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Unfinished Battle - Shulk Video Archive

Zatchiel

a little slice of heaven 🍰
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I'll offer critique for both of you in order.

@ -Joannett88- -Joannett88-

Hey fellow Shulk mainers, bringing you some of me most recent Shulk tournament videos. I am from Spain and we are constantly playing online thanks to the Smash support of our national e-sports company.
Pretty happy with my results, I ended up 5th and this was my first offline tournament as a Shulk mainer.
vs Marcbri :4pit: http://www.twitch.tv/smashbrosspain/b/634383491?t=31m10s


Also in game 2 I switched to Yoshi. Went back to shulk in the others.
Very good play. Very good.

Your switches were calmly done for the most part so even in heat of close combat you rarely got a Monado art you didn't want right then. Your art choices were rational too. It is clear to me that you have a great grasp of the character, and getting fifth place on your first attempt at an offline tournament is an exciting achievement. I also remember Marcbri as a player, you did a great job squaring off against him.

such as more MALLC
No, bad idea. Not until you practice it. Practice it until you are barely messing it up ever. Because when you mess up it can be even costlier than if you didn't do it at all. Like it did at the end of your second stock.

better punishes or reaction time
Both seemed fine to me. I can't helpfully criticize those. Anything I have to tell you about them you probably already know watching over your own play. Just those obvious mistakes you might shake your head at. I know I always do when I watch over my play.

let me know what you think
For less commonly recognized mistakes, you give up stage control a lot with your rolls. If you don't know whether or not the opponent is going to approach with an attack or a grab, hold your shield and pay attention to what they're doing before you decide on what to do yourself. Most of your rolls were also really... early, like you remained completely uncertain about how he'd react to your shield throughout the game.

@ Pikalink Pikalink

I hope the quality isn't that bad. The Duck Hunt stage kind glares my 3DS. Of course I have to record this with my 3DS since I don't have any good recording software. All of these matches span withen a week to the day of this post. I use the white alt. Shulk in all of the battles.

I don't think I'm horrible at using Shulk but I'm not amazing at the same time. I prefer team battles because I always get nervous in 1 vs. 1 matches. But I'm working on my salt and skill. Any advice on what I should and shouldn't do?
I'd say I like your taste in alts but I like all of them. White is one of my favorites though.

Your playing style seems very aggressive almost regardless of the match context, which is interestingly enough how I love to play him too. Even at kill percents you didn't falter much in your movement/decisions in neutral and your offense appeared confident and sensible. It was fun to observe.

For advice, I personally think you let yourself get carried away a lot with your offense. Using Speed or Jump doesn't mean approaching from the air is always the best option. You could've also gotten better punishes by luring your opponent while they're at the ledge for example. You get stage control then you use that advantage to little effect. What I mean is that you could be killing them at the percents you remained focused on getting them offstage and edgeguarding. It's inefficient management of multiple resources: favorable positioning, your onstage kill options, and in some cases your Monado arts. With the Smash art we can wipe off one of Samus's stocks before she reaches 100%.

Honestly, the matches you've presented don't really show you struggling with much of anything. You win first two games having a convincingly steady control of either game, making very few, minor mistakes besides the obvious self destructs. Matches like those make it kinda tough to supply any advice when it's asked for. Just keep that in mind if you wanted a meatier critique.

You'll get better control of your nerves the more you play singles. Persevere. Your Shulk looks rather beautiful, I look forward to seeing more of your play.
 
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Pikalink

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Thanks you for the critique.
I don't like using smash a whole bunch. I get scared of losing my stock if I miss play. Plenty of times I lose a stock due to not being careful. I only use it when my percent is lower than my opponent.
I see your point in me using Jump and Speed in the air a lot. After watch fellow Shulk mains I noticed a lot of pivot grabing and running past then punishing with F-Tilt. I should work on that. Also practiceing the Monado Art cancel could help. It could let me use the air and ground to my advantage.
I do feel like I gain and lose stage control very quickly. I'm that type of person who is just fishing with air moves at the edge.
As for the matches themselves I feel I lose a lot for one reason:Salt. These matches are me playing at my best. But when I lose multiple times and my aggressive playstyle come in they don't mix. I lose my cool easily even in my daily life. It consumes me and takes over my head. I play more predictable and I don't pay attention to my opponents habits. Next time I get one of my"predictable modes" yet still somewhat have control of my mind I'll save it.
Mentaly it's just stuck in my head that I'm a mediocre player.

I will record more video's once I feel I added on these idea's for improvement.
 

-Joannett88-

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Feb 20, 2010
Messages
118
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Barcelona, Catalonia
Thank you @ Zatchiel Zatchiel , your in-depth response was very helpful.

Regarding the MALLC issue, yeah, I only practiced it a couple days before the tournament and wasn't consistent in it at all. From now on I will do my best to master this tough techinque.
I also agree I spammed roll too much in some occasions. Maybe It would have been better to jab or grab in some cases.

As soon as some of my content is uploaded again, I will let you know my progress. Cheers.
 
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erico9001

You must find your own path to the future.
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No, bad idea. Not until you practice it. Practice it until you are barely messing it up ever. Because when you mess up it can be even costlier than if you didn't do it at all. Like it did at the end of your second stock.
Something I have been doing is only using MALLC when I already intended to do an art switch through jumping into the air. I usually get the MALLC, but if I don't, it's no big deal.
 

