For Super Smash Bros. fans it was a surprise to hear tht Shulk, from Xenoblade Chronicles had been included into Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U. His home game wouldn't have been released in America if it weren't for a titanic community effort; and still, it is a pretty rare game to acquire.



Regardless, Shulk is a beloved character by the Smash community for being an unusual and unorthodox character that requires high technical skill. The Shulk playerbase is giant and many prominent names come to mind.



When talking about Shulk specialists in the Smash 4 Back Room (4BR), a certain someone from Wisconsin comes to mind. We're talking about Eric "Erico" Czuczor, co-owner of the Shulk Discord and a popular YouTube content creator.



For this Backroom Pass, we have prepared a special dynamic with the Shulk Discord, which we will talk about later.​



Knowing Erico





Image: @NotYourParadigm. To see others like this, click here

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I'm a very calm person, who is very open to new experiences, pretty unorganized, and quite introverted. In short, I suppose I am an intellectual. I love logic, thought, and exploration of ideas. I care incredibly about what is truth and reality. If the meyer briggs personality type indicator is your sort of thing, I am a very accurate match of the INTP personality type. I’m not sure how much of that is coincidence.



I'm 20 years old, and have actually been playing the Smash series since Kindergarten age. I've always been pretty good at it - and most other video games at that. However, things became strange as I got older. I started playing in really unconventional ways. What happened is I began to care a lot more about exploration of the game's mechanics and finding glitches than anything else, and I became quite good at that too. I found it very enjoyable. I continued to play different games, always defaulting back to Smash, and of course discovering glitches in all of them. I played Runescape for many years and came to run a clan named the Phoenix Legends along with one of my older brothers. Xenoblade Chronicles though... unlike almost all video games, I just could not find a glitch in it! To me this just showed how marvelously it was designed. The storyline and gameplay combined were just so good that it very quickly became my favorite game. Shulk in particular... I'll get more to Shulk later. This was all before Sm4sh was announced. When it was, it became a distant hope for me that he would be included in the game. I actually learned how to do Brawl modding just so I could make him a character moveset. You can find the V1 release demonstration on my old YouTube channel, "Erico9001." I got involved in Sm4sh hype around the fabled Monado Monday, and became excited when I realized Shulk had a great chance of being included in the game. I started to argue for it, and of course here he is.



I had also been doing competitive Pokemon for some time, but now it was time for competitive Sm4sh. Being who I am, guess what I did? I found glitches of course. At this time, I've found three useful glitches for Shulk, which are advanced techniques. While at the time I found them, it felt like I was toying around, that’s just because I’ve grown very used to the process of finding glitches from doing it all of my life. There’s really a complex series of thought that goes into it.



First, I do what I can to understand the underlying properties of the game. Then, I think about possible conflictions with the way in which the game is supposed to work. With the example of MABD, I discovered it by wondering what would happen if a Monado Art ran out while you were already running. I set up an experiment with a long stage to find out you indeed just keep running at Monado Speed speeds even though Monado Speed is not active anymore. Then, I started to wonder about how we could do this on our own. Then I realized that Monado Arts could be deactivated with buffering, and that other actions could also be buffered at the same time as long as they did not conflict with art deactivation. Maybe if you cancelled Monado Arts and on the exact same time started running, walking, or jumping, the properties of the Monado Arts would persist! I tried it, and success! This is what the science of discovering glitches looks like.



I became heavily involved in the Shulk community, and it was not just glitches I contributed. I had all sorts of ideas. Just as I loved exploring the games I play, I loved exploring new competitive possibilities for Shulk. One of the bigger ones was MALLC. I came up with the idea of using visual reference or easy sequences of button presses to purposefully cancel landing lag with Monado Art activation. Each new way I’ve helped Shulk in some way has been very excited me a lot.



