Official Art management- Shulk moveset analysis (Current move: D-throw)

[Zatchiel]

One can mash quickly from a grab by just rapidly tapping the joystick back n forth. At my last local, I just tapped to very quickly and I was breaking free around 50% when they pummeled. I know that Shulk has great taunts sorta, and some players ask me why I don't taunt, but @ Zatchiel knows what I'm talking about when it comes to setting your D-pad directions as mashing inputs like Jump, Attack, and Specials to just say no to grabs, and Brawl was the start of this controls scheme because two words: Ice Climbers.

I always just rotate and mash. Below 70% you'll likely escape grabs before or after the first pummel.

As for the control scheme change, I did try that once. But it felt really awkward moving my entire hand to the d-pad in order to break grabs on the GCC. I just worked on my mashing instead.

 

[Berserker.]

I always just rotate and mash. Below 70% you'll likely escape grabs before or after the first pummel.

As for the control scheme change, I did try that once. But it felt really awkward moving my entire hand to the d-pad in order to break grabs on the GCC. I just worked on my mashing instead.

Breaking grabs with the (not really comfortable) GC d-pad? Sounds like hell for my fingers. Lol. Anyway, you guys probably noticed how Shulk's pummel is like... frame 5 according to the paste bin (correct me if I'm wrong). Well tbh, we didn't really have to know its frame speed to realize how slow his pummel is. But hey, at least buster pummeling is actually worth using. 4% damage (5% fresh) is something that none of us can ignore

So, you guys ready to move on to his throws? If so, then which throw do we start with?

Also, I'll start with the write-ups... like.... maybe this weekend

 

[Masonomace]

Whenever I'd mash with GCC's D-pad, I'd be sliding my right thumb across the buttons while sliding my left thumb on the D-pad. Wiggling the joystick is super helpful for me lately though, so I may just keep my taunts.

And I'm okay with F-throw next.

 

[Berserker.]

Alright then, move on to f-throw

 

[Abaasy]

F-Throw to me feels like it is Shulk's 2nd worst throw. It does 11% normally, 8% in Speed, 7% in Shield, 15% in Buster, and 5% in Smash. Of course, % doesn't really matter with Smash art, as you're using it to kill, not to rack up damage. However, F-Throw really isn't that great of a kill throw, even with Smash art. F-Throw does indeed do the 2nd most damage out of all of Shulk's throws, but it really doesn't lead into many combos, if any.

Even in certain setups, F-Throw is normally not the first option you should choose. Things such as Nair -> Pivot Grab in Speed art, you shouldn't be doing an F-Throw there. You pretty much negate the point of doing a Pivot Grab, because you're trying to gain stage control from it.

F-Throw does have its uses though. One way I can think of is when your opponent is on the ledge and you're at the edge of the stage. Your opponent does a roll and you pivot grab them from a read, using F-Throw to throw them offstage to put yourself in more stage control.

Personally, I only see F-Throw as some pretty decent damage, and if you do not want to stale out your other throws.

I tried not to talk about the other throws like comparing them to F-Throw, which is why my explanation may seem a bit weird.

 

[Taitsu]

I feel like you're underestimating its use a bit.

At very low percents, Fthrow can be chained with Nair/Fair on most of the cast (or even Dtilt, Ftilt and Fsmash), which can lead to another grab and then the same string.

At the start of the match, you can quite reliably get a 30% lead with FH > Speed > Fair >> MALLC dash grab > Fthrow > dash SH Nair ff > dash grab > fthrow > Fair/Fsmash . At this point, your opponent is usually offstage, so you can either try to edgeguard very aggresively in Speed or Jump, or switch to Buster, wait for your opponent to recover. He/She will be in the perfect % range to get good combos off and quickly put him/her at kill range.

As you already mentioned, it's also our 2nd most damaging (11%), topped only by Bthrow (12%). So if you want to maximize your damage, you should alternate beetween those 2. Besides, Fthrow doesn't really have kill power, so at high percent, I tend rather keep Bthrow fresh to enventually sneak a pivot grab > Bthrow kill at the edge.

So yeah, a situational throw which can be quite rewarding IMO.

 

[Masonomace]

I won't type my Mace-like post for Fthrow yet.

Truthfully though, Fthrow can KO but it's only required / needed when one stales Dthrow thinking that it will kill, or doesn't get a pivoted Bthrow near the ledge. Fthrow also has a lower knockback angle, so it's better to use for an edgeguard setup against the opponent's character. They either can't recover back safely because their character may not have the greatest tools for recovering, or they just have telegraphed recovery pattern.

Fthrow is useful, but it's a bit outclassed. Still, that's alright because it has some utility that I'll mention in my next post.

 

[Berserker.]

F-throw is outclassed by Shulk's other throws but I still use it if I want the fresh bonus for it. Buster f-throw sets up really well into a lot of attacks but it doesn't true combo into anything, unfortunately. Smash art f-throw can KO but its KO power is nothing much compared to b-throw or d-throw's. Jump art f-throw is only useful for setting up edgeguards because of the knockback angle. Speed art f-throw well..... idk. Lol

I'd give buster a 3/5. Smash art a 2.5/5. Shield/vanilla 1/5. Speed and jump art 2/5.

 

[Masonomace]

Fthrow > Dtilt is a true combo at very low percents on some characters. I just haven't posted them in the combo thread yet, which btw, that combo fresh will deal at least ~26%. Fthrow is a two-hit throw, but still, dealing over 25% with just from a throw & a tilt?

In Buster We Trust.

 

[0Synergy]

I find forward throw to be a bad setup cant backslash em at high %'s and is hard to combo with. Does decent dam

 

[Abaasy]

I feel like you're underestimating its use a bit.

At very low percents, Fthrow can be chained with Nair/Fair on most of the cast (or even Dtilt, Ftilt and Fsmash), which can lead to another grab and then the same string.

At the start of the match, you can quite reliably get a 30% lead with FH > Speed > Fair >> MALLC dash grab > Fthrow > dash SH Nair ff > dash grab > fthrow > Fair/Fsmash . At this point, your opponent is usually offstage, so you can either try to edgeguard very aggresively in Speed or Jump, or switch to Buster, wait for your opponent to recover. He/She will be in the perfect % range to get good combos off and quickly put him/her at kill range.

