JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future

Shadow DIO (SDIO) Character Matchup Strategies by sf2feilong

No Meter Method: (Not sure if this should be in the other sections or not... Will do later on)

(This is suppose to be used generally for any character while being SDIO)

Try to focus on getting short combo chain pokes and not rely on the loop. A simple 2A,2A,5C will do. Also try to be creative with feint setups to keep the opponent guessing. Its mostly 50/50 with resets. If you must loop be aware that the game might reset the combo so go for a knockdown early. Other than that you can do a variety of block string setups for chip and etc. Focus on getting hits, not necessarily combos but small hits. They will add up eventually throughout the match.

ABDUL:

Abdul is one of the most balanced characters in the game offensively and defensively. You should be careful since most of his stand attacks have high priority over SDIO's moveset. One of the advantages of this matchup is that due to Abdul's fast wake up recovery you can set up a 623A command throw immediately after the character is knocked down. It still requires a little bit of timing but its one of the easiest things to abuse. My personal favorite block string to do is a simple 9A,5S(air) string. Its short and sweet and can easily be re-adjusted to suit the spacing of you and your opponent. This block string is very helpful with stand crashing. Also be aware that Abdul's 236AA has no character portrait on start up, so it can hit instantly compared to other character supers.

AlESSI:

Alessi has a weird hitbox though its mostly mid and low attacks that will connect against him. Try not to be focused on aerial attacks too much since Alessi's 214AA is an anti-air. Not much else to it besides general pressure block strings and feint reset shenanigans. Also take notice that Alessi's 2C in non-stand mode hits from the front and the back. The back portion is just big enough to hit an improperly timed cross up. Alessy's back dash can let him run (almost) continuously, his forward dash however is like a normal dash with a finite distance

BLACK POLNAREFF:

The only thing that's somewhat annoying about Anubis weilding characters is their learning ability. Take into consideration Black Polnareff's arsenal of wake up supers its not the best matchup. If you can figure out how to beat the Anubis learning timing, you could literally just throw him and etc. His 623A with the slice and dice is also an anti-air. He also has a fairly decent aerial game with the use of and air stand attacks and his 8B priority is one to look out for as well. To be safe, although it might be considered cheap...when Black Polnareff has no meter just try to throw him and do reset setups until he has meter again.

CHAKA:

Another Anubis wielder. Thankfully Chaka isn't as annoying as Black Polnareff. His 236AA super while in stand mode can be blocked while in the air. His 236AA in non-stand mode is anti-air though. Chaka was more of the best if not the best air C attacks in the game. Both for non-stand and stand modes. Like other Anubis characters be careful not to let the opponent learn many attacks. If they do however you can always throw them for reset setups. SDIO's cross up is able to hit Chaka if SDIO is barely off the ground. Simliar to Devo's crouching hitbox. Its hard to time but if perfected is a nice asset. To combat Chaka's god-like aerial attacks. 8B(Kick) is your friend. If Chaka is in stand mode do not be afraid to attempt a block string for the stand crash.

DEVO:

In my opinion one of the most unfavored matchups for SDIO. This can either be 50/50 depending on who you ask. If the Devo player knows how to do high/low setups with the puppet stand, it can be very annoying. The saving grace however is if Devo is in remote stand mode, you can do a greater amount of damage. So might as well try the basic loop. Going against Devo's 8C will forever be SDIO's 8B. Like Chaka, Devo's crouching hitbox is very very low. Its a weird delayed timing if you want to connect a crossup but its so worth the effort. Your best bet is to do nothing but mid and low block strings. For example 66A,5S,663C; or 336C,5S,336C.

DIO:

Dio has one of the largest hitboxes in the game. Use this to your advantage. Be aware of Dio's S.236AA super in mid air. Its very deceptive and can really cost you. Dio also has one of the slower wake up recovery times. Which makes it easy for throwing and reset setups. If an opponent is caught doing a 236A muda muda move, you can immediately punish is with SDIO's 236AA super. Other risky moves for Dio is if they attempt a 214AA super and miss. This leaves you an opening for a good punish. Depending on who you ask, Dio is supposed to win against SDIO. If however going against a throwing/reset strategy it would be the opposite. Dio's timestop is the slowest of the character timestops which leads it to being easily punished.

HOL HORSE:

The only true zoner in the game. Hol can be annoying but most of his attacks can be avoided. If Hol is caught doing a glass setup you can do a dashing crouch cancel to avoid being stuck in the block stun. You may have to do this many times depending on the distance between you and Hol. This method works with any character that has a good dash. Due to SDIO's slow wake up recovery time, he is susceptible to Hol's 421AA (Slow Bullet) super abuse. If this super is done from far away you have the chance to do the reading book counter 421A. This can be difficult being that the inputs are slowed down thanks to slow bullet's effect. When attempting aerial games while in close range, Hol's 5C is an anti-air. If connected it will knock you down for a reset setup. Hol's reset setups are mostly high/low guessing games. If however you are caught in a glass rain block stun and Hol is close enough to hit, you could attempt to do SDIO's 623AA super (punch and kick super). The great thing about this is, if you fail to get the super, generally you'll do a guard cancel instead. Hol Horse has a faster wake up recovery time. So it can be hard to judge timing for the cross up. Hol Horse is able to continuously run away when using his dash. Safest bet is to keep the fight on the ground. Lastly Hol Horse can do a lot of damage(chip) with his stand bullet setups. Its best to avoid these but are usually avoidable due to its slow start up. But if connected you'll lose a lot of health.

