GUIDELINE FOR USING GAUGE

The one thing you should absolutely not do is use Escape Blast. In order to avoid this, we should think about prioritizing using Powerup Blast. It'd be best if you can get a hit into a Powerup Blast combo, but the time it takes to get that hit is wasted time. If your opponent is also a novice to intermediate player than using Powerup Blast immediately after the round starts is not a problem.

※ One note of caution however, using it from the round start position will not reach the opponent

If your Powerup Blast is blocked it's even (if you get the opponent to block afterwards then of course you have more of an advantage), once your character touches the ground you can immediately move again so it's a very effective course of action. You'll be full of openings until you reach the ground, so it's very possible for the opponent to look for the round start Powerup Blast and punish it (even then you'll be in Powerup state and sometimes you can end up being at the health advantage instead lol). Asuna has a fast dash with strong jump ins so if you can get accustomed to it, using Powerup Blast after a deep jump in jC is a safe method of using it.

If you can get close and hit with 4AB you can do an aerial combo into double jump Powerup Blast, and if it's blocked it's another common spot to Powerup Blast. Something to be careful of however is if your 4AB is pushblocked the Powerup Blast won't reach the opponent. It's possible for the opponent to get a full combo from it so if you have the health lead and they know how to punish, you probably shouldn't aim for this. If they do block Powerup Blast, like mentioned above it's even on block so for Asuna who has fast A attacks (5F 5A etc.) it's alright to throw out 5A afterwards. If the opponent does have a 5F A attack it'll trade so it'd be good to memorize the fastest possible timing for this situation.

Character with the fastest A attacks

Shana, Asuna, Kirino, Tomoka, Taiga, Rentaro, Quenser, Tatsuya, Akira, Kuroko, Yuuki

Character that do not have fast A attacks

Mikoto, Shizuo, KYH, Kirito, Miyuki, Yukina, Emi, Selvaria, Ako

From hereon you'll want to be conscious of the opponent's Blast gauge while fighting. For example if you have 3 meter+Trump state and have Blast available, even if you're not in potential you can get 3812 damage from a Escape Blast safe throw combo.

If the opponent doesn't have Blast available a regular combo is fine, but if they have Blast or are about to recover it let's switch our combo to an Escape Blast safe one. It isn't possible to defeat an opponent through chip damage in this game so it's very common for the opponent to turn around a match with just a sliver of health. As such, if you're in a situation where you can defeat the opponent, absolutely make sure to do so.

Adversely if you know you can't defeat them from a given situation there's no need to go out of your way and instead just go for an ender that allows okizeme and try to defeat them on the next mixup. In this case EX ender instead of CA is a good choice (using CA creates space between you and the corner changing your advantage afterwards, it is not suited for okizeme). Also as another rule of thumb if you can't defeat the opponent make sure to retain your Blast.

If your Blast gauge isn't fully recovered then choose Blast Ignition and if so then choose Player Ignition. As a rule of thumb you'll want to select Blast Ignition at least once before the final round.

Aside the above, approaching neutral is basically the same as the first round, but if you selected Blast Ignition even if a combo won't defeat you there's no problem in using Escape Blast. The reason behind this is selecting Blast Ignition removes the demerit of having decreased blast recovery rate. A tip for when to use Escape Blast, I think the best spot is to use it right as the opponent uses their Trump (for install Trumps use it after you see it activated, and for strike Trumps use it right before it hits).