As you already mentioned, it's also our 2nd most damaging (11%), topped only by Bthrow (12%). So if you want to maximize your damage, you should alternate beetween those 2. Besides, Fthrow doesn't really have kill power, so at high percent, I tend rather keep Bthrow fresh to enventually sneak a pivot grab > Bthrow kill at the edge.

So yeah, a situational throw which can be quite rewarding IMO.

I just feel like his other throws have far more usage compared to F-Throw. I by no means meant to say that F-Throw is bad, because it indeed does do a hefty amount of damage and like I said, if you do not want to stale out your other more useful throws.

Maybe I'll explain more as to why I think F-Throw isn't as useful compared to his other throws, when we start discussing them.

 

[Berserker.]

Ayyy so due to the new info about f-throw, it DOES have a use. It's basically more useful at lower percentages than pretty much all of Shulk's throws (ty @ Masonomace ) but outside maybe around 20%+, you're probably better off utilizing d-throw for throw combos. OH, this is talking about buster art f-throw of course

But yeah, this throw is basically meeeh compared to his other throws

 

[Masonomace]

F-throw
Overall rating:
翔: (The knockback angle is low, so used near the ledge with stage advantage makes your edge-guard terrifying.)
疾: (You can follow-up with attack strings or straight-up combo on-stage. Depends if they miss tech or not.)
盾: (Mostly used as a "GTFO my center stage!" option. It's really good to alternate between F-throw & B-throw.)
斬:(You can true combo with F-throw to quick options like D-tilt or Jab Combo on heavy characters.)
撃:1/2 (It CAN kill, but mostly you won't over the other kill throws in Smash art. If not, it gimps much better.)
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
F-throw may seem like a bad throw most of the time, but ultimately it only looks bad to us because it's outclassed by Shulk's other throws. It's hard not talking about Shulk's other throws when compared to F-throw, but I'm going there because I'm telling the good things about how F-throw can be useful. F-throw:

• is rarely used (why??), so it's always good to use fresh or as a stage-controlling throw. (*cough*D-throw & B-throw...)
• is Shulk's second highest damage dealing throw. (Vanilla B-throw deals 12%, while Vanilla F-throw deals 11%.)
• has the second lowest amount of lag. (D-throw has 18 frames of lag, while F-throw has 21 frames of lag)
• has the least amount of Total Frames. (F-throw's Total Frames is 37, and the second least being D-throw is 43.)
• is tied for having the lowest knockback angle, being 45°. (F-throw's 45° is alike to B-throw's 135°.)
• has the farthest Maximum Horizontal Range between all of Shulk's throws. (This is very apparent when playing Doubles.)
• only deals a collateral 3% hit if your partner is hit within range, so it will never kill him. (This is a good thing in Doubles.)
• has the second highest Maximum Vertical Range between all of Shulk's throws. (Tied with B-throw.)

So, a lot of these bulletins are favoring for the most part. Dealing good damage is always a good thing. F-throw in Training Mode deals 7.7% which isn't bad, but it's not good either. . .let's just say it's okay. --- Having the lowest amount of lag is greatly appreciated because it leads to F-throw having a low amount of Total Frames, making F-throw a follow-up / combo throw in Speed & Buster, & maybe even Jump if something gets discovered. Having a low knockback angle means you have a great stage-controlling throw that leads to wonderful edge-guarding opportunities off-stage. F-throw's MHR is the best out of Shulk's throws, which means that the collateral 3% hit can hit nearby opponents if they're that close to you waiting to strike from the front. It even has sub-par range above & in front of Shulk, so opponents who approach from the air can get shut out from the collateral hit ruining their attempt.

The only bad things I can think of F-throw are:

• It's outdone / outclassed by Shulk's other throws. Therefore, it's rarely used.
• F-throw has the second lowest amount of Knockback Growth, so it's ends up not becoming a great kill throw. Heck, U-throw has better KBG than F-throw.
• It's not that amazing of a throw in any particular field, so it gets a lack of usage & isn't "wow" enough.
• F-throw ties with U-throw for having the lowest amount of Base Knockback, so it's not that much of a combo throw except for being used with Speed for following up nicely, & Buster for that knockback reduction at very low to low percents.

Now, these bulletins are supposed to be about how bad F-throw is, but truthfully F-throw isn't that bad. F-throw is still a good kill throw, so let's do some numbers:

KO Percentages starring vs F-throw in Training Mode (No Rage effect)​

F-throw isn't a great KO throw, It's really not. It is however an average if not good KO throw because it's still augmented by the Smash art guys. "That's how I like it guys." Decisive F-throw is a reliable KO throw though.


Location: Center stage.
Stage: ΩGaur Plains.
Objective: Using good survival DI to get the earliest percent said throw kills, showing the Deadly Blow effect.

I'm including U-throw because Jigglypuff has the lightest weight & the lowest fall speed. So U-throw has SOME KO power. .

U-throw KO%: 186% with Deadly Blow effect by holding my joystick / for maximum survival DI.
---
Next is F-throw. I tested F-throw in three different places: One, the center. Two, near the ledge as in Shulk ledge-rolled onto the stage & gently turned around to face the right. And Three, at the ledge as in Shulk ledge-climbed onto the stage & gently turned around to face the right, which required me to control Jigglypuff going off-stage and then drift in range of Shulk's standing grab.

F-throw KO%s:

1. Center: 176% by holding my joystick towards the stage for maximum survival DI. (Down+left works better at center stage than holding sideways toward the stage.)
2. Near the ledge: 145% by holding my joystick towards the stage for maximum survival DI. (Sideways works better than holding down+left at this location.)
3. At the ledge: 121% by holding my joystick towards the stage for maximum survival DI. (Sideways works better than holding down+left at this location.)

I'm sorry for calling you out like that U-throw. . But, F-throw has a better KO% at center stage than U-throw anywhere on-stage. And I'm sure that I'm gonna get replied about the U-throw comparison being terrible 'cus it doesn't kill, but it does. Still, you know you enjoyed that hancock kill when you got it on someone.

EDIT: (. . . .why hasn't anyone posted?)

 

[Berserker.]

