Ranking the best Ryu's in the world

farhannius · 2012-12-20T01:30:56.000Z

I’m a long time Daigo fan, but lately he has not performed very well, but I did like very much his “new” style during SF25th, which seemed more aggressive than usual, so he is still number 1 for me. Besides, he always surprises me when I watch him play.

Absolutely yes, very close to Daigo

Valle, I just like his zoning style so much.

Talking about online players, I prefer WA Solid: very solid indeed, great pressure game and tons of flashy moments!

I’d have to disagree with the inclusion of Solid. In my opinion he’s actually far from solid. His defence is not that great, and he so often chooses flash over substance. Like for instance his bread and butter combo starts with cr.MP into cr.LP. LOL, why do that? If you’re in with a cr.MP there’s no need to add a LP, it just scales the damage down. Instead link the cr.MP into another cr.MP or link it into a cr.HP. Also his metre management is laughable; too much emphasis on FADC flashiness. He’s a very confident and aggressive player, but he could never consistently beat the likes of Air or Sekiganryu with his playstyle, let alone in tournaments. Also I judge anyone who picks U2 over U1. Sorry, but for me U1 is the only viable ultra for any serious Ryu player.

Komatik · 2012-12-20T16:43:49.000Z

U2 is legit in a couple matchups like Fei, and now possibly Balrog.

brunorochaxx · 2012-12-21T23:40:44.000Z

I think Togawa and Popo-Jirou are good players too. Togawa plays in Taito Station, and according Kim1234, only Daigo is better than him.

Emil · 2012-12-21T23:45:34.000Z

Naruo has a very solid Ryu too, though he’s mainly known for Evil Ryu.

Valle and John Choi don’t belong in this top 5…they just don’t play the game enough.

Jyobin is an interesting Ryu player.

Komatik · 2012-12-22T00:52:48.000Z

So, an Evil Ryu player and an (admittedly skilled) online player know for shenanigans belong on the list but a solid player who finished high at EVO doesn’t? I mean, if playing other games was enough to disqualify someone from a “best players of X char” rank, Tokido would have to be disqualified from the Akuma list ten times over for excess dilettantism.

farhannius · 2012-12-22T05:38:55.000Z

Tournament players will always be prioritised over online warriors. So for that reason Choi and Valle deserve to be there. It’s easy to beast from the comfort of your house, can these players do it in a room filled with a carefully speculative audience?

Julpero · 2012-12-22T05:42:43.000Z

No love for Dakou?

SF09ers · 2012-12-22T18:48:48.000Z

What about Laugh? I heard Infiltration say he was better than Daigo.

Missing_Person · 2012-12-22T18:57:02.000Z

Laugh is really good, better than Daigo? I don’t think so, but it could be debateable in terms of skill, but in terms of tournament consistency? No way.

Laugh has better overall abilities and has good secondary and even tertiary characters where Daigo really doesn’t anymore, but until Ryan gets some more Top 8s under his belt, people are going to scoff at Infiltration’s claims. I’d also say Laugh has a better comprehensive understanding of the game and the engine than Daigo does, but I don’t know how much Daigo studies, so I can’t fully substantiate that claim. But I’ll tell you the guy was sitting behind me in Seoul last year telling me Cody punishes on Yun based on the frame data and hitboxes, and I don’t think he played either character, but it worked.

But hey, they’re really getting that opportunity now, so time will tell. But Laugh really is strong, there’s no way anyone should ever sleep on him, he’s been a killer since before anyone knew the Korean scene existed outside of Tekken. I would replace maybe Choi and put Laugh in that Top 5.

Sent to the Internet with Smoke Signaltalk. Buy your matches and blanket in the Trading Outlet for $20 shipped. Firewood sold separately.

farhannius · 2012-12-24T20:17:37.000Z

Laugh is really good, better than Daigo? I don’t think so, but it could be debateable in terms of skill, but in terms of tournament consistency? No way.

Laugh has better overall abilities and has good secondary and even tertiary characters where Daigo really doesn’t anymore, but until Ryan gets some more Top 8s under his belt, people are going to scoff at Infiltration’s claims. I’d also say Laugh has a better comprehensive understanding of the game and the engine than Daigo does, but I don’t know how much Daigo studies, so I can’t fully substantiate that claim. But I’ll tell you the guy was sitting behind me in Seoul last year telling me Cody punishes on Yun based on the frame data and hitboxes, and I don’t think he played either character, but it worked.

But hey, they’re really getting that opportunity now, so time will tell. But Laugh really is strong, there’s no way anyone should ever sleep on him, he’s been a killer since before anyone knew the Korean scene existed outside of Tekken. I would replace maybe Choi and put Laugh in that Top 5.

Sent to the Internet with Smoke Signaltalk. Buy your matches and blanket in the Trading Outlet for $20 shipped. Firewood sold separately.

Yeh Laugh is a beast. I don’t agree with Infiltration that Laugh is the best Ryu in the world- that title belongs very squarely with Daigo. As you said Laugh needs to finish higher in tournaments more consistently in order to contend Daigo’s Ryu. Just wondering, what makes you say Laugh has a better understanding of the game engine that Daigo?

Missing_Person · 2012-12-26T05:21:50.000Z

Yeh Laugh is a beast. I don’t agree with Infiltration that Laugh is the best Ryu in the world- that title belongs very squarely with Daigo. As you said Laugh needs to finish higher in tournaments more consistently in order to contend Daigo’s Ryu. Just wondering, what makes you say Laugh has a better understanding of the game engine that Daigo?

