JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future/Devo/Matchups

Overview

Movelist

Combos

Strategy

Matchups

Misc

Match Videos

Avdol

Avdol's normals have too much priority. You won't have many opportunities to attack with your doll. Play patiently, and only punish what you are comfortable with.

If Avdol goes into remote mode, he most likely has the upper hand in neutral. Pushblock/guard cancel to get Magician's Red off of you. Keep in mind that 214+AA as the other specials will chase who is closest to the puppet;any special or some moves like IAD will cut Avdol's remote mode.

Don't be scared of his jump-ins, anti air accordingly with 5c or S.5b.

Do not do any other oki besides 236+C crossup. Avdol can easily reversal you with his 236+AA.

Alessi

The main thing to watch for in this matchup is his Stand ON normals, his crossup, and his gun.

Abuse his lack of anti-airs, but don't get too predictable. J.c is your friend.

The hurtbox of Alessi's stand on normals appears before his hitbox so you can stuff any move except s63214x who has no hurtbox.

If the Stand ON baby glitch happens, turn off your stand or tandem posthaste, or may the gods have mercy on your soul, use F3 if you are player 1 too.

Black Polnareff

One of you will be playing defensive once life lead is established as the next move could end the round.

Lifelead

Black Polnareff has limited ways of getting in

Through d.2b/2c, a jumping attack like j.b/j.c or even cancel into j.s for a small air momentum. But overall pushblock into remote will keep him out, as for his jump ins you either win air to air with j.b/j.c or trade. Anti air him with Ebony Devil and sometimes 5c, you can use 2c against his j.b since it won't hit you even if he cancels into j.s.

If you get hit by one his normals it could be the end, as he has a loop for short crouch characters, don't neither get caught by 214x overhead reset after the first 236x so be ready to block or if you know your opponent will do it you can tandem to punish. After finishing his loop on a knockdown with 623b you'll be forced to block a 50/50 that uses 236s and goes into either a low(662c) or a high (j.c) which if you don't guess right..the round will be over on the second loop. The good thing is, it only works on the corner, so if you end up getting hit and there's no wall behind just crouch block as Bpol's j.c doesn't go into anything.

No lifelead

Things will get complicated, Bpol has two 1 frame startup normals but you'll be seeing most of the time 2a that confirms into 236x loop whether it hits Devo or Ebony. Be careful when throwing S.j.6b as he can easily punish it and convert into a combo. Don't try to beat it either as it will either trade or you'll get hit. 5c is another strong button with a huge horizontal range that will hit Devo and Ebony, but it leaves him open when whiffed.

Remember he can cancel most of his normals into 214aa which is his strongest reversal, it's air unblockable so if he catches you doing careless jump ins you might lose your just gained lifelead, Devo can crouch it but sadly not the puppet, from close range if you block the reversal do 2c, if the puppet is close you can punish from anywhere with a combo. Black Polnareff's 236aa will cover 214aa when you don't hit meaty so you're better just using crossup oki.

Last but not less important, his counter..oh boy. This is his other option when whiffing a normal or a read as he can cancel any of his normals into the counter. if he gets to learn some of your best moves(2c,5c, j.c, s5a/s66a s.j.6b) it will trouble you a lot more to open him as he can now cancel the blockstun and hit you back with any normal(A second guard cancel if you will..), so you might want to mix your approach with grabs or wait for it to end if you see it coming.

If by any chance you hit his counter and the hitbox doesn't touch you(unlikely to happen), he is the only anubis user who has no hurtbox through all of the animation so you can't punish it at all, although you can force him to block 236c once it ends as meaty.

Chaka

General

100% Skill matchup no cap
Chaka doesn't do anything special(besides Untechable Launcher) but that doesn't mean it's a free win.
The main things to watch out for is Hyper hops since it's his most common way to open you up.
Don't get desperate because you can't open up Chaka, after all you shouldn't be fighting him face to face.

Notable Chaka normals

Stand off

(None of his grounded normals whiff on crouching Devo)

5A/5B

You first thing you notice against Chaka is that you struggle in close combat, that is because his normals have

better range, framedata or are simply disjointed enough(Even Ebony will struggle) so either back off or whiff punish.

Take note that, 5B is active for 6 frames and can easily catch Ebony if you try to enter remote.

d.5B

Main dash-in , it keeps the disjointed hitbox so trying to beat it is useless, the reason of why it's separated from the non-dashing

is because this one will catch you by surprise and it's more common to see this one used.

J.C

One of the best air to airs in the game with fast startup and long range, easily killing J.cevos.

But it has some flaws:

-It's not disjointed.Either you trade or win with j.b.

-Has a huge hurtbox below the slash so as long as Chaka is above you'll win air to air with j.b.

This normal is, of course , not a jump-in but in the case someone tries to use it that way, any anti air will work.

Stand On

s.5A/s.2A

The first offers a disjointed hitbox that cleanly beats your s.5a, while the second offers more range to safely poke both Devo and Ebony.

