Should I play Shulk?

[Faust the Lich]

Im coming from melee and project m and I've been looking for a main to pick up in smash 4. I wont be playing it too much, but I think shulk seems like a fun character. I play a mix between an aggressive/defensive marth, and a dashdance heavy MK in PM (with an olimar secondary for certain hard matchups). My practice with spacing should help if I were to pick up Shulk. Is he a good choice for me? And if I pick him, what should I be in store for?

 

[AlvisCPU]

This is coming from someone who hasn't played Melee since Brawl came out, and has only tried PM once. I've not played competitively until Smash 4, so I may not be able to give great advice on whether he's a great choice coming off of those guys. I do find him to be a really fun character though, once you can get around his Monado Arts, and what to use when. It really alters the way you should be playing him, so it's he's good for a bit of variety like that.

You'll probably already have a rough idea of how the Arts are used, but I'll go through it anyway. Jump is almost exclusively used for recovery or edgeguarding. The deterrent is that the x1.22 damage you take. On-stage you can play it a bit hit-and-run, just don't get shield-grabbed. He has some really flashy (often sacrificial) true combos in Jump that guarantee a KO - carrying them out into the blast line and using Air Slash to seal the deal. Hype as hell when pulled off. Speed is can be hit-and-run as well as just chasing people down. Pivot grabs, following aerial opponents (Speed's walk is faster than regular's run), low% combos are amazing. Shield is Shield, enough said. Can sometimes be used if you want to hold your ground near a ledge. Buster's damage output (x1.4) is absolutely mental. The reduced knockback isn't really a drawback because you can combo for longer. Space yourself really well, shield damage and pushback is great, the extra damage taken (x1.13) isn't too bad. Smash is exactly what it looks like. I find it hard to use because it announces your intention to KO them. But you can get some great KOs if you make a good read here.

Generally speaking, expect to have a great time fighting large characters, expect to have a tough time fighting fast characters and some projectile-users. Jump and Speed are your best friends against them but they can't always be active and over a longer period the drawbacks start to hurt.

Dtilt, ftilt, nair, fair and bair can all be used for spacing to various degrees of quality. KO moves would be all smashes, ftilt, utilt, uair and dair. Utilt beats most, if not all aerials in a challenge. Shulk's aerials are generally amazing, his range making him very hard to approach in the air. Smash attacks are incredibly punishable, but have really good damage and knockback. Expect to use Speed and Buster a lot, as well as nair. I think he plays better defencively, racking up the damage through good spacing, but he most certainly has the tools to put serious offensive pressure on his opponent.

Overall, I think he has the tools to tackle nearly anything so he's got a lot of potential to be terrifying. If you think you'll have fun with him, you probably will.

 

[YouReadMyName]

Pick up someone easier first to get the feel of the game (Luigi/Mario/pit). Then, after playing a few games against other people, you can get a feel of other chars. That's how I now play Ness (soon Lucas), Little Mac, and Megaman.

 

[notyourparadigm]

I actually just started playing PM! I'm nowhere near 'competitive' yet, probably won't be anytime soon, but I think that the reverse definitely holds true between (PM) Marth and Shulk-- all of your practice of proper spacing should pay off if you decide to pick him up, as I really find Marth the most intuitive character to play in that game.

@ AlvisCPU has covered the Shulk basics well, but I'll note a few things I've noticed about Shulk vs. Marth (no MK, sorry). Although Shulk's 'tipper' is technically the base of his sword, you will still generally try to be spacing at the end of it. You will be (not quite) untouchable if you do this, as the Monado outranges anything but projectiles. But in contrast to Marth, Shulk isn't as fast or mobile, and even with the wonderful Speed mode you'll have to take into account Shulk's poor frame data compared to other characters. If anyone gets in your face, you will be taking damage, and a lot of it. Shulk is very well-known combo food, so you have to try to minimize your damages after a grab combo, and go back to spacing without getting to flustered about the damage you just took. Be very careful with laggy moves, and just play with good fundamentals. Shulk plays similar in style to Marth, but certainly not the same.

I would agree with @ YouReadMyName too, though-- make sure you have proper feeling for how the game plays compared to PM or Melee before you get too convicted into a single character decision. Maybe the differences of Smash4's general play style will make you less inclined to play a spacing character, and instead choose someone focused on rush-down or projectile zoning or whatnot. The games do play VERY differently, so you might find yourself frustrated if you try to play it too much like Melee or PM. Plus if you plan to play Smash4 more casually, you don't want to mess up your Melee or PM game with too similar, but still different spacing. Using someone completely different in play style would be a new adventure for you with no risk of confusing your muscle memory.

 

[Zilexion]

as long as you're playing on the wiiu, i'd say give it a try. there's a lot of options thanks to the monado arts, though he might seem a bit sluggish compared to marth. don't let all the shulk memes discourage you, there's a deep fighter there who i wholeheartedly recommend.

 

[AlvisCPU]

Some really good point here, he's certainly a lot slower than Marth and Meta Knight. Jump and Speed can somewhat compensate but don't quite compare for just being generally quicker. That said, his Arts do make up for his bad frame data. His potential agility, weight and damage output make him dangerous in the hands of a pro.

 

[Ultinarok]

Very high learning curve. If you enjoyed Marth and MK before, try them again, as, contrary to popular belief, they are still decent, just not top tier. But they play similarly overall. MK actually has more speed and KO power now in exchange for much lower damage, nerfed range and priority, and a weaker recovery. Shulk is not a good character to start with, because he is fundamentally built around his Arts and is mediocre without them, so he takes a lot of practice and isn't for everyone. But hot damn is he fun when you get used to him.

 

[Samgan]

i use to main shulk just for fun but if you know how to use shulk's art he can be a good character

 

[Berserker.]

Whelp. I forgot about this thread