Could use some shang advise

[quandaghost]

After reading a guide made by a fellow member I have learned quite a few tricks of shng. i was wondering if WoundCowboy or @detroitballin had any advise for me on what I need to really grasp this character. I am currently actually liking the feel of Shang and might actually play or more than a week. Also is this even a good corner combo with Shang
F434 xx CgSkull, jik, 1, F434 xx soul steal. 37% no meter

 

[NKZero]

Hey well I'm not Wound or Detriot but I can give you some pointers if you don't mind.

Here's a little run-down of what to know...

1) How to pressure: your main tool is F4-ground skull. Know the frame data behind it, how you can continue pressure or how the opponent might try to counter it etc.
2) How to zone: knowing things like if an up skull is blocked the opponent must respect the follow up ground skull. Learn the range of soul steal, learn when to use the right skulls for space control etc.
3) Footsies: learn the range of his whiff punishers e.g. F3/B2/F4 and his down pokes (D3/D4) etc.

I mean once you explore those in detail you should have most things covered. If you have any specific questions about an element of Shang's game then just PM me if you wish.

As for the combo, yes it is very good but for me unless soul steal ends a round (for the damage boost) or a match, I will end in up skull to continue corner pressure.

 

[Qwark28]

Corner combos should end in upskull,if the opponent does a wakeup,you can punish it,all you gotta do is wait,if they don't wakeup then they'll block the upskull and you'll be at +30

they can jump though,if you do a behind upskull you can catch them with 12 cgs b121 upskull.

if you want a flashy corner combo

f434 cgs uppercut 12 b121 upskull

here's a flashy f434 combo that's actually damage efficient

f434 fgs dash back ex gs dash back cgs mgs fgs/upskull 38%

b2 is a great whiff punisher,sometimes if i'm not sure wether my opponent will poke i do f4 gs dash back b2 ss,most ppl block low anyways so you might get them,even if blocked soulsteal leaves you at +1

best AA is 1

his d1 is the best in the game for crossups,huge ass hitbox

baiting jumps while walking back can be done by AAing with b1,very fast,very good and reliable AA

BNB AA=1 12 cgs 122 SS/upskull 12 f43 SS

 

[quandaghost]

Ok so I finally got the hang of these damned skulls so now i just need to play around with spacing. when i space with shang do i try to play a sagat like game where i generally shoot a projectile and wait (depending on spacing anti air) or is more like I shoot them according to reads, or player tendencies

 

[bloodsport]

Ok so I finally got the hang of these damned skulls so now i just need to play around with spacing. when i space with shang do i try to play a sagat like game where i generally shoot a projectile and wait (depending on spacing anti air) or is more like I shoot them according to reads, or player tendencies

if upskull (db2) has tracking so they're good to throw out to keep your opponent in place, if it hits they've either A. blocked it and given you a free gskull or B. been hit by it giving you a free combo (either JIP or starting with gskull if they're too far)

if they start respecting that upskull, that's when you start throwing out the normal upskull (du2) for dem mindgames

behind upskull (df2) is good as well for keeping them from tech rolling or in general moving away from you (again the same things come into play as if upskull)

straight skull is okay but not really worth it against characters with good projectiles, it's good to check like elbow/nomad dash or something but other than that it's not really a good zoning tool lol

you have to make predictions where they'll be when you're playing keep away with shang, if someone jumps towards you (people like to do this instead of dash blocking...) from full screen (and you expect them to), throw out an mgs. if they're efficient at dash blocking, rely more on upskull for the advantage (not if they're jumping because then they'll just fall)

b2~SS is extremely good for spacing as well

 

[astronout]

i try not to use F434 at all unless it's for a punish because this string is interruptible.
upskulls for full screen are your friend (+30 on block, +43 on Hit)
Shang's zoning is really good in small doses (don't try to over-do it)
Stand 1 or Back 1 are amazing anti-airs
F4~GS is +2 on block, which grants you a free D3~Gs
Try to mix up your JiP's by going for the 50/50 (B2~soulsteal, F3 into GS or Soulsteal)
Try to end every round in Soulsteal.
D4 is a really good tool as well (0 on block, +8 on hit)
Soulsteal is a great footsies tool.
Try to end every corner combo is B121~Upskull

don't see to many other shang's using this but i will use F4~Upskull (if they block, you're at +30, if you get hit, more than likely they will get hit as well, but since upskull is +43 on hit, you get a full combo)

 

[A F0xy Grampa]

Shang is pretty simple to play, his rushdown is basic & effective. If you think theyre gonna poke, you poke first after a CGS, if you think theyre gonna do a string , do yours/cross over.

