Mechanical Rhythm - Getting a feel for the Monado Arts

[Maple42]

Changing Monado Arts in between fighting can be a difficult task; however, with proper counting, transitioning can become muscle memory.

Start by thinking about the Arts as numbers: the amount of times you must press B to activate them - Jump (1), Speed (2), Shield (3) ,Buster (4), and Smash (5). While Vanilla Shulk, keep these numbers in mind. During the beginning of the match, think…. Which art do I need? (It’s Speed). That means you have to press B twice.

The arduous part is transitioning between a current art and a new one; this skill is crucial during several parts of the battle, including Speed (2) >>> Buster (4) for mid percentages, Buster (4) >>> Smash (5) for high percentages, and Shield (3) >>> Jump (1) for falling off the ledge. The way we’re going to go about this is to add 3 to the original art’s number; three presses to cancel the art, and then the original number of presses to obtain the new art.

i.e. You’re at 130%, so you change to Shield (3). Then, you get your Little Mac body thrown off the edge as your opponent taunts because they’re pretentious and doubt you. Being the awe-inspiring upcoming Shulk player you are, you have read the beginner’s guide to transitioning Monado Arts, so you know to press B four times (Jump [1] + three to cancel your current Art) and don’t immediately try to Air Slash until the Art goes into effect, and bolster yourself back to the edge.​

Speaking of important transitions, it’s interesting to note the large amount of button mashing that is needed to transition from, say, Buster (4) >>> Smash (5); a total of eight times! Occasionally, you simply do not have enough time to transition to the optimal art; in this case, faster options such as Buster (4) >>> Jump (1) are acceptable, needing only four button presses.

Once these interactions are practiced enough, numbering will no longer be necessary. Shulk’s diversity to change with the game state is a powerful tool, one which demands constant practice and concentration. Make this skill second nature, and victory is surely in your future.

~

Monado Shuffling

An interesting technique can be employed by using the counting method. By continuously shuffling through the Monado Arts, you can pressure the opponent into uncertainty.

This can be done by first choosing the Art you would like to end with. Then, once you get to that Art's symbol, continuously cycle between all the Arts, back to the Art you chose at the beginning by pressing B quickly, in groups of five button presses. Continue until the desired result. You can walk or run towards your opponent to further increase pressure; however, be warned that if you pivot, the cycle will halt for a moment.

i.e. Your opponent is at 100%, so you press B five times to go the the symbol of Smash while nudging the directional pad towards the opponent to initiate walking; then, press B continuously, in groups of five, to shuffle between all the Arts, back to Smash.

If the Art you chose at the beginning is no longer optimal, you can also use counting tricks to continue shuffling while changing the art you shuffle to.
Assuming you're currently on the Art you chose previously, you can press B equal to its value given in the previous section, then continue to press B five times to further shuffle.

This technique gains further value with another tech, called the 'Monado Arts Landing Lag Cancel,' or MALLC. I suggest taking a look at this thread before you continue to read.
The best dismount for a shuffle is a MALLC'd aerial attack; the easiest way to perform this is by landing on your desired Art, then Short Hopping immediately after you get to the Art's symbol. Then, perform either a FAir or a NAir and fast fall. The Art will activate, cancelling your lag and freeing you up for any action. This has the benefit of easily letting you change to a preferred Art before MALLC'ing.

To perform the alternative MALLC methods (again, outlined in the MALLC thread), simply shuffle until the desired Art's symbol appears, and follow the steps of that method as per normal.

(Thanks to @ FOcast for originally mentioning it, and that one guy I faced on For Glory that used it to terrifying effect)

 

[erico9001]

Indeed, this is the way to get used to it. Eventually, you get to the point where you know what art you're on and feel it if you accidentally went to the wrong one.

When activating Jump (or deactivating then activating) you should do that as soon as possible because of Jump's increased air speed (or Shield's decreased air speed). You can do this while in that state where you're flying away and can't normally do anything.

I did some testing earlier and found the amount of time it takes for the art to activate to be .8 seconds. This was with a stop watch. I put the game in 1/4x speed to try to eliminate reaction time delay.

 

[Maple42]

Mhm ~! The number counting is simply a way to get it down to muscle memory. I remember thinking, "how am I gonna get these Arts down fast enough to not take an attack every time?"

Wow, .8 seconds? It seems a lot slower when I'm falling in Shield form u w u"

 

[Berserker.]

Nice read and nice thread

I'll be linking this to the meta game thread. Good job

 

[TreK]

I often panic when I choose the wrong art and concede positionnal advantage (or worse) in order to have the time to pick the right one.
I definitely need to work on this lol

 

[Masonomace]

To help the thread, paying attention to the Monado Art symbol by Shulk's portrait beside your Damage Meter can be especially important.

While we're in the Shield > Jump scenario off-stage, there's that moment of time during the Jump Art is cycled to & then self-activates; there's 3 things that happen during the activation of every MArt (in this case Jump) in chronological order:

1. Jump Art symbol is seen hovering above & behind Shulk while also being displayed blinking above & behind Shulk's portrait
   
   
2. Jump Art self-activates lead by a particular sound as the Monado's circular area lights up green & Shulk's feet spark a flash of green, while at the same time the Art beside Shulk's portrait flashes upon activation
   
   
3. Shulk shouts the activated Jump Ar while performing a pose, & later the Monado Art symbol disappears ending with Shulk putting his Monado away

At the exact moment you see the Art flash beside the portrait near your Damage Meter, or when you hear the particular sound is when you can act out with something per-say Air Slash while you recover. You do not have to wait one bit for Shulk to perform his pose. Canceling step 3 to avoid the pose Shulk makes can be done in mid-air with options such as air-dodging or an aerial, & can also be done on the ground with options such as crouching, turning, shielding, jumping, or spot-dodging.

(There's a lot of things you can do to cancel the 3rd process of the Art's self-activation, but yeah)

 

[Maple42]

Updated with a technique called Monado Shuffling and how to perform it, and its applications with MALLC ~!

 

[FOcast]

The best dismount for a shuffle is a MALLC'd aerial attack; the easiest way to perform this is by landing on your desired Art, then Short Hopping immediately after you get to the Art's symbol. Then, perform either a FAir or a NAir and fast fall. The Art will activate, cancelling your lag and freeing you up for any action. This has the benefit of easily letting you change to a preferred Art before MALLC'ing.

I found another good shuffle setup in the lab today: land on the art before your desired one, RAR out of your dash, select the desired art, then throw out a BAir without fastfalling. This won't hit shorter or crouching characters as well, but having a consistent setup for approaching with MALLC BAir seems pretty good.