The_Goofyborn

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Thanks you for the critique.
I don't like using smash a whole bunch. I get scared of losing my stock if I miss play. Plenty of times I lose a stock due to not being careful. I only use it when my percent is lower than my opponent.
I see your point in me using Jump and Speed in the air a lot. After watch fellow Shulk mains I noticed a lot of pivot grabing and running past then punishing with F-Tilt. I should work on that. Also practiceing the Monado Art cancel could help. It could let me use the air and ground to my advantage.
I do feel like I gain and lose stage control very quickly. I'm that type of person who is just fishing with air moves at the edge.
As for the matches themselves I feel I lose a lot for one reason:Salt. These matches are me playing at my best. But when I lose multiple times and my aggressive playstyle come in they don't mix. I lose my cool easily even in my daily life. It consumes me and takes over my head. I play more predictable and I don't pay attention to my opponents habits. Next time I get one of my"predictable modes" yet still somewhat have control of my mind I'll save it.
Mentaly it's just stuck in my head that I'm a mediocre player.

I will record more video's once I feel I added on these idea's for improvement.
In regards to losing your cooI, I have that issue as well man, but it's more of a disappointment/annoyance towards myself rather than anger, still has a similar effect on me though. The key is to try not to lose your focus, you can be mad (or disappointed in yourself in my case.) but when you let it effect your play, that's when it becomes a big problem. Though I haven't completely cured myself of my zetsubouo state during my matches, I've found that just keeping my chin up makes the match go a lot better, even allowing me to take the match sometimes. Like I said though, I still have the problem, I just noticed a significant difference in my play when I stay calm and keep my head in it. Just keep working on getting over that, that's really the only advice I can give you.

Also, outside of matches, I say I'm a mediocre player, but when I'm in one, I convince myself I can take the match, regardless of the other persons level of play. That has helped beat a few people who I'm was sure would cream me before the match. Maybe having that mindset will help you as well? I dunno. Just keep up that Shulk play! I'm trying to get MALLC down myself, so good luck.
 

Pikalink

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In regards to losing your cooI, I have that issue as well man, but it's more of a disappointment/annoyance towards myself rather than anger, still has a similar effect on me though. The key is to try not to lose your focus, you can be mad (or disappointed in yourself in my case.) but when you let it effect your play, that's when it becomes a big problem. Though I haven't completely cured myself of my zetsubouo state during my matches, I've found that just keeping my chin up makes the match go a lot better, even allowing me to take the match sometimes. Like I said though, I still have the problem, I just noticed a significant difference in my play when I stay calm and keep my head in it. Just keep working on getting over that, that's really the only advice I can give you.

Also, outside of matches, I say I'm a mediocre player, but when I'm in one, I convince myself I can take the match, regardless of the other persons level of play. That has helped beat a few people who I'm was sure would cream me before the match. Maybe having that mindset will help you as well? I dunno. Just keep up that Shulk play! I'm trying to get MALLC down myself, so good luck.
Aye thanks dude. I would of got my butt kicked by a peach player today if I lost my focus. I guess finding that key Zen focus helps. I have a problem of losing focus. We'll both work on keeping in zone.
 

Ffamran

The Smooth Devil Mod
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From kousetsukitsune's channel; he's LuminareFox and an Ike main.

Blueheart's Shulk vs. LuminareFox's Ike: [1] and [2].

rugal14's Shulk vs. LuminareFox's Ike: [1] and [2] .

Maxou's Shulk vs. LuminareFox's Ike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_2Cbyk4Cr8.

???'s Shulk vs. LuminareFox's Ike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW8ZCpk3ees.

??--'s Shulk vs. Luminare Fox's Ike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJFlteg9CKk.

Salt's Shulk vs. LuminareFox's Ike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGn-36cWG84.

louie's Shulk vs. LuminareFox's Ike: [1] and [2].
 
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Funkermonster

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Pikalink

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Some games I had from SmashLadder, up until last week I haven't played Shulk all that recently and I've been spending too much time in For Glory. Got one win and one loss for each video.

vs :4mario: and :4kirby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWbSCu7vQBw
vs :4pikachu: and :4rob: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4VRCOLiPrU

Lookin for advice on leveling my game, would like anyone here to tell me what I did right and wrong.
While I'm still learning I have a few things to say. I notice you don't go crazy on arts and that is most likely playstyle preference.
Pikachu's smash attacks come out quicky ex.Up smash at 1:19. That sent you up very high. If your percent was a tiny bit higher you would have been dead. Especially if you and pikachu were on the platforms. Using shield can make a difference between life or death. Using U-air to poke while the other players was on the platforms can mix it up a bit. But I suppose its because of landing lag. You don't seem to spotdodge a lot. You could have punished pikachu if you spotdodge and save your vision to whip it out at later percents.
I love the mix up turning and using backslash against Mario. The pivot grabing was nice. You use smash correctly. The playstyle looks pretty calm yet dangerous with that smash equip. Overall very smooth looking battles considering the fact that you have to think on the spot.
I hope you keep on improving because I don't see any glaring problems.
 

SuperDavio

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Here we go, time for some more clips! I'm obviously not asking you all to watch all my videos (that's a lot of bandwidth!), but, if one catches your interest, I'd love to hear some feedback.

