%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % The Chaos Dimension, v 0.9 % % Your Shuma-Gorath Guide for Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes % % by: LordWyndia (zephyr@tricorpgames.com) % % The only places this can (and should) be found at are % % www.gamefaqs.com % % www.tricorpgames.com % % www.gameadvice.com % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % -2. Update History: % % Learn what I did, when I did it. You stalker you. % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 0.8- First Version, 05.18.2K- Added in all the basic Shuma stuff. Still need combos, teammate info, and tips on being the master of your enemies. 0.85- Second Version, 05.22.2K- Added some enemy battle plans. I got lazy and instead of making and re-numbering sections, I just made negative ones. Hehe! NOTE!! There's someone out there who read this guide that plays at the arcade that I play at. If you're the player who beat a kid using Ruby Heart, Jill and Guile as Shuma, Strider [shudder] and someone else at the car service place in Carroll Gardens, drop me an e-mail. 0.9- Third Version, 06.02.2K- A few more tactics, spelling corrections, new layout. Nothing big, but hey. Just started work on the teammates section. A bit bare at the moment, but I'll be adding more insight! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % -1. The Colors... dude. % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% LP- Green body, pink eye. (MSH P2 color, MSH vs. SF Punch color) LK- Pink body, green eye. (MSH P1 color, MSH vs. SF Kick color) HP- Orange body, blue eye. (New) HK- Black body, green eye. (New, and damn good) A1- Greyish body, purple eye. (New) A2- Light blue body, red eye. (Offshoot of MSH vs. SF EX Edition HP color) %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % 0. Contents: % % Where to go, where to go? % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% -2. Update History: Learn what I did, when I did it. You stalker you. -1. The Colors... dude. 0. You are here. 1. Introduction to the Hentai Tentacle Demon 2. Terminology. Learn it, live it, love it. 3. Button Functions. What to press and why press it. 4. Just the moves, ma'am. 5. Please stop hurting me. The Combos Section. 6. Hmm... who will be my teammate? *UPDATED!* 7. Strider, again!? Learn to fight the other people. *UPDATED!* 8. Strengths and Weaknesses 9. Checklist 10. Credits %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % 1. Introduction to the Hentai Tentacle Demon % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Well, I'm not really up on reading comic books, but I knew the second I saw this guy, that he was just some really obscure character Capcom decided to drop on me in MSH. Amazingly enough, he does have a storyline, and was in a comic or two, messing around with Dr. Strange, I believe. JCulbert, in his MSH vs. SF FAQ gives a bit of Shuma history. In a later update, I'll see if I can borrow it. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % 2. Terminology % % Learn it, Live it, Love it. % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Directional Functions: D- Down (Crouch) U- Up (Jump) F- Forward (Toward your opponent) B- Backward (Away from your opponent/Block) DF- Down/Forward (Offensive crouch) DB- Down/Backward (Defensive crouch/Block low) UF- Up/Forward (Forward Jump) UB- Up/Back (Backward Jump/Air Block) Joystick/Controller Motions: [?]- Hold (Charge) specified direction QCF- Quarter Circle Forward (D, DF, F) QCB- Quarter Circle Backward (D, DB, B) HCF- Half Circle Forward (B, DB, D, DF, F) HCB- Half Circle Backward (F, DF, D, DB, B) DP- Dragon Punch -_- (F, D, DF) RDB- Reverse Dragon Punch -_- (B, D, DB) Button Presses: 1- Light Punch 2- Light Kick 3- Hard Punch 4- Hard Kick A1- Assist 1 A2- Assist 2 S- Start (on arcade), LK+Start (on Dreamcast)- Taunt PP- Both Punches (Push Block, Dash) KK- Both Kicks (Super Jump) AA- Both Assists To get Medium attacks, you can tap any of the following. You need to combo to get the attack out. 1,1 2,2 1,2 (only a few characters do this) 2,1 1,2,1 1,2,1,2 Combo Theory: XX- Cancel into D.- Ducking attack S.- Stand attack J.- Jump attack SJ.- Super Jump attack >>- Dash in /\- Super Jump Informational: Strike- Attack that knocks your opponent across the screen Launcher- Attack that knocks your opponent straight up, followed by an air combo (AC) OTG- Attack that hits your opponent while they lie on the ground Snapback- QCF+A1 or A2. Makes your opponent force-switch if it hits. Here's an example of a common Ryu combo to show this stuff in motion. >>D.2, D.3 /\, SJ.1, SJ.2, SJ.1, QCF+PP This translates to: Dash in, Ducking Light Kick, Ducking Hard Punch, Super Jump, Light Punch, Light Kick, Medium Punch, Shinkuu Hadoken. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % 3. Button Functions. % % What to press and why to press it % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Strikes- S.3, D.3, J.3 Launcher- 2,2 or DF.4 Light Punch: Standing- Great range on a light attack, but not very useful in Shuma's library of attacks. It's a quick high attack where he jabs one tentacle at your opponent. Crouching- Very fast, decent range, more useful than S.1. He quickly strikes with all his upper tentacles. Jumping- Only vertical range, and pretty much useless outside of an air combo The demon thrusts two tentacles drastically diagonally up. Light Kick: Standing- Less range than his S.1, but more effective because it combos to his launcher. It's a quick low attack where he jabs two tentacles diagonally down. Crouching- Very fast, better range than D.1, and more useful. Shuma throws out two tentacles along the ground. Jumping- Only horizontal range. Very useful jump-in attack. He thrusts two tentacles out, very slightly diagonally downward. Medium Punch: (Only in combos) Standing- Good range, good damage, a useful attack, especially in dash combos He morphs into a giant set of teeth and lunges forward to bite the opponent. Ducking- This used to be _the_ setup for Chaos Dimension. Great range and damage. He coils all of his upper tentacles together and thrusts straight out with them. Jumping- What can be said about this? It'll always hit, so don't worry about it. Shuma makes a sweeping downward attack with his top tentacles. Medium Kick: (Only in combos) Standing- His launcher. Has deceptive range-it hits farther away than it appears to. Starting low, Shuma extends his upper tentacles up on an arc like this: ) Ducking- I've never used this in MvC2. It used to be a strike, not sure anymore though. Shuma extends all his top tentacles to their limit along the ground. Jumping- Jumping MP was Shuma's best jump in attack, but it'll never be as useful. He makes his best impression of a maelstrom, spinning his tentacles around him. Hard Punch: Standing- A strike. Slow. Blow average damage for a HP. Not too useful. Shuma shoots out a beam from his eye. Ducking- A strike. Slightly faster than S.3, but still low damage, a little better. A ducking version of his standing attack. Jumping- A strike. Fast, and can be directed with either DF, or UF. AC Ender. A jumping version of his standing attack, that can be directed. Hard Kick: Standing- Very slow, decent damage, low comboability. He thrusts each tentacle out for a maximum of six hits. Ducking- Excellent attack, covers everywhere from above to in front of him. Shuma thrusts out all of his tentacles around himself. Jumping- Good range, acts like your run of the mill roundhouse kick. Shuma thrusts all of his tentacles diagonally down at your opponent. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % 4. Just the Moves, Ma'am. % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% CRYSTAL SMASH- J.D+3. Shuma turns into a stone (I refuse to call it a crystal) and drops straight down. Use like Zangief's elbow drop. Very fast start up, bad recovery delay, with damage about equal to a hard attack. Can be used to end air combos, but you must be above your opponent. Can also be OTG'ed after. BITE AND TOSS (Throw)- T+3 or B+3. Shuma grabs his opponent with his teeth and tosses them overhead. Good throw with good damage. ENERGY DRAIN (Throw)-T+4 or B+4. Now this is what makes Shuma dangerous... besides the Chaos Dimension and just about everything else. In a game where damage can get very ridiculous, this move is really helpful. Can be done on the ground or in the air, and mashing will increase life gain and damage done. MYSTIC STARE- [B], F + P. Shuma's projectile is low on damage and speed and high on eyes. He shoots out several eyes at the opponent. I can't really recommend using it like a hadoken because of it's charge time. It hits six times, for you combo freaks. This is a good move despite the fact that it not sounding all that thrilling. This is the move for the slippery Shuma player. If it connects, the eyes stick to the opponent. If you get hit, they will vanish. If they stay on long enough, they will detonate, doing good damage. Nice combo opportunities for the Shuma player that can avoid danger. While the eyes are on the screen, Mystic Stare cannot be performed. MYSTIC SMASH [B], F + K. The move that inspired Venom Bite. The recovery on this is pretty terrible, but it's a great move to tag a mistake with, has good damage, is quick and pretty safe (while in the move). This can also (theoretically) be used as an Air Combo ender. I think I did it once in MSH vs. SF, using the LK version. No idea if it'll work in this. DEVITALIZATION- HCF + K. A great throw, and is unblockable (unlike Hulk and Jin's command throws). Using Shuma's throws is a vital part of playing him, so take full advantage of this. Recovery is fast, so unless you're playing Ryu, Wolverine, Cable, [insert pixie name here], or [insert character who with a really fast super here], you shouldn't worry about missing with this. (Super, 3 levels required) CHAOS DIMENSION- QCF + PP, then 3 or 4 when close. The Shuma Move. Somewhat inspired by Spiral's I'm-gonna-really-kick-the- crud-out-of-you super. The Activation of this will hit for very little damage, but in order of it to do it's thing, you gotta press 3 or 4 to grab your opponent. Great damage, and no downside if you miss, aside from the fact you just blew three levels. This does about half damage, and is back to its original evilness from MSH times. You can OTG after it, and