deegs
Noob
Hello there - so I haven't seen this topic being brought up and I've spent numerous hours now on PSN and have fought many different fighters and want to give my impressions on what strategies to use in different matchups and what matchups are good/bad overall for Shang Tsung. There will be a lot to cover so consider this a work in progress!
Important to note: With ANY match up knowing at least 1 of your opponents BnB combos is always good.
Fatalities
Bang Bang! =
in jumping distance
Identity Theft = 
in jumping distance
Stage Fatality =
sweep/touching distance
Babality
in jumping distance
UPDATE: Will try to update for patches when I get more matches.
Sub Zero:
This matchup is in Shang's favor in my opinion. Aside from getting caught by ice clones when jumping in - it seems like Sub Zero is really limited in getting combo's off against Shang Tsung. Most of the players I fought just ice cloned and hung back while trying to get an ice ball off from mid/full screen. This was easily countered with ground fire balls into EH ground fireballs. Also if you are able to do Shangs soul steal and get a Sub BnB combo off you are guaranteed massive damage. For example jump in 2/1 into B12 iceball 214 slide is roughly 40% dmg. Doing Sub Zero's BnB X ray combo now yields huge damage - i've tested with jump in 2/1 into B12 iceball crossup jump 2/1 214
does 67% damage. Sub is also open to huge combo punishes after a blocked slide.
Scorpion:
This match can be kind of annoying but as long as you avoid spears and hellfire it isn't too bad (then again most of the scorpions I've fought don't capitalize on air throw). Jumping in with 221 soul steal/221DU4 creates nice pressure or jump punch into F34 into DB4/DF4 can be a nice mixup with the lows. Always look for the teleport its pretty obvious at times when they will use it and on block I like to use 12soul steal, B2 soul steal or F434 into ground fire balls. The key to this match is not letting Scorpion go in with his block strings and blocking many if not all spears/teleports for punish. A typical Scorpion combo to watch out for as well is 111 into sweep/lows. Just want to add that after a successful soul steal you probably wont be able to get off many high damaging combos but you should still be able to get 30-35% combos from his basic bnb's. Off a enhanced soulsteal you can get 50% from 11spear neutral jump punch, dash, B2J3DB3J3DB3 - or 40% off 22+1DB3 dash 111spear F4DB4 - or a 43-46% combo from any spear variant to start (11spear/21spear/F4spear) then neutral jump punch dash B2 dash 3DB3 dash 3DB3.
Kung Lao:
All about punishing those spins, as pointed out in another thread - punishing a blocked spin with F434 into fireballs is ideal in my opinion. Always watch out for the dive kicks - on block can guarantee a soul steal or any/all shang BnB combos. I try not to jump in this matchup, If I do its only when I have a health advantage and try to mixup my style. Watching for Lao's teleports is always essential as well - since tracking on DU4 has been removed you can no longer punish teleports with that.. still trying to figure out something with teleports; I was able to punish Lao's teleports the other day consistently with a standing neutral 3 but I'd like to try it out more to see if it's viable to use every time.
Liu Kang:
The key to this match is blocking the lows in each of his BnB block string combo's. If you fail to do this your fate is pretty much sealed. He has one that starts with two punches and ends with an overhead kick that puts you in juggle state - the other starts with low kick (B312) that ends with a punch that puts you in juggle state. So it is safe to block low BUT if he is doing the combo that ends with an overhead kick only block low the fiirst hit or two you must be blocking mid/high to block the last overhead kick. If Liu Kang tries to zone you out he will of course lose to ground fireball/all fireball mixups; however against really good Kang's they have the potential to lock you down from using projectiles by doing very fast air fireballs (similar to kabal's).
Ermac:
This matchup is pretty even in my opinion against an Ermac of similar skill level. For zoning I give the edge to Shang Tsung even though Ermac's zoning is formidable in this match up it can be countered with ground skulls if timed right - it is the mid/close range where this matchup can go bad. Blocking Ermac's low kicks is a must in this match up - I'd recommend using breaker any time Ermac has full meter as well. Always block on wake up that is if you are waking up or Ermac is waking up because 9 of 9 times he will wake up force lift/push. If you block force lift at close range the best punish in my opinion would be F434 into fireball combos. A 65% X ray damage combo I know of after normal soul steal could be 12DB1 J4DB4 dash while they are falling 22 into Xray. A 55% combo with using two meter I do is 12DB1(enhanced) J4DB4 dash 22 BF1(enhanced) - doing any of Ermac's bnb's even without using meter will yield high damage.
