i am a new member here, but i am somewhat skilled, and i would like to contribute to this site. here is a guide for shang tsung, one of my mains. i hope you will all find it helpful.
shang tsung
fire skull: b, b, 1 (abbreviated as "fs" in this guide)
up skull: d, u, 2 (abbreviated as “us” in this guide)
close up skull: d, b, 2 (abbreviated as “us” in this guide)
far up skull: d, f, 2 (abbreviated as “fus in this guide)
ground skull: d, u, 4: (abbreviated as “gs” in this guide)
medium ground skull: d, b, 4 (abbreviated as “mgs” in this guide)
far ground skull: d, f, 4: (abbreviated as “fgs” in this guide)
soul steal: f, d, b, 3 (abbreviated as “ss” in this guide)
combos:
*start the following combos from close range*
gs, f+3, 4, mgs, ex gs: 7 hits, 35%
gs, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 3: 8 hits, 31%
gs, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, 1: 9 hits, 31%
gs, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, 2: 9 hits, 31%
gs, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, fs: 9 hits, 32%
gs, mgs, fgs, ex gs, uppercut: 7 hits, 32%
gs, mgs, fgs, ex gs,, 1, 2, ss: 10 hits, 33%
us, gs, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, 1: 10 hits, 37%
us, gs, mgs, fgs, ex gs,, 1, 2, 2: 10 hits, 37%
us, gs, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, fs: 10 hits, 38%
us, gs, mgs, fgs, ex gs, uppercut: 8 hits, 38%
us, gs, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, ss: 12 hits, 42%
*start the following combos from medium range*
us, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, 1: 9 hits, 34%
us, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, 2: 9 hits, 34%
us, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, fs: 9 hits, 35%
us, mgs, fgs, ex gs, uppercut: 7 hits, 35%
us, mgs, fgs, ex gs, ex fs: 9 hits, 36%
us, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, ss: 11 hits, 39%
*start the following combos from far range*
ex gs, ex fs: 6 hits, 21%
ex gs, us, uppercut: 5 hits, 23%
ex gs, dash, mgs, fgs, fgs: 6 hits, 25%
ex gs, dash, mgs, dash, ss: 6 hits, 28%
fgs, ex gs, ex fs: 7 hits, 25%
fgs, ex gs, us, uppercut: 6 hits, 27%
us, gs, ss: 4 hits, 28%
us, ex gs, dash, dash, mgs, ex gs, uppercut: 9 hits, 32%
us, fgs, ex gs, dash, mgs, fgs: 7 hits, 33%
us, fgs, ex gs, dash, mgs, ex gs, uppercut: 10 hits, 36%
* all combos from this point on are standard combos*
b+2, ex fire skull: 4 hits, 19%
b+2, ex soul steal: 3 hits, 21%
b+1, 2, 1, 4, ex gs, us: 8 hits, 25%
b+1, 2, 1, 4, ex gs, us, 1, 2, 1: 11 hits, 28%
b+1, 2, 1, 4, ex gs, us, 1, 2, 2: 11 hits, 28%
b+1, 2, 1, 4, ex gs, us, 1, 2, fs: 11 hits, 29%
b+1, 2, 1, 4, ex gs, us, uppercut: 9 hits, 30%
b+1, 2, 1, 4, ex gs, us, 1, 2, ss: 12 hits, 31%
b+1, 2, 1, 4, fgs, ex gs, uppercut: 9 hits, 30%
b+1, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, us, 1, 2, 1: 12 hits, 32%
b+1, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, us, 1, 2, 2: 12 hits, 32%
b+1, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, us, 1, 2, fs: 12 hits, 33%
f+3, 4, ex fire skull: 5 hits, 20%
f+3, 4, soul steal: 4 hits, 22%
f+3, 4, mgs, soul steal: 5 hits, 26%
f+3, 4, mgs, fgs, fgs: 5 hits, 27%
f+3, 4,mgs, fgs, ex gs, uppercut: 8 hits, 33%
f+3, 4, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, 1: 10 hits, 33%
f+3, 4, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, 2: 10 hits, 33%
f+3, 4, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, fs: 10 hits, 34%
f+3, 4, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, ss: 11 hits, 35%
f+3, 4, mgs, fgs, ex gs, gs, mgs: 9 hits, 35%
f+4, 3, 4, ex fs: 6 hits, 24%
f+4, 3, 4, soul steal: 5 hits, 26%
f+4, 3, 4, mgs, fgs, fgs: 6, 29%
f+4, 3, 4, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 3: 10 hits, 33%
f+4, 3, 4, fgs, ex gs, us, uppercut: 9 hits, 34%