you can now, because of the new button system Air Combo (!!!) into it. (Super, 1 level required) MYSTIC BASH- QCF + KK. All right. Let's get something straight here. The real name of this super is unknown as of current times. In MSH vs. SF this was called Mystic Smash (the same as his special). In that game he had a super called the Chaos Split, which is what a few call this move. Maybe it's Hyper Mystic Smash? Whatever. I'll call it Mystic Bash. It's good. A little under powered, but it's a reliable super, with range and a good recovery. A very solid choice for just about any time you're playing. (Alpha Assist) MYSTIC STARE- A1 or A2. Gotta watch out for this one. It should be treated like the regular Mystic Stare, just without the eyeballs sticking. Good distraction, but I'm not going to recommend it. Opens up some good combo opportunities with its now ten hits. (Alpha Counter) MYSTIC STARE- B, DB, D + A1 or A2. Kinda slow as a counter, but can jack up the hit counter. (Alpha Super) MYSTIC BASH- A1 + A2. This is the only super Shuma does as a team up. It compliments nearly everything, especially moves like the Kikou-sho and the Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku because they keep pulling the guy closer. (Beta Assist) MYSTIC SMASH- A1 or A2. Beta mode is my pick on Shuma. Mystic Smash comes out with no delay time and covers the entire screen. Very fast and can get frustrating if you manage to get on the other side of your opponent. I'm not too sure of this, but vertical supers like Captain Sword will probably love this move. (Beta Counter) MYSTIC SMASH- B, DB, D, + A1 or A2. Great counter. Can even be used to counter fireballs because of its range and speed. (Beta Super) MYSTIC BASH- A1 + A2. Nothing more to say about this one. (Gamma Assist) MYSTIC STARE- A1 or A2. Gamma mode is for the person who wants a high hitting assist... (Gamma Counter) MYSTIC SMASH- B, DB, D + A1 or A2. ...and a fast long range counter. Gamma's more balanced than Beta, but I'm not too fond of the Mystic Stare assist. (Gamma Super) MYSTIC BASH- A1 + A2. Yep. (Snapback, level 1 required) QCF + A1 or A2. Shuma does his standing 3. Whee. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % 5. Please Stop Hurting Me. % % The Combos Section % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Character Assist, Mystic Stare/Mystic Smash DB.1 XX Mystic Stare S.2, S.2, /\, SJ.1, SJ.2, SJ.1, SJ.2, Air Combo Ender Mystic Stare-->Detonation, >> D.1, D.2 XX Chaos Dimension (activation may not hit), Grab with Chaos Dimension S.2, S.2, /\, SJ.1, SJ.2, SJ.1, SJ.2, --PAUSE--, F+4 -This is my bread and butter combo as Shuma. Pause so that the throw will connect, and when it does, mash to increase the damage. Activate Chaos Dimension, >> S.2, S.2, /\ SJ.1, SJ.2, SJ.1, SJ.2, Grab with Chaos Dimension Mystic Stare--> Detonation, Helper Assist (need a fast one multi-hitting one), Activate Chaos Dimension, >> S.2, S.2, /\ SJ.1, SJ.2, SJ.1, SJ.2, Grab with Chaos Dimension -Now this combo I haven't actually tested yet. I don't see why it won't work though. -I know that the part after the helper assist works as its own combo, so you can skip everything before the Chaos Dimension activation. More to come when I get more time with the game Anyone who wishes to can send in any combos %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % 6. Hmm... Who will be my Teammate? % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% I'll rank the characters from 1 to 5, 1 being the best and 5 being the worst. Amingo- Anakaris- (5) ... No. He's useless and doesn't even deserve a chance. WHY ANAKARIS!? Why, Capcom, why? Blackheart- (3) Blackheart isn't all that bad a teammate for Shuma, as he's got a pretty good distance game. Armageddon cancels into Mystic Bash nicely, as does Judgement day. His inferno assist will lead to a good Chaos Dimension, also. Bulleta/B. B. Hood- Cable- Cammy- Captain America- Captain Commando- (2) This is just speculation, but I believe that Shuma's Mystic Smash assist will lead right into a Captain Sword. CapCom's got one of the better keep away systems in the game, is fast and has great damage potential. You can cancel Mystic Bash into Captain Storm with ease. Chun-li- Colossus- Cyclops- Master of Saikyo-ryuu, Dan Hibiki- Dhalsim- Dr. Doom- Felicia- Gambit- Gouki/Akuma- Guile- Hayato- Hulk- Iceman- Iron Man- Jill Valentine- Jin- The Unstoppable One, Juggernaut- (2) Juggles has probably the best assist in the game with Juggernaut Punch, Although it doesn't really help Shuma much. The biggest thing with this mammoth is that you can probably (don't know for sure) cancel Chaos Dimension after his Headcrush, and the opponent will fall right into your waiting tentacles Ken- Kobun- One Bad Mutha, Magneto- (1) No, I'm not giving him this rating because I love him. But let's be honest, Magneto compliments almost everyone in the game well. The Hyper Grav assist leads to a Chaos Dimension without any problem, and Mystic Bash is an excellent compliment to Magnetic Tempest. Marrow- Morrigan- Nash/Chalie- Omega Red- Psylocke- Rockman/Megaman- Rogue- Roll- Ruby Heart- Ryu- Sabretooth- Sakura- Sentinel- SHUMA-GORATH- (X) Hmm. Maybe