Playing Holliday against Venator

What should I do right now?

Matchup overview

• Their structural weakness: Currently the weakest hero in this group by win rate (roughly 45% as of the 09-09 to 09-20 2026 sample on deadlock.io) Why this is shown: Venator's weaknesses. Strong evidence
• Their structural weakness: Zero sustain, zero barrier and no escape ability — the entire kit is offense and control Why this is shown: Venator's weaknesses. Strong evidence
• Their structural weakness: 6.4 m/s base speed makes him the slowest of this group and an easy gank target Why this is shown: Venator's weaknesses. Strong evidence

What they do against you

• Consecrating Grenade applies 30-50% healing reduction before his team commits, so your Restorative Shot, Healing Rite and lifesteal all stop mattering for 3.5-4.5 seconds Why this is shown: Authored from Venator's kit. Strong evidence
• Hex-Lined Snap Trap sitting invisible-until-triggered on your flank route roots you for 1.25-2.25s and reveals you for 6s, which is almost always a 5-on-4 for his team Why this is shown: Authored from Venator's kit. Strong evidence
• Gutshot into a wall is a 0.6-1.0s stun plus 90 damage, and in corridors or around the Patron that is a free chain into his whole kit Why this is shown: Authored from Venator's kit. Strong evidence
• Ira Domini stakes hit for 120 each with a blessed stake adding 115 pure damage and executing anyone under 8% max health — running away at low HP does not work Why this is shown: Authored from Venator's kit. Strong evidence
• Since the 09-16-2026 patch his stakes Ricochet and split, so standing in a line behind a focused ally now shares the ultimate damage across your team Why this is shown: Authored from Venator's kit. Strong evidence
• Your mobility is a real advantage here, and Venator's slows exist to delete it. Note that Debuff Resist barely helps against short hard slows because it only trims duration — spacing and cover do more than an item will. Why this is shown: Debuff Resist reduces duration only; short slows are largely unaffected. Strong evidence

How you counter them

• Bait the trap with a minion wave, a summon or a zipline arrival before you walk any choke he has been defending Why this is shown: Authored counterplay against Venator. Strong evidence
• Fight him in open ground — away from walls, Gutshot is only a knockback and he has no hard CC left Why this is shown: Authored counterplay against Venator. Strong evidence
• Punish his 6.4 m/s speed: he cannot disengage, so gap-closers (Yamato's Flying Slash, Abrams' Shoulder Charge, Wraith's Project Mind) reach him and he cannot leave Why this is shown: Authored counterplay against Venator. Strong evidence
• Delay big heals until his grenade burn expires rather than healing into 30-50% reduction Why this is shown: Authored counterplay against Venator. Strong evidence
• Bullet-resist items blunt his weapon-scaling kit far more than spirit resist does, since Consecrating Grenade, Gutshot and Ira Domini all scale off weapon damage Why this is shown: Authored counterplay against Venator. Strong evidence

Trading

• The moment Gutshot and both Snap Trap charges are on cooldown, he has no CC and no escape — that is the all-in window Why this is shown: Venator's vulnerability windows. Strong evidence
• During the 2.8s weapon reload (33-round magazine at nearly 8 shots/sec empties fast) Why this is shown: Venator's vulnerability windows. Strong evidence
• The arming delay on a freshly kicked trap: the trap does nothing for that brief period, so pushing through immediately after you watch him kick it is safe Why this is shown: Venator's vulnerability windows. Strong evidence
• After all three Ira Domini stakes are spent, his damage collapses back to a 63.5 DPS bolt gun for the next ~145 seconds Why this is shown: Venator's vulnerability windows. Strong evidence
• Any moment he is in open ground away from walls: his hard CC is trap-only and traps must be pre-placed Why this is shown: Venator's vulnerability windows. Strong evidence

Laning

• What they want in lane: Consecrating Grenade denies the enemy laner's Healing Rite and regen trades in a fixed 1v1 lane where the 4.5m burn is hard to fully avoid Why this is shown: Venator's laning strengths. Strong evidence
• What they want in lane: Hex-Lined Snap Trap placed behind the enemy's own guardian or on their retreat path punishes any greedy last-hit push Why this is shown: Venator's laning strengths. Strong evidence
• What you can take from them in lane: Below-average movement speed (6.4 m/s) means he cannot dodge-dance in lane or rotate away from a gank the way Vindicta or Yamato can Why this is shown: Venator's laning weaknesses. Strong evidence
• What you can take from them in lane: No self-heal or barrier at all, so once an enemy anti-heals him back he has no answer Why this is shown: Venator's laning weaknesses. Strong evidence
• Your lever: Powder Keg clears the wave quickly and pokes the enemy laner in the same cast Why this is shown: Holliday's laning strengths. Strong evidence
• Your escape route is vertical and the 09-16-2026 patch aimed at exactly that: slows now affect air drag at 35% of their value, where previously they mostly did not bite in the air. Going airborne to break Venator's slow no longer restores your full movement — you carry a fraction of it into the air with you, at the moment you are also a stationary silhouette. The slow cut of ~20% partly offsets it, but the net is that air-escaping a slow is worse this patch than last. Why this is shown: 09-16-2026: slows now apply to air drag at 35% of their value, alongside the ~20% global slow reduction. Verified

