Resources

✅ SUMMARY — Why You Keep Losing in Guilty Gear Strive

The video explains WHY most players lose in Guilty Gear Strive neutral: they don’t understand screen control, ranges, or cause-and-effect layering. The creator uses Kai vs. Millia to demonstrate how to map neutral ranges, identify the most common pokes, eliminate options, and build counterplay through process of elimination + reading your opponent.

The core idea:

Neutral is “slicing the pie”: dividing the screen into zones and understanding what each player can do inside them.

Winning comes from analyzing opponent options, identifying patterns, and choosing counters that match spacing, timing, and probability.

A second major theme:

Neutral is pure cause & effect. The opponent shows a “card,” you show your counter-card, then they counter your counter—and layers evolve over time.

This video is essentially a neutral theory masterclass for Strive.

🔸 BULLET-POINT QUICK REVIEW

The screen can be divided into three sections: center, left corner, right corner — most action starts mid-screen.

Neutral is controlled by ranges: where your normals hit vs. where theirs hit.

Know your character’s safe poke range and your opponent’s threat ranges.

Example: Kai’s core mid-screen pokes

f.S, 2S, 5H, 6H all occupy similar ranges.

All grounded pokes are jumpable—but jumps are also readable and anti-airable.

Neutral = reading each other’s intentions, not just pressing buttons.

Build options using process of elimination:

What beats their most common option?

What loses?

What trades?

Example counter: Millia 6P reliably beats Kai f.S.

Great players reuse this logic constantly:

“If you show me this, I play that.”

Neutral is:

cause and effect

give and take

information gathering

adaptation layers

🧩 CHUNKED SUMMARY (with questions + action steps) CHUNK 1 — Slicing the Pie: Understanding Screen Sections & Neutral Context Summary

The screen can be viewed in three zones: middle, left corner, right corner. Most fights begin mid-screen, and movement/footies determine which zone the players shift into. Having awareness of which portion of the screen you're in is essential because your options change dramatically in the corner versus mid-screen.

Comprehension Questions

Why does most neutral interaction begin in the middle of the screen?

How does being cornered change what options you have?

What does “slicing the pie” help a player visualize?

Answers

Because both players start with freedom of movement and equal range access.

Being cornered removes backward movement and restricts your defensive choices, forcing jumps or risky options.

It helps visualize spatial control and threat zones.

Action Steps

Freeze matches and mark where mid-screen transitions start to break down.

Practice consciously labeling screen zones during replays.

In training mode, walk back and identify “where the corner effectively begins.”

CHUNK 2 — Understanding Your Ranges & Your Opponent’s Ranges Summary

You must know:

How far your normals reach

How far the opponent’s normals reach

Which ranges are safe, dangerous, or advantageous

Example (Millia): far slash and sweep define her poke range. Example (Kai): f.S, 2S, 5H, and 6H all occupy threatening mid-range space.

Mapping these ranges creates a visual pie slice showing where you should and should not stand.

Comprehension Questions

Why is understanding the exact reach of normals important?

How does this help in predicting when the opponent will press a button?

What happens when two characters’ poke ranges overlap?

Answers

It tells you when you are in danger zones or safe zones.

Most players press buttons automatically when opponents enter their threat range.

Whoever has the faster, better-shaped, or better-timed normal wins—or you clash/trade.

Action Steps

Use training mode hitbox display to measure each normal.

Draw a simple 3-zone map of your character’s best poke ranges.

Do the same for 3 characters you often fight.

CHUNK 3 — Jumping, Anti-Airing, and the “Everything Is Jumpable” Principle Summary

Grounded normals are jumpable, but that doesn’t make jumping a free escape. Why? Because both players are reading each other, and 6P anti-airs exist. Neutral is not “button vs. button,” it’s intention vs. intention.

Jumping is a risk you take, and anti-airing is a risk the opponent takes—the relationship is purely predictive.

Comprehension Questions

Why does the speaker emphasize “both players are reading each other”?

