What separates the most technical and one of the best?

[Voyce]

For example, what separates the most technical fox from someone like mango? Yeah playing "smart" is a response to this usually but what does that really mean? Analyzing the situation and reacting to it or reacting to a situation you've seen before? That changes "being smart" to experience and reflexes.

What are some things that older players punish newer players for?

These last few months I've been grinding down my tech skill but i can still get absolutely destroyed by some of the more experienced players where i play.

 

[Boomhound]

Mango still does crazy technical stuff occasionally, but he'll opt for the best solution over the button-heavy one.
As I would describe it, new and inexperienced players can be over-whelmed/intimated by tech skill, but experienced players will know how to escape your pressure and have a much stronger punish game.
Simply put, they'll beat you through spacing, reads, baits and match-up knowledge- regardless of how crisp your tech skill is.

To answer your question- you will be punished for not mixing up your movement, approaches, techs and for rising from the ledge the same way often.
Any experienced player will have seen a huge variation of all these options and will know how to counter each one- so force them into rock-paper-scissors by mixing up your play and avoiding habits.

 

[children's_novel]

The difference is that a player can execute basically any tech with ease and that a player who is considered one of the best has very well-developed fundamentals (good spacing, good zoning, strategic baits, etc) and knows what and what not to do in a given matchup. A good player can immediately react to a situation (like laser spamming for example) and can determine if he or she can make an approach without getting hit.

As far as I know, usually older players can punish newer players hard for spamming a move, spamming a certain approach, obvious bad habits, as well as a lack of knowledge in a matchup.

 

[magister54]

Like everyone said, it's about mastering the fundamentals of the game. Being able to space your moves, punish, react, and read your opponent.

So to a degree this involves mind games, both being able to institute your own to confuse your opponent and not being trick by another player's mind games. If you can get inside someone's head and make them think that you are better than them then you will win.

Also, be able to stay cool under pressure. Don't let spamming or excessive/flashy tech skills phase you. Just because someone can multi-shine, waveshine, DD, etc. really well doesn't mean that they can correctly deploy those tech skills into battle. If you get nervous and worried about their tech skill then you will often be caught in their mind games and overwhelmed. But all you need to do is watch and react appropriately, often with simple moves.