Guile
Match up:
This was an even match up in vanilla, but since the release of Super, Guile got buffed special moves, normals moves and the new ultra, Sonic Hurricane. These changes made this match up DAMN hard for Ryu. Now I would say it’s a 6:4 match up now and because of the new ultra II, it shifts to a 6.5:3.5 match up in Guile’s favour when he has it.
There’s basically only two efficient ways to win in this match up. One way is to lame it out and the other one is to out play Guile in footsies. What I mean by “lame it out” is winning the game by TIME OVER. All you need to do is play full screen fireball war and get super meter. Once you have that, land your super to get the life lead and turtle it out until TIME OVER. With this strategy, all you need is good defense and landing your super accurately. So in this guide I won’t elaborate on this strategy because the above sentences on top already said it all. I will talk about the other strategy, successful footsies.
Ground game:
Far Range: This is the perfect range to throw no risk fireballs. This is a good chance to build meter and slowly push your opponent into the corner. Remember, Guile is a charge based character, which means if he has play a fireball war, he will have to eventually walk back a little after each Sonic Boom he throws. If and when he does, move Ryu towards the opponent while maintaining the safe distance.
Mid Range: This is a tricky range where you CAN throw fireballs, but it is riskier because if your fireball hits his sonic boom, Guile is able to recover in time to hit you with his normals while Ryu is still recovering. At this range after you block a sonic boom, you might want to keep blocking, and then move to a safer distance. Ryu’s most reliable normals as footsies would be low forward and and low strong. Majority of the Guile uses stand roundhouse and his forward fierce (the backfist).
*Footsies section* Ryu’s low forward beats Guile’s backfist punch, but it loses to his standing roundhouse.
However, Ryu’s low strong beats Guile’s standing roundhouse. Guile's backfist whiffs on crouching position
Guile is not too good in the ground game without sonic boom’s help. Therefore you want to be in your max distance range of your low forward which Guile doesn’t really have an answer to. This is also a range where a lot of Ryu’s will try to jump over sonic booms to get in. Guile players will look to use Guile’s great anti-air normals to punish these jump-ins, so you have to watch out.
Close Range: Once you get a chance to get close, this is where you DO NOT want to let Guile get away. This is basically a free distance where Guile can’t do anything but tech or block, much like Dhalsim. But don’t forget Guile does have a Flashkick so beware, especially when he has 2 stocks of meter where flashkick can be FADC’d safely. All Guiles when being pressured, sooner or later they will pull out a flashkick hoping it will hit to get out of trouble. In this situation, when you are applying pressure you would want to do safe poke strings to anticipate and bait the flashkicks and then fully punish.
On Ryu’s Wakeup:
Luckily, Guile has no strong wakeup pressure, also known as “okizeme.” All he has is an overhead punch, throw and a crossup jump short which none of them do big damage. It’s better to start off with blocking low anyways just so that if Guile ever does low forward > overhead combo, at least you only get hit by the overhead and not both. When cornered by sonic boom poke strings, make sure you keep blocking until you can actually move.
Counter:
Flash Kick: You can trade it with MP SRK, but it’s not a good deal because the damage is in Guile’s favor. To beat this move clean, use EX SRK only. EX Version: Only ex srk can beat this version.
Sonic Boom (EX and regular): An early hurricane kick or super at the correct distance.
Against Ultra 1:
This ultra is actually not scary at all. Most Guiles would just use it to anti air (which is not easy) or use it on wakeup for a surprise attack.
Against Ultra 2:
This is the best Ultra in the game - fast recovery, fast startup, far range, hits as a projectile and is a good anti-air. When Guile has ultra, you do want to make sure you are out of the hadouken trading range. Make sure you throw your hadoken when he has no charge. On top of that, U2 is can do a reversal on a blocked sweep. If you are unsure with your sweep, don’t just throw it out there.
