updated with mixup section and additionals on jS

I took down the AC discussion thread because I felt it had to much of a pre-release feel to it that it never got over. Here is instead the new thread for any discussion of Testaments gameplay that isn't directly combo-focused.

Also, ask any questions you have regarding how to play Testament in this thread. Hopefully we can keep this thread all nice and structured in some way.

Overview:

Testament used to have a strong focus on zoning and keepaway in his gameplay, but with the additions in AC, he can be played quite freely. In many matchups you will still be best served by a careful zoning strategy though, so keep this in mind if you are considering wether or not Testament is for you.

His gameplan revolves alot around his traps and his long range pokes, both designed to keep the opponent at a distance. Offensively, his main weapon lies in HS EXE Beast, as this move allows you to combo from most hits you get in. It also serves a purpose, both offensively and defensively, to simply beat out another characters pokes, as it does not disappear even if you're hit. Damage is perhaps a bit above average, but considering the damage output in AC I can't be sure. You could say that depending on the setup, damage will be quite small or huge.

One of the more interesting points of this character lies in the move "Phantom Soul". If this move hits the opponent he will be marked (or "cursed") for a certain period of time, during which Testaments crow will continually attack him with one of four different patterns. Using this fully is often very hard as you need to constantly synch with something largely out of your control. You can do well without the crow, landing the curse only when opportunity happens to arise and using it only as a source of annoyance. For me though, the crow is really what makes Testament special and genuinely fun to play, as the possibilities with the crow are close to endless.

I'll try to make a rundown of Testament's basic gameplay options in the most common situations. If I don't mention a move in a certain situation it means it either suck there or it's too situational to list.

Neutral/poking situations:

Generally what you want to do is get your traps in place in order to make the battle happen at your terms. The trick lies in finding the time to get them out as you want them without being punished for it, i.e. you need to keep the opponent away until you decide it's time for him to get close. I'll list the main moves for this below.

f.S. Far slash is the longest reaching move, and has decent values for both startup, active and recovery frames. This is generally the move you want to use when the opponent is far away in order to keep him there. Connect with it in some way and chain it into a web or tree.

Also, note that on counterhit it chains into 2HS, Badlands and Gravedigger for some damaging options.

2S: f.S has a weakness in it's hitbox not going very low. Many moves can thus punish it by going under (like grand viper, Big bang upper, etc.) It's for situations like that that you want to use 2S instead. It has a bit longer recovery which combined with its low profile makes it a bit more vulnerable against people going for jumpins. It does though reach almost as far and as stated stuffs low profile moves.

Also, 2S is one frame faster than f.S, meaning it combos from 5P, 2P and 2K, which is important to know for some matchups.

5P and 5K: Two moves for when the opponent is a bit too close for comfort. 5K is most common, but against certain characters 5P is prefered in some cases (e.g. Slayer). It's mainly when 5P is used as a poke that you need to remember to chain it to 2S, since you often won't be in range for close S.

If a close range poke is blocked, just combo it further to get the opponent away and end with 2HS or 2D before placing a trap. Since those two are long reaching, high level attacks, they will give you more time for trapping.

6K: For 6K, you have to be pretty sure it's going to hit because the recovery is enormous. Also be vay of the fact that Testa's hitbox is huuge in this move.

The main reason to use it is either to punish someone you think will jump or do a slow move, or because of its chaining properties. 6K can be chained further at any pont during it's animation. This means you can try to fool the opponent by doing blocked 6K, wait, and then chain to HS, 6HS or EXE. It gives you a good chance to get a counterhit, so combo potential from those followups is high.

6HS: Long reach but very slow and has a terribly large vulerable box. It also doesn't hit close to you, which sucks. Recovery is on the humongous scale, often demanding an FRC just to keep it safe. Despite all this, it is viable to throw out once in a while because it does reach very far, knocks down on hit and a counterhit is one of the best starters you can get. Just use it sparingly.

2HS: Reaches far and has a good deal of invulnerability, making it very useful against some characters. Should however be used with care because it i very slow and can be punished severely. Slayer is an example of a character that can rape you really badly if you try to use this move outside of blockstrings.

EXE: S EXE is your main tool for forcing the opponent to move. It makes turtling useless, but can be baited. Count the opponents jumps/airdashes and catch them with it on landing if you want to be sure.

HS EXE, also known as HADORYUKEN! will win over pretty much anything and is +9 on block. It can also be baited with an IAD or the like, but it is an excellent tool nonetheless. It's mere presence can make opponent think twice about attacking on the ground. Also very good defensively since it will come out even if you are hit, and a ch HS EXE will most often lead to combo even if you traded, but at the very least gives you knockdown.

Air to Air

Testament is rather good at air to air, mainly due to his range. Badlands untechable time makes for good combos or at least knockdown from any landed poke. Always try to get a 1-hit in.

jS: Main air to air. Has very good range and a pretty good vulnerable box. I have slowly but surely come to realise that this is indeed Testaments best normal. It is one of your few moves that doesn't have a vulnerable box as big as its hitbox and it can outpoke most characters in the air.

One very important thing when poking with this move is to think of your hitconfirm. If you land a random hit and hitconfirm it into Badlands, you just turned a slightly annoying poke to a knockdown and free mixup opportunity, possibly changing the pace of the match right there.

jK: Faster than jS and thus a good choice either if the enemy is close or just to stuff characters that can move in on you really fast. Not that good range though. I often use it preemptively, by e.g. dashing and doing jump and jK immediately if I think the opponent will jump/dash in. It's a better choice than jS since it also recovers faster.

jD: Very long range, but the vulnerable box really sucks and it's a bit slow. This should be used only at long range, as something like a shield. Its common for this move to be spammed a bit too much, but it's understandable since a counterhit is arguably the best combo starter Testament can get.

jP: Fastest move, if only be a small margin, but no range. Use only when you need to hit an opponent who is waaay to close for comfort.

Air to Ground

An area in which Testa is severely lacking. Try to avoid having to use it at all.

jHS: Best air to ground only because it hits in a large area under Testa. It is however very, very slow and easy to antiair. Preferably use it either very close to the ground (e.g. as okizeme) or high enough up that you have time to chain it to jD, or you will get thrown when you land.

jP: Hits under Testa making it viable in this case. However, the hitbox of jK and jS makes it so you don't have any really good options for chaining into from it.

jD: Hits pretty well under Testament, and once again gives excellent combo opportunities on hit. However, the vulnerable box stil sucks majorly, as it can be anti aired easily by almost anything the opponent decides to throw out. Should preferably only be used at a decent range.

Anti air

An area of varying profitability. Against some characters, you will own them majorly in this field and against others you have almost nothing to work with.

5P: Main anti air in my opinion. Will beat or clash with a very large number of attacks, and you can usually chain it to close S for a combo. This move is mainly used for people coming down at you from above but can also stuf IAD attacks pretty well if not too ranged, especially IAD pressure such as that of Jam and Slayer.