not. No, don't do this, if you are playing the Dreamcast version. It's cheap to pick two of the same character you're good at. Silver Samurai- Son Son- Spider-Man- Spiral- Storm- Strider Hiryu- Thanos- Tron Bonne- Vega/M. Bison- Venom- War Machine- Wolverine- (Neutered) Wolverine- Zangief- Abyss- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % 7. Strider again!? % % Learn to fight the other people % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Amingo- Anakaris- I just have one question for this. Why Anakaris!? For god's sake, Capcom, why Anakaris!? This should have been Demitri or Jedah! Anyway, this loser can't Tech Hit. Figure the rest out from there. Blackheart- He's been weakened a lot, but he can still play a mean game of keepaway. You need to go on the offensive against him, as Blackie probably takes damage worse than Shuma. He's a big guy, so take full advantage of the over-sized target given to you. If you block an Inferno from mid-range, hit him with a Mystic Bash... he won't recover in time. If you block Heart of Darkness, take him with you to the Chaos Dimension. Bulleta/B. B. Hood- Cable- Watch out for Psimitar, watch out for Viper Beam, watch out for his cheapo HP, and dread the Electrap. Sounds like you're on the defensive side of a fierce keepaway game. What do you do? Get as close as possible. Cable's got a little problem with his Hyper Viper Beam. Standing directly in front of him makes him whiff... oops. I'd let him eat a Chaos Dimension Air Combo for being such a scrub character. One hit from him can really screw Shuma over, so it may be better to switch out. On a side note, Evil Matt-MUN of Dan FAQ fame says that Cable has walking forward animation... unbelievable! Cammy- Cammy can be a tough cookie. Avoid her launchers like the devil. If you can manage to out-prioritize her air-ground, then you're in luck. The Crystal Smash would do quite nicely, it comes out quick and at the very least will trade hits, so you're safe from an air combo. Cammy also has some juicy recovery time on her moves. If she whiffs a Cannon Drill or Spike, smack her hard... I'd say take her on a little trip to your dimension. Don't let her lure you towards her, ground-to-ground, Cammy has good priority and long reach, not to mention her counter attack. If you stay back and try to fake her out, you've got it made. Captain America- The key to beating CapAm relies in stopping his Standing HK. That attack is probably the best canceled attack ever. Remember that during his Cartwheel, you CAN THROW HIM! He's usually just a piece of meat for Shuma to devour. BUT! You want to make sure he has his shield at all times. Yes, you read correctly. He has better comboability without the shield. He does less damage, but is faster, and the last thing Shuma needs is another fast guy with good comboability. Always coax him into keeping the shield. Captian Commando- CapCom's a problem if you're fighting against a skilled player. If you're playing against a scrub who only knows how to do Captain Fire and Captain Corridor, then do a switchout attack when he throws a Fire, and prep a Chaos Dimension when he misses a Corridor. Fake him out. If you play against one of the players who only do the above mentioned moves in combos and knows how to do a HK, Captain Corridor XX Captain Sword combo, then pray. Shuma can't handle the sheer damage potential of CapCom, and he's almost too dangerous for words. Chun-li- Chunner's fast and annoying. First thing to beating her is learning how to smack her out of her dash combos with the Chaos Dimension activation. Never EVER jump in on her, she will win, and she will win big. Your best defense is your D.HK, which is excellent coverage against any type of attack. If she ever trips you, make sure you roll out of the way, unless you want to feel a Senretsu Kyaku. She's fast and she's a dialer, so you've got to be careful against her. Colossus- Cyclops- Master of Saikyo-ryuu, Dan Hibiki- What can I say about Dan that won't get Evil Matt-MUN mad at me? He deserves anything I throw for listing Shuma as a Satisfactory compliment for Dan. HA! Well, truth be told, you don't ever want to get hit by Dan's HP, because he can combo it into a Shinkuu Gadoken (which is just not nice) or the Otoko Michi. Yeah, that move that really sucked. You know, the one that does no damage and blows Dan to kingdom come? Well, now it does damage. And a lot of it. If he ever does the Premium Sign to you, just make him eat whatever your twisted mind can come up with, but be careful of the Chouhatsu Densetsu. Yes. He can cancel out of it now. Don't get too cocky playing against him, and you will be fine; he can be a pushover, or a real pain. As an added note, Evil Matt-MUN says that Shuma can probably duck under the Dankuukyaku. Dhalsim- Sort of tricky... but you can do it. Dhalsim likes to poke things. Once you overcome the novelty that is in wondering about the consistency of Shuma's eye, it's time to kick his stretchy little butt. He's got all sorts of defenses, so you might want to try an offensive approach. Fake a jump-in so that you can catch him in his recovery delays with those