I joined the Shulk Skype group a while ago. It was being ran by Mace\Decentlymace\Reyntime\Masonomace at the time. I liked it a lot. I offered to help moderate because of my experience running the Runescape clan. That group is where I first met Paradigm, and where we started to realize we had a lot in common. After a little while, I explored Discord as suggested by the Smasher Skya (ScreamingLobsters at the time). We decided Discord was better for the community, and during the switch I ended up owner. I set out to make the Shulk community something that would be great. I made new rules, and required people to read them and apply (with very easy qualifications) in order to join, which has been a major help to the server. The Bionis is a huge success, a great place for almost all things having to do with Shulk. Together, we all push to bring this wonderful character to new heights, while having fun along the way. Personally, I find it touching that my personality quirks help so many people in this community. In real life, I’m now studying Mechanical Engineering with hopes that I can do something similar for a larger society. Alright, so me --- what is my personality? Let's start with my big 5 personality trait results I'm a very calm person, who is very open to new experiences, pretty unorganized, and quite introverted. In short, I suppose I am an intellectual. I love logic, thought, and exploration of ideas. I care incredibly about what is truth and reality. If the meyer briggs personality type indicator is your sort of thing, I am a very accurate match of the INTP personality type. I’m not sure how much of that is coincidence.I'm 20 years old, and have actually been playing the Smash series since Kindergarten age. I've always been pretty good at it - and most other video games at that. However, things became strange as I got older. I started playing in really unconventional ways. What happened is I began to care a lot more about exploration of the game's mechanics and finding glitches than anything else, and I became quite good at that too. I found it very enjoyable. I continued to play different games, always defaulting back to Smash, and of course discovering glitches in all of them. I played Runescape for many years and came to run a clan named the Phoenix Legends along with one of my older brothers. Xenoblade Chronicles though... unlike almost all video games, I just could not find a glitch in it! To me this just showed how marvelously it was designed. The storyline and gameplay combined were just so good that it very quickly became my favorite game. Shulk in particular... I'll get more to Shulk later. This was all before Sm4sh was announced. When it was, it became a distant hope for me that he would be included in the game. I actually learned how to do Brawl modding just so I could make him a character moveset. You can find the V1 release demonstration on my old YouTube channel, "Erico9001." I got involved in Sm4sh hype around the fabled Monado Monday, and became excited when I realized Shulk had a great chance of being included in the game. I started to argue for it, and of course here he is.I had also been doing competitive Pokemon for some time, but now it was time for competitive Sm4sh. Being who I am, guess what I did? I found glitches of course. At this time, I've found three useful glitches for Shulk, which are advanced techniques. While at the time I found them, it felt like I was toying around, that’s just because I’ve grown very used to the process of finding glitches from doing it all of my life. There’s really a complex series of thought that goes into it.First, I do what I can to understand the underlying properties of the game. Then, I think about possible conflictions with the way in which the game is supposed to work. With the example of MABD, I discovered it by wondering what would happen if a Monado Art ran out while you were already running. I set up an experiment with a long stage to find out you indeed just keep running at Monado Speed speeds even though Monado Speed is not active anymore. Then, I started to wonder about how we could do this on our own. Then I realized that Monado Arts could be deactivated with buffering, and that other actions could also be buffered at the same time as long as they did not conflict with art deactivation. Maybe if you cancelled Monado Arts and on the exact same time started running, walking, or jumping, the properties of the Monado Arts would persist! I tried it, and success! This is what the science of discovering glitches looks like.I became heavily involved in the Shulk community, and it was not just glitches I contributed. I had all sorts of ideas. Just as I loved exploring the games I play, I loved exploring new competitive possibilities for Shulk. One of the bigger ones was MALLC. I came up with the idea of using visual reference or easy sequences of button presses to purposefully cancel landing lag with Monado Art activation. Each new way I’ve helped Shulk in some way has been very excited me a lot.I joined the Shulk Skype group a while ago. It was being ran by Mace\Decentlymace\Reyntime\Masonomace at the time. I liked it a lot. I offered to help moderate because of my experience running the Runescape clan. That group is where I first met Paradigm, and where we started to realize we had a lot in common. After a little while, I explored Discord as suggested by the Smasher Skya (ScreamingLobsters at the time). We decided Discord was better for the community, and during the switch I ended up owner. I set out to make the Shulk community something that would be great. I made new rules, and required people to read them and apply (with very easy qualifications) in order to join, which has been a major help to the server. The Bionis is a huge success, a great place for almost all things having to do with Shulk. Together, we all push to bring this wonderful character to new heights, while having fun along the way. Personally, I find it touching that my personality quirks help so many people in this community. In real life, I’m now studying Mechanical Engineering with hopes that I can do something similar for a larger society. Click to expand... Aside from that, Erico shares a YouTube channel with his girlfriend and fellow Shulk specialist Paradigm. If you ever wondered how met, Erico shares the story here:



