Heya other Alex! Nice quote... stealing my thunder...
DA also hits twice when sitting there, and once when shot for a total of 3 hits.
Since this is a big how to play against a specific NW axl thread - I'll put in my two cents.
I agree with Dangief, cause I still manage to hit DW most of the time with raoh and win. DA can be outpoked with 5p, but thats it, and you can last edguy it, the mixup at that range isnt that bad cause axl cant do too much from max range.
Just FD a lot more when you're jumping over him, rarely does 2s at the right time, and almost never ever does 6k. Once you learn the range on his crossover and know when to time attacks on the drop attack you're golden. Just takes some time to learn them and you'll stop getting hit for free. 5k rocks your socks off cause 2k is his favorite move (but I see a lot more 2h nowadays). And remember, DW has a Yomi level of 0. Just make sure to win the war of attrition.
green chain up followup when FDed puts him at a disadvantage and lets you get in...
take advantage of tick throws, duh.
sword is still (edit) usable against axl, cause after swipe FRC, you can run in before axl can throw out any of his slower pokes. and the allmighty dp invuns through almost everything.
You just need meter to be safe, but if you're running forward enough you'll not have as many problems.