Discussion history
Jab / Jab combo : Double Bone Upper to auto-attack
Jab is one of Shulk's most important attacks due to it being his fastest attack. Shulk's jab comes out at frame 5 which is actually pretty bad considering that the jab isn't even ranged to begin with. Against some aerial approaches, this can work as a psuedo anti-air on reaction. The main usage of jab (really) is that it's Shulk's option at for punishing, CQC situations and it's mostly used for damage racking. As far as damaging goes, you can easily combo this off from n-air at lower percentages for more damage. For punishing, this is your fastest attack and if you're in-range to punish with it, go ahead. Although I'd argue that there are significantly better options, Shulk's moves come out rather really late to the point that the punishment attempt will whiff. Jab basically functions as a "safe" punish since it's likely to successfully punish because compared to Shulk's other moves, it comes out at frame 5. For CQC, this is your most important tool other than pivot f-tilt, or pivot grab (or OoS options). I wouldn't say that it's consistently effective but it's your best option (or at least one of the) since it's your fastest attack. In addition to those uses, jab works well as a ledge trap (rapid jab while being near and facing the ledge). With buster art activated, jab's damage output significantly increases which makes it even more rewarding and satisfying to land. You basically have a frame 5 move that deals ~17-18% damage which is really good when you think about it.
Shulk's jab has some issues connecting on the floatier+lighter characters of the game. These are the characters in which jab inconsistently (or almost never) connects unless you delay the 3rd hit:
The general consensus of jab is that it's an important tool for Shulk, however it could be better. With buster art though, the reward alone makes it a good move
Rating:
普
翔疾盾撃1/2
斬
F-tilt : Turn Strike
F-tilt is Shulk's hardest hitting tilt. It deals 13% damage which makes it good for racking up damage or for ending combos. N-air to f-tilt at early percentages deals ~20% damage. Much like almost all of Shulk's attacks, it has great range. All in all, this is one of Shulk's main spacing tools. Pivoting it is also crucial to Shulk's retaliation against close range pressure which he mainly should avoid at all costs. This also functions as one of Shulk's main punishing tools due to its high damage output. In addition to being a good spacing and punishing tool, it serves well as a ledge trapping option. F-tilt would be great, however, it's hindered by 2 issues: Its start up and end lag. For a forward tilt, it comes out fairly late (frame 12) while its ending lag is quite punishable. It's quite an issue to the point that you can't really throw this move out of no where because there's a chance that your end lag will be punished. Basically, the best way to use f-tilt is to treat it like a psuedo-fsmash but a quick one.
Specific arts such as buster, speed, and smash enhance f-tilt's utility. Buster increases f-tilt's damage output, and shield safety. Buster f-tilt will deal
18% damage (sweetspot), 16% damage (sourspot) which is really good for a frame 12 attack. Spacing with buster f-tilt is much more crucial and helpful for Shulk since buster increases shield pushback and also eats a LOT of shield health. In addition to that, the low knockback allows Shulk to continue applying pressure from landing buster f-tilt. It can also allow Shulk to set up tech chasing situations vs Fast-falling characters. Speed art pivot f-tilt allows Shulk to cover more distance with pivot f-tilt. You can also use speed pivot f-tilt for offensive mix ups. The slipperiness of speed art allows you to exploit a property of Shulk's f-tilt where in his f-tilt can actually hit opponents even while he's facing away from them. Lastly, you can use speed pivot f-tilt for tech chasing. Smash art basically allows f-tilt to become a deadly KO move. You have a relatively fast KO move which can KO at relatively low percentages, however take note that Smash art decreases your overall shield safety so use this as an anti-air or a punishment tool
Overall, Shulk's f-tilt isn't bad by any means. Its main use is purely for damage racking, ledge trapping, punishment and spacing, but the start up/ending lag makes it a bit risky to use for Shulk's neutral. With arts though, it becomes more useful than usual.
Rating:
普
翔
盾1/2
疾斬撃
D-tilt : Shaker Edge
D-tilt is considered as one of Shulk's best and most important moves. It's used for a variety of purposes: spacing, combo-starting, set ups and damage racking. D-tilt deals 9% damage sweetspotted (base), 7% sourspotted (tipped) without any damage buffs/debuffs active. The move itself has a frame 10 start up which is fast (especially when compared to Shulk's overall frame data). Its range is exceptionally long horizontally, but its knockback is fairly weak. Don't expect to land kills with d-tilt even with smash art activated.
