General Notes
Many of Jack-O's actual matchups really just rely on how good Aegis is against said character, bar Slayer. Does the enemy care if you use Aegis? It's probably a good matchup! They don't care? It's probably bad!
Jack-O generally gets killed by characters that can hit her houses and force her to block all of the time or can instantly get up in her face when she thinks she has a moment of peace.
dotNova's Matchup Chart
This is a transcription of dotNova's matchup favorability chart that was shared on the Jack-O Discord.
Matchup Summaries
Mirror (Jack-O)
Jack-ODon't Use AegisThe goal in this matchup is to be the last one to use Aegis Shield. Not having access to Aegis Shield means that you can't nullify the enemy minions, so you want to be the one with the ability to hold on to them for the longest time possible.
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Dizzy
DizzyJust Use AegisJack-O's Aegis nullifies Dizzy's projectiles, meaning that Dizzy can't pressure Jack-O from across the screen for free. Jack-O aims to focus on keeping Aegis up when Dizzy tries to set up across the screen from her, and then counterhitting Dizzy when she tries to move in. 6P, 2S, 6H and 2H are great tools in this matchup because of how well they control the space that Dizzy likes to approach from.
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Bedman
BedmanHe's HugeBedman has a huge hurtbox. This makes him incredibly easy to do fuzzy mixups on. Aegis kills Bedman's Deja Vu projectiles, and Jack-O also has a great time killing Deja Vu seals, due to the pure size of 2H and 5H. Jack-O can't deal with Task C very easily due to how it makes him stall in the air, but 2S and 6H are great tools to try to swat him down.
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Zato
Zato-1Eddie Dies to AegisJust use Aegis. Eddie himself is considered a projectile, so Aegis makes every single Eddie move and drill whiff. The matchup is basically unwinnable for Zato until Aegis has been dealt with. Zato can't really fly around either- Magician (S minion) will snipe him out of the air if he floats in one place. Basically: 10-0 with Aegis, probably a 6-4 without.
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Slayer
SlayerHe Dies to Big ButtonsSlayer's main weakness as a character lies in his weakness to big buttons. 2H, 5H, and 6H are all great neutral tools that absolutely swat Slayer out of where he's trying to stand, making it difficult to get in. Slayer's best options to kill houses (2H and 2D) are both very slow buttons, meaning he can easily be whiff punished if he's not forcing you to block. 4D makes for a great whiff punisher in this matchup due to its pure size.
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Faust
FaustNo Items?Sure, Jack-O can use Aegis to kill Faust's items, but it doesn't really mean much when he's got such good normals to begin with. 6P is a great tool to deal with most of Faust's long range f.S and skewer spam, because of how good of a counterpoking tool 6P can be. In general, this matchup can feel very reactive on Jack-O's part, but Faust doesn't have any great tools to make Jack-O block on top of her houses from long range, especially with how 6P works. All in all this matchup often feels very winnable, until Faust gets up in your face.
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Elphelt
ElpheltAegis Doesn't Kill Shotgun StanceYou'd think some of her stuff is projectiles, but it's not. Aegis kills sniper stance and pineberry, but not really much else. Aegis has this weird tendency to save you from some of Elphelt's worst mixups in this matchup, particularly when late-throw pineberry is involved. Even if you get hit and get combo'd, Aegis shield usually comes up right as she throws the pineberry during her mixups with it, so you end up being able to sneak in a 6P or 2K when she least expects it. Against a practiced Elphelt, however, plan to see them use a lot of their longer normals to try to beat yours out- particularly, Elphelt's f.S is a significant tool that she can use to control the neutral, and you can't quite jump in on her for crossups due to c.S's massive anti-air hitbox. Elphelt, however, has very few tools to kill houses in a single string, with her best option usually being f.S 2H, which sometimes just whiff the last hit sometimes on houses.
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Venom
VenomNo BallsFortunately, Jack-O doesn't have to deal with Venom's pool balls if you have Aegis up... if they're in motion. Pound for pound, Jack-O and Venom have very similar and equally strong normals. However, Aegis doesn't affect the pool balls that are stationary. Jack-O has a universal answer to teleports without a ball flying down towards you: pre-emptive 2S. Even if there is a ball, sometimes it trades in your favor anyways, so it's a good tool to use when you think your opponent is getting teleport-happy. Venom has an OK time dealing with houses, due to his large, reaching normals (as well as c.S on block), and projectiles that can hit all 3 in one run if you don't get in the way.
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Answer
AnswerIt's Just AlrightBaiken
BaikenDies to ThrowsBaiken's main gimmicks are her Azami and Suzuran. Both of these moves die to 6D, which is very fortunate for you. Unfortunately for you, Baiken absolutely destroys you with her high-damage combos if you get hit. Aegis can kill Tatami from anywhere, so you can kinda just run at her if she's already committed to a jump. Aegis doesn't really have another common usage other than that, but Baiken's reliance on Tatami makes this a great option.
