I'm also main Shang Tsung user, and I'll answer you by saying I suppose it's just personal choice. I just love Shang Tsung as a character so much that I'll stick by him till the end, for better or worse. Even with his poor corner escapes, slower speed, and weak wake-up game, I just can't seem to leave that man alone lol. I love his zoning game, his unblockable Fireball juggles, and his damage boost from Soul Steal.

I believe you should play with who you like, regardless of match-ups. Trust me, I definitely feel your rage and frustration when using Shang Tsung, because I've had my blood pressure raised a bit too high quite a few times because of the corner traps and particular pressure game. But, I feel as though the only way for me to work around that with Shang Tsung, is to keep playing with him and try thinking outside the box, even at the risk of being called cheap, lame, or spamming by my opponent. For me, the game is just more fun and challenging that way, especially when I'm winning an uphill (character match-up wise) battle.

It's annoying when players only wanna "match-up" the competition online...I can understand doing that for a tournament, sure, but in a casual match, why not just rock who you like? Just because you want to win THAT badly? I've had plenty of matches where I would consistently just pick that ONE person who I was feeling that day, regardless of how many times I got beat down. Again, I suppose it's just personal preference.

I like playing with the whole cast as opposed to having a Main.

Counterpicking alows me to enjoy that variety while also using it to my advantage. I took the tiem to learn the whole cast, i should reap the benifits.

If I have a main its Kabal as he is my go to man when randomed.

I pick characters because I like them, I can beast with Raiden(who can't!? lol), but I don't like him nor do I like running to the easy to use people.

My favorite characters are Sonya, Stryker, Rain, and Sheeva in this game, I've seen someone run and pick Kung Lao and my reaction was to pick Sheeva, not Kitana or Johnny Cage, who I do better with in general because of their high tier status.

I'm playing to have fun, I don't play and look for "mismatches", I go into every fight saying, "this is anybody's game, my Sheeva has a chance against Kung Lao"

Even if I played competitively I would select either Stryker, Rain, Sheeva, or Sonya everytime, regardless of tier and when tourney players said Stryker and Sheeva were bad and garbage, I used them more.

In a nutshell, I'm going to pick who I want to pick, I don't wait on other people to pick before I decide who I want, if I'm good enough to win, I'll win with Stryker or Sheeva, if I'm not or I'm off my game, I'll lose and that's it.


Tiers might be relevant, but each character is only as strong as the person controlling them.

Exactly

I agree but I feel about evenly competent with the whole cast. I don't know why but I never seem to really improve after a certain point, so I get to that point with each fighter and call it good.

I like playing as the whole cast, but the chess player in me wants to always slide the odds as much in my favor as possible. So thats what I do.

I don't think I'll be dropping Shang Tsung anytime soon, there's just something about him that just makes me like him, maybe it's because he's a devourer of souls. One of the games I grew up with was Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2, the main character is a former vampire, after being condemned to burn in the Lake of The Dead, he was destroyed, but he still lived, he became a spiritual wraith. He could manifest in the physical realm, but his vampiric bloodlust was replaced by a hunger for souls, he needs to devour souls to remain in the realm of the living. Initially seeking vengeance, later on he searches for answers as to what his true destiny is.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2's gameplay is not much, but the story is probably the best out of all the stories in the games I've played.

So yeah, I think I keep sticking with Shang Tsung because he consumes souls and one of the games I grew up with has a soul eater as the main character, plus I like Shang Tsung's ability to morph, and his gameplay in general.

Shang Tsung is easy as hell, I think you're over thinking him a bit.

All you need to know is where your opponents is moving and if he's blocking high or low. Those are the only two things you need to know to win with him. If they are all the way at the edge, throw out groud skulls to they move forward, once they do that throw out a forward air skull because they'll probably still be moving.

If they are blocking high just give them a little square, square, back+circle.

If they are blocking low, give them a little forward+X, circle, close fireskull/soul steal.

If they block high and low pretty well, grab them.


Shang's not just zoning, he has some bitch'n combos.

I fuckin love that game!! I still have it for Dreamcast! lol



Preach on brother!!

I think you're talking about LoK: Soul Reaver 1, I'm not sure if SR2 is available on the Dreamcast.

But yeah, SR1 and 2 are great games, if ya like good stories. A gamer who likes good stories would most likely enjoy the LoK games.


Oh ****!! I just realized I barely use Shang Tsung's Soul Steal in combos! How the **** could I forget to use his Soul Steal in combos?! I gotta remember to implement it in my combos more.

@Unknown265 - Yeah, my bad, I was talking about SR1 for the Dreamcast lol. Still, like you said though, the story for that series is just awesome!