Social Shulk Social : Starting to feel it!

[MooseSmuggler]

Well, after all the videos of Shulk I've seen and the Japanese tier list placing him at the bottom, I was beginning to lose hope. I saw a vision of Shulk taking the bottom tier, below Ganondorf... fortunately, Monado Speed took me straight to my local GAME store where I picked up the game and it's safe to say I've changed the future. At least, I think I have.

Have you not been checking the video thread? That stuff is amazing. And that tier list seems like a load of bull to me. They even admit they had a poor sampling pool. They had no right to make a tier list with such little information. And besides, Wario is TOP TIER according to them. He's not bad, but TOP? No, just no. That tier list is S-Tier incompetence, sorry not sorry.

Sorry, that tier list just pisses me off. So unprofessional to just toss it out like that.

Anyway, I've gotten the entire roster, and I am LOVING this game. I need to practice more with Shulk though.

 

[Meta651]

Hi bronados, bought Smash for 3DS today at 00:00 hrs and I've been playing a lot. Since Shulk got revealed I new that he was a character that I wanted to try and even main (there's also Lucario and Greninja), after all I played Xenoblade Chronicles and by far is one of my favorites JRPG or even games.

I hope we can play some matches and develop the meta of this awesome character

 

[Berserker.]

Well, after all the videos of Shulk I've seen and the Japanese tier list placing him at the bottom, I was beginning to lose hope.

You know you're not suppose to be taking that tier list even seriously

Especially when pffft--- Marth is in D tier

Dammit. I'll just copy @Aerodrome since I don't know where the quote is

let's be real here

they put marth in d tier

/cannedlaughter

The A/B tier looks right though

 

[GuyWithTheFace]

Shulk's definitely got more than a bit of a learning curve, but for me personally he's better every time I play him. I've got high hopes for him!

 

[zippy3214]

Shulk's definitely got more than a bit of a learning curve, but for me personally he's better every time I play him. I've got high hopes for him!

Yeah, I've had most troubles with Greninja and Wario recently. Greninja's teleport attack catches me off guard, and the person I fought who used Wario really knew how to use him.

 

[Hokori]

I've been busy lately, so apologies if you haven't seen me around much. I've had awhile to fool around with the game some though. Really feeling Shulk

 

[Berserker.]

Still getting used to Shulk. This might take a while

Loving him so far. I'm surprised how I never was punished for using back slash in any matches but I guess that's because my opponent is dumb... and... That's it. I purely use it for punishing and it has worked well for me. Oh and, back slashing over projectiles and luma is priceless. Especially with smash

Buster is my favorite art as expected

I have troubles mostly against Bowser because well, he's Bowser

 

[T.R "River"]

Whelp, I couldn't be more satisfied. I bought the game as soon as it was available and spent the entire day playing non-stop. Now it hurts to use my eyes. That aside, I instantly picked up Shulk as my new main, and have been ravaging the For Glory servers with my intense counter-timing

 

[Kluft]

• Walked into the store after work
• Ask if the they have smash 3ds in stock
• Answer: No

No monado for me this weekend :[

 

[Berserker.]

I think I'm half way to getting used to Shulk. Just need to get the whole "quick switch to jump" right then I've adapted to his unorthodox playstyle

Monado speed, buster and jump have been amazing so far. Smash and Shield, I need to do some work here

Has anyone tried using f-smash to edgeguard? I swear, the range of that move....

Oh, I kinda got annoyed with the lag I was receiving for consecutive games although it helps that my internet is already crappy enough. I just went to my friend's house and played with him

 

[PhilosophicAnimal]

Y'know, I wasn't sure about Shulk at first... He was (of course) the first character I tried, and I was pretty dissapointed... I couldn't even get a KO. But I was determined to learn him, so I stuck with it. Then finally, I came around and realized I was playing him too much like my mains... Shulk cannot play at all like Diddy or G&W. And yes, I know how obvious that is... or at least I do now.