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May
MayYou're Low Stun, She's High DamagePotemkin
PotemkinHe Kinda Does WhateverTo be honest, this matchup is only even because of how well Potemkin is allowed to play his gameplan. Potemkin can't backdash while you have minions up, but his backdash is very effective against your normals alone. Thankfully, 6D has the ability to invuln over Potemkin Buster. It's pretty difficult to jump at him, but he does fuzzy easily due to his height.
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Ramlethal
RamlethalSwords Are Out, But Strings are InLeo
LeoCan't Mix HimYou can't cross him up easily with j.H due to how Flash Kick can autocorrect, but you do have great normals to use to keep him out of your range. H fireball does multiple hits, unfortunately, so blocking it can be a death sentence for level 1 houses. In particular, 3H is a really important neutral tool for when Leo is in backturn stance, but you can't spam it too much- Leo's 2D will high-profile it if properly timed.
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Sin
SinHe Just Keeps SwingingAs long as Sin has food, he can blockstring your houses to death. This is an inevitable fact, but he has to commit a lot of resources to do it. Jack-O has OS options against Sin's DP, but she struggles to deal with his 5H and 6P. Despite all of this Jack-O has a fine time playing neutral against him. Her f.S matches his in approximate strength, and 3H is a great way to sneak your way in during neutral.
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I-No
I-NoNo Note, But No AdvantageJohnny
JohnnyTop Tier, Top PressureSimilar to Sol, Aegis is a really useful tool in this matchup simply to defend the houses you're sitting on top of and to prevent Johnny from autopiloting into Glitter is Gold. Jack-O's f.S is a really important tool to keep using in neutral, and 3H can low profile under Johnny's f.S, so this matchup mostly tends to devolve into "protect those houses with your life."
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Kum
KumGood Mix, But His Is BetterKy
KyHe Kills Houses For FreeKy has big, fat normals that can kill multiple houses next to each other incredibly easily, and S Stun Edge can travel through all 3 houses if you don't get in the way. If you end up blocking an H Stun Edge, whether fortified or not, you can kiss your houses that aren't behind Ky goodbye. Ky has great anti-airs, that means that you have trouble trying to cross him up and get him on the back foot. On the bright side, 6P can easily counterpoke f.S, meaning that he can't exactly play long-range neutral the way he might want to.
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Millia
MilliaDoesn't Worry About The SetupMagician doesn't do a good job of swatting Millia out of the air due to her fast movement. Millia can spend a lot of time in the air just dodging around your normals and making them look bad, so Jack-O has to rely on 6P and good air throw reads to get anywhere. Fortunately, once Millia is stuck down, she actually has a pretty bad time getting out. 5H can be a great anti-air tool due to its size and nature, as well as being useful to dodge certain lows.
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Raven
RavenJust Kinda Runs At YouSol
SolNot As Bad As You'd ThinkAppropriate to the popularity of the character, this is just kinda... a normal matchup. You can find yourself using Aegis to protect your houses while you're blocking, and it also forces Sol to not autopilot into Gunflame. He has a good time destroying houses, especially if you find yourself respecting Gunflame. You basically can't do anything about it if he YRCs it, though.
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Axl
AxlHouses Don't StickAxl simply presses 2H Rensen and kills the houses at level one, and then you have to work really hard to get in on him, and Jack-O doesn't have many good tools to do that due to the ranges that he covers. This matchup is unwinnable, probably.
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Chipp
ChippSetup? What Setup?Chipp presses 22S and instantly starts mixing you up and destroying your houses, while ignoring any kind of keepaway that you try to attempt. Luckily, Jack-O has a great time trying to swat him out of the air if he chooses to take to it, and if you are able to checkmate him, minions do a great job crushing Guts. In general, he's just a bit too hard to pin down, though.
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Jam
JamShe Doesn't Respect AuthorityJam has literally no reason to ever respect Jack-O, ever. If you try to set up on her, she either just sets up herself- and, arguably, Jam's setup is much more immediately scary than your own, or, she just throws Ryuujin in your face, and tells you to deal with it. Jam has very strong special moves that allow her to low profile under f.S, 6H(2), and 5H. Her normals do a great job killing houses, particularly 5H and 2H, meaning that blocking against her is a death sentence for anything you've set up under yourself. Vs. un-carded Ryuujin, pre-emptive 6P can be a good answer, but that's not the end-all-be-all. Jam can't be easily anti-aired due to how her j.H will clash with absolutely anything you try to throw at her, including 2S and 6H. Speaking of 2S, it's generally almost completely useless, unless Jam's H puffball is at crossup range. Jam's Dead Angle is also incredible, meaning that she almost never has to respect Jack-O even when she's blocking. She has great tools to avoid Jack-O's mixups, and it's just generally hard to keep her pinned down. Jam's standing animation also randomly takes plus frames away from 3H. Why? I don't know! Also, 6P is a generally good tool against her.
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Jack-O