Tekken 8 Shaheen Guide by Ghirlanda

Tekken 8 has already established itself as a top game, and we love to collaborate with the pro players for the character guides. Today, we have our third pro player guide, and everyone’s favorite dad gamer Ghirlanda will teach us how to play as Shaheen!

Overview

Shaheen is a very basic character. A jack of all trades, and master of none, if you will. He’s a great character to learn Tekken with, as he’s based on fundamentals. All knowledge you absorb while playing him will be transferable to any other character. He’s very honest, no gimmicks or any cheap stuff.

Best Buttons

df1 – his main poke tool.
d3 and d4 – additional poking tools.
b2 – tracks on his weakside.
4 – a decent magic 4, but like all magic 4s in Tekken 8, it’s been severely nerfed.
uf1, b1 – main Heat engagers.
db2,1 – good mid Heat engager.
b3+4 – good but linear Heat engager.
df2 – one of the best moves.
FC df4 – +1 but +4 if you enter the Snake stance.

Heat

Shaheen gets a lot stronger in Heat, his 50/50s are great, and even gains the ability to charge moves the only way to avoid which is ducking.

Punishers

2,3 – great 10-frame punisher that gives you lots of options.
snk df1.2 – great mid that removes the gray health.
f2,3 – decent damage, deals 36 at the wall. Doesn’t wallsplat.
4,1 – a 14-frame punish that leaves you close to the opponent.
df2 – a universal 15-frame launch punisher. Not bad, but go for the hopkick instead.
f,N,4 – nice damage but there are better options.
FC db1 – Shaheen has a good crouch game, and this is a nice punisher.
WS4 – a generic WS punisher.
WS3,3 – nice damage, wallsplats. Gives a tornado as well, keep it in mind.
WS2 – oftentimes the best thing you can do.
db2,1 – good option from afar if you can confirm it.
df3 – great range, also tracks.

Launchers

uf4
df2
WS2
uf3
CH b4
4,1
WS1

Offense

When he’s on offense, Shaheen can simply rush you down with jaba, df1, mids. His moves have good frames, and many of them launch on counterhits. Pressure your opponent reliably with the poke tools, and wait for your opening to either punish them or launch with Heat engagers. Don’t forget about his slide, but preferably only in Oki situations and not randomly.

Defense

He doesn’t have a lot of defensive tools, so you have to mainly rely on his armor moves and orbital to crush moves. This is where his basic gameplan comes into play – not having any defensive gimmicks, he teaches you ho block, sidestep and evade in the classic manner.

Combos

Launcher d2 41 f23 tornado db2df snk3
3d/f d/b ws1 41 f23 tornado fcdf2 ff3
D2 41 f23 tornado db2df snk3
41 f23 tornado db21
3df snk dbws1 f23 fcdf2 ff3

Wall combos

fcdf2 !w fb2 df41delayed 3
fcdf2 !w fb241b4
fcdf2 !w f23 df1b4

Heat combos

3d/f d/b ws1 41 f23 tornado fcdf2 heat burst db21ff b4
3d/f d/b ws1 41 f23 tornado fcdf2 db21ff d2

Rage combos

3d/f d/b ws1 41 f23 tornado fcdf2 RA

Conclusion

Shaheen is not a character that can rely on a single move or a gimmick to carry him – he’s basic, honest, and requires you to get better at fundamentals to perform well.