Oh crap. I forgot this thread existed

Okay, move on to b-throw

 

[Masonomace]

Bthrow
Overall rating:1/2
翔:1/2 (Jump Bthrow is basically Jump Fthrow but you deal 1% more damage & RAR isn't required.)
疾:(Speed Bthrow is a wonderful pivoted stage controlling throw that can also kill on walk-offs <3.)
盾:1/2 (Shield Bthrow is Shield's strongest throw almost dealing 9% fresh, but it's just a "get off my stage" throw.)
斬:1/2 (Buster Bthrow is the strongest throw damage output Shulk can dish out. ~17% fresh is hotness.)
撃:1/2 (Smash Bthrow fresh has slightly better kill potential than Smash Fthrow.)
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
What can I say? Bthrow is a sweet throw because it's one of Shulk's best throws. Fthrow & Bthrow can get compared quite often since they both have similar traits, but usually Bthrow gets used & favored more in matches. Bthrow:

• is Shulk's highest damage-dealing throw. (In case you didn't know, HBuster Bthrow fresh deals ~21%. Let it sink in.)
• has the third highest amount of lag. (Bthrow has 24 frames of lag while Uthrow has 25 frames of lag.)
• has the third highest amount of Total Frames. (Bthrow's Total Frames is 44, & Dthrow being the second least is 43.)
• and Fthrow tie for having the lowest knocback angle. (Bthrow is 135° behind Shulk while Fthrow is 45° in front of Shulk.)
• has the second farthest Maximum Horizontal Range of Shulk's throws. (It's about the same MHR as N-air from the front.)
• has the second highest Maximum Vertical Range of Shulk's throws. (Tied with Fthrow.)
• launches the opponent facing towards the blastzone, which means their back is facing toward Shulk. (Back Slash setup!)

I can't help but compare Bthrow and Fthrow because both are primarily for stage-controlling & setting placement to dictate the different paces from either Neutral to Advantage, or Disadvantage to Neutral or Advantage. Bthrow dealing the most damage between all four of his throws can lead to Shulk players heavily using the throw especially in Buster, which is fine because that's great damage. Bthrow out of Shulk's throws also deals the second highest Base Knockback but sadly has the least amount of Knockback Growth. All this means is Bthrow used early is great but not as good later used as a kill option despite that it deals good damage. Don't get me wrong though, Smash Bthrow can kill. I didn't mention it in the bulletins above, but Bthrow can be used like Fthrow in Doubles, just not as reliably good since it pierces one particular angle while Fthrow has a neat slashing hitbox covering a good range in front of Shulk.

The setbacks about Bthrow that I can think of:

• It could get overused, which can be good or bad. It depends on whether Bthrow was used so much that the damage would deal less than using Fthrow instead.
• The Shulk player thinks about the Back Slash setup too much when fishing for it. This can likely result in a whiff & receiving punishment or not.
• Bthrow has the least amount of Knockback Growth between Shulk's throws, so without a Smash art it may not even kill at higher percents.

Since Fthrow & Bthrow are getting compared anyways, let's compare their kill percentages. Fthrow has less BKB, but Fthrow has more KBG. Vanilla Bthrow only deals 1% more than Vanilla Fthrow in Training Mode & Smash Bthrow only deals .5% more than Smash Fthrow. In a real match setting however, Smash Fthrow fresh deals 5.775% while Smash Bthrow fresh deals 6.3%.

Kill percents starring vs Bthrow & Fthrow with & without Rage!​

Locations: Center stage, ledge-roll, & ledge-climb.
Stage: ΩGaur Plains.
Objective: Using good survival DI to determine the earliest percent said throw kills while showing Deadly Blow effect.

Training Mode​

Center (dropping from revival platform)
Fthrow kills Mario holding towards the stage at 216% even when he's trying to doublejump.
Bthrow kills Mario holding towards the stage at 203 - 204% even when he's trying to doublejump.

Ledge-rolling onto stage (turning around gently for Fthrow)
Fthrow kills Mario holding / towards the stage at 178% even when he's trying to doublejump.
Bthrow kills Mario holding / towards the stage at 163 - 165% even when he's trying to doublejump.

Ledge-climbing onto stage (turning around gently for Fthrow)
Fthrow kills Mario holding / towards the stage at 143 - 144% even when he's trying to doublejump.
Bthrow kills Mario holding / towards the stage at 130% even when he's trying to doublejump.

Special Smash Mode (Fast speed, handicap on, & using Falco Burst Blaster to deal 1.05%.)​

Location: Ledge-climb onto stage only

Ledge-climbing onto stage (turning around gently for Fthrow)

Shulk at 50%
Fthrow kills Mario holding / towards the stage at 137% even when he's trying to doublejump.
Bthrow kills Mario holding / towards the stage at 120% even when he's trying to doublejump.


Shulk at 100%
Fthrow kills Mario holding / towards the stage at 119% even when he's trying to doublejump.
Bthrow kills Mario holding / towards the stage at 105% even when he's trying to doublejump.


Shulk at 150%
Fthrow kills Mario holding / towards the stage at 105% even when he's trying to doublejump.
Bthrow kills Mario holding / towards the stage at 89 - 90% even when he's trying to doublejump.

 

[Berserker.]

Anyone else have anything to say on b-throw? Whelp, my turn then. Lol

The most notable b-throws for me are pretty much speed, smash and buster b-throw. Jump art b-throw doesn't really do anything different from vanilla b-throw. Speed art b-throw is notable for me because you can set-up into aerials or boost pivot options after it. It's basically good for setting up chases. Buster b-throw is all about that damage because ****, 16-17% damage? From one grab? Um... that's amazing. That's as hard hitting as buster f-tilt. You can even set-up for back slash after buster b-throw but it's risky and unreliable. Smash art b-throw kills early. Not as early as d-throw but it kills early near the edge. KBG sucks though but regardless of its KBG, it's still capable of killing early and that's important to know when it comes to sealing the stock with Shulk

Jump/Vanilla : 3.5/5
Speed/Smash : 4/5
Shield : 3/5
Buster : 4.5/5

 

[Taitsu]

Nothing to add, solid throw overall.

