Best Monado To Begin A Match With

[Sirxc]

Your opinion on what Monado to use when playing shulk. And any strategies or combinations of Monados that you believe will give you the upper hand.

 

[DaVe^]

I 100% vote for shield. Most of the time you have players rush towards you, and the best thing to do at that point.... Is to shield.

 

[Sean²]

I don't play Shulk, but from what I have played against...Speed is always the one I see first and it seems to be pretty effective at building damage. Also helps put pressure on zoning characters.

 

[Chez G.]

I mainly use Buster to quickly rack up damage. The low knockback from this Monado art allow you to pull off some combos. Speed can also do the same thing around low and mid percents if you read your opponent correctly.

 

[Zatchiel]

These first three responses are exactly what I was hoping to see. There's no one "best" art to start the match off with. The first four of the arts have really good merits, but for what it's worth I've heard of someone starting a match immediately with Smash.

It depends on the matchup of course. I prefer the mobility-enhancing arts over Buster against characters I might have a challenging time keeping up with. But I prefer Buster or Shield against the slower characters. Buster for its high damage output and slightly higher defense stats than Jump. Shield to not be as prone to combos and to have way higher defense than any of the other arts.

I used to have a bad habit of starting almost every game with vanilla. It's not bad but it feels a lot harder to get any sort of control against a good player. You can use vanilla to MArt lag cancel though, which is extremely useful.

If we're talking about favorites though, Shield has become one of mine.

 

[Chez G.]

Starting a match with Smash? Maybe I ought to try that.

 

[Zatchiel]

Starting a match with Smash? Maybe I ought to try that.

Oh, that was a typing error. I meant to say "I've never heard of someone starting a match immediately with Smash." I wouldn't recommend it since you have to actually have some damage on your opponent before it has any real use offensively. And it's garbage for dealing damage itself.

Defensively it could help you get out of some combos with the added knockback, but Shield much is better for that and you don't take as much damage.

 

[Chez G.]

Ohh, I see. At least you gave me an idea! I mean, if used right, the Smash Monado can keep opponents offstage, right? I'm kind of making guesses now.

 

[S.F.L.R_9]

Speed is the best to start off with imo. You can get into your opponent's zone easily, get a little damage in, and switch to Buster to rack up damage once you have stage control.

Ohh, I see. At least you gave me an idea! I mean, if used right, the Smash Monado can keep opponents offstage, right? I'm kind of making guesses now.

Totally, although it's matchup dependent. For example, with Smash you can gimp Little Mac extreeeemely early with just one fair, although you'd probably want to get about 40% or so on him before you attempt to do that.

 

[erico9001]

Starting a match with Smash? Maybe I ought to try that.

Oh, that was a typing error. I meant to say "I've never heard of someone starting a match immediately with Smash." I wouldn't recommend it since you have to actually have some damage on your opponent before it has any real use offensively. And it's garbage for dealing damage itself.

Defensively it could help you get out of some combos with the added knockback, but Shield much is better for that and you don't take as much damage.

Luigi is one character who actually does benefit from starting out in Smash. Shield does not work out like we would hope.

Oh, and a while ago there were some people starting out against Little Mac in Smash to try to get gimps. I wouldn't do that until he has at least some damage, though.

 

[Zatchiel]

Luigi is one character who actually does benefit from starting out in Smash. Shield does not work out like we would hope.

Really curious how. How Shield doesn't work out, I mean.

With Smash I feel like getting out of combos because of the added knockback is good, but it's not so good to where it outweights the halved damage output. If you get some damage in first, sure, you can use it to get out of combos and possibly get control of the stage easier because you can send them farther away before switching to another art. But starting with it against an opponent at zero doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

Oh, and a while ago there were some people starting out against Little Mac in Smash to try to get gimps. I wouldn't do that until he has at least some damage, though.

Yeah, early Smash against Mac is a brilliant idea, but not so early. Once you get control with another art (along with some dealt damage), just switch to Smash, throw him offstage, read his recovery tactic and he's dead. Vision in Smash stance also wrecks Mac even at low percents. So if he's being aggressive, just counter to get him in the air or offstage and finish the job from there.

