Ryu vs Rufus

Rufus

I am sure this guide would help you guys out because this is one of my best match up! I personally find this match up fun. First you guys got to know that Rufus' footsies = almost no footsies and he basically can't land any damage on you unless in a close. Very straight forward, as long as you can keep him out = you win. He gets close,  you are done. Of course, my guide won't be THAT simple...I will also explain on how and when you can/should attack Rufus without fear.

Ground Game:

Far Range: Rufus has this long stretched arm range like Dhaslim's that hits 3 quarters of the screen. This normal can be punished in several ways even in such far range.

·                     Throw Super once you blocked the low fierce or Rufus'

·                     Focus dash through the arm and sweep

·                     Focus dash through the arm and Ultra 1

Throwing fireball is safe until Rufus he at a bit further of half of the screen where his forward jump fierce reaches so far that can hit your arms before you recover from the Hadoken. Rufus' jump fierce, though hit at a max distance still able to connect into EX Tornado or Ultra 1.

Mid Range: This is where Rufus would dive kick like crazy just because it's the best range and the easier way for them to get close. Have yourself prepared for dive kicks and ready to counter with SRK. Rufus also has a long reliable sweep. So don't forget to block low while waiting for the dive kicks. Poking with low forward involves some risk of getting stomped by the dive kick. As a subsitute, you can use low strong to keep him on the ground or hits Rufus out of the air if he ever dive kicks.

Close Range: It’s either Rufus going to dive kick like mad or low jab like no tomorrow to apply pressure. Block that shit while doing low strong OS tech throw. (cr.lp+cr.lk+cr.mp...if you dont know what i am talking about read Fundamental Part...uhhh...I forgot...LOOK IT UP YOURSELF)

Counter:

Messiah Kick: Can beat it clean with SRK or Ultra (focus attack as well) as long as it is not followed up by a flip kick or SRK him before he hits you with the first part of this move.

Ex Messiah Kick: Same as normal version

Snake Strike: Punish when he drops

Ex Snake Strike: Same as normal version

Tornado: Depending on the range. If it's coming from a half way distance where you can hit him before his palm sticks out, you can punish with anything except HADOKEN. If it's coming at a farely close range, use MP SRK for best result.

Ex Torndado: SRK/Ultra/Super when Rufus sucks you half way in and right before his palm hits you. (I am famous for countering this move, OOOHHH YEAH!!)

Video Below 1:29

Against Ultra 1: This ultra is used into ultra or sometimes AA. So yah…be careful jumping in and uhhh…don’t get combo-ed.

Against Ultra 2: Works like Chun Li’s ultra 1, goes through fireball, but safe if FULL screen. Don’t throw fireball when he has ultra meter!!

On Ryu's Wakeup:

Crossup or front dive kicks mainly....some would probably do overhead which deals no damage (be careful when you can die with an overhead life) or Ex messiah kick baiting your tech throws.

Against dive kicks on wakeup basically there is nothing much that you can do but block. However, depending on the height that Rufus dives in, if it’s not lower than your shoulder nor counter hit, if I am not mistaken, Rufus is at 0F...which means you can poke him out with low jabs or mash on throw.

Mind games and Option Select:

This is very important in case some of you don’t know about this....when you are up close at zero distance to Rufus, throwing out meaty low jabs/low short can make the second part of the messiah kick whiffs. It works with most of the cast; however there is a requirement in order to make this work. After you knock down your opponent whether it’s a tech-able or untechable, as long as Rufus’ legs in front of your legs, your meaty low jab/short will make the ex messiah kick whiff.

Video below 2:44

Since this is a Ryu guide, I will only explain it in Ryu’s point of view. Basically any attack that can knock Rufus down, when he’s DOWN, he will have his legs in infront of your legs except thrown by Ryu’s (either forward or back throw) which will cause Rufus’ head infront of your legs. In this case, no matter how close your meaty is, it will not whiff.

So here are the option select you can use. After an untechable knock down a jump in ex SRK beats all his wakeup option (makes ex snake strike whiff). On ground, OS sweep would be your best option because Rufus can’t do anything (ex messiah will whiff) but block, it stops all of his wakeup option except ultra.

When Ryu ever does a SRK > FADC > forward dash, Ryu’s low jab beats all of Rufus’ options except ultra in this situation as well. (You do not want to FADC > throw on Rufus otherwise Rufus CAN jump immediately and hit your whiffed grab gesture like video below 3:03.

Also, in this matchup, sitting on a super meter can be very threatened. Even if Rufus fadc his ex messiah kick, regardless a forward/back dash your super will hit. (Video below 3:55)

Cross up attacks, especially crossup tatsu would be very reliable in this matchup once the Rufus player starts blocking your entire jump in attacks

Things to be aware of:

Always keep in mind that Rufus player would always want to jump at you because of the character‘s weak ground game. Be prepared to AA every single jump in don’t jump in recklessly on Rufus due to his strong AA which can cost you a lot of life. Rufus’ far standing roundhouse can sometimes be very scary, usually used as a meaty on Ryu’s wakeup or follow by some safe pokes (e.g low jabx3), so beware.

Furthermore, when being pressured by endless dive kicks, instant jump back roundhouse/fierce can give you a surprising result.

As usual, comments and questions….you know where to ask!

*Don’t hesitate to let me know if I am missing something, I will add it on J*