Ryu vs Gen

Gen

This matchup is rare to see simply because nobody plays Gen. But the matchup is slightly in Gen's favor, making it even harder since the Gen player will usually have more Ryu matchup experience than the Ryu player. This is most likely a 5.5-4.5 or 6-4 matchup in Gen's favor, especially when he gets Ultra 2. This matchup is difficult, as keeping Gen out is rather hard with his 2 jump ranges and insane amount of normals thanks to his two stances.

Ground Game:

Far Range: Gen has nothing at this range unless he has Ultra 2. Just keep him out while building meter with fireballs. The only thing he can do at this range is a wall dive to try to go over fireballs, but unless you throw a fireball AFTER he wall dives, Ryu will always recover in time to block or uppercut.

Mid Range: This is the range that Gen players will usually sit when they're getting close to filling up their Super meter. Gen's normals are superior to majority of the game's cast, including characters like Chun Li. So without a doubt, Gen's control at this range is insane. The range of his normals are extremely long, fast and recover very quickly as well. Gen's sweep outranges Ryu's by a mile and Ryu's sweep is punishable by Gen's sweep on block. Once Gen gains Super meter, any poke at this range will definitely lead into Super.

Close Range: When you realize Gen has such a great mid range, you wouldn't think his close range is that good, but his close range is probably even better than his mid range thanks to the new Target Combos that were added in to Arcade Edition. Gen has all sorts of frame traps and block strings, along with a pretty far ranged kara throw. But this is also the range Ryu wants to get in to, because with Gen's low Health and Stun, a few good guesses will win the round.

On Ryu's Wake Up:

One of the scariest things about waking up against a good Gen player is his Crane stance Jump Medium Kick that has an extremely ambiguous crossup hitbox. This move is very difficult to uppercut on wakeup, because the move is generally pretty safe, which forces Ryu to guess which side to block on most of his wake ups.

Counters:

Gen doesn't have a lot of Special moves but a good number of ultras. Although Ultra 2 is the favorable ultra for this matchup as Gen, Gen plays still tend to use Ultra 1 for it's high damage combo ability after a Super.

Mantis Stance

Hyakuretsuko (Hands): Generally used after a long ranged poke to confirm into super, or for the minor chip damage. (CANNOT be punished unless he randomly uses it, which can be punished by almost anything fast.)

EX Hyakuretsuko: Comes out faster, recovers faster, more hit and pushes opponent farther, but thats it. Won't really be used outside of combos, so not much to say

Gekiro (Upkicks): SRK will beat it since the HK version comes out in 7 frames while only LK is 5 frame start up. This move is tricky even when blocked, as Gen enters a very slow floating state that he can kick up one more time. Instead of trying to wait for a full punish, since he can just bait it out and kick you again, just SRK him after blocking the first hit. The normal versions and EX version all have 4 frames of invulnerability, but since the move doesn't hit until 7 frames, thats a 3 frame window to punish. If you beat out a normal version after the 4 frames, Gen is punished GROUNDED.

EX Gekiro: 7F start up and has more invulnerability than normal as well.

Zan'ei (Super): This move can be used to punish Ryu's sweep on block. Gen players won't use this outside of combos or punishes, but if Gen does it randomly, it'll put Gen at a far distance away, making it hard to give a full punish. Ryu has a few options. Walk towards and sweep, HK Tatsu, Super or Ultra 1 punish.

Zetsuei (Ultra 1): This move can also punish Ryu's sweep on block. Similarly to his Super, unless comboed into or used as a punish, this move won't be used often. On block, this move can easily be punished with Forward+Fierce combo or Ultras.

Shitenketsu (Ultra 2): Like all the previous moves, can be used to punish Ryu's sweep (close-mid range, safe at full range for this one). This Ultra comes out extremely quick, and is a decent anti-air, however it can no longer be comboed into, outside of a 1 frame link on certain characters. This Ultra is unique, in that it does GREY damage instead of normal damage. It's bad. Just run away from Gen until the damage is recovered, and Gen will have just wasted his ultra. Punish with sweep or Super.

Crane Stance

Jyasen (Roll): This move isn't that good. Gen rolls quite slowly, so it's easy to react to and punish from a distance, but if Gen does the Light version to poke at mid range, it's difficult to react to. This move is -3 on block, so a SRK or Super will punish it. SRK will only punish it if Ryu blocks the entire roll, if Gen only hits with the tip of the last hit, it's not punishable with SRK

Oga (Wall dives): This move and all of it's variations are quite bad. All of them are quite punishable on block, but a well timed SRK will beat them before they even hit Ryu. The straight down drop from above looks tricky, but Ryu can just block it EITHER direction. The move takes too long and lets Ryu walk under and just block it. If he tries to do it MEATY on Ryu's wakeup, just SRK him, however if you're not sure and you just want to block it, block towards the side that he flew to before he went above Ryu's head. IE If he clings to LEFT wall then goes top to drop down, you hold Left to block.