D-tilt's long range and quick start up and end lag makes it one of Shulk's most efficient and safe attacks for spacing. You can throw out a free hitbox with out (sort of) fearing any incoming punishment attempt. However, its generally mediocre/low damage output makes d-tilt unsafe on shield, although it's not that unsafe if tipped. It's your best option and your safest option to use against grounded approaches. Although n-air would have been safer if it came out much faster and if it had less landing lag (it has less landing lag though as it stands). It's also not an option against aerial approaches because of its low hitbox. Arguably, d-tilt is at its best when you use it in tandem with buster art. With its long range, quick start up, and high damage output, it's safe on shield when tipped or when you land the mid-portion of its hitbox.
Without any art, d-tilt can't really combo into any move but with buster, speed, and jump, you can actually get some moves off from d-tilt. In jump or speed, you can land f-air off from d-tilt with your increased air mobility. With buster, you can get a dash grab or even another d-tilt off from d-tilt. D-tilt is also capable of setting up into other moves depending on the art you're using thanks to its knockback angle. Even if you can't combo into anything from d-tilt, you can set up from d-tilt. You can feign opponents into air dodging so you can punish them. D-tilt's knockback angle also puts opponents into a positional disadvantage (aka: in mid-air, where you're mostly likely under them) which you can exploit with your aerials or u-tilt. In addition to being a good combo starter, it's also a good combo finisher. N-air -> d-tilt in low percentages in other arts+vanilla, and in mid to high percentages, n-air -> d-tilt works in buster art.
D-tilt doesn't have a lot of utility though with smash, vanilla or shield art. Its uses shine from jump, speed and mostly buster art. All in all, d-tilt is an important move for Shulk because of its quick start up, relatively low ending lag, and long range. With buster, it becomes pivotal and crucial for Shulk's spacing and damage racking. With jump and speed, you can set up for aerial assaults.
Rating:
普
1/2
翔 1/2
疾
盾撃 1/2
斬
U-tilt : Worldly Slash
Shulk's u-tilt is one of the (if not) best anti airs in the game due to its
massive vertical range. It comes out at frame 11 which is somewhat fast. For Shulk? It's actually fast. At its early frames, it deals 8% damage. If you land the latter frames of u-tilt, it deals 7% damage instead. U-tilt does have a horizontal hitbox but it isn't notably long. Some characters can still get hit by u-tilt even if they're behind the hitbox......
while standing:
while hanging (requires strict spacing):
U-tilt's qualities and mechanics enable it to be a good ledge trapping tool and an amazing anti-air. You can use it to shut down ledge hops and even ledge climbs or ledge rolls since you can use its horizontal hitbox to intercept those options. Doing that though requires quite precise spacing. As mentioned earlier, its amazing vertical reach makes it one of the best anti airs in the game. You either beat out any incoming aerial assaults or trade with those aerials. U-tilt's range also allows it to be an effective pressuring tool for enemies camping or staying on platforms.
The arts further diversify u-tilt's uses and reward/s. With jump or speed, you can use jump's air mobility/speed's overall mobility to juggle opponent's with u-tilt or you can use u-tilt to set up for aerial assaults with speed/jump. You can bait opponents into air dodging to anticipate your u-tilt. From that moment, you can u-tilt their air dodging animation since u-tilt outlasts the animation. With buster, you can chain u-tilt into more u-tilts or even air slash for massive amounts of damage. You can even mix it up with jab or pivoting. The low knockback doesn't send opponents far off to the point that they even fall down within your range even after landing buster u-tilt so you can mix it up or set up into any attack from that point. Smash art turns u-tilt into a deadly KO tool that kills in surprisingly low percentages. You can be more deceptive with u-tilt by using MADC with it. Dash towards the ledge or towards the opponent then cancel the dash animation into Smash art then u-tilt them to the skies. You can also use MADC u-tilt for ledge trapping.... One more thing, u-tilt is also good for extending combos. You can get f-air > air slash from one hit confirm from u-tilt in jump art.
U-tilt is a unique attack that also lends itself to being an important asset for Shulk's defensive and spacing game. Unfortunately, whiffing u-tilt will likely result into punishment since the end lag is relatively punishable so be careful with it.
Rating:
普
疾
翔斬
盾1/2
撃1/2
Dash attack : Sword drive
I think there isn't much to say about this attack. Honestly, it's a contender for Shulk's worst move and that's saying a lot but you're probably here telling me, "just tell me when to use it goddammit." Well here's my answer:
You don't use it that much
Well, you CAN use it for long ranged punishment but er... take note that this is a frame 15 move whose hitbox is actually surprisingly short. It also has a relatively punishable ending lag window. Long ranged punishment and... that's about it. No seriously, you'd try to avoid resorting to using dash attack. I mean, its FAF is 53. That's really bad. Like, seriously crap. Let's look at Shulk's f-smash. This is a smash attack. Its hitbox comes out at frame 14. Yes, you heard me. Shulk's f-smash is actually a frame faster. Not only that, it also has longer range and it deals more damage and also has higher knockback.
