JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R/Jotaro Kujo (Part 4)/Strategy

Overview

Strategy

Combos

Matchups

Resources

Some of the information in this write-up was derived from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure All Star Battle R: Part 4 Jotaro Guide/Combo Doc - Bannock Meatball, with involvement from the author.

Neutral

Jotaro has a very oppressive neutral, thanks to his powerful normals working in tandem with his extraordinary ability to control space. Due to the nature of being an all-rounder, you have a decent amount of options for how to play neutral. Jotaro's kit is better suited for passive/patient play while in Stand Off, and more aggressive play while in Stand On. Because of this, most of your neutral will be played in Stand On, since you'll generally have access to better offensive options when compared to Stand Off.

In Stand On, neutral comes in the form of very large normals, such as s.5L, s.2L, s.jH, and s.3H, all having incredible hitboxes which allow you to approach with ease. His most notable tool is his "Where'd all that time go?" teleport: with it, Jotaro doesn't always need to approach the traditional ways through his buttons, since he has a way to get in no matter how far away he is and can choose where he ends up (including behind the opponent). This ability is amazing against zoning, since you can teleport behind most projectiles in the game and punish your opponent in their recovery frames, making its very existence daunting as they're always forced to watch out for it at any moment. Because you can teleport (almost) whenever you please, it allows you to have a good balance between pressuring your opponent from the front with some of the aforementioned normals and "ORA ORA!", and teleporting behind your opponent in the blink of an eye with the M version. While it is possible to react to (and punish) the teleport, since your opponent always has to watch for it, it can make them play more sloppily when dealing with your other pressure options (and vice versa).

Sometimes, however, it's better for Jotaro to play from further away and make them approach him, and that's where most Stand Off neutral comes into play. Part of what makes his teleport so threatening is that "If I throw this bearing..." is a very strong projectile that pairs perfectly with the teleport. You can stay at fullscreen zoning with your bearings, and when you're finished, you can switch back to Stand On and teleport right back in. The L version has very low recovery so you can throw a lot of bearings very quickly, and while Jotaro's susceptible to Stylish Guard and Dodges, all it takes is one mistake from the opponent to send them into a soft knockdown, which you can tech chase by switching back to Stand On and using his teleport, even from fullscreen. You can do similar things with projectile Assists, such as Kira and Mista, allowing even better neutral pressure due to being able to have "instant cross-ups" by calling the Assist and teleporting behind the opponent to have the Assist hit as a cross-up for you.

Offense

Jotaro's main offense comes in the form of having phenomenal strike/throw block pressure while in Stand On, with both options on hit leading to a potent vortex for looping oki. s.2L is your main tool to achieve this since it has fantastic range, can be canceled into itself many times, and is only -2 on block, allowing for stagger pressure between strikes (further usage of s.2L or chaining into s.3H), or going for normal Throws/command grabs with "So I'm gonna bust you up!". The reason this is so strong is because if s.2L connects even at max range, it will always combo into s.3H (which has a very large horizontal hitbox), and when paired with the M version of his "Where'd all that time go?" teleport, allows for combo starters from absurd ranges, adding to each move's practicality as a tool. Even if your opponent blocks all your s.2Ls and you end your blockstring in s.3H (or if you do s.3H on its own and they block it), the move is only -4 on block, and when paired with the pushback it has, it's always a 100% safe ender for any blockstring.

You can do similar block pressure with "ORA ORA!" due to its several follow-ups: the L follow-up is another safe ender on block at -4, while the M and H follow-ups serve as mix-up options (being a slower Overhead option and a Low option with added Guard Break potential, respectively). Pressing 4L/M/H during "ORA ORA!" chains into a slightly faster version of Jotaro's teleport series, allowing for cheeky cross-ups. These other options can seem gimmicky, but since he has so many options to choose from, you can mix between them all and catch your opponent off-guard if they make mistakes.

Stand On Vortex Oki Setups

When you do manage to land a hit/Throw, Jotaro gets very strong rewards from it. Not only are most combos meter neutral/very meter positive, but you can set up a strike/throw vortex that has a left/right component to it with the L or M versions of his teleport, and you get the same rewards for landing Throws and/or command grabs. Jotaro can even get safejump setups off of every Stand On setup besides his command grab, adding to the vortex's strength. Since the Overhead option from "ORA ORA!" causes a groundbounce, you can always reset juggle height to set these up at the end of combos that leave Jotaro in Stand On.

