Poll: Your Favorite Monado Art

[OptimistNic]

You could also read this as either the Monado Art you use the most or the one you feel is the most valuable in competitive play. Be sure to sound off in the comments why you made your vote!

I personally find Jump to be very useful as it dramatically increases your air speed and it is great for following up after attacks with high knockback.

 

[Masonomace]

Jump

Why: It's the green Monado Art. Subjectively, green is my favorite color and I don't really need to address any other reason that has anything to do with Monado Arts & their game-play mechanics / elements that affect Shulk.

 

[Berserker.]

Buster

because.....

 

[MarioFireRed]

I almost always start matches with Speed. The amount of momentum I can control with is pretty nice for some easy combo damage before switching off to Buster.

 

[Kerreb17]

Speed art is perfect for any situation where you're not sure what to do. Neutral isn't bad, but having speed is important not only to close the gap with zoners, but to all escape pressure from aggressive advancing opponents. The downsides, in the grand scheme of things, don't mean that much. Shulk's vertical recovery is good enough to negate the height penalty, and I'm pretty sure you can hop lower with speed on.

Whenever I decisively lock myself into speed, I'm never disappointed.

 

[Kokusho]

Smash because its downside (less damage) is not important when your opponent is already at kill pourcent and it also give you much more kill options.

 

[Fandangox]

Jump because makes the way I prefer to edgeguard easier as it guarantees you'll make it back on the stage as long as you don't get attacked instead.

 

[Plain Yogurt]

Jump because it gives me the fun of playing Jigglypuff without actually having to play as Jigglypuff. More seriously because meeting your opponent in the sky with a Fair/Nair after launching them is amazing.

 

[Deleted member]

Speed since I can rush in with Shulk and abuse his incredible range. I'm very surprised that my go-to Monado Art is Speed.

 

[Hokori]

BUSTAH!

I just love watching those percentages skyrocket

 

[Hylian]

My favorite is speed. I love the low jump it gives him and the fact that he retains ground to air momentum when he jumps out of a run giving his combo and edgeguarding game a fairly significant boost.

 

[Zephil]

tough to decide but I think I prefer Jump the most.

Its in my opinion the most useful arts of all and has a lot of potential.

 

[Horsantula]

Buster; it's great for racking up damage.

 

[Shulkmania]

I use JUMP.

Because it's green (best color), and because it's the first Art you can lock into, which makes it easier to MArt Cancel with, you're always pretty safe on your recoveries (very hard to get gimped), annnnnnd air speed is nice.

 

[Jae]

BUSTER

Seeing those higher percentages feel really good, especially when you land a well-timed Smash attack. Plus, bonus points for being purple and having the coolest name of all the arts.

 

[GlitchyFireEmblem]

Buster can really rack up damage.

 

[Claxus]

I'm gonna go with Shield... Despite that I don't always use it, to me it's kind of like, time to tip the scales! Time to slow down and really focus on a strategy to defeat my opponent, and the decreased movement stats even helps with spacing more precisely and abusing that short-hop N-air, and basically playing defensive. It's kind of more of a psychological thing where I shift gears.

I don't like to just use it as a lifeline, because getting launched in it is pretty terrible and makes him more susceptible to fllow-ups, but it definitely is a big plus that Shulk can take some surprisingly hard-hitting moves and smashes without getting KO'd.

Plus, it's my favorite Monado Art pose, besides taking off right after the Speed pose.

 

[SpatialPSI]

Buster because I use it the most. I need to use the others more to get a feel, but right now its buster. I like shield too because it's my more used one on Xenoblade Chronicles because I'm still not that far and don't have the others...

 

[Da_Silver98]

Buster, makes it so easy to build damage

 

[Burgundy]

I voted Buster, but I also use Shield just as much. Depends on the way I want to approach an opponent.

 

[Scourge The Hedgehog]

Speed because you always have to go fast. With Buster being a really close second.

 

[Berserker.]

Speed because you always have to go fast. With Buster being a really close second.

Gotta go fast!

 

[Collective of Bears]

I love Shield. It's the biggest troll stance when you're high on %, it makes you basically unkillable. I've had lots of opponents just try to stall out my Shield stance rather than try to kill me.

 

[DavemanCozy]

I chose speed, but I think you have to use all of them to take full advantage of Shulk.

My strategy right now is:
Use Buster to rack up damage -> Speed or Jump to chase (and get the opponent offstage) -> Smash for KOing -> Shield to rack damage before losing my stock (if I'm at high percent and it's not my last stock)

I guess the most useless one would be Shield, but it still has it's uses. It's great for stock-tanking in doubles too.

EDIT: I sometimes switch this up depending on who I'm facing.
I'll use Speed first when fighting fast characters like Little Mac, Fox, or zoners like Rosalina or Duck Hunt.
I'll use Jump first when fighting Kirby, Meta Knight, or floaties in general.

