I play Kirby every now and then... Copying Shulk was so much fun. For the one match I ever got to do so, outside of lousy gimmick matches in single player. It felt strangely right. Playing one of my sub-mains with Monado Arts was second nature and felt really cool. I gave him more of a whirl in training mode though.
Kirby definitely has his share of advantages and disadvantages... Jump Kirby is lolz, and turns him into even more of a chasing machine, and his aerial game becomes even better than it already is. But it's pretty much off limits around 80%+ because it makes him hilariously easy to KO. Still, the mobility on top of his mobility can be very hard to deal with, but Kirby needs to avoid damage even more than Shulk.
- So Shulk should focus on outranging him to rack up his damage. Maybe you can counter this with Buster to make them terrified of the damage to come if they slip up.
Speed makes his average ground approach much more threatening, grabs especially. He already has a pretty great grab without the speed. Like Shulk, his shorthop attacks also become better vs. ground. Since Kirby is a multi-hit character and already fairly weak, Speed doesn't hinder him that much, and actually helps his offensive earlier on due to the lower knockback. But holy crap, Kirby's fast with this art. A bit faster than Sonic, I want to say. The downside seems to be very small.
- Maybe Shield? It'd seriously diminish his damage to near-nothing, where even multi-hits won't do much. But maybe bad early on where it can lead Kirby to comboing you. Or Jump to play it defensive and time it out.
Shield... Is what you'd think. I think Kirby finds this more useful than Shulk. He's not as slow as Shulk, and Kirby delights in the survivability, being one of the lighter characters.
- Grabbing and spacing should easily deal with it. Maybe Buster since it's actually very easy to zone him offensively in this state.
Buster is... As mentioned; evil. Mostly for U-tilt early on, it easily racks up to 50%. Problem is how he can start it from D-air, too. The majority of Kirby's attacks aren't too changed in terms of damage, but geez, he may very well be the best 'combo' character in the game. His aerials lead to some nasty landing lag for the opponent, or knockback that's very easy to follow-up very fast. Not to mention the overall damage from aerials.
- Thankfully, Shulk's Vision will be able to break out of anything not airtight. Going Smash may help a bit from that monstrous U-tilt. But mainly you better space this guy out for reals.
Smash Kirby... Is what happens when a character with a great, fast KO attacks... Gets Smash. D-smash and U-Smash will kill around 115% anywhere. Probably more dangerous is F-smash, which while slightly weaker, is insanely fast. His D-air also becomes quite a hefty spike. And down-B will kill early, too... U-throw can also KO later. B-air is instant and dangerous. His hammer is also a kill option. F-air can also kill off-stage later... And sometimes Kirby can combo his smash attacks from D-air. Oh boy.
- Jump, Speed, Shield. Pick a god and pray.
's almost as heavy as 
