You Can't Play Neutral

A lot of players either tell or are told that they need to work on their neutral, and a lot of players try to then go into a match and play a neutral focused game, but realise that they kind of, can’t. They try and focus on the neutral game, maybe outspace their opponent, or look for a whiff punish, only to get hit by a jump in, or a DI, or a drive rush, and suddenly they’re not playing neutral anymore. It’s easy to get mad and complain “why won’t my opponent play footsies with me?” But this misses a fundamental aspect of playing neutral.
Everyone says that neutral is just “playing footsies”, and while that’s correct, it fails to explain how to actually put yourself and your opponent in a situation to play “neutral”.
Like and subscribe if you enjoyed the video and would like to see more.
Twitter: @balfararjeh
CFN: 2503914624
0:00 A definition
3:40 Neutral Tools
7:05 Respect

[@fararjeh]

For anyone looking for more insight into different neutral tools, I’d highly recommend the footsies handbook: sonichurricane.com/?page_id=1702 As well as the mentioned video by hifight: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2ewfJ6nhNGjgdU

[@hakouthegamer7978]

Coming back here to the vid just to let you know how much this helped me i already can clearly see how much better i am playing i was always good at whiff punishing but had ZERO understanding over covering space and attacking my opponent when they're not covering and whiffing, Thank you

[@fararjeh]

Man I’m so happy you’ve gotten so much out the video, it’s people like you I made this for 🙏

[@kuma6572]

I know EXACTLY what neutral is all I have to do is press pierce

[@deadfr0g]

Blessed Pilipino ahh typo

[@Wulf_YT]

Lol

[@chrisb8698]

@@deadfr0g not a typo my guy. Look at their pfp

[@deadfr0g]

@@chrisb8698 Oh ship! 😲

[@sergio.ballesteros]

Maybe Pierce is not willing to participate. Poor Pierce.

[@chrisb8698]

Bro explained in 10 minutes what took me over an hour to explain to my homies lmao

[@thepaywall7900]

The whiff

[@phantomking3522]

Bruh, i swear. No matter how many videos I've watched about Neutral or Footies. There's always something to learn.

[@crustykeycap5670]

Footsies and neutral don't mean anything

[@hazeyred3541]

This video is a gem. I realized I don’t command respect in fighting games.

[@Jardonius]

This video is me learning "I just have some high quality bullshit" and I'm not actually good in the neutral lmao

[@hazeyred3541]

@@Jardonius lmao we’re forever going to be cleaning up our game. 😂

[@Jardonius]

@@hazeyred3541 ayyy thats half the fun though. We can look back on our garbage neutral and just go "Yeah, glad I don't do that anymore"

[@thiagoakira697]

​@@JardoniusThe "bs" is also part of neutral, we just need to find the balance between politeness and then throwing shit at them lol.

[@Jardonius]

@@thiagoakira697 This is also true, and jokes aside now that you put it that way I am always either too nice or *very* shitty lmao. Must find the center to find the way forward~

[@chancemitchell4147]

I can’t believe Street Fighter 6 is the game where I would start taking all this shit seriously. Cause I’ve been playing fighting games online for years and just playing for years. This damn near the only game that got me trying to IMPROVE my game

[@deceptikhon]

ok

[@myboy732]

Yo I feel that. SF6 had that effect on me too

[@azarel7]

This is the best video on footsies I've ever seen. It has the clearest explanation of the cycle and then tying in the neutral skips is so enlightening. Excellent video!

[@fararjeh]

Appreciate that bro hope you got something out of it 🙏

[@azarel7]

@@fararjeh Def did...one more question, would you consider Luke's Heavy Flash Knuckle a neutral skip as well?

[@fararjeh]

Definitely, it completely skips neutral and puts luke point blank and plus in your face

[@azarel7]

@@fararjeh Gotcha, thanks man, just wanted to make sure I understood the concept properly.