Playing Shulk is... well, like playing Xenoblade. It's all about strategy. You really have to THINK, really have to WORK for that KO. And when you get it... Man, it's just awesome. I can't tell you how many times I've launched someone in speed, ran after them, switched to smash in the blink of an eye, and Usmashed them at like 60-70% for the kill before the hit the ground... no other character feels that rewarding. I've gone from dissapointment to being unable to stop playing him. He's just so much more interesting than the others.

Also, his Adam Howden voice is incredible... How he says "I'm REALLY feeling it!" is so perfect. I've also noticed he sometimes says "Not good!" when he gets KOed... so many awesome references...

 

[Andyjoe522]

I'm afraid the most amazing thing I've accomplished so far is setting my left taunt to "Man, whatta" and my right taunt to "buncha jokers!"
Being that this is my first time considering getting into competitive Smash, I've still got a lot of fundamentals to get down pat. It's also been so long since I last played Brawl, Melee or Smash 64 that what little skill I did have was completely rusted over. But I'd say I'm already a bit better than I was before. I'm finally making proper use of my aerials, something I don't think I ever really used before. That's still not much, but it's more than I was doing before.

Moving on to Monado Boy, I think I'm doing alright with him so far. The main thing I feel I need to focus on as far as his moveset is concerned is getting my muscle memory down pat for his neutral special. I also need to work on switching out of shield and into jump when I'm off the ledge. It'll take a while, but I think I can do it. Hopefully I'll at least be competent by the time the Wii U version comes out.

 

[Creo]

Sorry I haven't been around, everyone. . . Been busy in the lab and playing ranked (For Glory)!

I went 101 - 10 yesterday in FG. My character playtime was roughly 50 / 50 on Sheik and Shulk (the mains I chose prior to the games release). Not everyone that I played was top-notch, to be sure, but believe you me, as someone who knows and has played / been around very high -level players in previous games, I had played some damn good people throughout. Ironically, I had run into quite a few Shulk players as well, which was great to play and see the different play styles as opposed to my own (can't remember all of their names, unfortunately, but perhaps I played someone from here? I do remember a "RazzleDazzle". Ha).

. . . Anyways, allow me to briefly speak about Shulk. First of all, I don't know if I see him being high / top tier, but definitely low / bottom. . . But then again, who cares? It's only day 2 of the game here for us, and like what, week 3 for Japan? Let the game take its course for a while, and don't stress over tiers (I enjoy playing as Shulk anyways, regardless of his tier placement). That being said, it honestly feels like my Shulk becomes better each and every time I play with him. I feel as if he is a character that just requires more of a connection and understanding than others to really be able to express yourself with.

As far as personal preferences go in what arts I tend to use, Monado Speed (MASp) by far my favorite (as of right now). I normally begin the match with it because it brings pressure and range together, plus added mix-ups and follow-ups (strings). SH > neutral-airs in MASp are bliss. Fast pressure, and with good spacing you can mix-up with f-tilt (or pivot), grab (or pivot), another SH neutral-air, etc. Also, I like to follow up the standard A > A > A jab combo with a pivot f-tilt in MASp as well. After M.Spd, I tend to be using MAJ the second-most often. It brings your off-stage / gimp game to a higher (i.e. safer) level, and I am finding that it often throws the opponent off in their punishes and what-have-you. The extra air-time Shulk receives is enough to be more ambiguous with your approach, and it just seems to be working for me. MASh is self-explanatory, really, and to be blunt, I use MAB and MAS of course, but not as effectively as MASp and MAJ. I'll be in the lab with MAB in the coming days, and as for MAS, you just need to be able to play a solid spacing / regular Shulk game as that mode exists solely for the kill. If I had a means to record, I'd help out with that, but I don't. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a "send replay" feature on the 3DS SSB, either. . . Well regardless, I'll be in the lab refining my game and keeping my eye on the discussion in these Shulk boards, too. Keep at it, everyone!

