So as promised, here is your Tips and Tricks Guide to General Shao in Mortal Kombat 1! Rest assured you will not find a more comprehensive guide on this character anywhere as we go over everything you need to know! Basics, Advanced Concepts, and all points in between, its time to learn what The General is all about! Timestamps provided for your ease of use so skip around to whatever makes sense to you, leave a like if you could, and otherwise enjoy the video and hope it helps!
Motaro is so obviously the better choice than kung lao for shao. Motaro is not a great kameo but he is literally made for shao. Their synergy is just crazy. Kung Lao would be the second pick
This is now officially the single longest character guide I have ever made in the 7 years I have done this, edging out the GG Strive Potemkin character guide. The mega guides are the culmination of a mountain of effort on my behalf so if you wanna leave a like, it sincerely and truly helps out. More MK1 guides in time, although expect any other character ones in the near future to be the shorter form "starter guides" than another hour plus monster lol.
Thank you for taking the time to make this content mate. Especially on YT, for free. This is actually crazy. People would pay actual money for this quality content.
At first I simply liked your videos, then sometime over the past year or so I’ve come to love them. You been killing it keeping up with the content (luckily we been blessed to have content like this.) Also, the overall quality, along with consistency, of your videos just have been getting better and better. You really are looking at out for the community as a content creator and as a fan, and that passion is showing through brightly. Thank you for all your hardwork brotha!
This guide is by far the most comprehensive and best guide for shao I have seen, will be very useful for players new to the character. a few things to note, his weaknesses are really apparent against good players, the risks in neutral are extreme, most strings have gaps, that can not only be armoured, but also launched by certain kameo reversals, for example the gap in 222 can be punished by lao reversal spin, as can the f122 gap, and b12. On knockdown he really struggles to pressure the opponent due to his lack of a good mid, its almost as if he is at disadvantage after a knockdown, its very easy to be punished after delay wake up, wake up buttons or wake up jump etc (these issues are exclusively in axe stance) no axe is great and is much less risky, despite also having better mix, which I find strange, I have actually had the most success playing Goro, and forcing players to block the overhead slam into plus frames with Goro, then playing in no axe, I believe s4 into overhead slam also has no gap, so you can guarantee no axe into plus frames with Goro, I guess the same idea could apply with Cyrax, lao is also able to cover a lot of weaknesses as shown in the video.
Your guides make tier lists feel less relevant and make every character you cover look so much fun. You are an absolute diamond in this community, no amount of comments will show how influential you are on thousands of players enjoyment in fighting games. Thank you for every guide, time to smash people with an axe.
Dude you seriously might be my favorite creator on this entire playform. All of this amazing content made of of your love for the community. Nobody does it like Rooflemonger
Im coming back to this video now that MK1 is a tab bit more playable. Shao is a BEAST of character. Very interesting and fun. Thanks for making this and being so clear and well spoken.
At first i didn't want to watch this hour long video, but the way you explained it! i could understand this better than other shao guides that are shorter. thank you!
Man the amount of detail you go into has shown me things I never even thought of. Thank you for doing these videos. Always genuinely excited seeing a new video from you.
Thanks for this! I've been having so much fun with him. Often you can win on mix ups alone, no big combos. Then you get into the head games with the mix ups. Sometimes I'll do that low-overhead 2 hitter over and over after messing with them and they just take it. Even crazier with Kung Lao's hat.
Lets go! You really are the goat 🐐 The guide I've been waiting ever since launch. Actually scratch that, ever since the trailer reveal. Thank you so much!
Just hit grandmaster and got that hooded outfit for him. Think I’m gonna have to try him out now. He reminds me of DBFZ Cooler in how they bully neutral. Appreciate the write up as always Roofle, your guides have helped me for years now to get some insight on character depth 🤜🏾
thanks for this. I'm with my mom in the hospital right now as she is struggling to regain the use of her limbs as was temporarily paralyzed due to a hematoma on her spine. She was in hospice on the 4th but now she can talk and move her shoulders and neck and feel stuff on her right side. I need... a lot good content to watch and I figured when your Shao video came out it was going to a big-boy video cuz we do big-boy stuff here. So... glad you didn't disappoint and went in for nearly 80 min on this'un. I prolly am not going to get MK1 still but I didn't buy Strive and those vids got me thru traffic finishing out grad school. I'm saying in the rooflemonger voice, "Now go out and rehab your mother's health."