[@ismtud1364]

This is probably the best tutorial on neutral i have ever seen. havent really found one that covers concepts such as established respect from top level gameplay, which makes it difficult for new players to know what to do against players who dont respect them

[@fararjeh]

Literally made this entire video just to talk about the respect part; it often goes underlooked when talking about neutral

[@moied7194]

As a noob player who just started playing seriously, this really helped understanding some important things, thanks👍

[@NynZhan]

We need more videos like this. There are a lot of new gen fighting game players that need to get in on the lingo. Even I learned something, awesome stuff 🔥

[@fararjeh]

Tryna fill the content gap that exists one vid at a time

[@Awenevis1]

Amazing video. You delivered such high degree of clarity in what neutral is all about, while acknowledging the place for neutral skips. Huge props.

[@MVS_Kevrainpain]

Wonderful video! Taught me a lot about the sub-categories of neutral-game I didn't know about before and how to actually play a neutral game at a high level!

[@InvaderFelix]

The goddamn editing, the smooth audio, the video structure? Have my sub homie.

[@fararjeh]

Goat activity

[@warning2246]

Bruh, your content is one of the best in the entire fighting game community. It is informative and easy to understand and follow up for practices.

[@tzfsr]

Premo instructional material. I'm sending this to every beginner player of any fighting game. Good stuff man.

[@fararjeh]

Means a lot brother 🙏

[@CorrectDefenseSC]

I have been looking at guides for this stuff in a 2d context as a 3d player off and on for almost 15 years. From pros to casuals, no one has ever explained it this way. 99% are completely vague and will usually tell you to just do the thing you were trying to learn how to do when you clicked on the video without telling you how to do it. And I haven't given any 2d game a real chance because of it since I didn't understand what I was supposed to be doing, as well as the meaning of words like "neutral" or "footsies", again, in a 2d context. You've actually broken it down in a way that is actionable that I can start working on immediately. Thank you and well done.

[@fararjeh]

This comment got me giggling on my stomach kicking my feet in the air bro appreciate that greatly 🙏🙏🙏

[@metalgeartrusty]

I like how u included “threaten with throw”, under block pressure. Another advantage you gain from making them block is you push them back towards the corner.

[@fararjeh]

Yup, and them being in the corner is great for so many reasons

[@chibicas]

I've seen lots of people make longer videos than this (to give respect they were very helpful) and gave me less value. You did a great job explaining neutral. I think what I really learned is to observe what state of neutral my opponent will switch in when they get used to my playstyle and counter that. I only gained this insight because of the techniques you described later in the video. Thank you.

[@rogeliovilchez1]

This video was absolutely amazing. You did a very great job. Thank you and keep up the good work.

[@fararjeh]

Will do man

[@HollywoodRobTV]

Certified banger 🔥 my man is spreading the gospel. Love to see it. Extremely well edited too.

[@fararjeh]

Aye man rob tv in my comments that’s how I know I did well 😂 Real talk though appreciate that brother 🙏🙏

[@MVS_Kevrainpain]

Just with this knowledge you shared with me I think you might have helped level up my neutral play. Thank you GOAT! 💯

[@Staineless84]

Amazing video, can't wait to see what you do next.

[@CharacterCrisisTV]

Superb video my friend! And great editing style. Can't wait to see more.

[@Vatistah]

That's why in sf6 around gold all the way to diamond 1 or 2, there usually isn't any form of really useful neutral game to be good at since it's mostly about consistency, managing your mental stacks and being able to beat the neutral skips. Eventually being good at neutral becomes useful but until then, you gotta learn how to parry sumo-headbutt

[@fararjeh]

Pretty much spot on man

[@user-kt5gr8gy4o]

As an advanced player I can say it never hurts to go back to the basics

[@Tletna]

In a game, there are states. Like in chess, one can be up one or more pieces or have a better position of pieces and they're then at advantage, or conversely they could have less pieces, or a worse position and be at disadvantage, finally all things could be equal and they're in a neutral state. So what people call playing neutral is actually attempting to get out of neutral in a way that puts them into an advantageous state. This assumes of course your goal is to win. If your goal is simply to tie or time out your opponent rather than win or lose then you would want to stay in neutral as long as possible. It is also important to note that while we don't normally think of how much life each character has left or how much timer is left, it is a part of neutral and so is frame advantage. Again, if you have the goal of winning the match, one's goal should be to be in neutral as little time as possible. This either means pressuring your opponent constantly and changing up what you do enough to where they cannot predict what you're doing, or punishing mistakes from opponents with highly optimized punishes (punishes being optimized matter for how much time they take and what position they leave one in, not simply for how much damage is done). Since only playing offensively or only playing defensively can lead to predictability, good players will generally have a good feel for when to switch between the two. But, remember, there is no playing neutral if you aim to win but rather what are you going to do to leave neutral and go into an advantaged state?

