Protagonist_1
Noob
The Importance of Walking Forward
Take this scenario: You’re by yourself on the street waiting for someone, while checking the TYM forums on your phone. You then look down to your left and see a person staring right at you, about 20 feet away. He steadily walks toward you, with a faster pace. Now at this point he’s a good 2 feet away from you and yells “hey man, long time no see!” Surprised, you have no idea who this person is. You then realize he is referring to the friend behind you, who has just returned.
Terrible scenario, I know. however, what made the following scenario so tense? As humans, our natural reaction when someone (or something) directly approaches us is fear. This fear usually depends on how close the person approaches your personal space, and the time it takes to do so.
So what does this have to do with fighting games?
When playing fighting game, this same reaction generally occurs (sort of…). If you face an opponent, and he keeps walking towards you, at some point you’re going to have the urge to react. Also, depending on how long a player walks forward can pressure a reaction. A top player will not let you walk in free.
Or will they? (I’ll get to that)
(NOTE: Gif is sped up a little due to "gifyoutube")
This is where the basic fundamentals of footsies comes into play: “The importance of walking forward.” It may come off as a simple concept, but there are a good number of people who have no idea how this works, or struggle to do this (I still do as well). To some, it’s an easy concept but hard to explain;to others it may take a while to practice. It also varies from game to game since each game has it's own unique movement.
What exactly is occurring during the neutral game? (Theory)
When in the neutral game, both players are battling for space and trying to get into the position that adheres to their character’s strengths (or player’s strengths) the most. When you breach a player’s comfort zone, a player will react to prevent any disadvantage when in neutral. Walking forward puts pressure on an opponent and takes them out of their comfort zone.
Universally, the three most natural reactions occur if you were to continually walk towards your opponent are as follows:
1) Throw out a normal (the most common)
2) Throw out a projectile/special (second most common)
3) Jump forward/Neutral Jump (least attempted)
Of course there are others (teleports, jump back etc.), but these are the most common in the majority of matches you would face. By knowing these natural reactions, and depending on the match up, you then use your character to counter such reactions or bait situations.
Example: You walk forward. Your opponent attacks. You walk back just when your opponent attacks and whiff punish.
Example: You walk forward. Opponent shoots a fireball. You jump over the fireball and punish.
Example: You opponent is playing defensive. You walk forward. The moment you anticipate an attack you counter with a fireball. (Commonly done by Daigo)
Why does this work?
As said before, the longer you walk forward, and closer you approach your opponent, the more likely your opponent is to hit a button. In addition, a huge part of playing footsies is baiting your opponent. Walking forward is the easiest way to do this, since you are no longer blocking and pressuring your opponent to make a move.
Walking forward in any fighting game does takes a lot of practice depending on the game and the matchup, due to the fear of taking damage. Don't fret if it takes a while to get used to. It's not something you can perfect, and always something you can improve on by experience.
If you never have tried this before, give it a shot against an offline (preferably offline) opponent. Walk forward and see how much you can advance before they press something when in neutral. It takes practice, but learning how to inch your way forward, or taking a bold walk forward can pay off in huge dividends if used correctly.
When does this work best?
Walking forward works well against defensive/turtle play styles. A defensive/turtle playstyle involves walking back and staying just outside jump range for an easier anti-air or preemptive punish on a dash in. Walking forward is usually done to pressure the defensive opponent to react, then punishing the reaction.
A player doesn’t have to play a turtle style as well. Through classical conditioning, you can condition your opponent to play more defensive as well. This usually occurs if you land consecutive combos, fireballs, counterpokes, and/or whiff punishes. Players also tend to play defensively in high pressure situations (end of a match/money match/eve grand finals) which is where effective use of walking forward shines.
You would generally want to walk forward and close space if you know your opponent is respecting you too much/giving you too much space to work with.
What if my opponent keeps walking back?
Hypothetically speaking, if your opponent keeps walking back, and you keep walking forward they will eventually walk themselves in the corner, thus limiting their movement and options. Usually, the more an opponent tries to create a certain amount of space between a character, the further they are pushed back into the corner. If you have your opponent in the corner, you want to keep them there as long as possible (try not to put yourself in the corner though).
Are there other uses of walking forward?
