Melee is comprised of both the combo/punish game and the neutral game. The combo game is what the player does after getting the first hit in order to rack up as much damage as possible and hopefully combo that into a stock. The combo game relies on fast hands and tech skill through hours of practicing. The neutral game however, is learned through knowledge and experience. The neutral game is all about landing that first hit on an opponent and setting yourself up to be in an advantageous position.

Spacing is one of the most important elements of Melee. Knowing when and where your own attack will make contact with your opponent relative to their position, while keeping you out of range of a quick counter attack, is one of Melee’s most important lessons in becoming a skilled player. Having poor spacing and not understanding the move set of your character or the opponents character can spell a quick defeat for you in tournament if you’re not careful.

Newer players often run into questions of “what happened?” after a set with a great player utilizing spacing. It can feel incredibly overwhelming to play against someone who has mastered spacing, applying pressure to you and your shield while staying safe with distance created between you two. A sign of a great player is one who is consistently conscious about spacing, zoning, and positioning.

A crucial element of spacing is range

Understanding the range of your character’s moves is a critical part to winning matches in Melee. Certain moves within your character’s move-sets are better for approaching and getting that first hit in neutral. Typically speaking, the longer reaching moves are what you’re going to want to use in the neutral to get the first hit. Naturally this makes sense, because typically the character with the longer ranged move is going to get the first hit, and then follow it up with a string of combo moves.

This is part of what makes Marth so good. Marth’s range, due to the incredible length of his sword, gives him the upper hand in most situations in the neutral game. A well placed forward tilt, dash attack, or f-air can lead to a deadly combo follow up.

Examples:

Whatever character you might main, everyone has “best” options in the neutral that are influenced by range of the move, priority, and follow up options. Tilts are generally the best moves because of the longer reaching attributes that extended the hitbox out from the hurtbox of the player. Luigi’s forward tilt is an excellent tool for getting that first hit, as well as Samus’ f-tilt. Other moves like Gannon’s f-air and Pikachu’s n-air also do a great job of getting that first hit in the neutral. Jigglypuff has plenty of moves that have good range. Her b-air in particular has incredible range and is nearly unpunishable due to it's speed, easily controlling space in the air.

However, not understanding the range of the cast’s strongest approaching and spacing options can lead to a world of frustration for you as a player.

Gannon (who is sometimes considered to be a noob slayer) can be an incredibly frustrating matchup if you do not understand the range and priority of his f-air and b-air. A decently ranged move, Gannon’s f-air will rack up damage incredibly quick and kill at medium to high percent’s. Baiting a Gannon to throw out his f-air, and then wavedashing or dashing back to punish it with your own attack is often a method of dealing with him that works well.

Practices:

To practice spacing your character’s moves and learn the range of your longer reaching attacks like tilts, smash attacks, and aerials, jump into a Training Mode match against Fox on FD and set the Fox to stand. Stand far enough away that you’ll be confident that the attack you are practicing will miss, and then slowly move closer to fox while using that same attack. Do this long enough and you will inevitably hit the CPU. Congratulations, you have just hit Fox with the longest reaching part of your move’s hitbox. Do this a few more times until you understand the range of the move. Once feeling comfortable, throw approach options into the routine with wavedashes, dash dances, and pivots. Knowing how far the move extends will only benefit you if you can accompany it with a way to get to your opponent when it’s time to turn the pressure on.

Incorporating good spacing in your game is necessary to succeed in Melee. In almost every case, utilizing the move's longest portion of the hitbox keeps you safe in an otherwise dangerous situation. For example, Samus’ f-tilt on a shielding Marth when right next to the shield is incredibly unsafe. The lag of the move on shield leaves Samus open to a shield-grab or up-b out of shield. However, by utilizing the move’s great range, Samus can apply that same pressure from a safer distance, avoiding grab and other OoS options.

The other element of good spacing is zoning/positioning

At all times, no matter where the two players are, one player has the advantage based solely on positioning. The “who and where” in regard to who possess that advantage changes from matchup-to-matchup and is also affected by stage choice (see "Stage Choice - Where Will You Succeed"). Generally speaking, the character who can safely apply pressure to the other has the advantageous position. This could be a Fox/Falco throwing out lasers from one side of FD to the other side, or Marth juggling a floaty character above him on Yoshi’s.

Examples:

In the case of Fox/Falco, getting close enough to force them to stop shooting lasers while also staying far enough to avoid their close range attacks puts them in this awkward middle state. Capitalizing and punishing their hasty approach or retreat will give you the upper hand in positioning. 

In the case of being above Marth, using mix up options and baiting Marth to think you’re going to the left platform while falling, and then actually going to the right platform gets you back to the stage safely. Now that you’re back on stage, taking center stage will eliminate the good positioning Marth had under you, and you can get back to spacing with your attacks on the ground.

Practices:

Different characters have different “best” positions on the stage. It’s important to watch closely and analyze professional sets of players who use your character. Answer the questions, “Where do they like to retreat to?” “Where, and in what situations is my character taking the most damage?” “Where is my character dealing the most damage and taking stocks?”

Wrap-up:

For some, understanding and applying the knowledge of good spacing comes naturally, but for most is a process. Learn as much as you can about your character’s positional preferences, learn from your opponent’s habits, and execute what you come to know.

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