Communication obviously plays a big part but I think time to action is probably the better metric. You need to be able to act quicker than your opponent, and if

Communication obviously plays a big part but I think time to action is probably the better metric. You need to be able to act quicker than your opponent, and if you can't, you need to be able to absorb the damage they can inflict in the mean time whilst still having enough resources to inflict more damage than you sustained when you can eventually act.