Jyakoha (Super): Hands down the best anti-air in the game. This move comes out at 1+1 frame, however it cannot catch a 4f safe jump like Ryu's sweep > jump in roundhouse. ANY form of jump ins are pretty much no longer an option when Gen has a super meter ready to burn.

Ryukoha (Ultra 1): After seeing his Super, you'd think his Ultra would be a better version of it, but no it's actually FAR worse than his Super version. This Ultra comes out in 11 frames, and unless used near the beginning of an opponent's jump, will WHIFF as an anti-air. Be wary about trying to chip Gen to death with SRK if he hits this Ultra stocked up, as it WILL beat SRK.

Teiga (Ultra 2): Similar to Chun or Abel's ultras this one allows Gen to go through fireballs to hit Ryu. However Gen has to be in the air in Crane stance in order to use it. This Ultra travels extremely fast and covers a LOT of horizontal space, so FADCing a fireball will still get you hit by it. Once Gen gets Ultra 2, it's extremely hard to play a fireball game against him, especially if the Gen player knows how to tiger knee it, making it come out faster.

Mind games and Option Selects:

Gen is unique, as he wakes up slightly slower than the rest of the cast with 1frame invincibility if he stays neutral )not press anything) Yang and SSF4 Ibuki's glitch. Therefore as a result, Ryu's safejump after a sweep doesn't work anymore. Ryu has to delay the jump a TINY bit in order for the jumpin attack to connect. Ryu has to guess on which Option Select to do against Gen on every jump in. But jump in OS hurricane kick and sweep are the best choices. OS SRK will LOSE to Gen's EX Gekiro, stuff normal Gekiro and WHIFF backdash, as Gen's backdash is one of, if not the best backdashes in the game. OS Hurricane and sweep will catch his backdash but lose to EX Gekiro and trade with normal Gekiro. For the most part, the matchup plays similarly to the vs Chun Li matchup, except he doesn't have a fireball, so the BEGINNING of the rounds is where Ryu should shine. However Gen's Super and Ultras bring so much utility to the match that just having them stops Ryu from doing many things.

Gen's Super can be OSed onto any poke he throws out, ensuring that if he catches Ryu's limbs, the Super will come out instantly and guarantee a combo around 50% of Ryu's life. Gen's antiair super comes out so quickly that not even safe jumps are safe anymore. Gen's Ultra 2 immediately puts a stop to any fireballs, and antiairing Gen with normals are no longer safe. Ultra 2 WILL lose to a SRK though (or trade, completely in Ryu's favor).

Things to be aware of:

Once Gen obtains his Super/Ultras, the game is pretty much completely in Gen's hands and how he uses his Super/Ultras. Sometimes it's in Ryu's favor to try to make Gen blow his Super if it's only Round 2 where Ryu won the first round. Playing footsies against Gen with full Super is extremely deadly, as one mistake and you pretty much lost the round. Basically, Gen with Super+Ultra is extremely hard to zone, either you get in and wreck him at close range, or you try to make him waste his Super.

Credits to SCHOWT for helping me with this write up.

Once again, any questions please comment below or follow me @ facebook/twitter and I will answer you questions there. 

Ryu vs Ibuki

Ibuki

This might be a lot of people’s worst match up and it’s also one of my worst. Even though it’s one of my least favorite match up, I think it’s only slightly in Ibuki’s favor because of her unblockable on Ryu. Ibuki actually has a hard time getting in against Ryu, and I know for a fact since I used to main her when Super just released (there are videos of my Ibuki beating Daigo and Tokido!! But I think it’s because they didn’t know the match up like how you guys are reading this to find out how to fight Ibuki.) The key is to focus on Ibuki’s movement, all her moves are actually not that fast and the strategy is to run away from her and throw fireballs (a.k.a TURTLE!!)

Ground Game:

Far Range: As long as Ibuki has no ex meter, she can’t really do much. Her kunai doesn’t hit full screen so basically she can only build meter and like every match up, at this distance, just keep chucking fireball and build meter on your own while interrupting her meter management. Take the chance to push her near the corner as she backs off or focus back dash your hadokens.

Mid Range: Watch out for her slide since it hits low and go through projectiles. This is Ibuki’s best tool to get in but it’s punishable on block with Ryu’s HP SRK unless slid from max range. Aside from the slide, she also has other normals you have to be cautious in this range, such as her low strong and standing forward. Usually I throw fireball at a range that is hard to react to and just simply low forward to keep her out or wait for a whiff and punish.

