I have some info on the ermac vs shang tsung mu. It's really not that bad anymore the way I play the MU.
All my testing has been done with Wound Cowboy. A reputable shang player.
I am not entirely sure if shang is best when played further away from you, but this is how Wound plays. At least against ermac and at least against me.
His up close game can be kinda retarded I find, but in this match this rarely happens to me anymore.
I basically start the match just like shang. I back off and get away fast. What my main goal here to do is to start a projectile war. I get him trading projectiles with me. Whether we both get hit or not I keep shooting fireballs. I want shang to get in the habit of shooting fireball after fireball as well. Most shangs wont sit there and do nothing because of the advantage granted from his projectiles.
What the fireball war does is this. It stops shang from being able to combo into more fireballs even if you are hit by one of his.
After his ground skull hits you on block, shoot a fireball.
After an upskull hits you on block, either dash away or forward or block. This projectile grants more advantage then a ground skull so you cant successfully get another fireball out after a upskull without being hit. Where as with a ground skull you can get a fireball out after blocking this, even if you get hit by it he wont be able to combo because of your fireball. This really lame strategy I have been using really stops him from getting any combos from fireballs. There is a lot of meter making on both sides if you are forcing shang to play this game. I actually use ex fireballs to gain life leads, so try this out as well.
Now I have played another shang ( i forgot his name sorry), but he has a "gimmick" that Wound cowboy also uses. When Shang thinks you are going to jump after blocking any skull or they are just testing you, they will do a ex skull. So its just skull, ex-skull. Its a great tactic and leads into combos.
You can keep trading fireballs if you think this is going to happen. Its just going to waste Shangs meter. However you can not trade a fireball if he did upskull first, then ex-skull. If you do not jump in the match up you do not have to worry about this and you should not be needing to jump anyways. Unless its for a jip.
Now, when you get shang pumping out a lot of skulls, you need to take a risk. But with the proper usage of your own fireballs this barely becomes a risk.
You need to have shang use enough skulls and put him in enough situations where even if he hits you he is stopped from comboing, by your own fireballs. When the match turns into literally just a fireball war, start teleporting. All the fireballs usage is putting him in the habit of shooting more skulls. Im not saying to teleport like a mad man or often, just once or twice a match to get a mix up attempt to gain the life lead. Don't even think about the teleport, you will make yourself obvious. Use it when you know 100% he is shooting something at you. This teleporting aspect of the MU might not sound like it is legit enough to really help win the match, but you just need to play this MU. The last time I played Wound Cowboy, whenever I needed to stop the fireballs and teleport on him to get some work in, it was done. I really made him get in the habit of using fireballs.
And this is it... this lame ass strategy is what I have been using to win.
There is still more in this MU that I would like to learn. Maybe I can speak with Wound and ask him to come in this thread.
But my biggest problem with shang is getting locked in the corner, and getting locked in a retarded blockstring.
The retarded blockstring is pretty much what his corner game is, except anywhere. He hits you with a blockstring and ends it in a ground skull, leaving him with advantage and enough time to pressure with another string and repeat. I've tried to poke out, sometimes works, not consistent. Especially if he changes the blockstring he uses. Cant tks/tkp, get hit out of this. Trying to jump out or over him is the best bet so far but then again if he changes the blockstring you are getting hit. Let alone how bad it is to always jump as a solution to something, you leave yourself open to a bad punishment, such as ex skull.
If anyone knows what can be done about his blockstrings into ground skull, or even his corner game at that I would greatly appreciate some of the info. I just fucking wish ermac had at least one super armor move. Don't even make it tks, i dont care about a combo. I want people the fuck off me, tkp would be his best for super armor in terms of balanace imo.
This fireball/teleporting tactic works well against shang since he has no teleport of his own and is forced to jump/dash his way in if he does not like the game you are playing. This isn't a match up like noobs where his projectile is faster and stops you from playing this sort of lame game. Also noob has a teleport to counter you back. Does anyone have a good tactic/strat against noob? Been having trouble lately and I would like to break that MU down like I have to this one.
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