Overview
Ryu has a fast dash, pretty good moves and supers, effective pokes, anti-airs and pressure normals. He has a few weaknesses, but he compensates them with high damage/stun output and powerful supers
Good Ryu´s moves
- cr.MK
Decent range, fast, can cancel into SA1 and SA2 or Shoryuken if close and EX Hadouken (normal as well but EX is safe)
- st.MP
Decent range, fast, cancel into EX Hadouken
- cr.MP
Very fast, use it to charge meter, can cancel into SA1/SA2/Shoryuken/EX Hadouken
- st.MK
A bit slow of a move but it goes over lows
- cr.HP
Pretty fast, mostly used for anti-airing and punishing moves (cr.HP xx MK Joudan Geri it´s a good punish: if cr.HP hits, it deals nice damage, but if it can be cancelled, MK Joudan Geri is prefered because it hits opponents while they´re crouching)
- Hadouken/EX Hadouken
Hadouken is a good zoning move, but EX Hadouken it´s incredible. It´s safe on block and almost always safe on parry. Use it.
Kara-throw
To perform Ryu's Kara-throw you have to do fwd.MP, and then LP+LK (Throw) in the very next frame. The thing about Ryu's kara throw it's not the fwd.MP itself that gives him enough range for throw. It's the holding forward before doing MP > throw. In that way Ryu walks forward before doing kara throw. Kara-throws work best in the corner because the opponent can't walk back, and they will always be in range for throw as long as they're grounded. If you do kara-throw too fast after your blocked move, then you won´t throw your opponent. This is because of active blocking frames, so whenever you try to kara-throw, don't do it too fast.
Kara-throw setups
- cr.LK - kara-throw - You will not be able to kara-throw your opponent withing the first 5 frames after cr.LK. It´s 7 frames on Ryu, Chun-Li and Q (because Ryu, Chun and Q have 2 frames of block stun extra while crouching).
- st.LK, kara-throw - You will not be able to kara-throw your opponent withing the first 7 frames after st.LK. It´s 8 frames on Q standing (because he has 1 frame of block stun extra while standing) and 9 frames on Ryu, Chun-Li and Q if they block while crouching.
- cl.MP, kara-throw - You will not be able to kara-throw your opponent withing the first 6 frames after cl.MP. It´s 7 frames on Q standing and 8 frames on Ryu, Chun-Li and Q if they block while crouching.
- cl.LP, kara-throw - You will not be able to kara-throw your opponent withing the first 8 frames after cr.LP. It´s 9 frames on Q standing and 10 frames if he blocks while crouching.
- cr.LP, kara-throw - You will not be able to kara-throw your opponent withing the first 7 frames after cr.LP. It´s 8 frames on Q standing and 9 frames on Ryu, Chun-Li and Q if they block while crouching.
- cl.MK, kara-throw - You will not be able to kara-throw your opponent withing the first 7 frames after cl.MK. It´s 8 frames on Q standing and 9 frames on Ryu, Chun-Li and Q if they block while crouching.
Air game
Jump-ins
- j.MK - crosses up.
- j.HP - to attack, good damage.
- j.HK - to attack, little bit more range.
Air-to-air
- j.MP - hits twice, harder to parry, pushes you away on parry, totally safe in air-to-air.
- j.HP - to attack.
- j.HK - to attack.
- EX Tatsumaki - to attack, risky.
- j.LP - to attack opponent above you, and do SA1 when you land. If parried you can do it again.
- j.LK - if parried you can do it again.
Anti-air
- st.LP/cl.LP - best anti-air. If it´s parried, contine with another st.LP/cl.LP. ++ If they get hit by cl.LP you can link into SA1 or SA2.
- cl.MP ++
- far MP - hits horizontally, not great when your opponent is above you. ++
- cl.HP ++
- cr.HP - good when your opponent is nearly directly above you. ++
- cl.MK ++
- st.HK - easy, a bit slow at start up, and risky if it´s parried.
- Hadouken - a bit low at startup and risky if it´s parried.
- EX Hadouken - safe if it´s parried.
- Shoryuken/EX Shoryuken - fast startup, risky if your opponent parries it.
- SA1 - Good anti-air because it´s a multi hit attack and it does pretty good damage. If they parry it, do another attack to mess their parry timing.
