chances you will get grabbed back into the corner.

Use cancel-able button like HP or cr.MK.

Blanka is character about deception and mixups. It was never my goal to record and describe every single setup leading into coinflip guess. Thats why i will simply list here additional resources for Jimmy mains who wish to ascend above footsies into realm of dirty mixups.

If you want particular video to be listed here just leave a comment.

Oh and dont forget to find Blanka discord server. Come and say hi. https://discord.gg/XzHkn6N