More Shulk woes.....

[Kirby Phelps (PK)]

Ya know...I thought that maybe after the 1.0.4 update that gave Shulk buffs and finally being able to play Shulk in the Wii U version with a Gamecube controller would make me better with Shulk. But no...no, I'm still terrible with him. Today I played my friend and he chose a variety of characters, not because he was good with them, just because he wanted to play them. We did 3 matches and I chose Shulk. I lost every time. Then, I decided to switch and just chose a character I also enjoyed playing, but I didn't consider myself particularly good with. Rosalina. Aaaaand I 3 stocked him. Then I chose WFT, a character I'm trying to get good with but consider him to be my worst character. Aaaand I 2 stocked him. Then I chose Marth, a character I simply could not play well at all in the 3DS version. Aaaand I 2 stocked him again (although he did die stupidly a few times). Considering I've put in a solid 9 hours trying to get good with Shulk on 3DS, but only put in 1 hour at most with a character like Rosalina, I really think the game's trying to tell me "STOP PLAYING SHULK!! YOU'RE NOT GOOD WITH HIM!! It doesn't matter if they buff him or if you have a GC controller, GIVE IT UP." At this point, I just might. It's kind of like Sonic in Brawl. Just like with Shulk in Smash 4, I was ecstatic that Sonic made it into Brawl and I promised myself that I'd try to get good with him. But I just couldn't do it, so I decided to stick with characters I was competent with.... I don't think I'm ready to drop Shulk just yet, but good god, my confidence with this character is at an all time low.

So, this is what I typically do with Shulk. I know Nair is a good move, so I try to approach by short hopping with Nair. But my friend will usually just shield it and grab. After I land, I'm completely helpless. Hell, even before I land he can grab me if I'm close enough. Back Slash isn't safe either. And when I try to play defensively and let him to come me, he just spams projectiles and persistently waits for ME to approach. I feel like I have very little options against projectile users like Luigi or Falco. I also feel like if they have projectiles AND they're fast, then I'm just completely out of luck.

 

[Masonomace]

Welp. Perhaps Sakurai is telling you to not play Shulk =P.

But yeah I wouldn't abuse N-air by full-on approaching with it, more-less use it as a spacing & zoning tool. Back Slash is usually never safe, and yeah it sucks for Shulk to be out-camped forcing you to go to them; I'd say to do walking or dash + shielding to block the projectiles as you close the gap, but that's up to you. Personally I don't respect projectiles like Weegee fireballs or Falco lasers, but if any advice is what you're looking for, then use MArts to assist you.
Shield mode helps by increasing your shield strength so you can take the poke, & wisely dodge rolling projectiles accordingly shielding the ones you can avoid is something. That or Jump mode for the obvious reasons. Speed mode helps if you evade them by dash+shielding away or towards or even by Short Hopping over them while drifting airborne towards them.

You could SH > N-air the fireballs as you go, but it's up to you to keep playing Shulk or not. I hope you bounce back quickly from this.

 

[Berserker.]

I think this is a sign or something. Maybe you really weren't meant to play him. idk. If you're still passionate about it then don't drop him. I guess.

Well, I wouldn't say he sucks. Hell, a lot of people in the character impressions thread look highly at him now.

It's all up to you dude


BUT, it would be 100% help to you if you told us what you'd usually do in a match with Shulk. You might be doing something wrong.

So, this is what I typically do with Shulk. I know Nair is a good move, so I try to approach by short hopping with Nair. But my friend will usually just shield it and grab. After I land, I'm completely helpless. Hell, even before I land he can grab me if I'm close enough. Back Slash isn't safe either. And when I try to play defensively and let him to come me, he just spams projectiles and persistently waits for ME to approach. I feel like I have very little options against projectile users like Luigi or Falco. I also feel like if they have projectiles AND they're fast, then I'm just completely out of luck.

First off. NEVER use back slash unless it's for punishment.

Second, you need to use jump and speed for approaching projectiles users. Well, actually control the stage with jump using your sheer mobility. You can swat projectiles easily with your attacks or hell, just power shield and roll roll roll your boat. I don't know what else to add. To be honest, projectile characters aren't really as annoying for Shulk as I initially thought because n-air.

Third, don't be predictable with n-air. Don't do unnecessary nairs, stop rushing down carelessly with jump (because it's Shulk's most fragile art), and do more empty jumps. Take advantage of jump. That art is very versatile. You can use it in any way you want. You even slide while using your aerials so if you're opting to play defensively with jump, n-air backwards. You can also bait them into thinking you're gonna n-air when you aren't. If you want to play a mid-range game, buster works well because everything (but his smashes) is safe on shield. Poke more with Shulk's b-air and FF F-air with buster activated because all of 'em are safe on shield.