[@MoroDanan]

My summation of this fine post: Your goal is to win, your objective to reaching that goal is leaving neutral in an advantaged state. Love the post, very good explanation.

[@deadfr0g]

Yeah, I already know I can’t! But that doesn’t mean you had to make an ENTIRE video about me!!

[@masterscrubaiter]

Well now you know what to improve on.

[@ianlampemartin]

This video is so elegant. Masterful work! I will link this ad nauseam. I used to just study/link the handbook, but this is a perfect intro to footsies.

[@minnh2094]

incredible video quality, great work man

[@bdc_ky]

This is a great video definitely what I needed to see

[@gryffin533]

This is amazing, would LOVE more tutorials like this. So well made

[@fararjeh]

On it brother

[@goodiesnacks]

I just went to go look on your channel for more content and was surprised to see so little videos. Bro keep making videos this content was great.

[@fararjeh]

I do it for people like you man 🙏

[@Shaymaru]

Having the video be cyclical and end the way it starts, just like the Neutral / Footsies loop, is excellent. You were short, sweet, and to the point. Great video!

[@ifxzrvz1706]

Man I have watched this and the analysis video both were great u answered questions I have been struggling to find the answer to. Keep the good work, really cool videos.

[@robontik]

Top quality content. Waiting for the second part.

[@bubu-br1ze]

Awesome video ! Looking forward to the next ones 🙏

[@ML-pp8zw]

I really appreciate this content. I am new and this breaks down the mechanics. Keep this content going

[@fararjeh]

For you man ima keep making stuff like this 🙏

[@DazIsBambo]

Loved the video, loved the editing, loved the script, and you have a nice mic! Thanks for describing the reason most players can't just mimic top player matches. It's the respect part. Looking forward to the next!

[@fitzciaran]

Banger, looking out for more like this!

[@fararjeh]

I make em for people like you man 🙏

[@cesararambula8382]

This was a very helpful guide to understand and play footsies thank you imma look back at this a lot 🙏🏻

[@MrCrimsonftw]

This was a very informative video. Thank you man

[@metallovaboo]

Good video for intermediate players. I love how you put the titles of the songs you used during the video

[@fararjeh]

Too many people asking me what music I use 😭

[@masterscrubaiter]

Thanks man this is great stuff. So essentially you have to show a person you can handle neutral Skip's. Earn the respect so they play neutral well. I'm going to check out your other stuff and I've subscribed.

[@SaucyCheeseburgerwithRanch]

I’m definitely gonna rewatch this video a few times, I need to better my actual street fighter play this helps

[@punkypony5165]

This video should required watching for everyone who plays fighting games

[@pieroanselmetti520]

Awesome video, you deserve way more views!

[@fararjeh]

Glad you think so!

[@OzonebxGaming]

What happens is characters that can cancle their low fowards end up with more chances to open up because they can just buffer drive cancel over and over. One thing I found odd was that they allow you to do drive impact right after a drive cancel.

[@fararjeh]

So if a let’s say Ken is looking to do low forward drive rush, that means he’s in the “walk up and hit your opponent” range. You can cover his approach to stop him getting close for example. Regardless what he’s trying to do with his move, you should try and identify what level of footsies that puts him in, and try and beat him accordingly

[@fararjeh]

They will inherently get more of a crouch medium then like, other characters, but that goes into meter management territory, which is another topic in itsef

[@finch66]

this Fararjeh guy doesnt miss. great video man

[@fararjeh]

Appreciate that brother 🙏

[@Vicexd2070]

the way this video explains things is somewhat how philosophy works

[@sekijou3622]

I used to not notice the established respect and think I just understood their neutral. Then after some time I realized they play such a slow and simple neutral BECAUSE they respect one another, whole different world

[@masterscrubaiter]

Exactly, now that I know about this if I see somebody playing methodical that I know I've earned their respect. And I plan to earn their respect and force people into playing neutral and footsies.

