Regular Monado Arts
We all know how to use Regular Monado Arts. They're okay, but they lack something important. Power. These are the weakest of the monado arts, and it shows. You will still die when in Monado Shield, and Shield doesn't really get you out of combos. Smash may raise your kill percents, but the payoff can be low. Buster has nice damage, but you still get punished on shield. Speed is fast, but slow enough so that it misses out on combo opportunities, has worse cross-ups, less punish opportunities. etc.
You get safety in that you have access to each different monado art more than both decisive and hyper arts, but as a result, the arts will just have less impact. You get more freedom with what arts you can choose, but they are worth less as a result.
Decisive Monado Arts
These sure have power. All of the arts are more useful than their regular Monado Arts counterparts.
- Decisive Buster deals 1.54x damage rather than 1.4x damage, which means more damage of course (to set up for later knockback) and safer hits on shield. You deal a lot of damage. Do you have trouble evening out the damage you take vs damage you deal while in regular Monado Buster? Well, this should make that difference.
- Decisive Speed has combos which connect much more fluently, and it matters less when the opponent has good DI. You just go faster! It's great. You can feel the speed. Everything you wished worked in regular Monado Speed now works.
- Decisive Shield is totally anti-meta. Gets you out of combos, lets you survive until very late percents.
- Decisive Jump is pretty scary with its faster fall speed, which allows you to take advantage of situations where the opponent is open quicker. The air speed helps you make combos, and helps you to escape combos/follow-ups. And better recovery too.
- Decisive Smash actually gets kills. How's it feel to have a Ness B-throw? Decisive Smash is actually VERY menacing, because it lasts for a long time, meaning you're eventually going to get the kill! All you need is that grab, that dash attack, that frame trap, and the opponent is dead. Having 20 seconds of it, a small break, and then another 20 seconds of it, means you are very likely to get the kill. Stalling out while in decisive smash is not actually hard.
Since all these arts are so nice, you'll want as much time with them that you can get. They are available to you for 20 seconds, and only take 5 seconds to come back once gone.
What's the catch? Well, it's in the name. You must be decisive. Since you cannot cancel monado arts, you must make a decision and commit to it. What's important in decisions? Knowledge! Have a good idea of which of the arts benefit you, and you should find decisive Monado Arts improve your gameplay, a lot. However, if you do not know what is good to use against an opponent, you will not be able to experiment as much to find out. If you pick the wrong one, you will need to pay for longer. Though, picking 'the wrong one' with decisive monado arts is easier said than done, for again, all arts are excellent.
You do lose some techs, and get to use the others less frequently. Tech is great and all, but being more powerful trumps that. You gain a better neutral, which is more important.
Hyper Arts
These are nice. I actually prefer them to regular arts now! Here is my current overview, and I must remind you that I am not exaggerating.
Hyper Jump: During these 6 seconds, you don't want to be hit. It's easy to avoid attacks with how fast you are in every way via air. On the other hand, you have good offense. The fall speed allows you to more easily punish opponents who commit to attacks, which you may have baited. Then, the air speed allows you to carry that aerial you used into another aerial. In general, for this art, I recommend to be careful and maintain your spacing. Do not use this art if you are not comfortable with it. You slowly work into becoming comfortable with hyper jump.
Hyper Speed: The idea here is to overwhelm the opponent. However, you still do not have good frame data. Still space them out, and don't let them land.
Hyper Shield: Lol @ their attacks. Attacks that would normally kill you now MIGHT send you to the edge of the stage from the middle. Other than that, some uses to this art are making it safe onto land from air, momentary stalls (always a good idea to use as filler for cooldown), and getting out of combos..
Hyper Buster: This is scary. If I'm vs this art, my focus is really brought in. Things become serious. This game can go either way very quickly.. If you have the percent lead and the opponent puts this on, you want to be patient. If you are the person using Hyper Buster, you want to have the positioning advantage before you use this art, so that you get the most from the 6 seconds. This advantage will also prevent you from taking damage yourself.
Hyper Smash: Similar to Hyper Buster in regards to usage. You want to put this on in a time where the opponent is pressured. Gain the advantage first, by using some other arts or even Vanilla, then put it on. While it's not necessary that you have the advantage, without it, you might waste this incredibly useful art or even get yourself killed.
---The Hyper Monado Arts are very centralized around Hyper Buster/Hyper Smash. Those two arts have the most impact.
Now, these Monado Arts are hard to manage at first. My general strategy is to use Shield and Speed as filler arts, as I wait for an opportunity to use Buster or Hyper Smash. I might use Monado Jump, but am still a bit iffy about it in the neutral. I mostly use it for situations like a quick reset, getting some movement in on the opponent before I quickly change to another art, or recovering.
You do have MALLC and other techniques with Hyper Arts. So, good for you if you like those. Still, I personally perform better with Decisive Arts, even though I do use lots of MALLC.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alright, so with that discussed, I will go into combining different customs into
sets.