While I'm at it, I ALMOST forgot, dash attack has impressive knockback. In smash, you can use dash attack to KO but you have better options like smash d-throw/b-throw, etc. In shield art, dash attack is actually more useful since Shulk's ground speed suffers heavily so you can use dash attack as sort of a way of moving around while punishing more accurately instead of overshooting with the move. And yes, you can overshoot this attack if you use it point blank.
So yeah. Horrible dash attack. Try not to use. If you see someone use it, it was probably an accidental input
Rating:
普
翔疾撃
盾1/2
斬1/2
F-smash : Slit edge
Aaaah. This move. Shulk mains love this move. Maybe a bit too much but there's a reason behind the love for slit edge. Insanely long range. High damage output ~ 18%. Insane KO power, especially if angled upwards. Most of all with all these perks, it's frame 14 so it's somewhat fast. Still telegraphable to a certain extent. The end lag of f-smash is ridiculous though and it's easily punishable. F-smash is also unsafe on block no matter how well-spaced it is. Basically, there's a risk to using f-smash at neutral but landing this is ultimately really rewarding, especially in buster and smash art
There are safe and elusive ways on how to land f-smash. F-smash can be combo'd into at lower percentages from n-air. For buster, n-air > f-smash starts working at mid-high percentages. You can also combo f-smash off from any aerial with the help of MALLC. After the landing lag is cancelled from the aerial (which you need to land on the opponent), you can instantly execute f-smash. As for the methods without the need of combo'ing it, you can either pivot f-smash or use it only for punishment. Pivoting f-smash serves as a somewhat risky option against rushdown characters. You pivot to get space between you and your opponent so that they won't beat you to the punch with a quicker attack. The space is also important since f-smash
can whiff if the opponent is
really up close to Shulk while he's executing the f-smash. Using f-smash to punish is also the safest way of landing the move, obviously.
With speed art, boost pivot f-smashes are a more powerful but a slightly more risky alternative to boost pivot f-tilt although it deals less damage. With buster art, f-smash deals a whopping 25% damage which makes landing f-smash much more rewarding and it heavily skews the risk:reward ratio to the reward's favor. Smash art allows f-smash (mostly angled up) to kill at ridiculously fraudulent percentages.
Overall, f-smash is a good and important move for Shulk. Impressive frame speed, amazing damage and KO output which can be manipulated with buster or smash art, and long range. It's hindered though by its notably large ending lag which makes using f-smash quite the risk. This is why f-smash is a move that can be both loved and hated.
Rating:
普
翔
疾1/2
盾 1/2
斬撃
D-smash: War Swing
This move is known for being really amazing but... truth be told, it's definitely not as good as most people say. Don't get me wrong, this move is definitely good. Not amazing or superb but it's good at doing what its designed to do. D-smash is mostly known for its huge horizontal range and multiple active hitboxes. It also has fairly decent damage output (~14% at the sweetspot) but its knockback is surprisingly more powerful and potent than it looks. Even the second hit is capable of KO'ing at surprisingly low percentages. In Smash art, d-smash is extremely scary. One right read near the edge and you can possibly take a stock easily. The start up (frame 18) and end lag of d-smash are its main disadvantages and it's also why you need to think twice when using d-smash.
D-smash's primary use is to catch opponents off from rolls thanks to its multiple hitboxes. Once you figure out the rolling habits of your opponent, you can at least know when to use d-smash. D-smash's utility is at its peak once you have the opponent cornered near the edge where in their only option against you is to camp at the ledge (which is a bad idea), roll at your back (a horrible idea also), to retaliate by attacking, to shield, or to jump over you. D-smash is able to cover 4 of 5 options thanks to its active hitboxes and its generally long range.
Other than roll punishing, you can also use d-smash for landing KO's, for edgeguarding and for punishing whiffed aerials. As said earlier, d-smash's KO power is a lot more potent than it seems. With Smash art, d-smash is able to KO at fraudulent percentages. D-smash's horizontal range also makes it effective for edgeguarding. With buster art, you can increase the reward for landing d-smash on your opponent. Additionally if you land this against a shielding opponent while they're near the edge, you have a good chance of breaking their shield and possibly taking their stock if they fall off the edge. With jump art, you can do a sliding d-smash with jump's slippery momentum which can catch opponents off guard. Lastly, the multiple hitboxes are useful for shield stabbing (this becomes more noticeable with buster art activated, less notable with any art that decreases damage output)
Overall, d-smash has certain uses but overall, it performs its job fairly well and it's not really hard to use for as long as you aren't dumb with it. It's not really a move to spam and whiffing it will get you punished really hard.
