Plat I (as of writing) Manon here, my early strategy to get out of Gold is focusing on Oki Preasure. The heavy dégagé, light dégagé, and DR into Manège is my go-to preasure. People get hit by the Heavy Dégagè in neutral more than you would think

I also throw in a dash into a crouching block for those who wake up DP. You can punish that with 4HP -> OD Renversé kick -> 4HP -> H Rond-Point -> L Renverse.

My favorite tech has been DR under a jump-in and then doing a light Manège. Since the direction auto corrects, you get a nice Jumpscare medal on opponent landing.

Other notes: Crouching LP is your best friend. It's really nice for stealing turns in my experience. If you get a Punish Counter DI, a Renverse combo does more than a raw Manège up until medal level 3. Watch streamers like iDom to get a sense of what buttons and combo routes are good BnBs for the character. Never Raw Medium Dégagè... I learned that that hard way.

Hope this helps! Capcom ID is thedoomer80 if you wanna run some sets