But usually, I always switch to Buster right after to keep my combo game while the opponent is at low percent. One thing that works really well with Shulk in Buster is Up-throw -> Up-tilt x2 -> Up-air (you might have to double jump to follow up some chars) or F-air. In the end, I end up switching to Smash to get that KO, and I just use Shield conservatively.

 

[Hellrazor]

I'm stuck between Buster and Smash. Using Buster and landing a smash is ridiculously satisfying when you watch the numbers redden harder than a tsundere's face in a generic romcom anime. On the other hand, Smash + basically anything makes you feel like a god where every move is a smash with KO power and nobody can stand against you (provided enemy/-ies are at high %).

 

[misterOWAIN33]

I use Buster at the beginning to build up damage. After that fades out I go to Smash.
But Buster is the best because of Shulk's accent.

 

[Dark Lady]

I like Shield. One could say... i'm REALLY FEELING IT. Shield changes Shulks properties harder than any other Monado Art and I find that intriging. Might be some interactions that it does some weird stuff with, and I intend to find out what!

 

[Madolche ♦ Procione]

I put mine in for Jump. Might just be the giggle I had today when my opponent waited at the edge for me. I was decently below ledge level, and the last thing he expected was Shulk's double jump arcing right over his head, bypassing the ledge entirely. Wasn't a smart move by any means, but the way he paused for a moment to register what happened was priceless to me.

Close second goes to Smash because Smash Art forward counter for the game-winning kill feels like you just won Smash Bros forever.

 

[warionumbah2]

Funny thing is purple represents the colour of death in some cultures(reason why Ganondorf has purple aura when using his moves), its neat since buster racks up damage to the point where you're at death percent.

Red means danger since you're in danger of getting k.o'd early as well as your opponent being in danger of dying.

I like this combination, but i'll vote for buster.

 

[CWBY]

i picked speed because it's really fun to fake people out with it

 

[Xmark]

Why isn't vanilla an option? =(

 

[OptimistNic]

Why isn't vanilla an option? =(

This is a thread that focuses entirely on the Monado Arts. If you don't use them, you don't need to participate in this thread, but here we discuss with those who use them in their strategies.
I suppose you could make a thread for "Do You Need to Use Monado Arts?"

 

[Berserker.]

This is a thread that focuses entirely on the Monado Arts. If you don't use them, you don't need to participate in this thread, but here we discuss with those who use them in their strategies.
I suppose you could make a thread for "Do You Need to Use Monado Arts?"

The short answer and for like 48 of the fighters (Sans Mii fighters since I have 0 experience against them),

yes

Oh and sanic speed is best

 

[Flareon]

Buster is great for dealing lots of damage which makes it easy to finish opponents with smash.

 

[Masonomace]

Why isn't vanilla an option? =(

DDoS. . .sheesh My message from yesterday.

Because a flavor isn't a Monado Art, otherwise Monado Speed would be called Monado Blue Bunny, Monado Jump would be Monado Mint, & Monado Smash would be Monado Red Velvet.

 

[FredTheGCNGamer]

Speed, I just love running past everyone in Smash Run.

 

[DaDavid]

Buster because while it can backfire and get you hurt bad, you can make it work wonders if you try hard enough. The ridiculousness that is getting certain opponents from practically 0-80+ with up airs is too good all by itself.

 

[Freikugel]

Shield for tanking Sudden Death rounds and making the most out of my stock, dealing chip damage with an asinine 180%. I need to get into the habit of using Jump more for both recovery and combo purposes, though. I like Speed for playing mindgames; I just wish it sped up attacks (a bit too OP?). Buster and Smash are a bit too high risk/high reward (it often backfires during crucial moments), but work wonders when I use them.

I can't recount how many times I've been blasted away five seconds before the match ends because of stupidly activating it. ;-;

 

[Sui]

I've changed my mind and playstyle on Shulk since voting on this (I voted for Buster...which I hardly use anymore in favor of Speed most of the time). Actually, I think Jump is my favorite stance for SURE. The best part of playing Shulk is chasing them off screen (which, based on other watching a bunch of videos on YouTube, not a lot of Shulks actually do?). There's just something that is SO SATISFYING about hitting them off, switching to jump and hitting them while there's NOTHING they can do about it, and then being able to make it back to the stage pretty much regardless of how far off you went. Seriously, Jump Shulk is the MASTER OF THE SKIES. Doesn't matter how far off he goes, he is making it back to the stage. Just the amount of versatility that gives you is enough to make Jump my favorite.

 

[SonicZeroX]

Jump and Shield >>> the rest. Buster and Smash only change your damage numbers, but if you're getting dominated it only makes things WORSE since you take extra damage/knockback.

Jump and Shield however can completely shift the pacing of the match. One moment you're playing defensive ranged Shulk, then suddenly you're flying through the air throwing aerials like Jigglypuff, and then the next running across the stage grabbing every shield like Sonic.