To the first sentence, YES absolutely. I agree. This is where I'm at: I have answers to solutions that will work on players up to a certain level. "but of course we want to also know how to set up plays that give us information as we do them." And to that, Yes...I think the goal for me should certainly be how to learn to do that. Because the bottom line for me is: I have answers to solutions for situations I can see up to a certain skill level. If my main practice partner is playing Falco (he's a top 100 echelon player, and has many more hours of experience than I do currently), and I up throw him, I actually freeze up. And I've discussed this with him and we've both agreed that it's because he has access to more options to escape, and can potentially 0 to death me from one of my own throws. Now if I up-throw someone who's not of that caliber, things are way easier for me and I don't have to think about as many options. This is also the same for things like edgeugarding, punishing/knowing what to do after hitting him with any move.
So I started thinking...how do I make my self more well rounded? I don't want to just have answers to a small amount of situations. I can punish him for things that I know already, though I do have to work a bit harder to get them. BUT - I've started thinking that that's not necessarily good enough. Because I don't believe I have a large..."set of tools" or a "way to go about doing a set of actions to understand what the next step is" in many parts of the game (edgeguard, punish, neutral). I believe my current set of tools only works up until a point. "What the solution should be instead is to begin an action OR finish a couple actions that get a response and observe." - This is what I'd like to understand. If I do a Nair in place, different players will act differently based on previous experience and whatever the size of their understanding of the game is. But on MY end, currently, if I did that Nair, it's possible I actually don't know what I'm looking for. So...I think I need to learn exactly WHAT I'm trying to observe.
If I go into a match, and start dashing into a space I had just done a Fair in, there's a chance I can still get hit unless I understand the action. Unless I understand the safe spacing, and the safe timing depending on where they're at currently. I don't think I should just be doing things for the sake of it "being good". I think I should choose those moves to get a response based on exactly where my opponent and I are on stage. Dash Dancing is GOOD, but it's only as good as how well the player understands why they're doing it in the first place.
I'm sure a good amount of situational awareness comes from experience, though studying videos can help you see how a lot of the more common ones are beaten, as well as how people tend to respond to certain actions, but as mentioned above, considering other good options lets you position yourself better as you approach certain situations. I don't think you should ever have any problems uthrowing a Falco, as the chaingrab takes away all options when done right, and you should be able to threaten his defensive options in the air without putting yourself at risk of getting hit. I may be misunderstanding what you wrote though, but I'd be cool hearing more about that, since it interests me.
I'll give you my interpretation of what he said above.
What the solution should be instead is to begin an action OR finish a couple actions that get a response and observe.
I've actually heard about this recently, and have started trying to use it in my game. Basically, the way I see it is that it's 2 or 3 actions that you can build off of or mix up. To give an answer as to what you look for, you want to find an intent, or a commitment, in my opinion.
A good example that I can give is short dash back > long dash forward > rc dtilt. When you do EACH movement, there will be an intent and most likely a response associated with it. The dash away serves to coerce an opponent to come forward, and then long dash in to threaten a dtilt, which comes next if they don't jump, which is why the long dash is important. At each point in the above "String", you can get a response, and adjust accordingly. Your play may seem a bit slower, but when you know what you are doing with every movement, you aren't really losing anything, since I believe you will have a much better handle on your space. When an opponent sees these movements, you can observe what they might try, or what they do.
Let's say that when you do the dash back, the opponent decides to run right at you to overshoot. As PP mentioned above, you don't have to do the long dash in if you have already confirmed a commitment, and instead, react accordingly, whether you pivot fair or run in grab. If you see them moving forward, and not committing, then you try your dash forward to see if they will back up. Then, if they don't try and jump to a platform or throw out a risky defensive move you can punish, then you dtilt them. In this way, you build a lot of threat in your movements, since you are able to intercept whatever they do, as well as force them to give up their positions.
Obviously I need to start using these movements more, but so far, I think that's how the thought process goes.
Much respect.
