Probably the most talked about term in fighters and also NRS games in relation to competitive play is “Neutral”. Another term often talked about is 50/50’s and their influence, or in some cases, dominance in the meta. This applies to all fighting games and all NRS games, but I want to focus more on MK11 here.
To the 50/50 point that gets brought up fairly frequently. Yes, there’s numerous 50/50’s in MK11 (just like in most fighting games). The difference between 50/50’s in MK11 compared to previous NRS games (MK9-Injustice 2), is that there definitely IS more of a focus on neutral in MK11 by design. So why is that a relevant observation? Let me (try to) explain.
I’ve noticed there’s a very obvious issue with people really not fully understanding what exactly neutral even is. Most people have a basic understanding, but at the same time there’s a lot of subtle misunderstandings even coming from top players. More specifically, there’s the state of neutral and also there’s playing the neutral game (step up your neuch), and understanding what both of these mean and the differences between the two.
I believe I’ve mentioned this before, but I feel it’s best to reiterate in order to not only help others understand, but I also could have a misunderstanding, which is why I wanted to have this discussion.
This is my understanding. The state of being in ‘Neutral’ is when neither player has any real positional advantage in that current moment in time, as well as no frame advantage or really any advantage. Hence the name “neutral”. So essentially, it’s a state of the game where neither player has any advantage.
Playing neutral is when both players are fighting for space on the screen in order to gain an advantage while IN the neutral state. That advantage can be anything, but usually you’re fighting for positional advantage that puts you into a range where your character best thrives. For some characters that’s within footsie range, or just outside of it. Other characters it’s trying to get all the way in and apply your pressure and 50/50’s, etc etc.
Not many players are fans of 50/50’s. Being forced into an auto guessing situation isn’t fun and isn’t necessarily a testament of skill. But, with neutral in mind, is it not the reward of the player that wins neutral to be able to apply pressure and also force you into 50/50 situations? And subsequently, is it not your punishment for losing neutral to be in this guessing situation?
I know the arguments are that there’s “fuck neutral” tools and easy ways either to get in or win the neutral. But what are some examples of this? People point to specials like Scorpion’s teleport, Jacqui’s b22/dash punch, and other things of this nature that bypass having to “play” neutral, footsies, or whatever. But isn’t this part of matchup knowledge? Knowing a character has a tool like this at their disposal, is it not still on you to find ways around it or to stop it? It seems like there’s this idea that every character HAS to play neutral, but not only that, they HAVE to play neutral the same way. This just simply isn’t true, unless I’m missing something.
So, what am I missing? Also, does your understanding or definition of neutral differ from mine? I’d love to hear your thoughts and discussion on this topic.
To the 50/50 point that gets brought up fairly frequently. Yes, there’s numerous 50/50’s in MK11 (just like in most fighting games). The difference between 50/50’s in MK11 compared to previous NRS games (MK9-Injustice 2), is that there definitely IS more of a focus on neutral in MK11 by design. So why is that a relevant observation? Let me (try to) explain.
I’ve noticed there’s a very obvious issue with people really not fully understanding what exactly neutral even is. Most people have a basic understanding, but at the same time there’s a lot of subtle misunderstandings even coming from top players. More specifically, there’s the state of neutral and also there’s playing the neutral game (step up your neuch), and understanding what both of these mean and the differences between the two.
I believe I’ve mentioned this before, but I feel it’s best to reiterate in order to not only help others understand, but I also could have a misunderstanding, which is why I wanted to have this discussion.
This is my understanding. The state of being in ‘Neutral’ is when neither player has any real positional advantage in that current moment in time, as well as no frame advantage or really any advantage. Hence the name “neutral”. So essentially, it’s a state of the game where neither player has any advantage.
Playing neutral is when both players are fighting for space on the screen in order to gain an advantage while IN the neutral state. That advantage can be anything, but usually you’re fighting for positional advantage that puts you into a range where your character best thrives. For some characters that’s within footsie range, or just outside of it. Other characters it’s trying to get all the way in and apply your pressure and 50/50’s, etc etc.
Not many players are fans of 50/50’s. Being forced into an auto guessing situation isn’t fun and isn’t necessarily a testament of skill. But, with neutral in mind, is it not the reward of the player that wins neutral to be able to apply pressure and also force you into 50/50 situations? And subsequently, is it not your punishment for losing neutral to be in this guessing situation?
I know the arguments are that there’s “fuck neutral” tools and easy ways either to get in or win the neutral. But what are some examples of this? People point to specials like Scorpion’s teleport, Jacqui’s b22/dash punch, and other things of this nature that bypass having to “play” neutral, footsies, or whatever. But isn’t this part of matchup knowledge? Knowing a character has a tool like this at their disposal, is it not still on you to find ways around it or to stop it? It seems like there’s this idea that every character HAS to play neutral, but not only that, they HAVE to play neutral the same way. This just simply isn’t true, unless I’m missing something.
So, what am I missing? Also, does your understanding or definition of neutral differ from mine? I’d love to hear your thoughts and discussion on this topic.