Thank you so much for this. I subscribed for learning MKX years ago and just couldn't get good at it. But you always made the content to improve enjoyable. I am improving day by day and gravitated to Shao. Really appreciate such a comprehensive guide on this flawed but powerful character. Thank you.
Thank you so much for this. Shao is such a cool character, but you probably could have gotten more likes with a Baraka guide. We appreciate your "i like the big guys" attitude ❤
When I make the really big guides you better believe views isn't the montivator lol, cause they almost always are horrible return on investments for the time they take to make. I do it cause I like the character and wanna spread the knowledge
Yeah, I do! I'm a long time fan and we got the same taste in characters ❤ you made my brolly, astaroth, potemkin and zangief work for me at a decent (well decent for me) level. Thank you for that
I'm a simple man. I see a big, slow weapon, I'm interested. And I love the weight that Shao's axe has in 1. In 11, his hammer often felt weirdly light? But this axe, there is some big heft to it. I especially love the ground quake - projectiles that move along the ground are just things I always love, so seeing it in his moveset makes me happy.
@@LeCaleb Yeah! Shao’s a lot of fun and his combos feel great to land. He does have to work a little bit harder than some other characters, but he’s really strong if you can condition your opponents.
Man this was incredibly helpful! You make some of the most comprehensive guides out there in the FGC. THANK YOU for all your effort and hard work, we all really do appreciate it. Recording this at 4 AM, you're a MADMAN. Also wanted to ask a good resource for Shao's bread and butter combos or if you had them listed anywhere?
no dedicated combo vid right now, too time constrained and I gotta pick and choose. That said a lot of the core BnB's appear in this video at one point or another.
Another note to get more damage out of unarmed combos is to get a feeling when the axe will come back. A good setup to practice is the 12df4, b32, b32, 2db3 into oki b3db3, b32, axe mode 22exbd3 for combo extension or oki f2, 2db3 axe mode 22exdb3. Over 40 percent on low starter around 37 with overhead if you properly account for the axe coming back mid combo
This guide helped me a ton! Made shao my second after watching your vid and have used a combination of your strategy and VGY's to the point where I've beaten several elder gods with shao. He's so fun. PS Ive recently discovered a tip to help land the back 3-2 unarmed during a juggle. You want to press the button as soon as the opponent starts falling down. I was inconsistent with the timing before but once I noticed this cue, I hit it every time
I’ve yet to put any of this to practice but I feel, with how comprehensive and in depth you were, that I can play this character way more efficiently so thank you for that and taking the time to making this kind of content.
THANK YOU SO GOD DAMM MUCH. I love general khan to death and needed a good guide, BUT I WASNT EXPECTING ONE THIS GOOD FRON ONE OF MY FAVORITE FGC CREATORS. Thank you for the high quality content
Awesome vid, I’m a Shao main and this is gunna bring me up a notch! I gotta utilize unarmed stance more for the plus frame pressure, I always end with command grab right back into ax.
Bruh amazing work on the videos. Also, shao bruh, i feel is underrated. When i face a good shao, it's hard to close in on the dude. So much safe moves it's just brutal
Really appreciative of this extremely comprehensive shao guide. I pixies him up by chance in the last week and have made good progress on learning but this guide will really allow me to hit that next level. Thank you for this content. 👌
I really enjoy your big character content. I get the sense you look for the Broly in every game and I do as well. You definitely provide the content I'm looking for. You sound happier when you make guides for heavyweight characters. I get that.
How do you consistently get the follow up jump 2 after the kung lao tp from the forward 2 like at 1:07:21 , i swear i can land it like 2-3 out of 10 times
The axe quake reminds me of playing Sheeva back in MK9. Her unblock-able ground stomp was really slow, but sometimes I would catch people by meter burning it for two stomps.
Just wanted to note that you can link 1 2 into 2 2 without the need of any assists. The timing is a tad bit strict, but honestly its not so bad. Other than that, great guide. Shao is my boy
Thank you for putting all your effort into this General Shao guide! I'll definite come back to this, once I decide to get this game and try him out. ^u^
@@RooflemongerHave a great time man!! Look forward to your return. Mk1 is my first fighter in over a decade and your vids have helped me drastically. Thanks for all you do!
Ive been waiting for this roofle! I hadnt considered b3 as faster than b1, might serve me better when being low profiled up close. That has been shutting me down at every opportunity.
