Wondering...

[SmashBro99]

So when I saw Shulk's reveal trailer he became one of my most anticipated newcomers to try out, I bought Xenoblade Chronicles shortly after to get to know the character and his universe (Amazing game btw)

But...he's pretty underwhelming...his tilts are ok...his up and fsmash are kind of laggy...his dsmash isn't a kill move i think but at least it comes out fast. his fair is ok...his nair is awesome but his bair, dair and uair seem so bad. His recovery is meh compared to everyone except Little Mac...

Yes I understand his arts stance changing and stuff, and it makes it a bit more bearable to play him...I just feel like he's going to be a pretty technical character but unlike Rosalina even if you master his stances he's still kind of bad.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still playing the character because I love him and Xenoblade now, but does anyone else feel like he doesn't have all that much going for him?

 

[Virum]

Looking at Shulk as a whole, I'd say his main issues are the fact that not only is a lot of his moveset punishable but he has trouble getting good punishes himself as very little he has is quick and/or safe. He also has a less than ideal set of physics but nothing really terrible. However, mastery of his stances allows you he ability to not only keep your opponent on their toes in how you need to tackle Shulk, but it basically gives you control of the momentum of the match. Then of course you have his near unparalleled incredible reach and excellent grab game which help lead into various follow-ups and mix-ups depending on the art.

He's by no stretch bad, just a character with a high learning curve that requires a lot of awareness, patience and good spacing as well as a keen understanding of his moveset. Nothing in his moveset is useless or terrible (barring his DAir imo, that move is garbage), though a lot of his moves have quite specific uses. He's a character who's meta is still in its infancy (though that can be said for most of the cast it's especially prevalent for a character like Shulk) so it's a little early to judge properly and whilst I don't see Shulk having quite the potential to be a top tier threat, he certainly seems solid, viable and brimming with potential.

 

[Masonomace]

For some clarification, the first frontward hit of Dsmash can be a reliable KO, but the 2 other frontward hits & the 2 hits behind Shulk are less powerful; so indeed he hits 3 times in front of him & twice behind him, the third slash behind him isn't a hit-box. I'm actually surprised you thought his Utilt is ok, because the range is godly, but the start-up & ending lag are all reasonable. Same with his other tilts kinda but Ftilt has the most ending lag out of the 3 tilts. I can believe the Dair & Uair seemingly bad but his Bair is pretty good as it's horizontal reach is amazing & has a tipper hit-box to it that can gimp fighters off-stage if it connects.

And this is all coming from just Vanilla Shulk. Shulk's learning curve is pretty high up there, so when you've mastered the character you'll feel different about him