This move makes or breaks Testas AA game. When it works, you can own the opponent. When it doesn't, your only remaining options lie in guessing games.

6K: Good against airdashes if used early enough. This means you will mostly have to predict a dash-in to stuff it with this. It does however work fairly well for that and gives you free combo through 6K > BL on hit.

6HS: Takes heavy predicting since it's so slow. Mainly good if you have the opponent somewhat in the corner, where you can almost guarantee it to be at least blocked. As stated it's very nice on counterhit so you can try for it now and then, but be ready with the FRC.

6P: Very situational. It upper body invulnerability is good, but it's very slow and hits way too low. You just have to figure out what specific situations where this is good.

Mixups

Testament unfortunately has quite few mixups. The ones he has are very good but the lack of variety may very well pose a problem against seasoned opponents.

Main mixups lie in the use of 2K and 6P, and to an extent also 2D. 6P hits high and has quite a subtle animation, making it a very good mixup tool. 2K, of course, is your fast low poke. The proration off of that move is really horrible though. 2Ds biggest merit surprisingly lies in the fact that it's quite slow. This means that using this may throw off people who try to get the right blocking of 2K and 6P purely by means of timing. As an added bonus 2D has not proration and can lead to really big damage.

Now, the next step is to not just try for a mixup as your first attack. Especially 6P is quite flexible in when you can gatling into it, so try and mix that up as much as possible. potential gatlings are from 2P, 5P, 5S, 6K and 2K. Doing it from 6K is actually bullshit as you can't do a low after it, removing the mixup potential but it still works sometimes. Going after 2K is a bit iffy as it is probably impossible to hitconfirm from the 2K alone meaning if you do hit with 2K you just wasted your combo for a new mixup. However, this can be viewed as more of it's own mixup by itself. You make a conscious decision to not care about the 2K hitting and going for biger rewards. The upside here is that many players reflexively block low after being hit by something low. This means that it's possible to land a 2K and then get a 6P in, for less proration, as they hurry to block in the wrong direction. If your opponent has instead figured this out and forces himself to always block standing after a 2K, you can nail him with a 2D from it as well.

After a while of doing the same shit, people start to learn, making throws more and more important. It's unblockable, baby!

Testament has many good tick throw setups. Some of the most common are after an okizeme net, after an EXE FRC, after most crow hits and after a meaty jHS. Testament gets very good damage from a throw, making it' inherent fear-value rise. After a while, the throw becomes a mixup since you can go for a 2K instead of the throw and catch people off guard as they are standing in preparation for a counter throw.

Testaments best mixup as in hardest to block is probably the tree crossup (see okizeme section). However, please note that in attempting it you are gambling your pressure on that one move, as a failed crossup will result in at best neutral situation, and at worst you jumping into the corner.

Okizeme

Basic okizeme revolves around nets. If you have time for it, planting a net over a downed opponent is quite like having an automatic meaty when they rise. This comes in handy as you can use it to ensure that they block.

For example, against Sol you can plant a net and then wait for a fraction after he rises, until you see the net being blocked. This way you do not need to fear reversal VV's.

An alternative is to use a well spaced S EXE instead. If you don't have time to properly place the net, you can run up to the opponent and do a S EXE that hits meaty (or at least close to it). This will let you keep frame advantage without FRC (since S EXE has 19 active frames and is only -2, there's plenty of room for frame advantage to be found) The correct spacing is so that they are pushed just close enough for you to do your mixups after the EXE hits. The distance will keep you safe from quite a lot of reversals.

Number three that I have come to like a lot is to jump in with a late jHS. You should ideally hit with it just before you land. jHS > 6P is a good mixup, since many players reflexively block low after the high jHS. You can slo try for a tick throw after it. The nice point about this is that landing after a jHS kills the recovery, meaning it will keep you safe from most reversals.

Next up is the Shounen crossup. After a knockdown that lands them sufficiently close to you, run up and plant a meaty tree. Now do an IAD over them as fast as you can. This will result in the tree hitting them while you cross them up. If the tree hits, do a BL and go into a loop. After doing this enough times, you can actually just plant a tree nd then do nothing and make that be a mixup. If your opponent is scared of the crossup, he might block wrong without you having to do anything.

Also, a similar variant is that you plant a tree and then backstep at the last minute in order to bait a throw.

Badlands and it's usage

Badlands is that hip new move Testament got instead of his old Gravedigger. It carries some cons with it but it's mostly all good. Important to note is that it connects from 6K if you hit an airborne opponent with it, making the old 6K > 6HS almost obsolete.

Also important is that since badlands knocks the opponent behind you, it suddenly becomes a bad idea to do the old standard combo gatling > BL (standard with GD that is...) if you currently have the opponent in the corner. You do not wish to knock them out of it for a meager 30 extra damage. Keep them there for future high damage combos. Get them cursed instead if you can or set up a loop (see below) that can knock them back into the corner again.

Right with that out of the way, I'd like to adress the basics of combos with BL.

BL-loop

This is that thing that everyone is yelling "broke" at when they see it. It's strength lies in it's ability to get damage from many situations where it was previously impossible, often without any tension involved.

The "trick" to the loop is that all but the first BL's should be tigerkneed, i.e. you do the aireal version, as low as you can. This version starts up faster, reaches farther and recovers faster. A tk BL can be done witht the input 2147P.

The easiest way to practice this is to do throw > 6K > BL > tk BL > ...

You can do 3-4 loops on mediums and 6-7 on lights.

Important usage for the loop is from throw, warrant, Nightmare Circular, Dust and any random 6K hit on airborne opponents. These are situations where your other options are very limited or require an unnecessary amount of tension.

two important notes:

1: When you use tension to set up a loop, you gain close to no tension from it due to tension penalties. Do not deceive yourself by thinking you're making up for the loss. BL doesn't even have that good a tension gain to begin with.

2: regarding the "curse loop", as I just dubbed it ( go here for more info), all I can say is "learn it". It's really not easy, but it is definitely the best thing you can do with a BL-loop. It can be done from many starters, notable ones being throw and warrant. Learn to see when it's possible and when it's not. And don't feel bad if you can't get the curse at the end. It will come with practice, and until then the combo is still close to the best variant in that situation.

I do not really recommend using tension for setting up the loop, e.g. doing combo > HS EXE FRC > 6K > BL or the like, unless you're confident you can get a curse loop from it, as the loop generally gives you a fairly poor knockdown (far away and/or midscreen). Tension is better saved for 1-hit combos, as they generally have a higher strategic value. Exceptions are when you either need just a bit more damage or can't continue the combo through normal means.

It is however often possible to go from a normal gatling combo to the loop without tension. More on that can be found in the combo-section.

