In the Noel vs Noel match up, he who presses D first loses. Oh, and 4d rapes all of Noel's drives.
I think the pinnacle of Noel play is to space yourself properly to entice jump ins, and pokes so you can crush them with D. Once you condition someone to bait your drives and stop pressing buttons, then the real game begins and you can start your offense. Of course, against some characters, it never reaches that stage, lol... Like Litchi who just rapes you, Ragna who just rapes you, Bang who just rapes you, Tager who just rapes you, Tao who is nearly un-drivable, and Hakumen who sits there, gets full bar, then rapes you.