Smash Wii U How Do I Improve My Neutral Game?

[xXSinistarXx]

How Do I Improve My Neutral Game?​

l have been playing smash in and out for 6 years but there is one concept I absolutely suck at which is the neutral game. When playing my friend who is much better at the game than, he told me that my punish/combo game is good, but my neutral is garbage. Whenever I play online, I demolish anyone with a lesser neutral but vice versa as well. I am looking to do anything to improve it and pick up a second main that is proficient in the neutral. The Main points I want to address and have answered are.

-What do I need to be focusing on in game while playing neutral?
-What should I practice or focus on to develop a good neutral?
-What are some characters that have either easy to learn neutrals or god like neutrals?
-Are their any videos I should watch that could be helpful?
-What are common mistakes in the neutral and how to fix them?
-How can I compensate for having a bad neutral so I can still succeed in smash?

Thanks before hand when answering me back. I have been wanting to go to tournaments but I believe I cannot do well with a garbage neutral.​

 

[FamilyTeam]

Hm. We seem to get this question every now and then, and I will always say this: There's no real way to explain any of the non-ojective questions you asked.

The first mistake I think you are committing is simply taking the Neutral Game as some sort of, let me try to put it, "tangible concept" - Something that has a start, a middle and an end and it's something you can just learn how to play.
No. A Neutral Game does not work like that.
You cannot "get good" at playing the Neutral. You have to practice a lot of different elements of this game, that together will form your own Neutral Game, and said Neutral will be good for some things and bad for others. It's usually built out of experience and is very malleable, with you being able to readapt certain elements of your game to change how you play your Neutral as you see fit as time goes on.
If I really wanted, I could answer all of your questions regarding Neutral that you asked, but the probably is that this is a very broad and subjective concept. Two different people might play very similar neutrals, but with different objectives and fundamentals that led to them. That is why explaining neutral is not an easy task. As unfortunate as it is that I have to say this: This is a road you'll have to mostly trek alone.

The closest I can really get to answering the question you posed at the title, "How do I improve my Neutral Game?", is as follows: Play the game against as many people as you can, observe a bunch of matches, and see what you did during your match that made you enter your disadvantage state, and what made you enter your advantage state. See what worked and what didn't. You'll be analyzing your wins and losses at the Neutral. See what made your win neutral and what made you lose it, and try to interpret (or get somebody knoweledgeable to help you) what you were doing right or wrong.

If you really want me to answer your list, to the best of my effort:

1. Way too broad of a question, but in general, be aware of your options, your opponent options, what you know you can do, and what you know they can do;
2. Movement, baiting, spacing, matchups, your options, your character, tendencies of the metagame, stage positioning, when to reset neutral, how to deal with your character's disadvantage state so you can safely get back to Neutral;
3. Diddy has a good Neutral;
4. Maybe this:

5. This is even broader than the first one, but if you really had to pick a common mistake, it would be giving up stage control, which is basically letting your opponent apply pressure on you for free or even apply pressure on yourself for nothing;
6. Know what to look for in what you are sure you know how to do, and then try to get the absolute most out of your advantage state and learn how to escape disadvantage as fast and efficiently as possible. That's entire shtick, pretty much.

 

[Baby_Sneak]

In much simpler words than my friend above:

Just think of fighting as a dance. You have to learn to be aware of your "partner" and all the tells and cues they're giving off. Doing something too much, realize that and punish. Too aggro, get your defense ready and punish. Too passive and campy? Play smart aggro and siege the situation. There's a ton of nuance to this however, and you have to be creative to find answers to some things.

Just some guidelines:

Learn the range of your character (their effective range, where they can be threatening).

Learn their best poking tools (jab-like moves)

Get to grips with their movement and flow (should be seamless and fluid)

Watch matches for inspiration and comparison

Learn to mix up (never be predictable)

Be relaxed and calm (not neutral-specific but important still)

Learn your opponent's character's effective range, movement, etc.. through fighting them and observing and recording.