We, rushed, decided on this for EVO:
1113 - bland but needed
2113 - Not too much use over 2123. Might be good to keep, will go into more detail.
3113 - decent, should stay
1123 - a staple
3123 - actually good, will discuss why
3213 - unneeded, especially with regular back slash being buffed now
1122 - Dash vision yay
3122 - Understandable, but I'm iffy about it. I need to test dash vision + hyper arts.
1213 - Unneeded
2123 - So glad this made it in.
Okay, so to get this started, here is just my idea of the sets...
0) Default
1) 1113
2) 1123
3) 1122
4) 2123
5) 2122
6) 3113
7) 3123
8) 3122
-
9) 2112
10) 2322
Sets explained:
1113:
This is just your no customs set with power vision instead of regular vision. Good for people who do not understand much about Shulk's customs. Not bad, either.
1123:
Same as the previous, but with Advancing Air Slash. Advancing Air Slash is a nice move. A lot of people prefer it to regular air slash. Move is described further in the op.
1122: Same as previous, but power vision has been swapped for dash vision. This set will take a bit more skill, for dash vision has a smaller frame to activate. However, the reward of having that extra option against projectiles makes it worth it. Dash Vision still kills, and is actually better for gimps too.
2123:
This set focuses on Decisive Arts with Advancing Air Slash, a combo which allows you to utilize Decisive Shield in order to survive until very late percents. It is a quite potent threat, once you get used to using Decisive Monado Arts and Advancing Air Slash.
2122:
Dash Vision rounds out this set's utility, giving it suitable options against projectiles while in arts other than speed and jump.
3113:
Like the first set, but with hyper arts. Hyper Jump + Regular Air Slash can reach the ledge from the bottom blast zone on FD.
3123:
Advancing Air Slash is actually very useful for hyper arts. With hyper buster, hyper smash, and hyper jump, safety is needed. Advancing Air Slash, due to dealing more damage and being safer, is an excellent choice for the hyper monado arts, which centralize around hyper buster and hyper smash. As for recovery, the height of advancing air slash with hyper jump is 'good enough'. Do treat it like more of a vertical recovery, however.
3122 - All the other arts get dash vision, why not hyper arts? Advancing Air Slash is used over regular air slash when paired with dash vision, because both are good for facing projectile users.
2112:
Seems useless compared to 2122 at first, but it has a distinct role. Some projectiles really stink for advancing air slash. For example, all of Lucario's Neutral B's. Another would be Samus's fully charged shot. Sometimes, Air Slash is just needed. So, even though 2122 is generally better, 2112 needs use in some cases.
As for why dash vision is used instead of power vision, the very reason we are using regular air slash is these annoying projectiles. Projectile -> dash vision.
2322 basically focuses around decisive shield and being anti-meta. Decisive Shield gets you out of combos, Back Slash Charge gets you out of combos (
Rob U-throw -> Uair just came to mind as one... Doesn't on this combo, see below for details), and dash vision prevents decisive shield from being zoned out. Back Slash Charge can also be an alternative recovery for decisive shield.
Possible others:
N) 1133 - I've tried mighty air slash in some more matches, and I still do not like it. What gets me now is the ease to which opponents get away from the second hit due to DI. All the other downsides still apply though, don't worry. Before putting mighty air slash into an official set, we need to seriously test this and make sure it deserves it. The spot means a lot. We should not just throw it in for the ideal of having all air slashes available.
N) 3133
This sounds op, but is actually extremely risky with hyper arts. If you miss with mighty air slash in hyper smash, hyper buster, or hyper jump, expect a lot of bad stuff. The only real use is with recovery, but regular air slash already has that more than covered as explained in the description for 3113.
N) 1112 or 3112
I would argue for advancing air slash with dash vision rather than regular air slash with dash vision for a couple reasons. First, both advancing air slash and regular air slash are good against projectiles. They're two options. Then, people who pick dash vision are more likely to actually know about customs, and so more likely to also like advancing air slash. You could say that my reasoning for 2112 could apply again here (like Lucario's neutral B), but since with hyper and regular arts monado jump can be activated from any art, advancing air slash can become that more vertical recovery move which is needed.
Other things worth noting:
Power vision vs Dash Vision
Power vision: due to being slow while having the same slowing effect as the other visions, it is worse against 3 types of things:
1) Projectiles
2) Fast attacks
3) Moving attacks
If the opponent is using an attack with a minimal amount of end-lag, they can air dodge before power vision hits. Moving attacks like dash attacks can give power vision trouble as well, since they get out of the way before it hits. Finally, no vision, including power vision, activates the slowing effect against projectiles. Since power vision is so slow, they can just dance around you before punishing you.
Dash vision: Has many uses over power vision.
