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Ryu/Ken Too Streamlined?

Glicnak

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Feb 1, 2015
Messages
111
I've been looking to get into Ken for a while now, but everytime I watch professional play of either him or Ryu, I noticed that the ENTIRE gameplan seems to be "Shoryuken a bunch". Every move combos into shoryuken. It's their get off me tool, its their tool for racking up damage, and its their finisher. I love traditional 2D fighters and I love the idea of the characters, but in reality it seems to end up being "jab - shoryu, utilt - shoryu, dtilt - shoryu, uair - shoryu".

I know bair spikes, I know the characters have a bunch of different tools, but in practice I only ever see one move used. Does anyone have any player recommendations of videos to watch for a bit more varied gameplay?

I do not mean this as a shot to the character, if anything I meant it the other way around.
 

The Loser of Light

Smash Rookie
Joined
Jun 29, 2016
Messages
2
I know it’s probably far too late, but if for some reason you would still like to know, or for anyone else, then I’ll explain why the Ken game plan is like that.
Much like in traditional street fighter
Normal cancels into special cancels into super

Of course supers don’t really exist in normal Smash. So that means light jab, heavy jab, and all the light tilts can cancel into any special.
Now that’s great and everything, but you’ve only really got three specials.
Hadoken, tatsumaki, and Shoryuken.
Hadoken is much better as a zoning tool, leaves you vulnerable up close, and doesnt do very optimal damage.
Tatsumaki is mostly good for racking up damage, but it’s not gonna kill and it’s not gonna make them get off you very easy.

That really leaves shoryuken as your best tool.
But don’t forget, every move has three different versions, and the input version is always stronger, so there’s still a good amount of variation based on percent and situation.

Of course you’ve always got focus attack and focus canceling, turn around bair, uair and nair for spacing, the dair spike like you mentioned.
And there’s some organic combos you can use, but just like Street Fighter, sometimes it becomes all about the flowchart, and shoryuken is a very optimal move in a lot of situations, but it’s not all Ken/Ryu can do.
 
Joined
Aug 3, 2018
Messages
1,534
Just wanted to add my 2 cents, i play Ryu but i'm familiar with Ken also (not an expert in any of the two by any means). I can think of a few reasons why Shoryuken isn't always the optimal combo finisher:

1. At lower percentage, i think Shoryu is a bit riskier. The ending lag leaves you vulnerable for a bit while in the air. Knockback being low in this situation, the opponent will be close enough and likely to punish with an aerial on his way down.

2. If you want to keep your opponent on the ground or close to the ground. Depending on the matchup, i think it can be a good strategy, allowing you to keep up the pressure while Shoryu on the other hand, will definitely put an end to your 'string' of moves and will probably reset neutral.

3. Keep your Shoryuken 'fresh' for the kill: using it too frequently will reduce the dmg output and knockback because of the Stale-move negation mechanic. In other words, if you use it only for 'kill confirms' you'll kill earlier with it.
 
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OldHickory

Smash Cadet
Joined
Dec 8, 2016
Messages
50
3DS FC
3007-9257-4809
all about the flowchart,
[Vanilla Street Fighter 4 Ken flashbacks intensify]

The other folks have it pretty much dead on, but it's pretty important to note that in Street Fighter, most shotos(Ryu, Ken, Akuma, etc.) are gonna be using a Shoryuken as their meterless combo ender.
Near every character in the series has a go-to combo ender special that generally has another use, so it's just the nature of things and is accurate to the series.
 
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