GGACR/Testament/Strategy

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General Tactics

Table of Gaps and Gatlings File:Testamenttable.png

General Pressure Tips: Generally you want to do a mixup and then if it doesn't work you transition into something safe. make sure you know your options, almost all your buttons are negative but some are more than others. 5H is -3 and 2H is -4 which makes them not too bad to end on, unless your opponent nails the instant block / slashback on them. generally you just try to do moves that leave you at a really long range so their attempt to hit you back whiffs.

Chaining into 2H or chaining a light into 2D can make a naturally small gap to trade / beat their mash attempt.

One rare option, because it's very slow to come out, is 5D, which has the distinction of being your only move that is + on block at +3. it's very large and although it's slow, after frame 25 it will stay out even if Testament is hit. after you've established space you can try to get away with a special cancel. without meter basically all your specials are punishable especially by fast characters that can dash / instant airdash at you before an exe beast can release. the way to work meterless specials into your game is to mix them up with delay gatlings to make a "50/50" between a frame trap or a greedy summon - for example, 6K can delay cancel into 5H or 6H (or 6P) to catch people mashing after it, or you can 6K and make a beast or a tree. f.S/2S > summon or 2H is another such example.

Now all that is what you can do without meter. with meter you have one of the most powerful pressure tools in the game, H exe beast frc. this has an early and massive window of 2-9f, and you can do very gross things with it like button > h beast frc ~ button > call s beast while releasing h beast > release s beast. you can use a slower button to fish for a big counterhit or quickly input a faster button like 2p or 5k to keep them in blockstun and set up a 6p with no gap.

This isn't completely comprehensive because it doesn't go into what you get to do once you already have projectiles out. Which is a lot

Okizeme:

The most common way to pressure after a knockdown is to immediately summon S EXE Beast and release it so it hits meaty. From farther away you will be able to run up and combo if the Beast hits, or continue with a blockstring if they block, but your mixup options will be limited without taking risks or spending meter. This isn’t bad, but Testament’s options really shine with closer knockdowns.

Ideal oki situations (such as 2D) will give you just enough space and time to safely summon S EXE Beast and run up to make them block 2K low or 6P high. If you hit the opponent with Testament meaty and release the S Beast after, it is a guaranteed launch situation for Zeinest juggles on hit, but will be more vulnerable to reversals. If you release the S Beast first the combo potential is limited without traps prepared, but will more easily beat defensive options. Like with the oki from farther away, if the S Beast itself hits you can convert into a full combo.

The timing difference between 2K and 6P can be fuzzy guarded with the right block pattern. If you expect this, use strings like 2P, 6P or 2P, 2K or even 2P, 2K, 6P to mess with their timing. And if the high-low mixup isn’t cutting it, 5P, 2P, and 2K are all potent tick-throw options here with dash momentum. Testament’s teleport, Lucht Warrant, is another option for oki. After summoning S Beast, time Lucht Warrant so that you will finish teleporting just before the Beast connects with the opponent. Because you can use P or K to appear on either side, this gives you a strong, but throwable, left-right mixup. Without putting them in the corner this can be hard to convert from, so its best use case is for a checkmate situation, where the opponent has to block or die. If they use Faultless Defense to avoid chip it will remove crossup protection, making the K Lucht Warrant unthrowable.

2D and 1-hit Badlands oki can also lead to double Beast setups. After summoning the initial S EXE Beast, immediately summon H EXE Beast. Release the S Beast to hit them meaty and drag them to you. From there you have several options because the second beast will cover your mixup and any hit can lead to full Zeinest loops. The Lucht Warrant crossup situation is potent here, because the subsequent Beasts will let you keep pressuring safely or pick up a combo on hit. Be aware this still loses to reversal throws. Depending on the situation you may want to end a combo with OTG P Skull, which will remove the guaranteed safe summon S Beast, but curse your opponent. This can be a good tool against characters with strong reversal options who you want to lock down in neutral with the curse, like Baiken.

Video Examples:

Blockstrings

Tips and Tricks

2D Net Quick Reference

2D > 214H
2D > 214H > 2K (OTG) > 236K

Throw > OTG Skull Quick Reference

236P
2366P

Fighting Testament

Traps:

Testament's traps can be empowered by spending voodoo dolls, which they collect when they lands an airthrow on the opponent (1 doll) or hits with the Master of Puppets overdrive (stabs the opponent with a key; 3 dolls total, 2 for the first hit and 1 for the second hit).

Nets

Testament's Zeinest (214 H) places an invisible Net on the screen just above and in front of their head that remains for ten seconds (601 frames). The animation looks like they is spraying their own blood into the air.

If your hurtbox touches a Net, you will be frozen in place temporarily and they can easily combo you. You can safely break the Net with an attack as long as it doesn't hit you before your active hitbox extends (most j.P work, for example), or with projectiles. Nets do not go away when Testament is hit.

They can also place Nets in the air. This momentarily stalls their air momentum.

Empowered Net functions mostly the same way, but it traps you for longer and Testament can combo you without breaking you out of the Net. It looks like a normal Net but with a skeleton suspended in it.

Testament can have a total of 2 normal Nets and 2 empowered Nets placed at once. Placing a third trap causes the oldest trap to disappear.

