Shadow Charlie
"The Legend Will Never Die (ching)"

You know, it makes we wonder when they are going to put Guile back into
the game. Now that Charlie is dead and all that is left is his ghost.
In actuality, someone told me that the true background to these "evil"
Doppalgangers is that Bison and Shadowloo cloned the characters to
fight for them. That's why they blow up when they die. Is this true
Capcom? Well, it makes sense but it could be explained as an ending
for these people. Now, Charlie isn't himself anymore. He is 25%
faster, and his special attacks and supers are about 20% stronger.
Sounds great but the damn lagtime on the supers is the catch. Well,
it's not so bad once you realize that all of his supers are stronger
and they are more defensive than the regular Charlie supers. You can
still link your supers, we'll get into that, and now he has a raging
demon which is unstopable only by physical punch. He goes through
fireballs when he does it and you can't block it. And he runs just
like Cyber Akuma too. Shadow is a character that has to switch up his
tactics. You can't stay offensive like before and he can be clumsy if
you keep defending. Let's get into the man, the myth...and now the
legend and I'll tell you about one of the GREATEST Team assist moves
you will find in the game.

---------SONIC ZOOM?----------
Alot of people say that Shadow's Sonic
boom has a recovery time to it. I say, you better look at your watch
cuz your timing is wrong. Just last week I pummeled a guy in the
corner with consistent sonic booms because he though that I had a
recovery time. Wrong, and you'll be dead wrong too if you believe
that. Though you can't just easily go back & forward like you did in
xmen vs s.f. but that can easily be fixed if you know how to use the
sonic booms. For all you old school guile fans, you'll know what I'm
talkin about. When you throw out a sonic boom, you must hold back to
charge for the other one. For those who just started playing street
fighter series, you'll feel a little akward. For guile people, it's in
the reflexes. As soon as you "hear", not see the sonic boom hit
whether blocked or taken in, then throw out the other one. Of course
repeat. There is not recovery time when he throws it out and you can
even send a slow one, follow it, and as soon as it hits its mark, do
sonic break. If you wait to see the sonic boom make its impact, you
won't be able to pummel them constantly so keep your ears tuned. Oh,
if you catch someone in the air with the sonic break on x-men vs., they
can sometimes block the rest. Not anymore. The booms go so fast that
even if you get nipped by one stray, they'll all hit.

-----------ARIAL FAKE OUTS------------
One of the most confusing moves
on an opponent would have to be the arial shadow slice. I use this
alot and change up the kick buttons. Short kick does it really fast
(sometimes too fast), so you can add it on to your combo. Forward kick
is a quick pause, good for when you miss them with a regular jump kick
and you have to cover your ass. Using roundhouse is the best one for
fake outs. This one, he takes a pause, then flips over. This is great
for making yourself look helpless. I'll give you an example. I use
the universal combo when I pop them in the air. But I use the short
kick to do the slice so they don't get away. Another one is when I
jump kick them with the forward kick while they are standing. Once it
connects or if it's blocked, I go straight into the slice with
roundhouse. Doing this will make your opponent hesitate and think he
can launch you. Wrong!!!! Use this often and if you've never put it
to good use or even use it, practice... it's a good investment of your
time. Oh, if you use the roundhouse high in the air and it hits them
while they are in the air, you may get down fast enough to launch them
back up.

-------------CHAIN LINK SHADOWS----------
Too bad, you can't do all the
cool combos and link up with a super. That's ok cuz of the damage of
the supers now, it's almost like you did a combo...but with only one
button. The fierce or the roundhouse. OK, now pay attention. Charlie
has two types of attacks, advance and stand guard. Advance is like
when he makes that little hop kick with forward kick. Stand guard is
like everyone elses attacks. To like a fierce or roundhouse with a
super, do not press forward or backward, leave the joystick as is and
he'll make a quick, but hard, fierce or roundhouse. NOW you can link
the supers even with the eye effect. Use fierce when they are standing
and go straight into sonic break, when they are jumping to you or they
are in the air open from an attack, use roundhouse and go straight to
shadow break or shadow justice (justice is faster to pull off). This
works and does just as much damage as if you were the real charlie
doing fancy combos. Here's one secret I've to myself for a long time.
Charlie is the only character who can chain link his own supers. Takes
timing but he can do it. Shadow can do it too but only if you watch
the last hit. The safest way is to wait until your opponent messes up
in the air. Without moving the joystick, roundhouse them and
quickly go for your sonic break, now while he's getting hit, dash for a
quick second to get closer and start twirling the joystick in the right
direction while pressing all kicks for the shadow justice. Keep doing
it cuz once the last sonic boom hits, it's party time! Now that's
impressive.

