The Fundamental Intentions of Neutral

[@dudutsai]

I've definitely played 1 IQ Melee before. Big fan!!

[@DarwinDing]

u beat me in 1 iq melee with big sword guy

[@KnishG]

This is such a creative way to describe neutral. Really great points about how whiff punish shines above the other options. Keep it coming these videos are amazing.

[@DarwinDing]

appreciate it :)

[@Stupidiusity]

It's important to precise here that whiff punishing outshines the other options in the specific context of 2 IQ Melee. In the real Melee, whiff punishing is actually the lesser option most of the time, and for most of the cast. Marth, Sheik and Jigglypuff are somewhat exceptions to this rule, but because there are so many possible spacings for every move, looks can be extremely deceiving when it comes to having time to punish our opponent's whiffed attacks. More often than not, we end up getting clipped, or grabbed, or we hit a shield and then look silly. All because our opponent intended it so. Attacking in proactive and preemptive ways, as well as taking space both aggressively and defensively, are all better options around which to build a gameplan in the context of Melee.

[@GimR]

great video!

[@matrixyst]

agreed

[@hollaa]

im a big fan of the hold forward part

[@DarwinDing]

im a big fan of holla

[@hollaa]

@@DarwinDing :ooooo

[@ccw8aminute]

glad i was randomly up at 5:30 am to see this

[@Patrick-bn5rp]

"It doesn't help that there's 26 different characters with different movesets" Me, an Ultimate player: (*Sweats profusely*)

[@DarwinDing]

oh man i cannot even begin to fathom what that must be like hahaha

[@actuallynotsteve]

@@DarwinDing It's amazing, Ultimate is just nuts. There are something like 3500 unique 1 v 1 matchups, maybe more now that there's DLC. Almost no 2 characters play alike either, at least IMHO...Fox and Falco are similar, and the FE echoes are obviously similar, but there's just no way to remember every matchup. Every single tournament you'll see matchups that you've never seen before at the high level.

[@pranavjulakanti7027]

@@actuallynotsteve that's great for a spectator but a nightmare for a competitor haha

[@KIRB881]

That's why I swapped to 64 and melee

[@zachcarter7022]

This is fantastic work keep it up bro

[@SSB_Seal]

Wait, I have actually played 2 IQ Melee before. It’s the exact same thing as a Melee minigame some people call “Bowser Tilt”, which is where you play Super Sudden Death Bowser dittos on FD and you can only walk/dash and ftilt. I think it’s even more fun than with Fox because everything is slightly more reactable. Also great video as usual, very cool to see an analysis on neutral because I think it is way, way less understood by the average Melee player than punish and defensive game, where there are a lot more “true answers”.

[@DarwinDing]

[@frito9008]

ik im 3 years too late but as a general fighting game fan i think that this video perfectly explains the neutral game without going too crazy into detail that would overwhelm a new player. even though ive plated fighting games for a bit i still think that this video has a lot of good information for new and old players 🙌🙌🙌

[@vietchuxuan8789]

Unironically an amazing video. Thanks a lot!

[@hundrds1283]

Just watched this during Rollback Rumble fantastic video thank you

[@DarwinDing]

hype thank you :))

[@FDGL]

this was super helpful to understand neutral in melee! thank you very much for this video.

[@shadowninja433]

I feel like there is another massive level to the game that is pure, unexplored execution, specifically, ' missed execution options ' and punishes.

[@cyfer115]

“Yes I did mess this up twice” LOL

[@DarwinDing]

i had been planning on rerecording that part and then it got so late i was like eh fuck it captions are fine LOL im glad you got a kick out of it

[@DrewZGmusic]

This is the most informative video on neutral I've ever seen, hell yeah

[@megahertz23]

Super insightful video

[@Amaling]

My first answer to the 2IQ melee flowchart kid was to preemptively hit them before they arrive into “within range” rather than dash back. Idk what this says about me as a player, but it does indeed also best the flowchart, as discussed later

[@nilpholan]

good stuff yo!

[@joshcummins3916]

Man when you explain it at a simple level it makes way more sense. I need to focus on the big picture instead of trying flowchart moves.

[@Prbasss]

great video dude

[@taciprince7400]

Just starting out. I’m pretty casual with just some experience against friends so it was nice to have a concise breakdown of this

[@user3lskq3]

i love simplification brain scenarios to understand parts of a game

[@WindaMaplerDivineKYO]

i like shielding

[@DarwinDing]

ur character shields twice it is OP

[@maxono1465]

sick video

[@connorkillmice]

i wish i watched this 10 years ago

[@lokemer1093]

So good. i love melee

[@puppystylexd]

ANOTHER VIDEO FOR THE AGES KEEP IT GOING LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE EXPAND THAT IQ

[@DarwinDing]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@TetraBui]

Instead of using 2 IQ melee, we could use the game Footsies, which entire point of the game is to teach this.

[@JManthegamerdude]

Okay that's the last straw. Take mein sub.

[@PierreLuk]

Great video, you could make a video in the same style as rishi's video about decision making in smash. I think it would help new players tremendously

[@DarwinDing]

oh man i forgot about that video, will have to rewatch but that's a cool idea -- you thinkin something about the meta of how people make decisions in-game or something?

[@PierreLuk]

@@DarwinDing yeah exactly

[@brushycat]

i wish this existed when i started playing fighters lol

[@DarwinDing]

u didnt need it to beat gootecks tho

[@brushycat]

@@DarwinDing tuh ROOOOO

[@skiptts]

Waiiiiiiit why the turnip go through the stage ? 7:48

[@zorfrak]

2 iq melee bracket when?

[@DarwinDing]

needa code it rq

[@jessewatters6099]

Are you eyes always that Asian or did it being 5:30 and you being super tired make them look more Asian than usual?!

[@taylorbee4010]

Calling smash bros a fighting game, actually explaining neutral And linking it to other actual fighting games. You madman! You’ll have both communities after you! You can’t tell them the TRUTH!!!

[@frebo2541]

Shouldn't baiting also be discussed as a tool of 2 IQ melee?

[@DarwinDing]

haha in some ways i would say whiff punishing is probably the only way you can realistically bait in 2 IQ melee, given that attacking is death, but i could have called that out more explicitly! honestly there is so much depth to even this barebones neutral thing that i had to cut out a lot so that this didnt become really tedious to watch