Jump/Vanilla/Smash : 3.5/5
Speed : 4/5
Shield : 3/5
Buster : 4.5/5

 

[Masonomace]

Onto Up throw? I know we already discussed it in the past, but there are some new additional comments & neat things I'm sure many Shulk players have learned with using Up throw now.

 

[Linkmario00]

I also would like rediscussing Upthrow. Gotta love that throw recently

 

[gridatttack]

Sorry to bump this, but I would like to see what you guys think of Up Throw. I talked about it with fellow local Shulk player, and he told me he never uses U throw anymore, and frankly, I almost never use it too.

I simply don't see an use for it. The opponent can just simply jump away to prevent any further action, and we cant really follow into anything, because the opponent can air dodge or use an aerial. Not even in buster to try and land all those U tilts. IIRC, they can jump out of range of U tilt.

Mainly my gripe with this throw is how much end land it has. I suppose they made it this way so we can't true combo U throw to U air with Jump mode to get the kill....

 

[meleebrawler]

Sorry to bump this, but I would like to see what you guys think of Up Throw. I talked about it with fellow local Shulk player, and he told me he never uses U throw anymore, and frankly, I almost never use it too.

I simply don't see an use for it. The opponent can just simply jump away to prevent any further action, and we cant really follow into anything, because the opponent can air dodge or use an aerial. Not even in buster to try and land all those U tilts. IIRC, they can jump out of range of U tilt.

Mainly my gripe with this throw is how much end land it has. I suppose they made it this way so we can't true combo U throw to U air with Jump mode to get the kill....

Ah, the ol' diatribe of "this throw doesn't true combo when it looks like it should and that makes it bad". I hear this a lot with Mewtwo's dthrow as well.

I think it's already been mentioned that uthrow works well with Jump at higher percents, and I'm sure it could be used to plant opponents on platforms so that you can follow their techs.

Even if you can't do any of that, if the opponent jumps away as they should, they won't have it anymore afterwards making their landing vulnerable. Works best with Speed, at least when you can't get dthrow followups anymore.

 

[gridatttack]

I'm not really in the thing that it doesn't true combo into anything. I'm more troubled mainly because the opponent can just jump away and either air dodge or attack when you are going for them, and they have considerable time to expect your move because of U throw ending lag.

Also, how exactly does U throw works at higher percents? Would love to know.

Though, now that you mention that the opponent loses their second jump, I can see this to condition and opponent and an opportunity to use a MALLC aerial to bait an air dodge, so you can then finish them off with a smash attack or a tilt.

 

[FOcast]

With how good Utilt and Air Slash are for catching people above us, Uthrow can't be bad. It certainly does have a hard time comboing, and having lower damage than Fthrow or Bthrow makes it situational at best, but putting your opponent above you is almost always good. Instead of going for followups, use Uthrow to figure out what your opponent likes to do when he's above you. If they airdodge consistently, Air Slash can catch those pretty easily. If they throw out aerials, you can short hop and fastfall to avoid them and punish hard. Since the throw does have significant endlag, I wouldn't use it at early percents, but when you're in neither low percent combo range nor high percent edgeguard range, it's a good way to put yourself in an advantageous position.

 

[Abaasy]

The only application I use UThrow for is in Jump Art, with tons of rage and the opponent being at around 50%, I UThrow into double Jump Uair. If they try and jump out of Uthrow, they die. Jump Airdodges don't work against that either. The only way to escape that is to airdodge which can be read and followed by a Utilt or use a challenging aerial.

 

[meleebrawler]

The only application I use UThrow for is in Jump Art, with tons of rage and the opponent being at around 50%, I UThrow into double Jump Uair. If they try and jump out of Uthrow, they die. Jump Airdodges don't work against that either. The only way to escape that is to airdodge which can be read and followed by a Utilt or use a challenging aerial.

While it's certainly the best use for uthrow normally, don't ignore the usefulness of nearby platforms.

 

[ExcaliburGuy]

Here lies the Art Management thread.
2015 - 2015
Rest in pasta.

...

Buster up throw onto a platform into up tilt is pretty noice.

 

[Sonicninja115]

Has anyone seen the Endi pivot method of PP? It is a bit easier, but you still have to memorize the timing.

How good are PP Dsmashes? I think they would be pretty OP in buster, possible smash as well.

what else is Bthrow good for besides semi combo into Backslash and a high percent situational kill option?

 

[ExcaliburGuy]

Has anyone seen the Endi pivot method of PP? It is a bit easier, but you still have to memorize the timing.

Endi method? Never heard of it. I'll have to check it out, because PP to the left still gives me trouble.

How good are PP Dsmashes? I think they would be pretty OP in buster, possible smash as well.

I haven't really experimented with PP Dsmash, but I'll start looking into that. Speed fox trot into PP into ftilt/fsmash is a fantastic tool, though.

what else is Bthrow good for besides semi combo into Backslash and a high percent situational kill option?

I mainly use Bthrow for either throwing opponents offstage after a pivot grab or in Buster, because Buster back throw is actually insane.

 

[Sonicninja115]

Here you go! I posted this in another thread, but I don't know if anyone noticed it.

 

[gridatttack]

Back throw can lead to a back slash if you throw an opponent near the ledge, and he likes jumping or being in the air when entering the stage again. You can bait that you are going away by a retreating jump, and then do a backslash. With the new backslash, you can hit an opponent if it airdodges too soon. This doesnt work much as one you do it, he might be expecting.

Other than that, Back throw to kill with Smash near the ledge, as well as dealing 17% damage with buster.

 

[Masonomace]

Just wanna note that Smash art Bthrow is one of the best Bthrows in the game. Copy & pasted from another thread:

Similarly with backthrow, since backthrows are almost always kill moves or to put a lot of distance between the enemy, the order of strength goes

1: Ness
2: Lucas
3: Villager
4: Mewtwo
5: Toon link

And then DK, Mario etc start to KO a bit later than that.

To add to this, I went to training mode & tested kill percentages. Monado Smash art augments Shulk's Bthrow killing Mario at 124% while Toon Link's Bthrow kills at 129%, Mewtwo's Bthrow kills at 127%, Villager's Bthrow kills at 125%, Lucas' Bthrow kills at 124%, & Ness' Bthrow kills at 96%. So while the art only lasts for 16 seconds aka 960 frames, it's knockback multiplier helps it rival the second strongest Bthrow.