20150314

vs. :4dedede:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6EsdNlw_V0&t=1h12m

That second stock... ugh. I felt bad for him. I felt the counter kill on the first stock was really solid.

vs. :4bowser: (WF)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MuUnJrNpis&t=9m10s

I think Cri was just kind of fishing for characters to use in this match, since I'm so familiar with the Rosie match at this point. The kill at the end of this match is reminiscent of the one above. Really feel I dominated this match except for about 10 seconds during the first transition or so.

vs. :4robinf: and :4ganondorf: (GF)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkyQgwEKYzk&t=5m

Shulk deserved his time to shine this tournament, and I gave him his GF position. I didn't know if Professor would stick with Robin or switch to Dorf, so I went with a character I felt has the tools to play against both of them. Probably not the smoothest play, but I hadn't played Smash 4 all week before. Need to start practicing more often. Felt great carrying them off stage. The jump fair to cause Dorf to fall to his death felt super smooth.

But yeah, while not super fluid at switching the arts yet, I feel that I'm getting better ideas over controlling the flow of a match. Any commentary is appreciated. I know it's not super up to par, but I think my Shulk is one of (if not the only) better Shulks in the area.
 

relaxedexcorcist

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Xenoblade Hero

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Most of my matches that were streamed from Xanadu have been put uploaded to youtube (finally). Theres one more but it probably won't be up for a while.

Any critique at all would be appreciated. Feel like a hit a bit of a wall after these games.
In general I think you're one of the best Shulk players I've seen. There's not too much I can fault with your gameplay and all my criticism is minor.

VS Luigi this was mainly down to reads. Maybe you could have mixed up your gameplay as I felt like Boss punished your aerial approaches often with shield grabs. In general avoiding Luigi's grabs is top priority and I know you tried hard to avoid them with your approaches. Not much to state here as I felt you played a very good game. 5:50 - game was some amazing edgeguarding play from you.

VS Duck Hunt I do recognise you may have tilted but perhaps using Jump arts may have been better just because approaching on the ground is tough due to the quantity of projectiles being thrown at you. Especially at the end when you needed to edgeguard DH Jump may have been a better choice then Smash due to the flexibilty of it, and Smash is generally better in neutral when you want to take a risk (but that's personal preference). I wouldn't recommend this vs most players but Dunno Bro also seemed reluctant to grab you so going into shield may have been safer then vs other opponents, although rolling towards DH I wouldn't recommend. At the end of the last stock I think that may have been more down to tilt but I recommend watching that part over for potentially what you could have done differently.

As a general tip maybe risking the down smash may have saved you on a few occasions as I noticed characters spot dodging you often. Still it's not something I would want to use often but it's worth noting. Also hindsight is a great thing. Remember to look over all the replays and evaluate yourself. All these criticism's are minor as I said earlier and I really hope I get to see some more Shulk gameplay from you in the future because I'm learning a lot from it! It's not just from me either, check the comments in the Ness video
 
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After all the soons and after overcoming the laziness, the OP finally has been updated....

*dies* x_x
 

Zatchiel

a little slice of heaven 🍰
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So many videos to watch. I'll check them all out later on today. For those of you that requested critique and didn't receive any: I'll tend to it as soon as I can later on. I'm pooped right now.

Got in some more tournament play this week, managed to pull of a victory dropping a single game as Shulk (I went Ike in the first half of grands).

Winner's semis vs :4myfriends: :4littlemac:

Winner's finals vs :4jigglypuff: Streamer forgot that the stream wasn't showing the game, but if you don't mind missing the first minute of commentary hype just click here.

Grand finals (bracket reset) vs :4megaman: Dude is easily one of the best Megaman's I've ever faced. The end of game 3 is what happens when my hype tanks overflow.

Gonna get some sleep now. I'll be looking to post more tournament matches soon.
 
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DrShankums

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(Whitebean) Shulk vs (Miyami) Little Mac/Robin - …: http://youtu.be/r63tUkyWkYo

Some matches I had with a very good Robin main on anthers. Miyami had some very solid play, I feel like I stole the second match. I can see a lot of the mistakes I made watching these, but different perspectives can be helpful.

(Whitebean) Shulk vs (Danny/Jacquez) Shulk - Anth…: http://youtu.be/OvjofGw4Cro
Shulk dittos! Rarely do I run into other Shulk mains on anthers, but I sure do love the matchup. Goofy SDs on the last match but we both get our blows in.


Something I'm working on incorporating into my play is b reversing the mart activation after jumping over the ledge to mix up the opponent when attempting the stage spike. I hope to get examples soon.
 

Ffamran

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6 videos of Shulk from aruth1218 who plays a bunch of different characters; this is his Shulk and the first three are commentated: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], and [6].
 

Zatchiel

a little slice of heaven 🍰
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Busy weekend. Sorry for my lack of punctuality (to put it lightly), but here's some fresh critique for those that didn't receive any.

Here we go, time for some more clips! I'm obviously not asking you all to watch all my videos (that's a lot of bandwidth!), but, if one catches your interest, I'd love to hear some feedback.

20150314

vs. :4dedede:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6EsdNlw_V0&t=1h12m

That second stock... ugh. I felt bad for him. I felt the counter kill on the first stock was really solid.

vs. :4bowser: (WF)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MuUnJrNpis&t=9m10s

I think Cri was just kind of fishing for characters to use in this match, since I'm so familiar with the Rosie match at this point. The kill at the end of this match is reminiscent of the one above. Really feel I dominated this match except for about 10 seconds during the first transition or so.

vs. :4robinf: and :4ganondorf: (GF)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkyQgwEKYzk&t=5m

Shulk deserved his time to shine this tournament, and I gave him his GF position. I didn't know if Professor would stick with Robin or switch to Dorf, so I went with a character I felt has the tools to play against both of them. Probably not the smoothest play, but I hadn't played Smash 4 all week before. Need to start practicing more often. Felt great carrying them off stage. The jump fair to cause Dorf to fall to his death felt super smooth.

But yeah, while not super fluid at switching the arts yet, I feel that I'm getting better ideas over controlling the flow of a match. Any commentary is appreciated. I know it's not super up to par, but I think my Shulk is one of (if not the only) better Shulks in the area.
1 - I'm not even a minute in and you seem to be using smash attacks recklessly, especially for Speed. You could have made better use of your grounded options in the art. Smash attacks are understandably among your worst at low percents unless it's a HUGE punish; in which case it wouldn't even make sense to have Speed equipped.

You only used two arts throughout the entire game but it got the job done. No complaints here. As for the counter, you shouldn't feel sorry at all. That was his fault entirely and the lead you had wasn't insurmountable. If he understands his character even sparsely then he would know that you can cancel Dedede's usual up B animation after a certain point, to fall helplessly but also harmlessly.

2 - Better plays. Although I do think you fish a little hard to finish the first stock. A lot of your apparent kill attempts met shield, while a handful of your punish opportunities were wasted because you got overzealous. It took you a while to respond to his defensive habits with solid patience, clearing his first stock. But every wasted opportunity of yours gives the opponent more time to piece together their own. Very clean Vision finish.

3 - Good use of f-air/edgeguarding during the first game. You took that convincingly.

The second game is a bit more fascinating because it's the first time I've seen you use Buster in this tourney. As soon as you put it on you land a single d-smash that does 20%. Right then and there you could've switched to Smash, but instead you pile on some more damage and take a bit more unnecessarily (from Ganon's down B) before going for the kill (?) in vanilla. Great presence of mind with that switch to Jump for the edgeguard to finish his stock.

Your usage of Buster on Ganon's last stock was much better overall, you dealt a mountain of damage getting him offstage and ledgeguarding with f-air. This isn't as dangerous as keeping him onstage while tacking on needless damage.

hello guys, i have some troubles with the fox matchup, from the last tournament this is a recorderd video to share with all of you one of my battles, i want to know your opinions and suggestions, thank you and i hope someone like it

:4shulk: vs :4fox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7MxCNk8Bmw (loser finals)
Great use of Jump to start the first game. But you could've taken that soooo much further. Instead of continuing the aggression you give up control to switch to Speed. At 1:28 you switch to Smash while Fox is at 50%. From what I saw it was just for MALLC (which you have a good grasp of from what I can tell), but I remembered you playing with Power Vision. Smash + Power Vision + Rage can be a deadly combination, shaving off stocks at rather early percents over something as small as a jab. It is dangerous for both players involved, so I understand you switching off, but it's worth mentioning.

Against Fox you seem to respect his side B far too much. You can interrupt it from onstage with a slew of options if he aims to land onstage, while f-air works fine from an onstage position if he aims for the ledge itself. That's just if you don't want to risk overextending with any offstage plays.

Nearly two minutes into the first game you end Shield to switch to Smash; Fox at 91% while you're at 138%. Smash is sort of unnecessary for finishing stocks under circumstances like that. It's a real gamble.

After you get him offstage at 3:56 you switch to Jump but you don't actually make use of it. Fox makes it back for free while you're waiting onstage in Jump art. It's ironic.

I believe I've seen you face off against this Fox before, which was no less interesting itself.

Hello, I've been play Shulk for a while and finally got around to going to a local tournament, so I would appreciate any feedback on the two matches I had on stream. Feel free to rip them apart.

Vs. Mario http://www.twitch.tv/hitboxarena/b/641114028?t=20m42s
Vs. Peach http://www.twitch.tv/hitboxarena/b/641114028?t=1h50m29s
1 - Our aerials destroy fireballs. Properly spaced you can either hit Mario if he's behind the fireball or you can just safely neutralize it if Mario's camping with them. You were both missing some big punishment opportunities, which the commentator appropriately talks about mid-game. Stellar finish to that first game with Vision. I also just noticed that this was a friendly, so I'm going to proceed with critiquing your tourney matches against Peach.

2 - You lose your first stock somewhat early. You could've made it back to the stage with the Air Slash, but you didn't delay the second hit enough to maximize the horizontal distance Shulk gets from it. If you're not familiar with that then I strongly recommend practicing with it. Peach finished the first game with a f-air that trades with your f-smash attempt. You can utilize Vision more against Peach's f-air, which can kill her with very little trouble. Work on predicting that.

At the start of the second game you land a grab and go for down throw -> b-air in Speed. I can almost guarantee you that will never work. If you read an airdodge attempt you should go for either n-air to cover it or delay your f-air. But in the situation you went for b-air you should have gone with f-air. Rather solid play throughout the rest of the game. Remember what I was saying above about Peach's f-air vs. Vision? That counter kill must have felt so gratifying.

Game three was probably your best game. At the end of the game you get killed by a f-air edgeguard while trying to recover in Shield art. Once you get sent offstage that far in Shield the safest thing to do is switch to Jump if you have it available, which you actually did (ten second cooldown after you deactivated it, which was just before you put on Shield).

Good play, all in all. I saw you do this a lot so I feel the urge to question: Why do you back slash so frequently? It wasn't SO frequent, but you use it more often than I see from most Shulks, and you use it in situations that it doesn't make sense to me.

Here it is my last national e-sports ladder match, feel free to criticize as much as you want :)

vs :4dedede:
1st match: http://www.twitch.tv/smashbrosspain/b/641423913?t=08m
2nd match: http://www.twitch.tv/smashbrosspain/b/641423913?t=14m
3rd match: http://www.twitch.tv/smashbrosspain/b/641423913?t=19m30s
1 - Really good game. That's all there is to say. Well played.

2 - You get control of the match pretty quickly and start to get strings going, but I'm wondering why you chose to go with two Air Slashes. After the first I was expecting up tilt instead. It covers almost as much distance as Air Slash vertically, but it's far safer and you can follow up a hit for much more damage because you're not left helpless afterward. You should use that more for damage racking. Other than that your play looks as solid as the game before. That comeback was unbelievable.

3 - Refer to my comment on game one.

Your control of the character is coming along very well. Mindful use of Vision, competent use of arts, and I noticed more consistent use of MALLC, all improved from the last time I watched your Shulk. Keep it up.

(Whitebean) Shulk vs (Miyami) Little Mac/Robin - …: http://youtu.be/r63tUkyWkYo

Some matches I had with a very good Robin main on anthers. Miyami had some very solid play, I feel like I stole the second match. I can see a lot of the mistakes I made watching these, but different perspectives can be helpful.

(Whitebean) Shulk vs (Danny/Jacquez) Shulk - Anth…: http://youtu.be/OvjofGw4Cro
Shulk dittos! Rarely do I run into other Shulk mains on anthers, but I sure do love the matchup. Goofy SDs on the last match but we both get our blows in.


Something I'm working on incorporating into my play is b reversing the mart activation after jumping over the ledge to mix up the opponent when attempting the stage spike. I hope to get examples soon.
1 - I approve of starting with Smash. Although I don't approve of how you go about using it. If you're going to start off with it against Mac you should be planting grabs, not going for aerials, while you're both on the ground at zero.

After switching to Speed you land a pivot grab and throw Mac offstage accordingly, but you go for a b-air edgeguard. Edgeguard with f-air in Speed, or n-air just over the ledge to cover the airdodge and set up a f-air. B-air is slow and risky for that purpose. Mac's first stock would've been gone in less than 20 seconds. With proper edgeguarding right after that attempt you manage to shave it off cleanly.

He eventually starts using his counter against your aggression, but you didn't make use of yours. Even using it once is sufficient enough to get someone to respect the option. Vision would have been a good answer to the attacks he was throwing out on his last stock, trying to end your first.

Second game in the set was better. I do think you should use airdodge a bit more when you're offstage, especially after watching you lose your second stock to arcthunder. Well played.

2 - First off, you should have a backup Shulk palette that you like to use. Because mirrors like these are confusing as hell to watch, especially when one has to keep track of which one they're reviewing. I'm trying to keep track with the P1/P2 indicators but those are evanescent.

Good edgeguarding throughout the second stock, along with the Air Slash to seal the deal. Great performance last stock.

Second game was pretty neck-and-neck, but it's obvious that you tend to struggle in neutral. You neglected your own character's strengths and ate an awful lot of aerials while trying to make it in. Your ledgeguarding plays were really good though. End of that last game was comical.

I look forward to seeing more play from all of you. Watching you all play was delightfully exciting.
 
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DrShankums

Smash Cadet
Joined
Oct 23, 2014
Messages
47
1 - I approve of starting with Smash. Although I don't approve of how you go about using it. If you're going to start off with it against Mac you should be planting grabs, not going for aerials, while you're both on the ground at zero.

After switching to Speed you land a pivot grab and throw Mac offstage accordingly, but you go for a b-air edgeguard. Edgeguard with f-air in Speed, or n-air just over the ledge to cover the airdodge and set up a f-air. B-air is slow and risky for that purpose. Mac's first stock would've been gone in less than 20 seconds. With proper edgeguarding right after that attempt you manage to shave it off cleanly.

He eventually starts using his counter against your aggression, but you didn't make use of yours. Even using it once is sufficient enough to get someone to respect the option. Vision would have been a good answer to the attacks he was throwing out on his last stock, trying to end your first.

Second game in the set was better. I do think you should use airdodge a bit more when you're offstage, especially after watching you lose your second stock to arcthunder. Well played.

2 - First off, you should have a backup Shulk palette that you like to use. Because mirrors like these are confusing as hell to watch, especially when one has to keep track of which one they're reviewing. I'm trying to keep track with the P1/P2 indicators but those are evanescent.

Good edgeguarding throughout the second stock, along with the Air Slash to seal the deal. Great performance last stock.

Second game was pretty neck-and-neck, but it's obvious that you tend to struggle in neutral. You neglected your own character's strengths and ate an awful lot of aerials while trying to make it in. Your ledgeguarding plays were really good though. End of that last game was comical.
Thanks for the feedback zatch, I agree where I struggle is neutral. Any advice on how to improve that? I feel like I didn't use my tilts nearly enough, I'll have to see if more recent replays have the same issue. I probably would have been able to take the little macs first stock with a followup air slash after the fair while making it to ledge after free fall but I didn't want to risk little mac being able to recover and trump me. He could have side b'd again and there was probably not a whole lot I could do about it other than counter, but i figured he'd recover low since we had played a few matches previously and he was playing robin. Lucky guess! I really struggle with using vision, I forget I have it a lot of times.

Now whenever I play shulk dittos I ask what pallette they play to avoid things like this. The footstool death felt really dirty because I got our pallettes mixed. I really feel my neutral game needs work, I guess the way to improve is experience but if you have any advice that would be appreciated.
 
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Shulkamania

Smash Rookie
Joined
Oct 24, 2014
Messages
20
NNID
thatguy13
1 - Our aerials destroy fireballs. Properly spaced you can either hit Mario if he's behind the fireball or you can just safely neutralize it if Mario's camping with them. You were both missing some big punishment opportunities, which the commentator appropriately talks about mid-game. Stellar finish to that first game with Vision. I also just noticed that this was a friendly, so I'm going to proceed with critiquing your tourney matches against Peach.

2 - You lose your first stock somewhat early. You could've made it back to the stage with the Air Slash, but you didn't delay the second hit enough to maximize the horizontal distance Shulk gets from it. If you're not familiar with that then I strongly recommend practicing with it. Peach finished the first game with a f-air that trades with your f-smash attempt. You can utilize Vision more against Peach's f-air, which can kill her with very little trouble. Work on predicting that.

At the start of the second game you land a grab and go for down throw -> b-air in Speed. I can almost guarantee you that will never work. If you read an airdodge attempt you should go for either n-air to cover it or delay your f-air. But in the situation you went for b-air you should have gone with f-air. Rather solid play throughout the rest of the game. Remember what I was saying above about Peach's f-air vs. Vision? That counter kill must have felt so gratifying.

Game three was probably your best game. At the end of the game you get killed by a f-air edgeguard while trying to recover in Shield art. Once you get sent offstage that far in Shield the safest thing to do is switch to Jump if you have it available, which you actually did (ten second cooldown after you deactivated it, which was just before you put on Shield).

Good play, all in all. I saw you do this a lot so I feel the urge to question: Why do you back slash so frequently? It wasn't SO frequent, but you use it more often than I see from most Shulks, and you use it in situations that it doesn't make sense to me.
Thank you for the feedback. When I was watching the matches I realized the questionable amount of backslashes and I believe that is a thing I do when I'm nervous because it doesn't happen when I play with friends. Also any advice for using jump art because I feel like I use it a lot less than I should.
 

Sonny Franceschi

Smash Rookie
Joined
Jan 26, 2015
Messages
22
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colombia
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SonnyFranceschi
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2879-0394-3794
Busy weekend. Sorry for my lack of punctuality (to put it lightly), but here's some fresh critique for those that didn't receive any.


1 - I'm not even a minute in and you seem to be using smash attacks recklessly, especially for Speed. You could have made better use of your grounded options in the art. Smash attacks are understandably among your worst at low percents unless it's a HUGE punish; in which case it wouldn't even make sense to have Speed equipped.

You only used two arts throughout the entire game but it got the job done. No complaints here. As for the counter, you shouldn't feel sorry at all. That was his fault entirely and the lead you had wasn't insurmountable. If he understands his character even sparsely then he would know that you can cancel Dedede's usual up B animation after a certain point, to fall helplessly but also harmlessly.

2 - Better plays. Although I do think you fish a little hard to finish the first stock. A lot of your apparent kill attempts met shield, while a handful of your punish opportunities were wasted because you got overzealous. It took you a while to respond to his defensive habits with solid patience, clearing his first stock. But every wasted opportunity of yours gives the opponent more time to piece together their own. Very clean Vision finish.

3 - Good use of f-air/edgeguarding during the first game. You took that convincingly.

The second game is a bit more fascinating because it's the first time I've seen you use Buster in this tourney. As soon as you put it on you land a single d-smash that does 20%. Right then and there you could've switched to Smash, but instead you pile on some more damage and take a bit more unnecessarily (from Ganon's down B) before going for the kill (?) in vanilla. Great presence of mind with that switch to Jump for the edgeguard to finish his stock.

Your usage of Buster on Ganon's last stock was much better overall, you dealt a mountain of damage getting him offstage and ledgeguarding with f-air. This isn't as dangerous as keeping him onstage while tacking on needless damage.


Great use of Jump to start the first game. But you could've taken that soooo much further. Instead of continuing the aggression you give up control to switch to Speed. At 1:28 you switch to Smash while Fox is at 50%. From what I saw it was just for MALLC (which you have a good grasp of from what I can tell), but I remembered you playing with Power Vision. Smash + Power Vision + Rage can be a deadly combination, shaving off stocks at rather early percents over something as small as a jab. It is dangerous for both players involved, so I understand you switching off, but it's worth mentioning.

Against Fox you seem to respect his side B far too much. You can interrupt it from onstage with a slew of options if he aims to land onstage, while f-air works fine from an onstage position if he aims for the ledge itself. That's just if you don't want to risk overextending with any offstage plays.

Nearly two minutes into the first game you end Shield to switch to Smash; Fox at 91% while you're at 138%. Smash is sort of unnecessary for finishing stocks under circumstances like that. It's a real gamble.

After you get him offstage at 3:56 you switch to Jump but you don't actually make use of it. Fox makes it back for free while you're waiting onstage in Jump art. It's ironic.

I believe I've seen you face off against this Fox before, which was no less interesting itself.



1 - Our aerials destroy fireballs. Properly spaced you can either hit Mario if he's behind the fireball or you can just safely neutralize it if Mario's camping with them. You were both missing some big punishment opportunities, which the commentator appropriately talks about mid-game. Stellar finish to that first game with Vision. I also just noticed that this was a friendly, so I'm going to proceed with critiquing your tourney matches against Peach.

2 - You lose your first stock somewhat early. You could've made it back to the stage with the Air Slash, but you didn't delay the second hit enough to maximize the horizontal distance Shulk gets from it. If you're not familiar with that then I strongly recommend practicing with it. Peach finished the first game with a f-air that trades with your f-smash attempt. You can utilize Vision more against Peach's f-air, which can kill her with very little trouble. Work on predicting that.

At the start of the second game you land a grab and go for down throw -> b-air in Speed. I can almost guarantee you that will never work. If you read an airdodge attempt you should go for either n-air to cover it or delay your f-air. But in the situation you went for b-air you should have gone with f-air. Rather solid play throughout the rest of the game. Remember what I was saying above about Peach's f-air vs. Vision? That counter kill must have felt so gratifying.

Game three was probably your best game. At the end of the game you get killed by a f-air edgeguard while trying to recover in Shield art. Once you get sent offstage that far in Shield the safest thing to do is switch to Jump if you have it available, which you actually did (ten second cooldown after you deactivated it, which was just before you put on Shield).

Good play, all in all. I saw you do this a lot so I feel the urge to question: Why do you back slash so frequently? It wasn't SO frequent, but you use it more often than I see from most Shulks, and you use it in situations that it doesn't make sense to me.


1 - Really good game. That's all there is to say. Well played.

2 - You get control of the match pretty quickly and start to get strings going, but I'm wondering why you chose to go with two Air Slashes. After the first I was expecting up tilt instead. It covers almost as much distance as Air Slash vertically, but it's far safer and you can follow up a hit for much more damage because you're not left helpless afterward. You should use that more for damage racking. Other than that your play looks as solid as the game before. That comeback was unbelievable.

3 - Refer to my comment on game one.

Your control of the character is coming along very well. Mindful use of Vision, competent use of arts, and I noticed more consistent use of MALLC, all improved from the last time I watched your Shulk. Keep it up.


1 - I approve of starting with Smash. Although I don't approve of how you go about using it. If you're going to start off with it against Mac you should be planting grabs, not going for aerials, while you're both on the ground at zero.

After switching to Speed you land a pivot grab and throw Mac offstage accordingly, but you go for a b-air edgeguard. Edgeguard with f-air in Speed, or n-air just over the ledge to cover the airdodge and set up a f-air. B-air is slow and risky for that purpose. Mac's first stock would've been gone in less than 20 seconds. With proper edgeguarding right after that attempt you manage to shave it off cleanly.

He eventually starts using his counter against your aggression, but you didn't make use of yours. Even using it once is sufficient enough to get someone to respect the option. Vision would have been a good answer to the attacks he was throwing out on his last stock, trying to end your first.

Second game in the set was better. I do think you should use airdodge a bit more when you're offstage, especially after watching you lose your second stock to arcthunder. Well played.

2 - First off, you should have a backup Shulk palette that you like to use. Because mirrors like these are confusing as hell to watch, especially when one has to keep track of which one they're reviewing. I'm trying to keep track with the P1/P2 indicators but those are evanescent.

Good edgeguarding throughout the second stock, along with the Air Slash to seal the deal. Great performance last stock.

Second game was pretty neck-and-neck, but it's obvious that you tend to struggle in neutral. You neglected your own character's strengths and ate an awful lot of aerials while trying to make it in. Your ledgeguarding plays were really good though. End of that last game was comical.

I look forward to seeing more play from all of you. Watching you all play was delightfully exciting.
thanks men for the reply, you got a excellent point, i respect to much his side b off stage, i think that was my big mistake, because if you see all the set, in the 5 matches i follow him just a couple of times, i need working on that, thanks a lot bro :)
 

relaxedexcorcist

Smash Ace
Joined
Sep 9, 2007
Messages
984
NNID
relaxed
3DS FC
4167-4486-3541
Last vid from Xanadu. This match made me salty cause I made some really dumb errors I don't usually make.

vs :4fox:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccyKSqtN9t4 (Snow)

Messed up Monado Arts twice this game. Seemed to be on button press short of everything And the first time I ever actually messed up turning off Monado Art >.<. Also reminded me some things. Probably shouldn't try countering during Foxes strings (or really any combo characters string), since once the counter actually comes out the string is usually over and I just end up giving him a free one, or he intentionally left a gap hoping I would try to counter. And don't challenge Foxes/Falco/Sonic's ledge punish game while recovering cause they can just Dsmash it. Or can you space it so that Dsmash whiffs after the second slash but you still grab the ledge?
 
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Zatchiel

a little slice of heaven 🍰
Joined
May 27, 2009
Messages
11,089
Location
Georgia
NNID
Zatchiel
Switch FC
SW-0915-4119-3504
Thanks for the feedback zatch, I agree where I struggle is neutral. Any advice on how to improve that? I feel like I didn't use my tilts nearly enough, I'll have to see if more recent replays have the same issue.
Be more patient. You like to go for aerials and lots of grabs, so I'd suggest sticking to the ground more since you relinquish some stage control when you take to the air. Don't fish for grabs as often as you punish the opponent for expecting them.

Thank you for the feedback. When I was watching the matches I realized the questionable amount of backslashes and I believe that is a thing I do when I'm nervous because it doesn't happen when I play with friends. Also any advice for using jump art because I feel like I use it a lot less than I should.
I see, that's understandable. It took me the longest while to overcome my tourney jitters, now I suffer from the problem of getting too hype.

For Jump, I take it you've already been to the metagame thread and read the OP + addendum. My personal thoughts on Jump can be found here. Once you get a comfort for using Jump in terms of movement alone you'll get the hang of using it both offensively and defensively rather quickly. Ideally, you're going to be tech chasing a lot while in Jump, and reading your opponent's reaction to being in the air against you. Don't ever feel like the art subtracts from your grounded options though. Throws are ****ing amazing in this art and your smashes are still great for killing/dealing damage when possible. And tilts are even more gorgeous because of how easily they can be followed up on hit.

Messed up Monado Arts twice this game. Seemed to be on button press short of everything And the first time I ever actually messed up turning off Monado Art >.<
Just try to relax during your art changes. If you can switch to an art however quickly you want already, the next step is just making sure you aren't getting flustered for any reason while trying to select the art on your mind. As for the deactivation fluke in the first game, you may want to start buffering them. Right after you get thrown the art will go away immediately, allowing you to either recover "normally" or have another art highlighted before you even dip below stage level (depending on the angle you're sent).

Probably shouldn't try countering during Foxes strings (or really any combo characters string), since once the counter actually comes out the string is usually over and I just end up giving him a free one, or he intentionally left a gap hoping I would try to counter. And don't challenge Foxes/Falco/Sonic's ledge punish game while recovering cause they can just Dsmash it. Or can you space it so that Dsmash whiffs after the second slash but you still grab the ledge?
Counter is usually our worst option for anti-juggle. If you don't have a jump your options become far more limited, so try to conserve that for when knockback from the juggle becomes enough for you to jump + airdodge out of it. The only other way I can think of escaping is to fastfall to the ground and shield, or fastfall into a tech/tech roll if I'm put into tumble.

If the opponent is waiting at the ledge with shield up you should almost certainly just go for sweetspotting the ledge with Air Slash. Mix up as necessary. If the first hit of AS hits a shield it's generally a bad idea to go for the second slash unless you predict a shield drop.

Edit: *Smashes art*
 
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FOcast

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
Messages
97
NNID
FOcast763
FOcast :4shulk:vs. MrPink:4fox:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLH1jj35Mg0

I did well here, but I think this Fox mostly beat himself. DC talks about how MrPink has tech he wants to show off, and I think that hurt his decision-making. Critique appreciated, but I REALLY wish my next match against Xig Bar had been recorded instead.
 

Peppa

Time's up, pipsqueak. I'm gone!
Joined
Dec 14, 2014
Messages
140
Location
Belgium
NNID
ThePeppa
FOcast :4shulk:vs. MrPink:4fox:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLH1jj35Mg0

I did well here, but I think this Fox mostly beat himself. DC talks about how MrPink has tech he wants to show off, and I think that hurt his decision-making. Critique appreciated, but I REALLY wish my next match against Xig Bar had been recorded instead.
That second match first stock made me slightly sad to watch );
Take what I say with a grain of salt, but all I noticed is exactly what I struggle with. The nair hops after a while just seem to be thrown out there, and against a better player that fox could've perfect shielded into a punish in that match up especially with his speed, since Shulk's jab game is so weak.
Its hard taking that short hop nair autopilot mode off, and it sucks when I do it against the better players around here. How'd you do overall?
 

InfinityZERO

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Nov 2, 2014
Messages
114
Location
El Paso, Texas
NNID
CeroCulpa
3DS FC
0447-5489-0482
FOcast :4shulk:vs. MrPink:4fox:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLH1jj35Mg0

I did well here, but I think this Fox mostly beat himself. DC talks about how MrPink has tech he wants to show off, and I think that hurt his decision-making. Critique appreciated, but I REALLY wish my next match against Xig Bar had been recorded instead.

I agree with what hungry was hinting at. You would've had a bad time against a better player. I'd avoid so many Nairs, unless you start mastering MALLC (I'd start learning because of the invincibility frames after aerials), and avoid using Buster so early. That Usmash that killed you was from trying to combo from Buster Dthrow. I'd also start adding OoS Air Slash to your toolbox as well. Especially from opponents that will try to use aerials while coming down.
 
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