Close Range: Ibuki has fast low jabs which can link to any BnB combos leading to a knock down, it’s extremely dangerous. Her close up standing strong frame trap is rather scary as well, so mashing on tech throw might be risky as well as mashing on SRK. Depends how good you are with blocking and delay tech throws, I would say taking a throw might be worth it. (Even though after a throw, it might lead to a chaos…..)

Counters:

Neck Breaker: An attack causes hard knock down that hits low. This attack can only be countered by SRK/Super/Ultra, any normals fails to touch her. I would recommend you to block it rather than countering because the timing is strict especially using SRK as the counter. If you miss your timing, your SRK whiffs while Ibuki goes under it.

Ex Version: Any version of SRK

Kunai: Any normals can beat the Kunai as long as it’s right before hitting you.

Ex Version: standing round house, low fierce or any version of SRK (except EX actually…) right before they hit you.

Raida: I don’t really understand how this move works to be honest, but from my understanding this is a blockable grab. On top of that it's somewhat like the twin’s palm that has a shorter range projectile that doesn't negate projectiles (I don't know what i am saying, lol) and this attack has no invincibility. So far from what I have tested, any move beats it except grab.

Ex Version: From what I have tested, most of the move beats it, but some other normals like low jab or low short will trade against it, however without losing any life…it’s like a move that can beat high priority moves which sucks you in before your attack hits her (something like that....) Therefore hit her before she can perform this move.

Dash: Any attack or grab can hit her out of the dash.

Kazegiri: Any normal beats it.

Ex Version: Only ex SRK.

Tsumuji: SRK can beat it clean, and the jab or fierce version usually trades.

Ex Version: Same as normal version

Hop Kick: Low fierce or any version of SRK

Ex Version: Same as normal version

Against Ultra 1: This is actually a command grab, simple, just respect it when she has ultra meter and don’t try to attempt to grab on her wake up. One more thing you got to beware of is when she has Ultra 1 in stock, safe jump in attack doesn't work, however, a later timed jump in attack would work and of course, cross up attacks as well. 

Against Ultra 2:  An ultra that goes through projectiles which is mainly used in a combo, other than that, beware not to throw reckless fireballs.

On Ryu’s Wake up:

Unless you get knocked down by Ibuki's sweep or her neckbreaker, the chances of the Kunai crossing up is quite low. The best way to tell if her Kunai is going to cross up or not, is to judge based on your opponent's setups. If you don't have enough time to see the setups, the general idea is to see how high Ibuki jumped before she threw the Kunai. If she throws it at almost maximum height, the Kunai will probably cross up. But if she throws it from a slightly lower height, the chance of it crossing up is much slimmer.

However all that is pretty much useless if Ibuki does a different setup after a Neckbreaker or a sweep. After a Neckbreaker, Ibuki players like to command dash forward to set up the position, however take a close look at whether they step forward before/after the command dash, as that affects the timing on her crossing you up. If she does take a step forward, the following kunai is almost guaranteed to crossup UNLESS she does it at a extremely low point in her jump.

A personal tip that helps me is that to leave the stick in neutral state when you're getting up, then as Ibuki throws the kunai, commit to one side. As a psychological thing, second guessing yourself is where you might end up making mistakes. Learn a few setups, look online for a few, etc and try them all out in training mode (as certain characters with different hitboxes makes a difference). The key point though, is to learn some of the setups from experience. If you have access to training mode, set up a few different ways of it crossing up and not, and then look not at the kunai, but focus entirely on Ibuki's movements starting from the knockdown. Also, crouch block to shrink your hit box can make the kunai harder to cross up and even if you get hit in crouching motion, the (lp > mp > hp) target combo whiffs. 

Key things to look out to dictate which side to block:

Method of knockdown

*Sweep

*Neckbreaker

*Spin kicks

Method of setups

*Walking

*Command Dash

*Dash

*Whiffed normals

Full ranged sweep is hard to judge whether it will cross up or not, as Ibuki will usually throw the kunai high into her jump. Just see how close she is (vertical alignment) when she throws it, the closer she is to you, the more likely it will cross up.

Close-Mid ranged sweep is similar to Neckbreaker+Command Dash setup.

Neckbreaker is typically followed up with a command dash and the following kunai is very tricky to block, if Ibuki throws the kunai roughly 50% of the way up her jump, the kunai tends to NOT cross up. Anything beyond tends to cross up more often.

Spinkicks has a few ways of following up. She can go for the full range sweep timing, or she can walk forward a bit and it goes to a Close-mid ranged sweep/Neckbreaker+Cmd Dash timing (or even go for something other than a kunai vortex)

*UNBLOCKABLE*

From what I know she has one off a normal Neck Breaker and one off an ex Neck Breaker, but you can do reversal jab SRK taking the hit and get knocked out of the air to get out of this setup OR you can take the hit by focus back dash.