------------THE NEED FOR SPEED------------
Charlie's running and speed
was alright in x-men vs. But now shadow can even keep up with Chun Li
and Wolverine. Just make sure that once you run, you commit yourself.
Even his walking is faster. Sorry Migs, I have to disagree with you
one here.What'd I say? I never said he was slow did I?

-----------CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK---------
When using sonic break, you
must plan and realize that it is no longer an offensive weapon. Just
watching it fly across the screen tells you that. Use it not only for
making your victim pay for their mistakes, but as a defense arsenal.
This super and excellent chipping damage and you can even go after
them. Throw one sonic boom out, preferably a slow one, walk go behind
it and once it hits, go straight into sonic break. Even if the single
boom is blocked the shift in speed and easily throw you off and get you
smacked by the rest of the sonic boom family. Goodnight John Boy!

-----------TEAM UP ADVANTAGE---------
Having Shadow as a helper is
really cool because his sonic boom has a different speed than the other
fireballs. I can throw off someone and your character can even follow
it a little.

----------FINAL MISSION DOUBLE TEAM--------------
This has to be the
best team up play on the game. I don't see anyone competing with this
one. Let me explain. We all know that Shadow's final mission is a
raging demon type grab. He does it real fast and matches the Chaos
Dimension in damage. Many don't use it because of the joystick motion
(which is back forward back forward and all punch). Well feast your
eyes on this (you too Migs). One saturday I was thinking, hey there
has to be a way to catch people with the final mission super. Then it
hit me. Why don't I choose a character to bum rush my opponent while I
move the joystick for the final mission super. Well, I chose Shadow
and U.S. Agent for my team. They work real well together and I was
facing Shuma when I noticed I was on level three. I backed up against
a corner and my human opponent followed and dashed toward me. I called
on U.S. Agent and he came out with charging star and I immediately did
the joystick motions. Shuma easily blocked Agent, but then, "ching"
Shadow bum rushed Shuma and shuma couldn't go anywhere cuz he just
blocked Agent's charging star. Need I say more?? This was a tearjerker
for me. I'm still getting shivers just thinking about this one. It
was so efficient that I didn't have to worry about timing when I was
close to him or waiting until they messed up. It was all about human
response. I ran away they followed, they lay dead from Shadow, end of
story. Folks, if you are a Charlie player, you have to try this. This
is a standard for me from now on and I use this tactic every time and
works 7 out of 10 times. What's even better is the look they have on
their faces!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA. One person said that I even cheated...and
you know what, he was playing wolverine using dirty tricks and running
away. It's not cheating. I didn't make you come after me. You chased
me because you though you had me. You could have stayed away and it
would have never happened. Payback is a bitch isn't it? Ok, here's
some tips in making sure you do this right and make em drop like
flies. Choose a charging character. Cap, Agent, Hulk, Spider man,
Zangief, Shuma and Wolverine will do the trick. No fireballs
please...well unless you want to die. This is because if your opponent
has a power that will negate the fireball most likely it'll hit you
too. One prime example is Cyclops' optic blast. You need someone to
jump in front of you and take the hit. I rather use hulk and the
Agents cuz their charge negates fireballs, and still hits their target
even if they jump. Wolverine could be too low to stop jump-ins but
spider man, zangief and shuma can do that real well but they can't
negate fireballs. Now all you have to do is fight and hold out your
super meter until it's on three. Press back like you're charging for a
sonic boom then just call on your teammate when your opponent gets
within range. When they come out, start your joystick motion but don't
go back on the joystick again. You were already pressing back and that
counts for the move. So once again, when your teammate appears, finish
the motion (forward, back, forward) and all punch buttons. When you
hit the buttons, your teammate should connect his hit at the same
time. It doesn't matter if they block or get hit. "Ching!" And there
goes Shadow after the victim. They can't do anything because they just
blocked. If they can escape, you did it too late. It's best to back
yourself into a corner so that they can't jump over you when your
teammate comes but you can do this anywhere on the screen. I even did
it when I cornered my victim and you know there was no where to run!
HAHAHAHA Omega Destroyer. Oops, sorry about that. This is the best
team up move in the game. I dare anyone to match it...cuz you can't.