Rating:
普
盾
翔疾1/2
斬撃
U-smash : Screw Edge
Visually, you'd get the sense that u-smash is basically a vertical f-smash and in some ways, you're right. Although it may seem like f-smash has more kill power (it does though if it's angled upward), u-smash is much more consistent when it comes to KO'ing since it KO's opponents vertically. U-smash is a rewarding smash attack for Shulk to land. It deals a total of ~17% damage and KO's at 102% (84% with Smash art). Having 150% rage allows you to KO at 70% (54% with Smash art, holy ****). The range of u-smash is deceiving. Although it is true that vertically, its range is amazing but the horizontal range is actually deceptively bigger than it seems.
U-smash has its uses. First, it's notable for ledge trapping. You can catch ledge rolls with the grounded hitbox thanks to its surprisingly big size (props to @
S.F.L.R_9
for the GIFs below). Even if they try to perform a ledge get-up, they'll get caught by u-smash's grounded hitbox. Catching a ledge hop with u-smash may prove to be tricky but it's still possible to catch ledge hops with u-smash (definitely) due to u-smash's amazing vertical range. Against ledge attacks, you can perform OoS u-smash against that to shield the hit. U-smash is not so usable against players that try to ledge drop and jump back while using an aerial.
Other than being a great option for ledge trapping, it's your go-to attack for making reads. U-smash's KO power lends itself to being good for KO'ing opponents. If you want its maximum KO potential, you need to space u-smash at the tip of Shulk's feet. By doing that, you'll send your opponent up into the beam instead of them staying on the ground if you land u-smash's first hitbox near Shulk's body. You can also land u-smash by conditioning opponents to air dodge from an up throw. This frequently happens in buster art due to the significant knockback decrease on u-throw with the art activated.
U-smash does have issues though. Its start up and end lag are notably long. Its end lag is easy to punish. Basically, you can't really throw this move out nor feel safe when using it. When you use it, you have to make sure that you're really going to land this (kind of applies for a lot of smash attacks in the game if you think about it). U-smash is also not a true combo unless you land it up-close near the opponent.
U-smash is only notable when used with speed and smash art. With buster art, you can perform the aforementioned tactic of conditioning opponents into air dodging off from a u-throw such that you can land a free u-smash punish. Speed art allows you to perform a sliding u-smash which is extremely useful and important for making u-smash reads much safer, and easier to land. This is also one of Shulk's go-to KO options if ever smash art feels to risky. Smash art obviously helps u-smash significantly since it increases u-smash's KO potential (and u-smash already kills really early!) Jump art's traction landing from an air borne state allows for a slight sliding distance but it isn't really notable.
Basically, u-smash is a rewarding move to land and you're gonna see yourself try to land u-smashes for ledge trapping, KO's and reads. The problem with u-smash is basically that it's slow and the end lag is punishable so as always, be careful when using this attack.
普
翔斬
疾1/2
盾1/2
撃
N-air : Soaring Tempest
Behold. Everyone's favorite move or should I say, the move that basically is Shulk's identity (other than Monado Arts). So what makes this move so important and so good for Shulk? Comes out at frame 13, deals 8% damage tipped and 7% damage at its base hitbox. It has low landing lag, exactly sitting at 12 frames of landing lag. The range n-air covers is
insane. It goes around Shulk. It starts behind him then it goes at his frontal area until the hitbox reaches the area above him. Basically, n-air's hitbox goes in a circular motion, and the hitbox stays out for so long
Well, let's start with the
bad things about n-air because apparently, a lot of Shulk mains tend to forget that n-air isn't as perfect as they think it is. N-air comes out at frame 13, from behind Shulk. This means that n-air actually comes out much later when the hitbox finally appears in front of Shulk. Basically, anyone can react to this if they are able to condition themselves to react to the move. You know you're not using the move properly when you're frequently getting shield grabbed when you're using it. Another thing is that without any art, n-air is unsafe on shield especially if you approach with it.
Now we're done with what's not good about n-air, let's talk about why n-air is an important move for Shulk. Shulk's n-air is an amazing tool against grounded approaches. If you're trying to stop approaches, this is your go-to move due to its hitbox and landing lag. This is also Shulk's
primary combo-starter whether he's in any art or not. You can follow up moves such as f-tilt, jab, grab, d-tilt, or f-smash off from a hit with n-air. Asides from being a good spacing tool, it's also your primary tool for mid-range pressure. N-air's sweetspot, unlike all of Shulk's moves with base/tip hitboxes, is located at the tip so basically, landing the tipper hitbox will apply more shield pressure. Whenever you try to apply pressure with n-air, always make it a point to land the tip, instead of the base hitbox.