Just another reason to not dash-in and press normals, while s.2a has more range the hitbox is really close to the ground so you could do IOH

if they're mashing.

s.6A

Anti air and his main way to continue his combo after stand crash but sadly Devo(even in remote) and Ebony low-profile it.

s.5B

Main anti air in stand on, doesn't whiff on Ebony unless he's crouching so you can whiff punish with s.2B/s.d.2B.

It also serves as a quick confirm into s.236AA, it WON'T whiff if Ebony was hit twice prior to this move so s.2A s.2A s.5b s.236AA will work.

Cancellable into Super or Custom combo so beware when trying to punish.

s.5C/s.d.5C

Usually seen as as a CC(Custom combo) starter, can be cancelled into any of his specials like rekka but honestly you won't be seeing this often.

s.5C doesn't cut remote in 1 hit but you can't tandem while s.d.5C does cut it.

Funny enough, Ebony will fly at high speed to Chaka's back and into the corner if Remote is cut by any of those.

s.5b(Chain ender)

Untechable launcher as long as the combo counter is 7 or below.

s.5a s.5b s.5c s.5b on Ebony followed up by a normal just as you land will make a UB reset

You should only be scared of the guy who can do this:

https://streamable.com/d7yuqp

s.2B

Solely exist for this matchup due to s.5B being low-profiled, since it's mostly used in combos you won't really have to deal with this.

s.2C/s.d.2C

Far reaching sweep, doesn't really give much too much oki as he can only meaty with s.J.C after jump.

If Ebony gets hit by this he can combo into s.236AA but otherwise punishable on pushblock.

Just make sure to not get hit by rekka follow-ups or counter.

s.J.C

Main reason of why you should be scared of Chaka, thanks to his quick Hyper hop he can surprise you in remote and cash out big damage

You can anti air him with s.5B and technically 5C but by the time you've stopped crouching you're already getting hit so respect this move by blocking or rolling.

That only goes for the transition mid hyper hop from stand off to stand on, if he does this normal already in stand on just anti air.

Specials

236S

Super disjointed poke that Ebony and Devo can low-profile by crouching, it can only be cancelled into s.623x so it's not that scary.

s.623x

It would be a great anti air due to the huge hitbox if it wasn't active for only 2 frames, you can crouch it and doesn't have too much horizontal range.

Another move you won't be seeing often, really.

s.214x

Anubis Counter, as you may or may not know, he learns a move(indicated by the small sword above his meter) and becomes capable of Guard cancelling it

with any normal, he can only do this as long as he is Stand on.

Don't get your good moves learned like IOH(Sj.6B) or 2A/2C, it makes even more easy for him to punish you for trying things.

Grabs prevents him from mashing this out in attempts to cover up unsafe moves.

S.236x s.236x s.236A/B/C

Chaka's Rekka, except you low-profile the second rekka by crouching.

Rekka enders:

A ender: A low hitting move

B ender: Chaka jumps and hits below him, can crossup if he's too close and you're crouching.

C Ender: Gives a hard knockdown as long as the combo counter is 9 or above.

If the combo counter is above 6 hits but below 9 hits you can tech and punish with a special/super.

Supers

214S

Chaka like Alessi and Old joseph has a custom combo instead of a tandem.

If you crouch his damage will go down really hard since second rekka misses and so does s.5B.

Beware of surprise reset at the end with s.J.C.

236AA

Chaka crouchs and then launches forward, it will catch you if you're pressing many buttons at once

But blocking it you can easily punish with whatever you have in mind.

You won't be really seeing this move often due to the existence of s.236AA

Speaking of s.236AA....

s.236AA

Whiff punish the move.

Solid damage + easy ways to confirm into it makes Chaka with meter scary, you could punish it on block but it's rare seeing someone randomly throw it out.

28 frames of recovery and the fact that he dashes across the screen doesn't give enough time for big punishes unless he happens to get sandwiched.

s.214AA

Chaka wastes 2 bars, on hit learns all your moves until he gets hits.

Dogshit super and minus on block so just punish.

Weaknesses

While Chaka has many tools to play neutral and struggles to get meter like you, he has a short stand gauge making it easier for you to stand crash him.
The biggest difference between you and him is the damage, Chaka damage sucks(unless he spends like 2 or 3 bars) and deals in no way the same damage you do in 1 meter.
Which makes us go to the next point: Chaka struggles to get lifelead back, once the difference becomes big enough you can start turtling and playing safe exposing
Chaka's weaknesses:

-Minus on block normals and specials.

-Lack of mixups.

-Core normals like s.5b whiffing against crouching Devo.

Once he gets lifelead it's not like he can lame you out with s.J.C as you can anti air him with s.5b or other normals, meaning he still has to fight you to some degree.
What i said at the beginning is no joke either, one has to simply play better than the other to win , which means everything relies on you learning your opponent's style
and mixing your approach.

Devo

This is a matchup that will push you both to your limits. Devo isn't particularly good at turtling, but great at offense, which makes this a very lively fight, and because of his flexible gameplan, you will have to constantly adapt to your surroundings to win. There are a lot of things you have to pay attention to, but the single most important one is the meter of BOTH you and your opponent. Having meter makes a lot of things safe and opens up tons of options. Meter lead is even more important than life lead, to some extent.