Another important part of walking forward is getting more mileage on your attacks. Throwing out an attack is nice, but to make sure it lands, you want to take a brief step forward to increase the distance even further. At times, when it comes to punishes, if a normal is too short to reach, you may be able to walk forward and input it the punish instead.
Walk up...throw?
As you saw in the previous gif Daigo walked a full marathon across the screen and threw his opponent. How did that work, and why did the Ibuki player not do anything to prevent this?
This is where conditioning comes in. If you can condition your opponent to play defensive and respect your space, the more room you will have to walk and move around in neutral.
One tactic Daigo tends to do is to shoot point black fireballs at an opponent. He does this by sometimes taking a brief walk forward (to bait a reaction) then fires. At some point the opponent may feel tempted to jump, and this is what Daigo wants. He shoots enough fireballs in neutral to condition the opponent to try to punish it.
If the opponent jumps, Daigo usually spaces himself at a position to be able to DP the jump in or anti-air using normals.
So now the opponent is being hit by fireballs and consistently anti-aired consecutively, conditioning them to respect Daigo's space.
This is when walk up grab comes into play. If the opponent is conditioned to look for a fireball, this delays their reaction to other aspects (In this case, walk up grab). Daigo will at times jostle in neutral, realize the opponent is respecting him too much and walk up throw. Most opponents would have enough time to react to this in normal circumstances, but because they are so focused on the fireball, their reactions are delayed, resulting in the grab.
The same phenomena can occur with counter-hit normals as well, not just throws.
Should I know this?
Knowing the importance of walking forward is good to know to pressure an opponent, or walk them to the corner. Depending on the matchup and the character, it may vary how important this concept is. However, your knowledge and patience of walking forward can be the difference between making top 8 or winning a major.
How can I could I add to this to my game?
Honestly, it's up to you. When it comes to neutral game concepts, you have to get creative when it comes to getting your opponent to press a button. I think this gif of rational jim vs. pimpimjim sums up some of that creativity quite well:
These are my thoughts on the subject, what about yours? Also, excuse the typos, I was half asleep while typing this. I'll be sure to edit this a bit more tomorrow.
Take this scenario: You’re by yourself on the street waiting for someone, while checking the TYM forums on your phone. You then look down to your left and see a person staring right at you, about 20 feet away. He steadily walks toward you, with a faster pace. Now at this point he’s a good 2 feet away from you and yells “hey man, long time no see!” Surprised, you have no idea who this person is. You then realize he is referring to the friend behind you, who has just returned.
Terrible scenario, I know. however, what made the following scenario so tense? As humans, our natural reaction when someone (or something) directly approaches us is fear. This fear usually depends on how close the person approaches your personal space, and the time it takes to do so.
So what does this have to do with fighting games?
When playing fighting game, this same reaction generally occurs (sort of…). If you face an opponent, and he keeps walking towards you, at some point you’re going to have the urge to react. Also, depending on how long a player walks forward can pressure a reaction. A top player will not let you walk in free.
Or will they? (I’ll get to that)
(NOTE: Gif is sped up a little due to "gifyoutube")
This is where the basic fundamentals of footsies comes into play: “The importance of walking forward.” It may come off as a simple concept, but there are a good number of people who have no idea how this works, or struggle to do this (I still do as well). To some, it’s an easy concept but hard to explain;to others it may take a while to practice. It also varies from game to game since each game has it's own unique movement.
What exactly is occurring during the neutral game? (Theory)
When in the neutral game, both players are battling for space and trying to get into the position that adheres to their character’s strengths (or player’s strengths) the most. When you breach a player’s comfort zone, a player will react to prevent any disadvantage when in neutral. Walking forward puts pressure on an opponent and takes them out of their comfort zone.
Universally, the three most natural reactions occur if you were to continually walk towards your opponent are as follows:
1) Throw out a normal (the most common)
2) Throw out a projectile/special (second most common)
3) Jump forward/Neutral Jump (least attempted)
Of course there are others (teleports, jump back etc.), but these are the most common in the majority of matches you would face. By knowing these natural reactions, and depending on the match up, you then use your character to counter such reactions or bait situations.
Example: You walk forward. Your opponent attacks. You walk back just when your opponent attacks and whiff punish.
