Fighting Asuka
Asuka's goal is apply strong pressure with his spells, which can go on as long as he wants provided he has the resources. He's more than comfortable playing at midrange and fullscreen too, where he can convert most of his attacks into simple combos and strong pressure. He's also able to snowball VERY hard if he gets the right spells. Conversely, if he gets unlucky with his spells, he's often forced into awkward situations. He performs very badly on defense thanks to his exceptionally low manaless life, mana draining when being hit, and lacking any invincible reversal (besides the rare and flawed 
Aquila Metron).
Asuka lives and dies by his resources. Without spells, Asuka has few combos that don't use Tension and much less threatening neutral. Without mana, Asuka not only loses spells, but also takes double damage, crippling his life bar. As such, you must drain his resources if you want to stand a fighting chance. You can either be patient and wait as he uses all of his resources trying to open you up, or play aggressively and drain most of his mana in one strong combo. Once he's drained his resources, you shouldn't waste the opportunity to snowball as hard as you can.
Unique Attributes/Mechanics
- Spells and Test Cases
Asuka can store up to 4 spells at any given time, where then he can use them freely. Which spells he has ready are shown right above his healthbar, along with his current Test Case and mana. Using a spell will cost Asuka mana and require him to draw another spell, most commonly with Bookmark
GuardStartup7RecoveryTotal 28Advantage-. What card he draws will be based on the current Test Case he is in. Each Test Case has a pool of 30 cards Asuka can draw from, which influences how likely he is to get each spell. The Test Cases also have different spells that Asuka can draw, with some exclusive to only one. Besides the weighing from the current Test Case, which spell Asuka draws is entirely up to chance. The only way he can truly guarantee to get a spell he wants is by using Bookmark (Full Order)
GuardStartup16RecoveryTotal 17Advantage-.
While fighting Asuka, it is extremely important to keep track of what spells he has in his hand at all times. Which spells Asuka has dramatically changes how he structures his neutral and pressure, and certain counterplay may not work while he has a specific spell stocked. Conversely, if he has few useful spells in his hand, new counterplay can become available, and you should be ready to take advantage of that.
- Mana
Asuka's mana is what controls how often he is able to cast spells. Asuka starts each round at 100% mana, and it will decrease whenever he uses a spell or takes damage. Every spell costs a different amount of mana, but the most common numbers are 16% for attacking spells and 4% for buff spells. He isn't able to perform spells more expensive than the amount of mana he has. Unlike with spells, Asuka generally isn't able to regain mana freely. He only has 3 ways to regain his mana; using Recover Mana
GuardStartup13RecoveryTotal 25 (No Hold)Advantage- (which costs Tension or health), using his two mana restoring spells (which he won't always have), or automatically recovering after running out.
Mana also controls Asuka's mana shield, which is signified by the blue outline around his health bar. The shield will be active any time Asuka has mana. While the shield is active, Asuka is by far the tankiest character in the game, being able to survive most combos with health to spare. However, even if those combos don't impact his health, they impact his mana significantly. When Asuka runs out of mana, his mana shield will break, and stays broken until his mana recovers back to full. While the shield is broken, Asuka not only can't perform spells, but he will also take double damage. This turns him into by far the frailest character in the game, with even simple combos melting his lifebar. On the bright side, mana will automatically recover while the shield is broken.