f+4, 3, 4, fgs, ex gs, us, 1, 2, ss: 12 hits, 38% (courtesy of LinKueiRules)
f+4, 3, 4, mgs, fgs, ex gs, us: 9 hits, 34%
f+4, 3, 4, mgs, ex gs, us, uppercut: 9 hits, 34%
f+4, 3, 4, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, 1: 11 hits, 34%
f+4, 3, 4, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, 2: 11 hits, 34%
f+4, 3, 4, mgs, fgs, ex gs,, 1, 2, fs: 11 hits, 35%
f+4, 3, 4, mgs, fgs, ex gs, uppercut: 9 hits, 35%
f+4, 3, 4, mgs, fgs, ex gs, gs, mgs: 10 hits, 36%
f+4, 3, 4, mgs, fgs, ex gs, 1, 2, ss: 12 hits, 36%
2, 2, 1, dash, 1, 2, 1: 6 hits, 19%
2, 2, 1, dash, 1, 2, ex fs: 8 hits, 26%
2, 2, 1, dash, 1,2, ss: 7 hits, 27%
2, 2, 1, dash, 1,2, 2, ss: 8 hits, 29%
2, 2, 1, dash, 1,2, 2, mgs, ex gs, gs, mgs: 12 hits, 34%
2, 2, 1, dash, 1,2, 2, mgs, ex gs, 4, fgs: 12 hits, 34%
2, 2, 1, dash, 1,2, 2, mgs, ex gs, 1, ss: 11 hits, 35%
2, 2, 1, dash, 1,2 2, mgs, ex gs, 4, ex gs, uppercut: 15 hits, 36%
2, 2, 1, ex fire skull: 6 hits, 24%
2, 2, 1, soul steal: 5 hits, 27%
2, 2, 1, gs, soul steal: 6 hits, 30%
2, 2, 1, gs, mgs, fgs: 6 hits, 31%
2, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, 1, 3: 10 hits, 35%
2, 2, 1, gs, mgs, fgs, ex gs, gs: 9 hits, 36%
2, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, 1, 2 1: 11 hits, 36%
2, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, 1, 2, 2: 11 hits, 36%
2, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, 1, 2, fs: 11 hits, 37%
2, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, uppercut: 9 hits, 37%
2, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, 1, 2, ss: 12 hits, 38%
2, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, gs, 1, 2, 1: 12 hits, 38%
2, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, gs, 1, 2, 2: 12 hits, 38%
2, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, gs, uppercut: 10 hits, 39%
2, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, gs, ss: 11 hits, 40%
2, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, gs, 1, 2, ss: 13 hits, 41%
2, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, gs, 4, fgs: 11 hits, 40%
2, 2, 1, gs, mgs, ex gs, gs, 4, ex gs, uppercut: 14 hits, 42%
corner combos:
f+3, 4, gs, f+3, 4, gs: 6 hits, 26%
f+3, 4, gs, f+3, 4, soul steal: 7 hits, 31%
f+4, 3, 4, gs, f+4, 3, 4, gs: 8 hits, 31%
f+4, 3, 4, gs, f+4, 3, 4, soul steal: 9 hits, 35%
b+1, 2, 1, 4, gs, b+1, 2, 1, 4, gs: 10 hits, 29%
b+1, 2, 1, 4, gs, b+1, 2, 1, 4, ss: 11 hits, 31%
2, 2, 1, gs, b+2, soul steal: 7 hits, 34%
2, 2, 1, b+1, 2, 1, 4, soul steal: 10 hits, 35%
2, 2, 1, gs, 2 2, 1, soul steal: 9 hits, 36%
x-rays:
1, 2, x-ray: 5 hits, 34%
b+1, 2, 1, 4, x-ray: 7 hits, 35%
b+2, x-ray: 4 hits, 36%
f+3, 4, x-ray: 5 hits, 37%
f+3, 4, gs, dash, x-ray: 6 hits, 39%
f+4, 3, 4, x-ray: 6 hits, 37%
f+4, 3, 4, gs, x-ray: 7 hits, 39%
2, 2, 1, x-ray: 6 hits, 40%
2, 2,1, gs, x- ray: 7 hits, 42%
f+4, 3, 4, gs, 2, 2, 1, x-ray: 10 hits, 41% (corner)
2, 2, 1, gs, b+1, 2, 1, 4, x-ray: 11 hits, 41% (corner)
2, 2, 1, gs, b+2, x-ray: 8 hits, 45% (corner)
2, 2, 1, gs, 2, 2, 1, x-ray: 10 hits, 45% (corner)
The original villain of mortal kombat, shang tsung, makes his appearance in this game a memorable and most unwelcome one for the earthrealm defenders. Shao kahn’s demonic lead sorcerer heads the outworld attempt at seizing earthrealm through the mortal kombat tournament and has fearsome abilities to accomplish the task. Shang tsung may arguably be both the most powerful of all the kombatants and the most difficult to master. nobody can equal this shape-shifting demon’s damage output potential, and very few can match his zoning abilities. he is the game’s most dangerous long-range fighter, and reigns supreme as mk’s grand champion of both projectiles and juggles. but like his dark magic, shang tsung’s skills all come at a price. shang tsung is one or the slowest fighters, has weak regular combos, and rather limited options for up-close fighting. he possesses a slew of special projectile attacks whose distance and timing are very strict, relies more heavily on his special meter than any other fighter, and (as will be explained later) he requires a working knowledge of every other kombatant in order for his power to truly be exploited. his learning curve is sky high, but if you can successfully learn the black arts of shang tsung, there may be simply be nobody capable of stopping you.