"We first connected in a Shulk group Skype call where we both shared a love for science and were studying it. Later that night, I found out we both played the two same instruments - with me maining Horn and Secondarying Piano, and her the inverse. We started talking more 1 on 1, often labbing together as we did so. Our similarities in personalities and interests went far beyond anything I've ever experienced - to the point where we both tried and struggled to find a difference between the two of us. I realized within a couple weeks of knowing her that she's the most similar person to me in both personality and interests that I've ever met. Shortly after that, we realized we pretty much were already dating, and decided to call it a relationship. That was over 15 months ago. We've spent some time together in person, but are living in different countries finishing our university degrees."​ Let's start with getting to know Erico better. He wrote a recap of his life story below:Aside from that, Erico shares a YouTube channel with his girlfriend and fellow Shulk specialist. If you ever wondered how met, Erico shares the story here:"We first connected in a Shulk group Skype call where we both shared a love for science and were studying it. Later that night, I found out we both played the two same instruments - with me maining Horn and Secondarying Piano, and her the inverse. We started talking more 1 on 1, often labbing together as we did so. Our similarities in personalities and interests went far beyond anything I've ever experienced - to the point where we both tried and struggled to find a difference between the two of us. I realized within a couple weeks of knowing her that she's the most similar person to me in both personality and interests that I've ever met. Shortly after that, we realized we pretty much were already dating, and decided to call it a relationship. That was over 15 months ago. We've spent some time together in person, but are living in different countries finishing our university degrees."​





The Monado's Power





Let's look at some data. Shulk's main characteristic is his Monado Arts, which change aspects like his movement speed, jump height and damage/knockback input and output. How exactly do they change Shulk? Erico dishes out the facts below:



Jump:

- By far fastest Horizontal Air Speed, 1.59 (unit: decimeters per frame) (Yoshi is 1.28, Jiggs 1.269)

- 1.3x higher Air Slash

- 5th highest Fall Speed / 6th highest Fast Fall Speed

- 9th highest gravity

- Highest full hop height (only character who can full hop to DL64 top platform or Duck Hunt's lowest tree platform), and among highest double jumps

- 1.22x damage taken. IMPORTANT: The difference in kill percent would be the same as Monado Buster, where a 10% damage move will have a kill percent 2.2% earlier, except fall speed and gravity have an affect into kill percents. Monado Jump actually sometimes dies later from vertical kill moves because of this.



Speed:

- Highest air speed once again (1.378), only behind Monado Jump.

- Second highest max Run Speed (2.584)

- Highest max initial speed (2.55, almost max speed right away -- amazing for burst options)

- Fastest Walk Speed by far (actually faster than Vanilla's run speed by a fair amount)

- 1.5x grounded friction

- 0.8x damage dealt (knockback dealt works the same as Monado Buster's damage taken, with a kill percent for a 10% damage move being 2% later due to dealing 8% damage).



Shield:

- 0.67x Damage Taken.