Why isn’t jumping a universal solution to long-range normals?

When does jumping become powerful in neutral?

Answers

Because success in neutral comes from predicting intentions, not reacting to moves.

Because a prepared opponent will 6P or air-to-air you.

When you condition the opponent to expect grounded play first.

Action Steps

Practice doing delayed jumps to bait anti-airs.

Practice micro-walking into anti-air spacing to catch jumps.

Run 10 minutes of “anti-air prediction” drills per session.

CHUNK 4 — Process of Elimination: Building Your Neutral Gameplan Summary

To create a structured neutral plan, list:

The opponent’s key neutral tools

What your tools beat, lose to, or trade with

Example: Millia 6P beats Kai f.S consistently. It, however, loses to lows like 2S.

This method reveals which options cover the opponent’s most common approach.

Comprehension Questions

What is the purpose of listing opponent normals and analyzing them?

Why is f.S considered the “most common” Kai poke?

What does Millia 6P beating f.S imply for your neutral plan?

Answers

To simplify neutral into solvable interactions.

Because it is fast, long, and safe—Kai players use it constantly.

You can base your grounded approach around stuffing f.S.

Action Steps

Pick one matchup and map 4 key normals from each character.

Write: beats / loses / trades for every interaction.

Build a primary and backup approach option.

CHUNK 5 — Cause & Effect, Information Gathering, and Neutral Layers Summary

Neutral is fundamentally:

Cause and effect

Give and take

Information → Response → New Information

Great players constantly read:

What the opponent shows

How often they do it

How they respond when challenged

What layers appear

Example chain:

Opponent uses f.S

You counter with 6P

Opponent switches to 2S

You must adapt to the new layer

This is the “card game” metaphor of neutral.

Comprehension Questions

What does “you show me this card, I play that card” mean?

Why is information considered the most valuable resource in neutral?

What separates strong players from weak ones in this layer system?

Answers

Every action creates a predictable counter-action.

Because information reveals tendencies → tendencies reveal free wins.

Strong players continuously adapt; weak players remain static.

Action Steps

After each round, write one opponent pattern you observed.

In the next round, test a counter-option to that pattern.

Review replays specifically for “when the layers changed.”

⭐ SUPER-SUMMARY (Under 1 Page)

This video explains why players lose neutral in Guilty Gear Strive: they do not understand ranges, spatial control, or cause-and-effect adaptation.

Neutral begins mid-screen, where players first test spacing and poke ranges. The player must understand both their own normals and the opponent’s normals, mapping them into visual zones or “slices of the pie.” Example: Kai’s f.S, 2S, 5H, and 6H create a strong mid-range cage you must navigate.

All grounded options are technically jumpable, but jumping is not a solution—it's a risk that both players must read. Neutral is not mechanical; it is psychological, based on reading intentions.

The heart of Strive neutral is the process of elimination: identify the opponent’s most common options, determine which of your moves beat them (such as Millia 6P beating Kai f.S), and build your gameplan around predictable interactions.

On top of this, neutral is entirely cause and effect. Every action presents a “card,” and the opponent plays a counter-card. Patterns emerge, layers expand, and adaptation decides the match. Great players constantly absorb information—frequencies, spacing choices, timing habits—and adjust their options in response.

To stop losing, you must:

Map ranges and poke zones.

Identify opponent tendencies.

Counter the most common options.

Read adaptations and build new layers.

Treat every interaction as information, not failure.

Mastering neutral is mastering this chain of information → adaptation → new information.

🧠 3-DAY SPACED REVIEW PLAN DAY 1 — Understanding Concepts

Review chunks 1–3.

Practice mapping poke ranges in training mode.

DAY 2 — Applying Mechanics

Review chunks 4–5.

Build a beats/loses/trades chart for one matchup.

DAY 3 — Integration

Watch one of your replays.

Pause after every neutral loss and ask:

“What information did I fail to read?”

“What layer did I ignore?”

Repeat weekly for exponential improvement.