KILL la KILL IF/DTR/Strategy
Gameplan
Gun (Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)
DTR's projectiles (or as they're all commonly lumped together as "Gun") are incredibly powerful tools to use in his neutral that will force all but a few characters/ players into a blocking or defensive position. on the start up of any of his projectile attacks DTR has a special kind of armor called "guard break armor", armor so strong it can tank even guard breaks that will melt through other armor. this isn't without a catch however, this armor only can withstand attacks that deal less than 600 damage either in a singular hit or collectively. any and all attacks that surpass this threshold will instead break the armor and hit DTR starting a combo against him. even despite this drawback the armor is still very powerful being able to be used reliably against much of the cast while they're unable to break it.
Bullet Procs (Aka the cheating aspect of DTR)
after the gun you may start shooting volleys of bullets, these bullets when they hit are great at walling out opponents and keeping pressure from a safe distance. these bullets can be homing dashed through however they have a unique quality; Bullet Procs. Think of it almost like an invisible counter on the opponent and each bullet that hits them adds 1 to this counter, at a set number a Bullet proc will occur dealing a good amount of damage, giving you some meter (around 1 bar at V0 and around 2 bars at V1+) and also stealing meter from the opponent and locking their meter bar. bullet procs are set and the number required will raise each time you land one (40 bullets to start and then the threshold raises by 10 each time) or up until you or your opponent preforms an action that resets the counter (DTR special A resets the counter as does any Valor burst, yours or your opponents). lastly Bullet procs may also trigger when they hit blocking opponents but will do significantly reduced effects.
Armor (Aka Ignorance on steroids)
DTR has a lot of armored attacks with different types of armor, as a DTR player its important to choose the move/ armor for the right situation as some armor that's great for fighting some characters may end up being completely useless fighting others so use them wisely, as strong as his armor is it is not invincibility there is counterplay for everything he throws out. In the event you and your opponent have closed the distance strategic use of your regular armor and your guard break armor will be essential to keeping momentum since unlike every other character DTR does not have Invincibility on his side steps instead only having his 600 guard break armor on them so in situations where you typically need to dodge DTR needs to face tank.
Jumping (He bought the Moon Shoes your mother wouldn't buy for you)
DTR is blessed with the tallest jump height in the game jumping high enough to safely maneuver over many characters attacks and even their anti-airs. combined with the options he has to stall his time in the air such as performing his gun in the air nd other tricks, DTR is the True air character as its his safest place to do everything he wants to do. while in the air there's little any character can do and for some unfortunate MU's absolutely nothing they can do. When playing DTR you'll want to be sure to abuse his jump and be in the air as often as you can.
Matchups
General MU Info (will be Updated) below is just a quick summary of each MU DTR has, how I think he performs in them and any tips I've found out
Single Blade Ryuko- this is almost laughably free, between his time in the air and the use of his gun and armor there is next to nothing SBR can do to you even if you make mistakes SBR often cant even punish the mistakes other characters have the opportunity for
Dual Wield Ryuko- an extremely tough MU, while its a patient and slow match for the DWR player where her only real options most of the time are just blocking and then using dash B, DTR cant do anything to her if she's just blocking and using dash B, he's very easy to get hit by her and the options of actually hitting a DWR player being this patient is very slim making this a very unfavorable MU for DTR
Single Blade Satsuki- a very favorable MU, she can really struggle to get hits in on DTR due to the distance he's going to be playing at on top of his brand of armor being very difficult to break through unless in specific situations. this alone makes the game rough on her but her lower health seals the deal allowing DTR to pretty effortlessly ToD her without a chance to burst out
Dual Wield Satsuki- a story very similar to her single blade variant she struggles just as much if not more to contest DTR in what he does allowing DTR to just steamroll the MU in his favor
Gamagoori- a moderately difficult MU, while Gama is shackled and jumping around he cant be challenged by DTR at all however what may save the MU for DTR is instead in his ability to face tank when Gama attempts to attack and isn't settled with just being passive
Sanageyama- a fairly good MU, Uzu's low meter gain and larger size means hes complete combo city for DTR and that ToD's will come way more often against him. the only real issues are that he can use his teleport to get in on you zoning carelessly and gain momentum, and up close his armor especially on j.c cant be challenged with most times you're in his j.c range (or range of most any of his armor tbh) just being guaranteed hits
Inumuta- tough Mu that boils down to who gets hit first, in the event you get the first hit his low Hp means he is almost guaranteed to die however if he gets the first hit on you he will dish out the same but in a bigger way as when he's in TOC DTR has no options against him but to hope for a major mistake he can capitalize on, if there isn't one you will lose the game from one hit. you'll wants to play safe and smart and ready to armor through whatever he's trying to do or zoning him if he's trying to dedicate to a range game what's important is not getting hit and shutting down what he tries to start
Nonon- a deceptively tough MU, up close she has attacks that can break your guard break armor or even as attacks with full invincibility making her a threat when you're too close. far away its equally or more painful as she has set ups in her zoning that allow her guaranteed hits that you cannot dodge or challenge at all. its important to stay at mid range in this MU just out of her 8A range but not too far away that she can start her zoning set ups, then when she does dedicate to an options you want to be ready to either hit her out of it or armor with the correct armor to get a hit. besides that the MU is fairly favorable for DTR its another Houka case where its favorable up until you get hit and then Momentum is in Nonon's favor
Nui- Nui is a farily even fight and will come down to mostly on who gets that first hit and then lames out the other. Nui has plenty of attacks to break your armor both up close and far away so its important to be mindful of the options she has and what she may use, successfully baiting out Nui attempting to break your armor and answering with non breaking armor is key and then playing at a safer distance locking out her options of getting hits in on you
Ragyo- ragyo is a tough Mu, her kit as an anti zoner zoner will completely negate any attempt you do to zone her meaning all you can rely on in this MU is face tanking her. she has armored attacks of her won to answer your armor so its going to be a game of chicken between you and the ragyo on what kind of attacks you'll throw out to get the hit. unfortunately Ragyo is far tankier meaning that even when you land a hit you will not be one shotting her and will likely have to 2-3 shot her meanwhile all Ragyo needs is one of her attacks to land to 1-2 shot you or instead start zoning you out in ways DTR just cannot answer
DTR- this is a game of you and your opponent throwing yourselves at each other abusing armor back and forth until someone's armor beats out the others and they start a TOD and win. its a hilarious MU, its a dumb MU, its perfect
Mako- at lower tensions the Mu is highly favorable for DTR as he has just the right tools to prevent her approach and in the ways she may try to he can also answer them by forcing 50/50 scenarios that he can usually win. low tensions its all about keeping her away and when she homing dashes at you either pursuit dashing at her to hit her out if if she goes for bat in the air stepping backwards and start gunning. at higher tensions there isn't much of anything to do as she has the speed to get at you, the armor to tank whatever you try to hit her with and the damage to break your armor so tensions 3 and up are much much harder to get a footing in and will most likely be a loss
