SSBU/Shulk

Overview

Shulk

Weight:	97
Spotdodge:The duration and intangibility of this character's on-spot dodges.	-
Air Dodge:The intangibility of this character's air dodges, both neutral and directional.	3
Fastest OOS:	Up B (10F)

Overview

[[File:SSBU/Shulk_{{{2}}}_Stock.png|link=SSBU/Shulk/{{{2}}}|x25px|alt=]] [[SSBU/Shulk/{{{2}}}|{{{2}}}]] is a midrange focused stance character that is defined by extreme strengths and weaknesses. On one hand, the huge range of his sword normals dwarfs that of most other characters, and of course the Monado Arts grant Shulk good damage, amazing burst range, exceptional killpower, and unparalleled survivability. Shulk's ledgetrapping can be terrifying with many moves that hit below ledge, and offstage a combination of Fair, Dair and Up B can end stocks very early. Shulk also sports an out of shield Up B with huge range that is fast enough to punish most ground moves in the game and can even KO.

On the other hand, however, Shulk's moveset has many holes that make it difficult for him to play situations in ways that other characters could. His ground attacks are quite flawed with niche application, making Shulk quite reliant on his aerials, which have some of the highest start up in the game. This creates many problems for Shulk in neutral, advantage, and disadvantage. Shulk struggles in CQC and must play more pre-emptively than other characters to cover the opponent's options. In neutral he often falls back on walling with his falling aerials which can become linear and be countered by opponents stuffing his jumps with rising aerials, or parrying the attacks. Without Monado Speed, Shulk's burst range is not intimidating and he struggles to punish options on reaction. In addition to this core weakness, Shulk also has a somewhat underwhelming juggle game and a disadvantage that can be shaky in places.

Overall, perhaps more so than any other character, success with Shulk comes down to maximizing his strengths while mitigating his weaknesses. Clever positioning, spacing and, mix-ups can make it difficult for the opponent to exploit his neutral without hard committing, which Shulk can capitalize on well.

Summary

Shulk [[File:SSBU/Shulk_{{{2}}}_Stock.png\|link=SSBU/Shulk/{{{2}}}\|x25px\|alt=]] [[SSBU/Shulk/{{{2}}}\|{{{2}}}]] is a polarizing midrange sword character who uses Monado Arts to change his abilities to suit the situation.
Pros	Cons
Monado Arts: Shulk's neutral special grants him access to five unique stances that greatly change his stats, from attack power to mobility, to even his own weight. These provide Shulk with some of the most extreme strengths in the game, and their drawbacks are greatly mitigated by Shulk being able to switch or disable the Art in use at any time. Huge, Safe Normals: All of Shulk's attacks besides his grab and jab boast massive hitboxes that are only beaten in size by the likes of Min Min and Sephiroth. Furthermore, his aerials are all exceedingly safe on shield and whiff. Terror at Ledge: Huge range allows Shulk to cover both neutral get up and ledgeroll distance at the same time, and with Buster and Smash, the reward for punishing a ledge option is very high. Also, Fair and Up B can hit below the ledge, meaning stalling can be very costly. Offstage Menace: Fair is a large hitbox that starts above Shulk and can catch double jumps. Dropping from ledge and using reverse Up B can be devastating vs more horizontal recoveries such Donkey Kong's Spinning Kong. Dair can hit through the stage even before the opponent's 2 frame.	Flawed Grounded Tools: Shulk's tilts all have high endlag, awkward hitboxes, and generally poor reward. Down tilt, likely the best of the bunch, does little vs aerial opponents and is low reward. Dash attack can be a decent mix up burst option in neutral, but is too slow to whiff punish most attacks on reaction. And the less said about his jab, the better. High Start Up Aerials: For all their strengths, Shulk's aerials are slow to come out, making them prone to losing air-to-air interactions, easy to parry, and requiring more pre-emptive use. Weak Juggle Game: Shulk's up air is slow with a narrow hitbox, making it difficult to land on a drifting opponent without a hard read. His up tilt, while seemingly a strong anti-air, can be airdodged through with proper timing and has no hitbox near the ground to punish airdodge landing lag. Overall Shulk is more reliant on ledgetraps and edgeguards for advantage state. Often Shaky Disadvantage: Without Monado Arts, Shulk is a tall, floaty character with poor air acceleration and slow aerials. Even after tanking hits with Monado Shield, Shulk can struggle to get away and reset to neutral. Shulk's recovery is also one of the easier in the game to 2 frame.