HOL & BOINGO:

Not that much differce between Hol Horse(regular Hol) and Hol & Boingo(Boingo) honestly. The only real differences are that regular Hol's 623A glass move comes out faster than Boingo's glass. Also Boingo's stand bullet comes out faster than regular Hol's. Another tricky situation is that Boingo has a 360 degree command throw. This can lead into some pretty weird setups, and the damage is nasty. Boingo's 421AA super(pipes) relies on Boingo being about the distract SDIO until the bullets come out. This super is usually easily punishable. The only real threat to SDIO in this matchup is the stand bullet block stun setups. Like regular Hol, Boingo's stand bullet can do massive damage. If done properly Boingo can sort of loop this on a wake up reset setup. Like regular Hol, Boingo can continuously run by performing his dash. Typically though the matchup shouldn't be that difficult compared to the likes of regular Hol.

IGGY:

Not much can be said for this matchup. I really wanted to go into detail like the other matchups. Try to connect mid or low block strings. This matchup heavily favors SDIO regardless of whatever the tier list says. The only annoying thing about Iggy is his throwing range. Typically you can see Iggy's throw range if you look at his stand on sprite. You'll notice that its nearly twice as big as little Iggy. If Iggy is in non-stand mode, his throwing range is the same as his stand mode. So Iggy's non-mode can be very deceptive with throwing attempts. Other than that its an easy match up.

JOSEPH:

Against someone who really knows how to play Joseph, you'll likely be caught in 360 throw setups. Joseph's tandem into 214A attack(spark bubble) can be annoying. He has one of the slowest wake up timings in the game. With that being said it could be hard to time wake up throws and setups. But once you have the timing down, its worth it in the end. Due to Joseph having a stand mode, this makes him susecptible to stand crash. Do not be ashamed to abuse this. Joseph's dash enables his to continously run compared to other characters' dashes. Other than general SDIO strategies this matchup should be easy.

JOTARO:

Like Dio, Jotaro has a pretty big hitbox. Very good for doing block strings and etc. His wake up recovery time seems to be a little faster than Dio's but they're almost the same. Jotaro's stand attacks are mostly anti-air. Be cautious when trying to do aerial attacks. His bread and butter can be hard to predict being he has some 50/50 setups. If Jotaro is caught doing an empty 236AA (ora ora) super, you can easily punish it with 236AA (knives) super. Most jotaro players are focused on stand mode, so its best to try to get a stand crash when needed. Jotaro's timestop start up is considered medium compared Dio and SDIO.

KAKYOIN:

This match up depends entirely on how the opponent is playing Kakyoin. If they go for a turtling style with webs and etc, you will have to play defensive regardless. Not much can be said about this match up since Kakyoin has so many strategies with his arsenal of moves to choose from. Try to keep the fight on the ground. Kakyoin has a slow wake up recovery time so keep that in mind. Also his crouching hitbox is small which could make crossup attempts hard at first. Due to SDIO's slower wake up recovery time, SDIO can be susceptible to a wake up Emerald Splash super done in either Kakyoin's non-stand mode or stand mode. In Stand mode there's no start up delay compared to non-stand mode. If this connects confirmed or blocked, it will do a ton of damage. Also Kakyoin's C attacks (5C/2C) in non-stand mode do chip damage if blocked. If Kakyoin trys to set up his webs, SDIO can nullify them with 5S stand attacks. Be careful when doing this though since Kakyoin can setup a total of three webs.

Kakyoin's throw has a knockdown property. Even though Kakyoin has one of the smallest damaging throws, his long dash can have him set up for wake up games. To look on the bright side of his throw, if thrown by Kakyoin the victim gains meter in return.

KHAN:

The only thing annoying about Khan is 99% of his attacks do chip damage when blocked. The only attack that comes to mind that doesn't chip is 5A (kick). Like other Anubis characters, Khan can use the learning ability. Generally though Khan doesn't have that much of an arsenal to really punish SDIO's moveset. Khan has a small hitbox compared to other characters despite what you might see in game. Try to use mid and low block strings for pressure. If Khan is caught doing a 236AA (barrage) super, this can be easily avoided and sets up for a good punish.

