If Shuma can cover a lot of space with his normals he may be able to play pseudo keepaway with his normals. I can’t think of any other character that can do this in MvC3, all keepaway thus far has been special based from what I’ve seen. Then once he’s built meters from poking at you with his normal and such he can pop dat Chaos Dimension and work his way in. Just some very rudimentary theory fighter.
Sentinel and Amaterasu can play keepaway with their normals, I thought?
I don’t know if I’d say Shuma had many weaknesses per say in mvc2, so much that he just had practically no strengths. Pretty much everything Flashy said is accurate (though I’d like to know what makes him think Devitalization was good, not being a smart ass I’m honestly curious) Pre-mvc2 Shuma’s strengths were the long range on his pokes, and huge damage off of Chaos Dimension, but in mvc2 the field was larger, so his range was comparatively not as good and Chaos Dimension did a lot less damage and to my knowledge couldn’t be comboed out of like in previous games.
I think just the fact that he’s being made fresh for this game is a strong sign he’ll be much better this time around, I always felt the reason Shuma ended up so bad in mvc2 was because they basically just slapped him as-is into the game without modifying him for the engine and he wasn’t lucky enough to accidentally get something broken about him.
you know, a lot of people think shuma’s lv 3 should just be a command grab but I disagree.
When you use a command grab super, there’s a superflash, you lose bars, and then that’s it. If you miss, you whiffed it.
Chaos dimension always struck me as cool because you have a set amount of time where any weak jab you did would turn into a super powerful command grab. Not only does this leave you plenty of room for error, but gives you multiple attempts at doing the hyper without having to gamble on an airtight setup
He had good range on his pokes but didn’t get much priority minus the Eye Beam normal. He was kinda stuck on what role he would play. Charge characters don’t do that well in VS series. You need to be moving a lot, for both rushdown/keepaway. Having to always charge back was a liability. Granted he did have Mystic Smash which jumped him forward like a Death Slinky, it had nasty lag time and was mostly not safe on block. His other super, the one where he throws a bunch of himself was kinda whacky in the sense that sometimes a ball might miss and then the player can immediately block again. It was a very weird “beam” super.
His mobility: He had a decent dash and a somewhat invincible back dash for one time hits. But no air mobility aside from Mystic Smash which was hard to use because of the charge factor. This got worse in MvC2 when all the top tier had aerial dominance minus Cable cuz well… he is Cable.
Mystic Stare: IIRC it used to be a very powerful projectile. Even though sometimes beams might eat it, there will be some eyeballs left that will still get through and hit the opponent. Now in MvC2, it gets nullifed by a single projectile and has the whole “stick and blow up” thing. It was a nifty trick but if u ever did a grab with Shuma, the eyeballs would disappear. It did provide Shuma’s team mate with ways of doing a safe tag though. Plus smacking Shuma would cause them to lose them. Jun from TvC had a similar mechanic and it worked out pretty well for her although the bombs could be blocked.
Chaos Dimension: which was amazing in MSH because it simply costed one bar and still did great damage. It kinda got worse as he kept going in VS series. Time got shorter to use it and cost 3 bars. Also in MvC2, if you mashed you could stand up to avoid the follow-up, just like against Hulk’s Gamma Crush. I don’t believe in previous entries u could stand up.
Overall, they never really changed Shuma since MSH while everyone else got crazier crap or had other shenanigans to depend on. But given how Capcom has really changed everyone for the most part, even those that came back from MvC2 that they will give Shuma something new. Plus he is DLC! Money = Better character right?! 
It is kinda sad that Shuma never really had any improvements from MSH all the way to MVC2. Mystic Stare’s range was heavily nerfed in MVC2 and it being a charge move made it really difficult to utilize. Mystic Smash lost it’s OTG properties and the stone drop move, i believe, always had terrible priority. One of the few things that I initially liked in MVC2 was his Hyper Mystic Smash since it was a straightforward level 1 super (well, moreso than his utility super in MSHvSF imo). Most of the time though I’d still use Chaos Dimension over it because it turned out to be consistent. Most of the time (all the time when used point blank), it hit 10 times and the damage was below average. 20 hits was its maximum (usually when it OTGs) and it would hit hard, just a bit below CD’s damage but that could never be pulled of in an actual match. I wish the Shuma balls came out faster.
I remember I could get close to 100 percent on a Tron corner combo xxx Lunch Rush DHC Hyper Mystic Smash DHC xxx Beam Hyper in MvC2, though landing that setup was very hard with Tron not being that great on point.
I always found it weird that while Shuma released 20 mini-goraths, it only hit 10 times when done point blank. Where the first bounce occurs (about half a screen from Shuma) is usually where it hits the most but sometimes it hit even less.
I think the wait from getting MvC3 to getting Shuma will be horrendous. The anticipation is gonna kill me!
On the bright side, you won’t have to be worried about other Shuma players getting a head start over you like what’s potentially happened with the rest of the cast.
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i273/NitroglycerinCig/New%20stuff/1297232008709.png
Not that of a big deal because you would have to pay for them either way but…
Thats like the biggest bullshit ever. Superman would wipe the floor with such a weak sissy like venom
When are we gonna get vids? Launch is almost here and we know a few saw it…
Edit: Shuma theme is up. Nice, but not sure if it makes the top yet.
[media=youtube]sQe2GjaGt9M[/media]
Absolutely gutted they’re using the MSHvsSF version of Shuma’s theme. Way too goofy for my tastes.
Superman sucks. Venom does not. Nuff said.
I think that theme sounds pretty freakin’ badass personally.
QFT tho.
It’s all down to taste. Maybe it’ll grow on me.
This however is fact. Venom slapped the shit out of Supes.
His theme in MSH vs SF is better. Just keepin it real.
This is truth even the block effects sounds are weak, and many other sounds in this game are trash, sound teams aren’t making them like they use to.
I actually like the theme but I have to say that it could have been better. It’s a bit bland (even in the epic parts) compared to his previous themes. It doesn’t feel complete and I yearn for the missing parts. Little to no personality but I can deal with it.
Shuma Gorath movelist from the guide (PS, only made quick notes):
Mystic Stare: 
(hold):f::atk: Shoots out a ring of eyeballs. According to the guide, the explosion hits OTG. (?)
Mystic Smash: :qcf::atk: (Air ok)- Guide says it has a “slight frame advantage on block”. :h: Version moves almost full screen. It also says you can combo off the 
version in air, I think.
Devitalization: :hcb::atk: Command throw. Guide says there is almost no range difference per version.
Mystic Ray :d:(hold):u::atk: Shuma lets lose a sweeping laser blast from his eye. Each version starts along the ground then stops at a certain distance (I think). Think it also said each version can hit OTG.
:l: stops right in front of Shuma. (Standard eye height for him)
Stops at a 45 degree angle (upwards)
:h: Makes Shuma’s beam go completely verticle according to the pic.
Hyper Combo’s
Hyper Mystic Smash: :dp::atk::atk: Looks like old school HMS. Said to hit OTG.
Hyper Mystic Ray: :qcb::atk::atk: Super sweepin’ laser. Also said to hit OTG.
(Level 3) Chaos Dimension: :qcf::atk::atk: The guide description made it sound just like X23’s Level 3. It says hit :h: when the enemy is close to start the combo part.