This is really great man super love the info. I am a Demi god shao main and love him to death. I usually use kung loa or Serena. I have found that having the. Blades with Serena helps quite a bit but you can’t just spam them. I actually play him as a punish semi zoner and go in when I see a chance. Makes people made sometimes but man other characters have so much going for them you gots to do what you gots to do lol. I am hoping to at least hit god so I can got that axe but the real money one is just so lit. Sorry for rambling on but thank you so much for making this and showing off my favorite mk1 character.
From a beginners take . Your tutorials . And videos are amazing to say the least. Can I suggest . Even the first combo u did in combo theory is hard for people wanting to learn these games. . Can u do a vid to break down every part in the combo specifically for Shao obviously? Like after u land the dunk what inputs for knee and to keep juggling
This is an amazing in depth guide, however there are a couole of things I want to point out, if you want to main General Shao then this is also essential... First in the video it's mentioned that the buff is pretty good but I want to emphasis how essential that buff actually is, Shao's damage can be buffed up from 5% to even 15% depending on how you extend your combos, you can actually reach combos between 40% to 55%. Second and very important, the Back1 hit that he mentioned being the second best in the game but unfortunately only ends in an overhead can sctually be cancelled by DownBack3 or by a cameo, I think its the best neutral combo starter in the game because you can start continue the combo with DownBack3 or with kameos.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
So as promised, here is your Tips and Tricks Guide to General Shao in Mortal Kombat 1! Rest assured you will not find a more comprehensive guide on this character anywhere as we go over everything you need to know! Basics, Advanced Concepts, and all points in between, its time to learn what The General is all about! Timestamps provided for your ease of use so skip around to whatever makes sense to you, leave a like if you could, and otherwise enjoy the video and hope it helps!
Reiko plz
Liu Kang and Reptile!
Motaro is so obviously the better choice than kung lao for shao. Motaro is not a great kameo but he is literally made for shao. Their synergy is just crazy. Kung Lao would be the second pick
Incredible guide. Thank your from a Shao main
@@youngmetro3times849low hat is better then pretty much anything else motaro can offer, motaro is cool just not much reason to use him
This is now officially the single longest character guide I have ever made in the 7 years I have done this, edging out the GG Strive Potemkin character guide. The mega guides are the culmination of a mountain of effort on my behalf so if you wanna leave a like, it sincerely and truly helps out. More MK1 guides in time, although expect any other character ones in the near future to be the shorter form "starter guides" than another hour plus monster lol.
8:05 would it been so wrong to give him an ax throw, and the ax comes back, or teleports back to the hand
Too bad i can't leave 50 likes, thanks man.
Man I so appreciate the hard work usually we align with our character picks so this is super useful as always to me you’re the goat man
Helpful man, I was thinking about how to close some of the gaps I have with Shao and this gave me some useful tips
My main for Strive and MK1 both have the longest videos. Time to make a cup of tea, settle down and learn.
Thank you for taking the time to make this content mate. Especially on YT, for free. This is actually crazy. People would pay actual money for this quality content.
Are you a bot? You heard of ad revenue?
I pay premium
I wouldn’t pay only a useless fool would pay
At first I simply liked your videos, then sometime over the past year or so I’ve come to love them. You been killing it keeping up with the content (luckily we been blessed to have content like this.) Also, the overall quality, along with consistency, of your videos just have been getting better and better. You really are looking at out for the community as a content creator and as a fan, and that passion is showing through brightly. Thank you for all your hardwork brotha!
Bless up
Thank you very much for the kind words and support!
I know these specific long form videos don’t pull in the most views but they’re my favorite from you. Love you haven’t stopped doing them.
A small contribution to my man's massive efforts! Thank you Roof!
Thank you very much for the support
This guide is by far the most comprehensive and best guide for shao I have seen, will be very useful for players new to the character. a few things to note, his weaknesses are really apparent against good players, the risks in neutral are extreme, most strings have gaps, that can not only be armoured, but also launched by certain kameo reversals, for example the gap in 222 can be punished by lao reversal spin, as can the f122 gap, and b12. On knockdown he really struggles to pressure the opponent due to his lack of a good mid, its almost as if he is at disadvantage after a knockdown, its very easy to be punished after delay wake up, wake up buttons or wake up jump etc (these issues are exclusively in axe stance) no axe is great and is much less risky, despite also having better mix, which I find strange, I have actually had the most success playing Goro, and forcing players to block the overhead slam into plus frames with Goro, then playing in no axe, I believe s4 into overhead slam also has no gap, so you can guarantee no axe into plus frames with Goro, I guess the same idea could apply with Cyrax, lao is also able to cover a lot of weaknesses as shown in the video.