 

[gridatttack]

Thanks for the info! I'm surprised to see that smash B throw kills earlier than Toon Link O.o
(I suppose its the angle)

Nice to see we have throw options that kills either left or right.

 

[Berserker.]

This thread will be updated soon

I also have some new ideas to add now that I've messed around with perfect pivoting with Shulk (especially with speed art)

 

[Berserker.]

ALRIGHT

I actually updated the thread with the Monado Arts description

---

Neutral special : Monado Arts

The Monado Arts.... Pretty much what define Shulk's character and his playstyle. The arts allow Shulk to switch to the appropriate art to respond to certain situations he gets into in fights. Each art comes with its own advantages and disadvantages, buffs and debuffs. Each of them also serve a certain purpose and how they're utilized is ultimately dependent on how the player wants to use them. Some players opt to ignore one art and focus on some others, vice versa. Each art has an up time of 16 seconds and has a cooldown of 10 seconds

Before getting into the details with each art, it's best to begin with talking about a few specific advanced techniques with this special. A known advanced technique with the Monado Arts is called, "MALLC" or in short art cancelling. This tech allows you to cancel your aerial's landing lag when you time the art's activation correctly (the activation must occur upon landing with an aerial). Art cancelling allows Shulk to apply safe mid-range pressure without fear of getting punished (unless you use f-air). An additional note for MALLC (or the Monado Arts actually in general) is that the animation has some frames of intangibility (frame 1-14) which you can take advantage of

翔
Jump art is one of the two mobility arts Shulk has. It increases Shulk's jump height, air speed, falling speed and recovering height. It also increases Shulk's damage received by 22%. This is one of Shulk's more volatile arts solely because of its defense nerf. If Shulk is caught in a combo, he'll take a lot of damage. His fast falling speed also makes it easier for his opponents to combo the hell out of him but despite this, jump art is still Shulk's best tool when it comes to escaping the disadvantaged state. You can easily jump out of juggle set-ups or any combo-starting set-ups thanks to Shulk's increased jump height

Recovering with jump Shulk is fairly easy, as said earlier. There are several traits you can take advantage of when recovering with jump art. When you're recovering high, you can utilize Shulk's enormous second jump to recover back on stage. When you're trying to recover from front/mid, you can mix it up between drifting in the air with Shulk's amazing air speed (and air dodging if needed) and air slash. Air slash does ledge snap at a certain distance from the ledge and this distance is actually surprisingly needs to be close to the ledge. You can also recover from a low angle with jump art with the help of his additional jump, air speed and his high reaching air slash

Jump art's offensive potential is amazing. You can mix up and confuse your opponents really easily with the use of fast falling, tomahawk into grabs, empty hops, cross up aerials, and if you're in a stage with platforms, you can take advantage of those platforms to take control of the stage or to play a bit more campy against opponents. Shulk has a lot of combos in jump art and most of these combos can result to the opponents dying off at an early percentage. You can also edgeguarding opponents with relative ease using jump art

疾
Speed art is Shulk's safest, most solid and important art (maybe along with buster) when it comes to his neutral. It increases his ground speed and air speed in exchange for decreasing his damage output (-20%) and jump height. This art allows Shulk to keep up with some of the fastest characters in the game. Speed art also gives Shulk a plethora of options with regards to his mid-range and offensive options. He can opt to dash dance then follow up to a dash grab to confuse opponents. He can also cross up opponents with n-air in the same manner it's used with jump art. The lowered damage output along with Shulk's increased mobility allows him to perform some strings on his opponents, although the damage leaves quite a bit to be desired.

It should also be noted really well that Shulk's walk speed becomes the fastest in the game with speed activated. This helps tremendously with Shulk's movement options and movement mix-ups. Mixing it up between walking, perfect pivoting, dash dancing, and dash grabbing will be important for Shulk's speed art offense.

The most notable trait about speed is that it can be used at any situation at any given time. It's a viable substitute for smash art if you don't really feel safe with using smash art to KO. Although the decreased damage output would mean that the knockback is also decreased, Shulk's KO power in speed art is still notably good enough to instill fear into his opponents (dash u-smash). Speed art can also work as a damaging art if you're not feeling it with buster. Despite the lowered damage output, you can still rack up quite a lot of damage with speed art if you manage to beat your opponent several times in the neutral. Speed art can also work as a substitute recovery if jump art is on cooldown. Although the jump height nerf should discourage you from using speed, the air speed is actually a huge help when it comes to recovering horizontally with Shulk.

The only issue with Speed (which is notable to say at the least) is the damage decrease which does have quite an effect on Shulk's overall safety on shield. It also bogs down Shulk's reward from winning the neutral. Also, try thinking of this: frame 14 aerial that deals 5.6% damage. Yep. That's pretty bad. Regardless of the damage output being nerfed, speed art is still an important art for Shulk which he can rely on due to it being safe and useful for several situations.

盾

Shield art is quite a unique art for Shulk. It comes with a LOT of defensive buffs. Your shield health is significantly increased and the same applies for his shield regeneration too. His weight is greatly increased, to the point that he becomes the heaviest character in the game. Shulk also takes 33% less damage so he won't take that much damage from getting combo'd, even if the combo is ridiculously long. Despite all these buffs, Shulk receives 2 really fatal debuffs. One of which is a decrease in damage output by a staggering 30%. This means that most, if not all, of Shulk's attacks are rendered unsafe on shield. The other debuff is that his mobility is gutted really hard. Shulk's offensive potential in shield art is basically non-existent.

There are ways you can smartly utilize shield art. The natural tendency for opponents against shield art is to either combo the living hell out of you or to camp you out/run away from you. You can actually benefit from all the mentioned situations, despite it sounding like crap. The thing with shield art is that with the increased weight, the amount of hitsun you receive from taking damage is significantly reduced. You can actually punish opponents for hitting you or throwing you (example: mario and luigi's down throw combos). This tactic works really well at low to mid-low percentages (~0-50%) but it becomes somewhat useless later on (especially if the opponent has rage). Camping is also a way on how to counter shield art but this can be taken advantage of. You can use shield art to simply tell the opponent to **** off and give you some space to reset the neutral for a while or you can use this to buy time to wait for an art to go off cooldown.