- 0.78x Knockback Taken. (again, multiplier to end of knockback, not weight)

- 1.5x Shield Health, 75HP total

- 1.3x Shield Health Regeneration (6.24% damage recovered every second)

- Lowest Walk Speed

- 2nd lowest Horizontal Air Speed

- Lowest Run Speed by far (rolling moves faster)

- 0.7x damage dealt (knockback works the same as it does for Monado Speed)

- No changes to Vision (that was caused by the higher amount of rage produced by surviving later with Monado Shield)



Buster:

- 1.4x damage dealt, including shield damage

- 1.13x damage taken -- IMPORTANT: Kill percents are exactly increased by the difference in damage the killing move does. For instance, a 10% damage move will kill Shulk 1.3% damage earlier, since it deals 11.3% damage. This is experimentally tested.

- 0.68x knockback dealt - multiplier added to the end of the knockback formula



Smash:

- 1.18x Knockback Dealt, which is a bit higher than max rage effect.

- 1.07x Knockback Taken

- 0.5x Damage Dealt. This is a multiplier put at the end of the knockback formula, and Shulk's weight value stays the same. Shulk does not have the earliest death percents in Smash."



Shulk is known to be one of the more demanding characters, technical-wise. Erico shares some Shulk Advanced Techniques so we can better understand the ins and outs of Shulk:



"First is MALLC, a tech we all know and one I've personally had a huge part in developing. It cancels most of your landing lag. A perfectly timed MALLC reduces landing lag to 0, but the art pose animation has frame 6 FAF, which means at most it's like Shulk's landing lag becomes 5. However... the first 13 frames of art pose are intangible, so it's not quite like landing lag and is still useful. It can be used for any landing lag except for special moves, so air dodges can be made safe from MALLC. It can be used for either combos or safety, but it is better used for safety.



MABD is Monado Art Buffered Deactivation, a technique I discovered quite almost 2 years ago. What you do with this is buffer two options out of a previous action, and it allows you to retain the movement properties of the art you were in. So for instance you're in Monado Speed and near the FAF of your down tilt. You can press B 3 times to buffer the deactivation of the art, and also buffer a walk. What happens? You get Monado Speed's walk speed. It only lasts until your next action, so if you stop, turn around, or do any move, the properties are cancelled. However, sicne the instant you use a move you have Vanilla's properties, which includes a lower traction, you will slide really far with this high speed. The same applies for running, but you only get Monado Speed's dash and the properties go away when dash turns into run. This combination of event allowed me to discover MONADACUS, a jump cancelled up smash out of dash (I tentatively called in SABDJCUS (speed art buffered deactivation jump cancelled up smash) which sparked the Shulk tech naming meme. Here's the demonstration video I put out. MABD also works for jumping and air speeds and such, and you can get Monado Jump a higher jump height by doing a JABD and acting immediately with an aerial or air dodge.



MARC (MA Run Cancel) is also a terrific tech I've been using a lot lately. It's less complex than the other two in idea, but complicated to get the hang of. Monado Arts activating cause your run to be cancelled, and you can act right out of the 5 intangible frames of your art pose. What makes it not so simple in practice is it takes .75 seconds for an art to activate after you go to it. You can't just do a MARC at will - need to plan it out. I've taken so many games with Smash art up tilt from a MARC.



Those are the more solid ones though. Brief explanation of some others though:​

MALS (ledge snap) uses art pose to allow Shulk to snap to edge. Works on BF/Smashville only. The intangibility lets you shield a gyro that's set up at the edge. -B-Reversing/wavebouncing arts - you can B-reverse right into an aerial or whatever you want. Good offensively and defensively.​

MAIL (intangible landing) is kind of like MALLC in set up, but the idea is to use the intangibility of art pose to grant you a safe (and lagless) landing without an aerial or air dodge.​

Vision Sliding - you use vision the frame that you land, and it gives you freedom to move during vision's hitbox (assisted by buffering methods so you don't mess up). How fast you move is determined by air speeds/accelerations​



We'll also be releasing something else in the future, so stay tuned."​



Is Shulk a "Bottom tier"?





Now with this in mind, let's see the reasons Erico thinks make Shulk a bottom tier:



"One of the major causes is that information about Shulk is spread usually from people who don't play Shulk to people who don't play Shulk. While people do sometimes say something right about Shulk, the result of this is often some sort of misinformation about the character. Watching ESAM's tier list video confirms what I suspected about his placement on the tier list. They focus a lot on his faults, but do not see how his strengths overcome those faults. Shulk's main fault is his poor startup, and moreso the lack of one while in the air as a 'get off me' option. This is Shulk's main downside. ESAM listed many, many strengths for Shulk, but still put him 12 from last despite it. For some reason, all of Shulk's strengths that he listed did not matter and he still put him there for his frame data. He also said Shulk does not have any combos himself, which is far from true. This is an example of misinformation.



At this point I think most Shulk mains are very used to seeing misinformation about our character. I'm never surprised by it, even when it comes from top players. I would be surprised if misinformation came from ZeRo though, because of his personal exploration into the character giving him a much better understanding of him. Likewise, ZeRo places Shulk higher than most other players do.



Another reason for the low placement on the tier list is a very huge difference between a decent and a great Shulk player. When you look at the data for amount of placements in top 32 or top 64 of high level tournaments, Shulk is low in quantity. During the v2.0 voting, this was taken as "reality." On that list, Shulk was 13 places from last, and it's no coincidence he's just one off form that. However, this is a poor reflection of the character's viability. The reason for it is just that there's a very big gap to overcome from being a decent Shulk player and a great one.



What the Shulk community has right now is a case of high quality rather than high quantity. Shulk actually has great results. Nicko is one of those great players. He got 17th at 2GGT: Mexico Saga and 25th at Abadango Saga, two majors that were held near him. He's ranked 11 on the SoCal PR, and is for sure one of the best players in what is widely considered a very stacked region. GOML 2016 also had a great showing for Shulk, with three placements in the top 64. Darkwolf got 13th. Artryuu 33rd. Jerm 49th. Tru4 got 25th at Smashdown World. Masha got 17th at Umebura 25, and 9th at Sumabato 14, two super regionals in Japan. Speaking of Japan, Kome, another great Japanese Shulk, quite recently just beat 2GG | Komorikiri, who consistently places top 16 at majors, in a very stacked Japan super regional. I could keep going on with Shulk results, but this should be enough to demonstrate how Shulk indeed does have quite a few amazing, high quality results to demonstrate his viability as a character.



Looking at sheer quantity of top 64 placements completely ignores that. It's hard for decent Shulk players to make that break into the level of play Nicko or Darkwolf are at, but other characters like Cloud and Mario don't have that gap to cross. In the end, you do have Shulks placing amazingly along with higher tier characters. Shulk is there, at that higher tier. There just aren't as many catalysts of Shulk that bring him there. Nicko, who again is one of the greats and often considered the best Shulk player, rarely uses advanced techniques. He very much plays through a strong neutral, and rarely even uses MALLC. I would love to see him using more advanced techniques, and I'm sure with time he will just be getting better from them. Darkwolf on the other hand is great with a variety of advanced techniques, but he as well has noticeable faults elsewhere that he continues to work on."



But, how can Shulk balance these factors? What saves him from drowning in the tiers? Is there possibility for a comeback? Erico now shares an insight on Shulk's strong points:



"Shulk is a very versatile character. Looking at Monado Speed as an example, the combination of highest dash velocity, highest air speed, and as always gigantic range gives him great burst options. They also give the opponent a terribly hard time trying to escape the pressure.. Monado Shield is an amazing defensive art, with its decreased knockback taken and resulting hitstun destroying combos which character rely on. One which just recently got some publicity is Meta Knight's up airs into up B. Monado Shield can be switched into from any art while in hitstun quick enough to avoid death. Shield of course also allows Shulk to camp in shield thanks to its shield health, a great tactic for stalling since no kill throws kill Shield Shulk at reasonable percents. Monado Jump's recovery and stalling capabilities allows Shulk to survive incredibly long as well. Darkwolf's winning strategy against Supergirlkels is a very defensive, almost stalling tactic which results in her being timed out. That's right, Sonic the time out character being timed out. And of course, Shulk has his range going for him no matter what are he's in. There seems to be potential in a playstyle developed by Dragonbrain called "ghostwalker" which is possible only by Monado Jump's stat changes.