flames/fires, and then beat him down to your heart's content. Forget the Mystic Stare, Dhalsim's prone to end it with a big Yoga Flame anyway. It all really depends on your ability to force him into a move he wouldn't really want to do. Once you're in his face, never let up. He really can't do that much up close anyway. Dr. Doom- Yes, he was the person who revolutionized keep away, and yes. He was neutered in the most vile fashion that only Capcom could pull off. As one of the characters I wanted to play as (I was going for a Marvel Super Villian team), Dr. Doom fell short--I just couldn't get the hang of him again, but don't go thinking he's a pushover. If Dr. Doom wants you on the other side of the screen, you WILL stay there. There isn't much you can do against him. Always super jump to try and confuse him into thinking you're on the other side of him. Of course, a Photon Shot or Array will ground you quickly. Try an air Mystic Smash to cut the distance between you and him. His moves have some delay time, so you can pretty easily drop on him with the Crystal Smash. Play very cautiously, until you're close. Watch out for the Molecular Shield when you are and you can get him. Felicia- Gambit- Gambit's one hell of a mean character. There's a lot of things he can do to someone who doesn't expect otherwise. You want to roll every time you are swept, as Gambit is one of the OTG kings. Getting hit with a Kinetic Card is a rather dangerous occurrence, as it can be very easily canceled into Royal Flush. To beat Gambit you have to be throw happy. You've got to Tech Hit to avoid his corner throw into air combo insanity. A few well placed Devitalizations will put him on the defensive and then he's yours to devour. Gouki/Akuma- Guile- While playing against Guile, it's important that you try not to go on the offensive too much. Guile's strengths lie in his ground-ground and ground-air game, but his air-air and air-ground isn't all that strong. Guile doesn't have a very good jump-in, take advantage of that, try to lure him into jumping and then hit him with a your ducking HK. In the air, watch out for his high priority HK, but if you're a little over him, you wont have to worry about it much. Also make sure to stay out of throwing range. If you happen to be hit with his HK throw, then roll, he can OTG and re-launch after it and catch you in it again and again. BE CAREFUL about his D.HK. If you're hit with it, make sure that you roll after the first hit or you're eating a Somersault Justice. If you insist on being aggressive, jump in while blocking, lure him into using his Flash Kick and punish him afterwards. Playing against Guile is a game of lures, get him to attack you, but try not to get him too close. Hayato- A good Hayato player can have a field day with Shuma. His high priority plasma sword and the long range it gives him can really give Shuma a hard time. However, Hayato is a very poor defensive player, so if you can mount an offense, do it, and do it fast. Pressure him as much as possible. A well placed Mystic Stare forcing him to block just might give you the opportunity needed to rush in and combo... better yet, if you hit... Ah ha. Cancel into Mystic Bash in this situation. Take advantage of ANY mistakes, as you probably won't get too many chances. Hulk- He's too fast for a Really Big Guy (TM). Shuma must be wetting his... er, uh, never mind. Anyway, because this guy's so fast AND strong, you might consider switching out. However, I prefer to duke it out anyway. Scrubs love his little Gamma Wave, but you can punish that with a Crystal Drop or a Mystic Bash. Someone being Gamma Charge friendly? Block, devitalize. Gamma Crush? Get outta the way, then start that Chaos Dimension and beat him around. Gamma Quake is a problem only if you're jumping in... like Vega/M.Bison, play a game of countering. Hell, throw in a taunt or two if the other guy thinks he can play keep away with Hulk. Iceman- Forget Mystic Stare. You've got to get up close and personal and make sure he isn't going to know how to block. Do high/low tactics and throw in a kick throw and Devitalization. Do a crystal smash whenever you're above him. Now, watch out for the really big chunk of ice move. It's easily telegraphed, so it shouldn't be a problem. Once you're up close, you shouldn't have any problems. Thankfully, he's a lot easier to get close to than Dr. Doom or Cable. Not thankfully, his super does more damage the closer you are. A double edged sword. Iron Man- Jill Valentine- A sheer nightmare. Great offense, great defense, and a horde of zombies that will leave you dizzy from trying to attack and trying to defend, and neither getting you nowhere. Both of her zombies are unblockable, but can be knocked out. A Jill player may try to summon a zombie and then get to the opposite side and try to push you into the zombie by forcing you to block, in this instance, push block and retreat. Super-jumping would be the best (and possibly the only) way to get in an offense on her. Playing defensively is suicide, no doubt about it. Funny enough, I don't find Jill to be all that hard, as long as you stay on your toes about your defense. A very fast