damn you know he knows exactly what move will send where at what percent, I love melee but I could only dream of having that kind of awareness for the game
For the newer players just viewing this game: Melee is a very unique game. Among other highly advanced techniques, it first and foremost operates on defensive "Directional Influence" active input. Directional Influence: When you get hit, you can influence the direction you are sent. (Defensive player) Press your control stick a desired direction. Being hit horizontally, the distance can be diminished by pressing down* and creating friction against the floor by rubbing against it. The more friction you can create after getting hit means the less distance you are sent. The same concept works for holding up. It will create a kinematic equation where your upward/horizontal trajectory combined limits the overall distance you travel from a confirmed hit. This is true for all directions. Holding into attacks can be disastrous. This only keeps you in the nucleus of the attack hit box longer thus generating more force. You will get sent into the furthest distance possible while holding into an attack. Holding away* from attacks ironically will limit the distance you keep from being sent. This is because you are edging away on the outside of the attack box. The attack box is strongest at the center and weakest at the edges. Holding away from an attack will keep you away from the strongest portion of the attack box and thus keep you safe from potentially lethal kills. This video doesn't pertain to D.I. (directional influence) but it's a great way to identify where subjects are when being combo'd. Are they in the nucleus of the generated attack, or adjacent? If adjacent, which direction and how does that effect their trajectory? TLDR: You can escape every attack/combo through clever defensive "Directional Influence".