Edit: For Shulk MU's, I haven't had any particular problem as of yet. I would say my few losses are just from not having a full understanding of Shulk himself, on top of the game being day-one at the time. I heard Rosalina was a problem. . . I had faced one or two that knew what they were doing, and I pretty much just abused MASp (and MAJ when I had to wait for speed to recharge) and kept fast-paced pressure and mix-ups coming for the win. Luma was almost non-existent because of this, and I was spacing out of her shield grab range. Again, obviously there will be bad MU's for Shulk, I just haven't explicitly had one yet myself. Also keep in mind that in "For Glory", we are only able to play on Final Destination. . . That's important to keep in mind for MU's and Shulk in general. Even just going to Battlefield could change everything (for example).

 

[Berserker.]

A C-stick would be really nice but oh well, that's only on the *new* 3DS

I wouldn't wanna grade Shulk this early but if I were to, it'd be in the range of 75 to 85 so far. That can change though depending on how Shulk's metagame goes.

Oh and I was up against my friend who used Fox. I don't think he was good at all because I just kept strong countering his lasers and kept dealing damage that way. It was hilarious but I'm sure that's never gonna work.

Never mind about Bowser being annoying. He's only a slight annoyance. Lucario and Pacman are really annoying to deal with. Especially Lucario. Those are like, the two characters I've had a tough time against. The rest are okay to great

 

[Jae]

I think I'm getting a good grasp with Shulk now. I need to remind myself that I can't exactly use him the same way I use other swordsmen xD

Is anyone having troubles with Rosilumas when fighting as Shulk?

 

[Saki-]

Rosilumas and Sheiks that have good ground camp game are whats been the BIGGEST issues so far. Mac gets an honorable mention but I think it's more so on me not being confident and playing his game over making him play mine.

 

[GuyWithTheFace]

Rosilumas and Sheiks that have good ground camp game are whats been the BIGGEST issues so far. Mac gets an honorable mention but I think it's more so on me not being confident and playing his game over making him play mine.

Rosalina's definitely been a big issue for me, just because she can take away Vision's usefulness. Little Mac's been less difficult. That's the time to bring out Jump and Speed, in my experience.

 

[zippy3214]

Rosilumas and Sheiks that have good ground camp game are whats been the BIGGEST issues so far. Mac gets an honorable mention but I think it's more so on me not being confident and playing his game over making him play mine.

All of the Macs I've faced fell to a well timed vision or getting knocked into the air and ending it there.
By the way, has anyone tried to counter Mac's K.O. punch? Is it even possible?

 

[ThatLunaticFeline]

All of the Macs I've faced fell to a well timed vision or getting knocked into the air and ending it there.
By the way, has anyone tried to counter Mac's K.O. punch? Is it even possible?

Just checked, it is impossible to counter, but the punch does not kill you. Instead, it passes straight through you.

 

[FlareHabanero]

You can however grab Mac as he's excecuting the K.O. Punch, though I want to say it's only possible on the first frame or two of the attack.

By the way for Shulk players out there, if you want an easier time facing Little Mac, avoid using Smash, Shield, or Jump. His attacks are fast and powerful that those cause more harm then good. Also put special emphasis on keeping Little Mac in the air, and try to "sweep" him off the stage with both the neutral air and forward air.

 

[MooseSmuggler]

So, I uploaded a match for the first time (well, for Smash 4). It was SO LAGGY, and it really messed me up, but it was still fun:

Spoiler: Embedded Video

 

[relaxedexcorcist]

I've been playing a lot of Shulk. Really like him for the most part. The Vision is just sooo satisfying, and it's active for years. I am still have trouble landing any air moves that aren't nair or fair. he has so much start up it messes me up, but I'm getting the hang of it.

The match ups have been giving me the most trouble have been the speedy guys, like Sonic and Mac. Mac especially, whiff one anything and you get put in a really bad position, especially since his move are so laggy, Mac can just run in and hit you with whatever.