[@TheWumbologistt]

This actually helps me so much. I just hit masters and am settling down in my more realistic MR, which will prob be somewhere between 1300-1400. I always wondered why my neutral was so bad, and that's because some of it I understood intuitively, and other parts I definitely misunderstood completely. I would rotate some options and try to spam one that I found to work. I can read people and adjust to certain patterns, but I would always try to poke with mediums and whiff, never thought about whiffing light normals like that on purpose, and sometimes I would just fail to open people up and not understand why. Subbed, thank you for the video, looking forward to more!

[@Un1234l]

Check FilipinoChamp's videos for even more in-depth coaching and lessons. Example of something he taught is that if you're pressing high commitment buttons in neutral (mediums, heavies), then it will be harder or impossible to react to jumps, neutral skips, etc.

[@fararjeh]

Glad you learnt a thing or two, I’d recommend the footsies handbook for some further reading

[@AgelessObsession]

I'm trying to get back into SF6 for season 2, and I was getting frustrated with my neutral game. Namely that I was getting neutral skipped repeatedly with jumpins, DIs, etc and all my 'clever fundamental play' was getting me killed. I've seen plenty of videos before on footsies, but this is the first time I've seen one cover the concept of respect. People are jumping in on me and hitting me with DIs because I'm not anti-airing or countering properly. That isn't them being 'lol random', it's them exposing a glaring weakness in my skillset and targeting it. Thanks for making this. Hopefully I can internalise it and get better at enforcing respect. Or at least recognising when people WON'T respect me and anti-airing them to death instead. V:

[@lilfroag4048]

first video of urs I've seen. gotta subscribe!

[@Temax6]

incredible video, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the sub count. Subbed

[@njparham3829]

Such a great breakdown

[@Dr.KaitouPhD]

Greate video. Looking forward to more.

[@zart8478]

Great content. Subbed. Hoping for more.

[@mikaeladeel1268]

Very well-informed and easy to understand video

[@Un4eseen]

wow, Que buena dedicación en un solo video, gracias por dejarlo tan claro!

[@varyagace]

Okay, so the real answer in this video for the newbies who can't do neutral: step one in learning to play neutral is NOT playing neutral but lab out how to punish every single bullshit move that gets spammed. Got it.

[@fararjeh]

I was worried I didn’t stress this point enough but the fact you’ve caught on means either you’re very smart or the video is good so I’ll just assume both. But yeah! No point trying to play footsies if you can’t even make your opponent play it with you :)

[@capcomlove4life]

Excellent video!! Well done brother!!

[@fararjeh]

Much appreciated man 🙏

[@ThePersonWhoAsked69420]

2:42 as a former Kim main, that combo was so suboptimal it made me cry.

[@fararjeh]

😭😭😭 forgive me brother I don’t play Kim

[@ThePersonWhoAsked69420]

@@fararjeh you should be ashamed. All jokes aside great video lol

[@Mineral4r7s]

after u showed the image with patrick as a way to berate neutral skips i became sceptical of this video but u mentioning mental stack at 10:10 redeemed it. solid video, well edited

[@asdfjgh]

We’re reinventing the wheel I see

[@JesusChrist-tp4xc]

This video is a banger.

[@chepemasacuata1]

I just commented how I would love the videos on capcoms channel to be more in-depth, and this is exactly what i meant. Really good video

[@goodiesnacks]

awesome video man, helps a lot

[@Streux]

This vid is 🔥🔥🔥. I lose to neutral skips all the time. Thx for helping me understand how to deal with them now.

[@fararjeh]

Your welcome brother 🙏

[@drekingbeastW]

Amazing video man!