Laaaastly, watch tournament videos of Shulk

 

[InfinityZERO]

I think this is a sign or something. Maybe you really weren't meant to play him. idk. If you're still passionate about it then don't drop him. I guess.

Well, I wouldn't say he sucks. Hell, a lot of people in the character impressions thread look highly at him now.

It's all up to you dude


BUT, it would be 100% help to you if you told us what you'd usually do in a match with Shulk. You might be doing something wrong.

First off. NEVER use back slash unless it's for punishment.

Second, you need to use jump and speed for approaching projectiles users. Well, actually control the stage with jump using your sheer mobility. You can swat projectiles easily with your attacks or hell, just power shield and roll roll roll your boat. I don't know what else to add. To be honest, projectile characters aren't really as annoying for Shulk as I initially thought because n-air.

Third, don't be predictable with n-air. Don't do unnecessary nairs, stop rushing down carelessly with jump (because it's Shulk's most fragile art), and do more empty jumps. Take advantage of jump. That art is very versatile. You can use it in any way you want. You even slide while using your aerials so if you're opting to play defensively with jump, n-air backwards. You can also bait them into thinking you're gonna n-air when you aren't. If you want to play a mid-range game, buster works well because everything (but his smashes) is safe on shield. Poke more with Shulk's b-air and FF F-air with buster activated because all of 'em are safe on shield.



Laaaastly, watch tournament videos of Shulk

What tournament videos of Shulk would you recommend?

PK, I'm a newish Shulk user. And if you'd like we can spar to find out how to improve your game. I picked up Shulk 2 weeks ago and was just/still am in your boat, so I know what it is like. Shulk, in general, is a terrible swordsman and really awkward to use. But you use that awkwardness (the hitboxes capitalize on that awkwardness) to win.

 

[Berserker.]

What tournament videos of Shulk would you recommend?

Go to the Shulk video thread. Watch the videos of Trela or Jigglymaster

Shulk, in general, is a terrible swordsman and really awkward to use. But you use that awkwardness (the hitboxes capitalize on that awkwardness) to win.

That wasn't really specific


I just noticed. Why is all this negativity coming out just after Shulk got lolbuffed?

 

[InfinityZERO]

Well, I was offering to more coach him after seeing him play.

So awkwardness, is his Nair because of the way he attacks compared to Lucina, Marth, and Link fight compared to Shulk. So to capitalized I this, you can use this instead of DSmash to punish rolls dancing (you and your opponent rolling a lot around each other) since it attacks behind you. Same thing with your opponent coming up from hanging off the edge (as long as they don't roll). Also it can punish air dodges compared to using the quicker (and generally better) Fair when aerially chasing your opponent.

The negativity comes probably because he wasn't used much until he got buffed.

 

[Berserker.]

Anyway, if you wanted to watch Shulk videos of the two I was talking about

It's here: http://smashboards.com/threads/unfinished-battle-shulk-video-archive.368799/

These were all (except DaPuffster) recorded before Shulk got buffed. Both d-smash and n-air are both great for dealing with rolls but I find myself using d-smash more because of the multiple hits

 

[InfinityZERO]

Anyway, if you wanted to watch Shulk videos of the two I was talking about

It's here: http://smashboards.com/threads/unfinished-battle-shulk-video-archive.368799/

These were all (except DaPuffster) recorded before Shulk got buffed. Both d-smash and n-air are both great for dealing with rolls but I find myself using d-smash more because of the multiple hits

Thank you. I also use Dsmash more than Nair for punishing rolls, but I wish I didn't because the punish if they roll away from you instead of into you, the punishment is gigantic.

 

[Winter W. Winter]

Well what's nice about fighting Falco is he has terrible end lag on his laser. So if he's shooting you across the stage leap over with Jump and pummel those feathers. As far as Luigi goes his fireballs are okay, but they have a much shorter range. Nair helps neutralize them though you of course have to time this out. By the time he shoots another fireball you can smack that plumber with your superior range. Changing up your approaches will be a great help, doing the same predictable move makes it easy for players to punish. Here's an example Jump monado over the character then backslash in mid air toward them. Just one idea of many that can catch someone off guard. Hope this helps.

 

[Kirby Phelps (PK)]

Also, this is kinda just a general question but happens when I play Shulk a lot. Against Ganondorf, how do I get out of his "side-b into down tilt" combo? I know you can do it, but I get caught by it every time...

 

[Berserker.]

Also, this is kinda just a general question but happens when I play Shulk a lot. Against Ganondorf, how do I get out of his "side-b into down tilt" combo? I know you can do it, but I get caught by it every time...

You can tech the side B knockdown. Actually, you can try pressing A to attack

Press L or R once you're knocked down