Mind games and Option select:
Match up:
This was an even match up in vanilla, but since the release of Super, Guile got buffed special moves, normals moves and the new ultra, Sonic Hurricane. These changes made this match up DAMN hard for Ryu. Now I would say it’s a 6:4 match up now and because of the new ultra II, it shifts to a 6.5:3.5 match up in Guile’s favour when he has it.
There’s basically only two efficient ways to win in this match up. One way is to lame it out and the other one is to out play Guile in footsies. What I mean by “lame it out” is winning the game by TIME OVER. All you need to do is play full screen fireball war and get super meter. Once you have that, land your super to get the life lead and turtle it out until TIME OVER. With this strategy, all you need is good defense and landing your super accurately. So in this guide I won’t elaborate on this strategy because the above sentences on top already said it all. I will talk about the other strategy, successful footsies.
Ground game:
Far Range: This is the perfect range to throw no risk fireballs. This is a good chance to build meter and slowly push your opponent into the corner. Remember, Guile is a charge based character, which means if he has play a fireball war, he will have to eventually walk back a little after each Sonic Boom he throws. If and when he does, move Ryu towards the opponent while maintaining the safe distance.
Mid Range: This is a tricky range where you CAN throw fireballs, but it is riskier because if your fireball hits his sonic boom, Guile is able to recover in time to hit you with his normals while Ryu is still recovering. At this range after you block a sonic boom, you might want to keep blocking, and then move to a safer distance. Ryu’s most reliable normals as footsies would be low forward and and low strong. Majority of the Guile uses stand roundhouse and his forward fierce (the backfist).
*Footsies section* Ryu’s low forward beats Guile’s backfist punch, but it loses to his standing roundhouse.
However, Ryu’s low strong beats Guile’s standing roundhouse. Guile's backfist whiffs on crouching position
Guile is not too good in the ground game without sonic boom’s help. Therefore you want to be in your max distance range of your low forward which Guile doesn’t really have an answer to. This is also a range where a lot of Ryu’s will try to jump over sonic booms to get in. Guile players will look to use Guile’s great anti-air normals to punish these jump-ins, so you have to watch out.
Close Range: Once you get a chance to get close, this is where you DO NOT want to let Guile get away. This is basically a free distance where Guile can’t do anything but tech or block, much like Dhalsim. But don’t forget Guile does have a Flashkick so beware, especially when he has 2 stocks of meter where flashkick can be FADC’d safely. All Guiles when being pressured, sooner or later they will pull out a flashkick hoping it will hit to get out of trouble. In this situation, when you are applying pressure you would want to do safe poke strings to anticipate and bait the flashkicks and then fully punish.
On Ryu’s Wakeup:
Luckily, Guile has no strong wakeup pressure, also known as “okizeme.” All he has is an overhead punch, throw and a crossup jump short which none of them do big damage. It’s better to start off with blocking low anyways just so that if Guile ever does low forward > overhead combo, at least you only get hit by the overhead and not both. When cornered by sonic boom poke strings, make sure you keep blocking until you can actually move.
Counter:
Flash Kick: You can trade it with MP SRK, but it’s not a good deal because the damage is in Guile’s favor. To beat this move clean, use EX SRK only. EX Version: Only ex srk can beat this version.
Sonic Boom (EX and regular): An early hurricane kick or super at the correct distance.
Against Ultra 1:
This ultra is actually not scary at all. Most Guiles would just use it to anti air (which is not easy) or use it on wakeup for a surprise attack.
Against Ultra 2:
This is the best Ultra in the game - fast recovery, fast startup, far range, hits as a projectile and is a good anti-air. When Guile has ultra, you do want to make sure you are out of the hadouken trading range. Make sure you throw your hadoken when he has no charge. On top of that, U2 is can do a reversal on a blocked sweep. If you are unsure with your sweep, don’t just throw it out there.
Mind games and Option select:
Even though Guile has been buffed by a lot, the good thing is that once you get a knock down, you get a free jump in attack (ones that are above his head). The flashkick can’t hit you, it’s either you beat his move or he whiffs and you end up behind him where you punish with your big fat combo. Mix this up with a crossup forward kick and when you have a lead, to just land a bit more damage, crossup hurricane works well (especially when you can link it with SUPER). Remember, all charge based characters are afraid of crossup attacks because they lose their charge.
