Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-29846068-20180916191806

i. Foreward

Playing effectively in this gamemode has always seemed to be such an unexplored topic that needed some TLC. This guide is for 1v1 play, but can also be translated to team battles, etc. Understand that this is NOT a guide that will automatically make you a good player overnight, fundamentals take a lot of time, work and dedication to strengthen and fully master. Keep this in mind and always practice.

1. ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇᴜᴛʀᴀʟ 𝓖𝓪𝓶𝓮

The Neutral Game ™ is basically when both players have approximately even distance or "stage control" and are looking to find an opening on each other; one of the most important parts of neutral: spacing. Spacing is a crucial part in playing neutral well in MS. Since there is no real "shielding" mechanic in MS, you need to use spacing as a substitute.

By spacing yourself at a safe distance where you can't be hit and simply swinging your weapon or using your weapon, you've applied pressure. By exerting pressure, you've forced your opponent to react somehow; however they react, you NEED to keep track of. This is where identification comes to play. By safely applying pressure, you can start identifying what options they prefer and where their habits and mistakes are. This is where you start downloading your opponent's patterns and eventually start finding openings by:

- ᴘʀᴇssᴜʀɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴏᴘᴘᴏɴᴇɴᴛ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴍᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴀ ᴍɪsᴛᴀᴋᴇ

- ᴘᴜɴɪsʜɪɴɢ sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀs ᴄᴏɴsɪsᴛᴇɴᴛʟʏ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀ ᴘᴀᴛᴛᴇʀɴ

- ʙʏ ʙᴀɪᴛɪɴɢ ᴀɴ ᴏᴠᴇʀᴇxᴛᴇɴsɪᴏɴ

1a. 𝓜𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻...

An overextension can be as simple as the enemy player rushing in for a counter-attack, but misses because you were too well spaced; you need to realize that you don't always have to punish something because of approaches, sometimes it's impossible to punish and the opposing player just wants to bait you into approaching. When this happens, reset neutral by moving back to avoid the situation all together. Neutral requires a lot of patience and reaction. There really is no "correct" way to play neutral, it's the most difficult part of the game, that will always keep evolving and changing as players get better. Nobody can properly teach you how to play neutral right, so you have to form your own version of it, as long as it's well spaced, based on reaction and patience. Just carelessly approaching or panicking is NOT how you create an opening. If anything, you've lost your patience and the opponent has won the mental game and neutral game by remaining calm and collective.

2. 𝙰𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜

Another thing you have to realize is that no player will ever have the "perfect" neutral. Although, some people will have a better neutral game than others, because they know how to adapt, and the only real way to learn how to adapt is through '''awareness. '''Sure, while it can help to find tips and study other players. It's much more important to learn "how to solve a problem" through awareness. Once you achieve that mindset, you will focus on:

- 𝓛𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰

- 𝓘𝓶𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰

and most importantly

- 𝓐𝓭𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰

rather than just settling on the playstyle you think will win you the match, because if you stick to what you believe is the best playstyle and then start falling behind in a match or worse, losing a match, your mentality will start to '''ｃｒｕｍｂｌｅ. '''Focusing on only winning will ultimately only add pressure and nerves you feel when playing in a match. Instead, stay aware to what your opponent is doing to adapt and overcome the opposing player's tricks. It doesn't matter if you're so far from winning or losing a match, the momentum can change at any given time, depending on adaptation. Ask yourself:

- ᴡʜʏ ᴅᴏ ɪ ɢᴇᴛ ʜɪᴛ

- ᴡʜʏ ᴅɪᴅ ɪ ɢᴇᴛ ᴘᴜɴɪꜱʜᴇᴅ

- ᴡʜʏ ᴅɪᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴏʀᴋ

- ᴡʜʏ ᴅɪᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɴᴏᴛ ᴡᴏʀᴋ

stay aware to why you're succeeding and why you're failing. As long as your awareness is strong, you'll find yourself adapting to your opponent WAY more.

3. 𝐎𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞

This is usually the step to the next level that a LOT of players are unaware of:

All weapons have an objective, depending on what weapon they're going up against.

Your objective as a player is to eliminate the opponent, before that, you need to find an opening, question is, what is the best way for you finding one, depending on your weapon?

Take a knife + axe combo for example. Your objective is to find an opening and capitialize on it with a jab of your knife, which leads to a stun, which leads to a big reward, a kill.

You can play around your objective by pretending to rush in and back out immediately, bait an approach option, etc. There are endless possibilities, dependent on stage and again, the weapon equipped.



3a. 𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕨𝕖'𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕦𝕓𝕛𝕖𝕔𝕥...

While some weapons do happen to have dishonest hitboxes, like knives and the infamous chainsaw, that doesn't mean they completely dominate the neutral. Any smart player will find a way around it. Finally, I want to talk about '''hotspotting. '''To the average player, all that someone sees is a player and their weapon equipped, nothing more nothing less. You need to pay attention to their threat bubble. Hotspots and threat bubbles are mental images you create when you want to approach carefully to your opponent, imagine hitboxes infront of or around your opponent. You want to stay out of that range because due to the normal ROBLOX latency, even if you do successfully react in time to back away, the standard delay from the server can still get you killed, especially if it's a hard hitting weapon. You need to space yourself carefully from their bubble and play smart.

Wrapping this up, again, remember not to focus on winning, focusing on winning will only create the fear and pressure of losing. You only need to focus on the current match you're playing and what's happening in front of you.

Figure out your opponent.

THAT will ultimately score you a win, not by playing "safe" or "good" to not lose. Playing good would be playing adaptively. Don't pound/worry yourself with your thoughts or hopes of winning. Be present, be aware. Don't underestimate or overestimate. But, be confident and that you can beat anyone and: '''𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭. 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐔𝐩.'''

I hope you guys enjoyed this guide, this took a good chunk of time to make. Leave a comment and tell me what I could improve on!

 