Shade

Class: Assassin

Rarity: Epic

Trio: Ghost Station with Gus and Chuck

Best skin: Street Shade

Mastery title: "Ghosted"

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Shade is a unique assassin that has the ability to go through any obstacle with his super, and a hypercharge that allows him to deal devastating damage with his main attack. However, he takes a lot of skill to pull off, and is very matchup and map dependent.

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Health: 3500 to 7000

Movement speed: Very Fast​​

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Trait: Charges super while enemies are close by.

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2nd Trait: Can walk over water.

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Main Attack: Haunted Hug

"Shade hugs its opponents with a wide embrace, accidentally dealing damage, and doing more damage to those caught in the center of the hug. It can also hug enemies through walls!"

Damage: 800 to 1600

Critical damage: 1600 to 3200

Range: Short

Reload Speed: Very Fast

Shade's main attack is very wide, dealing double damage in the center and going through walls. It also reloads incredibly fast, but has a very short range and a delay. Since it has a critical area, it is much better to aim rather than auto-aim, even though it has a short range. Thankfully, it isn't the only way to charge his super, as he can charge it passively from a longer distance with his trait.​

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Super: Incorporeal Form

"Shade leaves the physical world and can move directly through the environment. It also gains a movement speed boost."

Duration: 6 seconds

Range: Short

Shade's super is the main part of his kit, dashing him forward, giving him a speed boost, and allowing him to move through walls. Thankfully, his main attack still works due to it going through walls, and the super can be cycled very easily due to the dash and extra speed. Going inside of walls also makes Shade very hard for most brawlers to deal with, as they literally cannot hit him.

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Gadget 1: Longarms

"The next main attack has 50% longer range."

Cooldown: 15 seconds

This gadget is great for Shade, allowing for him to charge up his super much easier due to the increased range. It extends right up to his charging ring, and can often hit multiple enemies at a time, charging up his super even more. Since there isn't really any drawback to using it, spamming it off cooldown is very strong to charge up your super and deal more damage.

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Gadget 2: Jumpscare

"Shade spooks nearby enemies, slowing them for 4 seconds."

Cooldown: 9 seconds

This gadget is completely useless, as it has an incredibly short range, and Shade doesn't really need the slow. He often won't even be close enough to enemies to use this gadget, making it nearly impossible to get value out of unlike his first gadget.

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Star Power 1: Spooky Speedster

"Hitting opponents with the center of Shade's main attack gives a short movement speed."

This can be a decent star power for allowing Shade to catch up with his targets easier, however it doesn't really fix any of his weaknesses, and the speed boost isn't that useful since he already gets a solid speed boost with his super.

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Star Power 2: Hardened Hoodie

"Shade gets 30% damage reduction while in its Incorporeal Form."

This is an amazing star power for Shade that gets great value, as he gets damage reduction when he needs it most. A good shade will be in incorporeal form for a large part of the match, and this star power makes Shade much harder to kill, as he can hide in walls to block projectiles, and they deal less damage if they hit him.

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Hypercharge: The Frightener

"Shade's attacks during its Hypercharged Super all deal deal maximum damage, even if the enemy is not hugged in the center."

Charge rate: 2 and 1/2 supers

Speed buff: 25%

Damage buff: 25%

Shield buff: 5%

Shade has a completely broken hypercharge, as it charges extremely fast and has his attacks deal 4000 damage in a large radius. Combined with his Longarms gadget to hit multiple enemies, this hypercharge can single-handedly teamwipe against squishier brawlers and win the game, all while charging relatively fast and providing great stat boosts.

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Gear selection:

As an assassin, Shade's best build is shield and damage, as the extra HP and damage allows him to win more interactions whenever he goes in with his super. Gadget gear is also great for him to spam out Longarms even more, charging and cycling through supers more effectively.

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Best build: 

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Other good abilities to buy:

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Best Matchups:

Shade is amazing into brawlers that heavily struggle to hit him through walls, as he can simply bully them with his abilities. His best matchup by far is Sprout if he is able to approach him, as he is one of the only throwers that can't hit him inside walls, and his super is completely useless against Shade since he can simply walk right through it. Grom is also a great matchup for Shade for the same reasons, and Shade is also great against Mortis since his attacks literally cannot go through walls at all.

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Best Counters:

Shade is hard countered by tanks, as they have too much health for him to kill, and have numerous ways to attack him inside walls. Specifically, Jacky and Hank are his hardest counters, as they can both hit him inside walls, and Jacky can even pull him outside of walls to burst him down, while Hank has simply too much HP for Shade to burst through. Frank is also a hard counter, as he has the most health in the game, and can break down Shade's walls and easily stun him with his super.​

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Best Game Modes: 

Shade is a very map dependent brawler, as he is reliant on walls to charge and get value out of his super. Modes that favor to him are modes such as Brawl Ball, Gem Grab, and Hot Zone, as these maps often have a lot of normal walls and some unbreakable walls, allowing Shade to get a lot of value.

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Tips and Tricks:

• Cycling Shade's super is crucial to playing him. He is pretty bad brawler without his super, as his main attack is hard to use, so make use of your trait to get your first super. After that, make sure you either fully cycle or get close to fully cycling your super to cause as much pressure and chaos as possible.

• While in incorporeal form, try to weave in and out of walls. Hide in walls to block shots, and come out to deliver damage to the enemy.

• Shade's hypercharge combined with Longarms is incredibly overpowered, as it deals 4000 damage in a massive area.

• Make sure to use Longarms to charge your first super faster, as getting your first super is the hardest part of playing Shade.

• Try to constantly be healing your teammates with Berry in order to cycle through your supers and hypercharges throughout the match.

• Shade is often seen as a good counter to throwers as he can attack and go through walls, but be careful, as most throwers can actually hit Shade while he is inside a wall.

• You can use the dash with Shade's super to catch up to enemies easier.

• You should almost always manually aim Shade's attack, as you want the extra damage in the critical spot, and the delay makes auto-aim even worse. You should only auto-aim if the enemy is running directly away from you.

• Shade is an incredibly map and matchup dependent brawler, so make sure you are using him on the right maps against the right brawlers.

• With Shade's hypercharge, since it affects his main attack during his super, use your hypercharge after your super to not waste its duration.

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Overall ranking: A