- SA2 - Big damage if it connects fully. If your opponent attacks early, you can do qcf and then down, down forward and then punch. With this you can do super while crouching, avoiding some attacks by crouching. This also works if your opponent does a late attack, because SA2 has invencibility. If they parry SA2, you will get punished.
++ if st.LP/cl.LP/far.MP/cl.MP/cl.HP/cr.HP/cl.MK is parried, you can do: Shoryuken/EX Shoryuken or Shoryuken xx SA1/SA2, Tatsumaki/EX Tatsumaki, Hadouken/EX Hadouken or Hadouken xx SA1/SA2 or EX Hadouken xx SA1 and Joudan Geri. This is sort of a confirm/anti parry moves, and some of this options aren´t great, but they are listed to demonstrate Ryu´s anti-air options.
Wakeup game
Possible things to do on wakeup against an opponent:
- Forward MP - slow overhead. if done meaty can link into cr.LK, cr.LP and SA1
- cr.LK, toward MP - low, then overhead
- cr.LK, cr.LK - hits low
- cr.LK, st.LP (whiff), Kara-throw - vs. crouching
- cr.LK, step back 2 frames, Kara-throw
- walk in, step back, Kara-throw
- meaty UOH - can link into far LP, cl.MP, cl.HP, cr.LP, cl.MK, cr.LK, Shoryuken, SA1 and SA2
- meaty cl.MK xx HP Shoruyken xx SA3
- cl.MK, kara throw
- crossup j.MK
- crossup j.MK,c.LK,kara throw
- jump back HK - HK after jump back must be done fast
- fwd.MP - if your opponent keeps blocking down, you can do another f.MP
- fwd.HP - If it hits, continue with EX Shoryuken or SA2.If its blocked you can: kara throw, walk in throw, cr.LK, cl.HP
- Jump at same time opponent is getting up and parry his reversal (a bit risky, it will hurt a lot depending on their anti-airs/air combos)
- Throw opponent and dash out. If opponent tried to counter, punish them with a combo (cr.MK xx HK Tatsumaki)
Meaty attacks
- fwd.MP (if it´s done meaty, it can link into cr.LK, cr.LP and SA1)
- UOH (if it´s done meaty, it can link into far LP, cl.MP, cl.HP, cr.LP, cl.MK, cr.LK, Shoryuken, SA1 and SA2)
- cl.MK - safe on block
- cl.HP - safe on block
Super arts
Every Ryu´s super art is good, each one with their own advantages, disadvantages and changes on their gameplan
Shinkuu Hadouken (SA1) is a projectile super, which you can use it to win by chip damage easily. However, your opponent can parry 1 or 2 SA1 fireballs (out of 5) and do their own super to counter. Not all supers can be used for this, only fireball invincibility supers. SA1 gives you confirms into super and more meter than the other two (5.6 EX moves, which is good for zoning/dealing damage), but it´s damage isn´t great. Shin Shoryuken (SA2) deals big damage, but it´s only one bar, which limits it´s EX usage (3.2 EX moves), and it´s very risky if it´s blocked/missed. Denjin hadouken (SA3) gives you deadly unblockable setups, dealing incredible stun damage, but it has a long recovery which it´s risky if the opponent isn´t stunned. Also, it´s one short bar, which limits it´s EX usage (2.4 EX moves), but it´s good in other way because it faster to have full meter than the other two.
Super Art tips
Super Art I tips
Shinkuu Hadouken
Air reset into SA1
SA1 hits after air reset only after these moves:
- From the ground: cl.LP, UOH and fwd.MP
- From mid-air: all moves except 2 hit j.MP. Super will hit after j.MP only if 1 out of 2 attacks hits.
- After EX Joudan Geri you can reset your opponent with cl.LP and do SA1. If try to parry you can use HK Tatsumaki which can hit 2 times if they parried 4 times. Here's how this 2-hit Tatsumaki works - First hit of Tatsumaki should end combo, but then SA1 fireball immediately hits and resets juggle limit, which allows Tatsumaki to hit your opponent again.
- Hadouken canceled into SA1 only reduces damage, therefore you should never combo SA1 from Hadouken, unless you want to use it for hit confirms or mess up your opponent parry timing.
- After SA1 you should always do HK Tatsumaki to get in front of opponent. After that, you can do meaty fwd.MP, SA1. fwd.MP must hit with its last frames. Because wakeup time is specific for all characters this only works on Ryu(77), Akuma(77), Sean(77), Urien(76), Ken(75), Chun-Li(88). Numbers represent the amount of frames that it takes for a character to stand up.
