Super Smash Bros. series

Spacing: Difference between revisions

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(Rewritten to sound less like a guide; will likely need further cleanup and/or expansion.)
(The previous content described spacing at far too low of a level. This will do for now but I plan to elaborate on advanced spacing when I have time.)
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{{cleanup|Written more like a guide}}
{{cleanup|Needs elaboration on advanced spacing and more gifs to demonstrate precise interactions}}
'''Spacing''' is the utilization of a character's range in comparison to the opponent's range to ensure the character's attacks make contact and that the opponent's do not. Several factors contribute towards a character's ability to space. Characters with large attacks, like [[Donkey Kong]] and [[Ike]], can rely on sheer range to space their opponents: [[Ike]]'s [[forward aerial]] has massive horizontal and vertical range in front of him, making it one of the best spacing tools in the game. Disjointed hitboxes like swords can further improve a character's ability to space. Aerial speed and acceleration are also factors - characters like [[Wario]] and [[Jigglypuff]] can "fade in and out" with aerials using their amazing air speed, allowing them to compensate for their attacks' otherwise poor range.
[[File:Spacing.gif|thumb|250px|Zhu using Falco's aerial drift to space around Mew2king's shield grab.]]
'''Spacing''' describes both a player's awareness of an opponent's options and said player's ability to avoid and counter them. At its simplest form, spacing tests knowledge of 2 things: how character can move before, during, and after an action, and the periods of vulnerability and invulnerability of the action. Every action in game has a certain timing and area of effect; to "space around" said action means to use knowledge of both its timing and range to pick another action whose own timing and range beat those of the original action. Spacing is by far the most important skill tested in competitive smash as every single interaction between 2 players is decided by who picked the better timing and position in an exchange of actions.  


Spacing is most commonly performed with aerials, but other attacks can be used to space as well. Tilts tend to be useful in this regard - Donkey Kong's and [[King Dedede]]'s [[forward tilt]]s are especially effective due to their incredible range. Certain special moves with long range, such as Zero Suit Samus's [[Plasma Whip]] and many [[Grab aerial|grab aerials]], can also be used to space, and many [[projectiles]] are especially useful as spacing tools due to their extreme range.
At the lowest level of competitive play, spacing only involves superficial comparison of the hitbox ranges of attacks with very little nuanced timing due to lack of tech skill and knowledge of positioning. At this level of play, the most successful characters tend to be characters with long raw hitbox range like [[Marth]] or characters with fast attacks [[Sheik]]. As the level of play increases, players first reach a level of tech skill where they are able to extrapolate how hitboxes can move relative to their character's movement. At this level of play, players are able move in and out of attack ranges, albeit fairly imprecisely, with simple movement options like [[wavedashing]] and [dash dancing]]. At the highest level of play, players have internalized the knowledge of their character's movement and attacks to where they can move around attacks at very precise distances; the example at the beginning of the page demonstrates very precise awareness of the range and timing of Sheik's shield grab.  
 
Spacing is a key component in the [[neutral game]]; without the proper tools for spacing, a character will have a hard time [[approach|approaching]], [[camping]], or fighting against approaches or opposing camping. This can be somewhat mitigated depending on the stage, as [[platform]]s can drastically affect spacing: for example, [[Battlefield]]'s top platform can force approaches from below, which often limits the opponent's spacing options as few projectiles can travel upwards.


==External links==
==External links==

Revision as of 01:39, October 16, 2017

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The editor who added this tag believes this page should be cleaned up for the following reason: Needs elaboration on advanced spacing and more gifs to demonstrate precise interactions
You can discuss this issue on the talk page or edit this page to improve it.
Zhu using Falco's aerial drift to space around Mew2king's shield grab.

Spacing describes both a player's awareness of an opponent's options and said player's ability to avoid and counter them. At its simplest form, spacing tests knowledge of 2 things: how character can move before, during, and after an action, and the periods of vulnerability and invulnerability of the action. Every action in game has a certain timing and area of effect; to "space around" said action means to use knowledge of both its timing and range to pick another action whose own timing and range beat those of the original action. Spacing is by far the most important skill tested in competitive smash as every single interaction between 2 players is decided by who picked the better timing and position in an exchange of actions.

At the lowest level of competitive play, spacing only involves superficial comparison of the hitbox ranges of attacks with very little nuanced timing due to lack of tech skill and knowledge of positioning. At this level of play, the most successful characters tend to be characters with long raw hitbox range like Marth or characters with fast attacks Sheik. As the level of play increases, players first reach a level of tech skill where they are able to extrapolate how hitboxes can move relative to their character's movement. At this level of play, players are able move in and out of attack ranges, albeit fairly imprecisely, with simple movement options like wavedashing and [dash dancing]]. At the highest level of play, players have internalized the knowledge of their character's movement and attacks to where they can move around attacks at very precise distances; the example at the beginning of the page demonstrates very precise awareness of the range and timing of Sheik's shield grab.

External links