1-hit combos

If you hit an opponent that is high enough or deep enough with a BL, only the first hit will connect. This causes very long untechable time and they fall down pretty much right in front of you for easy continuation of the combo. This is a central part to Testaments combos in AC, as they give excellent setups, carry you into the corner and grants you knockdown from almost all combos. They particularly make random aerial hits much more threatening, as you can now get both a decent combo and knockdown from them, something that was impossible in earlier games.

Note that a 1-hit from a ground BL has shorter untechable time than both aerial 1-hit and the 2-hit of both versions.

The most basic and useful setup is to lift the opponent in any way you please and do jK > jS > jHS > BL. The only problem with this setup is that the jHS will only connect early in a combo. This means it will not work if you try to get a second 1-hit in or if the setup was unusually long. A good alternative is to do jK > jP > jK > jD > BL.

However, getting 1-hits is not an exact science. It varies a bit from character to character. It's really a matter of practicing and getting to now the correct height. Experiment for great success

When doing an air combo, there is most often no reason for doing a 2-hit BL at the end. You can almost always get a 1-hit with some planning (adding punches or whatever), the difference in damage is negligable, and even if you can't follow up on it you either get a knockdown close to you or a chance for a tech-trap. It's not always easy to get the 1-hit after a random setup, but try your best.

Net-lands

I'm not going to say much about this, as I find it to be kinda crap, but what the hell.

The basic idea is that you knock someone into a net with BL. From this, you simply lay another net and do tk/jump BL. You can see it in action here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA0HUjLO2UM

The damage is crappy, but you can gain quite a lot of tension from it. Easy to be bursted out of though. The main use I can see is if you can get them poisoned before it, as it pretty much guarantees full poison damage, which is nice.

Of course, if you happen to get the chance, by all means go for it. I'd not really recommand trying specifically for it though.

Sidewitching

I decided to go ahead and make this into it's own topic, as I think it's very important for Testas combos. The idea here is that you do a 1-hit combo that makes you switch sides with your opponent. This can be made to work even deep in the corner, and gives the advantage that you can end the combo with a P skull. Example combos for this are:

corner 6P > S > 2D > HS EXE FRC > jHS > jD > BL 1-hit > HS > Net > dash > jS > jHS > BL 1-hit > sideswitch > HS > Net > tk BL > 236P

and

6P > S > 2D > HS EXE FRC > dash S > delay > jK (or jP) > jS > jHS > BL 1-hit > sideswitch HS > net > tk BL > 236P

There are several things needed for making the switch work. They are primarily momentum, timing and getting the opponent high enough.

First off, you need some momentum in you air combo in order for Testament to fly further than the opponent. There are two ways I have found to attain this. First off is the easy way of trapping the opponent in a net and then dash and do for example jS > jHS > BL. The net gives you time to do a dashing jump and thus gain momentum for the combo. The second way generally starts from a HS EXE FRC. You then dash in and do 5K or 5S. Now, if you jumpcancel immediately, Testament will make a normal jump with no speed retained from the dash he did before the previous attack. However, if you wait for just a moment before canceling to a jump, much of the momentum will be left, enough for you to get the sideswitch without nets.

Step two is that you need to get the opponent pretty high up with your combo, as you need enough time to land and adjust yourself after the 1-hit. I'm not sure of how this works exactly, but simply try to keep the opponent high up. It often helps to delay jS or jD if you're using them.

Last off, on most characters it is imperrative that you time it right when you do the last HS. You often need to do it as late as possible for the sideswitch to happen, but do it too late and you will get an OTG hit instead. This is very hard from some setups, but you'll get it with enough practice.

A final note for the curious: The last Net > tk BL is needed to get a knockdown in many cases. Even though the frame data says otherwise, air badlands second hit seems to have longer untechable time than the ground version. Also, the net is advantageous as it saves you from screwups when you mis-time the HS.

Anyway, here's the current shit

Note that in most of these combos 6P can be substitued for 2K, but the damage might suck too much to be worth it.

(BL = Badlands, GD = Gravedigger; Damage calculated on Sol unless otherwise noted)

Crow Patterns

L = Low, H = High, S = Schythe, F = Feathers. Brackets are K-curse extensions.

1: L L S F H (L S S)

2: F S L H H (L S F F)

3: H F L S F (S H L S)

4: S S H F F (L H H)

Standard stuff

6P > S > 2D > 236P (69 dmg)

2K > S > S > 2D > 236P (59 dmg)

6P or 2K > S > S > 2D > BL (108/80 dmg)

Throw combos

midscreen throw > 6K > BL > tk BL > dash K > HS > BL > tk BL

*more loops possible on lights*

Corner throw > HS > net > dash jK > jS > jHS > BL 1-hit > (land behind opponent) > HS > net > tk BL > 236P

*works on Sol, Slayer, Axl, Zappa, Anji, Johnny, Order Sol, Ky, Eddie, Venom ... [incomplete list]*

Tensionless BL-loops

Thanks to Rabite for pointing them out. List of characters they work on will be fleshed out later.

Far gatling = any ground combo where the distance from you to the opponent at the end of it is maximized.

far gatling into 5hs > delay BL > (dash) 6k > BL > dash (k) > hs > BL (Sol, Slayer, Eddie)

far gatling into 2d or 5hs > BL > tk BL > dash 5hs > BL (Lights)

far gatling into 5hs > BL > (5hs > BL)*3 (Potemkin)

Dust combos

lights:

midscreen 5D > jD > BL > (tK BL)*n

near corner 5D > jD > BL 1hit > HS > net > dash jS > jHS > BL 1hit > (sideswitch) HS > net > tk BL > 236P

Mediums:

midscreen 5D > JD > BL1hit > short dash 6K > BL > tk BL > dash > 6K > HS > BL > tk BL > dash 236P

near corner 5D [8] > jD > jD > BL 1hit > HS > net > dash jK > jS > jHS > BL 1hit > (sideswitch) HS > net > tk BL > 236P

Combos to curse:

50% tension

corner 6P > S > 2D > HS EXE FRC > jHS > jD > BL 1-hit > HS > GD > 6K > HS > BL > tk BL > tk BL > dash 236P

*combo is for lights. Some lights have too small a hitbox to curse at the end.*

midscreen 6P > S > 2D > HS EXE FRC > dash S > jK > jS > jHS > BL 1-hit > HS > GD > HS > net > BL > 236P (177 dmg)

corner 6P > S > 2D > HS EXE FRC > jHS > jD > BL 1-hit > HS > GD > S > HS > BL > 236P (194 dmg)

25% tension

opposite side 6P > S > 2D > HS EXE FRC > dash S > jK > jS > jHS > BL 1-hit > 236P (138 dmg)

Corner 6P > S > 2D > HS EXE FRC > dash S > delay > jK (or jP) > jS > jHS > BL 1-hit > sideswitch HS > net > tk BL > 236P