Along with using it for spacing and mid-range pressure, you can use n-air also to catch rolls and basically tech chase. N-air's hitbox is big and it does go under Shulk at first. N-air is also an efficient tool for ledge trapping. If well spaced, you're mostly safe from any attempt for the opponent to perform a ledge attack. If they ledge hop, the upper hitbox of n-air may catch them. If they roll, n-air's hitbox (under Shulk) will most likely catch them. This is all possible depending on how well you time and space n-air. In stages with platforms, you can use n-air along with u-tilt to cover platforms/pressure opponents that are camping or are staying on the platforms. You can also use n-air's long lasting hitbox to catch air dodges. Due to its under-hitbox, it's also one of Shulk's tools for landing (which he sucks at).
With Monado arts, the uses for n-air varies a LOT. What makes n-air really unique is that depending on the art you're using, you can either go on the full-feral offensive with it or play defensive with the move. Without arts (vanilla mode), n-air is a defensive tool used to stop approaches. It's somewhat unsafe though if you try using it for mid-range. With jump art, spacing it correctly, fast falling properly will make N-air safe on shield. Also with jump art, n-air increases the potential of your advantage by a LOT. You can take out a stock really early if you pull of jump art combos correctly. With speed art, you can use n-air for your offense if you can cross-up your opponent using the move. Take advantage of your faster aerial acceleration and faster air speed. You can also play defensively with speed art n-air by retreating while using the move. Buster art's n-air is basically pretty much like utilizing vanilla n-air but instead, tipping n-air with buster art activated will make the move safe on shield. Also, your potential damage off from one single n-air is insanely high. Smash art n-air is somewhat problematic since it's basically REALLY unsafe on shield. You're not gonna find yourself using n-air a lot unless you plan on sneaking in some kills using the move. Smash art n-air is pretty decent for setting up edgeguarding opportunities, so there's that. I guess. Shield art n-air is purely used for defensive purposes since you can't really go on the offensive with shield art anyway. It's not that unsafe though if you space it right.
Shulk's n-air is really good. It's one of, if not, his best moves and it's really important for Shulk's offensive and defensive playstyle. Using its range and exploiting its duration and its low landing lag properly will be the key to your victory. One mistake that a lot of Shulk players do is that they rely on n-air, rather
too much. Try to mix it up every now and then instead of spamming one move that loses to dash to shield
Rating:
普
翔疾
盾1/2
斬1/2
撃1/2
F-air : Stream edge
Shulk's f-air is another important asset for Shulk's spacing. Although its offensive utility is limited due to its generally mediocre damage output (7.5% sweetspotted, 6% sourspotted), it's more known for its defensive utility. It comes out at frame 14 and lasts until frame 18. It has an FAF of 41, and its horizontal range is actually smaller than it seems. Although its overall range is still amazing, horizontally, take note that its horizontal hitbox size is in between d-tilt's and f-tilt's. The vertical coverage though of f-air is what makes it really good. The landing lag of f-air is 17 frames so if you don't perform this move while retreating, you're likely to get punished especially if you get shield grabbed.
This is easily one of Shulk's most used moves so it's best to know its disadvantages because it has some glaring issues as a move. First off, its shield stun is laughable. You need to activate buster art to make it decent but even then, it doesn't guarantee shield safety. This move should NOT be used for offensive purposes. It's easy to shield grab and you can't really follow up any attack from f-air due to its landing lag. F-air is made for defensive purposes.
This move has 5 main functions: Edgeguarding, spacing, tech chasing, combo'ing and ledge trapping. F-air is very ideal for edgeguarding due to how much area it covers with its own hitbox. If well-spaced, you can easily beat out any recovering attempt/s, or air dodging attempts. The frame speed of f-air though is slightly telegraph-able so make sure you use it when your opponent commits to recovering or air dodging. Shulk's f-air is also good for spacing. Retreating f-airs are what come into mind when you're using this move. It allows you to keep away your opponent while making sure that f-air is safe on shield. You should ALWAYS use f-air to contest aerial approaches and basically any SH aerials. Take advantage of its range to beat out any incoming aerials. Due to its amazing range, f-air also lends itself to being a good option for tech chasing and ledge trapping.