player should hit her with a Mystic Bash when she call a zombie. You've got to be a twitch player. Also, don't let the zombie touch you, and as Joe said, don't get sandwiched. She's pretty dangerous, but I didn't feel her to be that bad. Jin- The stripper and the hentai tentacle demon. A B-Movie classic? While I contact those who made all those "Howling" sequels about it, here's the idea--Jin's STILL a bit slow in his recovery delays. Thus, take advantage of them. I still see lots of Jin players throw Cyclones blindly. Block, Devitalize. (Do you see a theme here?) Do the same if you see he's going to do the Saotome Crush. The fact that he has the Saotome Dynamite is the reason you might want to limit your jump-ins. Fake a jump-in to force him to pull it (or if you happen to be a female player and think that a move that strips someone of their clothing is cool), then go on in with what you want. As for his supers... move just out of the way of the Great Cyclone so you can kill him with a Mystic Smash. Super jump out of the Vulcan entirely, and just block from the Blodia Punch. You really, really wouldn't want him to follow that up with a Great Cyclone if you tried to jump in. Just take advantage of all those recovery delays. The Unstoppable One, Juggernaut- Switch out. No joke. Don't even bother, because he will smack Shuma good. All he needs is just three good hits and you'll be praying to catch him in a kick throw to drain some life. Better to leave this to someone faster or slightly more powerful. Ken- Don't ever get launched by Ken. Point blank and period. Get launched, say good- bye to about 60% of your life with one really simple combo. Maybe you'll eat Shinryuken. Who knows. To beat Ken, you have to take advantage of the fact that he stinks when kept at a distance. Although it's pretty hard to play keep away with Shuma, you'll want to attempt it for a little, just to get him ticked off. Once he goes into the trademark Ken all out offense, then start doing fake outs. Dash in, but don't attack. Jump in blocking (this one is excellent, because you can spring a Mystic Smash on him), and at the last possible moment, hit him with a HK or a Mystic Smash. Watch out for the best high-low game in the... game. Ken'll keep you guessing forever, which is longer than you'll be playing. Kobun- One Bad Mutha, Magneto- I hold Magneto in very high regard, as he was tied with Shuma for my favorite character in MSH. Villains are always better. Okay. First thing to watch out for is air combos. You want to play very cautiously against this guy because he can, and will, beat the life out of you. I know it, you know it, the American people know it. Roll after getting swept, and avoid those Hyper Gravs like the plague. Also, be on the lookout for Mags' Beta assist Hyper Grav, as they are more difficult to pinpoint. To beat Magneto, you must take advantage of his slow speed and his big size. Use helpers, but make sure that you're not getting tapped up with an obscene 50+ hit combo from him, because you probably won't survive as Shuma. Marrow- Morrigan- Far from a useless Darkstalker character, Morrigan's probably got one of the best confuser's game made. Her air dash is very odd, and something that only a person who knows Morrigan can really deal with effectively. Next time the weather channel is on, try and find the jet stream. That's sorta what it looks like. Well, bizarre oddities aside, Morrigan plays like Ken with better comboability. She doesn't have the insanely simple 60% damage combos Ken has, but she can be a challenge. It's probably best to try and anticipate, or lure her into pulling off a move you want her to do. Don't go on full offensive, because very few characters can match with her on those terms. Nash/Charlie- Omega Red- Psylocke- Rockman/Megaman- He's a threat. As one of the potential keep away kings put into this game, you've got to watch out. It's now even easier to put a charged up Mega Buster into an air combo, so do yourself a favor and try to keep it out of the air (unless you are putting it there). Megaman, unlike Roll, is something to watch out for, so keep on your toes. If he does a leaf shield, try to throw him instead of hit him. Now the good news. The only super he has that you can't punish him after is Hyper Megaman. If you block Beat Plane, he's dead meat (?) in the Chaos Dimension. It's a little harder to catch him after a Rush Drill, so use Mystic Bash instead. Above all, don't get frustrated if he starts firing off HPs because for one, they aren't as fast or as cheap as Cable's and secondly, they don't do damage. Alert the player that you can stand there all day, and no one will win unless he does something. Rogue- Roll- Ha ha ha. Does she do damage yet? Biggest thing to worry about with her is her throws. She's not as fast as she could be, and she is a pretty mean air comboer, even if she is pathetically weak. Leaf shied could mess up your plans, but on the whole, no problem. Ruby Heart- Ruby Heart shouldn't be that much of a pain. Her attacks are fairly short ranged (with the exception of her D.HK) and don't really have much priority. Use Shuma's tentacles to your advantage. Watch