*Delay the jump cancel from close S as long as possible. Remove first jHS for lights, add another jP for potemkin*

corner 6P > S > 2D > HS EXE FRC > jHS > jD > BL 1-hit > HS > Net > dash > jS > jHS > BL 1-hit > (land in the corner) > HS > Net > tk BL > 236P

Close to the corner 6P > S > 2D > HS EXE FRC > dash S > sj > jP > jK > jS > jHS > BL 1-hit > (land in the corner) > HS > Net > tk BL > 236P (155 dmg)

*works on Sol, Axl, Zappa, Dizzy, Johnny... [incomplete list]*

*For Ky, add another jP after the superjump*

Midscreen 6P > S > 2D > HS EXE FRC > dash in deep K > S > sj > jP > jK > jS > jHS > BL 1-hit > (land in the corner) > HS > Net > tk BL > 236P

*works on most non-lights*

midscreen or closer 6P > S > 2D > HS EXE FRC > dash S > sj > jP > jS > jHS > jD > BL 1-hit > (land in the corner) > HS > Net > tk BL > 236P

*works on A.B.A, Dizzy, Order Sol, Eddie, Venom... [incomplete list]*

Curse while getting out of the corner

This is intended for when you are in the corner, but manage to land a hit and knock the opponent into it instead. There are two options, with one being significantly more damaging than the other. That one should be used when the first hit was a strong unprorated move, like for example S or 2HS.

These do not work on some characters (lights, Venom, etc.). Might need to be changed slightly for some characters, but these should be the most general ones.

Weak move, eg. 2P > 5S > 2D > BL > dash close > HS EXE > 5S > jump forward > jP > jP > jK > jS > BL(1) > net > OTG 2K > 236K

Strong move eg. 2HS > 2D > BL > dash >HS EXE FRC > jHS > jD > BL(1) > 5S > jump straight up > jP > jK > jD > BL(1) > net > OTG 2K > 236K

Shounen combo #2

jD ch > dash in S > HS > BL > S EXE FRC > dash jHS > jD > BL 1-hit >

----> 236P (203 dmg)

----> S > jP > jP > jK > jD > BL 1-hit (230 dmg)

*the starter is only an example. This combo can often be used to save damage if you get a 2-hit BL where a loop is impossible.*

High damage combos:

When you get the chance for unprorated big damage, this is what I usually do, given sufficient tension.

ch jD, baited blue burst or something like it > HS > GD > run under opponent > HS > BL > 2HS > GD > HS > net tk BL > 236P

ch jD, etc. > HS > GD > run under opponent > (S) HS > BL > tk BL > tk BL > tk BL > tk BL > dash 236P if possible

*only on lights*

Warrant:

Midscreen: Warrant FRC > Dash 6K > BL > tk BL > dash K > HS > BL > tk BL > dash 236P

*A bit difficult on some characters, unless the warrant hits as a counter hit*

Midscreen: Warrant FRC > tk BL > dash K > HS > BL > tk BL > dash 236P or HS BL

*You will probably need to negative edge the BL*

Corner: Warrant FRC > dash K > S > jK > jS > jHS > BL 1-hit > ...

----> S > jK > jS > jHS > BL 1-hit

----> HS > GD > S > HS > BL > 236P

Corner: Warrant FRC > Dash HS EXE > S > jK > jS > jHS > BL 1-hit > ... (see above)

Corner: Warrant > HS EXE > 6K > BL > tk BL > dash K > HS > BL > tk BL > dash 236P

*doesn't work if you're too close to the corner after warrant*

Corner: Warrant > HS EXE FRC > jHS > jD > BL 1-hit > HS > Net > dash > jS > jHS > BL 1-ht > HS > Net > tk BL > 236 P

*This is the one you want to do 90% of the time. Learn it today!*

Gravedigger combos:

counterhit GD > 2P > S > jK > JS > jHS > BL 1hit > ...

------> dash K > HS > GD (wallbounce) > dash under opponent > HS > BL > 236P

------> HS > BL > tk BL

counterhit GD > HS EXE > 6K > BL > tk BL > jP > jK > jD > BL 1hit > dash 236P

GD > HS EXE FRC > jHS > jD > BL 1-hit > HS > Net > dash > jS > jHS > BL 1-ht > HS > Net > tk BL > 236 P

*When GD takes you close to the corner*

MoP combos:

With 1 doll

midscreen 6P > S > 2D > 214S > HS EXE FRC > BL > Net > jump BL > Net > tk BL > Net > tk BL > ... (about 160 + full poison)

The following is really just flash, but fun to do nonetheless

Mop FRC: the setup

6P > S > HS > MoP FRC > Dash in close > S > Net > 214S > backdash > 236K > wait until they leave the net > jHS > jD > BL 1-hit > ...

---> Pattern 1: dash in > OTG HS EXE > S (crow hits) > Net > dash jP > jP > JK > Succubus hits for knockdown.

---> Pattern 2: If started from midscreen or closer > OTG HS EXE (Succubus hits) > Net > dash jP > jP > jK > jS > BL (must hit right after next crow attack)

---> Pattern 2: If started farther away > wait on landing until crow returns > dash in 2K (meaty unblockable) > Whatever combo you feel like

---> Pattern 3: dash in close > OTG HS EXE > Net (right after all feathers have hit) > dash jP > jP > jK (right after next crow attack) > Net > dj > jP > jK > jS > Succubus hits for knockdown.

*Feathers will now immediately cover you, and you can make yourself ready for an unblockable chance after those.*

---> Pattern 4: Okizeme Net > 2K (unblockable) > jK > jS > jHS > BL 1-hit > (if close enough) HS > GD > whatever

Zeinest Loop

Sent (TE) vs Koichi (IN)

Yukinose (TE) vs Han'oto (KY)

? (SL) vs ? (TE)

Yukinose (TE) vs FAB (PO)

Kaqn (OR) vs Yukinose (TE)

Shounen (TE) vs Ruu (BR)

Yukinose (TE) vs Kaqn (SO)

General

Now, you have two zoning characters who both desperately wants to get the advantage. However, with no summons to lean on, it is my opinion that Testament has the upperhand, mainly due to his long pokes and EXEs. Basically, Dizzy wants to get away and get out a fish or homing pike. Your job is to stay on the chase and not allow her to get what she wants.

if you are in range, any summon attempts should be stopped with far S. If you are far away though, you have to be ready with a S EXE. Getting a punish with that takes some solid anticipation from your side though, which means be ready for it at all times. It helps if you can learn in what situations your opponent likes to use it. Also, Dizzy can quite easily punish an anticipated S EXE with ehr double airdash, so try to not be too jittery with it if she looks like she wants to bait it. Note that Dizzy is in counterhit state for a long time during her fish summon, so be ready to counterhit confirm a far S to some damage (e.g. BL, GD, 2HS).