What to lab

While chaotic, this is a very technical matchup, and having any kind of edge over your opponent will not hurt.

D.s.2b xx s.22c

If your opponent is a semi-advanced devo, he'll probably be conditioned to block the doll high, so try to punish him for it with d.s.2b xx s.22c (xx 214s if you're confident).

The wakeup time

While crossup oki is a guaranteed meaty, holding 6/3 will always block it, so try to mix up spear oki with it. However, it's highly plausible that, if your opponent has meter, he will try to reversal with 214aa, so getting consistent at meatying devo can be very useful. If he doesn't have meter, you don't have to be as careful.

2a 2a (5) 2c

This niche, tight link gives you the option to squeeze in a bit more damage and get a precious HKD if the doll is far away, allowing you to reposition and maybe even set up oki.

The grab punish

If the opponent is between you and the doll, they will most likely grab you, especially if they don't have meter. While devo's grab is pretty good in other matchups, in this one it's quite easy to punish if devo is landing on the doll. Tech into s+2b xx s.22c can get you some much needed meter and even get you a tandem, if you're skilled enough.

5c antiair punish

Tech down+j.b into combo. If you get good at it, you won't understand how capcom let that slip.

Other advanced stuff is also recommended, such as the d.s.5a loop, which can get you a tandem from almost anywhere and fancy no ips loops for damage.

If someone challenges you to a devo mirror, be player 1 if possible. This makes the s.22c xx 214s link 2f instead of 1f and enables you to use 5c as a tandem confirm, which are both good advantages, with the drawback being supers having 1 less iframe, which isn't as important.

In a match

Positions

For almost all of the following situations, particularly if devo is s.on, 214aa will get you out of most of the trouble if you get it to hit. If it gets blocked, it'll most likely get gc'd for a small trade, advantageous for the GCer, unless the attacker is much lower on health. Staying pinned is not recommended, as devo can reposition both himself and the doll that way.

Ideally, you want to keep the doll near the opponent, while staying clear of the opponent's doll. This allows you to apply high pressure, and if the opponent is also close to you, he's in grave danger, particularly if he has no meter. But we don't live in a perfect world and other things can happen.

The other way around.

GET OUT. SOMEHOW. This is a bad place to be in, s.off you don't have any moves that can cut remote, other than the grab, which is usually punishable in this position. Jumping out is a good option, but you can get anti-aired and tech chased by the doll.

The doll duel

In a neutral position, where you're both close to your dolls, but far away from each other (like the start of round 1), you'll probably try to get the doll into a better position and fish for a combo, which usually involves going s.on, resulting in a doll duel. The first one to bypass the other one's doll will cut the opponent's stand and probably get a full combo, so don't let it happen. S.5a can stuff out some of the doll's best approach tools, as well as start a combo and the doll can be antiaired if it tries jumping over you. If you antiair with s.2c, it will also send devo flying, so you’ll lose your target for some time that way. Keep in mind that you'll most likely be unable to stand crash the doll, as it takes only half the stand damage if it gets hit, but double, if it blocks, so it's easier to get a stand crush.

If the situation gets heated for you, go s.off, try to pushblock the doll and counter it s.off. You can try to get 214aa to hit, which will either pin the doll and get you over to devo or hit devo for a good chunk of health, depending on which is closer. The doll can still move for a bit after devo gets hit, which can allow him to activate tandem, thus getting out on its iframes, and getting hit yourself will cancel your doll's 214aa, so get it into hitstun or stay away from it. 5c will most likely whiff j.s.6b’s hurtbox and get outprioritized by j.s.b, unless you're right under the doll.

If you get past the opponent's doll, try to cut remote, as devo will be unable to block while his doll is launched because of the cut. Using raw tandem or s.236aa is also an option, but one can be countered by another tandem and the other one is very fast and sets up oki, but deals mediocre damage compared to other options and costs meter.

Dolls on each other, close to you, opponent far away.

Be patient. You can go s.on and start mashing s.5a, as this will get you some meter and stuff out the doll's attempts at anything that isn't metered, while being quick enough to react to metered options. This is one of devo’s best ways to turtle. Of course, trying to rushdown with the doll is a death sentence.

Dolls on each other, close to the opponent.

Go s.on. A doll duel would be very advantageous. You have the distance advantage and can 50/50 for meter or tandem, while keeping yourself relatively safe. If the dolls are behind the opponent, you can start fishing for combos.

Dolls far away, devos both close.

You'll most likely trade some 5cs and 2as, maybe a tick grab. 2a 2a (5) 2c is quite useful in this situation. Generally, you want to reposition. If you take to the skies, j.b is your best air-to-air and anti air 5c can always be punished if it's predicted.

Everything in one place

It won’t last long. Either one of you will run away, or someone will get a combo. 214aa shines here the brightest, if you catch your opponent attacking with the doll. Rolls will happen, you can try to grab.

