Thoughts on Ryu's Neutral Game

Ryu is a very scary character. From playing him, to playing against him, trust me that he is probably one of the most terrifying characters for either. Now, Ryu has some insane priority moes such as is true input Shoryuken (TSRK) that make him scary to play against. A 2 frame move can combo into this TSRK and kill the cast starting around 70%, or even earlier depending on platforms/ weight/ and if Ryu is in rage. Also, getting to 70% isn't a problem if you're good at comboing. Two of Ryu's B&B combos will probably put them into kill percent. The problem is, how does Ryu get in to do these combos? Now these are just some of my thoughts and how I've been successful at becoming one of the better Ryu players on Anther's Ladder.  Ryu for sure has one of the best punish games in the entire game, if not the very best. Ryu is able to kill most of the cast completely true from landing a single focus attack, but he struggles in the neutral. Now, I have been able to help myself in the neutral, and it  is all about a very few things. The first thing that is important is spacing. Spacing is an absolute must for Ryu, and the problem with it is, it's not his spacing, it's the spacing that his opponent wants to be at. Ryu can have an amazing bait and punish game. Utilizing techniques such as U-turn tilting, he can move slowly into the range his opponent wants him, bait the opponents moves, and then quickly slide out of reach, and start a punish. This is one of his best ways to win the neutral. Obviously, his next best is being agressive. Ryu is scary up close, and keeping yourself up close can pretty much gaurentee you will win the neutral. People aren't able to spot dodge or roll safely due to his tilts and Tatsu respectively. So shielding is an option, but again Ryu can break shields extremely easily, and has one of the highest damaging throws in the game. So, it's fight back or die, and generally Ryu will beat most characters up close. These were just some ideas I wanted to get out in writing to hopefully help others and help myself analyze his neutral game. He has more options than any other character in the game do to the sheer fact that he has more moves than any other character, but how to utilize them is extremely character dependent and quite overwhelming. Hopefully this has helped you as it has helped myself.