I know its punishable. its also punishable by sonics nair if you are stupid enough to use fsmash in a situation where sonic is in a neutral position just outside of your attack range. sounds kinda familiar.
hurrrr
So... when exactly are you planning on using f-smash in the MU?
Cause I dunno about you, but my zoning tools are useful because they don't become useless through my opponent "walking a little closer" without having to face actually getting hit by the hitbox.
Ok, punisher and landing trap, fair enough, but doesn't make it much of a zoning tool.
Brawl is still growing, but that's not enough to consider ANY theory.
We stick w/ the reality, then wait for a theory to be proven right.
Not a chance.
Our theory might not be fully developed yet, but anyone who knows statistics we tell you that barely have a "reality" to draw on either, because our tournament results are not statistically valid. Unless you mean reality is frame or hitbox data. And of course, if we don't work on theory and prune the stuff that doesn't pan out, it will never be completely reliable anyway.
Of course, there's a difference between being useless predictively and being perfectly reliable, and good theory, while not perfect, tells a lot of useful information.
In addition, theorycrafting improves your general understanding of the game, and makes it easier to understand both how to fight characters and how to fight players.
Kewkky had a pro post about this just last page.
edit:
oh adum, ifurious. this whole method is ridiculous
'If you do this, I can do this'
'Well if you do that, I can do this'
'I know you were gonna do that, so i mindgamed you and did this instead'
Im having deja vu... its overwhelming.
That's honestly... exactly what most games develop into at the top of the metagame, the better the spacing and other assorted technical skills of the players involved, the more it into a game of "option vs. option".
Hell, I can bring up SF players who think at that level, I personally think at that level for Starcraft, and a number of other games (including this one, though it gets me into trouble to a degree, since I'm honestly not proficient enough to execute it technically speaking).
Ultimately, high level play comes down to your mind vs. mind, and if you can read me better then I can read you (by a wide enough margin to account for character weaknesses if applicable) and are technically proficient enough to take advantage of your reads, you will win. It's a complex game of "but does he know I know he knows I know he knows".
Personally, I look at matchups by watching videos of top level players using both characters, who both know the matchup and take notes on what works and what doesnt. Funnily enough, this directly correlates to what actually works, and what actually doesnt. Arguing frame data, assuming humans have perfect reaction time + 0 decision making frames, pixel-perfect spacing at all times and are constantly at a neutral state with no risk of being KO'd, is ridiculous.
And it should, the thing is it doesn't cover all possibilities, which is why it's limited.
Speaking of which, the things which you state, are basically a combination of MU experience and general practice at the game, except neutral position.
It may be the most important position, but it's certainly not the only relevant one, and that's a weakness I commonly point out to people.
