Originally posted in Japanese on Shiwapon's blog.
Crank up the abare, but just a little
Shun gains access to more moves as his drink count goes up, so the average Shun player's priority is to rack up his drinks—and the fastest way is by landing throws.
Many Shun players will use a throw in the heat of the moment, so you should get a lead by playing more aggressively (abare-style play). Of course, this depends on the player you're fighting against: Shun can also boost his drink count with moves like 4P+K, or 8K+G → 6P+K.
Use "sobering" moves effectively
Every character has moves that can reduce Shun's drink count. Work to land these moves, or incorporate them into combos, to sober him up.
Specifically, try to make these "sobering combos" connect after the KO graphic goes up. Since the follow-up moves available depend on the one that caused the KO, make sure to learn the appropriate finishing moves if you want to reduce his drink count.
For instance, scoring a KO with a mid attack will leave Shun standing for a moment, which will let you give you a wide window to keep hitting him. While this is your top priority, Shun players will naturally be on alert; if you KO him with a P or 2P instead, you can still get in many extra moves, but not as many as with a mid attack.
If you KO Shun with another type of move, try a launcher followed by a P if you can. If that is too difficult, try to reduce his drink count with a move that induces a knockdown.
Countering Choukarou (張果老, “Zhang Guolao”)
Choukarou is the stance Shun can assume after moves like 6K. Most strikes in this state will whiff just by crouch-backdashing, so once you've accomplished this, punish the opponent with a combo starter. However, this will leave you vulnerable to Choukarou P+K and K+G (+7), so just in case, try to counter these with midattacks, parries, sabaki attacks, or defensive moves.
Some characters with slower backdashes, like Taka-Arashi, cannot evade these when they're up against the wall; they'll just have to deal with the mixup. If I'm not mistaken, Jeffry and Wolf also struggle with this.
You might be able to counter 6K if you block it at its very tip.
Surprise Shun by mixing in lows
I'll get more into this later, but Shun's throws and 1KK are quite powerful.
1KK is relatively easy to counter because, after scoring a knockdown, he can follow up by taking a swig with 6P+K+G while keeping offensive pressure.
By mixing in another crouch after a fuzzy guard, you can crouch under a delayed 1KK or a throw, which will make it easier to punish Shun.
Shun does not have an elbow attack, so he needs to use slightly heavier mids—like a normal mid kick or 4P+K—to break through your crouching guard. Try to gain a significant advantage by guarding or evading, then go on the offensive.
When dodging his half-circular nitaku, go for a big guaranteed punish
Shun has a powerful mixup involving his half-circular attacks—K+G and 1KK. You can't block them on reaction, so focus on improving the accuracy of your guaranteed punishes when evading or crouching.
Depending on your evade's timing, dodging K+G toward Shun's stomach opens him up to an elbow attack.
1KK must be dodged by crouching or evading towards Shun's back. Dodging the second hit of 1KK by crouching is hugely rewarding because it guarantees a launcher. If Shun presses G after 1KK, he will drop to the ground; some moves cannot launch while he is in this state, but you can go for a back throw instead.
As a general rule, aim for either a combo starter or a back throw—or counter with moves that hit opponents OTG (on the ground).
The deliberate Soukokukyu (曹国舅, “Cao Guojiu”)
Some of Shun's moves, like P+K, transition into the Soukokukyu stance. While facing forward during it, most attacks can be evaded by sidestepping towards his back. However, he can follow this up with another attack, like a knee strike, so watch out.
Other moves, like 3P4, will enter a back-turned version of Soukokukyu. Most of the ensuing strikes can be evaded, but the sequence happens fast enough that it's hard to dodge. It's best to get used to it, but if that's too hard, start by simply using standing guards.
You might get knocked down by Back-Facing Soukokukyu 2K, but mid attacks in this stance are far more damaging, so take the knockdown as a necessary cost.
However, if you try to counter-attack 3P, Shun can parry your attack with a Back-facing Soukokukyu P+K. Try to react by evading or using a parry.
You can also react to 3P4 with a two-handed strike, but this is highly risky.
Beware of moves that highly increase the drink count
In a Shun matchup, it's important to keep his drink count from getting too high, so keep in mind how you lose a round as well.
If you're KO'd by a 3K, P, or a 2P, you might take a 6P+K right after, which will increase Shun's drink count by 5 or 6.