MARIAH:

This match up can be based on Mariah's magnet setups. In general you should ALWAYS go for the throw. Throwing makes Mariah's magnet level gauge decrease by one level. If however Mariah gets to level 5 or higher, she can be troublesome with projectiles and wire games. The good thing about Mariah's projectiles is they can be countered with the book-reading move 421A. If however there's too much projectiles on screen, even if you teleport you could still be susceptible for damage or a block string setup. Mariah's 5C is very good for anti-air and is even more annoying when trying to avoid magnet setup situations. Mariah's dash enables her to continously run compared to the majority of the character cast. When in doubt, just throw Mariah.

MIDLER:

Midler can be considered balanced. She has a very good anti-air moveset. Her most troublesome thing is her car summoning 214A. Depending on how its setup, Midler can do high/low games. Her 214AA (multiple cars) super can do a lot of damage, and could also but combo'd after the last car hits. Aside from Midler's anti-air moveset, she has a pretty good aerial moveset. Be careful of his 8B. It has very good priority over a lot of moves and can be ticked into a throw. Midlers throw also initiates a knockdown which can be used for wake up games.

NEW KAKYOIN:

Match up is very similar to regular Kakyoin. New Kakyoin however has a reduced attack damage, which is good. What use to be regular Kakyoin's web move 214A is now, New Kakyoin's wrap. It can be annoying but most of the time its avoidable. His new super 214AA can be deceptive as well if you're trying to focus on aerial attacks. Other than that this matchup isn't that bad.

PETSHOP:

Against a typical Petshop, its usually in SDIO favor due to SDIO's hard hitting moveest and combos. However if bread and butters are executed, then good luck trying to avoid everything. If petshop is turtling in the air, use 8B. Typical SDIO pressure games nonetheless. Use mid to low block strings. Petshop's teleporting move is predictable at times. Study its patterns and abuse it later on. Safe block string starters are 66A and 662A. Seriously good luck and have fun.

POLNAREFF:

Polnareff's combo setups are odd to block at first since its practically a 50/50 game everytime. His A attacks are often considered meaty attacks (5A/2A) while in non-stand. Most players though stay in stand mode cause of its priority. Try to get stand crashed when applicable. Polnareff's 8B has good priority as well which usually leads to trade hit damage. His 214AA (Pins) super can be easily guard cancelled if close enough to Polnareff. It also hits several times which leads to more chances to guard cancel. Other than that just watch the patterns of the charged moves and everything will be okay.

SHADOW DIO:

The ever fated mirror match. Like any other mirror match, the one who hits more will win. SDIO can focus on aerial games due to his air stand attack. His bread and butter loop combo is one to be feared but if blocked can be either push blocked or guard cancelled. Watch out for reset setup games. SDIO's 214AA (spores) super is unblockable, but can however be countered with book reading 421A. He also has a variety of setups for throwing knives. This can either be an acute angle of 30 or so degrees, 90 degrees upwards, or 180 degrees. SDIO's timestop is the fastest of the timestops, but is still punishable by other characters. His guard cancel isn't the best but its also not the worst and can be typically combo'ed into a 5C or sweep knockdown.

RUBBER SOUL:

Rubber Soul (Rsoul) can be annoying with his throw dealing the most damage for throws in the game. Thankfully SDIO's throw has the standard ten throws to KO. Rsoul needs only eight throws to KO. Rsoul's aerial stand attack has a knockdown property, keep that in mind. It can lead into some silly juggling. He also has a counter move. If an opponent hits him while in this counter move, Rsoul will launch the opponent in the air. While in the air you can also be susceptible for a 236AA (Splash) super with massive damage. Thankfully SDIO's 5S stand attack can nullify Rsoul's counter from a distance. If done up close (character sprites touching one another) Rsoul will launch the other. During SDIO's stand attack nullifying its effects, SDIO can pressure into any setup of his choosing. The safest tactic though is to nullifying counter with 5S then go in for a tick throw. Rinse and repeat. Sure it can be considered cheap but it works. Also Rsoul has a 360 degree command throw. This in return can be comboed after his 236AA super by dashing/jumping. To avoid this super chain, you can at the last moments of the splash super take a few hits. This will lead you into a knockdown, saving you from receiving the additional 360 super confirm.

VANILLA ICE:

THERE are two types of player for Vanilla Ice. Combo players and casual players. For casual players its an easy win for SDIO. Just do standard pressuring into block strings and etc. However for combo players, its mostly recognizing the attack patterns and push block/guard cancel if Vanilla Ice is in range. His most annoying thing is his flying specials 236A, both in non-stand and stand mode. From experience the non-stand will be more deceptive compared to the delayed stand mode 236A. Stand mode 236A can hit twice. It can also be easily punished with 5A/5B and etc during its recovery frames. For the non-stand version a typical punish would be an aerial attack into 5S(air). Due to Vanilla Ice's fast wake up recovery time (simliar to Abdul's), you can initiate the 623A (neck grab) immediately on wake up. Vanilla Ice's non-stand 236AA (punch and kick flurry) if blocked on the first hit can be punished on the second hit usually with SDIO's 236AA (knives). Be aware of tandem combos as Vanilla Ice can have really long strings.

YOUNG JOSEPH: