I think I've become quite an efficient MK: DA Shang Tsung player, so let me lend some advice.
As others have pointed out, Shang Tsung's biggest and most obvious advantage over Scorpion and just about everyone else (exceptions would be Nitara, Li Mei and probably Frost) is speed. Make sure you exploit that. He's got some very fast jabs leading into combos in his snake style, and a great variety of high and low attacks in his crane style.
Mix up your high and low hits. I can't stress this enough. That is (and this is common sense for seasoned players), constantly hit them with low attacks until they catch on and begin duck-blocking, then nail them with high attacks. Randomly change between the two and you'll confuse the hell out of them.
Another huge advantage Shang has that is incredibly overlooked are his 3D fireballs. You have NO IDEA how damn useful these things are. If your opponent is a sidestepper, these can prove incredibly frustrating (for them, of course). If your opponent is on the opposite side of the screen do the far version, if they are at about half distance, use the close version. Something I personally like doing is connecting with a combo, then immediately follow with a close 3D fireball. If your opponent is the type that likes to roll away after being knocked down, this will catch them every time, even if they roll backwards they'll be hit if you're fast enough. If your opponent is the blocking type, still do it...even if they block it, Shang's recovery time is far less after he's done a 3D fireball than his straight one, and because of this, 99% of the time, you'll have time to either block, reversal or sidestep your opponent's attempt at a counter attack. Never underestimate their usefulness.
I wouldn't recommend impaling because your opponent can see it coming (Shang takes quite a quite to rear back then thrust the sword forward) so it's easily blocked, leaving you open to attack. If you realy want to impale, stand your ground and time a perfect sidestep around your opponent's attack and impale them from behind. Either that or hit them with low sword attacks enough to get them duck blocking, which also leaves them open to an impale (but I'd rather do his big sword combo). Only impale if you're sure you won't need the sword later, and don't do it very often because it becomes incredibly predictable.
Also remember that Shang's combos are not all that strong, but he makes up for this with his speed and variety of projectiles. For this reason Shang is very much a distance fighter. You'll be hard to beat if you quickly run in for a fast combo, retreat and run in again while randomly throwing out fireballs. Mix and match the above strategies and you'll be well on your way to beating your opponents senseless.
Practice makes perfect.
Hope that helps.
White_Pointer
