The King of Fighters XI/Shen Woo

Normals

Throw

Kyakuten Touchi - Near opponent, press back or forward + C or D

Command Normals

Fusen Kyaku - f + B

Shen kicks forward by thrusting his foot forward. If used by itself, it can only chain into the Fusen Gowan Ken. If canceled from a normal, it can combo into many of his specials and DMs. A very important move.

> Fusen Gowan Ken - During Fusen Kyaku, f + C

Shen bends forward with a punch downwards. This move cannot be recovered from if the Fusen Kyaku was used by itself. This move does not knock down if it the Fusen Kyaku was canceled from a normal. This move cannot be canceled in either case. Great for pressure as it does good damage to the block meter but it leaves Shen at a frame advantage even if blocked.

Special Moves

Geki Ken - qcf + A or C (hold A or C to delay) (press D during delay to cancel) (SC)

Fuku Tora Geki - qcb + A

> Kanyuu Ryugeki - During Fuku Tora Geki, qcf + A

Zenbuu Tenshin - qcf + E

Kouhau Tenshin - qcf + E

> Ten Ren Ken - Press A or C during Zenbuu Teshin or Kouhau Tenshin (SC)

Tama Ken - qcb + C

Koukuzure Geki - Near opponent, hcb, forward + A or C (SC)

Super Desperation Moves

Tatsu! Geki Ken - qcfx2 + A or C (DC)

Torahyou Rengeki - qcfx2 + B or D (DC)

Leader Desperation Move

Bakuten - Press C, A, B, C

Shen gives himself a boost in attack damage, usually lasting around 8 seconds. The properties of this move differ vastly depending on whether it was used by itself or super/dreamcancelled.

Stand-Alone: Shen takes a full second to power himself up, during which he is fully invulnerable to anything, including normal and special throws. Also, the pillar of energy he summons can hit the opponent, doing roughly 50% damage, 80% counter-hit.

Super/Dreamcancelled: Shen skips the power-up and goes right into the activation. This also recovers so quickly that it can usually be followed up into his ground B'n'B.

Bread and Butter Combos

Jump D, close C, f+B, qcf+A

Does a good chunk of damage and isn't that unsafe on block.

Jump D, close C, f+B, qcf+C XX qcfx2+D

Shen's basic meter combo. Unsafe on block now, so watch it.

Qcfx2+A/C counterhit, super of your choice.

His qcfx2+A/C counter wires, so various followups are possible, including the Shen Woo combo of doom:

Qcfx2+A/C counterhit, qcfx2+D, XX C, A, B, C, run up, close c, f+B, qcf+A, XX qcfx2+D

Takes fives power stocks and two skill stocks, so don't think you'll ever land it, even in casuals. It looks DAMN cool though.

Basic Playstyle

Shen is an interesting character. His moves do good damage, but many of them are also very safe on block. He has two main disadvantages that he must work around:

1. Shen requires a lot of both Skill and Power stocks to do much. His meter B'n'B's require supercancelling, and his supers are a large part of his game. His Tatsu! Geki Ken makes him 5x more fearsome from a distance, as one misplaced air attack/projectile can have the opponent get smacked in the face.

2. Linearity. Shen's only long-range option without meter is his Geki-Ken, he lacks a speedy reversal, and his only good anti-airs are short range normals, i.e. his crouching C and far D. In other words, Shen is a very straightforward character that requires the player to constantly be on the offense.

To play Shen:

Shen has an above-average mixup game with his crouching D, which has good range and knocks down, his command throw, which can be supercancelled, and his qcb+A, qcf+A, which... well, it's an overhead, and it knocks down. He also has a lot of safe moves, close C, f+B, f+C is a fantastic blockstring because his close C starts very fast and f+C leaves you at an advantage, at which point you mix it up. His qcf+A can also be used for pressuring at the right distance.

Changes from KOF 2003

• His far/crouching C now has autoguard and slightly different animations.

• He has a new command move follow-up to the Fusen Kyaku.

• He has a new move that can absorb projectiles, and also gives him 20% of a bar of meter.

• His crouching D is now faster.

• He lost his Foward + D command move.

• His command throw now works as a throw instead of an unblockable "attack". It also does not stun the opponent long enough to link a close C or D. It is also no longer able to reflect projectiles.

• His C Geki Ken now takes considerably less time to charge fully

• The Fuku Tora Geki is now an overhead

• The Tatsu! Geki Ken no longer receives brutal damage scaling in small combos and now does much more damage on a counterhit. It is also slower.

• The Torahyou Rengeki was almost immune to damage scaling in KOF 2003 as the 3-hits following the headbutt did not add up to the hit counter. This has been fixed. This move no longer has the insane priority it had.

• Bakushin is renamed as Bakuten. While essentially it is still the same move, his LDM now does devastating damage if it hits (50% normally and 80% on a counterhit). The duration of the LDM powerup also seems to be considerably shorter now. Finally, it can OTG the opponent in specific situations, such as after hitting the opponent with a fully-charged C Geki Ken.

• Jump C/D, close C, foward + B, Geki Ken

This combo now works. In KOF 2003, it only works if the Jumping attack crossed up.

• close C/D, foward + B, Geki Ken, Torahyou Rengeki (SC)

This combo also works. In KOF 2003, the DM always misses due to lack of reach except when this combo is performed on an opponents back (i.e hitting their backs instead of hitting of their usual front)