There's some other stuff in the works which will probably improve the character. For instance, we're releasing a new website to house all sorts of information about the character. Also, I'm also taking steps toward being able to calculate Shulk's combo percents with google sheets rather than us having to lab every single combo we have (again, there are a lot). There may also be new advanced techniques. People could also try to master the advanced techniques we already have more - as a fair amount go disappointingly rarely used. Time might also play a role. As previously stated, while some Shulks have already reached the level where they are demonstrating Shulk's viability, there's quite a large gap between being that good and being decent. With time, more Shulks will probably cross that gap, and we can then start to get that quantity of results people tend to look for. I do think the good, high quality placements of Shulk I already talked about are starting to impress people. Otherwise, we're all looking to either improve ourselves and improve the character."​



Erico's AMA (ft. the Shulk Discord)









Meepston said: Is a Ken string with Shulk viable? Click to expand... A Ken String is viable - but not truly, more as a read



PlasManny said: Who do you think has the better Shulk, you or Paradigm? Click to expand... I think I have the better Shulk (and I think she would agree)



RaikoTheSaikou said: Does the horizontal air movement boost from speed effect shulk's likeliness to live an attack with horizontal knockback? Click to expand... All tests I have seen for kill percents in Monado Speed have it as the same as Vanilla's percent



CoachBash said: What's better at the ledge = Dthrow or Bthrow? Click to expand... That depends on which direction you're facing. However, down throw has more knockback, so if it's the same distance and both send the opponent toward closest blast line, then down throw is better at the ledge



CoachBash said: Would you consider Bidou a good "Tech" for Shulk? Click to expand... Generally I have said bidou is just okay for Shulk, but with this new method found with vision sliding and me trying it out, it might be more optimal...



Paradigm said: If you could've included one aspect of your Brawl Shulk mod in Smash 4, what would it be? Click to expand... (...) I would want Monado Cyclone as Shulk's Up-B, which could trip grounded opponents



Amatosk said: What are the main strengths of the average Shulk player in the current metagame? Also, what strengths can you see becoming more popular in the future? Click to expand... I think the average player uses Monado Speed pretty well. I could see Monado Shield in the neutral (as a means to play it safe and turn back momentum when it's out of your favour) becoming more popular.



Paradigm said: What's your favorite / most hype thing to watch Shulk players do? Click to expand... I get hype watching Shulks do really nice frame traps



Blake Belladonna"If you could only alter one frame data change on shulk what would it be and why?[/quote] I would alter D-Air to have a lasting hitbox said: What's your Shulk skin/palette tier list? Click to expand... Alongside the -- very welcoming -- Shulk Discord, an "Ask Me Anything"-style interview was done. During the night of December 23rd, members of the Discord were able to ask Erico a wide range of questions. Here are some featured questions that expand from expert's insights, to personal opinions (below each question you will find Erico's answers):A Ken String is viable - but not truly, more as a readI think I have the better Shulk (and I think she would agree)All tests I have seen for kill percents in Monado Speed have it as the same as Vanilla's percentThat depends on which direction you're facing. However, down throw has more knockback, so if it's the same distance and both send the opponent toward closest blast line, then down throw is better at the ledgeGenerally I have said bidou is just okay for Shulk, but with this new method found with vision sliding and me trying it out, it might be more optimal...(...) I would want Monado Cyclone as Shulk's Up-B, which could trip grounded opponentsI think the average player uses Monado Speed pretty well. I could see Monado Shield in the neutral (as a means to play it safe and turn back momentum when it's out of your favour) becoming more popular.I get hype watching Shulks do really nice frame traps