Players far away from each other, with the wrong dolls close to each other

Two things can happen, with the first one being much more common. You can either dash forward and try to get close to the opponent and the doll at the same time, the other devo doing the same will result in you engaging each other s.off or you can try going s.on. In that case, keep in mind that the risk-reward is on the side of the more patient player. If you’re the first one to activate the doll and get the hit, the best you can pull out is a tandem, which is hard to get if the opponent gets hit low, and if the doll gets pushblocked, an IAD will definitely end in a tandem and 214aa will bite off a huge chunk of your health.

Cutting remote

When remote is cut, the opponent’s doll will get launched into the air, causing devo to be unable to block

The following moves will cut remote in 1 hit:

j.s.b - the doll will get launched very low, which reduces the time when devo can’t block

j.s.6b - gives reset opportunities, as the doll gets launched quite high, you can experiment with it

(d)s.2c - if devo techs down, it’s possible to catch him landing while he still can’t block

s.22c - it will face the doll, so get closer to your enemy than usual

(s)236a/b/c - for punishing dumb stand activations with low risk or having the doll too far for other oprions

Combos

Once you get a confirm, it’s showtime. Standing devo gets combo’d quite easily, but if he’s crouching, you’ll need some tricks. You will have to use 5c 214a 5c if you want to do no IPS combos. If you started the combo from 5c, it’s recommended to go for 236c 5c as a followup, with a 2a into tandem afterwards or a no IPS loop, if you’re good enough. If you hitconfirm the doll with your own, you’ll want to bring it as close to your target as possible in case you drop, so use the d.s.5a s.5a loop. The further the action from you, the better.

If you hit the opponent’s doll and cancel into a special, but your doll will target devo, you’d better have used 236a/b/c, if not, the doll will recover and won’t get remote cut, which means you’ll get hit, as your doll won’t recover in time from the attack.

If you finish the combo with s.22c, which is unsafe, the opponent will probably try to punish it. Using tandem is usually suboptimal, as it has some startup, but can catch them mashing. If they don’t, it’s good to try to s.on grab, which will catch them blocking and rolling. If you throw the opponent to devo, crouch to shrink your hurtbox, turn s.off and block high.

If they’re between you and the doll, you shouldn’t panic tandem, unless you’re low on health. the best they can do is grab you, which is, of course, punishable. Other options still apply.

DIO

General

Stand on Knives are an easy way to deal huge damage over any mistake especially on remote...
Teleport can get him out of sandwich situations or put him straight into your face...
236S hurts and it will kick you out of remote and if he did install with 214x he may as well cancel into rekka...
Meaty s.2a will catch any attempt to wake up reversal...

Don't lose the hope yet, Dio is barely a better character

Against his 2a/d.2a your crouch normals low profiles its extended hurtbox so he'll always hit you first, but Ebony's jab beat them.
66c usually goes into 214x so guard cancel The World in reaction, unless he delays and then does d.2c to hit you mid guard cancel.
Don’t jump at stand off Dio unless you want to get hit by a myriad of anti airs.
You can anti air him fine with 5c or s.5b just remember knives.
Stand on Devo low-profiles his laser so you can easily punish it.
You can grab Dio’s teleport if you’re expecting it but remember that it has no recovery so meaties won’t get you anywhere.
As for Stand on, Dio normals can be a bit of a wall but you’ll see him often jumping so be ready to anti air(unless he has meter, then try to bait knives).
Waiting for Dio will make him start doing s.5a to quickly gain meter so you’re better chasing him around carefully.
Pushblock the second hit of the rekka and then go remote for a quick punish.

Stand on Knives

-For you to punish s.236AA after the superflash with tandem, Ebony has to be really close as its recovery is pretty fast.

-You can remote crouch block grounded knives as Devo will not get touch making Dio waste meter.

-Don’t bother trying to punish the air version, thankfully you can react after superflash with roll

-Plus, you can tandem on reaction with enough distance between you and him to dodge it if you can’t turn remote off quick.

-Depending on the angle between airborne Dio and grounded Devo it may miss most of its damage or not.

-Since it doesn't cut remote mode, you can deactivate it to reduce damage(as long as the puppet does not get hit).

-You can see it coming most of the time and turn off Ebony to dodge with roll.

Overall a strong tool but it leaves him quickly without meter letting you use Ebony more often.

Weaknesses

Dio lacks mixups to open you up(or anyone) , so once you get a lifelead he'll start struggling really hard

due to his many normals working just for neutral and having garbage specials don't help him either.

Has a Trash pressure that you can reversal punish and against 2a 214x pressure you just have to pushblock Dio's normals and GC The World.

Crouching Devo makes him unable to do air muda loops losing a lot of damage in the process and getting a weaker tandem variation.

His guard cancel is garbage:

Multi hit moves(2c s.2b) or Ebony's quick jabs(s.5a>s.5a) will just interrupt it as its first hitbox starts really high

punishable ON HIT by tech into tandem

This mf can't grab you since you can punish by down teching into puppet special > 2b if he's s.off or tandem, as long as the doll is close to dio.

A more consistent, universal (both s.on and off), but harder punish is tech > special cancel > 5c, smacking the world's hand, but you have to fit within 23 frames

(assuming a perfect tech) a special cancel, 10 frames of doll activation animation recovery and 5c with 5 frames of startup for its 2nd hitbox.