Let's not forget the ONE notable use of shield art that I almost forgot to add. It's known for its sheer survivability. You won't be dying for a long time if you use shield right and you might even find it normal to see yourself in 150%+ most of the time. Shield art allows you to survive some of the hardest hitting attacks and throws in the game like Ness' b-throw, Bowser's b-air, Captain Falcon's f-air/b-air, and Fox's u-smash. Only issue is that although this has absolutely nothing to do with shield art, there are still some of those attacks in the game that are still ridiculously so strong that you can still die fairly early even if you're in shield art (Falcon's f-smash, Mac's KO punch)

斬
There's already a guide that's solely dedicated to buster art so I'll just put the basic gist of buster art here: Buster art is one of Shulk's most important arts, along with speed art. It's one of his main arts to go to for his neutral and it's also his most straightforward art.This art increases Shulk's damage ouptut by 40% which is really big by the way. It also decreases the knockback his attacks deal which on one hand is good but on some opponents, it does make his attacks unsafe on hit. The downside to buster, although not really that much of a downside, is that he takes more damage by 13%

There isn't really much to say on how to utilize buster art. It's really just straight forward. The way one utilizes buster is fairly simple actually. Just whack the opponents shield with your tilts and attacks. Land grabs. Net in some buster strings and true combos. Shields beware of buster because, especially with the new patch, buster destroys shields and gives you less reason to fear them

撃 1/2
Aaaaaaah..... This art. Everyone sort of loves and hates it so much. Smash art increases Shulk's knockback by a noticeable amount. Noticeable enough to make b-throw and d-throw into kill throws which are important for Shulk. All his attacks become capable of KO'ing opponents. Sounds good? Well, it comes with disadvantages and these disadvantages are really saddening for this art. Shulk's weight is decreased so he's going to die off pretty early if you mess up with this art. The one HUGE debuff he receives is that his damage output is reduced by ****ing 50%. None of your attacks are safe on shield because of this. It also leaves Smash art's role in Shulk's neutral to be non-existent

You won't be finding yourself using this art that much. The only time you'd be using this art is if you're in an advantageous position. Otherwise, don't switch into this art, unless you want to land a read but even then, it's risky because screwing up will possibly equate to your death. On that note, Shulk's smash attacks kill RIDICULOUSLY early with smash art activated. His upward angled f-smash becomes some of the strongest f-smashes in the game in terms of raw kill power. U-smash is the most consistent option out of the 3 smash attacks because it kills vertically. It doesn't have as much kill power as much f-smash but it still kills stupidly early. D-smash becomes much more of a scarier roll punish since it kills early, so yeah. Down side for all this is that his smash attacks have a lot of ending lag so you can't just throw these attacks out of no where. Shulk's safer KO options are : B-throw, D-throw, B-air, F-tilt, and U-tilt. Use u-tilt when the opponent is above you or trying to attack you with SH aerials. Use f-tilt/pivot f-tilt to intercept rolls and grounded approaches. You can also intercept aerial approaches with pivot f-tilt if you space it right. B-air is also great if you want to intercept rolls, spot dodges, air dodges, and basically any sort of commitment that happens. B-air is basically used in the same way it's usually used except you have to be a bit more careful with it. B-throw and D-throw are self explanatory

But yeah. This art is risky. Oh, and with rage, this art becomes ridiculously nuts and scary but some opponents tend to wait out smash art if they predict that you'll just exploit rage

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I updated it now with back slash~

Hope you guys are not disappointed with what I put :^)

 

[Sonicninja115]

Oi, smashboards glitched, I only pushed the button once and it made two posts. Sorry for the inconvenience mods...

 

[Berserker.]

Alright. Vision is coming soon

Upward special : Air Slash

Surprisingly, this move isn't used that much by most Shulk players despite it being arguably one of Shulk's best moves. Air slash is composed of 2 hits, the first hit sends the opponent upwards and it also has set knockback. The second hit is wherein the opponent is knocked back hard. The first hit deals 6% or 5% damage depending on the frame in which you land the move. The second hit will always deal 5.5% damage. The horizontal and vertical range of air slash... or the range of this move in general, is fantastic. It's one of Shulk's farthest reaching attacks, add to the fact that it's also one of Shulk's fastest attacks (frame 10) and it can also kill at low percentages (especially with rage), this move is amazing for Shulk

Air slash is used for 4 purposes. First being that it's Shulk's main recovering tool (along with jump art). As a recovery, it's pretty mediocre, if anything, it's pretty bad to be honest. It has issues with ledge snapping and it's easy to gimp or edgeguard. Without the assistance of jump or speed art, Shulk's recovery is quite easy to gimp. Second purpose: it's one of Shulk's reliable OoS options since it comes out fast. You can sneak in some kills by utilizing OoS air slash with smash art activated. Another use for air slash is that it's amazing for edgeguarding. Most recoveries in Smash 4 has issues with contesting against air slash due to its sheer range. In addition to this, air slash covers a lot of space so it's really difficult to get around proficient air slash edgeguarding especially when you're so reliant on recovering from low or even mid. The last purpose (and definitely not the least) is that it's one of Shulk's main tools for sealing the stock. Shulk's air slash actually has a lot of knockback and its second hit has a high KBG value. With this in mind, you should know that you can land early kills, especially if you land this off-stage. This also makes air slash the ideal combo finisher (this is apparent in most jump art combos) along with f-air, b-air, and in some rare occasions, d-air

Other than jump art and to a significantly lesser degree, speed art, the monado arts do not really add much new uses for air slash other than more damage or knockback, vice versa. Jump art air slash is most notable due to its significantly increased vertical recovering height which helps a lot when it comes to recovering from deep. Speed art air slash (the 2nd hit) is somewhat augmented horizontally due to speed art's air mobility increase like jump art. Buster art increases the damage, obviously, so air slash would deal ~16.1% damage which is great and high damage output is great and all, but you have better options for damage racking in buster art so you could resort to using buster air slash if you were trying to get some damage out of a situation in which you could utilize OoS air slash. Smash art air slash is really ****ing good for the sole purpose that it kills ridiculously early however, rage may mess up the connection of the two hits

Air slash is a fantastic move which more Shulk players should utilize. The ending lag may be horrendous which makes it somewhat risky to even try using this special move but air slash has so much advantages to the point that you can't ignore its existence and importance to Shulk's gameplan

Rating:
普1/2
翔1/2
疾
盾
斬1/2
撃

---

Oh and I forgot about d-throw

Discuss d-throw

 

[Sonicninja115]

Buster D-throw into Dtilt is good, and there is the possibility of a follow-up grab or aerial after it.

