One of the things I enjoy most about brawl is seeing who is actually legitimately good at the core of smash... predicting and mindgames.
When I was playing melee, I played Falco, Marth, and Luigi. For each of them, I knew how combos worked. I knew that as Falco, I could shine and instantly B-air them before they even flew up from the shine. I knew I could shffl f-airs as Marth all the way to the edge, and then spike 'em. I knew tons of combos as Luigi for every matchup.
My point is, that melee seemed to get to the point where all the mindgames were in the approach. Once you had the opponent, you were going to rack up some decent damage unless you screwed up, no matter how they DIed. Nothing wrong with that--it's part of melee's charm. But it's really nice going to a game that--I feel--is currently completely about prediction and being a step ahead. With the new crazy DI, there are very few guaranteed combos.
In the end, melee was getting dull. The "fox only, no items, final d" mindset seemed to be sinking in. I'd find myself outplaying someone an entire match, only to be waveshined or some other crazy 0-death combo. Brawl's a new game, and the strategy is different... approaches are now much less significant, at least with the crazy hitstun recovery. I mean, approaching into a charged Ike Fsmash isn't a good idea, but few characters can really punish an approach. The game seems to be more about outsmarting the other person rather than playing faster.