Bless you for this MU data.
Your guides make tier lists feel less relevant and make every character you cover look so much fun. You are an absolute diamond in this community, no amount of comments will show how influential you are on thousands of players enjoyment in fighting games. Thank you for every guide, time to smash people with an axe.
🙏
Dude you seriously might be my favorite creator on this entire playform. All of this amazing content made of of your love for the community. Nobody does it like Rooflemonger
🙏
You are way better at this style of video and more informative than most pro players please continue making guides!!
Im coming back to this video now that MK1 is a tab bit more playable. Shao is a BEAST of character. Very interesting and fun. Thanks for making this and being so clear and well spoken.
Appreciate the effort you put into these!
Thank you very much for the support!
You are objectively the best FGC creator, not even an MK fan but I respect your work
BEST FG channel period. with very useful information and content. on practically every popular Fighting game played.
At first i didn't want to watch this hour long video, but the way you explained it! i could understand this better than other shao guides that are shorter. thank you!
Man the amount of detail you go into has shown me things I never even thought of. Thank you for doing these videos. Always genuinely excited seeing a new video from you.
Finally some in depth Shao content! Don't see this stuff a lot for the lower tier characters so I'm super happy you did it for my main!
Thanks for this! I've been having so much fun with him. Often you can win on mix ups alone, no big combos. Then you get into the head games with the mix ups. Sometimes I'll do that low-overhead 2 hitter over and over after messing with them and they just take it. Even crazier with Kung Lao's hat.
Got mk1 today and immediately searched up your guides. You are the go to guy for all things FGC dude
Lets go! You really are the goat 🐐 The guide I've been waiting ever since launch. Actually scratch that, ever since the trailer reveal. Thank you so much!
Just hit grandmaster and got that hooded outfit for him. Think I’m gonna have to try him out now. He reminds me of DBFZ Cooler in how they bully neutral.
Appreciate the write up as always Roofle, your guides have helped me for years now to get some insight on character depth 🤜🏾
Dude all of your content is incredible - you dropped this RIGHT as i started to learn Shao
thanks for this. I'm with my mom in the hospital right now as she is struggling to regain the use of her limbs as was temporarily paralyzed due to a hematoma on her spine. She was in hospice on the 4th but now she can talk and move her shoulders and neck and feel stuff on her right side. I need... a lot good content to watch and I figured when your Shao video came out it was going to a big-boy video cuz we do big-boy stuff here. So... glad you didn't disappoint and went in for nearly 80 min on this'un. I prolly am not going to get MK1 still but I didn't buy Strive and those vids got me thru traffic finishing out grad school.
I'm saying in the rooflemonger voice, "Now go out and rehab your mother's health."
thats rough, hope everything can work out the best it can for you
I've implemented these strategies over the past week and omg this video is an absolute godsend for shao players
Thank you for taking time out of your day to do these, i can't wait to see what you do for shang tsung.
Thank you so much for this. I subscribed for learning MKX years ago and just couldn't get good at it. But you always made the content to improve enjoyable. I am improving day by day and gravitated to Shao. Really appreciate such a comprehensive guide on this flawed but powerful character. Thank you.
I love playing Shao in this game. Thank you so much for making such an in-depth guide🙏
The time you put into this guide for ONE CHARACTER is incredible!
Holy crap I already see how much effort it took to make this, thank you!
11/10! I was just thinking about Shao and your walkthrough of him was super informative in all of the right ways!
I very much like general shao. I find his punches to feel really good when you can a nice 3 piece+ combo or just whack them around with the axes
Thank you so much for this. Shao is such a cool character, but you probably could have gotten more likes with a Baraka guide. We appreciate your "i like the big guys" attitude ❤
When I make the really big guides you better believe views isn't the montivator lol, cause they almost always are horrible return on investments for the time they take to make. I do it cause I like the character and wanna spread the knowledge
Yeah, I do! I'm a long time fan and we got the same taste in characters ❤ you made my brolly, astaroth, potemkin and zangief work for me at a decent (well decent for me) level. Thank you for that
I'm a simple man. I see a big, slow weapon, I'm interested. And I love the weight that Shao's axe has in 1.
