Tatsuya is very flexible in style and can be played to suit the style of the player. Tatsuya can switch between rushdown and passive zoning as his specials give him the option to keep his opponents close or far to him and it is a good blend of this that will separate the good from the great.
Your round start will change depending on who the opponent character is. Against characters with a strong round start like Shana, Kirino, Kirito, you want to play patiently and create some space to work with.Your damage is not explosive without resources so you want to find and opportunity to build them. Against characters with a weaker round, you want to get in close to your opponent and keep on them utilizing staggers and tick throw pressure. Either way, landing a stray hit into a power blast combo is almost always your first objective. Another way to safely power blast is landing a 214A on block and going for a frame trap.
236X and j.236X is the go to tool in neutral to keep your opponent on their toes and to get in as any successful hit is easily converted into a full combo with the C followup. Careful utilization of both allows Tatsuya to cover different ranges and angles which can make approaching hard for some characters. After landing a 236X, transitioning into a hard knockdown allows Tatsuya to begin his offense
Pressure for Tatsuya heavily plays around his strong strike-throw game while mixing in lots of frame traps. Dash up 5A is a huge part of this gameplan as it enables many different options. A blocked 5A leads into a tick throw or faking it for a throw bait, stagger cancelling into 2A for a low or jump cancelling to go for a jump in or empty jump. Being able to properly mix up these options is the best way to open up your opponent. For frame trapping, besides 5A into 2A. 5A into 2C is a good way to keep close to the opponent even if they pushblock the 5A and after the 2C, 236A delay into the follow ups can catch you opponent being ansty thinking your turn is over, or if the A follow up is used and respected, allows Tatsuya to steal another turn and continue is mix up game. This part of this game is enhanced in trump.
With an advantage, Tatsuya can play very defensively and keep his resources to secure the round or game. Risks do not need to be taken and you should allow the opponent to approach through the wall of 236X and your assist.
When at a disadvantage, Tatsuya can really struggle because of his somewhat linear pressure. The best thing to do is play very patiently and look for opening get in with EX mist dispersion to set up oki. Resource managing is the most important thing to pay attention to when behind because Tatsuya is resource dependant to dish out lots of damage.
Ways to get a hard knockdown. All lead to an opportunity for a safe jump.
2C: The most basic way.
j236X~B: Meterless way to hard knockdown. Opponent must be on the ground.
j236EX: Metered way to convert into a hard knockdown from anywhere. The most common way to get it if on the ground. Recovers quick enough to get an assist call after.
j214EX: Metered way to convert into a hard knockdown from the air. The most common way to get it in the air. Recovers quick enough to get an assist call after.
Grab: Knocks the opponent to about 236B range.
Climax: Opponent ends at the perfect distance for 236C.
Ranbu: Enough time to dash 5A whiff into a mix up.
236x: Relative safe option as oki. Doesn't lead to much unless opponent is hit.
8 falling jC: Safejump off a knockdown from J.214AB ender.
236X~B - all options can be combined with option selects to cover many wake up options
9 jC(whiff) 5A - hits meaty Video Example.
empty jump 2B - hits meaty Video Example #5
9 delay 9C - beats wake up mashing Video Example #5
99 falling djC - safe jump Video Example.
236AB~X
88 falling djC: Safejump Video Example.
2147j.A: Meaty set up that can catch your opponent off guard. Can be tricky to do and risky if messed up. Video Example.
Rusian: The second part of 6S combined with 5AB causes an ambiguous cross up as Tatsuya “phases” through the opponent causing them to guess how they need to block. These set ups can be armoured by most wake up 5ABs so be careful overusing them
Mashiro: both 5S and 6S lead to into a 4AB/2A or 5A mix up with 6S allowing for more than one attempt
236X~B:
5S 236A~A
6S 236A~X - mist dispersion covers Mashiro long enough for her to become invulnerable. If the opponent is standing, B follow up can catch them low
236AB~X/j.214AB:
5S 4AB - will shut down many wake up options. Example with a different assist
Throw:
5S 236B~A - keeps opponent locked down from a safe distance and gets you in
5S sj.A - the sj.A can hit crossup/overhead or not depending on the timing of the sj.A
6S 236B~X - mist dispersion covers Mashiro long enough for her to become invulnerable. If the opponent is standing, B follow up can catch them low
Iriya: No animation on 5S allows Tatsuya to get many mix ups that are relatively safe. Video Example.
236X~delay C delay 236AB~delay X:
5S 5A 2A 5B(w)
2A (meaty) - hold back after the whiff 5B to OS if they wake up red trump
throw 5B(w) microdash 2A - if the 2A hits, can lead into the same plate mix up
5B - will stuff mashing on wake up and give plenty of time to react if the opponent wakes up with an AB move but will lose to red trump
j.214C 5S sj.A 2B - Must be in trump and in the corner. 2B will hit meaty and allow for a plate combo
*Most oki will come from assists.
Power Blast: After certain moves on block, Tatsuya can use power blast to frame trap. These moves are 5A, 214A/B and J.214A.
236X~C: If there is a delay between Mist Dispersion and the followup, you can catch the opponent pressing a button which will lead into a full combo.
2AB: 2AB is a very good way to bait out an escape blast. If the opponent chooses to escape blast after Tatsuya shoots them, the escape blast will whiff, even if escape blast character is chosen. This allows you to punish into a full combo. The escape blast will only whiff if Tatsuya does nothing after the 2AB. Moving or inputting any button will cause Tatsuya to get hit by the escape blast, unless its a Ranbu.
2AB: 2AB is a really good way to punish an opponent attempting to wake up power blast. Combined with a safe jump, this is a good option to call your opponent out.
236AB: This can punish anything from anywhere and is very good at punishing enemy power blasts in neutral or an opponent trying to call an assist.
For guaranteed punishes, aim to land a C normal for maximum damage.
5A (whiff)~B 63214BC: used as oki to punish a wake up power blast attempt, AB and red trump. Risky and not recommended unless used with the above set up as manually timing can cause you to be punished. Video Example
j.C (whiff) 63214BC: used as oki to punish a wake up power blast attempt or wake up red trump. More consistent. Video Example
4A~C: Useful OS to tech throws. Tatsuya will either tech a throw or activate trump. Using this OS during a grab situations will usually activate trump and tech a throw simultaneously if done successfully. If mistimed you will be thrown out of your trump activation. Having access to blue trump means that if the opponent does not throw and instead presses a normal, trump will activate making the normal whiff in many cases and Tatsuya can get a full punish. If this OS is mistimed, the player will simply block, making this a very easy and reliable OS to use.
Tatsuya can use any blast type but has a preference for Combo and Escape depending on the situation. This is largely up to the player to decide which they are more comfortable with.
Escape: A universally strong choice that ensures that you will almost always get out of a combo or situation when you use it. Tatsuya lacks solid reversal or defensive options so enhanced escape blast is a valuable tool and debatably the strongest choice
Combo: Enhanced combo blast allows for some confirms that would otherwise be very strict or require totally different timing, notable after certain j.214AB routes. Enhanced combo blast makes all combos much more consistent and as Tatsuya is resource dependant for big combos, this is a very good choice of blast.
Power: Weakest of the three choices. Is not needed for power blast combos or frame traps.