 

[Masonomace]

It's a toss up for me, but I mostly roll with Shield (I start with Jump or Speed frequently too). In the very beginning when I played Shulk on the 3DS, I adored the character but what really got me to stay playing the character was using the Shield Monado Art. I didn't know why at first, but now when I think back on it I liked what Shield could do for us. There's a lot of stats that Shield reduces, but the compensation for it is well-rewarding imo. Air Slash out of hit-stun is swell or if we're on the ground getting hit by jabs we could contest by mashing A to get our Jab-1 out in the middle of their Jab combo, which can work out nicely especially because Shield Shulk acts out of hit-stun quicker. Dash attack is also lovely <3

Shield mode in my eyes lately is that Art you wanna use to escape all the festery you don't like. Originally I had that idea for Smash in order to escape throws easier because of Smash reducing our weight which launches us a bit farther, but the knockback increase kind of increases the hit-stun as well. It's kind of a toss-up but the difference of hit-stun isn't that large unless it's a move with a lot of hit-stun & or knockback.

EDIT: Although it is, or can be character-dependent

 

[Berserker.]

Eh. I'd say that this should go to the meta game discussion but everything seems fine so far :D

Keep on discussing

 

[MarioFireRed]

It's pretty MU depending for me as I use Jump, Speed, Buster, or Vanilla depending on who I'm facing and my record against that person. Vanilla/Speed for most characters (Speed if against rushdown or zoners), Jump if I want to get more mobile on a stage with platforms such as Battlefield, and Buster if I already know their general strategy and can space well enough to dish out 10% per string of individual attacks.

 

[erico9001]

Really curious how. How Shield doesn't work out, I mean.

With Smash I feel like getting out of combos because of the added knockback is good, but it's not so good to where it outweights the halved damage output. If you get some damage in first, sure, you can use it to get out of combos and possibly get control of the stage easier because you can send them farther away before switching to another art. But starting with it against an opponent at zero doesn't seem like a good idea to me.


Yeah, early Smash against Mac is a brilliant idea, but not so early. Once you get control with another art (along with some dealt damage), just switch to Smash, throw him offstage, read his recovery tactic and he's dead. Vision in Smash stance also wrecks Mac even at low percents. So if he's being aggressive, just counter to get him in the air or offstage and finish the job from there.

So I decided to try it out against somebody who switched to Luigi after I continued to beat his other characters. It wasn't bad at first... he struggled to do anything against me. Eventually, though, he got me in the air. Then, I pretty much couldn't do anything because of Shield's poor air mobility. He just juggled me until like 50% damage with up tilts and up smashes.

My conclusion is Smash would be better at first. Although, I've had an instance where the Luigi adjusted or already knew how to deal with Monado Smash Shulk.

 

[Lord Xanthan]

I usually go Speed first, then Buster, then either Speed again if the opponent isn't at 100%, or Smash if the opponent is at 100%.

 

[Zatchiel]

So I decided to try it out against somebody who switched to Luigi after I continued to beat his other characters. It wasn't bad at first... he struggled to do anything against me. Eventually, though, he got me in the air. Then, I pretty much couldn't do anything because of Shield's poor air mobility. He just juggled me until like 50% damage with up tilts and up smashes.

100% sure you can break out of that with Vision. Shield Shulk shouldn't be getting juggled to percents anywhere near that high with no answer. You're not in stun as long as usual from the up tilt so you can either jump + airdodge if you're not close enough to the ground to get a shield up, fastfall + shield if you are, or Vision regardless. If you used Vision earlier the window for countering should be taken into account though.

I know it's not Luigi but I imagine this would still help for reference:

 

[erico9001]

100% sure you can break out of that with Vision. Shield Shulk shouldn't be getting juggled to percents anywhere near that high with no answer. You're not in stun as long as usual from the up tilt so you can either jump + airdodge if you're not close enough to the ground to get a shield up, fastfall + shield if you are, or Vision regardless. If you used Vision earlier the window for countering should be taken into account though.

I know it's not Luigi but I imagine this would still help for reference:

Oh! Yeah, I totally never do that. I never even thought of it as an option until I read somebody write something about it yesterday.

I suppose shield may be a terrific option against Luigi then. That's something I need to retry.

 

[Tino]

I usually start off with Buster mode but sometimes Speed mode too. Whenever I've given enough damage to my opponent, I would go into Smash mode.

 

[Sol0ke]

I usually start with speed to start pressuring them (or in some matches, to keep up with them).