Or if he grabs you in the corner, forget everything and just punish with puppet move > 5c for huge damage, abuse the ROLL

Hol Horse

Hol is forced to play defensively, as he doesn't have any tools he can pressure you with, on account of having bad stand gauge damage. Best he can do is 623x, which you can easily punish, or grab.

You have a few options to punish his grab, but keep in mind that if you tech too fast, you'll ground tech, which triggers a long, but invincible and cancellable crabwalk animation. Below is an example of an early tech punish.

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Delayed tech punishes are tech, j.b 5c xx.../ 2c and tech, land 5c (tight).

Because of that, hol will try running away from you. He can stuff out some of the doll's attacks and should know that you have an IOH. Regardless, he should still fall to your 50/50s. The doll also can't trigger hanged man from its puddle. His priority will be running away from the doll, he can take you on if you're both in one corner and the doll is in the other. Staying in the corner is likely his best option.

So, your objective is simple: careful pestering with the doll. D.s.5a is a great normal, even more in this matchup. He can get in damage only if you're trying to relocate the doll, which you can do in a lot of ways.

S.off specials - the worst option, if you didn't knock hol down. Not only can hol easily run away from them, he can also punish them with 236aa, all bullets will hit.

S.on walk relocation - you can try pushblocking bullets and getting in, but you have to master a rhythm. IAD will sometimes not get hit by the bullet because of it's hitbox.

S.on (hyper)hops - a bit slow, pretty much useless fullscreen, but can be very useful for the last bit of distance, as you will counter any attempts at getting remote damage with something like sjb.

Hyperhop s.j.c - very fast, able to get in from fullscreen, fast enough to punish 236x and 236aa will make you take only about 30 damage due to being launched (you have 144hp in total)

Engaging hol s.off is ill-advised, a defensive hol can protect himself against HKD and your grab, while damaging, will only get him out of corner, which won't help you much, he can tech towards you and air glass, which, while easily punishable with j.b, can get him back in the corner with only minor health loss. If he lands on the ground, if you anticipate his roll, you'll be able to grab him.

As for his supers, 236aa will probably get the most reward for him. J.236aa will shut you down, but it won't do much damage and the doll has no trouble blocking it. He can't loop slow bullet and 214aa can't hit the doll, as it's a hitgrab, though you can still block it, which will guarantee it to hit unless you block the 3rd hitbox. You can punish it with js6b if you're about halfscreen.

Hol & Boingo

Hoingo is not as threatening as Hol horse but you still need to be careful with S bullet.

He still can punish unsafe moves with 236AC/BC but he has no 214AA nor slow bullet for big damage.

Just because he doesn't have hanged doesn't mean he can't cover ground with S bullet.

2B > S Bullet is punishable even on hit(Not a real Combo/Blockstring/Frametrap or whatever) as long as Ebony is close so don't just stand there and take it.

Don't let him use j.623x, on this case he can use command grab if glass gets blocked after landing.

His new 421AA causes stand crash and the pipe bullets are unblockable, you just have to hit him once to stop it all.

Overall the same as the Hol horse matchup but slightly more annoying.

Iggy

General

Iggy's oki game still applies in this matchup, don't get knocked down.

-His hitbox is very small, meaning your combos are much more likely to drop on him or for him to get pushed out from between you and the doll.

-His wakeup is fast and he can reversal with 236aa. Use the crossup oki on him.

-You can punish his S.on charge in almost any situation, e.g with S.5a into a combo. It will not turn your stand off if it hits devo, you can capitalize on that.

-If he tries to fly and spam sandballs, knock him out of the air with S.j.c or S.2c if he's low enough.

-Fortunately, Iggy is unable to hit you meaty after a grab, you can always reversal his oki if it started from it, but it's tight.

-Be careful in neutral, Iggy will be most of the time airborne and entering remote could get you hit by IAD for a ton of dmg and start his offensive so be ready to block high or roll as reversal won't work really well.

-Don't push your luck with 214aa, Iggy will be using safe ways to meaty e.g sandball or just be airborne in order to make you waste meter.

-Beware of sand ball > you pushblock it > iggy grabs you because it can happen a lot(you can still reversal it if mistimed but if he is waiting for you then it's wasted meter).

Upclose he’s very annoying since he will often try to grab you with his insane walk speed.
2b catches your landing unless you use j.c and s.2b cuts remote.
Iggy’s j.c will scare you in 1 pixel situations so start blocking high if that ever comes up.
Be patient, one good hit and Iggy is probably gone due to his low defense value, especially on stand on since you get a full stand crash combo.

Vital Information

When he's s.on, some jank can happen when you attack him from behind.

-First of all, 236x will not hit him until the doll finishes its run (as if it didn't run into anything).

-You can't grab him from behind

-Tandems take a bit before the doll starts attacking(This does not happen in stand on as Iggy will face Ebony when hit).

-Sometimes even 214aa refuses to hit him for some reason.

Stand crash him whenever you hit him in order to avoid these situations.

In conclusion, it's an annoying matchup, what did you expect?

