When to use irreplaceable resources (Shang-chi question)

Vhailorx

I haven't been away from the game for a several months, but shang-chi seems like my preferred style of meta character (true heal, strong offense, fun to play, etc).  So I decided to crack my modest remaining hoard in the hopes of getting a decent number of covers for him before he disappears into the classic pool; RNG was kind and I got 6 covers for him in just 79 LTs (1/4/1 build though).

Is he good enough to be worth finishing using my long-hoarded shardmas shards? (I never actually used any of them because there was never an obvious place where ~10 covers of a particular 5* would have made a real difference to my place experience, and 10 covers of my choice seemed like too good a thing to waste).  Who are his best 4* and 5* partners?  If he only plays well with Odin, electro, or ultron (whom I will likely never champ) then I will just wait for an LT store to feature him.

Kross

For me, yes.  He is so much fun to play, even when not boosted or even champed he would do great damage and really makes me think about my next move.

entrailbucket

It depends very much on your definition of "good."

Shang-Chi can win any fight in the game, against opponents of any level, completely by himself (provided you're skilled enough at going infinite with him).

Barring a level of puzzling talent I've not encountered yet, he's not fast enough to win in competitive PvE.

He's also pretty bad when played by the AI, so he's not very good on defense in PvP.


His best partner is probably 5* Cyclops, but people have had good luck using him with tons of characters.  Check out his thread in the character discussion forum for some good ideas.

Vhailorx

Thanks entrailbucket,

I have looked over his thread and most the part we discussions there are from right when he released. I was hoping for more up-to-date feedback since people have had him for some time now. Sighclops is not the answer I was hoping for as he is one the 5*s I will likely never champ (having skipped him in favor SW and Colossus).

entrailbucket

So far my favorite is still Cyclops and 4*Loki, but hopefully some others will chime in here with other good team ideas for you. 

(Shang-Chi appears to be the forum's most popular character in...ever)

ThaRoadWarrior

He is great between the Cascade Bros - profe$$or X and Onslaught. They all compete for purple, but they also all create cascades based on match-ns so it isn’t turn-start passives. Those two wing persons can also adjust the board colors for you too.

ThaRoadWarrior

He is probably going to be alright with Sersei too, since she offers solid board control too.

Sekilicious

Shang-Chi can only be defeated by a bad board, lacking in red or purple. SC’s best partner is Hulkbuster, since red is SC’s best power, in spite of his nuke in purple. Sighclops is better by the mere fact he is a 5* but Hulkbuster supports SC in multiple colors and his blue changes more to red. If you have both Hulkbuster and Sighclops you can cut the variance in the board by a third color. The caveat is that HB’s blue eats Sigh’s green, but then I’ve only ever had to fire it once before achieving winfinite. 

Vhailorx

What threshold do you use as a rule-of-thumb for going infinite? I asumme 21 in red and purple is plenty, but can you do 14 in each?  Less?

entrailbucket

It really depends how much boardshake or manipulation you've got on other colors.  I've done it with 7 red and 0 purple, but with a few casts of other colors stocked up.

If you have Hulkbuster, for example, one cast of his blue can create a cascade into red that gives you enough resources to go infinite from there.

Captain_Trips88

Vs goons then 4* starlord pretty much permanently drops SC's AP costs, I quite like black bolt or Chavez for some charged tiles/random crit fun.

I'd say 9 and 9 is enough to go winfinite with a little help from how the charged tiles go when you fire your purple, and providing that those AP have been achieved by 6 consecutive matches for the combo points. 

To be honest, you can use him with pretty much anyone, those who assist with board control or damage reduction are probably best for achieving winfinite early 

Sekilicious

Depends on the board but 2 fires for red is often enough to keep things going by creating match-5s. My SC only has 22k hp because he isn’t champed so sometimes I find it difficult to keep him alive. That sometimes means I can’t get things going at all. I guess the other good thing about Sighclops and Sersi is that they can tank green and yellow spreading the initial damage. If you have 1/2 Thor he can get both SC and the green converters going as well.

Borstock

I don't have a ton to add that hasn't already been said, but I don't like missing opportunities to hype Shang-Chi as the most fun character they've released in a LONG time.

entrailbucket

Lol every Shang-Chi thread immediately gets 100,000 replies

shardwick

Well, you skipped Cyclops for Wanda and Colossus, I did the same, and he works fine with both of them in pvp. I mean it's pretty amazing to have them provide defense while he does his thing matching reds and purples and then you leave the match with everyone at full health or near full health. Just make sure that you fire your red before you finish your match so you can get your health back. For pve I like to use him with 5* Thor and America to change things up a bit. Overall I think he's worthy of using your milestone shards on him.