Raiden:
I play Raiden as well so this matchup isn't too bad for me. The most important thing is to be able to read when he will teleport or go into a electric fly (which is usually after any blocked combo string). Blocking any of Raidens special attacks leaves him wide open to huge punish combos (especially a blocked electric fly or DF2). Soulsteal is extremely useful in this matchup and will obviously give you great damage if you get any BnB's off. For an easy 42% damage combo after a normal soul steal I use the combo B321 dash B32DF2 uppercut. There are other combos I like to use such as B321 dash B32DF2B3+electric fly or jump in 22DF21DB2+electric fly or just 22DF2electric fly - timing the 1DB2 after DF2 is very strict just as an FYI. Some X Ray BnB's to consider as Raiden are B321 X ray (52% dmg.) or 334 into X ray (56% dmg). There is also 334 teleport DF21 X ray (this does 60% dmg. - the timing for the DF2 after teleport is also very strict).
[FOOTNOTE]Thanks to watching some PR Rog footage at UFGT7 I just want to add that for the combo that I use {B321~B321DF2 1DB2 BF3} the 1 into DB2 can be substituted by using F2 DB2, and this also applies after the 334 teleport combo and others.[/FOOTNOTE]
Smoke:
I used to have trouble with Smoke but lately it hasn't been to bad - the main thing seems to be to not get caught by the smoke bombs and teleports and his 3 hit juggle string (3D21). Always block low for the first hit of smokes combos to be safe from being juggled. When Smoke's teleport is blocked I usually take the opportunity to use soul steal by doing 12soul steal or B2soul steal; however you can also punish with F434/DU4/F34 into fireball combos.
Reptile:
So far these fights for me end up in zoning battles - although Reptiles acid spit and acid ball are formidable zoning tools they can be put to rest with ground fire ballls if timed and executed correctly after a blocked or dodged spit/ball. Horizontal fireballs are also good to stop multiple dash ins or slides from mid/full screen. Reptiles dash/slide can be punished with a block string (or combo) of F434DU4 at close range or you could try just F434 soul steal (on block) to be on the safe side. Using Shang's fireballs for zoning is a huge defense from letting Reptile get in - at full screen you can catch his dash/slide with preemptive DB4's into DF4's; if he gets past full screen into mid screen by blocking your ground balls start using BB1 instead of ground balls as they cannot catch dash from that range. Still working on high damage Reptile combo's - the only I know right now is 1221BB1 32BB3 321BF4.
Sektor:
Sektor players I've faced play very aggressive and may resort to zoning if the match is close (when that happens - ground balls for the win). You do not want to be hit with EH teleport from sektor - this will end in a very damaging combo more than likely so if you can always use breaker after an EH teleport lands; after a regular teleport Sektor is limited in juggle and combo options. Be mindful of jumping in from a distance as Sektor can just counter with flamethrower or an up rocket. Sektors teleport is very fast and very random - I play him like I am facing Noob only dashing in with quick intervals of blocking. Blocking his teleport leads to any great punish of your choosing whether it is B2 soul steal/ F434DB4DF4/ 12soul steal etc. A nice high damage combo with Sektor to do after soul steal is DB3(up rocket - even if you skip this attack you can get 50% damage from the rest of the combo - full combo is 60%) B2DF4 J4 EnhancedDF4 and end it with B21.
Noob Saibot:
I think we can all see that this is a big zoning battle to which I give the edge to Shang Tsung although you will have to make some good reads against teleports to be even more successful in zoning if you wish to play that game. BnB's to know as noob saibot after a soulsteal are B1214 DF3 (or can substitute DF3 for) the other combo I like is 212 DF3 (or again instead of DF3) for midscreen; you can also combo 21DF1 to make the next hit unblockable. Noob's corner combo's is where he excels with combos like 212 DB3 12 DB3 12 DB3 12 DB3 D4DF3 or 212 EnhancedDB3 DB3 Enhanced DB3 DB3 DB3 DB3 DB3 DB3 DF3, but these are very hard to land against any/all teleport characters.