to attain the tao of tsung, a player must become as one with projectiles; the sorcerer has seven of them. the first is his iconic flaming skulls move. this bolt fires directly at an opponent, has average start/recovery times, average speed, and is one of the more damaging projectiles. when enhanced, this move becomes the famous triple flaming skulls, and does severe damage if all three connect. next up are his up skulls. shang tsung throws his hands up in the air like he just doesn’t care and fires a flaming skull into the heavens which then drops down directly on his victim’s head. there are two other versions of this move; one lands directly in front of shang tsung, and the other lands behind the opponent. when used properly, these up skulls will strike panic into the hearts of foes, who will find themselves pinned down and unable to leap forward or backward without getting blasted from above. enhancing up skulls will cause three to rain down simultaneously (from close, medium, and far range) all up skulls have a slow startup time, but a very fast recovery time and are very useful.
even more useful, however, are tsung’s ground skull attacks. these projectiles are summoned from hell below and launch your unfortunate sap of a victim into the air for continued abuse. remember well: ground skulls are the black heart and soul of shang tsung’s offense. nearly every one of his combos, especially his finest ones, require at least one ground skull, so mastering them is critical. as with up skulls, there are three ground skull variations. the regular (or close) ground skull wells up just in front of shang tsung and send the opponent into the air and away from him. the medium ground skull springs up from mid-screen, and like the regular version will send opponents up and away from the sorcerer. the last ground skull attack fires from nearly full screen and has the same effect as the others. catching a foe with a ground skull will hurl them into the path of the medium ground skull; that in turn will place them in position for the far ground skull. the enhanced ground skull will summon all three ground projectiles, but at intervals, with the farthest launching first, then the medium, and finally the close ground skull. this results in the opponent being juggled mercilessly from one end of hell and back again, and into even further punishment. even more horrifying is that combo breakers are useless against the ground skulls...once caught, shang tsung’s enemies have no choice but to suffer every cruel blast with absolutely no way to save themselves. and the cumulative damage of these repeated juggle blasts is frightening. again, these skulls are the cornerstone of shang tsung’s arsenal; this cannot be stressed strongly enough. they are just as important for defense too; when combined with up skulls, they create a wall of zoning madness that is nearly impossible to overcome without a teleport. as a shang tsung player, your first order of business is to learn precisely where each ground skull will start from, the necessary timing to juggle foes from one skull to the next, and mixing up flaming skulls and up skulls to force opponents into making errors and leaving themselves vulnerable to your devastating juggles.