Diosdi said: Do you think a solo-Shulk main can get to top 8 at a major? Click to expand... Darkwolf got close with 13th at GOML 2016. A lot of Shulk's bad matchups could probably be countered with just different playstyle choices



Sandfall said: Do you believe that, at the very top level of play, Shulk is solo viable? Or do feel you need a good secondary to cover certain matchups? Click to expand... I think he might be solo viable, but it all depends on if ghostwalker works or not



Paradigm said: In your opinion, what's the most underused/underrated Shulk tech? Click to expand... The most underused / underrated Shulk tech is... MAIL - Monado Art Intangible Landing. I have never seen or heard of anybody using it, but it is a cool concept. MALS deserves a lot more love too though, and I think it's too solid of a tech to be used so little.



Db ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) said: To be honest in your opinion what high tier MU do you think Shulk wins the best? Click to expand... We win Rosalina very convincingly (not that we win by a lot, but I think it's pretty solid that we do win or at least go even)



InTheShadows said: What is your favourite thing about Shulk? Click to expand... What I enjoy most in playing Shulk is researching him, making discoveries, and using those discoveries to advance the character. If up throw combo'd into anything, that would be defining Shulk's meta, and any discoveries I made would be less significant and I would probably stop.



CoachBash said: Favourite food? Click to expand... I really like lasagna. I have slight geographic tongue so anything spicy hurts more than it does for most people. I also don't taste sweet, and can't stand the taste of vinegar. Cheese is amazing, and sour is amazing. Grapefruits and most other fruits I love.



Maverick said: Where would you be in life if you weren't into Smash? Click to expand... I would still be going to UWM. Just I'd probably be playing other video games.



Paradigm said: What's a fun fact about yourself someone might not know? Click to expand... A fun fact about me is I like Philosophy



Retnuah said: Do you like Garlic Bread? Click to expand... I like garlic bread, yes



Paradigm said: Aside from Xenoblade or Smash, what is your favourite video game? Click to expand... Aside from Xenoblade and Smash, my favorite game is Majora's Mask



Ginga said: Chips Ahoy or Oreos? Click to expand... (I prefer) Oreos



Hen said: Colour of toothbrush? Click to expand... My toothbrush is green​ Darkwolf got close with 13th at GOML 2016. A lot of Shulk's bad matchups could probably be countered with just different playstyle choicesI think he might be solo viable, but it all depends on if ghostwalker works or notThe most underused / underrated Shulk tech is... MAIL - Monado Art Intangible Landing. I have never seen or heard of anybody using it, but it is a cool concept. MALS deserves a lot more love too though, and I think it's too solid of a tech to be used so little.We win Rosalina very convincingly (not that we win by a lot, but I think it's pretty solid that we do win or at least go even)What I enjoy most in playing Shulk is researching him, making discoveries, and using those discoveries to advance the character. If up throw combo'd into anything, that would be defining Shulk's meta, and any discoveries I made would be less significant and I would probably stop.I really like lasagna. I have slight geographic tongue so anything spicy hurts more than it does for most people. I also don't taste sweet, and can't stand the taste of vinegar. Cheese is amazing, and sour is amazing. Grapefruits and most other fruits I love.I would still be going to UWM. Just I'd probably be playing other video games.A fun fact about me is I like PhilosophyI like garlic bread, yesAside from Xenoblade and Smash, my favorite game is Majora's Mask(I prefer) OreosMy toothbrush is green​



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Author's Note: Do you think Shulk should be higher in the tier list? Do you agree with Erico's opinion? What is your favorite Shulk tech? Do you like garlic bread too? Put your opinions in the comments below or vote on this article's poll!



If you enjoyed this piece, be sure to follow Erico (and Paradigm) on Twitter @NotYourParadigm and to subscribe to them on YouTube.



For more Smash 4 Backroom content, you can follow @Smash4BR and the interviewer @DiosdiSSB on Twitter.​ To find a full raw version of all the answered questions during the AMA, click here

Shulk>Melia>Riki>Dunban>Fiora>Reyn>Sharla>Summertime