Apart from stopping her summons, you are of course always looking for a way in. This is actually mostly the same thing as stopping summons, but now we're talking apart from that

When you are some way off, GD is quite often a rather good choice. Dizzy hangs around in the air alot, laying out bubbles or just plain running away, which is excellent for some Gravedigger Transport. ground GD must be FD'ed, a fact frequently forgotten by people in the air. Also, an FD'ed GD will net Testament a nice little +3 frame advantage so as long as you're not hit out of it it's win-win, wether you hit or not. Also, if you are dashing away from her, be ready to switch direction with a GD if you see careless fish summoning.

As stated, Dizzy is not really very threatening when you are not in the corner or her summons aren't out. Testament generally outpokes her and has a much easier time playing without zoning enhancers. Far S can be spammed pretty well, and she has crap active frames, making 2HS a good move in this matchup. The important thing is not to back down. I cringe when I see Testament players who dash back at the start of rounds in this matchup. It should be fought aggressively, without giving Dizzy any more ground than is strictly necessary. Just get in there and don't let up. She'll die in two combos anyway.

Finally, when it so happens that you are quite far apart from each other Dizzy's main strength lies in her air game, so chances are she'll try to approach with an air dash or two (given that she isn't trying to summon instead, depends on how well you've done your job earlier in the match). This can pretty much always be met with a 6K if anticipated, but equally good options are to meet her in the air with jK or jS. For example doing a small dash and then jK in advance if you think she'll dash in works quite well, as you still have options to 1)airdash back with a jS if she comes at you later than expected, 2) jump again and hold the fort, again with jS as the prime move 3) airdash in at her if she takes you random jumping as a sign that she should be summoning more.

But apart from this instance, you should primarily stay grounded against Dizzy.

When Dizzy gets her game going

Let's face it, you're not going to be able to hold her off from summoning forever, she mainly has three things to be wary of: fish, homing pike and bubbles.

Fish is the main antagonist in this fight. As soon as one is out, Dizzy is free to actually start playing. Now your options are limited. First you can try to punch the fish. This is very risky though, as Dizzy can get a ch 2HS if she's close by, which hurts bad, but it's the best option if she tries to summon other things under the cover of the fish. Next up, you can try to get past the fish, either by going over dizzy or by going under the fish (e.g. with 2HS). Often quite good if there's not too much other stuff out, but beware of jumping into the corner. Finally you just tough it out. This is actually most often the best option, as other might be too dangerous. If you had trees or a P-skull out they will help. Still as long as you're not in the corner it's not so bad. Just watch out for tick throws!

Homing pike is annoying as hell once it's out, as it'll be a constant guard against you starting to pressure on Dizzy, or simply a combo aid for her if she gets a hit in. There really only two things you have against this one, apart from the aforementioned "tough it out". First is that Dizzy is feeling safe with the pike, waiting for you to hit her so that she can counter you and start a combo. This means she is more likely to stay and guard, and thus she is more susceptible to throws.

Second option is to use 2HS. When you see the spike being released, you can use 2HS to glide out of it's range after having started your pressure. If this works or not depends on several factor of spacing and timing, but it is often very useful so try it out.

For bubbles, it's all about a tricky balance of having respect for the bubbles, but not too much respect. Testament has it a little easier here as it's viable for him to stay back and wait for something to punish with a S EXE, but you still shouldn't be too afraid to move in on her. Just be extra careful. If the bubble is high you might be able to move in under it with 2HS.

Trapping

As this match is more about having less of her traps out than it is of having more of yours, trapping is not that important here. When you do though, use trees mainly. They work very well for eating fishes in a fish rush and for all the standard uses. Ground and low nets are too easily cut up for it to be worth the trouble or planting them too often.

Skulls are very good if you find the time. Especially K-skulls as they stop her air game effectively, crippling her further. P-skulls I use very rarely, but they have some value in their ability to eat the K-fish

Lately, I have begun using more high nets, as they are eaten up by summons to a much smaller degree and work somewhat for stopping dizzy from moving around too much where it's hard to reach her (which her double airdash normally allow). Don't know if it's worth it in the long run, but it might be.

Corner Rape

Being in the corner against Dizzy, eloquently put, sucks. She has very good mixups that take some good reactions to block. The fish which will usually be there as well, will eat any attempt at a poke, HS EXE, OD or warrant, so you don't really have any means of escape. If you can tough it out until the fish is gone, you are halfway there. At that point, Dizzy players will often try for some rather more whacky pressure with all her other tools at hand. This can often feel quite overwhelming, but the important thing is to stay calm and always look for a gap to throw in a poke, usually a punch, or just to jump out of there.

The worst part is probably that dizzy's tick throws at this stage is incredibly difficult to see since there's so many chances for them, and you don't really want to guess wrong while there's a fish out. Be very alert. Also, if you see a hole to jump in that might be good as her mixups become void, but she still has the "tension liquifier" (far S), so be ready to give up quite a lot of your remaining tension for this.

random notes

Ice spike is a guaranteed warrant. but can't be done on reaction (in my opinion at least) . If you feel it coming, it might be worth trying for a warrant since the payoff is huge and it's often hard for other players to punish a midscreen warrant attempt. Possible times for ice spike apart from randomly is as a frame trap after 2HS or sweep.

GD can quite easily jump through imperial ray. If she tries to push you away with it, this is a possible counter. It will hit her if she's close and does not FRC. She can of course punish this if she does FRC, but chances are she wasn't planning a 75% tension bait.

Bullshit unblockables (homing pike > imperial ray) are extra good against testament, as it will clear all traps from the field as well as give dizzy the time she needs to start her game. If you predict this however, you can punish it by doing warrant when she has finished throwing up the homing pike. If the super comes, you'll warrant the pike. A bit risky if you get baited yourself, but the reward is enormous.

combo notes

Dizzy is the one character I've found where it's actually very easy to do this combo:

corner 6P > S > 2D > HS EXE FRC > jHS > jD > BL 1-hit > HS > Net > dash > jS > jHS > BL 1-hit > (land in the corner) > HS > Net > tk BL > 236P

It does significantly more damage than most sideswitch variants, so please use it.

You can't 6K Dizzy after a throw. Just let her lie, unless you really need some extra damage and go for HS EXE FRC. However, a throw > HS EXE FRC > BL loop gets you about 150 damage.

Dizzy is nigh unBLoopable. Her hitbox makes BL loops almost impossible if the loop did not start with a tk BL, so don't even try in those cases. The only practical exceptions I've found are:

* in corner, 6P > 5S > HS > HS EXE > 6K > BL > tk BL > loop (this will not work with 2D instead of HS)

* start a combo and get youself into the corner, preferably with GD, then do S > HS BL > tk BL > loop

However, as she is a semi-light it might very well be worth it to do the standard HS EXE FRC > tk BL starter

Take any questions you have regarding specific matchups to this thread, and share your own experiences against the rest of the cast.