- LP Shoryuken/MP Shoryuken xx SA1 is not effective on all characters. SA1 can hit up to 5 times, but it can also have weak damage. Here is list that shows how many fireballs from SA1 will hit after LP Shoryuken or MP Shoryuken. (is preferred to use the MP version because it's stronger than LP version)
| Done on Character | Number of fireballs that hit |
| Makoto | 5 |
| Oro | 5 |
| Akuma | 5 |
| Ken | 5 |
| Ryu | 5 |
| Sean | 5 |
| Yun | 5 |
| Yang | 5 |
| Elena | 5 |
| Hugo | 4 |
| Necro | 4 |
| Urien | 4 |
| Dudley | 3 |
| Remy | 3 |
| Chun-Li | 3 |
| Alex | 3 |
| Twelve | 2 |
| Q | 0 |
| Ibuki | 0 |
- Never cancel from HP Shoryuken to SA1. SA1 cannot hit after HP Shoryken.
- EX Shoryuken canceled into SA1 it´s a bad way to waste super gauge. Most SA1 fireballs won't hit the opponent.
Super Art II tips
Shin Shoryuken
- SA2 has 2 types of damage - 4 hits (full damage) and 6 hits (weak). Normally it will do 4 hits, however, when SA2 hits far, or far mid-air opponent, it will do 6 hits and less damage. You can sometimes juggle with Shoryuken if you did 6 hits SA2 in the corner.
- When you have a chance to punish with a combo, use cl.MP xx HP Shoryuken xx SA2. If you're aiming for stun damage, use cl.HP xx HP Shoryuken xx SA2.
- Ryu's SA2 is the highest priority super in the game after Akuma's KKZ. This means that it can beat any other super move in the game.
What to do after Shin Shoryuken?
- Best juggle damage after SA2 is HK Tatsumaki. There is 3 frame timing where Tatsumaki (and other special moves) would cancel Ryu's recovery animation when he lands on the ground, and if you manage to do it in 3 frame timing your Tatsumaki will juggle successfully. However, if you canceled SA2 from any move, you don't need that cancel after Ryu lands, therefore it´s timing is different.
- If you landed SA2 in the corner, you can J.HP air reset and then mixup overhead and low attacks. Or you can just dash in, HP Shoryuken (Easier timing than HK Tatsumaki. If you landed SA2 at mid screen you can: super jump cancel, LK air reset, dash in (crossover), Cl. HP. There are 3 different conditions for this to work:
1) On Urien, Alex, Hugo, Necro, Twelve, Q, Chun-Li, Makoto, Elena this works normally.
2) On Yun, Yang, Ibuki this only works if you landed SA2 while that character was in mid-air.
3) On all other characters this only works if you canceled SA2 from Shoryuken or landed SA2 while that character was in mid-air.
Air reset into SA2
Ryu's SA2 has to be done at close range, but most air resets push opponent too far away. Useful air resets SA2 setups are:
- Anti air jump LK - Use SA2 when opponent is close to ground.
- cl.LP, Dash, SA2
Linking SA2 after meaty fwd.MP
There are 2 ways to do this:
1) Kara SA2: To perform Kara SA2, use cr.MK or cr.HK before doing SA2. Input is ↓ ↘ → ↓ ↘ + MK, P a frame after
2) SA2 with extended → input. This means you will do ↓ ↘ → ↓ ↘ and now slightly hold final forward direction → before pressing Punch button.
The idea of both methods is to make Ryu closer to opponent after fwd.MP. Here is list of characters on which you can perform these methods after fwd.MP on wakeup:
When "standing" or "crouching" position is excluded, it means that SA2 cannot hit that character in that position (SA2 is out of reach).