Example: You walk forward. Opponent shoots a fireball. You jump over the fireball and punish.
Example: You opponent is playing defensive. You walk forward. The moment you anticipate an attack you counter with a fireball. (Commonly done by Daigo)
Why does this work?
As said before, the longer you walk forward, and closer you approach your opponent, the more likely your opponent is to hit a button. In addition, a huge part of playing footsies is baiting your opponent. Walking forward is the easiest way to do this, since you are no longer blocking and pressuring your opponent to make a move.
Walking forward in any fighting game does takes a lot of practice depending on the game and the matchup, due to the fear of taking damage. Don't fret if it takes a while to get used to. It's not something you can perfect, and always something you can improve on by experience.
If you never have tried this before, give it a shot against an offline (preferably offline) opponent. Walk forward and see how much you can advance before they press something when in neutral. It takes practice, but learning how to inch your way forward, or taking a bold walk forward can pay off in huge dividends if used correctly.
When does this work best?
Walking forward works well against defensive/turtle play styles. A defensive/turtle playstyle involves walking back and staying just outside jump range for an easier anti-air or preemptive punish on a dash in. Walking forward is usually done to pressure the defensive opponent to react, then punishing the reaction.
A player doesn’t have to play a turtle style as well. Through classical conditioning, you can condition your opponent to play more defensive as well. This usually occurs if you land consecutive combos, fireballs, counterpokes, and/or whiff punishes. Players also tend to play defensively in high pressure situations (end of a match/money match/eve grand finals) which is where effective use of walking forward shines.
You would generally want to walk forward and close space if you know your opponent is respecting you too much/giving you too much space to work with.
What if my opponent keeps walking back?
Hypothetically speaking, if your opponent keeps walking back, and you keep walking forward they will eventually walk themselves in the corner, thus limiting their movement and options. Usually, the more an opponent tries to create a certain amount of space between a character, the further they are pushed back into the corner. If you have your opponent in the corner, you want to keep them there as long as possible (try not to put yourself in the corner though).
Are there other uses of walking forward?
Another important part of walking forward is getting more mileage on your attacks. Throwing out an attack is nice, but to make sure it lands, you want to take a brief step forward to increase the distance even further. At times, when it comes to punishes, if a normal is too short to reach, you may be able to walk forward and input it the punish instead.
Walk up...throw?
As you saw in the previous gif Daigo walked a full marathon across the screen and threw his opponent. How did that work, and why did the Ibuki player not do anything to prevent this?
This is where conditioning comes in. If you can condition your opponent to play defensive and respect your space, the more room you will have to walk and move around in neutral.
One tactic Daigo tends to do is to shoot point black fireballs at an opponent. He does this by sometimes taking a brief walk forward (to bait a reaction) then fires. At some point the opponent may feel tempted to jump, and this is what Daigo wants. He shoots enough fireballs in neutral to condition the opponent to try to punish it.
If the opponent jumps, Daigo usually spaces himself at a position to be able to DP the jump in or anti-air using normals.
So now the opponent is being hit by fireballs and consistently anti-aired consecutively, conditioning them to respect Daigo's space.
This is when walk up grab comes into play. If the opponent is conditioned to look for a fireball, this delays their reaction to other aspects (In this case, walk up grab). Daigo will at times jostle in neutral, realize the opponent is respecting him too much and walk up throw. Most opponents would have enough time to react to this in normal circumstances, but because they are so focused on the fireball, their reactions are delayed, resulting in the grab.
The same phenomena can occur with counter-hit normals as well, not just throws.
Should I know this?
Knowing the importance of walking forward is good to know to pressure an opponent, or walk them to the corner. Depending on the matchup and the character, it may vary how important this concept is. However, your knowledge and patience of walking forward can be the difference between making top 8 or winning a major.
How can I could I add to this to my game?
Honestly, it's up to you. When it comes to neutral game concepts, you have to get creative when it comes to getting your opponent to press a button. I think this gif of rational jim vs. pimpimjim sums up some of that creativity quite well:
These are my thoughts on the subject, what about yours? Also, excuse the typos, I was half asleep while typing this. I'll be sure to edit this a bit more tomorrow.
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