Character Analysis - Ryu (Part 3)

Now that I have gone over some of the basics about Ryu such as his moves and his unique attacks, I am going to go over a bit about his play style, how to learn to play him, and some tips about him in competitive play.

So, Ryu is a pretty heavy hitter. His moves are quite fast and combo extremely well. One punish can lead from anywhere from 25% off of a down tilt, to 50% + off of a focus attack (Down B). His moves that start combos or are able to combo well include light down tilt, light up tilt, nair, light hit of fair, and focus attack. All of these can combo into much more powerful attacks like his Shoryuken, or be used to rack up some quick damage. He is great at surviving. He is one of the heaviest characters in the game, can use Focus attack to dash cancel in the air, or use his side b to make up a great distance even in the air. His vertical recovery is pretty wonderful as well, as his shoryuken goes pretty high. Although he can be gimped by accidentally inputting one of his special moves instead of the move you were trying to input, his recovery over all is one of the best in the game. He is amazing at getting kills, needing to connect a frame two move ( light down tilt) to then connect into Shoryuken. Focus attack is amazing at getting early kills because you can lead into a nair, followed by an off stage dair.

Ryu has an incredible amount of shield damage he can apply. His light hit of his forward air down half the damage on a shield, and his heavy forward tilt down 95% of a shields capacity. If you combo a light down tilt or up tilt into a heavy down tilt it will completely break your opponents shield. This amount of shield damage is unmatched by any character in the game and is why he is such a high tier. I think that the ability to break an opponent's shield increases his kill potential too, as you can get in a fully charged forward smash to break their shield, or if you time it correctly, you could lead into a focus attack as soon as they come out of being stunned.

So over all, I think Ryu falls in the top 5 best characters in the game, and earns himself a slot in the S tier of characters.