- crouching Ibuki - Full damage Shin Shoryuken
- crouching Dudley - Full damage Shin Shoryuken
- crouching Makoto - Full damage Shin Shoryuken
- crouching Alex - Full damage Shin Shoryuken
- crouching Urien - Full damage Shin Shoryuken
- standing Urien - Weak Shin Shoryuken, Kara Shoryuken juggle possible
- standing Oro - Full damage Shin Shoryuken
- standing Akuma - Weak Shin Shoryuken
- standing Alex - Weak Shin Shoryuken
- standing Sean - Weak Shin Shoryuken
- standing Ken - Weak Shin Shoryuken
- standing Chun-Li - Weak Shin Shoryuken
- standing Remy - Full damage Shin Shoryuken
- standing Q - Weak Shin Shoryuken, Shoryuken juggle possible
- standing Ryu - Weak Shin Shoryuken
- standing Elena - Full damage Shin Shoryuken
- standing Hugo - Full damage Shin Shoryuken
- standing Makoto - Weak Shin Shoryuken
- standing Twelve - Full damage Shin Shoryuken
- standing Necro - Full damage Shin Shoryuken
- standing Necro - SA2 (None of 2 methods are required on Necro) - Weak Shin Shoryuken, Kara Shoryuken juggle possible
- Yang - Neither works
- Yun - Neither works
Super Art III tips
Denjin hadouken is a super that deals great stun damage, so it´s better to do setups before activating it so you can use it at it´s full potential. Best way setup SA3 is to do LP Hadouken (so it gives Ryu more time to charge Denjin) and cancel it to SA3. It´s recommended to do the Hadouken xx SA3 cancel as fast as possible (when your Hadouken seems like a half moon at the super freeze, you know you are doing it right)
This image image shows stun damage types for Denjin Hadouken from 1 hit to 5 hit. Minimum 4 hit charged Denjin is required to stun characters with medium and short sun bar.
Because the player controls when to release Denjin, either early or late, the opponent is forced to guess/react to the attack. SA3 has a timer and it´s possible to accelerate it. There are different ways to do it:
» Mashing your controller: inputing a direction (up, down, left and right) accelerates the timer by 2 frames each time you do it. Inputing a diagonal (up left, up right, down right, down left) will accelerate the timer by 3 frames each time you do it.
» Mashing punches: inputing a punch (mash the ones that you didn´t use for activating Denjin, otherwise Denjin will be released) accelerates the timer by 1 frame each time you do it.
» Mashing kicks: inputing 2 buttons at the same time accelerates the timer by 1 frame each time you do it.
Best way to charge Denjin is to mash diagonals and punches
Setups
The most used setup is when Ryu knocks down his opponent (back throw, Tatsumaki, Joudan Geri, Shoryuken) and then meaty LP Hadouken xx SA3. If you do Shoryuken xx SA3, charge it until they stand up (be aware if they quick stand). Other used setups:
» cr.LK x2 xx LP Hadouken xx SA3
» cr.LK, cr.LP xx LP Hadouken xx SA3
» cr.LK x2, cr.MK xx LP Hadouken xx SA3
» cl.MK, cr.MP xx LP Hadouken xx SA3
» fwd.HP, st.MP/cr.MP xx LP Hadouken xx SA3
» cl.MP, far MP/cr.MP xx LP Hadouken xx SA3
» cr.LK, far MP xx LP Hadouken xx SA3 (Yun, Yang, Chun-Li, Oro and Elena needs to be standing so far MP can connect)
If your opponent if knocked down and they are closed to get stunned, you can do meaty cr.MK/cl.HP/cl.MK xx HP Shoryuken xx SA3 and stun them
If characters with long stun bar are hit with a 4 hit Denjin, you will need only one hit to stun them afterward (any move works except for LP, LK, cr.MK and cr.HK). Do it in a short period, their stun bar can recover very quickly, and if you are knocked down you can miss the chance for stun.
Best combo after stun is j.HP, cr.HP xx HK Tatsumaki. If you have EX meter do j.HP, cr.HP xx EX Joudan Geri, HK Tatsumaki/HP Shoryuken. If your opponent is too far, do j.HP, cr.MK xx HK Tatsumaki
After you stun Oro, Yun or Yang you will have to use j.HP, cr.HP xx HK Tatsumaki. The reason why you have to use cr.HP instead of cl.HP is because Ryu after doing cl.HP, Tatsumaki won´t hit. You might as well use cr.HP on all characters because it deals the same damage as cl.HP.
- Some Super Arts can go through Denjin or any other fireball. Here is list of super arts that have fireball invincibility:
| Character | Super Art(s) |
| Yun | SA2 |
| Q | SA1 |
| Oro | SA1 (QCF PP), SA3 (QCF PP) |
| Chun-Li | SA2, SA3 |
| Dudley | SA1, SA2, SA3 |
| Sean | SA3 |
| Twelve | SA1 |
| Elena | SA1 |
| Hugo | SA3 |
| Alex | SA3 |
| Yang | SA2 |
| Ken | SA1, SA2 |
Parry
Ryu's option select parry (SGGK) - Tap forward/down and press attack button + throw. When done at close range one of 2 things can happen:
» If the opponent attacked - Ryu will parry the attack and hit with the move you used. If you used cl.MK then Ryu will hit with cl.MK, if you used cr.HP then Ryu will hit with cr.HP, etc.