Option select wise, there is not too much, but after a knock down I do recommend using a jump in attack > OS hurricane kick just so that you push Guile in the corner quicker. You can also use jump in attack > OS ex srk if you predict your opponent is going to do a flash kick.
Things to be aware of:
- Ryu players have to treat this like a Dhalsim match up - you do not want to jump recklessly. And you do also need to be aware of wakeup flashkick which Dhalsim does not have. There is also a very good way to burn Guile’s meters. Usually after you focus backdash a sonic boom, it seems like most of the Guile players will throw out EX sonic boom right away just hoping they can hit with it. So after a focus backdashing a Sonic boom, watch out for the EX boom and block or jump.
- When you have Guile down and he has meters to FADC, you might want to stand at a distance where it looks like Guile can FADC after flashkick hits but where he actually CAN’T (Test the spacing in training mode). It’s a very good bait that you get to burn 2 of his meters and also free punish with a BIG combo.
- Oh, and one more thing - if Guile throws a sonic boom and if you happen to neutral jump to evade it..don’t press any attack on the way down. Guile would most likely do his low fierce which whiffs if you don’t press anything and he’s not close enough to hit you. You get a free combo when he whiffs. However, when the Guile player adapts to how you play and starts hitting you out of the air with just standing fierce, NOW you can use neutral jump STRONG which can beat his standing fierce. Mix them up just to make them hesitate whenever Guile anti-airs you.
That’s about it for this guide…..any more questions? Ask them in the comments!
Thanks AIR,,Great matchup..!just wanna know anything to do when he follows his sonic booms..
ReplyDeleteGreat guide Air. I dislike however, how you put a little asterisk saying how ALL of us charge character users are afraid of crossups? lol. Everything on the Ryu-Guile match up seems pretty solid but I would still like to get some matches in with you. I won't disappoint as more than half my time of learning Guile was against shotos. They fear the boom. :) -iSomeAssault
ReplyDelete@Himanshu they can connect to any normals..it's really depends on the player...so this is where u gottta read and adapt to your opponent :)
ReplyDelete@Kevin see when we can play :)
Really interesting guide !
ReplyDeleteAs a Guile player, I agree that most of the time I lose to a Ryu, it's either great footsies (rare) or full screen laming. As good as sonic booms are now, Guile still can't keep up in the fireball war if the Ryu player has good execution and spacing. Eventually, Guile has to take some risks to get in.
ReplyDelete@Jk exactly, this matchup is like almost same as Chun. Whoever life leads, turtle, n your opponent has to come to u for a comeback~
ReplyDelete@Ezo thank you
ReplyDeletethank you very much for this -- this was very informative as ive been playing alot of solid guiles lately. strong, defensive guiles are a bitch to play. i was a 3800-4000 ryu player and have been in a slump lately with sloppy play but i think this will help.. good lookin out
ReplyDelete@arthur thank you, glad this helped you.
ReplyDeleteExcellent guide Air! Guile is a nightmare matchup for me, this guide helps to refine my play style .
ReplyDeleteA little confused..when you say you get a free jump in after you knock Guile down, once the attack is "above his head" , does that stop him from doing the wake up Flash Kick? Would that be like a jumping Hard Kick done early or something?
ReplyDeleteI understand the cross up but landing the attack "above his head" is the confusing part. If you have any videos where you did that it would be helpful. Thanks!
@Dejan hmm...sorry for making you confuse..i guess i should say a jump attack that hits right before it shifts to a crossup..? Would this explanation help?
ReplyDeleteOk. Understood! Thanks alot man!
ReplyDeletesince guile got nerfed in AE.. do you think the matchup is still the same or do you think ryu has the upper hand against guile
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this great guide. I really love reading your blog
ReplyDelete