That’s exactly the reason why me and some others like tatsu never post anything about strats or matchups. We all know the matchups first hand, and when we read things here… alot of information are wrong or just hypothetical so we dont bother to correct some of the posters because it would be meaningless. It would just be a never ending disagreement until that person has their “moment of enlightenment.”
Look what Fuudo (2nd best ryu in japan) has to say about Vega:
“Claw is the easiest match up. I had difficulties with Makoto at first. After learning the match up, Claw is the easiest character to beat”
Cant say i disagree with him, Ryu is prob my 2nd hardest matchup.
Yeah, I feel like solid Ryu’s are really hard to overcome, just because he is so fucking safe.
Mh, I can agree with you, sort of. So maybe Blanka/Vega could be a 6.5/3.5?
EDIT:
Fucking embarrassing :'D
think u were goin’ for either a 5.5/4.5 or a 6.5/3.5 there Sasaki 
I’ve actually seen a lot of results fighting Blankas these days now that I’m a lot more clear of the matchup, at the very least scrubby Blankas can’t touch me anymore.
A Blanka that knows the matchup tho is a real tossup and still kinda in the green dude’s favor, but it makes for an exciting game ^^
Even when not using Ryu, Claw is still the easiest character to beat. It’s much easier to win against Claw in general, due to the ridiculous number of safe mixups you can do and his lack of options (low damage and NO Super/Ultra threat).
Japanese have found this out and it’s why Claw is lower than Guile or even Dan in the tier lists.
I don’t think ryu is really one of vega’s worst matchups. He isn’t a good matchup (who is?) but he is like a less dangerous sagat for the most part as far as vega is concerned. And Sagat is 7-3, it is easy to see ryu as 1 point lower at 6-4.
Rufus is certainly not 5-5 as well.
What are Claw’s easiest?
Right now I feel like his easiest are:
Gouken
Sakura
Fuerte
Possibly Dhalsim
But I am not as experienced as some of you guys nor do I play at as high of a level.
def not gouken
i’d say bison, dhalsim, fuerte. even Sakura poses a lot of problems for Vega. still a 5-5, but there’s some bad shit in that matchup. Gouken can fuck you over big time with Demon Flip wakeup game, and his fireballs can pose a problem if you don’t have any meter.
The only one that i feel like i have the advantage in is vs Rose. But then again I’ve only played like one or two that knew what they were doing. Otherwise the matchups are either even or i’m at a disadvantage.
Rose, Dan, Blanka is easy if u know the match up, C. Viper, El Fuerte, Sakura, Ken and zangief,
a good bison is pain for vega because of damage n rush down.
ryu could be easy n hard just HATE the reversal window in sf4
How is dhalsim an “easier” match up? I must be doing something wrong but getting close enough to him to deal any damage is awful.
admittedly, dhalsim is another one of those matchups where i never really have played any good ones.
most of the success comes in the form of him not being able to deal much pressure to you, which is vega’s biggest weakness, and the fact that you can deal alot of pressure to him, which normally isn’t a luxury. Vega is an expert at punishing teleports and jump out fierce overheads with EX FBA.
Mainly, any time you’re sitting on a charge and you predict a fireball, FBA. it’s a free knockdown. strive for the izuna as always and begin safe jumping into him so that you can react and punish teleport escape attempts and not eat a super. Push him into the corner with RCF blockstrings (you can get a fierce going off of c. jab, c. short fierce RCF, since most Dhalsim’s – Like Vegas – are inclined to block first). Suffocate him like you other players do to you. Don’t use blockstrings like c. jab, c.jab, c .jab, c.jab, c.short, just use one or two and go for a tick / kara throw. As long as you are teching throws you are at a stronger distance than Dhalsim and one wrong move means a jump in from you or a reason to move forward since Vega can get in so quick.
As far as getting in long screen is concerned, if Dhalsim is shooting full screen fireballs, again, use FBA. (or ex SHC) If he realizes the threat of the full screen punish, then conceal your charge as best you can and coerce one from him that you can retaliate against. Otherwise, if he opts for a mid screen footsies approach, focus dance your way in / out for positioning. The teleport mixups are an easy punish for meaty EX FBA or st. RH, but make sure you time them so you don’t throw them in the wrong direction as you get crossed up. If you always make sure Dhalsim is not being liberal with his fireballs, the threat of punishing your focus with double hits (defense) is gone, and the threat of him utilizing his teleport cross ups (offense) is gone.
Vega can control the match in that way. However it can be tough to coerce a life lead from Dhalsim if he tightens it up and baits your focuses. In that case you must jump at long range and become an expert at striking at limbs. The best candidate for this is jumping fierce. Vega’s jump is fast as is that move so utilize that by making the best out of Vega’s mobility (focus positioning, cosmic heel, neutral and triangle jumps, dasing).
Dhalsim’s ultra has a lot of tricks so you will end up eating his ultra in many new ways. Don’t get discouraged; you have to find them out some way. Learn to favor blocking low (you can react to any overheads) and you usually will be fine.
Your Ultra is also Invulnerable to Projectiles, so if you have confidence in your reversals and you are sure he is going for a mixup after making you wake up in Yoga Catastrophe, then it is an effective counter. Purely situational however, and blocking is much safer, and the right answer in most situations.
Don’t forget that if he tries to meaty you with his ultra you could use reversal EX RCF/ultra, and maybe EX ST (can’t remember if its imune to projectiles).
Jaja, brento box beat me to the post.
I hadn’t thought of Reversal RCF though. I like that a lot more.
Sakura Vega is certainly in Sakura’s favor. I am not sure how much, but from playing a shit ton of sakura, Vega is one of her easiest matchups. That is not 5-5.
Yeah, I can see how it’s not 5-5 but generally I don’t think she has as much going for her as Ryu does.
That’s interesting, Joz, that you put Bison as one of Vega’s easier match-ups. As of late, that has become one of my easiest match-ups as well, but I remember how Bebop put it at 3-7 so I figured I was just playing shitty Bisons. None of them seemed to whore out LK scissors as much as they could have.
Viper and Cammy are two more… they seem to not be in Vega’s favor, but overall, their advantage seems slim in comparison to what Rog, Gief, Blanka, and Sagat have over Vega.
On another note, I just learned yesterday that I passed the CPA exam!!! HELL YEAH BITCHES!!! Good luck seeing me sober for a few weeks… because you probably won’t!
I played that Fuerte who does all those fancy videos (BrianZ?) yesterday and once again I came to the conclusion that playing against Elf is fucking boring. Although I won, it wasn’t fun at all.
How come all of Vega’s 5:5 are fucking boring as hell?
Because the man is trying to keep you down but stay strong brother.
I think i’ve said this before but Honda has to be Vegas worst matchup hands down. Mounting an offense is close to impossible, moreso if Honda has meter. Random ex headbutt is completely safe on block and does a shitload of damage, HHS frame traps and on top of that oicho ticks make this a real uphill battle. Not to mention that he has lots of health, it’s close to impossible to Izuna him due to his focus making him crouch down so low, and Vegas best hitconfirm (cr.mp into ex izuna) misses alot due to Honda being so short.
The only time i am moderately successful is when i treat him like Zangief, play keep away and poke him to death.