That is all for now this is the first time I try to make a thread like this any thoughts/comments would be appreciated - will update with more soon.
Important to note: With ANY match up knowing at least 1 of your opponents BnB combos is always good.
Fatalities
Bang Bang! =
in jumping distanceIdentity Theft =
in jumping distanceStage Fatality =
sweep/touching distanceBabality
in jumping distanceUPDATE: Will try to update for patches when I get more matches.
Sub Zero:
This matchup is in Shang's favor in my opinion. Aside from getting caught by ice clones when jumping in - it seems like Sub Zero is really limited in getting combo's off against Shang Tsung. Most of the players I fought just ice cloned and hung back while trying to get an ice ball off from mid/full screen. This was easily countered with ground fire balls into EH ground fireballs. Also if you are able to do Shangs soul steal and get a Sub BnB combo off you are guaranteed massive damage. For example jump in 2/1 into B12 iceball 214 slide is roughly 40% dmg. Doing Sub Zero's BnB X ray combo now yields huge damage - i've tested with jump in 2/1 into B12 iceball crossup jump 2/1 214
does 67% damage. Sub is also open to huge combo punishes after a blocked slide. Scorpion:
This match can be kind of annoying but as long as you avoid spears and hellfire it isn't too bad (then again most of the scorpions I've fought don't capitalize on air throw). Jumping in with 221 soul steal/221DU4 creates nice pressure or jump punch into F34 into DB4/DF4 can be a nice mixup with the lows. Always look for the teleport its pretty obvious at times when they will use it and on block I like to use 12soul steal, B2 soul steal or F434 into ground fire balls. The key to this match is not letting Scorpion go in with his block strings and blocking many if not all spears/teleports for punish. A typical Scorpion combo to watch out for as well is 111 into sweep/lows. Just want to add that after a successful soul steal you probably wont be able to get off many high damaging combos but you should still be able to get 30-35% combos from his basic bnb's. Off a enhanced soulsteal you can get 50% from 11spear neutral jump punch, dash, B2J3DB3J3DB3 - or 40% off 22+1DB3 dash 111spear F4DB4 - or a 43-46% combo from any spear variant to start (11spear/21spear/F4spear) then neutral jump punch dash B2 dash 3DB3 dash 3DB3.
Kung Lao:
All about punishing those spins, as pointed out in another thread - punishing a blocked spin with F434 into fireballs is ideal in my opinion. Always watch out for the dive kicks - on block can guarantee a soul steal or any/all shang BnB combos. I try not to jump in this matchup, If I do its only when I have a health advantage and try to mixup my style. Watching for Lao's teleports is always essential as well - since tracking on DU4 has been removed you can no longer punish teleports with that.. still trying to figure out something with teleports; I was able to punish Lao's teleports the other day consistently with a standing neutral 3 but I'd like to try it out more to see if it's viable to use every time.
Liu Kang:
The key to this match is blocking the lows in each of his BnB block string combo's. If you fail to do this your fate is pretty much sealed. He has one that starts with two punches and ends with an overhead kick that puts you in juggle state - the other starts with low kick (B312) that ends with a punch that puts you in juggle state. So it is safe to block low BUT if he is doing the combo that ends with an overhead kick only block low the fiirst hit or two you must be blocking mid/high to block the last overhead kick. If Liu Kang tries to zone you out he will of course lose to ground fireball/all fireball mixups; however against really good Kang's they have the potential to lock you down from using projectiles by doing very fast air fireballs (similar to kabal's).
Ermac:
This matchup is pretty even in my opinion against an Ermac of similar skill level. For zoning I give the edge to Shang Tsung even though Ermac's zoning is formidable in this match up it can be countered with ground skulls if timed right - it is the mid/close range where this matchup can go bad. Blocking Ermac's low kicks is a must in this match up - I'd recommend using breaker any time Ermac has full meter as well. Always block on wake up that is if you are waking up or Ermac is waking up because 9 of 9 times he will wake up force lift/push. If you block force lift at close range the best punish in my opinion would be F434 into fireball combos. A 65% X ray damage combo I know of after normal soul steal could be 12DB1 J4DB4 dash while they are falling 22 into Xray. A 55% combo with using two meter I do is 12DB1(enhanced) J4DB4 dash 22 BF1(enhanced) - doing any of Ermac's bnb's even without using meter will yield high damage.
