As emblem lord has said a lot of mid level Ryus dont really understand the patience needed to play Ryu and are mainly thriving off of his high damage conversions and kill power which makes them fall off in higher seats of competition. Much like actual fighting games he has many good tolls in neutral, but no one option is so bonkers that it allows him to cheese through neutral.
This is something that I believe every Ryu player currently struggles with. It shows in my gameplay a lot for sure.
This character has the strongest bait-and-punish playstyle in the game, yet we continue to ignore it and rush ourselves in with something we've grown to believe is relatively safe. From careless Shoryukens, to unsafe Fairs, to whiffed Focus Attacks, you name it. What we need to start understanding is that once Ryu chooses an approach option, he has to
commit to it heavily. Focus Attack is really the only exception with the dash canceling, but it's safe on block right? So even if they shield it, I'll be okay, right? I don't need to cancel it then!
*opponent spotdodges*
Oh.
B-but Nair on shield is also safe! Just Dtilt them afterwards!
*opponent rolls, gains stage control*
Ok.
Come on Trela, why aren't you approaching with Bairs!?
*opponent powershields*
MAN RYU IS JUST SO BAD I SHOULD GO BACK TO PLAYING CLOUD
With a character that has so many powerful mix-ups in neutral, as said earlier, why are we being so careless with it all? Why do we do this to ourselves!? Many factors play a part in how we play this character. For one thing, we write off Ryu's camp game as inferior to that of almost anyone else with a projectile. Hadouken is too slow, has too much endlag, and has no priority, so why use it? It
is by far the most underrated move in Ryu's moveset. The level of pressure it possesses is actually better than I could've ever believed. But it's placement must be chosen very carefully. It's certainly a rather intricate move that can change how your opponent thinks in neutral and what they may try to do next. It can get annoying really fast!
There's this...."spot" on the stage Ryu wants to be in throughout the match. I don't even want to call it, "spacing" naturally, even though that's really what it is. But it's this feeling the Ryu players gets when he's at this certain...."spot". This placement between himself and his opponent where he's pretty much winning from the moment the neutral game truly begins. Don't laugh at me when I'm trying to explain this, okay!?
BURST RANGE, that's the term!
When Ryu is right outside the range of his opponent's fastest, most reliable approaching option. Their, "burst" attack. THAT'S where Ryu needs to be. THAT'S where he excels the most. If they try to get you with a dash attack or dash grab or Fair or whatever said character always approaches with, you punish from RIGHT outside that attack's range. Ryu's punish tools are literally out of this game's very world. If they're not doing any of this, then you should be throwing Hadoukens at their face, forcing them into learning how to deal with this new problematic option they're now up against.
Of course, MUs will weigh in on this style of play. For instance, Bayonetta's burst range is
ridiculous. ABK from the air can punish even the best of your Hadouken's spacing. But ABK doesn't have enough priority to dare challenge something like Ryu's Fair. She's going to always lose that trade. This is an example of where bait-and-punish comes in for Ryu. Hadouken sets this up for you.
So yeah, random thoughts on Ryu again. I like coming to this thread often, but I just don't ever post. We need to get back to the drawing board with Ryu and figure out how to optimize our gameplay with him, because everyone's thoughts on Ryu being worth something more in top tier is slowly diminishing. Our placement of him on this current version of the tier list doesn't ride well with many. He CAN be up there, but we're not proving it.