MegaBee

Shang-Chi is also great teamed with Heimdall and Shuri. 

HoundofShadow

We had Good Fortune Store this year due to Lunar New Year. You can't have a store that celebrates this festival without Shang-Chi next year. The next one is on 1 February. If you could wait, you might want to try your luck in about 70 days.

Zalasta

I use SC with Thor (generates red), and SW (adds red or purple to the board).

smiley22

I would 100% spend the resources to get him.  I had terrible luck on pulls - going in with SC at 4 covers and favorited, but ended up champing both ultron and gamora (both from 0 mind you) before SC even had 10 covers.  So i had to cash in my milestone rewards to finish him.

SO WORTH IT - it’s actually made the game fun and strategic again versus mindlessly matching while waiting for passives to do all the work.  And don’t get me wrong, I enjoy passives too but SC is just such a refreshing change of pace.

As far as teams, I don’t have sighclops for the same reasons mentioned above (skipped for SW and Colossus), so I can’t comment on him, but after trying a few others my definitive team (for PvE at least) is Shang/Onslaught/Half-Thor.  The board carnage is insane, with near endless cascades followed by creating more cascades with both of SC’s powers, obviously leading to winfinite very quickly.  I often end a round in only 1-2 turns, it’s incredibly fun.  

Not as fast as some of the metas since you have to think about your moves, but that’s a good thing - I can’t imagine them ever needing to nerf him, plus as mentioned he’s easily beat on defense, which is also great for keeping him balanced.

Still searching for his best partner in pick-2 if anyone has more suggestions there...

Daredevil217

We have yet to discuss supports for SC, for those who use him in PVE. 

I have a 4* Chimichanga  that gives a 33.57% to net 2 extra red AP and a 38.37% chance for 2 extra purple AP when SC matches those colors. 

Cyke has a 2* Quantum Realm 34.65% chance to start with 5 purple  

Gator Loki has the 5* Vibranium Ore I lucked into. If anyone matches the team’s strongest color, there’s a 40% chance of netting +2 in that color (red). 

With this setup I’ve had SC do a simple match-3 red and net back 7 AP (more if there is charged tiles involved). 

Some of my alliance mates like Sharon Carter on Shang. Mine is only 3* but at 4* you get the +2 purple AP bonus like chimi and the support adds to your crit multiplier. 

Arc Reactor used to be on 5* Iron Man but is now on Hulkbuster in the event I decide to swap him in for Cyke or Loki (but I like my current setup with them for now).  Mine is only at 2* but even at that level it gives a 34.65% to net 5 red AP at match start so you can possibly winfinite turn 1. 

Honorable mention to 3*+ Shuri’s Lab (gives a chance at +2 red when you match red) and 4*+ Proxima Midnight (gives a chance to start with 3 red). Neither are better than the above options but can be played on Shang or a support person if you don’t have better options. 

shardwick

smiley22 said:

I would 100% spend the resources to get him.  I had terrible luck on pulls - going in with SC at 4 covers and favorited, but ended up champing both ultron and gamora (both from 0 mind you) before SC even had 10 covers.  So i had to cash in my milestone rewards to finish him.

SO WORTH IT - it’s actually made the game fun and strategic again versus mindlessly matching while waiting for passives to do all the work.  And don’t get me wrong, I enjoy passives too but SC is just such a refreshing change of pace.

As far as teams, I don’t have sighclops for the same reasons mentioned above (skipped for SW and Colossus), so I can’t comment on him, but after trying a few others my definitive team (for PvE at least) is Shang/Onslaught/Half-Thor.  The board carnage is insane, with near endless cascades followed by creating more cascades with both of SC’s powers, obviously leading to winfinite very quickly.  I often end a round in only 1-2 turns, it’s incredibly fun.  

Not as fast as some of the metas since you have to think about your moves, but that’s a good thing - I can’t imagine them ever needing to nerf him, plus as mentioned he’s easily beat on defense, which is also great for keeping him balanced.

Still searching for his best partner in pick-2 if anyone has more suggestions there...

I forgot about Onslaught. I added three levels to him with shards when I pulled tokens and took him to something like 1/4/2 and didn't think that it would make much of a difference with only seven covers. Oh man I was wrong. The cascades are delicious.