Mid game

• Their spike — laning 0-10min: Consecrating Grenade's 30% healing reduction makes him a strong counter-laner against any regen-based opponent Why this is shown: Venator's power spike timeline. Strong evidence
• Their spike — Hex-Lined Snap Trap T2 (+1s immobilize): A 2.25s root is long enough to chain a full Gutshot plus weapon burst without help Why this is shown: Venator's power spike timeline. Strong evidence
• Their spike — ult unlock: Ira Domini gives him an execute for the first time, converting his CC chain into confirmed kills Why this is shown: Venator's power spike timeline. Strong evidence
• Their spike — late 35min+ with Ricochet: Post 09-16-2026 Ira Domini bounces and splits, turning the ultimate from a single-target execute into a teamfight nuke Why this is shown: Venator's power spike timeline. Strong evidence
• Your spike — ult unlock: Spirit Lasso gives her a guaranteed pick and the ability to remove one enemy from a fight entirely Why this is shown: Holliday's power spike timeline. Strong evidence
• Your spike — Bounce Pad tier 3: The roughly +0.7s landing stun turns her mobility tool into a genuine engage Why this is shown: Holliday's power spike timeline. Strong evidence
• Urn spawns at 10, 15, 20 and 25 minutes, and you are the correct carrier in this matchup. Two changes make that stronger than old guides suggest: the runner is no longer revealed, and is no longer disarmed or silenced — you keep your whole kit while carrying. Venator cannot match your speed, so the only way they take it off you is melee, a stun, or a kill. Route around their stun range, not around their vision, and remember the bounty starts decaying after 45 seconds of carry. Why this is shown: Urn spawns 10/15/20/25; runner is no longer revealed, disarmed or silenced; bounty decays after 45s of carry. Verified
• Your kit is built around lockdown and that is worth less on the Mid Boss than on Venator — it carries 35% Debuff Resist as of 03-06-2026, so your disables run roughly two-thirds as long on it. Plan the take around damage and positioning rather than a CC chain, and spend the chain on Venator if they contest. The payoff is worth the trip: 3,000 souls plus 50 per minute, two permanent buffs each, and a Rejuvenator crystal giving up to three single-use revives that return a player at full health after 3 seconds, for 3 minutes. Why this is shown: Mid Boss has 35% Debuff Resist (03-06-2026); reward is 3,000 souls +50/min, two buffs, and Rejuvenator revive credits. Verified

Positioning

• Your habit of taking the fight vertical to reset spacing against Venator is weaker on 09-16-2026 than it was. Slows now apply to air drag at 35% of their value, so the air is no longer a slow-free zone, and 2026 has been a steady closing of exactly these loopholes — wall jumping costs 25% stamina regeneration for 5 seconds, and knockups came under debuff reduction in May. Going up is still correct against their ground CC; it is no longer a way to ignore their slows. Why this is shown: 09-16-2026: slows affect air drag at 35% of value; 05-22-2026 added the wall-jump stamina penalty and brought knockups under debuff reduction. Verified
• Venator decides where you stand, not you. The practical rule is to never hold a position whose failure case is being moved — stand so that being yanked or knocked puts you somewhere survivable rather than inside their whole team. Cover at your back is worth more than cover in front. Why this is shown: Displacement kits convert bad positioning into a kill; failure-case positioning mitigates it. Strong evidence
• Riding a zipline in Venator's line of sight is worse than walking. Enemy hero damage while you are riding knocks you off for 15% of your max health, a 2.5-second stun and a fall — for a hero with your health pool that is most of a death handed over for free. You gain knockoff immunity only after 3 consecutive seconds of riding, signalled by a blue particle effect, so the dangerous part is the first three seconds. Mount out of their sight line, not near it. Why this is shown: Zipline knockoff: 15% max HP, 2.5s stun and a fall; knockoff immunity after 3 consecutive seconds of riding. Verified
• Venator wins by choosing where the fight happens. Take your position before the zoning goes down, not after — once the area is committed you are fighting on their terms, and walking in to contest it is exactly the mistake the kit is built to farm. Why this is shown: Zone-control kits convert space into damage; positioning must precede the cast. Strategic

Build adjustments

• Majestic Leap (vitality T3) — Venator gives this team real zoning and area denial. Buy to escape ground-based lockdown and to rotate across the map quickly. Why this is shown: Answers: enemy-zone-control, enemy-hard-cc. Verified
• Stamina Mastery (vitality T3) — Venator gives this team real stuns and hard cc. Buy when dodging telegraphed abilities and disengaging is how you survive. Why this is shown: Answers: enemy-hard-cc, enemy-zone-control. Strong evidence
• Warp Stone (vitality T3) — Venator gives this team real stuns and hard cc. Buy when you are repeatedly getting caught and killed out of position, or to close a gap onto a fleeing target. Why this is shown: Answers: enemy-hard-cc, enemy-zone-control. Verified

Common mistakes

• The usual error against Venator is treating Gutshot as something to react to rather than something to pre-empt. By the time it is on you, the decision has already been made. Why this is shown: Fallback line — no specific rule matched this pairing for this section. Strategic

Analyse this against your whole enemy team

A single matchup only tells you part of the story — which enemy to actually focus, and what to buy, depends on the other five. Open the tool with this matchup pre-loaded and add the rest.