Fighting Games are a complex genre that has a lot more going on under the hood. Sure, you can study every character’s combos and special moves, but that all comes second to the almighty neutral. To those not in the know, the neutral is everything that’s happening in between clashes with your opponent. Every backdash, forward dash, and feint that you do matters even when you’re not up in each other’s face, and that’s a concept I think most new fighting game players struggle with, until this article. I’m here to provide you with an easy-to-digest tool to understand most neutral in fighting games, and help boil it down to something easy to digest: a rock-paper-scissors triangle. Keepout beats rushdown, rushdown beats whiff punishment, and whiff punishment beats keepout.
Keepout
One of the most annoying things to encounter in the neutral is keepout. It’s during this phase that you throw out some mid to long-range moves, hoping it’ll stop the opponent in their tracks or so you can get a cheeky little hit in for some damage. Sometimes referred to as turtling, this is what a smart player would do once they have a life lead: goading you to come closer to reclaim the lead, only to hit you square in the face with a flash kick that puts you back in keepout range. If you find yourself getting rushed down by opponents who excel at demolishing you when they’re in your face, keepout is the way to go.
Some fighting game characters that excel in this type of gameplay would be Guile from Street Fighter, Bryan Fury from Tekken, and Ramlethal Valentine from Guilty Gear. Guile specifically is famous for his keepout game in the neutral, boasting long-range projectiles and normals while threatening a flash kick if you end up getting too close. Speaking of range, this is something that most keepout characters excel in. Long-range normals are your bread and butter when looking for your character’s keepout options. Just make sure you’ve got the range down because if you don’t, prepare to get blown up with a massive whiff punish.
Whiff Punishment
Whiff punishment is a concept in fighting games where you bait out an attack from your opponent only to make them miss, otherwise known as whiffing an attack, and punishing them with a counter-attack of your own. This is the perfect strategy for when you find yourself at the mercy of a character throwing out long-ranged normals, trying to keep you out of your kill range. This is a playstyle that demands a lot of patience and sharp reflexes on your end because most of the time, you’ll find yourself in this position where you’re either trying to close out the round or trying to steal the life lead.
This is also the phase where movement is crucial and might be the best way to bait your opponent into attacking. In 2D games, this is often called footsies, moving in and out of your opponent’s range like a boxer daring them to make a move. Characters like Ed, Asuka, and Giovanna are considered to have some of the best whiff punishers in their respective series, but this isn’t constrained to specific characters. When looking for your character’s whiff punishment move, make sure to look for a quick and long-ranged attack that you can throw out on reaction. It also helps to look for attacks that either lead to big damage and a knockdown, or leave you at the range you’re most comfortable with to restart your offense.
Rushdown
Get ready to be put in the blender; it’s time for the rushdown phase of the neutral triangle. Rushdown is just that, rushing down your opponent and not giving them any breathing room. This is a perfect playstyle for when you find your opponent waiting for you to whiff an attack, blazing past all their mental stack and making them feel the wrath of a vicious 50/50. Just be careful, if your opponent turtles up, it could feel like you’re trying to fight a brick wall that you just cannot break through.
There have been some brutal rushdown characters throughout fighting game history, all of which pride themselves on making sure you get crushed as quickly as possible. Characters like Cammy, Lars, and Chipp base their entire game plan on balls-to-the-wall tactics that overwhelm opponents with mixups and quick tools. But while some characters excel in this fighting style, every character can shift gears and rush down their opponent. Make sure to identify your character’s quickest moves and mixups to make your opponent think you’re playing a single-player game.
This neutral triangle is a tool that stays true even in the highest levels of a fighting game and can make fighting games easier to understand. With that said, the pacing of how quickly the neutral changes can differ between fighting games. The neutral in Street Fighter 6 can be much slower when compared to games like 2XKO or Street Fighter 6, but I promise you it’s all the same in the end. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and fight!