In every card game every made, there has been multiple board states that dictate who has the lead and who is behind. And much like card games, every fighting game has game states that dictate who is defending and who is attacking and how much stage/board control a player has. There are 3 board states in every fighting game ever made. The Neutral, Advantage, and Disadvantage. A game can flow between each and every one of these states at any given time, given the game a flow of constantly changing dynamic not seen in many other games. That being said I will explain each board state below to give you an understanding of what they mean.

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The Neutral, a state of neutrality. When two players are vying to gain an Advantage by using their tools. This can lead to either an advantage on the player's part or a disadvantage. Rush Hour Smash's video on this explains it better than I can so if you want in-depth look at neutral, check that out. The Neutral can be a volatile state depending on the match-up in question. If two characters are primarily combo focused, the MU will be much harder to manage for either player. The neutral is one of the most studied aspect of any fighting game because that is where almost anything can happen. Depending on the player in question, they may or may not decide to take certain risks in neutral in order to either "style" on their opponents or simply try new concepts.

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The Advantage, is a positive state for one player and an a negative state for the opposing player. The advantage state is very fragile because all you need is one bad decision in order to lose it and give it to your opponent. In this state, there are multiple ratios of positive/negative board states as stated in the video.

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And finally, Disadvantage. The disadvantage state means you've made some mistakes in neutral. This can be turned into an advantage state if you can capitalize on your opponent's mistakes. Players tend to panic a lot when in this state leading to a stock loss or a KO. By simply watching what your opponent does, you can easily turn the tables to your advantage. The important thing to remember, is your decision when at a disadvantage should never reflect how you handle a normal situation in neutral.