TL;DR? Just check the strategy overview at the bottom of the guide!

If you've got as far in the game to get to the coliseum, you noticed that the combat is rather... different than in the previous games. Enemies just love to glue their block button down and not let go, even in the middle of your combo. In the coliseum, this problem is even more pronounced as not only will everything you blindly throw at the fighters get blocked, they will quickly punish you for your hubris.

The go-to strategy in previous games was to practice the timing of the Tiger Drop and then make them eat dust. However, the timing in this game is not only harder to get down, but many fighters also have lightning-quick jabs and unlike previously, you cannot unleash the Tiger Drop if Kiryu is in any kind of non-idle animation, leaving you guessing the timing. That makes getting Tiger Drops consistently very difficult. Or does it?

There is a simple way to not only get Tiger Drops with 99% consistency but also be able to regularly unleash full-length combos to completely decimate your opponents within seconds. And it's all about getting your enemy in what I call Bait State.

Read up below on what the Bait State is and how to take advantage of it to become unstoppable.

Here's a quick overview of what abilities you should get before you attempt taking on the Coliseum. Some of these are more vital than others so don't worry if you're missing one or two of the minor things. I have noted which abilities are absolutely required, all others are technically not needed but will make your life easier.

• Phoenix Spirit (Lv. 2) - Not strictly necessary as ideally, you will not end up with your health in the red but if you do, it can save you from a tight spot
  
• Tortoise Spirit (Lv. 6) - Very important for quick and effective usage of heat moves. Required for the Weapon Master GP
  
• Azure Dragon Spirit (Lv. 8) - Not really necessary but nice to have in case things go south to help you clutch in that victory

• Komaki Cat-Like Reflexes (Lv. 2) - Important for quick recovery and getting some distance as some opponents will punish you for knocking you down.
  
• Double Finishing Blow (Lv. 5) - Lets you deal a good amount of extra damage in your combo

• Re-Guard (Lv. 5) - Crucial against some fighters who love to spam guard-breakers.

• Red Heat Gauge 1/2 (Lv. 4/7) - Lets you use Essence of Might to deal some extra damage, though not strictly necessary
  
• Essence of Finishing (Lv. 2) - This will be your bread and butter heat action unless you are using Essence of Might
  
• Extra Heat Attack 1/2 (Lv. 6/9) - Free extra damage during your Essence of Finishing heat action, what's not to like

• Komaki Cat-Like Reflexes - See above
  
• Komaki Knock Back - REQUIRED Absolutely crucial and one of your most useful abilities
  
• Komaki Tiger Drop - REQUIRED Your workhorse counter-attack, but unlike in previous games, it is less useful here though still required
  
• Komaki Parry - Not strictly required but can be useful in times you miss a grab and lets you use Komaki Dragon King Essence
  
• Komaki Daruma Tumbler - Very important if you get in a tight spot and need to get to the other side of the arena quickly without getting hit 20 times in one combo from a skilled fighter

• Essence of Might - Free heat action damage when you reach red heat. Not necessary but easy to capitalize on.

• Essence of Rolling - If worse comes to worst and you end with red health, this is an easy heat action to spam while avoiding your opponent as your heat regenerates automatically

This is an explanation of some of the basic mechanics utilized during the strategy. For more step-by-step guide, see the section below.
Simply put, Bait State is a state where the enemy performs the same sequence of moves at the same timing with 99% of consistency.

For most (but not all!) fighters, this is easy to achieve by grabbing them and once they break out of the grab, there is an extremely high chance they will do a sequence of sidestep -> small pause -> launch an attack.

Unfortunately, some enemies have a different sequence and there is always a small chance that the enemy will keep dodging or instantly attacks right after but that is rare. If it does happen, simply re-guard and try again.

For some fighters, it may be difficult to get grabs on even using the Komaki Knock Back strategy described below but fortunately, there is a second also very consistent bait state that is easy to set up. Simply launch 2-3 light attacks (Do NOT do more or you will not have enough time to recover) at your enemy and there is a very high chance they will block your attacks -> small pause -> launch an attack

Do note that there are some exceptions even to these, for example, Komaki, whose Bait State can be achieved by sending a single light punch at any point, even at the air, after which Komaki will chain together several sidesteps closing in on you and attack. Unfortunately, the amount of sidesteps he performs is inconsistent so it can be very difficult to take advantage of his Bait State.

On the bright side, there are also some extremely simple Bait States achieved by getting distance from some opponents after which they will do a flying jump attack or a running attack, which are both easy to be consistent with, though I would not rely on them over the basic strategy.