-------------DISCOVERED THE FLAW OF FINAL MISSION-----------
Don't worry, it's still the best team up move and one of the coolest moves shadow has, but there are some things that I must update you on as far as its abilities and limits.
1) Final Mission is only a grab move until Shadow tries to uppercut you. He will do that to get a little extra distance, so if you see him uppercut, you may be able to block it. I suggest just avoiding it all together. A few times, I caught them with the uppercut while blocking and it still popped them in the air so it may be that only the computer can block.
2) Another thing is that Shadow can go through fireballs, and supers, but if he is slowing down for the uppercut, he is vulnerable by fireballs.
So remember to pull this off in close range so it counts as a grab to be on the safe side.

---------SHADOW AND CAP/AGENT: AMERICA BRINGS HOME THE GOLD------
I was going to place this in the Best and the worst of team ups (and I still
will) but this one is so good...it's only flaw is one how well you play
these U.S. patriots. Here's why: First, their team ups compliment
each other perfectly, Cap as a helper negates fireballs (and fists) and
rams them delaying time or doing good damage while Shadow has enough
time to do his sonic break, One sonic boom, his cross blitz, and of
course, his final mission. Shadow as a helper works great cuz of the
speed of the sonic boom. You can run after it, charging star, sheild
slash, my favorite...final justice or if they try jumping over the
sonic boom, do stars and stripes or hyper stars and stripes. they
either get hit from Cap's upper, or they block it and get hit by the
sonic boom cuz the block forced them down on it. Try this- Chase after
the sonic boom and try to stay right on it or ahead of it (I'm not sure
if you can do that though) and as soon as you get to your opponent, go
straight into your evading cartwheel. You'll move on one side and the
sonic boom will be on the other side. Now pending the computer, your
opponent may get turned around to face you and BOOM, they get smacked
and then "FINAL JUSTICE". If he still faces the sonic boom try throwing
him. Second, Their Team Supers cover each other and the area. Shadow
usually gets exsposed when doing the shadow justice. Not with Cap
around. Cap's hyper charging star usually ends up in front and his
super last a little longer so there won't be any counters except from
the masters. When Cap is leading the double team, both take to the air
in different angles so no one can escape and counter attacks are rarely seen. Cap and Angent can outrun the shadow helper sonic boon and cartwheel on the other side. It is so cool. Though you don't have time for final justice, launching, throwing or ground comboing will do the trick.

-----------KNOW THE JOYSTICK DIFFERENCE---------
Remember what I said about Shadow's advance and stand guard attacks. Once more, advance is
attacking forward by holding the joystick back or forward while
attacking with the buttons. The buttons include the forward kick, the
roundhouse and the fierce button. They are slow but they give you that
extra reach when you need it. Stand guard attacks are his normal
attacks and that's just pressing the buttons without moving the
joystick. These are really fast for regular standing combos, fast
recovery and the fierce and roundhouse can be linked to a super. Don't
forget or you may end up losing 50 cents.

Ok ok, now that I'm done boasting about Shadow. Let's get on to how to
stop this phantom. There are not that many options so it's really up
to your cunning and skill.

-----------HOW LOW CAN YOU GO--------------
Go for the feet and launch
this casper for your air combo. He has a long leg for the forward kick
so choose your attacks wisely.

----------STAY OUT OF THE AIR----------
Hey, need I say more?
Wolverine and Chun Li don't stand a chance against the shadow Kick.

---------THROWING AWAY THE TRASH----------
Throw when you can but
fairly. You prove nothing more than winning a game by playing like a
10 year old and then fighting someone who will kill you. But be
carefull, Shadow will land on his feet almost instantly when he is
slammed so there's a chance he will throw you back. I do it all the
time. You were worn so be prepared.

---------WHEN THERE'S A CHING, THERE'S A CHANCE------
Shadow's eye gleam will have him hanging for a split second before his super so if
you are close to him and he does his super, take a chance and hit him
anyway. You have a good chance of connecting.

