Mogisthelioma
Smash Master
(If you don't know what the neutral game means, it's when neither player has an advantage over the other. It's a bit more complicated than that but I won't go into detail)
A lot of players are either praising or complaining about the new "balloon physics." I know there are some threads out there discussing this, bot none of them have mentioned the biggest concern: How it affects neutral game. Since the balloon physics lowers launch rate but also lowers incapacitation time, the idea is that players will be ready to attack again faster and thus speed up gameplay to a more aggressive style. Combined with the increased damage output in 1v1 matches, I feel like the neutral game will see the biggest change as a result of the new balloon physics.
Think of it like this: When you launch your opponent, they now fly away from you less, meaning you should be ably to hit them again faster. But now it takes less time for your opponent to react, so either you hit them first or they get a chance to react. Although footage and gameplay is low, it feels like a lot more basic combos will set up for a lot more basic 50/50's. When your opponent has reaction time, do they try to escape the combo and punish it themselves, or do they attack you back? And since some classic, more well known combos have been nerfed or are harder to use, this further emphasizes the idea of it being more of a guessing game. Granted, we have already seen that plenty of combos, setups, and strategies remain unaffected, but many so far have seen changes
In the end I feel like the neutral game will end up being less emphasized in 1v1 gameplay, and competitive scenes will more be focused on, for certain fighters, camping, spacing, and mindgames than previously. For other fighters, they may benefit from the balloon physics and have easier access to punishes and have more spicy punish options, or they may suffer and end up losing potential from it.
A lot of players are either praising or complaining about the new "balloon physics." I know there are some threads out there discussing this, bot none of them have mentioned the biggest concern: How it affects neutral game. Since the balloon physics lowers launch rate but also lowers incapacitation time, the idea is that players will be ready to attack again faster and thus speed up gameplay to a more aggressive style. Combined with the increased damage output in 1v1 matches, I feel like the neutral game will see the biggest change as a result of the new balloon physics.
Think of it like this: When you launch your opponent, they now fly away from you less, meaning you should be ably to hit them again faster. But now it takes less time for your opponent to react, so either you hit them first or they get a chance to react. Although footage and gameplay is low, it feels like a lot more basic combos will set up for a lot more basic 50/50's. When your opponent has reaction time, do they try to escape the combo and punish it themselves, or do they attack you back? And since some classic, more well known combos have been nerfed or are harder to use, this further emphasizes the idea of it being more of a guessing game. Granted, we have already seen that plenty of combos, setups, and strategies remain unaffected, but many so far have seen changes
In the end I feel like the neutral game will end up being less emphasized in 1v1 gameplay, and competitive scenes will more be focused on, for certain fighters, camping, spacing, and mindgames than previously. For other fighters, they may benefit from the balloon physics and have easier access to punishes and have more spicy punish options, or they may suffer and end up losing potential from it.
