hmmm...good question.
both are very cool character,but i prefer Quan Chi.
maybe Shang tsung is stronger in martial arts,but Quan Chi is stronger in black magic.
However in the episode 9 "quan Chi" kung lao ask to rayden"(Quan Chi) is a sorcerer like Shang tsung?" and rayden repied" No,not like Shang tsung".
This means that the two are different kind of sorerers.

Quan chi isn't from the netherealm and isn't immortal. I remember him explaining to Shang Tsung that he chose to remain in the Netherealm and that he wasn't banished. But yes, he is far more experienced in sorcery but Shang was the superior fighter.

subzero_5th, Quan Chi is natural from the netherealm, he was once an Oni, but after learning the arts of sorcery and black magic, he was able to transform himself in a "human" form. and, in MK conquest, episode 19 "flawed victory", shao kahn says to quan chi (who was really shang tsung that took the shape of Quan Chi):
"you'll die now sorcerer... slowly. you're NOT mortal likely shang tsung, the cobalt will drain you, and drain you, and weacken you to nothingness"

and, quan chi does not consume souls to remain young, because he is immortal. shang tsung needs to consume souls in order to keep his youth, because he is human, and so, the cobalt of the Shokan mines did not drain his sorcery powers. wikipedia provides amazing information about characters of video-games, if you search for quan chi in wikipedia, you'll see that even there it is stated that quan chi was a being born in the netherealm, immortal.

In face to face show down I would say Shang Tsung, but in a all out war then Quan Chi. Quan Chi just has more followers and is more the planner. Shang Tsung has more brute strength but has few if any loyal followers and doesn't seem to be much for strategy. At first it seems he does, but every plan he used that actually work was thought up by someone else (either Kahn or Quan Chi). Also, shouldn't this be in the over-all MK thread?

subzero_5th, Quan Chi is natural from the netherealm, he was once an Oni, but after learning the arts of sorcery and black magic, he was able to transform himself in a "human" form. and, in MK conquest, episode 19 "flawed victory", shao kahn says to quan chi (who was really shang tsung that took the shape of Quan Chi):
"you'll die now sorcerer... slowly. you're NOT mortal likely shang tsung, the cobalt will drain you, and drain you, and weacken you to nothingness"
and, quan chi does not consume souls to remain young, because he is immortal. shang tsung needs to consume souls in order to keep his youth, because he is human, and so, the cobalt of the Shokan mines did not drain his sorcery powers. wikipedia provides amazing information about characters of video-games, if you search for quan chi in wikipedia, you'll see that even there it is stated that quan chi was a being born in the netherealm, immortal.

yes, he's a natural in the Netherealm. that I know of. But this is his story in the games. I am talking about in the show. He said that he doesn't originate from the Netherealm nore was he banished. he chose that domain. As for what Shao kahn said about him not being mortal," what he meant was that Shang is immune to the cobalt because of his human heritage. Quan chi isn't immune. If that was the real Quan Chi, (which unknown to Kahn was actually Shang) Kahn could have killed him right there, (hence he is mortal because he can be killed) but chose a slow way to get rid of the sorcerer.

Shang Tsung will win. He's smarter, more evil and has more advantage in skill (he could morph as anybody).

I agree that Shang Tsung is a human mortal that can take souls but ultimately! shapeshift into anyone he desires. They both have their strengths that set them apart, so to say who is stronger I think is to base it on certain aspects of their characteristics.

I think that if it was a head-on battle, one-on-one, Quan Chi would take the victory.

But I strongly believe that Shang Tsung could sneak his way into the win if he had time to carefully plan Quan Chi's demise. He seems like a very intelligent character who, with a bit of effort, could plot out a method to destroy Quan Chi without the latter being any the wiser.

Unfortunately for him, their first fight was sudden and they had only their skill and strength to go on. =/