Index:

Page 1

Axl

Page 2

Sol, ABA, some Jam

page 3

Baiken, Testament, Ky

page 4

Dizzy

HOS

page 6

tidbits against

Millia

Eddie

Slayer

page 7

Jam

page 8

Eddie

Axl

General

The first thing you want to do when facing a Baiken-player is to assess what kind of player he is. The two main types are 1) the ones who are careful with their counters, and tries to only use them on mostyl guaranteed spots and 2) the ones who has practiced fast counters and are able to pull them off immediately after a blocked attack, and does so frequently.

The first type will give you much more freedom with your pressure and allows for mixup opportunities, while the second is harder to get in on but may in turn be easier to bait counters from. I'll be writing this mainly with type 2 in mind, partly because that's what I'm regularly facing, and partly because it's a more interesting matchup.

Counters

Baiken has five counters that can ruin your life. I'll outline them and tell you how it's possible to deal with each one.

Sakura: She stabs you with her sword. it's fast enough to hit you after a blocked 2P, making it a constant threat. It can't hit you from a long range far S though. The main problem here is that it has an FRC and can thus be made completely safe for her, as well as turn the pressure right around at you. If you get hit, make sure you start mashing out of stagger so she doesn't get bullshit combos from it. You can bait it it by chaining your poke to either warrant, dust or a jump cancel. The first two options gives a great punish, but both are guesses and can be punished by other counters.

There is another, sneaky, method. A net that gets hit by an attack will absorb one of the active frames that attack has. Sakura has two active frames, and it's FRC is right on the hit. This means that two nets close to you will completely nullify Sakura, while one net has a chance to nullify a Sakura FRC, depending on which frame she FRC'd it on.

If you block a Sakura, remember that it now has upper body invulnerability all the way through. Punish with 2S or 2D, depending on distance. You have to be quite fast to get the 2D to hit.

Mawarikomi: She runs behind you. This is annoying, especially now that the FRC point is during the invincibility, which makes it almost completely safe. If you used a fast move when she used this, you can throw her as it has no throw invincibility. For other moves you can chain into a net, as she will most often have to FRC to avoid getting stuck in it.

Youshijin: antiair-counter. This is probably the worst counter for her, so it's not that much of a bother. It's presence does however mean that all jump-ins that aren't extremely low (e.g. meaty jHS) are out of the question. It also gives easy counters for blocked GD or BL, so don't throw those moves out randomly. The correct way to punish youshijin is to simply to not be in counterhit state. As long as you're not, you can take the hit and still punish her any way you want.

Ouren: She jumps behind you and hit you with a high crossup. This move makes far range S no longer safe as they used to be. She has no invincibility on it, so it's possible to chain into something and eat it, but very few attacks work for this. Examples are 6HS, BL, none of which are recommended. This will mostly be used against far ranged pokes.

Your choices here boil down to chaining into a net or into warrant. An instant ouren will beat out the net as it's too fast, but warrant will punish this. If she instead delays ouren, warrant will run out of active frames so it doesn't work, but then a net will. It's a constant guessing game. However, if you poked with 6K you can wait and do warrant on reaction against this, as as the cancel window is much longer.

It's possible to punish it on block if you IB'd it (which you usually do automatically) by doing 5HS. What comes after depends on the spacing. Gravedigger always works but might require as much as 50% to get a good punish. If she's close enough though you can chain it to BL and still be able to combo with a low tk BL for no tension at all.

Baku: Her FB, can be chained to a seal for 25% more. This one can't really be handled properly as it's too fast. An immediate warrant might beat it, but even that depends on how fast she was. Once again though, it only has 2 active frames and can be canceled by two nets. Unfortuantely, she can still do the followup even on whiff so be careful.

Recap:

After a poke you usually have the basic options of chaining into either a net or warrant, since one of these will eat pretty much anything. What you do depends on how your opponent is playing and your current position. Against Baiken you always have to be in her head to win.

Offense

When you want to attack Baiken, you have to be very careful. It is usually safer to go for the zoning approach, but more on that later. You don't really get pressure on a Baiken like you do against others. EXE resets of course becomes void, so there's a lot riding on your first mixup attempt.

Throws are very good though. If she is sitting there waiting for a counter, just throw her instead. Throw combos hurt badly on her. Also, 5K is a very good poke since it's your only ranged move that can be jump canceled. Use it to bait counters and remember to FD after jumping in case of Youshijin.

Another important bait is to do a poke and chain it to S EXE FRC. This allows you to recover and block a possible counter, and then go for the punish.

The best situation is if you can manage to get nets out preemptively. If you stand close to a net, you have disabled both ouren and mawarikomi, giving you an easier time. If you have two nets around you, you have disabled all counters except youshijin, which kind of sucks against grounded opponents. I'd say there are three setups for this situation.

The direct method is if you do a combo into a sideswitch, you can do BL out of the corner and immediately place two nets after you recover. You might have to use a HS EXE FRC to get in after this though.

Method two is a bit more risky. After knocking her into the corner, run up and place one net, then run in for a mixup. That first net should protect you a bit, so now try to land a mixup and end it with 2D > net, and you're all set.

At this point, she still has a few options apart from sitting there and taking it like a normal character, but they are quite risky. Sakura or Mawarikomi FRC work, but make sure you punish those hard if she misses the FRC. She can also do a Baku and then the follow up but if you are ready for this and take it easy with your gatlings, you can warrant it instead. If she has no tension, you've got almost nothing to worry about.

Of course this is a bit roundabout a way to make Baiken into a normal character under pressure, but I think the best part of it is simply that if a Baiken player relies a lot on counters, this situation invites mistakes. And it's hilarious if the player in question didn't know about the properties of the net.

Defense and trapping

Since Testament is missing a proper antiair 6P, I'd say Baikens most common approach is through the air. Choices are basically coming in with IAD and jS, jHS or Tatami. The Tatami isn't really a problem. If you see it coming you can warrant it, otherwise just punch her out of the air with a 5P.

jHS can also be punched pretty easily, but jS poses a problem as 5P does not work reliably against it. If you crouch however, IAD jS will whiff and you can proceed to punish. Because of this a crouching position as default is often advantageous. The problem is that it's too hard, at least for me, to react to if it's jS or jHS. It's easy enough to go up and block the jHS, but she just got in on you. The medicine here is to try and have a tree placed under you to protect you from this. Even better if you have time to get one more out a bit behind you.

For grounded attacks, you outrange Baiken, but there's still her counters making poking unsafe. To counter this, it is best to have a net placed around the area you are standing. Preferably you should be standing inside the net, as this protects you from long range counters, allowing you to use your range to keep her away.

Some interesting trivia is that you need to stand pretty much in the nets range for it to protect you from an ouren, but if you place two nets you can have them quite far behind you since, yes, ouren only has two active frames. She'll even get stuck if there's two, but I can't really explain why. This is good if you ever get the time to place them, as it will be much harder for Baiken to disarm those nets .