---------DON'T WALK UNDER HIM--------------
If you play against someone
who knows how to play shadow, don't walk under him while they are
jumping. If they see you walking under them, they will pull off the
air shadow slice and nail you before you get to the other side.

--------CHARACTERS FACING AGAINST SHADOW--------
THE SHOKOTAN FAMILY- Fireball shadow when open or in mid range. Watch out for sonic break.
Dragon uppercut with jab instead of launching to cover your ass against
the shadow slice.
ZANGIEF- Time your attacks and use fierce to counter
a sonic boom. Spinning pile drive shadow in the air and on ground.
Use lariet to counter shadow slice. Try that leaping air throw move to
change up tactics. Avoid jumpkicking at him unless to fake him out.
BISON- Use teleport often when he throws sonic boom. use your psycho
field to distract shadow while you are attacking with fireballs or
teleporting. Launch often to keep him from using shadow kick.
DAHALSIM- Good matchup. Reminds me of classic guile vs. dhalsim.
Fireball when shadow sonic booms and use either fierce or roundhouse to
keep him on his toes. Use your low kick attacks to slide into him as
he's jumping towards you. Make sure you time those slides so at least
you are on the other side of him or he misses his kick/punch cuz you
are too low. Once that happens, throw or yoga nuggie him.
SAKURA- Use your punches while he's on the ground and use your middle kick button
or super upward fireball when he jumps at you. Your roundhouse has
range so use it well and chain up your running uppercut with the middle
punch button. Hurricane kick with roundhouse when you see sonic booms
so you will fly over them.
Chun Li- Stay grounded and use your speed to attack the feet. Use your teammates often and change up tactics by using her flip kick and neck breaker.
DAN- Use that middle foot button and fireball combo to whittle away his energy and throw when you can. Keep him grounded using gale kicks. Take to the skies when he does and
air throw or combo starting with jab.
CYCLOPS- Keep your distance. Your fighting moves are no match for shadow. Optic blast with jab and strong punch buttons take to the air only when he does. Use the double
jump and your supers often.
SPIDERMAN- You can jump at him but be prepared to block shadow kick. Use your speed to attack his feet and launch him. Web throw works well and use maximum spider to fake out
shadow and get him to shadow kick. You'll go through the energy blades
once he's in the air.
WOLVERINE- Same as spider man but you can use fatal claw to counter shadow kick but not the shadow justice. Stay patient. Shadow will beat you if you use the same old tired techniques everyone else uses. I should know, I have a weasel stamp for every
wolverine I slayed with shadow. Ahhhh life is good.
CAPTAIN AMERICA- Use that fierce button to smear shadow with your shield. Cartwheel to
get by those sonic booms with shadow right behind them. Double jump
often and sheid slash with jab to keep him grounded or make him jump
then when he does, use jab stars and stripes. Use strong punch to
launch him and use forward kick when he's jumps to far away for a
launch.
S. GORATH- Mystic stare him down when he sonic booms. Use the
standing fierce to zap him. Don't use standing roundhouse unless he's
in the air or you can hit him. Shadow is fast enough to avoid those
multi hits and he'll just super you while you're recovering. Dash
forward to run under the sonic boom and strike him with crouching
forward kick.
HULK- Stay alert to his dashes and use jab to pull up ground. this is a good way to cancel out your slowness when using the medium and hard punch and kick buttons. Avoid using gamma crush unless you know you'll hit. If shadow follows a sonic boom, take the sonic
hit and use standing fierce. They won't expect you to take the hit and
they will hurt for it. Launch when you can.
BLACKHEART- Use them damn critters cuz they will give shadow a hard time. Avoid using inferno unless shadow is on the other side of the screen. Stick to dark
thunder. Avoid heart of darkness unless you know you have them. Shadow will just use shadow kick or shadow justice if he blocks. Use air roundhouse to send the critters on shadow. The shadow kick can't penetrate the lynch mob...but the shadow just will so be careful.
OMEGA RED- Take to the air when you see shadow ducking for a shadow
kick, then coil grab him from afar. Use forward ducking roundhouse to
strike shadow when he tries to retreat for a sonic boom. Use your
super often and try not to use the smasher unless shadow is in the
air. Standing fierce will catch shadow if he is following a sonic
boom.

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We'll keep you updated on more tricks and tips.

Migs here! Check out the main Shadow page here to learn the move commands and combos!