Stand On Vortex Oki Setups

Setup	Notes
s.3H > s.22M > s.5M > s.5H > s.236L-6M > s.2H > (s.2M > s.22L/M) > s.2L/s.2M/s.5M/Throw	Midscreen only. This can be started simply by landing s.3H on a grounded opponent midscreen, whether after s.236X-6M in juggle, or landing it raw. The portion included in () is meant to act as a frame kill. Instead of s.2M > s.22L/M, you can do s.2M > 9s.jL for a safejump instead.
s.3H > s.22M > s.2M > s.2M > s.5L > s.5M > s.5H > s.236H-6M > s.2H > (s.2M > s.22L/M) > s.2L/s.2M/s.5M/Throw	Can only be done at the sidewall. This can be started simply by landing s.3H on a ground-level opponent, whether after s.236X-6M in juggle, or landing it raw. The portion included in () is meant to act as a frame kill. Instead of s.2M > s.22L/M, you can do s.2M > 9s.jL for a safejump instead.
s.Throw > (s.5M > s.22L/M) > s.2L/s.2M/s.5M/Throw	Works anywhere. The portion included in () is meant to act as a frame kill. Instead of s.5M > s.22L/M, you can do s.2M > 9s.jL for a safejump instead. Forward Throw into s.5M > s.22M > Throw is character-specific, so it's best to use Back Throw when looping this vortex for consistency, or just use s.22L to frame kill a throw instead. A compatibility sheet can be seen here.
s.3H > s.22M > s.2M > s.2M > s.5L > s.5M > s.5H > s.236H-6M > s.2H > (s.2H) > s.63214H	Can only be done at the sidewall. The portion included in () is meant to act as a frame kill. This can be started simply by landing s.3H on a ground-level opponent, whether after s.236X-6M in juggle, or landing it raw. Sets up a meaty command grab which, when paired with Kira Assist, is unavoidable damage without a reversal.
s.63214H > (s.2LM > s.22L/M) > s.2L/s.2M/s.5M/Throw	Works anywhere. The portion included in () is meant to act as a frame kill.
s.63214H > (s.2M > s.22L) > s.63214H	Works anywhere. The portion included in () is meant to act as a frame kill. This frame kill is used to loop meaty command grabs, which can be good against opponents who practice delay tech.

Stand Off Vortex Oki Setups

Jotaro also gets potent oki in Stand Off combo enders through "Rotate Oki", which consists of a different strike/throw setup, and an ambiguous same side/cross-up j.M with backwall. Every combo that doesn't involve an HHA/GHA should always be ended with either one of these, since as mentioned previously, Jotaro always wants to be playing from ahead, and no better way to do that with an oppressive vortex.

Stand Off Vortex Oki Setups

Setup	Notes
(at the end of a combo) 214L/M > 669 j.M > 2L > 2L > 2M > 5L > 2M > 66 > 5L > 5M > (Dodge towards the wall > 5M) > 2L/2M/Throw	Can only be done at the sidewall. Can be performed on any 5M ender. The portion included in the second pair of () is meant to act as a frame kill. This is your main strike/throw setup for Stand Off enders. A video example of how this ender is performed can be found here.
(at the end of a combo) 214L/M > 669 j.M > 2L > 2L > 2M > 5L > 2M > 66 5L > 5M > (Dodge towards the wall) > dl.9 j.M	Can only be done at the sidewall. Can be performed on any 5M ender. The portion included in the second pair of () is meant to act as a frame kill. This is your ambiguous cross-up ender for Stand Off enders. A video example of how this ender is performed can be found here.
Throw > (5S > 9) > s.2L/s.2M/s.5M/Throw	Works anywhere. The portion included in () is meant to act as a frame kill. This is your main strike/throw setup while in Stand Off, and sets up a meaty while also getting back into Stand On.

Defense

Due to a lack of invincible reversals (or reversal options in general) outside of GHA, Jotaro struggles when it comes to defending himself. This means that on wakeup or against strong pressure, you’re forced to block and hold a lot of setups that other characters could get out of with invincible reversals or HHAs. Outside of blocking and holding pressure, you’re forced to rely on universal mechanics such as Stylish Evade/Guard, or spend your Reversal Assist to get you out of hard places. Because of this, Jotaro benefits greatly from a "the best defense is a good offense" approach, where you should look to avoid getting into these situations altogether, since it can be really difficult to get out of them. This is why looping his vortex oki is pivotal, since it always keeps you ahead.

Adding to this, Jotaro also lacks consistent anti-airs. Some of his tools, like "I'm going to break you into pieces." (while in Stand Off) and "ORA ORA!" (while in Stand On), can be too slow to be reliably used as such (with the former having a 20f startup and the latter having a 16f startup, both of which are too slow to use on reaction to an opponent's jump), with the latter being the better of the two as its ability to punish dash-jumps is significantly better. Landing an anti-air "ORA ORA!" into its L follow-up allows you to continue into either s.3H, a Stand Rush, or a Flash Cancel, whereas "I'm going to break you into pieces" forces you to Flash Cancel in order to convert off of it. Both of these aforementioned anti-air options are outclassed by universal mechanics such as Stylish Evade/Guard, however, due to those having much faster startup in comparison. You can also try and use 5L, 5H, s.2M, and s.5H to anti-air with since they are fast enough to use on reaction, but anti-air normals can be very hit or miss. If you do land any of those, you can convert into a full combo with 3H (while in Stand Off) and s.3H (while in Stand On).

Assist Usage

Vanilla Ice

Vanilla Ice provides Jotaro with unblockable setups during blockstrings, which can allow you to set up high damage combos easily since he has no problem forcing the opponent to block.

Shigekiyo Yangu

Shigechi provides Jotaro with some added defense, which can help alleviate his lack of defensive options. Shigechi is also good to call for pressure during oki, as it can provide a lot of pressure when the opponent has their back against the wall.

Akira Otoishi

Akira provides Jotaro with an extra bar of meter. This gives him flexibility in his gameplan between going for metered Flash Cancel routes, and going for Time Stop combos faster, sometimes even combining both.

Yoshikage Kira

Kira provides Jotaro with guaranteed command grab setups (if your opponent doesn't have a reversal). He also provides strong neutral pressure, since the coin covers a lot of Jotaro's deadzones, and Kira won't go on cooldown when called in these situations. Kira is also Jotaro's main Assist in combo routing. Very useful overall.

Guido Mista

Mista provides Jotaro with the ability to make his teleport safer, and allows you to get instant crossups with "Where'd all that time go?". Mista is a generally nice quality of life Assist to have too, since he can also be called for general pressure at any given time without putting him on cooldown.