CDClarke

This matchup is pretty strongly in Kagura's favour. I play semi-regularly against the former UK number 1 Tager player, so hopefully I can contribute a little. Keeping clear of Tager and harassing with C normals is a perfectly valid strategy in my opinion. If you score a counter hit, follow up with a drive move or two and the damage will rack up slowly, and you'll be limiting their options one by one. If they manage to get in, it shouldn't be too difficult to block Tager's pretty heavily-telegraphed mixups, and wait for the inevitable opening (usually in the middle of a sledge follow-up or long startup overhead) to punish with a jab or, better yet, a flash kick. His huge standing height also makes some interesting pressure loops possible. I'm pretty sure this works but will edit if it doesn't - 5B~B > jump cancel > j.B > j.C > land > 5B~B... Of course, mix this up with empty jumps, jump cancelled fuzzy guards and other shenanigans. The jump should also give you the time to charge an A orb so throw that in there too! Also, against a charge-happy Tager, it's easy enough to zip in with a 2DB and punish, and when they get a spark bolt fully charged, provided you have a good read on your opponent, punish with a projectile invincible 6DC and if you net a counter hit, go for the full combo! Of course, don't try this if you don't have a comfortable read.

This is an interesting matchup. I have a little experience with it, so hopefully I can contribute. It is (or should be) well known at this point that Terumi has no standing overheads, and the closest thing he has to an instant overhead is extremely telegraphed. His pressure, however, is a pain to deal with because almost all of Kag's close pokes will be beaten be Terumi's fast, annoying moves. In particular, his 6A will MESS YOU UP. It's fast as hell, stuffs most drive moves if not comboed in to and launches for a combo even on regular hit. Make sure you respect what Terumi has at all times. His movement options are nowhere near as powerful as Hazama's, and Terumi relies much more on in-your-face pressure than his suited-counterpart. This fact along with his lack of high-low mixups means you can almost always just charge a flash kick, wait for an opening in his pressure and punish them for it.

I've been told by a friend that the alternate colour palette sections in AC+R (EX, Reload, etc.) affect the properties of the character in some ways. I was wondering if there's any truth to this? It would be a real shame if it is, because there are some really cool schemes for my characters that I would feel bad using otherwise.

Me and my best buddy play this matchup all the time (I main Kag and he mains Haz), so I hope I can have some decent input here. I would argue that the matchup is tough, but by no means free for Hazama. -Important principles- -Never jump in on him in neutral -Orbs are killed by snakes -Backdash at match start unless you're confident they'll jump, in which case 6C for a free combo that can end with oki -If performing a combo that usually ends with 5DC or flash kick, switch it up in a way that keeps him grouded so you can keep him locked in okizemi - letting Haz do anything is a pretty bad idea A lot of Hazama's pressure (the guy I play against anyway) tends to include stance moves, and these are easily punishable by a flash kick and to pick up a short combo if you score a counter hit. Of course, this will only work once or twice until they're conditioned to stick with safer options. It's at this point I start feeling more comfortable in throwing out C normals to fish for counter hits. It's important to bare spacing in mind at all times because Hazama's middle-distance game sucks pretty hard, and Kag's pokes outrange Haz's by quite some distance, so feel free to throw out a 5C or 2C if you're at the safe range. Another pattern I noticed is with Hazama players pressuring with snakes in mid-screen (5D~A, 5D~A ad infinitum). These players are clearly NOT familiar with the matchup, because if you make use of 6DC's projectile invulnerability and predict the snake's timing right, you can easily score a counter hit and pull 5k out of the bag without any trouble, once again limiting Haz's middle-distance options severely. Don't be too reliant on it though, as a well timed Rising Fang from Haz will completely shut down a 6DC. Predicting his chain jump-ins is a totally different matter, but a preemptive 6C, while risky as hell, can score big damage if you know the timing for the 6DB follow-up well enough - an easy 4k punish for something as critical to Haz as a jump/chain in. Again, spacing is important here because 6C has an absolutely RIDICULOUS hitbox, covering a massive area in a relatively short time. Your only problem is the slow startup. 5DC is another option but again the recovery leaves you really vulnerable if you mess up. It's also possible to meet a chain-jumping Hazama with a super-jump j.C, but the timing is pretty tight so don't bother unless you're really confident you'll hit him. This is the same for most any matchup, but once you have your opponent in the corner and you know they like to mash out of pressure then try to include 5DA in your block strings - the super armour will almost always score you a counter hit that you can follow up with decent damage, provided you time it right. Again in the corner, end EVERYTHING with orb okizemi, ESPECIALLY with Hazama because of his easy ways to escape the corner with chains. Mostly though, it's about patience. Don't try to do drive strings on block, especially if he has 50 meter to spend on a houtenjiin. Just wait for punish opportunities, because there will be plenty of them.