 

[Berserker.]

It really depends to be honest. It depends on....
- The match up
- If I'm with a slump with either of the 2 arts

The second point is really an important factor for me

 

[Deleted member]

Speed's my favorite. Lots of things you can do with it. Depends on the matchup like most people said though. Sometimes I like rolling with Buster too.

 

[Funkermonster]

For me, usually Speed or nothing. And when I say nothing, I really mean nothing! I've been thinking that it might actually be a bad idea to begin the game with an Art activated since it will make you predictable, aand I now kinda like to wait before using them. When I first started Shulk, I didn't use the arts all that much (I wasn't even impressed by him because of those, but more so due to his ranged, badass looking sword). Then, I started using them a lot more, and now I'm kinda trying to avoid telegraph myself with them. Sometimes I feel confident enough that I feel I don't actually NEED the arts to win in certain matchups.

 

[Zatchiel]

I'm not surprised Speed is leading by a mile. About every other Shulk I've ever come across has started the match off with it. That isn't a bad thing of course, it's just that I expected it to be the most preferred. I think I start with Jump most often, to either offend or get some height + control for a swift MALLC.

I've been thinking that it might actually be a bad idea to begin the game with an Art activated since it will make you predictable

How does it ensure predictability? Switching to Jump doesn't mean you'll be jumping everywhere. Switching to Speed doesn't mean you have to commit any more than the opponent when it comes to approaching. If you're not starting the match the exact same way every time then it'll become more difficult for your opponent to make accurate guesses in that instance. All they have to go by is how your started the last game.

What I like to do is just play with my arts/waste some time in neutral because I can if I suspect my opponent will react questionably. If they appear to be patient I usually do this.

 

[erico9001]

Wow, I was not expecting the Buster Brothers to be only 1/4 the amount of Speeders.

It's interesting, though, that the arts typically used at the start of the match are the ones that actually are in Xenoblade.

 

[Berserker.]

I use buster to start matches mostly. Buster has some early combos like d-throw > f-tilt/d-tilt/f-smash or n-air > d-tilt/jab which all deal good amount of damage. Speed combos like n-air > f-air > f-air only start working at mid percentages.

You can interchange the arts. Use speed at the start since speed has a good number of combos or strings at early percentages while buster has insane damaging 2-hit/3-hit combos at mid percentages

It really depends. Buster is more risky but more rewarding by a land slide but speed is much more consistent

 

[Eisen]

I change it up from time to time, but it's generally speed. However, I'll switch to jump if, for example, my opponent is really good at zoning me. Pressure from the air instead.

I use buster usually as a mixup thing once I've played someone enough that they'll expect speed. I actually kind of hate this art because opponents usually just play defensively as hell until it's over, and if they combo you, I think the reward they get is bigger usually than the reward Shulk gets unless there's mega hard reads involved.

Once in a while I'll use shield for the same reason I use buster.

I actually kind of like starting out with Smash, because it'll throw some people off when they try to combo me but I'm too far away. Shulk's damage defecit is huge in this mode, but I think it's a worthwhile option to explore. It's worked out for me quite a few times.

 

[carnerd3000]

It depends on what character I'm fighting, but I start with either Speed or Buster.

 

[Renegade TX2000]

It depends on the character... If I go against jigglypuff i'm starting off with buster. If it's link I'm going speed. Duck Hunt Dog I'm going Jump.

It depends on the character but more often then not I'm using speed on everyone in the beginning. Mobility advantage is great. Once I get them off stage I go Buster...

If I get them off stage and i'm also in killing percentage I'll go shield and throw out very risky moves because I know I won't die from being punished, then i'll quickly switch to jump to help me recover back... Also me going shield to throw out risky moves it's worth it because for one it's not so risky because I have shield, so I'm granted high risk moves, High reward and not the fear of me getting hit too hard for it.

 

[Narshen]

When up against opponents I haven't played before, I'll usually pick Speed or Jump so that I can gauge their playstyle and habits with help from the increased mobility. In subsequent matches/stocks Buster finds itself coming out more often. Shield is something I don't implement in my game nearly as often as I should, especially against Sheik and other combo-happy characters.

 

[Terriner]

bustaaahh!!

 

[Zeriora]

I start with Shield, i throw out nair's spacing out. Making sure i dont get hit.