[@fararjeh]

Glad you liked it bro

[@Talol-sandwich42]

As a silver sf6 player, the last section is something I feel all lower ranks NEED to watch. We aren’t losing because of not whiff punishing enough. We lose because we can’t counter neutral skips, plain and simple. Trying to implement whiff punishing and pokes will only hurt your climb at lower ranks since most people never respect you and will repeatedly do the same options till they die. Which isn’t to say it’s pointless to learn. But focusing on punishing unsafe moves and neutral skips is the only thing you really need to learn at low levels.

[@fararjeh]

Exactly bro, I’m glad you got something out the video 🙏

[@Unserioussam328]

This video has confirmed what I already know. I'm an ape that you're locked into a room with and I will *not* play neutral nor respect you and your pressure until you *force me to*. Make me play neutral or die. ... that said I should probably also learn how to play neutral better for the people who actually can do that.

[@superpowerman4354]

This a great video. As a legacy player, I am of the opinion that neutral skips in SF6 come with such a positive risk/reward ratio, that the neutral game is virtually gone.

[@fararjeh]

Honestly brother you are very correct with that. I do think offence in this game is greatly favoured but if I said that in the video everyone would lose hope at learning neutral 😭

[@TheLazyRegulator]

Bison Whiffing a scissor kick and getting hit by a Ken fireball is the most honest explanation of neutral I’ve ever seen. Both of those things were easily avoided mistakes but the mental consequences were huge.

[@spiritjestertimecube8819]

what a cocky, mean spirited video title holy shit

[@fararjeh]

😭😭😭 it’s clickbait brother I didn’t mean to hit a nerve

[@shotsniper009]

really liked this video

[@alihamza-4812]

The jazz in the background goes hard

[@fararjeh]

Skullgirls ost man it’s so good

[@alihamza-4812]

@@fararjeh Also, I didn't mention but this was an excellent informative video.

[@brutaLCris]

Fantastic video!

[@DioMioPT]

This video is about to blow up.

[@fararjeh]

Thank you man 😂

[@MSCDonkeyKong]

I think the best advice in this video is the ending part about how a lot of lower level players who want to play the mind games don't force respect is really true. Even as a FighterZ player, a game that's about as "anti-footsies" as possible, it still held true for me because the mindset for newbie players still applied in different areas. FighterZ offense is instead more based around trying to break open an opponent's defense while they're blocking and you can make your turn last for a damn while in that game. The advice that helped me a lot is when another player taught me that the thing lower level players fucking hate blocking, and this means that they will try to mash out of blockstrings as much as possible. This means that rather than doing long, true blockstrings, the most effective thing to do is starting your offense with frametraps, because you're expecting the opponent to mash. In the game you can cancel 2L into 5L and vice versa, but only one time once per true blockstring. At the same time, L buttons can be cancelled into buttons of higher strengths, meaning you can cancel your light buttons into a universal overhead and low, and 5L can also be cancelled into the universal throw. Most characters in the game either have a light that hits low, or their 2L is safe on block and functions as a pressure reset tool. Because of this, 5L is the button that puts the most pressure on the opponent, because there are far more options they need to look out for after it. The threat of when the mix is coming next becomes much scarier than alternating between a 5M that hits mid and a 2M that hits low. Best part is, if you've conditioned your opponent to be really scared of mashing, it enables FAR more schenanigans because a lot of mixup options get shut down by mashing. Stuff that's normally untrue like IAD crossups isn't a problem anymore once you've gotten to the point where your opponent is no longer mashing. Further increasing the amount of potential answers to the multiple choice question of "how do I block this mix?" This DRAMATICALLY increases the amount of pressure actually being put on the opponent because now they have to ask way more questions about where to block. (Blockstrings are still useful, but they're mostly there for keeping yourself safe after using your mediums for a mixup attempt and tying your attacks into assists. They don't put nearly as much pressure on their own). Oh, and now that you've read this, you can now win games as Z-Broly. Most on his non-heavy normals will tick-grab into his unreactable light command grab. Once the command grab lands just combo that into his level 1. Midscreen it's 29% damage and in the corner you can make it do 33% damage. Anyways, the core principle here is the idea that lower level players are going up against other lower level players don't know how to force them into playing the "don't-get-opened-up" game. In Street Fighter, it's with whiff punishes and movement, while in DBFZ it's using assists to get in and then breaking open the opponent's defense like they're a clam.