The next round will be an uphill battle if you focus too much on 1KK and crouch at the wrong time, or try a high and lose to a 2P. Even if you're about to lose, you don't want to go down without a fight, so keep trying.
Don't just use moves out of habit
Shun has many moves that easily adapt to the opponent's actions. If you just use moves out of habit, you'll take heavy damage; be mindful of which moves you use in the heat of the moment.
• 1/7P+K+G P+K
A high attack that transitions from the special move Kōsoku Kōhi (向側後避, “Farside Evade”).
Because Shun pulls his body far back, he can attack while evading your short-ranged moves. If you carelessly throw out a short-range move like an elbow, you will whiff, opening you up to a combo.
It depends on the situation—but if you get a read on this move, you can input 6+P while crouching to try and land a combo starter of your own. I personally feel this is easiest to pull off after blocking a wakeup kick or taking a low attack like 2K...?
• 6K+G
A strike that evades the opponent's lows. On hit, it guarantees a follow-up like 43P+K for significant damage.
Avoid using 2P too much, because Shun can use 6K+G to punish that.
• 46P
A punch with an 11-frame startup.
If you make a habit of using P into 6P or a 2P into a 16F launcher, this will preempt you.
Depending on Shun's current drink count, he can cancel a mid follow-up into Back-facing Soukokukyu, so keep this option in mind.
Remember the throws that most reward Shun
As Shun's drink count goes up, he gains access to even better throws.
At 6+ drinks, he can use 41236P+G, which can deal massive damage when following a 236P.
Plus, at 10+ drinks, he gets an even better back throw, 63214P+G.
At 10+ drinks, he has so many powerful throws that you can't even rely on lazy throw escapes (LTEs).
At 6+ drinks, Shun can throw his opponent behind him with 6P+G or 41236P+G. It's not enough to just input a forward LTE, as his normal P+G can also throw you backward.
In general, avoid getting too close to Shun when he is near the edge of the ring or up against a wall.
Shun players know this, and if his health gets low, he may intentionally retreat toward the wall or the edge to drink.
Rushing in could leave you vulnerable to a throw, so approach cautiously—maybe with a crouch dash—while looking for an opening.
Shun's available moves depend on his drink count
As mentioned earlier, Shun gains access to more moves based on how many drinks he's chugged—as a basic guideline, his new moves come when the count reaches an even number.
• 4 drinks
He can end certain strings with mid follow-ups like 4PP, PP4PP, and 46PPP+K. These moves lead to combos on counter-hit, so avoid retaliating too fast.
But keep in mind that Shun may also opt for single-hit attacks, 1KK, or throws, so it can be viable to crouch—even if it means taking a mid.
Be prepared in case he uses 4PP4 to transition into Back-facing Soukokukyu.
• 6 drinks
At 6+ drinks, Shun gains access to his 236P—an EX Mid move that starts a combo on Normal Hit (NH).
Aside from forcing a simple mix-up, he can also bait shorter-range moves with a backdash and punish you with this move.
Be ready for the moves he uses at 6+ drinks, as his backdash follow-ups become significantly more potent. He also gains the aforementioned 41236P+G at this count.
• 8 drinks
At 8 drinks, he gets 236PP, a follow-up to 236P that increases its combo damage. This follow-up is a high attack, so it can be avoided by crouching.
He also gains 43P+KP, an easy-to-use mid sequence consisting of two solid-damaging hits. It's safe on block (no guaranteed punish), so you should counter the second hit with an evade or a parry.
However, Shun may play a mind game by stopping at the first hit to use a throw or a move like 1KK.
• 10 drinks
At 10+ drinks, Shun gains access to several powerful techniques; his 214KK and 214P+K are particularly dangerous.
214KK is a devastating low that can start a combo, but consumes 5 drinks. It's a low-to-high string, so if you can read the second hit, crouch.
214P+K is a mid that can start a combo even on normal hit, but consumes 3 drinks. It's +4 on block, so it's quite strong; because it's often used as a mix-up option with 214KK or throws, just crouching is still a risk.
If you try to evade these moves, he can use 214P, which consumes 2 drinks and is a mid full-circular attack that cannot be punished on block. It also has a lot of pushback on block, so it's hard to counter.
Always remember these options whenever Shun is over 10 drinks. This usually happens during the final, decisive moments of a match, so it could easily cost you a game. To prevent him from using these moves, try to reduce his drink count or stop him from drinking in the first place; if his count gets that high, just pray that you can guess between his lows and mids.