Just the fact that he really understands the how and why in a very intricate technical manner. Not saying Daigo doesn’t, but he seems to understand the game based more on feel from what I can tell. I can’t say that as an absolute truth. But that’s just my observations.

Moreover, Laugh has a better understanding of frame data, more than just Ryu vs. X or whatever character he’s playing vs. X, but matchups he doesn’t play, doesn’t need to know about, at all. Hence my Cody vs. Yun example.

Emanuelb · 2012-12-26T21:03:07.000Z

I would say:

Daigo
Valle/ Laugh
Dakou
John Choi/ Xsk Samurai

Special mentions:

Naruo - would definetelly be near Daigo, but latelly he changed to E. ryu.
Luken - the up and coming Ryu - he eliminated K Brad at LA 25th aniv.
Eric Hai - the ryu that beat Tokido at Evo.

I’m sure there are more top ryus in Japan - but since I haven’t seen any of them in single tourneys, I can’t comment on like Sekigan or Jobyin.

SF09ers · 2012-12-27T02:52:57.000Z

Where can I watch this Luken vs Kbrad match? I searched on youtube and got nothing.

Luken27 · 2012-12-27T04:56:16.000Z

^ The person associated with the video got his account taken down.

ilitirit · 2012-12-28T21:10:40.000Z

The most impressive Ryu’s I’ve seen during this game’s lifespan:

Daigo: No intro needed. Mago’s nemesis in Vanilla. Could post endless vids of his Ryu.
[media=youtube]NZwC1p32i7g[/media]
[media=youtube]8VaGlMywygI[/media]

This is what we call clutch
[media=youtube]lbJ-R28JUUc[/media]

Fuudo: Easily the second best Ryu in Vanilla. Super solid with insane reactions. One of the players selected by Daigo to fight him in the first set of Arcadia concept matches.
[media=youtube]9AsYOfnj-hI[/media]
[media=youtube]YS_kuwOOa9Y[/media]
Momochi: Was the second highest ranked Ryu Vanilla for a long time, but his Ryu will forever live in the shadow of his Gouki
[media=youtube]zUIcQHo-7T0[/media]
Dakou: Very impressive performance at Shadowloo Shodown 2k12. For a while I actually thought he was better than Daigo…
[media=youtube]5W_W9RxT9bQ[/media]
Naruo: Don’t whiff anything in his cr.hk range, don’t test his cross-cut DP
[media=youtube]d1oiya5_W50[/media]

farhannius · 2012-12-29T21:20:31.000Z

The most impressive Ryu’s I’ve seen during this game’s lifespan:

Daigo: No intro needed. Mago’s nemesis in Vanilla. Could post endless vids of his Ryu.
[media=youtube]NZwC1p32i7g[/media]
[media=youtube]8VaGlMywygI[/media]

This is what we call clutch
[media=youtube]lbJ-R28JUUc[/media]

Fuudo: Easily the second best Ryu in Vanilla. Super solid with insane reactions. One of the players selected by Daigo to fight him in the first set of Arcadia concept matches.
[media=youtube]9AsYOfnj-hI[/media]
[media=youtube]YS_kuwOOa9Y[/media]

Momochi: Was the second highest ranked Ryu Vanilla for a long time, but his Ryu will forever live in the shadow of his Gouki
[media=youtube]zUIcQHo-7T0[/media]

Dakou: Very impressive performance at Shadowloo Shodown 2k12. For a while I actually thought he was better than Daigo…
[media=youtube]5W_W9RxT9bQ[/media]

Naruo: Don’t whiff anything in his cr.hk range, don’t test his cross-cut DP
[media=youtube]d1oiya5_W50[/media]

I’m gonna watch all of these with a nice cup of tea.

C3TN · 2012-12-31T19:17:33.000Z

When did Infiltration say that laugh has THE BEST ryu in the world? I remember him saying that he has one of the best, stop talking crap! I also agree that top ryus are Daigo, Laugh, Dakou, Naruo, Momochi.

farhannius · 2013-01-01T05:32:40.000Z

When did Infiltration say that laugh has THE BEST ryu in the world? I remember him saying that he has one of the best, stop talking crap! I also agree that top ryus are Daigo, Laugh, Dakou, Naruo, Momochi.

Yes I distinctly remember Infiltration said he has “one of the best” Ryu’s- not the best. Even so, no need to say “stop talking crap”; it doesn’t hurt to have social manners even on the internet.

Komatik · 2013-01-05T16:17:10.000Z

No love for sekiganryu ilitirit?

ilitirit · 2013-01-07T03:17:50.000Z

No love for sekiganryu ilitirit?

I like Sekiganryu, but his just never impressed me on the same level. Daigo is Daigo. Momochi used to do stuff like manually time 4f safe-jumps vs Boxer in unorthodox situations. Fuudo had those godlike reactions. Dakou just came out of nowhere. And I just love watching Naruo in action.

If you look back at vids of Sekiganryu (or Akame Ryu as it was translated back then), you won’t find anything outstanding about his play. In fact, he was a pretty mediocre Ryu. He only started levelling up much later.

As for Togawa, it’s very hard to find quality vids of him. He’s actually got the lowest win rate of the top 10 arcade Ryu players.