This adjective describes an attack or sequence performed immediately after a player drops their shield.
Not to be confused with a shield grab, which is a built-in defense mechanic. An out-of-shield attack is performed by releasing the Shield button first, whereas shield grabs are performed by tapping Attack while continuing to hold the Shield button. After releasing the Shield button, there’s an eight-frame interval that must pass before other actions are possible. Buffer the desired attack input immediately during this window, for it to execute as soon as possible.
Out-of-shield neutral attacks are usually the fastest and most obvious retaliatory options. Out-of-shield short-hopping air attacks are also common, especially for fighters with fast back air attacks, since it’s much more practical to buffer a hop out-of-shield than to turn around in order to perform a frontal attack.