head to head
vs
Dead or Alive 5vsSoulCalibur III
Dead or Alive 5 leans Reads (Competitive PvP); SoulCalibur III leans Execution (Competitive PvP).
Dead or Alive 5SoulCalibur III
Axis by axis
Execution7 vs 7
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads8 vs 7
Dead or Alive 5 leans harder on reads: The strike-throw-hold triangle is live human prediction
Variance2 vs 1
Dead or Alive 5 leans harder on variance: Stage hazards add minor situational randomness
Optimization5 vs 5
Even - both lean on optimization about the same.
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.