So what's the deal with Frame Data?

[Kimble]

So having been around the scene for a little bit, I've heard frame data be thrown around quite a bit: the term and the numbers, and I just don't see how it is incredibly useful. Why does it help me to know that Fox's shine comes out on frame one and Marth's down tilt comes out on frame seven? Clearly fox's shine is super fast, and is faster than the down tilt, but is that the whole point? Is there some magic way that these crazy numbers can help improve my play? Am I supposed to be adding up frames of hitstun on my potential combos, to know how much time I have to react? Just what is the big idea?

 

[EPsilon933]

It helps for figuring out what's possible or good. Shield stun frame data is probably the most useful thing you can learn. It'll show you what the escape windows are for shield pressures and by how many frames. If you want to escape shield pressure, knowing the frame number that shield stun expires can help you time inputs better, and how fast you OOS option might need to be for it to work