F-air's utility with arts activated drastically changes. With jump art, you can string this off from throws (d-throw or u-throw most notably). F-air is also an important part in jump art combos. While n-air is used for starting combos (most of the time), f-air is used as a follow up. Jump art f-air is also an efficient edgeguarding and gimping tool. If you read an air dodge, just go deep and whack the opponent with f-air. You should fear nothing when going off-stage with jump art. Due to f-air's vertical coverage, jump art allows f-air's keep away efficiency to be much better than usual. The coverage of f-air and jump art's jump height synergize very well to create a wall. With speed art, the improved air mobility and decreased jump height actually helps with tech chasing with f-air. Retreating f-airs are much better with speed art activated (due to the increased air mobility). F-air is also a follow-up from d-throw in speed art although it's a lot easier to combo into. Shield art f-air... well, it's basically a downgraded f-air tbh. Buster f-air is an amazing retreating option and it rewards you more for keeping opponents away. The issue is the knockback is weak so you aren't really "keeping" the opponent away. They're still likely near your zone but this is a double-edge'd sword, really. They don't move anywhere by that much if you land buster f-air but they are at range for you to actually apply pressure on them with some buster tilts, b-air and n-air which are all infinitely better than buster f-air for offensive pressure. Smash art f-air is actually really good and it actually rivals jump art f-air when it comes to edgeguarding. You can seriously snag early kills by landing this off-stage at ~65-80%. You'd be shocked. Plus, the slower fall speed allows you to have an easier time in positioning, spacing, and timing with f-air's hitbox.
Overall, f-air is a great defensive tool for Shulk. It's indeed an important asset to Shulk's defense. The landing lag of f-air can be punished easily unless you use it from a safe distance. Avoid using f-air offensively or you'll find yourself getting shield grabbed. It has it even worse than n-air in that regard to be honest
Rating:
普
翔
疾撃
盾
斬1/2
B-air : Gift from the Bionis
B-air is pretty much one of Shulk's best moves despite its start up. It's also extremely important to Shulk's spacing due to its tremendous range. B-air has one of the longest range among any move in the game. If well spaced, you can beat out any move in the game using b-air (except invincibility and counters of course). Solely because of its range, b-air has a ton of utility and to top it off, b-air also deals a lot of damage (12% sweetspotted, 8% sourspotted). Be wary of the start up, end lag and landing lag though.
B-air has multiple uses which we'll go over one by one:
1) Spacing
2) Tech chasing/get-up retaliation
3) Ledge trapping
4) Going against campers
For spacing, well this is obvious but anyway. Spacing with b-air is a lot less straight forward than you'd think. The start up makes it feel awkward to use at first. The first thing you need to do to get over it is to learn how to use b-air while FF'ing at the right time such that the hitbox comes out before it disappears via landing lag. But anyway, even if you get the timing of using b-air, you still need to learn how to properly utilize right for spacing. DO NOT SPAM B-AIR OR USE IT OUT OF NO WHERE. If you keep spamming it, foes can easily shield/powershield it and punish the lag quite hard. The best way to utilize b-air is to use it to contest approaches and basically any attack. If you notice your opponent rushing in with a dash attack or an SH aerial, you can perform a retreating b-air to easily outrange or shut down whatever they do. It's also usable for
tech chasing because of its sheer range, you can actually catch rolls with b-air if you manage to predict the direction of the roll. Although you'll have to use b-air early due to its start up. The easiest way to catch opponents off their rolls is by maintaining a certain distance from the opponent while they're lying on the ground or while they're teching. You need to keep yourself from a distance such that if ever they roll to the opposite direction, you can catch them off by performing a RAR b-air. If they get up or perform a get-up attack, you can shut that down easily with an SH B-air (short hop a bit forward though to be sure). If they roll at your direction, well.... just b-air them. Using b-air for
ledge trapping works the same way as how you deal with tech chasing using b-air. B-air is effective against ledge rolls, ledge get-ups and ledge attacks. It CAN work against ledge hops but that requires timing and precision with the slightly angled hitbox (b-air's hitbox in generally isn't
totally straight. Slightly slanted but not that much). RAR b-airs are also a thing
against campers. B-air's range is so long, you can thrash through projectiles with it while also hitting opponents in the process if you space it right so in a way, b-air is quite a potent option for rushing through projectiles. It requires a good understanding, precision and timing of its hitbox though.
B-air also lends itself to being good for sealing stocks and gimping opponents. Other than those uses mentioned earlier, b-air's knockback is very impressive. You can use b-air to KO opponents. B-air is also good for edgeguarding. You can use its range to beat out recoveries. You can mix it up with f-air too in case b-air gets too predictable (it's also kinda easy to react to since it's frame 18).
