Advantageous Position For Your Character

Newbie Saikyo Dojo
1

This seems almost self explanatory, but I was confused about whether or not I had the right idea. I started about a month ago and I was very confused about people trying to explain footsies and the neutral game, but when I started listening to what a lot of veteran players said they put a lot of emphasis on ‘getting into an advantageous position for your character and its moveset’, and often described footsies as ‘jockeying for that position’. This is pretty vague and seemingly simple, but it made some sense. To show you how I currently think of this, this is what I figured an advantageous position for my character, Ryu, would basically look like:

  1. Out of range of the opponent’s attacks, because then you could hit them if they tried to hit me from there and whiff and I would be out of danger. They could always walk up, but that would take them out of a good spot and then it would come back down to ‘footsies’, and I would have to predict their approach and maybe stuff it with an attack or back up and stuff it. Plus, they’d have to make the risk.

  2. Far enough away that I can throw a fireball without them just cancelling it out or hitting me in the start up so they’d have to jump over it or block it and lose even more space- one can be anti-aired and the other pushes them into the corner. They could predict the fireball, but then they’d be making the risk. This seems like it would get complicated against another fireball character though, as how would I get in a good spot if they’re just cancelling all of my fireballs?

I would think this would also change depending on the match up- some character might have a crouching kick that out-ranges all of the opponent’s normals, so being in range of that but out of range of all of their other moves would be idea for them. This also makes footsies make a lot more sense, as if you’re both trying to get a certain amount of space then a lot of it would come down to when you can move and when you can’t, which would be defined by what moves your opponent’s throwing out and when and how they’re moving around.

So now that you know my current view of an advantageous position, what am I wrong about? I know the post has the feel of a scrub trying to sound smart, but I am actually trying to learn what some examples of good positions for certain characters are and what makes it like that and how players jockey for that position.

2

Nah you good

alot of foosties is based on positioning and projecting your normals. the person whos the most active controls tempo
the one who controls tempo usually wins the match.

there are defined distances where usually the you can show your hand about which normals you have at your disposal. a more experienced opponent knows this especially since ryu has mostly had the same type of normals in every street fighter.
in moving to that space you would decide the best normal for that situation based on startup and safety
pushback also come into account as it doesnt matter if they can punish if said punisher doesnt reach

if you feel your opponent is anticipating a attack you could back out of the space and to check how they respond. or if you feel they are over anticipating you can move in closer to force the issue
this also establishes a new range where a different part of you moveset is projected.

they now have to account for more things and you may illicit a preemptive response. from there whiff punishing may be a option or they may stay more defensive in which case you can now apply pressure i.e frame traps, throws and other things

there is also the grey area where both opponents are in a space where moves arent defined very well
the good players recognize this and immediately get out of that and start closing in a suitable window to gain command of the tempo

as a laura player
my normals arent very good when it comes to range
so ill be mix and matching my regular dashes mixed with v skill to get up close where i want to stay.

when you are trying to get into the defined range ask yourself if the nature and mindset of the person you are facing everytime you trying to reposition
are they naturally backing off more time then not
are are they pressing
this gives you inisight in the individual you are playing with
the person that can play the matchup and keep a tab on this to mix and match responses will win the match

3

Alternatively you could go balls deep with characters like Necalli and the advantageous positioning is making sure your opponent is pressed against the wall with their pants down as you fuck em.