Raiden:
I play Raiden as well so this matchup isn't too bad for me. The most important thing is to be able to read when he will teleport or go into a electric fly (which is usually after any blocked combo string). Blocking any of Raidens special attacks leaves him wide open to huge punish combos (especially a blocked electric fly or DF2). Soulsteal is extremely useful in this matchup and will obviously give you great damage if you get any BnB's off. For an easy 42% damage combo after a normal soul steal I use the combo B321 dash B32DF2 uppercut. There are other combos I like to use such as B321 dash B32DF2B3+electric fly or jump in 22DF21DB2+electric fly or just 22DF2electric fly - timing the 1DB2 after DF2 is very strict just as an FYI. Some X Ray BnB's to consider as Raiden are B321 X ray (52% dmg.) or 334 into X ray (56% dmg). There is also 334 teleport DF21 X ray (this does 60% dmg. - the timing for the DF2 after teleport is also very strict).
[FOOTNOTE]Thanks to watching some PR Rog footage at UFGT7 I just want to add that for the combo that I use {B321~B321DF2 1DB2 BF3} the 1 into DB2 can be substituted by using F2 DB2, and this also applies after the 334 teleport combo and others.[/FOOTNOTE]
Smoke:
I used to have trouble with Smoke but lately it hasn't been to bad - the main thing seems to be to not get caught by the smoke bombs and teleports and his 3 hit juggle string (3D21). Always block low for the first hit of smokes combos to be safe from being juggled. When Smoke's teleport is blocked I usually take the opportunity to use soul steal by doing 12soul steal or B2soul steal; however you can also punish with F434/DU4/F34 into fireball combos.
Reptile:
So far these fights for me end up in zoning battles - although Reptiles acid spit and acid ball are formidable zoning tools they can be put to rest with ground fire ballls if timed and executed correctly after a blocked or dodged spit/ball. Horizontal fireballs are also good to stop multiple dash ins or slides from mid/full screen. Reptiles dash/slide can be punished with a block string (or combo) of F434DU4 at close range or you could try just F434 soul steal (on block) to be on the safe side. Using Shang's fireballs for zoning is a huge defense from letting Reptile get in - at full screen you can catch his dash/slide with preemptive DB4's into DF4's; if he gets past full screen into mid screen by blocking your ground balls start using BB1 instead of ground balls as they cannot catch dash from that range. Still working on high damage Reptile combo's - the only I know right now is 1221BB1 32BB3 321BF4.
Sektor:
Sektor players I've faced play very aggressive and may resort to zoning if the match is close (when that happens - ground balls for the win). You do not want to be hit with EH teleport from sektor - this will end in a very damaging combo more than likely so if you can always use breaker after an EH teleport lands; after a regular teleport Sektor is limited in juggle and combo options. Be mindful of jumping in from a distance as Sektor can just counter with flamethrower or an up rocket. Sektors teleport is very fast and very random - I play him like I am facing Noob only dashing in with quick intervals of blocking. Blocking his teleport leads to any great punish of your choosing whether it is B2 soul steal/ F434DB4DF4/ 12soul steal etc. A nice high damage combo with Sektor to do after soul steal is DB3(up rocket - even if you skip this attack you can get 50% damage from the rest of the combo - full combo is 60%) B2DF4 J4 EnhancedDF4 and end it with B21.
Noob Saibot:
I think we can all see that this is a big zoning battle to which I give the edge to Shang Tsung although you will have to make some good reads against teleports to be even more successful in zoning if you wish to play that game. BnB's to know as noob saibot after a soulsteal are B1214 DF3 (or can substitute DF3 for
) the other combo I like is 212 DF3 (or again instead of DF3) for midscreen; you can also combo 21DF1 to make the next hit unblockable. Noob's corner combo's is where he excels with combos like 212 DB3 12 DB3 12 DB3 12 DB3 D4DF3 or 212 EnhancedDB3 DB3 Enhanced DB3 DB3 DB3 DB3 DB3 DB3 DF3, but these are very hard to land against any/all teleport characters. That is all for now this is the first time I try to make a thread like this any thoughts/comments would be appreciated - will update with more soon.