Knowing the timing of a Bait State sequence lets you in return hit tiger drops consistently as well without having to react to your enemies' animation, which also lets you take advantage of the Rebound mechanic, our second most important mechanic to take advantage of.
The Rebound mechanic is one you may have found out about by yourself either by playing or from Komaki who explains how it works. A Rebound happens when you knock an enemy into a wall, they bounce off of it and you can continue hitting them, this time without the enemy being able to block or dodge, they are completely at your mercy. Utilizing rebounds properly lets you unleash massive combos at your enemies.

One of the big advantages of the Tiger Drop is that it sends enemies flying back a great distance, which in most cases results in a rebound, letting you stack up the damage.

The second most common way of getting a rebound in the coliseum is achieved by grabbing an enemy and using your heavy attack to kick them back. This either succeeds, netting you a rebound and free combo time or the fighter breaks free from your grab before you can do anything, in which case they will be put into the above mentioned Bait State, letting you knock them with a Tiger Drop easily, which can net a rebound and you get the idea.
So far I have been writing about how to set up Bait States and Rebounds using grabs but as you may have noticed, unlike regular street punks, the coliseum fighters are not just going to stand there and let you grab them easily. They will dodge, you whiff your grab and get a full combo unleashed at your back as a result. This is where our Komaki Knock Back technique comes into play.

Using this move you can combo-break your opponent and deal a sliver of damage to them. This by itself is nothing significant but the thing that works for us is, after having their combo broken, the vast majority of enemies will not be able to dodge a grab instantly after it, which lets you then either knock them back into a Rebound or sets them up in a Bait State, as described above.

Here I will describe a basic flow of the fight that will let you overcome your opposition with ease. If some terms are unclear, refer to the explanations above.

1. Hold Block
   
2. When enemy attacks, use Komaki Knock Back to combo break them
   
3. Quickly Grab them while locked-on and mash Heavy Attack
   
   • Red heat mode -> Essence of Might
     
   • Enemy gets knocked back into rebound -> Unleash full combo -> Essence of Finishing
     
   • Enemy gets knocked back onto floor -> Essence of Finishing
     
   • Enemy breaks out of grab -> Bait State set up
     
     • (Usually) Enemy sidestep, pause, attack -> Punish with Tiger Drop
       
       • Rebound -> Full combo
         
       • No Rebound -> Essence of Finishing
   • Grab fails -> Re-guard/Dodge away and retry
     
   • Enemy attacks just as you try to grab -> Komaki Parry
     
     • Red Heat -> Komaki Dragon King Essence
       
     • No Red Heat -> Free Grab
4. (Optional) Grab enemy right after they get back up from the ground, a good chance to succeed

• Always lock-on when possible, will make it harder to get hit from behind
  
• Get to maximum drunkness for MUCH easier heat generation
  
• Stock up some cheap sake from a store in item box for easy alcohol boost if needed after fights
  
• DO NOT ever use Essence of Pole Dancing, it drops your alcohol level (Staying locked-on prevents it from activating)
  
• For tricky opponents, block to get heat (or if at low health, run away), then roll towards them to use Essence of Rolling, repeat
  
• If an enemy has an abnormal action sequence after Bait State, take some time to learn which is the consistent sequence and punish it.
  
• For hard-to-grab enemies, set up Bait States by doing a quick two-hit combo into their block instead.
  
• Never combo without Rebound

Some Tournaments have different rules, which might not allow the full strategy to be employed. However, it's nothing that can't be easily worked around.

• Exhibition Tournament - No change.
  
• Street Fight Grand Prix - No change. You can use some weapons for extra heat actions.
  
• Breakout Grand Prix - No Change. Can knock the enemy out of the ring with enough Rebounds.
  
• Heat Grand Prix - No Change. Unable to use Essence of Finishing but enemies take damage anyways.
  
• Bounding Grand Prix - Unable to grab but Rebounds are easier. Use it to practice alternative ways to set up Bait States
  
• Bomber Grand Prix - No change. Avoid the bombs, not worth using.
  
• Golden Gloves Grand Prix - Can use only fists. No grabs, no full combo. Use alternative ways to set up Bait States.
  
• Tag Match Grand Prix - Let your partner focus on one opponent while you deal with the other using the usual strategy, then the other. Don't get too close to the other pair as it makes it easy to get hit from behind.
  
• Weapon Master Grand Prix - Knuckles if you feel confident in setting Bait States without grabbing. Otherwise, cheese with Katana by blocking to charge up the katana heat action and spam it.
  
• Twin Dragon Grand Prix - Same as Tag Match.
  
• Hyper Grand Prix - No change.
  
• Magnum Force Grand Prix - No change.
  
• Maximum Grand Prix - No Change.