Abdul
Alessi
Black Polnareff
Chaka
Fairly infuriating matchup for Hol for a variety of reasons, but the key here is generally being very cautious not to mash or get predictable. Ideally, you'll want to try and hold a life lead as much as possible and keep him coming to you, otherwise he can just stall you out for force you into unsafe situations to get in. His air normals are great, but it's possible to use this to your advantage if you learn to read your opponent. Slow bullet is especially useful as an anti air here, but in this matchup specifically, Chaka seems to be prone to landing in the "sweet spot" of the glass in the 4A 623B anti air combo where you can essentially loop him until he techs forward or back. Both of these options are great damage in this matchup, so make sure to utilize them as best you can.
While on the ground, stick to your safe and non committal combo strings. If Chaka has meter, especially try to abstain from finishing with 214B because Chaka can utilize his iframes to hit you with either a super or a full bnb. At full screen, feel free to otherwise throw out some 236A/C to sometimes catch him in a dash, but be careful again at midscreen for his sweep. If he has meter, he can still punish 236C even if the sweep whiffs. If you predict the opponent is going to this however, you can just block and slap them with 5C 236B if they end up close or just do another basic combo string. In short, be smart and play patient while keeping commitment to a minimum.
Devo
DIO
Hol Horse
The definitive war of attrition. In this matchup, your best bet is doing all that you can to hold a life lead and only opening up with pokes, but with the added fun of your opponent doing the exact same thing and potentially punishing too much deviation from pokes and the occasional 236B/C with a ToD. Keep an eye out for mistakes and don't forget about chip damage because this is one matchup where it can actually make a big difference down the line. Otherwise your grab can come in handy here as a quick finisher that catches rolls (which Hol does a lot of) if your opponent is low enough on health. Have fun!
Hol & Boingo
Placeholder but obligatory disdain for Hoingo.
Iggy
Old Joseph
Jotaro
Kakyoin
Khan
Mariah
Midler
New Kakyoin
Petshop
Shadow Dio
This matchup is something that can end very quickly for either side. S.Dio players tend to be rather jump happy which opens them up to potentially getting hit by your ToD, but keep in mind that his j.S can punish this if you get too careless and predictable. Keep your distance and be careful with rolling unless you want to get grabbed and crossed up into oblivion. Best to keep your distance and either chip him down or nail him with 236. If you can bait his book, you can punish with 236aa for some big damage too.
Rubber Soul
Rubber can be dangerous up close, but if you bait his 236aa and leave him meterless, he becomes a lot more limited. Since he lacks an active stand, he's vulnerable to chip and to being zoned out. Stick to your bullets and play a patient game, and mind that he's one of the only characters that Hol can actually safely grab so utilize the fact that you can grab him or tech out of his fairly brutal grab. Otherwise you can also punish his jump ins with the 4A 623B for some pretty big damage. All in all, keep away and don't let him catch you mashing if he gets in. He also can't punish your grab, which means that it's also a lot safer to try and tech his grabs so make sure to take advantage of it.
Vanilla Ice
From the top down, this matchup looks horrific but actually isn't as bad as a lot of Hol's other matchups with S tier characters as long as you have your fundamentals solid. However, this still isn't easy as you have to be extremely cautious against Ice since the vast majority of your damage against him is going to have to come from safe sources. You'll be denied a lot of your oki due to Ice's bizarre hitboxes and extremely quick wakeup time, not to mention going for a knockdown against him is seldom worth it due to how much easier it is for him to snuff out anything careless with 2c. However, your saving graces in this matchup include things such as Ice being unable to punish your grab if he doesn't have meter, and him generally lacking ranged tools. Additionally, if Ice attempts to use ball to approach, you can catch it in 214aa if you're fast enough. In summary, utilize your chip damage and don't throw out too many buttons. Avoid moves like 2c and 5c especially and just stick to your pokes up close, and try to whittle him down over time. It's grueling, but definitely winnable.