As for forms I've been using, I've used them pretty evenly/predictably I think. Use buster early except against combo centric characters or characters who hit super hard, pull at Smash at around the 80% mark unless I also have high %. In that case i tend to just opt for Vanilla or shield. I use speed against projectile guys and Bowser. The only one I haven't really used yet is Jump, which I like the more and more I use it.

I unfortunately don't see him being very good in the long run though. He seems like he requires a lot of hard reads, and his go to moves like his tilts, fair and nair aren't exactly the safest.

 

[MegaLagann]

Like a lot of people I'm starting to get the hang in Shulk. The first few times I forgot to even use the Monado arts, but safe to say I'm getting better. Though I barely use jump and speed. I generally use shield in the beginning, then buster and finish it off with smash. Seems to be working. Shulk's big disadvantage is figuring out when to activate the arts. But I guess that's part of his strategy. Also, about tiers: in the beginning of the Melee meta game Jigglypuff was considered mid-tier, now look where she's placed. Anybody taking tiers seriously this early is a jokah.

And can I just say how amazing it is to fight with You Will Know Our Names playing? Gets my pumped. Can't wait to hear what other Xenoblade songs and or remixes will be in the Wii U version.

 

[S.F.L.R_9]

Smash 4 is literally addicting. Shulk is so fun to use and i've been finding some very interesting things with him. I saw when Shulk was first revealed people were saying some of his arts didn't have many uses, but i've used like all of them (I used jump once to up air someone off the top and ko them lol) I'm so glad Shulk is in this game, i'm really feeling it

 

[Jgod]

Starting to ramp up on my speed of stance swap. Go buster nair-fair switch to speed grab down throw chase for nair.
Been throwing a lot of pivot speed f-tilts but my god I'm not hitting jack squat.

I feel like shield just changes my mental state to 'okay they can't kill me get aggressive'. Gotten heaps of kills after switching to shield without them even hitting me.

 

[zippy3214]

One thing I hate about Smash 4. Mechanical Rhythm won't play in Smash Run unless you change the option for it.
Otherwise, one thing I noticed about Shulk is that the visions can be the deciding factor of the game. It happens so quickly, and is also like in Xenoblade Chronicles where you use visions to avoid life threatening attacks.

 

[Jgod]

With the lag on air dodge sometimes its the only way to survive.

 

[Deleted member]

Do you think projectile users like Falco or Robin could cause trouble for Shulk? I fought a Robin in For Glory as Shulk and I had a little bit of trouble with Robin's Thunder and Arcfire.

It will still take me a while to get used to playing as Shulk. I need to master the art of using his Monado Arts.

Otherwise, one thing I noticed about Shulk is that the visions can be the deciding factor of the game. It happens so quickly, and is also like in Xenoblade Chronicles where you use visions to avoid life threatening attacks.

Yes, Shulk's Vision counter is very powerful and it's capable of KOing people. I think that if you use the attack right before a character attacks, the counter will be much more powerful.

 

[relaxedexcorcist]

I finally landed a back slash on someones back. It killed Pacman from the other side of final destination at 130%.

Holy s***

 

[spiderfreak1011]

A C-stick would be really nice but oh well, that's only on the *new* 3DS

I wouldn't wanna grade Shulk this early but if I were to, it'd be in the range of 75 to 85 so far. That can change though depending on how Shulk's metagame goes.

Oh and I was up against my friend who used Fox. I don't think he was good at all because I just kept strong countering his lasers and kept dealing damage that way. It was hilarious but I'm sure that's never gonna work.

Never mind about Bowser being annoying. He's only a slight annoyance. Lucario and Pacman are really annoying to deal with. Especially Lucario. Those are like, the two characters I've had a tough time against. The rest are okay to great

Well, i've seen Bowser's KO people with their Side Smash at 52%, so that's pretty strong. Definitely want to try using your range and countering i''d think. I'm picking up the game in a bit and i can't wait to play it.

