Evil Ryu

Evil Ryu

So here is a write up of how I think about Evil Ryu based on what I’ve tested/discovered in Arcade Edition. As a character generally, Evil Ryu is definitely better than original Ryu. Evil Ryu has better zoning abilities, footsies and deals more damage. The bad thing about him is that he doesn’t have any un-techable wakeup knockdowns which can make some of the match ups like Abel…Dhalsim and more became harder than original Ryu. On top of that, Evil Ryu has low life and low stun stamina, which means he can’t really take risks or make mistakes like original Ryu.  Evil Ryu has this high damaging combo (st.fierce > mk axe kick > low strong > LK tatsu > SRK) that also deals high stun rate and basically that’s all he has which makes Evil Ryu strong/different from O.Ryu.

Footsies:

Evil Ryu’s low forward (cr.mk) is extremely reliable even though its start up speed is slower than original Ryu’s, but it has a very far range. The whole kick itself is LONG plus E.Ryu inches forward before kick comes out like O.Ryu’s st.forward (st.mk). When low forward used in combos, for example, low forward into fireball can NEVER be focused in between by your opponents.  However, E.Ryu’s probably has the slowest sweep and slowest recovery time out of all shotos even though he has Akuma’s sweep gesture.

Evil Ryu’s punches are all look the same..and I would say the same usage with them as well except the fierce punches. Evil Ryu has Akuma’s low fierce (probably one of the best Anti Air normal there is in the game) and his far standing fierce which is also good to be used as AA or footsies.

There’s nothing really changed when it comes to footsies when compared to Ryu or Akuma unless E.Ryu’s Axe Kick is used. E.Ryu’s LK Axe Kick is very useful and it’s safe on block. It can only be combo-ed off close fierce punches, low forward and far standing strong. However,  low strong > LK axe kick wouldn’t connect….

Anyways, I usually use low forward > LK Axe kick to get close to my opponent since its safe on block and it deals more chip damage when compared to fireball. BUT one thing I have to let you guys knows that his AXE Kick can be countered before it hits even if its combo-ed after any blocked normals.

Special Moves:

Now let me talk about the difference of his special moves compared to Ryu.

Fireball: Faster fireballs then Ryu but it seems to me that the recovery time is slower than Ryu’s.

Ex Version: Like Ken’s ex fireball but faster and doesn’t knock down like Ryu’s

Red Fireball: Exactly the same as Akuma’s red fireball

Ex Version: Same as Akuma’s

Hurricane Kick: Same as Akuma’s

Ex Version: Same as Ryu’s ex Tatsu

Air Hurricane Kick: When used off a neutral jump, it’s like Ryu’s…when used as cross up, it knocks your opponent really far….but there’s something to this Air tatsu I swear…it seems like I can connect off something because sometimes after it hits, my opponent lands pretty close to where I land and sometimes FUCKING far…WEIRD!

Shoryuken: All 3 versions are same as Ryu’s except the HP version has more invincibility and can be used as AA!

Ex version: 3 hits like Akuma’s

Axe Kick (Wheel Kick): Guard crush, LK version is safe on block, MK version can combo into low strong / low jab > anything but not safe on block and HK version is ridiculously slow and I don’t see a use for it yet….

Ex Version: Same speed and safe on block like Lk version’s except it’s an overhead.

Teleport: Not worth mentioning…..it’s slow… and nevertheless SHORT range.

Dive kick (jump+down MK): Also same as Akuma’s dive kick, but I can’t make a well use of it yet. It seems like whenever I perform this move on wake up I can get a traded or clean AA by my opponents.

Hop Kick (F.MK): Juggles and when performed, you are invulnerable from any low attacks. I use it like Ken’s F.MK because is somewhat similar to me. I am not sure if it’s safe on block…but so far I can tech throw or block in time (usually I get counter hit jabs or throw on block…) and it moves forward like Ken’s. This Hop Kick can also be KARA-ed Demon (Super).

OverHead Chop (F.MP): Exactly same as Akuma’s and can be KARA-ed into Demon (Super)

Close St.Hk: It somehow launches when used as AA and it will lead to a juggle state

Far Standing Mp: This normal is special move cancel-able like O.Ryu and can combo into LK Axe Kick. You can do damaging combos like low strongx2 > st.strong > Axe kick. It's a good damaging combo to use when your opponent is in crouching position where you couldn't connect your combo off a LK tatsu.

Focus Attack: His focus attack has a fairly far range and his Level 2 focus attack on block is similar to Fei Long’s. After it is blocked, even after my forward dash, I am still not in the range to perform a normal throw (Kara throw might work but I never tried).

Super: Akuma’s super, enough said

Ultra 1: Ryu’s Ultra 1 except can be charged by holding it down. I think it deals more damage and it’s still blockable…..

Ultra 2: Ken’s super + Ryu’s Ultra 2. Can be combo-ed off anyway except you get no animation unless you do combo like this..(low forward > ex fireball > fadc > U2). I’ve been trying low forward> fireball > fadc > U2 but never landed it once yet…probably the start up time for this ultra is not fast enough.L

Target Combo: Akuma’s target combo…close St.strong > st.fierce …not cancelable. I don’t see a use of this…

Kara throw/kara focus: Evil Ryu also has a KEN range Kara throw and a slightly inched Kara Focus. The input is throw + fierce punch/focus +fierce.

Conclusion:

Evil Ryu can be really good ONLY if you are good with your close up games. You can kill your opponent with simple low strong frame traps into the high damaging combo mixing with kara throws. Basically the axe kick combo is all E.Ryu has to make him scary and it is important to land this combo at a safe distance where you can low forward hit confirm > fireball > fadc > combo. Evil Ryu also builds meter WAY faster than Ryu and he does need to use a lot of meters in order to be strong imo.

So this is all I can try about E.Ryu right now..hopefully when console hits I can update you guys with more info with this character.

To see more of my Evil Ryu game play, please go to my youtube channel SSF4AE.