Due to a request in the [Season 2 general discussion thread](Ryu Season 2 I’m creating this thread to act as a central repository for information on matchups, tech, and strategies developed in response to the changes in S2. Something they said made me realize that some people may not have time to monitor these forums regularly, so I thought I’d take up the task of maintaining this thread (I’m fairly good at organizing data).
So please add any experience you’ve had in matches so far that you think would be helpful towards overall understanding of Ryu matchups or strategy as of S2, and I will organize it below.
vs Akuma Situation: Akuma is new. Challenges: Hard to defend once Akuma is in V-Trigger. Overall Strategy: Nothing yet. Tech:
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[*] Fireball invincibility frames of M.Shoryuken (dp+MP) allows Ryu to pierce through Akuma’s air fireballs with proper timing.
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vs Guile Situation: Somewhat unfavorable. Challenges: High defenses and zoning pressure make getting in difficult. Overall Strategy: Although a unified anti-Guile strategy does not yet exist, patient defenses and counter-zoning can be a viable tactic. The idea is to condition the opponent to keep throwing sonic booms, then Tatsu (qcb+K) through their projectiles to catch them off guard. Tech: Nothing yet.
vs Laura Situation: Probably worse. Challenges: Lack of meterless invincible reversal means that Laura’s meaty pressure is both stronger and harder to escape. EX Command Throw now goes through fireballs, making zoning riskier when Laura has meter. Overall Strategy: Nothing yet. Tech:
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[*] Axe kick (b.HK) is cancelable now, so her V-Skill movement is easier to get damage off of.
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vs Zangief Situation: Probably even. Challenges: Spacing. Overall Strategy: Try to stay out of normal footsies range and control Zangief’s approaches with defensive zoning. Watch for opportunities for antiair Heavy Kick, and use Axe Kick (b + HK) into Hadoken (qcf + P) to keep Zangief out. On a knockdown, you can pressure more aggressively and try to get in, due to Zangief’s lack of strong reversal options. V-Meter should generally be saved for V-Reversals (f + PPP). Tech: Nothing yet.
I was having trouble with Gouki’s air fireball, but I figured out I could use the invincibility of m.DP to punish it. The trick is to time it to the fireball, not Gouki. If you do it right, your Shoryuken will pass through the fireball and hit Gouki.
The opponent can adapt to your tactics by changing the timing of the move, doing it early. It’s still the same thing, though: whatever the situation, the important thing is to pay atention to the fireball, not the character.
Since Gouki is in the air at this point and he can only do the air fireball when jumping forward, you will definitely hit him.
^On that note ex dp works pretty well too, though you won’t get the max damage off of it. I think the akuma matchup is in our favour. He can’t really fireball from a distance because we can parry, ryus normals seem to work better in the mid range, and we can snuff his air fireball attempts with dp/ex dp.
I struggled with him too, but I’ve learned how to fight him with positive results. The key, cliché as it is, is patience.
Zone the hell out of him and guard when dealing with v-skill-buffed booms. Condition your opponent to keep booming and then tatsu to close in. Don’t be afraid of fighting from afar, you can still do it even if his fireball game seems better.
EX DP works well, of course, but it’s expensive. I use it almost only to finish a round. To be honest, medium Shoryuken works perfectly, full damage, as long as you time it well. It will take some practice (and some LP, I guess), but in my experience you only need to land it two or three times to discourage more jumping fireballs from your opponent.
'Gief is beatable but your most effective range will also be the range where everything you do is risky (i.e. outside footsie range). Ryu sucks as a defensive zoner. Throw fireballs from afar and hope you’re in range to land st. RH AA. Once he’s close enough, use st. RH xx fireball to space him out. Get aggressive on knockdown. Save trigger for V-reversals. Bait his V-skill absorb and throw EX at him.
You’re right. I meant to say that you should bait his V-skill and then throw EX on recovery. Quick release at close range is very hard to react to. Not a fun match, for sure. You know you’re not a very good zoning character if you can’t even zone a grappler.
here is some stuff that helped me with Gief.
Wiff punish his sweep with yours.
With his charging punch stand just outside and let it wiff then come back with a s.hk or parry it.
mp.dp all his jump ins. do not let me get comfortable with that.
Use lp FB to zone mainly with little mix up in speed.
if he gets in too close in range use c.lp to jab him out.
Once he has v-trigger be very careful. do not throw fireballs no where near the same rate as before. At this point I run away or use lights with s.mk.
Once he knocks you down it gets really painful.
here is some stuff that helped me with Gief.
Wiff punish his sweep with yours.
With his charging punch stand just outside and let it wiff then come back with a s.hk or parry it.
mp.dp all his jump ins. do not let me get comfortable with that.
Use lp FB to zone mainly with little mix up in speed.
if he gets in too close in range use c.lp to jab him out.
Once he has v-trigger be very careful. do not throw fireballs no where near the same rate as before. At this point I run away or use lights with s.mk.
Once he knocks you down it gets really painful.
As someone else also mentioned last week, Zangief’s charged st.HP is indeed whiff-punishable by Ryu’s cr.HP, so I guess that’s something…
What really frustrated me was when I played an ultra-diamond Zangief; he whiff-punished everything with cr.LP and fireballs with lariat, so he basically nullified my zoning, and so aside from those all I had was playing footsies with a freaking grappler — not a terribly solid plan…
I don’t want them to crush Zangief under the nerf-hammer because that’d take away the fun of playing him for my fellow comrades in SFV, but I gotta say I certainly haven’t figured this match out yet. It used to be Ryu 6/4 in season one and now it’s Zangief 6/4 in season two.
I think my primary strategy is still to just fireball from just outside of his poking range…
I agree about cr. lp. stupid buttons neuters ryu even when you try to go toe to toe with your cr.lp it falls right into Gief game plan. The match up is not fun.
BTW you can SPS wiffed and blocked Lariats.
Yes Solar Plexus Strike. If you notice even after gief stops spinning he usually stays still for a moment. That is because he is still recovering. To confirm this i checked the frame data and he is -35 on block and 31 frames of recovery.
Ah yes, of course… But I think dash-in combo of choice is equally interesting. At this point I’ve gotta admit I had a lack of knowledge on this match-up, but a super-good Gief Vs my own mediocre self felt pretty skewed, but now I’m waiting for our rematch…
I play this game casually but I am learning there are some areas to learn that open the game up.
I was thinking the lp.shoryuken can be used to punish moves that are -3 on block that are too far to reach with s.mp and cr. mk. The same thing witha successful parry as in they are too far to reach with s.lp but at least you can counter with a lp. dp. ANyone messed around with this?
