RYU UNRANKED TO MASTER AND PROS/CONS

THE STATS

• Starting from Unranked, it took 128 matches to hit Master rank (I played two additional matches after hitting Master. My winrate was 89%+ before the two matches). This was all during Phase 1 of SF6’s Ranking Ladder.
• I’m playing from New York/East Coast.
• I don’t think I ran into a single Master ranked player during my run to Master. The last half of my run was after the latest matchmaking update.
• Ryu is my 4th character to Master. I plan on getting Master Rank with every character in the game and documenting my thoughts on all of them.

GENERAL RYU TIPS

• Ryu’s gameplay should be mostly grounded, focusing on his fireball game, shoryuken (“DP”) antiairs, and strong footsies buttons (ex: crMK, sHP, sMK, crHK). Ryu should generally not be raw drive rushing in or dashing in for pressure. It’s ok to use raw QCF+MK/QCF+HK in neutral sometimes if they’re spaced well.
• My main and most used anti-air is DP+LP. It is the fastest anti-air that Ryu has (5F) and it doesn’t travel as far forward as his other DPs, making it very good as a last second anti-air and cross-cut DP. It also leads to the best oki out of all his DPs. I only use his sHK as an anti-air for far jumps that bait anti-air DP. His jMP is also useful as a reactionary air-to-air. And finally, I never use crHP as an anti-air.
• His main drive rush (“DR”) cancels are from his crMK and his sHP. His crMK DR is very good as a whiff punish starter and catching your opponents that are walking forward towards (or backwards from) you in neutral. His sHP DR is hit confirmable and leads into big damage. When you DR from a blocked crMK, you can throw, go into a gapless blocked crLP (+3), or go into a blocked crMP (+4) to continue pressure. When you DR from a blocked sHP, you have enough block stun to go into a gapless blocked crLP (+3), gapless blocked crMP (+4), or gapless blocked sHP (+2). Blocked sHP xx DR sHP does 1 bar of drive damage so it’s very good for burning your opponent out.
• I use Denjin Charge (“DJ”) sparingly but it’s not my main priority in matches. If I find the opportunity, I’ll sneak a charge in so I can use DJ fireballs in neutral or start combos with crMP or sHP xx DJ QCB+P, DR crHP xx special move. Also, if you manage to get a stun from a burn out drive impact (“DI”), you should always stock DJ so you can access Ryu’s most damaging corner combos.
• His main use of Super meter is for his Level 3/CA. I generally don’t use super meter throughout the match until I get Level 3/CA. Ryu’s anti-air game becomes very scary with Level 3/CA because he gains the ability to do late (cross-cut) DP+LP xx Level 3/CA. I will use his Level 1 or Level 2 supers if they will secure me the round but generally, they only have some fringe uses.
• Ryu can do meaty fireball oki near the corner after QCB+LK and DP+LP. If you whiff sLP after QCB+LK near the corner, immediate QCF+LP after is +6 on hit (“OH”)/+2 on block (“OB”). If you whiff crLP after DP+LP near the corner, immediate QCF+LP after is +7 OH/+3 OB. This is very useful vs wakeup Level 1s and JP’s wakeup Amnesia because they lose to fireballs.

RYU’S PROS

• His above average damage. Specifically, his damage from sHP DR and his corner damage (ex: QCF+HK into DP+LP juggle).
• His neutral game. Ryu has a great DP for anti-airing and he has great footsies buttons (ex: crMK, sHP, sMK, crHK).
• His fireball game. His fireballs all do ~0.25 drive bar on block and they’re good for getting additional damage in neutral while also forcing your opponent to respond (by either jumping, parrying, etc.). He also has meaty fireball oki which is just generally useful.
• His throw loop. Ryu has a very easy and strong throw loop near the corner. He can whiff sLP after forward throw near the corner for an auto-timed +4 knockdown. He can also just manually throw loop (which allows him to also walk backwards for a powerful sHP (PC) xx QCF+HK shimmy).
• His fMP overhead. Ryu has an overhead normal, which is very useful when you use DR fMP as a combo starter. Ryu can combo sMP xx special move/DR after DR fMP, which can lead to big damage if the opponent is caught blocking low.

RYU’S CONS

• His simplicity. Everyone generally knows how to fight the Ryu matchup because his general game plan hasn’t changed since SF2. Ryu has very little surprises in the way he pressures the opponent, which can be seen as a flaw at the highest level.
• His lack of “surprise” special moves. Ryu’s special moves are very basic and don’t lead to mix ups on block (except QCB+HP, which can lead to a strike/throw situation). In comparison, Ken in SF6 has DP+HK (HK Dragonlash), which forces quick guessing situations and his Jinrai special move (which forces the opponent to guess between a low, high, or no follow up).
• His supers. Outside of Level 3, his supers aren’t very useful in helping Ryu win the round faster. His level 1 and level 2 are best used as round enders and generally don’t lead to good oki.
• His lack of good oki midscreen. If Ryu wants to get decent oki midscreen, he has to combo into QCB+MK, which doesn’t lead into point blank oki if the opponent back rises.

MY OPINION ON RYU’S TIER LIST PLACEMENT

• I personally think Ryu is at the very least mid tier in SF6. He has all the tools to win a tournament. I don’t think he has the potential to go up in the tier list because of his simplicity but also, I don’t think he’s a bad character whatsoever.