Joseph

You'll be in control most of the time. Ojo's usual plan is to play defensively and fish for a CC/wrap confirm, but you'll most likely keep harassing him with ED, which makes it harder for him to confirm to CC and straight up impossible to get a wrap if devo's too far away, as hermit grab does nothing if it hits the doll and not devo. The wrap stops reaching you at the length of a small stage. This means that his only meterless punish option are chain combos, which ties into another weakness of his, that being his slow normals, making it very hard for him to punish the doll's attacks, which also have more priority to add insult to injury.

As you can see, Ojo's nearly toothless on defense without meter, so if the doll's on him, he'll have to try and get to you personally, bypassing the doll. With his slow movement, this will be a real chore for him, but if he does get in, he can cut remote with s.j.c and s.5c. If he does, he can get you to almost half health with a single meter, which he might get from the CC confirm, and set up his versatile, loopable oki.

If he does have meter, he can confirm into his bnb or dash past ED straight to you if you give him an opening, he can even s.on roll to you and punish IADs with (s)236aa. If you leave him alone, he'll whiff s.2b for a good amount of meter.

Given the above, your mission is clear: pester him and don't give him any breathing room. If he goes on offense, just go s.off and get ED back into a useful position. You can easily get away from him, his grab is nothing to worry about, as you can tech over him after it.

Your advantage is palpable in this matchup, it's sad that such an honest character gets wrecked so hard.

Jotaro

Always run away from him, don't ever try to pressure with the doll. If you want to go stand on for whatever reason, you have to make sure that Jotaro can't touch you. If he's anywhere closer than fullscreen, s.on is a bad idea, especially if he knows what he's doing. He has tons of ways to bypass the doll and go for you. Keep the doll close to the middle of the screen and fish for confirms while he's on the move.

Playing patiently will usually get the job done. Jotaros tend to mercilessly rush you down, as it is usually their only option given Jotaro's short effective range.

If he's in your face, crouch and keep pushblocking. 214aa is an option, but you might mess it up and have him break your defense, which means you're dead. Get out of there, GC or 2a, don't get grabbed rolling.

His low stand gauge means you don't have to do any special stuff to SC him, doing so will probably lead to you taking the round, granted you still have meter.

You can low profile his s.5A, but not his s.5B.

Jotaro can also do ~s.214+A > s.214+C to cover massive ground and even if that fails, he can still cancel it into star finger. Don't get caught. He can still oki you, even if you block low.

Kakyoin

Nets are the killer of this matchup. Break them with s.5A or s.5B.

Kakyoin can easily IAD and get to Devo quickly if you have the doll out. Do not get caught.

The only upside you have is your crouching hurtbox. Kakyoin cannot do a tandem against crouching Devo.

Kakyoin has a large Stand meter. Account for this when doing your Stand Crash combo.

Make use of that option select because these newer generation Kakyoins like to do IAD into grab.

Khan

You're winning this matchup. Gain the life lead and turtle.

Don't get shmixed by j.C and 2A. Your j.C beats Khan's j.C if you angle it properly.

Remember that Khan's j.S can be used as a movement tool. Don't get caught with the doll out because he can quickly move towards Devo. Knock him out of the air with j.c.

If he lands 214aa on you while stand on, you can still attack him before the second hit to avoid big damage and have him waste meter or even tandem if the doll's too far and have him fall between you and the doll for big damage and oki.

Mariah

Mariah isn't scary until she gets levels and sets up her stuff. Pressure her with the puppet, but don't get hit with her counterattacks.

The cables will home in on devo, not the doll, while also having the potential to turn your stand off. Cut them ASAP.

Don't let her set up anything, grab her whenever she gains a level. If she ever dares to do a special when you're in front of her, end the round.

214aa isn't as useful here as a reversal, if she's close to you and attacking, there is most likely a cable on you, you have to take the chip. Baiting her to attack you while s.on is risky, but possible. You shouldn't find yourself in a situation where you have to take risks if you don't make mistakes.

Don't get caught in outlet shenanigans. Block accordingly. Don't GC if there's a cable on you.

Midler

This matchup is very annoying. Midler loves to dance around you. You have to control the match.

Cars will catch you if you have your doll out. Once the doll blocks the cars, Devo is guaranteed to take damage unless Ebony is really close. She also happens to like reversal 214aa on wake up , use 236c crossup oki if she has meter.

You might catch her crossup j.B with 5C, but I wouldn't count on it. Use s5b/s2c instead.

Midler's 5B can meaty and can combo into 623+A/B/C. Don't get caught mashing on wakeup.

Watch out for her grabs; she has insane grab reach. Use option select to escape the shmix.

New Kakyoin

This matchup is an overcomplicated game of cat and mouse. Nkak's movement makes him really hard to pin down, however, managing to land a single hitconfirm usually means death for nkak with his low hp and slow wakeup time.

If he decides to turtle and sit on nets, play his game. Sjc will cut the nets and still have hits left. Be careful not to get blocked by him instead of hitting the net, as it won't break that way. Thankfully, he struggles with antiairs without nets, so you can start pressuring him. If he stays on the ground, you can mix him up. If he jumps, continue the tech chase with sjc, if he blocks, you can't meaty his landing, it's 1f, but he'll very likely try jumping again, so you can catch his 4f s.on prejump. Alternatively, hit him with s2c.

