PvP in minecraft is actually quite complicated and has a lot of strategies. I recently saw a post of strategies that are to be honest quite terrible and do not work. I am going to tell you how the best PvP players win their fights.

There are two types of PvP, PvP without soup and PvP with soup.

For everyone that does not know soup is a plugin that allows soup to instantly heal 3.5 hearts.

STRATEGIES

Approaching A deciding factor in who wins a fight is the approach. Do not run away and try to hit and run, as this does not work. Run towards your opponent and make sure not to be jump running, as this allows you to be knocked back further. Any good PvPer will hit you away from them and won't allow you to get near them, so your goal is to get the first hits on them, allowing you to then get a combo, or multiple hits in a row against your opponent. To do this run in a straight line at the beginning of the fight and at the last second go slightly to the left or right. This will normally make them miss their first hit and allow you to get the first strikes.

Strafing This is one of the main PvP strategies and works very well with or without souping. The idea is that you walk in circles around your opponent while hitting them. Once this strategy is perfected, you can literally run circles around your enemy and they stand no chance. This strategy does take practice and I recommend practicing on a kits server (skylandkits.com). to get a 1v1 do /warp 1v1. Having a speed potion makes strafing even better once you are very good at it although it takes more skill then. This strategy is used by all great PvPers.

Block-Hitting You probably know about block-hitting but don't actually use it in fights. Block-hitting is hitting the right click and left click at the same time so you block and hit at the same time. This makes you take less damage while stilling hitting at the same speed. This does not take as much skill or practice although it does take skill to do this while strafing and moving around at the same time.

Soup Strategies A lot of the time in minecraft PvP you will be using soup. When using soup always make sure to have your sword in the 1 spot, so after drinking soup you can quickly hit 1 to get back to your sword. I recommend that you fill up every other spot with soup. When going to soup, use your hotkeys to get to them rather than scrolling over, as this makes souping much faster. Also if you only have one soup left you will want to go directly to it rather than scrolling over.

Quick Dropping Quick dropping is a strategy where you make your drop key 1, so when you got back to your sword it automatically drops your empty soup bowl. The point of this is that it makes refilling (putting more soup into your hot-bar after you have drank your old soup) much easier. Being able to quickly refill is one of the most important parts of souping, because if you can refill quickly you can beat someone who is a better PvPer that is not refilling. (refilling is generally frowned upon in kits 1v1s). When putting soup into your hot-bar shift click rather than dragging them over.

Other Tips
-If you can get your enemy to start running, you normally can beat them unless they manage to refill and then turn on you. If you are in a situation where multiple people are fighting feel free to run away, refill, and then rejoin the fight.
-Having enchanted armor, even if it is only protection 1, will make your enemy more afraid of you, making them more likely to try to run.
-If you are being chased and about to die, try to find a ravine or lava pit. This is a good place to fight especially if you have no soup. You can either jump over the obstacle and hope your enemy misses the jump, or turn on them and try to hit them in. Also if you die in lava your enemy won't get your stuff.
-pot up. Potions give you a huge advantage. Strength 2 is extremely powerful in 1.6 and speed allows you to out-run opponents. If you can afford it god apples make you nearly unstoppable (resistance, regen, extra health)
-When fighting you lose hunger quickly. Soup has low saturation and will not sustain your hunger very well. Try to eat meat (preferably steak or pork) before fighting. Especially if you have to chase somebody you do not want to have to be eating
-If you are being chased, don't turn around to see if you are still being followed. do fn f5 to see behind you while still continuing to run.

Thanks for reading! Remember the most important thing is to practice. I practice at skylandkits.com. Please leave a diamond if you found this helpful!