out for the Schwartzalle, a good Ruby Heart player will try to cross you up with this attack by passing you overhead and coming down on an angle towards you, anticipate this and try to work up a counterattack for this. The rest of her moves should not be of very much concern to you. The best strategy would be to play casually, and adapt as you play. Ryu- He has some dangerous cancel combos, but on the whole isn't really much to worry about. There are so many more dangerous characters in the game to worry about an average character. I'm not even sure if I need to tell you how to beat Ryu, because I personally have been doing it since '93, and most people have been doing it longer. He doesn't have that much variety, and hasn't changed much at all, so you can expect most of the stuff you've seen for several years. Sabretooth- Sakura- Sentinel- Is this a joke? He can barely move. Just don't get hit by any of his overly telegraphed moves and you'll be fine. SHUMA-GORATH- Well, what can I say? Think about how you'd play, and then stop him from doing anything you'd do. Silver Samurai- Son Son- Spider-Man- It's relatively easy to encounter problems when fighting against Spidey. As one of the Shuma murderers of MSH and MSH vs. SF, you've got to stay on your toes to keep up with him. Avoid his Web Ball like the plague, because we all know that Maximum Spider follows it. To beat Mr. Parker, you've got to take advantage of the fact that his ground game is pretty terrible. He'll beat you in the air, so you'll have to beat him on the ground. I advise actually using Shuma's moves for this match (I don't normally do them). Since you'll actually be on the defensive, it works to your advantage. If he throws a Web Ball from anywhere short of above you, hit him with a Mystic Smash. If he goes for Maximum Spider, try doing a Mystic Bash. Spiral- Storm- Strider Hiryu- Learn how to Tech Hit. For some unknown reason, Strider is VERY throw happy now. He's been toned down a bit, so I guess they gave him better throw priority to compensate. Regardless, he can still do him magical 7 hit ground combo, and can still Air Combo you to the point of yelling out things that would be rated M by the ESRB. I hate Strider. If he ever does the Ame no Murakumo outside of a ground combo, make him feel pain. Chaos Dimension, Mystic Bash, triple team super, I don't know, I don't care, just hit him with something big. Stay in the corner and guard low if he activates the Ourobourus, and you won't have to worry about eating Ragnarok after it. Just be ready for a Tech Hit when it runs out. By the way. If there's anyone who takes damage worse than Shuma it's Strider. He's slippery, but hitting him with a Chaos Dimension is very rewarding. If you're playing against a Strider "Pro" (cheap-ass), then just block and start poking him low with your weak attacks. Thanos- Ouch. If neutering a character keeps him this good, then you know you're in for trouble. Thanos has got all his useful supers from MSH and got them good. Aside from what's probably the easiest infinite in the game, Thanos is a very tough matchup. Gauntlet Power, Gauntlet Reality and Gauntlet Soul are very troublesome. Gauntlet Space can be overlooked. You beat Thanos by beating his bubble projectile. It's like Spidey's Web Ball without the delay. Stay in the air, and watch out for Gauntlet Soul, since it has a good tagging range. Jump in with HK and link into a combo when you land on the ground. You may want to try and tag him with Mystic Stare and then turtle like mad, which will force him to either switch out or go into full offense. If he goes all out, then you have him right where you want him. After this point, all you have to do is watch out for his shoulder charge move. Tron Bonne- Vega/M. Bison- I say he's a joke. He's fairly predictable, isn't really that fast, and can be easily countered with general ease. True, the Psycho Crusher is extremely annoying, but for the rest of his stuff... counter a missed Head Stomp/Skull Dive with a Devitalization (if you're fast enough), and I'm pretty sure Shuma's Mystic Bash will outprioritize his Double Knee Press. As for the Psycho Ball, just Bash on over it and make him pay. In case you see him set up his Psycho Crusher (or his Knee Press Nightmare), prepare to block accordingly so you can follow it up with almost anything you desire. Pretty much a fun little counter game. Just be sure to stay (at the most) midscreen range from him. Venom- He was the Shuma of MvC (Much as Spiral was she Shuma of X-Men), so he should be dealt with pretty much the same way you'd deal with another Shuma player. He has better recovery with his moves than you do with yours, so play with a bit of reserve. You're faster than him, so you can waltz up and unleash some tentacled terror. Make sure you watch out for his standing HK, because it has obscene priority. Everything else should be pretty simple. After all, he bummed all his stuff from Shuma. War Machine- Wolverine- (Neutered) Wolverine- Zangief- I can't even begin to explain how much I hate, and can't even play against, Zangief. He is such trouble for me that I'm scared of anyone who picks