this is much to absorb, but it is not even the most difficult lesson. there is one more special attack to master, and it is the reason shang tsung has such a high learning curve. it is the soul steal. this attack is tsung’s lone non-projectile special move, and it is required learning. it is a close to mid-range attack with unpleasant startup/recovery, best used to end combos and catch overzealous jumpers. with this move, the treacherous conjurer gestures magically and robs a portion of his enemy’s soul. the damage from this move is staggering (16%) but the real story is its after-effect: this move causes shang tsung to morph into his opponent for 5 seconds. while in this morphed state, shang tsung can perform any of his foe’s attacks, including x-rays, with the damage boosted by 25%. what this means is that, in this state, shang tsung can perform combos that inflict well over 60% damage. when this move is enhanced, it becomes armored (making it shang’s one decent wake-up attack) and increase the time he remains in his morphed state. This is the true reason why the wicked shang tsung is such a daunting character to learn; in order to be effective in a morphed state, players must have at least a basic understanding of each mk kombatant, otherwise they will be at a disadvantage while morphed. to avoid the problem by avoiding this move is lunacy; it is his most damaging attack in its own right and opens the door for impossibly high damage follow-ups that will win matches. a shang tsung without his soul steal tactics is like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. so buck up and and get to learning.
shang tsung should keep several points in mind during kombat. first, although ground skulls steal the spotlight, up skulls (and their timing and placement) should never be neglected. in addition to their zoning goodness, they can be used to thwart enemy wake-up attacks, and as the opening hit for virtually any of shang tsung’s combos. landing one will allow the opportunity to also land a jump-in punch, and this can add 10 or more % points to an already damaging combo. this means that even in his normal state, shang can inflict 50%+ damage combos without an x-ray.
secondly, tsung is limited in combo starters. 2, 2, 1 is his most damaging, but it hits high and can become predictable. f+4, 3, 4 is a high-hitting starter as well; mix it up with f+3, 4, which hits low. b+2 is a strong single strike with limited combo potential, but it does hit mid and can help stop turtles. b+1, 2, 1, 4 is a more difficult combo starter, but it does contain an overhead strike which can also break a low block.
also, do not neglect to use tsun’gs regular throw. all throws can effectively deal with turtles, but his is unique. although it is the weakest throw in the game (9% damage as opposed to the usual 11% 0r 12%) it will restore a portion of tsung’s own life bar with every use. this boost is small (3%) but in a tightly contested match, it can be the difference between victory or defeat.
shang tsung is very beginner non-friendly. he has a large number of precisely timed special attacks to master, his offense relies on special moves far more than traditional combos, and requires some level of proficiency with all the mk roster in order to use properly. if this can be accomplished, you will have at your command a fighter with evil zoning and projectile power, staggering damage output, unbreakable combos, and the ability to morph into his opponent at will with lethal consequences. it is well worth the effort required to learn his evil techniques and unleash the full might of shang tsung and his black sorcery upon your enemies. the victory, and their souls, are yours.
hints and tips
--shang tsung’s only real trouble is against teleporters who can escape his web of projectiles. no problem most blocked teleport attacks (smoke, scorpion, mileena, kung lao, quan chi, etc.) are best punished with f+3, 4, and then the combo of your choice, preferably gs, mgs, fgs (unless you can spare a meter for ex gs). this is also the best punisher for kano’s and mileena’s rolls, and blocked slides from characters such as reptile and sub zero.
--any time a projectile attack can be used, do so. even if blocked, it will build meter, and shang tsung needs his meter more than does any other character. for example, if your opponent blocks a flaming skull, immediately use an up skull, then a ground skull. even blocking all three will build a nice portion of meter and inflict decent chip damage.
--a blocked combo starter should be countered instantly with a regular throw, and that followed with an up skull, a ground skull, and finally a flaming skull. this technique will restore life, inflict chip damage, build meter, thwart wake-up attacks, and zone simultaneously. unless one of the skulls connects, in which case a juggle combo should immediately be used.
--the soul steal, as explained, is a very potent weapon. there is some glitch in the game which for some reason does not tally the second hit of the soul steal (when used as a combo ender) into the combo, even though the damage is indeed inflicted. i have properly tallied the number of hits and actual damage, and those accurate figures are reflected in this guide. this can be validated by performing these combos in practice mode if you need further convincing.
--you will notice many combos can be ended with one of several interchangeable combo enders (uppercut or 1, 2, 2, or 1, 2, 1, or 1, 2, soul steal). the uppercut is the best choice; it’s easiest and inflicts more damage than than all others except for 1, 2, soul steal, which should be used as a safe way to morph into your opponent.