If he starts getting too comfy with wavedashing over the puppet, do s+5b, it has amazing priority, a lot of active frames and it's pretty fast. If you're lucky and REALLY ambitious you can link it with s.5a d.s.5a into full bnb, but don't count on it. You'll most likely hit him in the air.

Nkak's s.236aa will hit devo if he's stand on and the doll doesn't block close enough to devo (about 1/3rd of the screen). This deals very low damage, unless nkak is low on health and gives you a bit of time to reposition. It's also punishable by downtech, s+2b s.22c(xx 214s/SC!!). Some nkaks refuse to do this because of these reasons, but still, do watch out for it.

Don't try to bait him into hitting you while you're stand on and surprise him with a puppet attack, his d.s5b turns your stand off immediately.

Petshop

If your opponent can block, the match is over for you.

You literally can't hit petshop low, nullifying your pressure. This vastly simplifies the matchup, but not in a good way. Your only chance of winning is getting 5c in and killing with a no-IPS loop. You shouldn't care about the loop limit, as petshop breaks tournament rules by existing. Tandem is almost worthless, as s.2b doesn't hit. The only way you'd use it is by inputting specials only. You should mainly burn meter for 214aa, as getting the doll to a desired position for a tandem is nigh impossible.

You have no approach, if the petshop is patient, he'll get a life lead and sit under icicles. In neutral the only damage you can get somewhat safely is from tech chasing an airborne petshop, as he can't block in air.

Going s.on is usually not an option due to petshop's mobility. Not only does he sport an 8 way dash, he can place an icicle over devo or press 3c, depending on distance. 3c might not hit devo, but you still won't be able to react, doll isn't fast enough.

Never stay under an icicle, roll ASAP, petshop's grab is a favorable alternative to getting ToD'd, rolling also gives you a shot at your only mixup, that being roll 5c with an ambiguous endpoint.

Your only oki option is dash past and crossup meaty 5c, as petshop has no hitbox on the ground and your only knockdown tool is 5b, which requires that you get a 9 hit combo, so no stray HKDs for you.

Having only 1 normal is bad, but you still have a win condition, unlike some other characters

Polnareff

NOT A FOUR PLAYER MATCHUP, you'll get spanked regardless if you use Ebony or not.

Shooting Star(SS)

A nightmare you'll struggle from round start

-Don't spam IOH against Pol, since he can jump or roll while Ebony(Or you if you're on its way) get hit by SS.

-Same goes for any special or super(214aa as an example), Ebony will get hit by SS.

-Polnareff can roll in any moment while Chariot is going to the wall and start holding the button, as well as release it and roll

so if you know your opponent is going for those options start getting ready to grab him.

Polnareff's normals are superior to yours in the ground.
His crouching normals beats any of your crouching ones so don't try d.2a/d.2c while Chariot is stalking on the other corner.
You can beat any of those with Ebony normals(s5a as example) but don't forget he can back off/jump and release SS(or roll after it).
Ray Dart Whiffs while Devo is crouching so you can use 2c to punish, you can use 3c against B and C versions(wow, a purpose for 3c!?)

Airborne you can easily air-to-air him with j.b
His main stand off jump in when you are with Ebony is j.c as it cuts remote and possibly gets him a combo.

Stand on is a different beast

Most anti airs won't work against s.j.a(except a well timed s.2c) so you have to air to air or block/roll.

S.j.a and S.j.b don't cut remote so you can try and reversal tandem.

s5c is a big button which cuts remote and can cancel into tandem if he senses danger , respect it.

You're just better going stand off upclose and run away since most of his moves create a wall in front of him.

S.4b doesn't work really well against you without a proper spacing so j.c can go over it.

Since to anti air devo he needs to use 5a, s.4b or s.j.c(all requiring that he stops charging SS), unless he's currently just playing defensive with stand on you may say that Devo's j.c is a GODSEND because just stopping him from getting to his win condition(Shooting star) makes Pol less of a hell. , since many won't react to Hyperhop j.c and either block, Roll or SS and attempt to roll; as long as you're playing aggresive on the matchup you shouldn't be getting stuck on unreactable mixups.

And finally...

Learn how to block SS mixup for the love of ANRI

Beware of reset on the corner with delay between 2x while SS is out , or you'll get tandem confirmed again.

Remember that every Pol plays different and while that may apply to every character remember that he has many tools and ways to work around Devo or Ebony so you may not do the same things against another player, learn how they react first. Good luck.

Shadow Dio

Sdio is scary to fight against. Making a single mistake can and will result in a full bnb and attacking with the doll is very easy for him to punish. He is the only character that you have to be afraid of getting stand crashed by, aside from jotaro. His loop is dangerous to ED both when blocking and when getting hit, as 3 loops is just enough to SC, while blocking the loop will quickly lead to a stand crush. It's also hard to get him off of you by pushblocking, as he'll dash right back in.

When he's near you, he can air stall with j.s, which will be catastrophic if you're trying to catch his landing while s.on, as any s attack of his will cut remote.

