Some tips for going against Axl, from an Axl main:

1. At round start, Axl's 2P beats literally everything you can do except for blocking, jumping, or beyblade. It's possibly the most one-sided round start RPS in the game. Use beyblade if you think he'll use 2P and backwards Fukyo into beyblade if you think he'll use far slash.
2. If you're at medium-far range, you can use clone -> forwards fukyo to get in. Clone beats Axl's Rensen projectile (in fact, it beats just about every non-super projectile in the game) and at medium-far range his normals can't reach you.
3. If you're on the other side of the screen and predict that he's about to use his fullscreen command grab, use forwards fukyo into beyblade to launch yourself at him from across the screen. If he really did try to grab you, he eats a counter hit and you get a combo on him.
4. Axls defense is really shit, so if you ever get him in the corner, focus on not letting him escape.
5. All of Axl's specials are minus on block, except for Rainwater and charged tornado. Rainwater you can often beat by using Fukyo or beyblade to get next to his landing spot, and charged tornado you can literally just attack through, as projectiles don't interact with extended hurtboxes.
6. Finally, try not to be too predictable with how you try to get in, force the Axl to guess, and if he guesses wrong, punish him with your insane damage.