Kills in Smash at high percents.

Good follow-ups when used with Jump, I don't think it is gaurenteed though.

Speed is good with this. Monadacus Maximus.

I think D-throw is a general go to throw. More use then F/B-throw.

 

[Masonomace]

(I see discuss Dthrow, but I'm gonna dab back into Uthrow because I didn't give a proper rating of it)​

TL;DR Uthrow is decent early percent. It's best to use with Jump + Rage accumulated, then Buster at mid percents, then Speed at early percents.

Disclaimer: IMO.

Uthrow
Overall: 1/2 (Surprised by the rating eh? Well honestly Uthrow isn't that bad, since it's quite decent)
翔: 1/2 (Until now, I'm realizing that Jump art Uthrow can true combo into Air Slash or the more-known Uair)
疾: 1/2 (Unlike other arts, you can use Speed to juggle an opponent with Utilts, frame-trap Nairs, etc.)
盾: 1/2 (Despite of Shield's horrible everything-speed & damage decrease, this is the only throw you can follow-up with)
斬: (It's so good you force your opponent to use a midair jump. Otherwise, their airdodge means suicide)
撃: (Because this is unexplored & that the damage decrease makes it very petty especially since you don't have that many combo setups to begin with)
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I can see why this throw is not used very much. In fact, this throw may have been on the same level of usage as much as Fthrow, but we know better by now that Uthrow isn't that bad. Uthrow:

• is a rarely used throw for some good reasons. However, it's got potential especially with true combo'ing into Air Slash.
• is tied for Shulk's least damage-dealing throw. (Both Uthrow & Dthrow deal 3 + 4 = 7% in Vanilla)
• ties for having the least amount of BKB for Shulk's throws. (Fthrow & Uthrow tie for 60 BKB)
• has the highest amount of lag. (Bthrow has 24, while Uthrow has 25 frames of lag after it's second hitbox)
• has the highest amount of Total frames. (47 Total frames)
• possesses the greatest Maximum Vertical Range with the second hit. (The second hit's apex range almost rivals Usmash)
• has an 88° knockback angle. (This can be ideal for Uair, Air Slash, or Fair's startup)
• has the second highest KBG. (This especially can be ideal for Uair or Air Slash at higher percents to make them true)

Despite the amount of bulletins, it's overall mixed because Uthrow in most cases with whichever art is better off used at later percents for more usage from the move. On one hand, you do deal a lot of BKB which theoretically should combo into Utilt or Air Slash at lower percents, right? Unfortunately that's wrong due to Uthrow possessing a lot of lag resulting in having a lot of Total frames while doing less hitstun than one wished it could. However, you can make use of Uthrow at any percents as long as you have a certain art active.

Early percents
There are 3 - 4 things the opponent can choose from when getting Uthrown:

1. Airdodge
2. Jump away
3. Contest with a move
4. Holding shield (only on platform stages)

These are their only options, & the one thing that Uthrow does beautifully more than Fthrow Bthrow or Dthrow in most cases is forcing the opponent to expend their midair jump(s). Airdodging is the absolute worst option to opt for since it will cost them a heavy punish of some kind for airdodging to the ground & suffering the 22 frames of landing lag. Additionally, when playing on platform stages such as BF, an Uthrow at early percents under a platform will have the opponent taking hitstun & then land on the platform, which is ideal for Utilts or Uair pressuring shield. However, without platforms involved, a character with a fast frame get-off-me move fast fallen or not can contest Shulk's endlag should you do this at very early percents. This usually happens to Shulks in Buster that think they can cheese with Utilt strings when they forget to realize Buster reduces knockback dealt despite of the higher damage dealt. So in this case as Buster Shulk, you're better off holding shield to bait out the fast-frame option & shield grab, something else, or try the rare Air Slash challenge to clash & trade hits for the price of suffering RCO lag for Air Slash getting interrupted & then mash UpB to try getting another first hit of Air Slash sourspot leading into the second hit for a massive amount of ~23.1% early on. Otherwise,

For Speed Shield & Smash, damage reduction is going to be a given, so you can't confirm a true combo into Air Slash. Perhaps Speed Uthrow can at a mid to high-mid percentage range, & rarely Smash Uthrow on a very few amount of characters possessing a lot of fall speed, but that's still a poor result of damage albeit grants stage control when it works. For Speed Uthrow you'll focus more on the fact that you force the midair jump & then punish their landing, especially if performed on a character that already has a bad time landing anyway. Perfect pivoted Utilt, frame-trapping Nair, or following their midair jump with a jumping setup despite of the jump height decrease won't be too much of a setback. Shield Uthrow isn't great, but in the case that you use Shield early on & get a grab, it's not a bad idea to Uthrow because you have the easiest time going for followups unlike Fthrow Bthrow or Dthrow used more for stage-controlling. Smash Uthrow deals enough hitstun & knockback to create the early tumble state, but don't let this fool you into thinking you can true combo at early percents with Utilt or Air Slash since you'll most likely force out their midair jump. Maybe there's a way to combo, but this is unexplored afaik.


Middle to Later percents
From here on, there are only two things the opponent can choose from when getting Uthrown most of the time:

1. Airdodge
2. Jump away
3. Tech-in place, tech roll left, or tech roll right (only on platform stages like BF / Miiverse or Dreamland 64)

At this point, not even the fastfest frame options could contest Shulk because most of Shulk's moves are disjointed & long-ranged thus beating out their options. Although, moves used to escape from the situation such as ZSS' Flip Jump or a move like Sonic's Spring could perhaps work. But starting around the mid-range to high percents, you can true combo Uthrow > Air Slash with Vanilla or Jump more reliably than Jump art's Uthrow > Uair even if you MABD the art in order to increase the jump height of your SH or FH. While Speed & Shield don't decrease the height of Air Slash, their reduced damage multipliers make the true combo potential of Uthrow into Air Slash questionable. Smash Uthrow > Air Slash could be more of a true combo at later percents especially with Rage effect accumulated, but this is also unexplored afaik. Additionally, the opponent can tech on a platform if they were just over the height of an upper leveled platform such as the one of BF, Miiverse, SV, T&C, & Dreamland 64. so just get the read on where they go & pressure their limited options with yours in this Advantage.

