Street Fighter X Tekken/Ryu/Introduction

Introduction

Ideal Team Position: Either (point preferred)

A wandering street fighter who trains rigorously in order to become a true martial artist. Studied the art of Ansatsuken from his master Gouken, but does not wield it to take lives. He wishes to test his mettle against fighters around the world in order to find an answer in the heart of battle. He searches for Pandora to see if there is a connection between it and the Satsui no Hado.

Ryu is the quintessential "basic" character in fighting games with an intuitive array of punches and kicks, and very basic special moves. This simplicity makes Ryu a favorite for beginner and intermediate players. Ryu is available in every single Street Fighter game, allowing players familiar with previous Street Fighter games to begin playing immediately, without having to worry about learning how to use a new character, however, there are a few tweaks in his moveset which vary depending on the game.

A controversial character, Ryu has been lauded as a Top 5 character by 3-time EVO champion Esuta, and disregarded as mid-tier by others. If you want to favor Esuta’s argument, his high damage output, possession of multiple true reversals, and a fearsome corner game with numerous ways to bring the opponent there are good evidence. On the flipside, he is greatly reliant on meter to make an opponent truly fear him, and his ability to control neutral is highly reliant on the player’s ability to zone and anti-air when necessary. He also lacks the abusable blockstrings that more agreed-upon top-tier characters possess, which can lock him into a “too honest” mindset. The balance of his strengths and weaknesses has seen him through successes in high-level play at both the point and anchor positions of the winning team, but having him in the back allows his partner to build the meter he needs to end a match quickly and painfully, where he can then sit on a life lead and resume the patient, neutral-based gameplay needed to lock up a match. You can have him on point and use your confidence in your ability to control space to set the tone for the rest of the match.

Strengths

Weaknesses

High damage output with 1 bar of meter or more Possesses a true DP can cancel sweep into special moves, particularly Hadoken, to continue pressure if blocked Can be played either offensively or defensively thanks to CADC mechanic Long knockback properties of Tatsumaki Senpukyaku, as well as the Joudan Sokutogeri, give him excellent wall carry to set up his devastating corner combos f+MP overhead can lead to a full standing combo if tag canceled

Full Boost combos will frequently whiff on hit when done more than 2 paces away. Launcher ender must be converted into manually to avoid whiffing, and being punished due to the whiff thanks to long recovery. Standing midscreen combos are greatly limited without meter as his strongest combo starter, f+HP, is slow on startup and neutral on block Does not have blockstrings that allow him to pressure opponent, even at optimal ranges