1) Can work against many projectiles, fast attacks, and moving attacks.
2) Has less end-lag, which means more maintenance of your stage control.
3) Has a lower knockback angle. In the air, it can gimp people, and on the ground, it can force people to tech (or miss their tech)
Dash vision still does kill nice and early. Not as early as power vision, more like regular vision. Compared to regular vision, the main drawback is it has a lesser window of activation, meaning more skill is needed to use it.
They're both good, but like, don't use power vision vs mega man or something. Dash vision is useful. In fact, I say it rounds out many of the issues we Shulks face. Primarily in that we don't have much to do against projectiles. Dash vision is that thing we can do. We also can have issue against people with fast attacks, and it is nice to be able to hit them without chance of them spot dodging and punishing.
Another use dash vision has is it is safer at times where power vision might get punished, like when in buster at low percent, or something.
Dash vision's lower angle gives opponents a harder time recovering after hit away by it. This is nice for us. We might get an Fair on them to finish the job, or whatnot.
Dash vision can be used to intercept off-stage, just like power vision. Works against everybody I posted about here (tested =) ):
(quoted somebody else)
Ah, oh well about Fox and Falco. I tried that with power vision as well, and it did not work. Neither did dash vision. But yeah, it's deadly if you counter the start up of his up B!
Dash Vision doesn't actually send you very far if activated in the air... so it seems viable for this strategy too.
Power Vision is also great.
Something to keep in mind about this strategy is you want to fall into the recovery, or you will miss. You need to be higher up, or you will fall too low below the recovery. Also, be sure to use the move far away from the edge if they snap to it (most do).
I'm testing all of these with power vision.
Works great against Ness. I am sure this kills at incredibly early percents. Even the time when I timed the counter to soon, since he hit the counter, his recovery distance was shortened.
Works deliciously against Donkey Kong. On FD in training mode, it kills him even before 70% damage.
Against Charizard, it can work if he recovers low. You might hit him during his super armor if you activate at the way start of his recovery move. If you activate near the end, you won't hit him, as he will grab the edge. Overall, it can work against Charizard, but it's hard.
It works well against Link if you use it high enough above him, otherwise he will get out of the way of the move. The other option is to use it behind him, as the sword spins around him. You will counter backwards and stage spike him. The same is true for Toon Link, but the lower range on his move makes it a bit harder to run into with the counter.
Works well against Samus if you are far enough from the edge.
I can't get the opportunity to test it against ZSS... Does not work for Marth, and you would want to gimp him with Fair anyways. No for Ike. Apparently he has super armor at the way start of his up B, and that is the only time it would work. It does not slow down Wii Fit Trainer at all. An off-stage counter on her soccer ball might work, though. Does not work on Mario. Does not work on Doctor Mario.
Works really well on Luigi's cyclone down B! Nice way to respond to Luigis recovering low. You might take 1 damage with minimal knockback, which ends the counter immediately after it hits him. This makes it even easier to recover. It works against Luigi's up B only at the top and if he does not snap the edge.
Excellent against Peach's umbrella. You might take 1% damage/tiny knockback.
The move is extremely good against Bowser's up B. When your counter hits him, you will take 3% damage/tiny knockback, like Luigi and Peach.
I am having a hard time testing against both Wario's up B and his bike. No idea. Can't get it to work against Game and Watch too.
Works against Little Mac's up B (he doesn't snap to the edge). Can work on his side B, but why not use Fair instead, as it does not require his hitbox to hit you
Meta Knight does not seem to work. Might work if he activates it at the loop he makes, but GL.
You cannot counter Yoshi's egg mid-air.
This works against Mii Brawler's piston punch. However, I don't feel like testing all the other miis and their recoveries.
So, power vision works against:
(piston punch)
(probably
)
Unsure about:
Also, unsure about custom recoveries. Probably works against any slower custom recoveries.
Edit: Also, vision does not slow down horizontal movement as well as I thought it did. Usually best if you jump off the stage.
Recovery is not an issue as long as you have your air jump. I was able to recover with just the first strike of advancing air slash.
Back Slash Charge
I did some testing today with @
Scieric about what back slash charge gets out of.
-Can BSC out of Sheik combos, but the end-lag will make it punishable if you do not use it strategically.
-Cannot BSC out of Rob D-throw -> Uair combo.
-Can BSC out of Luigi down-throw combos, and not get punished unless Luigi sees it coming.
-Cannot BSC out of Mii Brawler up B combo, but monado shield means we don't care about that anyways.
-Can BSC out of Meta Knight D-throw -> Uair -> Uair -> (...) -> Up B and Dash Atack -> Uair -> Uair -> (...) -> Up B
That's what we've tested so far.
So yeah! Ideas for discussion:
-What do you think about the different monado arts, now that time has passed?
-Do you think BSC is useful?
-What do you think about the sets?
etc. Post whatever you want of course
.