In 11, his hammer often felt weirdly light? But this axe, there is some big heft to it. I especially love the ground quake - projectiles that move along the ground are just things I always love, so seeing it in his moveset makes me happy.
I think this might be the turning point for me to pick up General Shao. Thank you as always for the amazing content Roofle!
They did a great job designing his kit and character. He’s very intimidating when and smothering when you play a good Shao
I’ve been waiting for this for while! So excited to check this out and get my General Shao to the next level!
Should I play shao
@@LeCaleb Yeah! Shao’s a lot of fun and his combos feel great to land. He does have to work a little bit harder than some other characters, but he’s really strong if you can condition your opponents.
Bro you’re a real one. I just picked up Shao a few days ago.
Man this was incredibly helpful! You make some of the most comprehensive guides out there in the FGC. THANK YOU for all your effort and hard work, we all really do appreciate it. Recording this at 4 AM, you're a MADMAN. Also wanted to ask a good resource for Shao's bread and butter combos or if you had them listed anywhere?
no dedicated combo vid right now, too time constrained and I gotta pick and choose. That said a lot of the core BnB's appear in this video at one point or another.
Bloody hell, nice one dude. When I think of a guide, this is what I expect. GG
Another note to get more damage out of unarmed combos is to get a feeling when the axe will come back. A good setup to practice is the 12df4, b32, b32, 2db3 into oki b3db3, b32, axe mode 22exbd3 for combo extension or oki f2, 2db3 axe mode 22exdb3. Over 40 percent on low starter around 37 with overhead if you properly account for the axe coming back mid combo
Thanks for the Shao guide! I'm glacialy excited 😆
This guide helped me a ton! Made shao my second after watching your vid and have used a combination of your strategy and VGY's to the point where I've beaten several elder gods with shao. He's so fun.
PS Ive recently discovered a tip to help land the back 3-2 unarmed during a juggle. You want to press the button as soon as the opponent starts falling down. I was inconsistent with the timing before but once I noticed this cue, I hit it every time
I’ve yet to put any of this to practice but I feel, with how comprehensive and in depth you were, that I can play this character way more efficiently so thank you for that and taking the time to making this kind of content.
THANK YOU SO GOD DAMM MUCH. I love general khan to death and needed a good guide, BUT I WASNT EXPECTING ONE THIS GOOD FRON ONE OF MY FAVORITE FGC CREATORS. Thank you for the high quality content
Finally! My main! This my favorite version of him!
Awesome vid, I’m a Shao main and this is gunna bring me up a notch! I gotta utilize unarmed stance more for the plus frame pressure, I always end with command grab right back into ax.
Love this man. I can't wait to try and apply what you've shared! Would love to see more of these. Thanks
best mk content out there my man. good job
I cant believe this is invaluable content is free and a halloween fatality is 12 bucks. Ty man
I been waiting for this guide from you since day one.
Thanks man, you are the ultimate sensei!
Bruh amazing work on the videos. Also, shao bruh, i feel is underrated. When i face a good shao, it's hard to close in on the dude. So much safe moves it's just brutal
Really appreciative of this extremely comprehensive shao guide. I pixies him up by chance in the last week and have made good progress on learning but this guide will really allow me to hit that next level. Thank you for this content. 👌
I really can’t thank you enough for making these character guides. You’ve kinda become my fighting game Virgil.
Shao feels so damn fun to bounce people around with
I really enjoy your big character content. I get the sense you look for the Broly in every game and I do as well. You definitely provide the content I'm looking for. You sound happier when you make guides for heavyweight characters. I get that.
Great guide my man- i watched the whole thing!
I'm trying to master Shao and this is like gold. Appreciate this greatly
Thank you so much. You are the best and this video is amazing and exactly what I was looking for. Keep up the great work
Woooooowwww.. I thought I knew everything about Shao Khan as 90% win rate my Main since Mk11.. But maaaannn this is gonna make me overpowered 😍
General Lao is the most fun duo I have found in this game they are so cool I love low hat
LETS GOOO BEEN WAITING ON THIS
My GF calls your videos fighting game ASMR 😂, she's kinda not wrong. Great stuff dude!
Shao is my main, only character I know. This def helped
An hour?
Holy!
lt's a movie.