him. Well, not exactly, but he's the character I have the least success against. I don't know where to start in saying how to beat him, because I can never do it! -_- Good luck, they toned him UP to make up for the loss of the triple option. I have the same kinds of grief with 'Gief, now that he's even faster than before... and he's got all that throw power back. Mix and match those tactics of yours, because he overpowers most of the things you fling at him. If you really want to play keep away, you can fling those eyes at him... and while he tries to tag you, try to jump over him and do a Crystal Smash. Don't worry about getting hit by that aerial grab move, I don't think he can catch you while you're directly above him. In the case you do get close, LAUNCH HIM IMMEDIATELY. Don't even try to drain his life, because chances are you'll be on the business end of the Final Atomic Buster. Launching him is a great idea if you have the Chaos Dimension activated, so then you can end your AC by showing him around your home. Just pick your shots very carefully, otherwise 'Gief will be using Shuma as a loincloth. And we don't want THAT to happen, do we? Abyss- As far as I've seen, Shuma isn't all that hot against Abyss. Chaos Dimension is useless against him, although Mystic Bash is pretty effective against the first, and maybe second forms. I've only beat him with Magneto (I haven't played as much as I'd like to), but I can safely say that unless there's some big secret I'm missing, you're better off using someone else for this guy. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % 8. Strengths and Weaknesses % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Weaknesses -Let me just say it right off, Shuma is SLOW! -Shuma is a bit weaker than other characters -He's a grappler (I don't care what you say. You have to thow to win with Shuma) -Unless you use DF.3/DF.4, you don't have access to Shuma's launcher outside of a combo Strengths -The Chaos Dimension is one of the hardest hitting supers in the game. -Can play both keep-away and in your face -He's a grappler -_- -Has a life draining move. -He can Air Combo into and OTG after the Chaos Dimension. The humanity! -His voice is back in his taunt (it was oddly removed in MSH vs. SF) %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % 9. Checklist % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% -Almost done with versus information -Teammate information -More combos -More arcade time to devote to beating Strider/Cable/Wolverine scrubs -More arcade time to search for the true Dan Master... we shall see, Evil Matt-MUN %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % 10. Credits % %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Capcom, for bringing back THE MAN! SHUMA! (http://www.capcom.com) No thanks is given for them putting, of all characters, Anakaris in this Big Joe, for informing me that MvC2 was out... and for not beating me too badly when I was sucking Meng. Guess I must be pretty good as Magneto if he's the only one I was doing stuff with, huh? He also gave some character tips. Stupid Guile... Evil Matt-MUN, for the Dan verbiage, and for treking out to get me some info He also contributed to the versus section CJayC and GameFAQs, for hosting this movelist (http://www.gamefaqs.com) JCulbert, for the MSH vs. SF guide that got me hooked on Shuma, and for some Info concerning his history (tigeraid@fighters.net) (http://www.fighters.net) KMegura, for his MvC2 guide, chock-full of info on all the characters. I got all the assist mode info from there. I also got a bit of the copyright info from his guide. (kmegura@yahoo.com) (http://i.am/kao) Migs Rustia, for his stellar collection of MSH vs. SF and MvC information. He has a bunch of very good Shuma combos from MSH vs. SF that I'll be testing out to see if they work. (migsr@mindspring.com) (www.geocities.com/mvcthesite) Al Amaloo, for asking to post this on his site and not just stealing it. Check it out at http://www.gameadvice.com. (vgstrategies.guide@about.com) This unpublished work is Copyright (c) 2000 by me, André Anderson (AKA Zephyr, Zephyr Blayze) You can mail me at zephyr@tricorpgames.com with any comments, additions, combos, criticisms, or whatever else your twisted mind can come up with. The only sites that this work may be found on are GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) Tricorp Games (www.tricorpgames.com), and Game Advice/Game Winners (www.gameadvice.com). No portion of this movelist may be used to generate any sort of profit or revenue whatsoever. This is free domain. No selling, no renting, no including with any game being sold. Permission is given to anyone who wishes to take the info from this guide and include it in theirs if proper credit is given. Please do not steal any of this without crediting. I don't take nicely to working hard and getting my work stolen. Shuma-Gorath and the rest of the Marvel Super Heroes are (c) Marvel Characters, Inc. All Capcom characters are (c) Capcom Co., Ltd END FOR NOW ~LordWyndia, 05.22.2K Co-President of Tricorp Games (www.tricorpgames.com) Webmaster of Castle Keep, The Review Palace (zephyr.tricorpgames.com)