In combat, the "neutral" is when both fighters stand at an equal state of advantage, with each fighter waiting for the other to move so they can capitalize on their openings. Every fighter has to work through neutral, but these are the ones who excel at winning that state.
Also known as "Footsies" characters, the Master of Neutral's goal is to win trades in neutral and deplete chunks of the opponent's vitality. This is trope is most apparent in video games, particularly with a core focus on combat like fighting games, MOBAs, and third-person action. They might not have the flashiest Combos or mechanics, but their attacks are very reliable and damaging.
To balance their strengths against fighters who specialize at closer or longer distances, they're often very good at playing around midrange, relying on the range and priority of their attacks to win trades. They're also likely to be more punished for messing up, such as lacking defensive tools or being frailer than other characters, and thus require a more patient mindset. Players will be rewarded if they stick to strong combat fundamentals and learn how to best take advantage of an opponent's openings.
Traits common to the archetype:
- Strong mid-range pressure such as lots of pokes and reliable punish tools.
- Long end-lag on basic attacks, requiring good timing and spacing to consistently land hits.
- Heightened state of high risk vs. high reward.
- A reliance on single hits or relatively simple combo structures.
- Generally quick on their feet when grounded.
- Some kind of tool to counter longer-ranged opponents like a dodge or reflector.
"What doesn't count?"
- Characters who work best at more extreme distances like from across the screen or right in an opponent's face.
- Guilty Gear -STRIVE-: Nagoriyuki represents the extreme of this style of play. He lacks a lot of Guilty Gear's signature mechanics like Air-Dashing and running which are crucial for positioning and gaining resources for supers, but in exchange he has some of the best tools in the game for winning trades. His slash attacks for example all exceed others in range, damage, and safety. And if he lands a special move, he can chain it together with others for devastating punish strings. All of this strength comes with one big caveat though: his "Blood Gauge". If Nago overextends with his pressure and fills the Blood Gauge, his health will rapidly go down and his special moves will be locked off, only ending if he can either perform his super or wait for the gauge to empty. This forces Nago players to fight an extremely patient game, making sure every strike counts.
- Street Fighter: Chun-Li is one of the series' premiere footsies character. She has one of the quickest walk speeds in the game and the rare ability to Wall Jump, granting her a greater degree of positional pressure than many other fighters. And her normals generally come with strong range, damage, and startup, making her excel with poking and punishing opponents in neutral, not to mention her vast variety of unique normals which grant strong situational punish potential. What keeps her in line is her below average health and long end lag on her attacks, forcing a very patient and precise playstyle.
- Super Smash Bros.: Ike stat-wise looks more like a Lightning Bruiser on paper, having good movement speed and devastating power behind his attacks. But the slow frame data on his sword moves and his heaviness making him vulnerable to combos means he has to slow down his approach and play more methodically. The result is a fighter who can chunk his opponent's stamina with only a few hits based on how strong his player's fundamentals are. Case in point, he has several strong Anti-Air attacks (his up special Aether, his up-tilt, and his lengthy aeriels), a speedy Dash Attack (Quickdraw, his side special) for punishing, a Counter-Attack, and some of the strongest smash attacks in the game for rewarding hard reads.
- League of Legends:
- Aatrox's playstyle rewards strong bait-and-punish skills, making him good at poking down his opponent from across the lane. The bulk of his damage comes from "Darkin Blade", a Three-Strike Combo that does extra damage at the tip of the sword strike. Landing this knocks his opponent up, deals extra damage, and applies his lifesteal passive, granting him strong sustainability in fights. Good Aatrox players thus need to capitalize on tracking his opponent's position and locking them down when they step into his attack range. His other abilities, Umbral Dash and Infernal Chains, also assist in keeping his opponent in the mid range.
- Darius is a Juggernaut designed to have a very oppressive and reliable early game in lane. His playstyle focuses on landing powerful pokes with his abilities at mid-range and then going all in for a kill once they're on their last legs. "Decimate" deals extra damage if he lands the outer hitbox and heals him a set percent of health, making it key to his neutral. Then if he wants to commit, he can use "Apprehend" to pull his oppoenent in for a deadly combo.