[@BridgetGX]

I found this video quite informative.

[@fararjeh]

Much appreciated brother 🙏

[@StarChargerStudios]

Correct. I like doing combos, so I do those. If they don’t get hit the game is bad and unbalanced.

[@hakouthegamer7978]

Amazing video very well done

[@PsychoJosh]

What's there to explain? Just slime rush and skip the neutral, press buttons constantly, be stupid and random like this shitty game wants you to be and you'll reach Legend in no time.

[@fararjeh]

So are you legend?

[@fabiosonhandogrande1697]

Huh... Now that I look back on low-level play, and opponents of vastly different skill against eachother... Yeah, it's mostly being bad against neutral skips, and dying

[@fararjeh]

That realisation right there is exactly why I made this vid, a lot of people think they suck at neutral, when really they just can’t deal with neutral skips

[@fabiosonhandogrande1697]

@@fararjeh Funniest recent one, for me, was in a match in a Lythero video with The Three Idiots (Rhymestyle, Seereax and Dotodoya). The 2 last ones fought eachother, and Doto absolutely rushed him with Zangief's ex run grab and air SPD

[@Cephalon-go6vl]

Playing Neutral is essentially the act of navigating the space where both players are at neutral (I.e neither player is at advantage, for example round start) to gaining advantage and landing a hit; this is done through a combination of spacing, whiff punishing your opponent, and choosing the correct response to what your opponent has done or is doing, through observation, reads and reactions.

[@PlumEXE]

who do I play if I want to deprive my opponent of the ability to make me guess, rather than pursue situations where I force them to guess whilst in my pressure? Got sim to master but he aint rly working for me

[@fararjeh]

That’s more of a playstyle thing than a character thing. Guile, dhalsim, or jp are all good options, but really unless you play perfect you’ll always have to guess at some point

[@HELLRAISER02]

This is a cool vid, that goes in depth on traps n stuff, the only thing id personally change is 'whiff whiff punish' with 'whiff bait', mainly cuz it rolls off the tongue player but its prolly what annoys me bout SF the most, haha

[@chalefoo]

The set ups at 0:46 are nice

[@sleepfgc]

Crazy good video.

[@atazhao]

Amazing video.

[@Joabach]

Great job !

[@hildaibuyan4161]

As one of the best neutral players in the world since my win stat has never changed, good video.

[@NumeroGaijin]

This is a necessary video for the newer players because they really don't know but us OG sf2- to present players definitely know. I have not watched the video yet. I only heard the intro. I will make this post before then another after I have watched it. As defined by me: Neutral- controlling space using footsies, Anti-airs, grabs, supers, and etc to gain an opportunity to push yourself in a favorable position. Starts from anywhere where there is no clear advantage to either player (advantage, for example =knockdown). Footsies-self explanatory....includes pokes, counterpokes, whiffs, and whiff punishes. Utilizing your characters effective range with normals.

[@Spotz]

Really good video

[@Gibbs_300]

Great video

[@2ndThought_]

5:54 I regret to inform you that this is a whiff punish punish to a whiffed whiff punish, not a whiff whiff punish. 😔

[@fararjeh]

😂 I whiff punished his whiffed whiff punish for a whiff punish punish

[@lostgriff]

I was wondering why I recognized you. I'm not even joking I decided to watch through this video to clean up my neutral in multiversus LMAOO

[@fararjeh]

Thank you brother 😂🙏

[@pinkpyjamas4090]

Damn! Nice video.

[@waydeclarke5349]

Really good stuff

[@malcom5197]

what a good video! thanks

[@fararjeh]

You're welcome!

[@giogiorno2]

8:25 BRAZILIAN KEN MENTIONED LET'S GOOO BRASIL CAMPEÃO