Playing fast and instinctual vs. slow and observant?

[L33thal]

Hey guys, I'm trying to find a balance between:
-playing fast and forcing opponents to react or pick certain options
vs.
-playing slow and predicting how situations can develop (looking at positions, opponent's tendencies, etc.)

but it feels tough to juggle between these two. Ideally you want to do a little of both, but I find that sometimes how you feel during a match plays a factor in your playstyle (e.g. some people panic in neutral after a fat punish and then swing like crazy or get stuck in shield). What's everyone's take on this kind of stuff? Is there an optimal playstyle that you should strive towards? Or should you be familiar and super comfortable with your own playstyle, but be open to changing some things here and there, then improve, and repeat?

Looking at top players, there are so many unique playstyles and at the same time there are flowchart punishes, etc. But I'm curious, is there a "science" to what "works" in Melee? Is there a commonality behind all these hundreds, or thousands, of playstyles that leads to success?

 

[Perfect Garret]

I personally prefer being mostly agressive and mix in a little defense and watching my opponent i mostly punish opponent for mistakes / agressive, i mostly play ganondorf. Best options involve versatility but, if you find yourself wanting to lean toward a style i'd say agressive playstyle is the best in my opinion then add a little of everything else to it.

 

[I_Am_GREYmatter__]

Just pick one, after playing matches it will work itself out.

 

[CAUP]

Read lloD's guide to improvement, called the Golden Path. You can find it on the Melee library. It will hopefully somewhat address this question.

 

[64bitmodels]

Fast and instinctual, mostly aggressive.
Other smash games might benefit more from observant defensive play but generally speaking melee's gameplay is a lot more focused on aggressive rushdown.