» If the opponent was blocking or tried to parry - he will get thrown.
To escape SGGK you can:
- Cancel into high priority move after parry (super, for example) and counter opponent's attack.
- Throw for a tech throw.
- Jump (Whenever you jump, always tap forward for air parry in case the opponent did some move that would usually hit you in air)
- Attack on spot where opponent didn't parry. Example - If the opponent taped down before they throw thhe will be vulnerable to mid attack, and the other way around.
When there is more than one attack during parry freeze then all attacks will be parried. Example - Twelve's SA1 hits very fast. If you press forward for parry once you will parry four attacks in split second.
Akuma's close range Kongou Kokuretsu Zan cannot be parried.
Anti parry tactics
- Throw - Standard way to punish opponent's parry attempt.
- Cancel into super or Shoryuken - This works if your move that got parried can be canceled into a special move. Example - Ryu's HK cannot be canceled into anything so your opponent can punish you safely after they parried it.
Notes and comments
- After EX Joudan Geri you can do HK Tatsu for good damage, meter and oki.
- Never use normal Shoryuken as reversal on wakeup, only EX Shoryuken.
- Dont fall for the same tactic twice. Make profile for your opponent and remember his moves.
- Use every Ryu's move. Total mixup is needed for victory.
- EX Joudan as a follow up to anything you can link it off lets you set an opponent up for extra damage.
- After EX Joudan Geri you can do cr.MP (whiff) and then Shoryuken, increasing your SA gauge a bit.
- A blocked HP Shoryuken is a prime candidate to be followed up with SA3.
» If you are going for a j.MK crossup, try to do it late so you can follow up with a combo after.
» Negative edge is when you are releasing a button after an input for a special or super instead of pressing it. Example: press P and hold it, do QCF input and release P. Hadouken still comes out.
» Piano input is when you input all 3 P or K buttons after an input for a special or super. This way you have more possibilities for SA or special to come out. Example: after fwd.HP do QCF QCF input and mash all 3 punch buttons. Now you dont have to bother timing SA2 after fwd.HP.
» If you are walking forward but you want to do hadouken quickly you will press HCF P instead QCF P, because Shoryuken would come out instead.
General playstyles
» eddieW: Ryu compared to Ken? While Ken has better and easier ways to land a super, Ryu has great damage and knockdown potential without a super. The way he plays Ryu is to select SA1 and play what he calls "Super Turbo Red Fireball Ryu", blended with some 3s tactics. The goal here is to score a knockdown, then dash in and 50/50 for some more damage (eg. with kara-throwing, or cr.LK, walk back to bait the throw, punish with cr.MK xx MK Tatsumaki for knockdown and good damage). If they get you off, EX Hadoukens will get your opponent to jump and score some extra damage.
» Super Art 2 playstyle: this is Ryu's most damaging super, so you'll want to find ways to land it. Mixup overhead and cr.MK on wakeups so your opponent won't know what´s coming next. You can link/hit confirm SA2 after UOH and hit confirm with cr.LK>cr.LK.
» Denjin Hadouken: like Shin Shoryuken, this super applies fear into the general tactics used in a match. While the most ideal setup uses a fully charged Denjin after a knockdown, players like Frankie3s have developed strategies of using half-charged Denjins to scare their opponents and catch them unaware. Example: cl.MP/cl.HP xx fireball xx Denjin.
Taunt
Taunt increases your stun recovery speed. First time you taunt you get 10% stun recovery speed and 21% for the second taunt. Lasts for whole round. Maximum 2 taunts, 33% bonus. But when you taunt you are wide open for an attack. Here there are situations when you can taunt:
» After EX Hadouken
» After SA1
» After LK Tatsamaki (before doing it, check if the opponent has an option to counter you when they quick rise)
» After Joudan Geri (recommended to do it midscreen. And before doing it, check if the opponent has an option to counter you when they quick rise)
» After SA2
It is recommended that you use taunt against these characters:
- Makoto - Necro - Alex - Yang - Oro
Also use it against any other character when your stun bar is critical.