By
sellos
EXD GUIDE
WHAT IS AN EXDEATH?
Want to play EXD? At high level, I'd say about 8 members of the Dissidia012 cast give Exdeath a very hard time.
EXD's character archetype (Entropic Adversary) is to have the opponent engage him to win. This boils down to punishing the opponent to win. He has Maelstrom as a move to punish those who do not engage. However, only 3 characters in this game cannot handle it without Aerith’s Planet Protector: Yuna, Kuja, and Shantotto. EXD is unique in that players have to change their play style in order to play and fight him.
EXD is the ultimate cardcounter. With his ability to build assist quickly, it becomes a part of his character. He is the fastest assist builder in the game. EXD is always looking at his opponent and what the opponent is doing to either block or punish. His assist, which is selected specifically for the matchup, should always be looking to punish the opponent’s moves.
Beware of characters who chase. It is a primary way to build EX. EXD is not good to punish empty chases.
In especially calculated matchups, being in good reach of zones where cores spawn is a good idea.
Any unblockable moves have a HIGH chance to be exploited against EXD at times down the line. It helps to remember these attacks even outside of EXD, because they are something to be reckoned with. But with EXD, these attacks matter very much, and you need to know them.
Many characters cannot block Mael + Planet Protector reliably, but you should know which characters are capable of easily doing so.
List of "Special" or unblockable BRV:
Terra: Graviga
Laguna: Sticky Bomb (explosion)
Emperor: Thunder Crest
Golbez: Rising Wave (Far)
Exdeath: Black Hole
Ultimecia: Charged Knight's Arrow (idle)
Kuja: Remote Flare
List of "Special" or unblockable HP:
Terra: Flood, Ultima
Zidane: Shift Break (water only)
Garland: Earthquake (rocks only)
Emperor: Starfall, Dreary Cell
Exdeath: Grand Cross (normal/counter)
Kefka: Hyperdrive
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EXD has very little pressure game outside of Aerith's Holy, Maelstrom, Planet Protector+Maelstrom, and Black Hole pressure.
Black Hole is can be assist punished if the opponent has good reaction time.
Reverse Polarity is especially useful when near a wall or roof.
Sword Dance is easily dodged and easily punished with fast pokes. Yuna can punish this.
Vaccum Wave offers little to no levity, but is useful against Ultimecia a bit, it can be used to bait Jecht’s toes.
Hurricane is easily blocked, but is useful against Ultimecia and Laguna and even Jecht in heated matchups
After one of Exdeath's guard attacks, you can:
CIRCLE NEUTRAL - Hurricane
CIRCLE Towards Opponent + - Sword Dance (Can be used twice, 4 in EX Mode.
CIRCLE Away from Opponent + - Vacuum Wave (Can be used twice, 4 in EX Mode.
SQUARE NEUTRAL - Almagest
SQUARE Away from Opponent + - Grand Cross
TECHNICAL NOTES
PRECISION DODGE
Dodging at the right time gives you invincibility frames till the end of the dodge animation, you can tell you did it when your character is glowing a gold color.
Note how Jecht can dodge into an attack like Sudden Cruelty and use Jecht Block to block it. Exdeath can do this with Turn Guard. However, there is 1 frame where Omniblock is starting up, and generally, Omniblock cannot do this. A steady hand can save your life.
PRECISION BLOCK
Exdeath gains high priority normal blocks with this ability while blodging. A precision block is activated within 1 frame of it starting. Every blodge done for every character is a constitutes a precision block. This may be helpful to some in certain matchups. Using an HP blodge to score a reflect off of an attack like Heel Crush or WWF can be risky if the opponent has near-death status and you blodge with HPs or BRVs.
PLAYPLAN
As Exdeath, you want to be scary, calculated and collected. This means being patient. This means being varied. You are a cardcounter. You can time your engagements around the appearances of excores. You can realize sometimes, "it sure has been a long time since a core appeared..." and move to position yourself optimally to reach the core, wherever it may be.
As a character that wins by blocking, you want to get into their head. Play many different people. Chess masters have seen their battles play out many times before them.
Reaction time comes into play as well. So build up your muscle memory and reactions by playing.
Matchups that rely solely on EXD's blocking to win are matchups that involve what I call EXD Grit Matchups.
TECHNIKS
ASSIST GAME
MATCHUPS
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