This guide draws upon expert commentary regarding the strategies and principles of playing neutral in 2XKO.
General Principles of Neutral
Neutral play in 2XKO operates on the exact same principles as other fighting games you may come from, though it is likely faster. The core idea is positioning yourself so you can use your normals to fight the opponent off.
Ground Movement and Poking
- Movement: Dashing in 2XKO can be thought of similarly to walking in Street Fighter.
- Poking: You should use your mediums and heavies for poking. This is akin to using your medium attacks in Street Fighter or your far slash in a game like Guilty Gear.
- Holding Space: You can hold space using your crouching buttons or other normals.
- Preemptive Swings: A key strategy is preemptively swinging in the space in front of you to catch an opponent who is approaching.
- Whiff Punishing: You can also hold space by letting the opponent whiff an attack, then dashing up to take advantage afterwards and fight for space.
Air Approach and Using Assists
Approaches can be made by jumping or by jumping while calling an assist. Using an assist in conjunction with a jump is effective because the assist provides coverage while you approach.
You can also use your own assist (like Ekko Winder) to gain space, approaching behind the assist for coverage.
Conversely, if your opponent whiffs their assist, you know their assist is "down," giving you the advantage to start jumping at them and creating offense. This is your turn to make things happen.
Anti-Airing and Defense
Just like any other fighting game, the standard response to an opponent jumping at you is to use your anti-air move.
Improving Anti-Air Consistency
A major piece of advice for anti-airing is to back dash before you do it. Often, the reason an anti-air loses is because the player is positioned too close to the opponent. Back dashing first will generally make the anti-air more consistent.
Handling Air Approaches
If you don't want to back up because you're afraid you might run underneath the opponent, you have a few options:
- You can simply let them whiff, allow them to go under, and then air throw them.
- You can dash under them.
- If you know the opponent is performing an empty jump, you can air throw them or simply back up.
If the opponent is jumping in and calling an assist, the correct response is to evade it or block the jump-in and then push block.
Utilizing Push Block and Tagging
When you push block, you momentarily lack an assist, but you can follow up by using your point character to do something and then tagging out. This technique essentially means your main character becomes the assist.
When an opponent calls an assist and then attempts to run away, you should simply dash up and take the space they are giving you. If they fail to tag to their assist, you should continue chasing them. If they attempt the approach again when their assist is unavailable, you can approach by hitting them in the air and simultaneously calling your assist on the ground, which can "jail" them so they have nowhere to go.