With arts, b-air's utility changes obviously. It has notable changes with buster, jump and speed. In buster, b-air becomes very safe on shield whether if it's tipped or not (still punishable though if you land it way too close). It becomes one of your main tools in your mid-range offense. In addition to that, its increased damage output allows you to destroy more projectiles with on par or less damage output than it. Buster b-air is also powerful enough to be safe on hit for as long as you FF upon hitting a shield or an opponent with it. With speed art, basically the increased air mobility and acceleration allows RAR b-airs and retreating b-airs to be much more reliable than usual so it's easier to catch opponents off their tech rolls/get-ups and it's also easier to use RAR b-air against campers because of this. With jump art, you can take advantage of jump's increased recovery capabilities and fall speed when you're off-stage. You can basically try to land b-air off stage without fearing that you won't be able to return back on-stage. The only issue with this is that b-air can be telegraphed easily and f-air seems to be the more practical option. B-air in jump is also good for poking opponents (and their shields if you FF correctly and space correctly). Jump b-air serves also as a good cross-up option. If well-spaced while crossing up the opponent, you can avoid getting punished even if it's shielded by taking advantage of jump's additional sliding effect to slide away from the opponent while suffering from landing lag. Shield art b-air is a downgrade from vanilla b-air but you'll still be using it anyway like vanilla b-air. Smash art b-air's KO power is incredible but the safety on shield makes it a risk to use. You really need to restrict smash art b-air as a retaliation against aerial/ground approaches, or when the opponent basically does
anything and your b-air can hit your opponent from where you are
B-air is also
the most frequently used aerial with MALLC. MALLC cancels landing lag which solves one of b-air's main issues: the landing lag (21 frames is gross). B-air basically becomes a safe and free-to-use hitbox with MALLC. With MALLC b-air, you can combo off a hitconfirm or even a hit-on-shield with a dash grab or f-tilt or basically any move you can think of. Make sure you space well though because even if you manage to pull off MALLC with b-air, if you execute it up close to the opponent, don't expect yourself to have much options because your frame data is garbage.
B-air is an amazing tool for Shulk. Despite its start up and end lag (plus landing lag), its range is what makes it truly shine. B-air's range alone makes it useful in a lot of situations (ledge trapping, tech chasing, going against campers, spacing, etc.) and the arts further modify the rewards and utility of b-air. Learn to love b-air (like how you love n-air and f-air)
Rating:
普
翔斬疾
盾1/2
撃
U-air : Gale slash
Well, if there was a good way to summarize how the move functions, it's sort of basically (not really) a vertical f-smash that's done in mid-air. Comes out at frame 14, deals 15% damage if sweetspotted and it has surprisingly insane amount of knockback if you land it. The landing lag of u-air lasts for 17 frames which is bad. This move also lacks a horizontal range or at least, its horizontal range is severely lacking, but it's vertical range is NUTS. It even outranges u-tilt's vertical range
U-air's main saving grace is the reward for landing it because holy
crap it deals a lot of damage and it kills at surprisingly fraudulent percentages
even without smash art. Its range is also deceivingly
amazing vertically. You can contest any aerial with u-air because of this. Anyway, the first hit of u-air has fixed knockback so if you manage to land this (somehow) without landing the second hit, you can combo off from the first hit. With MALLC, you can obviously combo off from u-air even if you connect both hits. U-air is a capable juggle tool but it requires muuuch more precision than u-tilt.
The issue with u-air though is that its frame speed is absolute garbage and it's hard to land unless you're in jump or speed art since you have the air speed to somehow land this but even then, it's still quite hard to land. Horizontal range is lacking, comes out too late (frame 14), and basically, it's horrible if you whiff it. Even worse than f-air since you have to be close to the opponent to land this or below the opponent but even if you whiff it below the opponent, they can FF and punish Shulk easily
With jump art, u-air becomes scary because with your jump height and air speed, you can throw and possibly land u-air out of no where and kill them from high up the stage boundary. You can also set up into u-air from jump art u-throw. Speed art, u-air is easier to land against grounded opponents thanks to the increased air mobility and shortened jump height. Shulk also has slightly better (but still bad) air acceleration which also helps, so yeah. Shield art, basically it's a worse vanilla u-air but whatever. Buster art u-air is basically vanilla too but it's a direct upgrade since well, sure, it doesn't kill but that damage is INSANE. Shield pushback and shield damage of u-air is also nuts, and that's what makes buster u-air actually not that horrible. Smash art u-air is disgusting. Hard to land, akin to buster and vanilla u-air, but the reward is arguably more insane since you can end stocks easily at really low percentages
