Order-Sol vs. Testament

[WUT]

Let's make this perfectly clear. You HAVE to be patient to win this. You have to play smart to win this. You have to guard to win this. If you so much as twitch and throw a 2P you can lose the match. Everything must be precise. Now that the disclaimer is up, it's time to get down to business. This match is hard. No questions asked. Nets and trees, EXE beasts, and Testament's range all mean you have to take it slowly or risk being put on the defensive and dealing with 50/50 BS. The basics: If Testament is zoning you, good for him. You can sit back and Manual Charge from full screen, reacting to any S EXE beasts with either Charge Burst or just stopping prematurely. You WILL have some Charge before you start your assault if Testament backs off to zone. KDs make life so much easier in this fight. Once you have some Charge, start closing the gap. FD braking is essential to make Testament either whiff a poke/EXE beast or to deal with trees and nets. Nets can be removed with j.Ps, 6Ps, or 5S(f). Clearing nets is a priority. Personally, I like jumping and IB'ing nets, then either airdashing in or continuing forward. If you choose to come in via the air, 6K beats j.HS, 6HS beats j.HS and j.P if spaced properly, and 5P beats j.P and j.HS if spaced properly. Thankfully, all of these lose to 2D. Testament stops your ground assault with 6K, 2HS, and 2D. 2/3 lose to jumping, the other one needs proper spacing or it loses to j.P. If Testament is instead relying on HS EXE beast CH fishing, jump, j.HS, and tell him to 6K more. So, we'll say you finally make it inside. Good for you. If you score a KD on Testament then you're in good shape. Testament is huge and has terrible means of escaping; any hit you get is going to be 50%+ as long as it doesn't start with 2K. In fact, it has to be 50%+ or end in KD, or you'll have to deal with all those traps again. Meaty GB and jump-ins are preferred; 6K until he has 50% (reversal poison super hits you and knocks you down). Fuzzy guards are easy, GB combos lead to Dust Loop from pretty much everywhere. Oki is your one chance to put this fight in your favor. During pressure strings and resets, be wary of Warrant. Testament has a poor time trying to counterpoke HOS (2S rocks everything at that range except for 2HS), so expect either a backdash or jump out and act accordingly. Testament may still try to CH fish with HS EXE beast, as it is guaranteed to come out on frame 2. If you suspect a CH fish during your pressure, either jump or running throw his ass. In fact, tick throws in general are great against Testament, as he's lacking in good defensive options. Let's say Testament gets the advantage and knocks you down. Reversal SV is incredibly risky, but works decently against meaty net mix-up. Meaty tree is a big sign that says "NO" to SV, so please respect it. 2K/6P mix-up, if you guard it then awesome. You can actually SV any gap that a 6P might crop up in (after a 2K or 5S[c], specifically) if you guard the initial high/low, so that's nice. Of course, Testament could just gatling to 5D, whiff and CH your SV for free combo, so be wary yet again. Testament's corner 6K xx HS EXE beast pressure isn't that much of a threat, especially for HOS. Along with the obvious SV or GB, you can either FD 6K and make the EXE beast whiff, or jumping FD the 6K and get out. You can also be manly and 2D the 6K for free combo. Either way, just don't let it intimidate you into screwing up. I think that about sums it up. Maintaining momentum is essential in this fight; once you lose it and give Testament some breathing room you have a very uphill fight.