Starting at later percents, Uthrow's KBG shows only to perform better the higher their percentage rises. From here, Jump art becomes the best art for Uthrow since you get true combo potential with Air Slash or good 50/50s with Uair or Fair. During this, the opponent cannot easily jump away from the Uair or Fair because they either die off the ceiling from Uair, or Fair ladder combo'd to a likely kill near the corner. This is usually when the opponent opts for airdodge against the aerial followup in case it doesn't true combo, but even so the airdodge can be answered with a mixup option like Back Slash, Dair, delayed Uair, or a patient waited option like Air Slash from the ground. And remember, Jump art loves accumulated Rage effect as Jump art tends to perform much better with Rage in its game-play than any other art. So even if Jump Uthrow > whatever doesn't true combo before, it can definitely true combo with Rage accumulated for sure, since y'know, Jump art doesn't change damage or knockback. So ultimately, Uthrow is the best throw when Rage applies.


Kill potential?
There is none. Uthrow is by far our worst kill throw. If you get a hancock kill thanks to Uthrow, it's because Monado Smash was active & you toyed around with their life only to keep them alive until ~250% to disrespect them.

 

[Berserker.]

Random update but I (think I) edited all the details about Smash and Shield art modifying Shulk's weight because it doesn't do that. It increases/decreases knockback taken

SO yeah. It's all in the second post. Also, keep discussing d-throw

 

[Masonomace]

TL;DR Dthrow is overall out greatest throw. However, it's because Dthrow is so good that Shulk players make this throw very stale thus the result becomes a weakened kill option at later percents. Conserve this throw wisely.

Disclaimer: IMO.

Dthrow
Overall:
翔: 1/2 (Can combo around mid percentages on some Heavies / Fast fallers especially if they DI towards you)
疾: 1/2 (Is a reliable combo throw at early percentages, but loses its combo potential from good DI + Rage tampering with your combos)
盾: 1/2 (It has no combo or followup potential. This is basically just a stage-controlling throw that has good knockback but deals weaker damage than Fthrow & Bthrow)
斬: (By far our best combo throw at the early to mid percentages. In Buster We Trust)
撃: 1/2 (By far our most reliable kill throw option thanks to the throw's high BKB & KBG augmented by Smash art)
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For reasons, Dthrow gets great ratings throughout each Monado art barring Monado Shield. This throw is notorious for being a Shulk player's most-used throw move simply because it's alright at the very least yet outstanding in performance in Jump Speed Buster & Smash. Dthrow:

• is the most used throw for many applications in several different arts.
• ties for Shulk's least-damaging throw. (Both Uthrow & Dthrow deal 7% in Vanilla)
• possesses the most BKB & KBG. (BKB = 70 while KBG = 115)
• has the least amount of lag after the throw's second hitbox. (18 frames of lag whereas Fthrow has 21)
• is capable of hitting a ledge-hanging opponent. (Uh cool?)
• The collateral 3% deals some amount of KBG, but it won't kill in a normal match format. (Yay for Doubles)
• has a 50° knockback angle. (Good for running Fair, jumping Fair, Dtilt, Ftilt, Dash Attack, Fsmash, & Air Slash)

Dthrow overall is probably our best throw. And it's for that exact reason why Dthrow becomes overused & exhausted as a kill throw later on. Dthrow has so much usage early game with the known Speed & Buster BnB combos & even some Buster BnB combos at mid percentages that makes it stale later on as a result. There's also moments Shulk players use Dthrow when they know it doesn't kill & then go for the edge-guard offstage or stay on-stage to punish their ledge options but end up unsuccessful in either case as the result. This leads to Dthrow becoming even more stale & Smash Dthrow having a harder time sealing a stock.

For Speed Dthrow, a dashing / running Fair is usually the BnB combo used most, & Air Slash can work as a fill-in instead of running Fair. However, the proper way to DI away from this throw is diagonally away from Shulk. So if Shulk is facing left & Dthrows you, you'll want to hold & if Shulk is facing right & Dthrows you, you'll want to hold . It's very likely that you as the victim diagonally aiming away from Speed Shulk's Dthrow > Fair will have to tech at early percents, but this isn't universal to every character weight class. Buster Shulk's Dthrow > said move is a formidable combo because the throw has high BKB & KBG yet the art's decreased knockback multiplier keeps them within range & deals enough hitstun to true combo into Dtilt / Ftilt, DA / Fsmash, & Air Slash. Although, Air Slash at early percents gets punished more often if you decide to use the second hit but not as much so when just using the first hit's sweetspot to deal the set knockback. The weighted-based knockback launches them & inflicts enough hitstun that allows you to fastfall to the ground, but this all changes when playing on a platform stage like BF Miiverse or Dreamland to allow you landing safely on the upper top platform after Air Slash finishes the second hit. So in the end, to help unstale Dthrow should you decide on planning a Smash Dthrow kill confirm, rely on the favorable Buster or any art with Fthrow or Bthrow since they're not only multi-hitting but deal the most damage & act as stage-control throws to lead on favorable stage advantage & ledge-trapping.

I didn't mention much about it, but Jump Shulk's Dthrow > SH / FH Fair can combo some middle weights, heavy weights, or fast fallers with their respective percentage ranges. MABD plays a good role for Dthrow too. Even though Dthrow has the least amount of lag, you still have enough time to consecutively press the specials button 3 times before Dthrow's endlag finishes to use a Vanilla move as your followup to suddenly deal a good amount of knockback. Currently, this favors Speed & Buster the most due to the MABD removing their debuffs. Speed's combo percentages extend thanks to removing Speed art's reduced jump height yet maintaining the fast movement speed to the dash or run sequence. Buster's helpful combo potential sets up a move dealing Vanilla damage & knockback after deactivating the art's reduced knockback.