If you blue burst Testament as they are comboing into Net, it's likely that they will get hit by the burst but the Net will spawn in place afterwards. In this case if you do not block after recovering from burst, you will get caught in the Net.

Trees

Testament's HITOMI (214 S) places an invisible, permanent seed in the ground under them that will sprout into a Tree if the opponent moves over it. The animation looks like Testament is standing still while a gust of wind disturbs their hair and robe. Testament is in a counterhit state for the entire recovery of HITOMI, though there is a late FRC point they can use to make themself somewhat safer.

The Tree attacks when it sprouts, launching the opponent into the air and allowing a combo, even if they were knocked down. You can clear the Tree safely by moving over it in the air, higher than it can reach, but note that you must use FD to block the Tree if you're too low in the air. Some characters can run fast enough to run past a Tree before it can hit them, as it takes 17f for the Tree attack to start up. If you hit Testament with an attack or throw, all their Trees will disappear.

Empowered Tree is larger and poisons the opponent on hit. It also does NOT disappear when Testament is hit, making it one of the strongest defensive tools in the game. The only way to clear it safely is to jump over it.

Testament can have a total of 2 normal Trees and 2 empowered Trees placed at once. Placing a third trap causes the oldest trap to disappear.

The most dangerous spot a Tree can be is directly in front of Testament, where you would have to stand to attack them on the ground, and moving over it in the air will put you in reach of their antiair attacks or their airthrow. The next most dangerous spot, especially for empowered Trees, is behind Testament, where they can use their Badlands (214 P) attack to juggle you backwards into the Tree for an extended combo.

EXE Beasts: Forward EXE Beast (or H beast, 41236 H) and Reverse EXE Beast (or S beast, 41236 S) together define Testament's pressure and oki game. The following is a short list of important things to know while playing against EXE beasts:

The S beast comes from behind you and pushes you forward on block. This is the basic setup for Testament to apply a mixup between a low attack and their fast overhead, 6P. If you attempt to Dead Angle Attack after blocking S beast, you will face backwards, away from Testament.

If Testament is hit while the beasts are "waiting," they disappear. Once they begin moving, however, they remain active even if Testament is hit.

When Testament cancels into a beast in pressure, you can always react and jump to avoid blocking a beast and being put into a mixup, unless Testament uses H beast FRC and immediately uses a normal attack. If you react fast enough it's even possible to hit them before the beast can be released, or instant air dash into a combo. Some characters can even run forward and throw Testament before the H beast can knock them back.

Testament can use the beasts to perform left/right mixups by using their Lucht Warrant (22P/K) to teleport in front or behind you while releasing a beast. This has roughly two timings:

1. The safe timing has the beast impact the opponent right as Testament appears. This is not truly a mixup, as the opponent will be able to block with forward or back due to crossup protection. However, if the opponent attempts to use Faultless Defence, they lose crossup protection, so this is sometimes used to end a round after an opponent has been poisoned to the point where they must FD or die to chip damage.

2. The unsafe timing has the beast impact the opponent just after Testament appears. This will be delayed enough so that the opponent does not get the benefit of crossup protection, however the opponent has a chance to throw Testament before the beast attacks.

S beast can be summoned in response to many fullscreen options, such as Justice's NB or A.B.A's blood pack. It's important to not be counterhit by S beast, as it will knockdown on counterhit or allow Testament to combo. On a normal hit, S beast does not knockdown, and Testament must be already in position to pick up for a real combo or you will get to air recover. This can be an opportunity to move forward (for example, I-no can trade Horizontal Chemical Love with S beast and recover forward in the air to start pressure while Testament is knocked down) and it is important to recover if you know they has a Tree in front of them, because the Tree will remove the knockdown state and give them a combo. When you recover from S beast, you will be facing backwards until you land or you perform a doublejump / airdash option.

The Curse:

Phantom Soul (236 P/K/D) places a floating skull on the battlefield. The P skull floats along the ground, the K skull floats high in the air, and the D skull costs 25% tension and floats at head height, tracking the opponent's position. If you are hit by a skull, or if you block the D skull, a floating rune will be placed on your character and Testament's crow familiar will begin attacking you.

There are four different attacks the crow can perform and four different patterns of attacks it will perform in sequence, each determined by which attack the crow randomly chooses first. See the Overview or Full Frame Data tabs for more information.

The most important attack to track is the Transormation Attack, where the crow turns into a demon and swings a scythe downwards at the opponent. This is an overhead attack, and if Testament knows their own patterns they can attack with a low at the same time to unblockable you.

The P skull is usually used as an OTG at the end of combos. It causes the crow to attack 5 times.

The K skull is usually used to deter air movement or to combo after an empowered Net. It causes the crow to attack 8 times. On some characters Testament can also place a Net over a knocked down opponent and otg 2K > K skull to get the longer curse duration.

The D skull can be thrown out to limit the opponent's movement options or used after a knockdown to ensure a long curse. Although it tracks the opponent, every opponent can duck safely under it, and some small characters can even stand under it. For characters that cannot stand safely under it, a common setup is to place a D skull and then use 5D, which will launch the opponent into the skull if they try to block low or guarantee a blocked skull if they block high.

D skull has some peculiar behaviour: if Potemkin reflects it or Testament counters it, they still get cursed. If it touches Dizzy's fish, it will break the fish and curse Dizzy.

Punishing 2S/f.S 2H/2D