Midscreen just learn the opponents movement, but people rarely have unique styles in this game and are either going forwards or just backwards. So set up your upskulls correctly, make them scared to do something after its blocked with the GS followup. That way you can make combo opportunities anywhere on the screen by repeating upskulls and mixing up the times where you use the GS followup.

Hit confirm your pokes, D3 GS is a bad idea if you dont. This is if you're against competent opponents though.

F434 is an easy hitconfirmable whiff punisher too.

 

[NKZero]

i try not to use F434 at all unless it's for a punish because this string is interruptible.
upskulls for full screen are your friend (+30 on block, +43 on Hit)
Shang's zoning is really good in small doses (don't try to over-do it)
Stand 1 or Back 1 are amazing anti-airs
F4~GS is +2 on block, which grants you a free D3~Gs
Try to mix up your JiP's by going for the 50/50 (B2~soulsteal, F3 into GS or Soulsteal)
Try to end every round in Soulsteal.
D4 is a really good tool as well (0 on block, +8 on hit)
Soulsteal is a great footsies tool.
Try to end every corner combo is B121~Upskull

don't see to many other shang's using this but i will use F4~Upskull (if they block, you're at +30, if you get hit, more than likely they will get hit as well, but since upskull is +43 on hit, you get a full combo)

Yeah sometimes when the opponent is too defensive and expecting F4-ground skull I'll do F4-up skull instead. By the time they react they either try to jump out (skull hits and I get an AA combo), or they try to hit me and skull hits them and I get a full ground combo. Good for catching people off guard.

 

[Qwark28]

Shang is pretty simple to play, his rushdown is basic & effective. If you think theyre gonna poke, you poke first after a CGS, if you think theyre gonna do a string , do yours/cross over.

Midscreen just learn the opponents movement, but people rarely have unique styles in this game and are either going forwards or just backwards. So set up your upskulls correctly, make them scared to do something after its blocked with the GS followup. That way you can make combo opportunities anywhere on the screen by repeating upskulls and mixing up the times where you use the GS followup.

Hit confirm your pokes, D3 GS is a bad idea if you dont. This is if you're against competent opponents though.

F434 is an easy hitconfirmable whiff punisher too.

D3 gs is pointless

on hit=lose 5+ frames,10 frames to interrupt groundskull
on block=34 frames to interrupt the groundskull


anyone know if max range d3 on block+b2's backwards leaning hitbox beats pokes?

 

[A F0xy Grampa]

D3 gs is pointless

on hit=lose 5+ frames,10 frames to interrupt groundskull
on block=34 frames to interrupt the groundskull


anyone know if max range d3 on block+b2's backwards leaning hitbox beats pokes?

Yea thats what I was saying, its a shit idea.

 

[Phosferrax]

D3~GS is ok in small doses. Shang's are too poke happy though so it gets you blown up if your predictable. Also, I hate d4~gs, although d4~us is pretty good.

 

[NKZero]

D3~GS is ok in small doses. Shang's are too poke happy though so it gets you blown up if your predictable. Also, I hate d4~gs, although d4~us is pretty good.

The only good thing with D4-ground skull is that once your opponent respects it you can spam D4 or use different variants of D4 into something like an up skull to further enhance your advantage.

However since you cannot hit-confirm, you are potentially giving up +8 frame advantage if it hits vs +2. I mix it up really.

 

[LEGEND]

Also, I hate d4~gs, although d4~us is pretty good.

D4-cGS is really good vs characters that can jab out of his pressure. P1 Liu, P1 Jax, Sonya, Sektor ect.

Try to end every corner combo is B121~Upskull

don't see to many other shang's using this but i will use F4~Upskull (if they block, you're at +30, if you get hit, more than likely they will get hit as well, but since upskull is +43 on hit, you get a full combo)

F434-Upskull and 12-upskull are better enders in the corner than B121-upskull

Also, F4-Upskull is very dangerous. I'd only use it as a one time gimmick vs a player that doesn't know the MU. no matter what character your fighting the least they will get on you is a jump in and anyone with an advancing launcher will catch you (sonya, Cage, Kabal, Liu, Lao with his Ex dive kick, Sindel, Jade, Kitana, Mileena, Reptile, Raiden, Sektor, and thats off the top of my head)

A good player will be watching your shang's movement for the precise time to counter poke and once they see the animation for upskull, you will get punished. if you want to use upkull in pressure use the Ex version

 

[quandaghost]

hmmmm very interesting stuff here things kinda sound like shang is the poor man's kenshi. the odd thing i never knew this about him. I guess he might just be my next character. he is fun and he keeps the game interesting to me like scorpion.

 

[Phosferrax]

LETHAL LEGEND I block confirm all strings to either SS or US so I never bother with GS pressure.