Baiken has her own zoning move in Kabari (the chain) that can be used pretty effectively to disarm traps and possibly pull testament out of hiding while Baiken stays out of his effective range. Here it is important that you are ready to immediately warrant if you see Kabari coming. RC the warrant for a loop and that's your win right there, which should teach her not to use that move so much.

If your Baiken is defensive (read: hasn't played much against testament), this is a windfall for you. Use her hesitation and backdashes to get some time to place your traps. getting the time for that is usually the hardest part of the matchup.

Also, if she likes doing airdash back Tatami, you can punish it by doing S EXE FRC > IAD > jHS to whatever works from that spacing.

As a last random note, if you are trapped in the corner and you have trouble to deal with her jHS here (it can be warranted, but the confirm is hard), you can use 2HS to glide out when you see it coming.

Summing up

In the above text, I have tried to outline the tricks and special ways to punish that I have found while playing. While helpful to know, in the end you are going to win most matches by staying patient and capitalising heavily on baikens mistakes.

Baiken has very low defense and okiseme on her is tricky due to counters. This means that it's almost always best to do the most damaging combo you can from any given setup, and not worry too much about setup after the combo.

Getting the fortress constructed here is halfway to victory, but if the Baiken is aggressive, finding time for it will be difficult. Take any chance you can get and don't underestimate her jS. It reaches extremely far and she moves in fast with, enabling her to punish trap sets effectively if you're not careful.

I'd say try and not be too hasty, instead concentrate on what she does and how to deal with it instead of attacking too much yourself. And remember to throw a lot.

Combo Notes

Baiken is light meaning you can do random air combo to BL(1), and then immediately do tk > BL > loop after you land for some easy damage. For some ranges, you might want to do 5HS BL after landing, but that's not as common.

Also, after air BL(1), you can do 2HS > GD > dash into the corner > HS > BL > tk BL x4. Very good damage and allows you to end with getting her into the corner.

After warrant on Ouren, you can do FRC > tk BL without the need to negative edge the BL.

Learn to do BL > S EXE FRC > tk BL for when any given BL launches her too far away to continue. thsi can save you a lot of damage.

After a throw, you either have to do a small dash before the 6K, or wait until she is aligned with you horisontally, or you will only get one hit from the BL.

In this matchup, it's important to learn to do very low tk BL's. This enables you to do far gatlings > BL > low tk BL for some really good and most of all cheap damage.

I've really only played the berserker kind of Jam, where you feel kinda screwed if she ever gets you pressured. Other styles might be different but the main points stand.

Against Jam, as with most other characters with short range, keeping her away and getting you zoning game into place is the most important part. As long as she is at a distance, you seriously outpoke her, with far S, 2S and jS being primary pokes. 2S is because otherwise she can be cocky and glide through your 5S. At the distance of these pokes, she doesn't really have good options for getting in at you without tension.

The trouble starts when she gets tension, as you all know how dangerous FB puffballs are. Before she gets tension, any puffball attempt can be poked (which you are throwing out anyway) giving you a counterhit that can be linked to several damaging followups (GD, BL, possibly 2HS). When she gets 25% you have to start getting careful and watch for the startup of her glide. The main defense is warrant, as that will counter all forms of puffballs, and if you have tension it will give a very damaging combo as well. Warrant can be done on reaction of her slide, but be careful of baits from Jam. if you don't feel confident, you can of course block it and hope that was her last bit of tension, but you ust gave a her a free ticket in which sucks.

Trapping

Traps work wonder against Jam. All traps are good, regardless of how they are placed. Specific trap patterns probably vary depending on the person you are facing, but I have found semi high nets to be effective for stuffing her airdashes. Get trees out to cover sloppy attempts of disarming nets.

Now the problem is just getting these suckers out in the first place. Random placing is dangerous as a distant Jam is fast and always on the move. Odds are she'll be in your face in the blink of an eye if your not careful. Thus, most trap sets should be done from connected or blocked pokes. Other cases only if you are confident you have the time needed. If you're patient and poke correctly, you have a good chance of getting the fortress constructed successfully, and then Jam will have a hellish time getting in.

Okiseme

I hate this part. There is practically no safe/good okiseme on Jam. Meaty nets will get parried, S EXE will get parried. Now we're already down to basics. 2K will be safe against the parry, and it is thus what I use most often because even if you lose the initial mixup opportunity, you can still followup with something (e.g. 2D or 6P), even if you may have to use an EXE frc for it.

The big problem appears when she gets a charge for ryuujin. This means a wakeup shoryu is suddenly a very real threat, as a connected shoryu leads to charge kick and death. And it will eat 2K... The other side of the coin is that 6P dodges the shoryu altogether, thus giving you a punish on it that will hurt badly. But then we're back to the fact that a 6P is very vulnerable to parry linked to your death.

Conclusion is that without a charge, you get an inferior mixup game, with a charge it's a guessing game where the loser gets hurt badly. Of course, tree crossups as okiseme still works

Being pressured

Actually, this part is still somewhat of a mystery for me, so if anyone can chip in that would be great. Testament lacks reliant moves for beating out a lot of her bullshit while you're being pressured. There is always the EXE game where you guess she will be standing on the ground for 16 frames more and have her eaten, but an IAD will of course beat it and punish you badly.

Anyway, this is my main problem with the matchup. If she can be kept away, that's you victory right there, but under pressure I often have a hard time pulling of that win. I have a few ideas that might work well, but I currently don't have any Jam to play against, so they go untested as of yet.

At first, if the Slayer is not accustomed well to the matchup, Testament has a solid advantage. Slayer has to work much harder than he is used to in order to get in, and Testament has some good stuff to work with in order to make his life hell.

Then you slowly realize, as the level rises, that Slayer has every tool he needs to make this matchup incredibly difficult for Testament, forcing him to play rather differently as well. It's just a blessing that, as Chunli1 is so fond of saying, most Slayers have no idea when there is free damage just lying around waiting for them.

So let's get going.

general play

Testament has a general range advantage, but Slayers normals are simply too good so you still have to be very careful. Max far S range is where you are actually safe. His 2D will beat out or trade (in his favour) with most pokes, and 2HS has almost the same range as your far S. And don't forget that his 5K is fast, safe and long. Also as a sidenote, when he has 25%, consider using more 2S instead of far S in order to stuff random BBUs, in case your Slayer does that sort of thing.

I'd like to recommend an unusually frequent use of 5P as a poke in this match. It will beat out his 2HS and 6HS at most ranges, it has a decent chance of hitting him out of a Mappa, and most of all, it's pretty safe. Throw one out and then block, and it's hard to punish, and in case you hit you got him off your back for a second which can be very valuable. Use 2HS incredibly sparingly. He has too many moves that will eat it, so it's really not worth it.