Generally, you have to be aware of what you're doing when going s.on. A careless IAD will allow him to jump over ED or punish it on block with 5c into bnb.

If the doll's in front of him, but you don't want to commit yet, d.s.5a is a safe poke, while s.5b outprioritizes his s buttons. If you want to commit, make him doubt your moment of attack by stalling. If he tries to make a run for you, you can still catch up with him. Once you think the moment is right, go for IAD or d.s.2b, the former being easier to combo off of and to punish on block, while the latter is safer and harder to convert into bnb.

If you want to be more patient and run away from sdio, make sure to have meter for a reversal or to interrupt him while he's dashing with something like d.2c. Once you knock him down, try to get the doll over to him and start your pressure, but if he finds a gap in it, he can reversal with 236aa, which will most of the time hit the doll and also launch it to the other side of the screen, making you unable to block until it lands. If you get a hit, he's very easy to combo, as his standing and crouching hurtboxes are the same.

236aa punishes recklessness in general. Any doll special and even some s.on normals, like IAD, can be punished by it.

The match will usually be over very fast, as both of you possess the ability to get the other one in your zone and not let go.

Rubber Soul

Rubber soul is the grappler of HFTF, you may think it'll be an easy matchup but that only comes with knowledge as things can quickly spiral out of your control.
His normals(outside of some exceptions) are fully disjointed so trying to challenge won't work often as you might think.
Rubber's wake up is also really fast so you can't use spear oki.

After using a stand move he will leave a lingering hurtbox(Yellow Temperance)giving you the chance to whiff punish...
But if you simply try to force your mixups on him you’ll get killed.

Instead, focus on attacking from behind with Ebony where Rubber’s great defense tools don’t work(Gc or 214s)
and anti airing due to his slow speed in the ground forcing him to hyper hop often to get close.
If he ever gets to Devo, your best option is to wait and see what he does before trying to run away as Rubber will try to grab, poke , 236x(cuts remote with 4 hits if you were on it) or bait a reversal.
You can easily low profile j.a by crouching and punish with 2c even if he cancels into j.s(Does not happen with j.b/j.c).
Some moves like 2c or s.2b low profile 214s but you're in no advantage so don't press any buttons after.

If you ever get caught in stand on, remember this: NONE of his normals cut remote so if you see him throwing some upclose, you can punish(Ebony normals or tandem as example)

236AA will destroy your stand gauge if you decide to block it remote and deals a lot of chip so at fullscreen just jump back and block to evade most hits, otherwise roll after the projectiles starts coming out.
It has no iframes until the superflash but it shares the same animation as 236x(despite having 60 frames of startup you'll rarely react to punish)
If you're blocking grounded he can roll behind you and use backbreaker to catch Devo, you have to only pushblock the end of the super and then jump to avoid the command grab.

His only safe ways to poke at Ebony are 2a and j.b/j.c, you can anti air j.b/j.c and for 2a just go remote and block to get Ebony out of his range.
Good luck guessing in vortex, but if you really want to use reversals make sure to not press buttons after it(214AA and don't mash 5c or you'll get countered by 214s, Tandem but wait for Ebony unless he did j.s which then you can catch the landing with 2a)

Vanilla Ice

Compared to Polnareff, this matchup is more simple.

One touch and you're dead:
If he has meter he'll hitconfirm into his powerful tandem, ending in a 2c.
If not, he'll just go straight into 2c

In any case, it's game over as he has UB oki with 214x and d.2a after the 2c if you aren't dead post-tandem
Compared to Hol horse UB oki, this works on anyone so your crouching hurtbox or wake up speed won't help. So this is a loop, if he touches you and doesn't kill you in one tandem, you'll get knocked down by 2c into UB oki to end this. Some vices refuse to use it, as some tournaments ban its use, so the matchup is different depending on the region.

If he's not turtling with his powerful normals(s.2b > s.2c, s.2b being cancellable into super/tandem, s.6c for anti air)
and also getting meter while spamming s.2b > s.2c
He'll be fishing for a tandem confirm with d.2a or IAD s.j.66c...Don't get hit by raw 6b/6c either.
Vice will use his roll most of the time so try to be patient and either grab him or jump rather than try and meaty with a normal.
s.236x is really dangerous if it touches Ebony or Devo, and after landing he's probably using s.623AA to punish your attempt to catch his landing.
Don't bother using 5c against the ball since downtech into die is a possibility, 5b should do the trick.

You still can apply crossup oki on him but not spear oki as his wake up speed is really fast.
A well timed IAD may beat his s.2b > s.2c but pray to god it actually does.
Your 2a doesn't beat his, 2c will but gets beaten by his 2c.

Young Joseph

Another game of cat and mouse, this time way easier.

Yojo's mobility is pretty good and his pokes can stuff out the doll's approach. Anti air him if he gets too comfortable in air.

Keep the doll halfway between you and yojo if you're far away from each other, so that you can punish him if he tries to throw clackers and reversal if he commits to an approach too much.

Knocking him down gives you a lot of time to reposition the puppet and setup your pressure. 663c is your friend, since the amount of his moves you low profile is just sad.