As for Lucario, i could see him being annoying with the rage effect making any smash attack he does at high percents probably an instant kill if you have decent damage. Plus, the Aura effect was strengthened this time around, so i figured he'd be OP. Any news on if Olimar's hard to fight with Shulk, or what? I usually have a hard time fighting Olimar's unless i have someone with ranged attacks like Ness.

 

[Berserker.]

I think I'm getting a good grasp with Shulk now. I need to remind myself that I can't exactly use him the same way I use other swordsmen xD

Is anyone having troubles with Rosilumas when fighting as Shulk?

I don't really play against her that often (But I against Shulk as her quite often) so I'll just take this from someone who told me how to deal with her, use speed and space your attacks on Luma then when the Luma's out, go all out on Rosalina. Don't stay between her and Luma.

 

[relaxedexcorcist]

Mario and Shulk on the same team is pretty risque

Oh myyy.

 

[Berserker.]

Well, i've seen Bowser's KO people with their Side Smash at 52%, so that's pretty strong. Definitely want to try using your range and countering i''d think. I'm picking up the game in a bit and i can't wait to play it.

For one match (And only one), I racked up damage with buster against Bowser (Around 50-65%?) then switched to Smash. Then, I just waited for the Bowser to use the f-smash, then I countered it then KO. Yeah. Counter works well

You can however grab Mac as he's excecuting the K.O. Punch, though I want to say it's only possible on the first frame or two of the attack.

By the way for Shulk players out there, if you want an easier time facing Little Mac, avoid using Smash, Shield, or Jump. His attacks are fast and powerful that those cause more harm then good. Also put special emphasis on keeping Little Mac in the air, and try to "sweep" him off the stage with both the neutral air and forward air.

I tried out your idea of sticking to Vanilla against Mac and it has worked very well so far. I keep getting wrecked with buster and even speed activated because Mac deals a ton of damage (So using buster is sort of a death sentence)

 

[MegaLagann]

Mario and Shulk on the same team is pretty risque

Oh myyy.

Fiora just fainted.

Vision counter just saved my life in a match against Little Mac.

 

[Berserker.]

I nearly got KO'd by warlock punch then I countered it then KO'd Ganondorf

*phew* That would have been embarrassing

 

[Life]

Yeah, for anyone who hasn't figured it out yet, Vision kills people. (Although I'm using the custom version with more knockback so IDK--but that plus Smash, on a Bowser Fsmash, killed at like 60% and that was with poor stage positioning--really feeling it, indeed! But I won't be able to rely on that in For Glory, so...)

In fact, counters in this game are really good in general.

I'm gonna start spamming Shulk in For Glory tomorrow now that I have some experience with how his arts work. (I tried him today before I bothered to figure out which art was which and that ended badly.)

 

[link2702]

so, with xenoblade being my all tmie favorite wii game, I made it my goal to main shulk in smash4.


So yeah, new shulk main here. Slowly getting used to his monodo arts....but damn his range wasn't as godly as sakurai made it seem like when he was revealed :<.

 

[Life]

so, with xenoblade being my all tmie favorite wii game, I made it my goal to main shulk in smash4.


So yeah, new shulk main here. Slowly getting used to his monodo arts....but damn his range wasn't as godly as sakurai made it seem like when he was revealed :<.

Welcome!

Shulk's toolkit does feel super awkward for the first few games. Eventually you'll pick up on it though. For any given weakness Shulk has, there's an art that turns it into a strength.

 

[KingofPhantoms]

Have still yet to be able to play Xenoblade myself but I've tried Shulk out and I'm beginning to really like the Monado Arts mechanic. Opens up a lot of situational strategies with him.

If I can manage to get good enough with the mechanic I might very well make Shulk one of my first mains.

 

[Noiblade]

So I really really wanna main Shulk. I've played the game over 80 hours even! So I was gonna ask if you guys had any tips for me!