I like big characters very much
@@Rooflemonger Hope you consider Kenshi a big one as well then!
How do you consistently get the follow up jump 2 after the kung lao tp from the forward 2 like at 1:07:21 , i swear i can land it like 2-3 out of 10 times
Big Shao getting the big guide treatment he deserves.
absolute legend stuff one hour guide for the big boy i'm learning him myself so this one will help me for sure thanks
This guide was exactly what I needed. Good work, my guy. Much appreciated 💪🏾
Wow.. This is insane.. I've been waiting for this guide to drop.. Didn't expect it to be this comprehensive.. Love it ❤
The axe quake reminds me of playing Sheeva back in MK9. Her unblock-able ground stomp was really slow, but sometimes I would catch people
by meter burning it for two stomps.
Been waiting for big axe man
Keep on pumping vids out dude. Your very good at explaining. Thank you
The guide for kenshi gonna be insane I started playing general Shao after this video
more guides in time, but no idea who is next
Awesome videos, as always. I would love to see Kitana next ❤️🙌
Just wanted to note that you can link 1 2 into 2 2 without the need of any assists. The timing is a tad bit strict, but honestly its not so bad. Other than that, great guide. Shao is my boy
Thank you for putting all your effort into this General Shao guide! I'll definite come back to this, once I decide to get this game and try him out. ^u^
Great vid as always! Look forward to your mk1 content each day!!!
probably be a few days before the next video, traveling to quebec for Canada thanksgiving in an hour or so just as a heads up
@@RooflemongerHave a great time man!! Look forward to your return. Mk1 is my first fighter in over a decade and your vids have helped me drastically. Thanks for all you do!
Crazy job, very well done and understandable.
Congratz
It will help a ton
Thanks
These are great, hope to see one for Reptile soon!
this guide is crazy i have no words
Ive been waiting for this roofle! I hadnt considered b3 as faster than b1, might serve me better when being low profiled up close. That has been shutting me down at every opportunity.
Awesome guide, can't think of anything missing
I really appreciate the work you do. I hope you do more of these for MK1.
Thank you for all the great work that you put in!
Thank you for helping us beat the villain Liu Kang with the hero General Shao. Long live Outworld!!!
I LOVE how cage mansion sounds like a Doom level.
Just started learning Shao and this is exactly what I needed 😊
just a little reminder that Rooflemonger uploaded a video in movie length.
I learned a lot respectively too!
This is really great man super love the info. I am a Demi god shao main and love him to death. I usually use kung loa or Serena. I have found that having the. Blades with Serena helps quite a bit but you can’t just spam them. I actually play him as a punish semi zoner and go in when I see a chance. Makes people made sometimes but man other characters have so much going for them you gots to do what you gots to do lol. I am hoping to at least hit god so I can got that axe but the real money one is just so lit. Sorry for rambling on but thank you so much for making this and showing off my favorite mk1 character.
22:49 back 1 combos into down back 3 and its pretty solid
He may be a general now, but you’re still treating us to plenty of Kahn-tent!
I needed this mostly because I wasn’t sure how to fight him during his axe stance I would just up block
bro this is fuccin awesome. let’s go!!
Good job, my friend!
26:49 It being a mid seems insane when people try to start up blocking your jump ins.
As a Shao main this guide help me a lot! Random question, how do you got that axe from the video? Looks sick!
I think i might have gotten it from the shop? not sure
Well, time to get out some food and a notepad. Thanks, Rooflemonger!
Awooga! 1h Shao Kahn guide?
From a beginners take . Your tutorials . And videos are amazing to say the least. Can I suggest . Even the first combo u did in combo theory is hard for people wanting to learn these games. . Can u do a vid to break down every part in the combo specifically for Shao obviously? Like after u land the dunk what inputs for knee and to keep juggling
This is an amazing in depth guide, however there are a couole of things I want to point out, if you want to main General Shao then this is also essential... First in the video it's mentioned that the buff is pretty good but I want to emphasis how essential that buff actually is, Shao's damage can be buffed up from 5% to even 15% depending on how you extend your combos, you can actually reach combos between 40% to 55%.
Second and very important, the Back1 hit that he mentioned being the second best in the game but unfortunately only ends in an overhead can sctually be cancelled by DownBack3 or by a cameo, I think its the best neutral combo starter in the game because you can start continue the combo with DownBack3 or with kameos.