Basically, u-air is a situational aerial. You won't find yourself using this as much as b-air, n-air, f-air, d-tilt, etc. It's pretty good for juggling, and that's one of its solid uses. You can combo with u-air but it's quite difficult to pull off a combo from u-air since you need to either MALLC or strictly land the 1st hit only. Hard to land, good reward, but you won't use it a lot, unless maybe if you're in jump art
普
1/2
翔
疾撃1/2
盾
斬
D-air : Wild down
Well, you remember u-air's data right? Well, d-air's frame data is
sort of the same. Only thing different is the damage output, and the KB angle (for obvious reasons), the landing lag. There are also some other minor differences that don't matter anyway such as the 1 frame difference between the frame speed of the 2nd hit of d-air and the 2nd hit of u-air (d-air's being faster). The fixed base knockback of d-air is 20 while u-air's is 60. Despite this, the move pretty much functions the same way as u-air, except it has a chance of meteor smashing. D-air's damage output is dependent on whether the opponent is grounded or air borne
On-stage, d-air barely has any uses. One nifty idea with d-air is to FH with it to bait a reaction from your opponent. If they rush at you to attempt to punish your landing lag, you can surprise them by immediately using air slash, back slash (to be honest, using this is a
bad idea) or vision. Be warned though that if they adapt to this strategy, it's best that you sparingly use d-air on stage. Another situational use for d-air is to use its vertical range to poke through thin platforms. You can catch opponents by surprise by doing this but be wary of the landing lag
Off-stage, it's basically your meteor smash although due to its lacking horizontal range and slow start-up (for an aerial), it's hard to land. There are creative ways on how to land d-air though off-stage. When you're on the ledge and your opponent's hurtbox stretches a bit off the lip of the stage, you can drop from the ledge then hop then use d-air. The first hitbox will drag them near the blade then the second hit will send them downward to their death (if their percentage is high enough). Another way of landing d-air is to combo it off from n-air in jump art. Yep. Jump art n-air > d-air is a true combo
D-air's utility is more notable with jump and speed art. In jump art, you can throw out d-air while fast falling in hopes that the 2nd hit will manage to reach the opponent and meteor him. You can basically catch them by surprise when you're doing this but don't try attempting it THAT much. You also have to time to right (the 2nd hit in particular). As said earlier, you can combo d-air off from n-air. In speed art, the lower jump makes its ability to poke through thin platforms and stage lips easier to aim and exploit. Shield.... uh. Buster art amplifies the damage dealt by d-air which also helps in shield safety but if you don't special cancel d-air, shield safety won't matter at all. Worse, if the opponent manages to react to your special, you're gonna get punished. You have better options for spacing so you won't use d-air that much in buster but it is a slightly direct upgrade from vanilla d-air. Smash art basically amplifies the meteor smash effect of d-air and... that's about it. Nothing much to note about it. It's basically vanilla d-air with more knockback
D-air has its uses but honestly, it's not really a move you'll use a lot. If you're thirsty for the meteor, this is definitely your go-to move because, well... it's your only move that meteor smashes. It has its uses though even on-stage but the frame data and the atrocious landing lag make this move ultimately situational to use
Rating:
普
1/2
翔1/2
疾斬撃
盾
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 knockback taken is greatly reduced, to the point that he becomes ridiculously hard to kill without gimping or edgeguarding him. 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 decreased knockback taken, 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 knockback taken is increased 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
Side special : Back Slash
Shulk lifts up his blade and sends it down and well, this move ****ing sucks. Well, it's pretty good for some purposes buuuuut... it kinda sucks. Its start up is trash so anyone can see it coming. It's not really a good punish tool either because of its start up and the damage output is rather
extremely disappointing. It deals 10% damage if you land it on the opponent's front but landing it on the opponent's rear nets 16% damage which still kinda sucks considering that f-smash (frame 14 move) deals 17.5% damage without the need to be used on the back of enemies. Seriously, what the hell Sakurai?
Well, it's actually surprisingly useful against projectile users. You can use back slash to go over projectiles and punish opponents from quite a far distance. No really. It actually works well for that purpose. You can also use back slash to tech chase although it is kinda risky to use and missing with it is going to get you punished hard. Back slash is also easier, but still unreliable, to land coming off from a buster b-throw. Back slash is also neat for punishing landings but it is kinda tricky to use when it comes to punishing landings because the start-up sucks and Shulk does leap forward so you have to be somewhat precise with back slash.
Yeah that's about it. Buster and smash art back slash are good because for buster, back slash deals more damage. With smash art, it kills pretty early but yeah, this move sucks. Lol
普
翔
疾
1/2
盾
斬撃1/2
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
斬1/2
翔1/2
疾撃
盾
Downward special : Vision
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[THIS POST WILL BE UPDATED SOON PLEASE UNDERSTAND. Thanks]
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