HS EXE is somewhat of a high risk/reward poke, as it can counter hit alot of his stuff, giving you a free combo, but if he is close enough he can IAD over it and kill you, so be careful. He can also simply dash through it pretty easily if you become predictable with it.

air to air jS is almost your only choice. It is, as always, a godly move and it's your one good chance at winning air to air. Do not use jD, or use it incredibly sparingly, as his jK will beat it or clash at all ranges. At very close ranges though, jP is probably the preferred poke just to try and get something out first.

antiair... don't even think about it. He will beat you every time you try. Best bet is to try and keep him out of the air space above your head. Though 6K can beat airdashes well if you predict them.

air to ground...

Slayer presses a random button and stick combination and wins. All his moves are antiairs against Testament. You might get away with jumping in once in a while, but are you willing to risk your life on it?

Trapping & Zoning

Slayer is not very mobile, so in comparison to other matches you usually have a lot of time to get stuff out. If you can just get away safely at the start of the round, you can usually start the fortress building. His Mappa is the speed threat, but if you start with planting a net, it will catch the mappa out of it's startup if he is too close (about half of max distance). Just watch out if he positions himself into the range where it works though. if he tries, send out an EXE for him to play with.

Trees are usually what you want to go for primarily in this matchup, as he has quite some trouble to get past them, what with no running. Nets usually becomes more of a distraction in order to buy time for the trees. This is because on the ground, he can disarm nets quite easily with 5K, and there's no reliable way to punish that. Nets in the air help very little due to his jK. He can actually jump straight up into a net and throw out jK, and it will still eat the net. This also ensures that he never has to stop combos because of nets, as he can just go straight through them. And did I mention it is almost as safe as his 5K?

Trees however, he has to work harder against. Much of this match consists of doing the correct countermeasure when he tries to get around them. Note though that they do not work as antiairs against him, as they do against many others, because if he does jHS it will dodge trees 90% of the time. And remember you can't antiair that, but if you're good at airthrows, they are an excellent countermeasure.

Skulls are also very good, especially the K-skull as it kills alot of his choices for getting in. P-skull though makes sure that he can't approach you on the ground so it might also be good if you can get one out since it will usually buy some time to set up the fortress.

Playing it safe

Now comes the hideously unfair and evil part. A Slayer with 50% tension can outright kill you from so many situations it is just plain redonkulous.

First of all you are now no longer allowed to throw out any skulls at all. The recovery is too long and the animation too obvious. Maybe the Slayer won't take the chance, but it's not worth the risk.

Secondly, ANY poke chained to trap set suddenly became russian roulette, as he will get a dead on time counterhit if he sees it coming, and then you die. I have pretty much never touched Slayer, but I can still do a very easy 310 damage + knockdown from those 50%. Now consider getting hit by a good combo.

2D is an especially risky thing to use in your blockstrings, as the recovery of 2D is so large he'll get the hit even if you did nothing. In this case an EXE is your only way out.

Also while we're on the subject, 2D and 2HS is always risky to throw out in blockstrings, as he can dandy > pilebunker before those moves connect. Ending strings early, especially far ranged blockstrings, is often advantegous.

Finally, his backdash cancel bullshit allows him an easier time getting out of S EXE pressure, and the S EXE okizeme almost never works.

Now, where does this leave us? At 50%, any trap set is potentially your doom, no skulls o the field and you can't use some of your better gatlings. In order to drive this home, playing safe is of the essence. Look for good spots to plant stuff and take the chance. It's still very hard for him to confirm a random trap set if he's far away, so you can get away with a few there. If he jumps, and he's not right on top of you, that's one of the best spots to get a tree out.

End blockstrings early, and make heavy use of HS EXE, as that is one move he still has a hard time dealing with, with the advantage of pushing him away and giving you a healthy frame advantage.

After that, it's all about capitalising on what you have.

Pressure, yours and his

Being pressure by Slayer, as we all know, sucks. His mixups are very good, and his options for getting in again are far better than you own. Plus, you can't afford mistakes. Two combos are often enough for Slayer. Strategic FD becomes very important here, as any distance you can get between you is good. Always look for chances to superjump > airdash out, as that is probably your best bet to get out safely. As said earlier, 5P is surprisingly good at stuffing 2HS and 6HS, two moves often used against opponents in the corner. It will still loose to 2D and 6P though.

Also as a general note, you can option select his feints. Both for Mappa feint and 6K feint, press back and HS with about the timing of when you usually get hit by it. This will more often than not result in a regular block if not a feint or a throw if it was one. If it was a short feint, the HS might even hit him.

Also worth noting is that the long mappa can be punished if IB'ed, as long as he is in range for your fast normals.

Now there is one thing Testament has here that is almost as unfair as some of Slayers bullshit, and that is IB > HS EXE in the middle of his pressure. Slayer works on links or semi-gatlings, and that means he usually has a lot of open spots in his pressure. This is really designed to give him frametraps, but you can use it to squeeze in a HS EXE at a lot of opportunities. Concentrate on IB as it gives you an easier time to get it off. If you get it down properly, you can even do it between his close S and far S, the only real gatling he has. Successful hits will usually gain you a counterhit and a combo.

Now, trouble emerges as most of Slayers moves are jumpcancelable, meaning he can predict you and IAD over. He can also simply do a forward dash to dodge it, but if he does and you're ready for it, just throw him. A more annoying thing is that he can do 6K which will always pass over HS EXE. If you can read his attempts at this, 5P (or 5S if you dare) him out of it. So at this point it's all a game of how well you can break into his pressure, and how well he can read your attempts.

Now, when you have him in the corner, that is the deciding factor of the match right there. He has much more trouble using his bullshit when he's in the corner, meaning it is possible to keep him in there and win yourself the match. Try to get a semi-fortress going around him, and work mainly on reacting to what he does. Watch out for those moves that beat out your stuff, like 2D and BBU, and try to get a good punish on them if he attempts it.

Combo Notes

Slayer is very easy for Testament to combo, probably one of the easiest in the game. His hitbox is very wide making BL, and HS added into BL loops, hit him at most ranges. Almost all midweight combos work on him.

After a throw you can quite easily do:

6K > BL > delayed tk BL > HS > BL > tk BL > 2366P (i.e. dash skull)

Just try to get the first tk BL as late as you can.

The only problem area I can think of is that since his hitbox is very small vertically instead, making S > HS or K > HS combo when he is launched is quite difficult and requires strict timing.

That was long. So basically, you have to play a very safe game all around or die trying. Much of the bullshit Testa is used to getting away with will not work if Slayer knows what to do. I remember people saying that it was a sign of how hopeless this matchup is for Slayer when the best advice for him is to buffer super inputs the entire match, but he truly does have tools against everything Testament can do, making the match a big game of reading the opponent for both players, which is kind of a disadvantage for Testament as he can no longer simply play on strategy and reaction like he usually can.