Here are the setups, so once you see these, make a decision of either blocking or get out by using one of the methods I mentioned (THE UNBLOCKABLE TIMING IS REALLY STRICT, SO YOU CAN ALWAYS JUST BLOCK TO SEE IF THE OPPONENT CAN LAND IT PROPERLY)

-Off Neck Breaker > walk forward little bit > wait a split sec then forward jump LK or MK

-Off EX Neck Breaker > MK command dash > wait a split sec then forward jump LK or MK

Mind Games and Option Select:

After a hard knock down, no different from any other characters, you can jump in OS any attack, but when she has meters, only OS you can do is a safe jump OS sweep. Ibuki’s  EX Kazegiri will hit Ryu before he can OS into anything, so similar to the twins, option selects are limited against them.

Mind games wise, I usually tend cross up with jump MK after I knock her down. Basically Ibuki has no answer but to block or focus dash out of it which can be easily react and punish her dash with sweep. After training my opponent with the same cross up, I will then mix it up with empty jump into throws, hitting low or simply do ambiguous jump in with jump LK.

Tips and Tricks:

On ground cross up Tatsu (Forward throw > whiff jab SRK > HK tatsu) and (Back throw > forward dash X2 > HK tatsu)

Things to be aware of:

I never mentioned about her over head, which is a slow slow over head with her lower hit box invincible (because she is off the ground).Why am I putting this in the to be aware section? It is all because of Iyo’s Ibuki who made me aware how dangerous (useful) this move can be. He likes to do an ambiguous empty jump off a Neck Breaker then mixing with either throw, low attack > combo into another hard knock down or the over head. So what I am trying to say is that it might not be a common move, but never forget about this move and focus on Ibuki’s movements expecting the over head.

Ibuki also has a really good footsie tool, the F.lk. A fast normal cancelable into special moves that can beat Ryu’s low forward if in the right range. Make sure when you are playing a footsie game, you don’t want your low forward to whiff, if you are unsure about the distance, I would rather not press anything instead waiting to punish her whiff.

Let me also talk about her Tsumuji. The LK version is always a true block string and the MK version is not. Well, it is, but only the first 2 hits like the LK version, the last hit is never safe. If you predict a third slash, you can do a focus level 2 right after you block the second hit for a crumple or SRK it. However, you can just simply back dash after you block the second hit without taking any risks. The only way Ibuki can catch your back dash is to guess or anticipate. Moreover, her standing MK > MK Tsumuji is a true block string while (LP,MP,HP Target Combo) into MK Tsumuji is not. Any moves with invincibility start up can hit her in between.

Once again, I hope this guide helps whoever read this and as usual, comment or questions, leave it below or my facebook/twitter page.


Bonus: My friend discovered some really neat super mix up with Ibuki

Ryu vs Yang

Yang

Yang, Yun’s twin brother, in my opinion is as good as Yun in arcade edition. He does little damage, harder to use and seems like takes much more effort to win in a battle. However, if used in the right hands, Yang is extremely strong mainly because he has better normals than Yun. It allows him to create scary and deadly mix ups with just a knock down. It might be weird to say, Yang is actually like a Bison but stronger with similarity like Yang’s Roll Kick = Ex Psycho Crusher/ Ex Scissor Kick, 3f low short has a longer range especially when he can connect into another 3f stand short and he has a better teleport than Bison’s, an Abel roll. Without a doubt Yang beat Ryu 6:4 if you ask me….I think when I was training in Japan Yang was one of my worst matchup next to Fei Long/Dhalsim. Now I will share the knowledge that I know of in this match up!

Ground Games:

Far Range: Probably I don’t have to write it out, but YES, Yang is going to build meter full screen with his Palm and it’s a faster Palm than Yun’s so it takes him lesser time to charge up a super meter, however, like against Yun, you have to respect his full screen projectile invincible move, Yang’s roll kick. You can’t let him build meter for free because it’s a BIG disadvantage to Ryu, so like Yun’s matchup, throw Hadokens (unpredictable ones) to mess up his meter management or walk closer to him (close enough where his Palm whiffs) and then punish with sweep. If you are not confident with your spacing or zoning, I suggest that you should build meters yourself with jab SRK.

Mid Range: This is Ryu’s uncomforted zone because of Yang’s dive kick. Yang can just neutral jump here without doing anything and it’s already the strongest mind game. Ryu will lose air to air if you ever try to knock him out of the air, you are going to fail. If you throw a fireball, Yang can just react to it and dive kick so basically you have to wait for him to do something. I mean of course you can risk it and use HP SRK to AA his jump, but if you miss, basically you gave him a chance to land a free combo on you. It doesn’t really mean that you shouldn’t try to zone him, but make sure you are throwing your fireballs as a surprise attack or maybe throw an ex Hadoken making it harder to react or something.

As bad as it sounds, there are still strategies to not get owned at this range. The strategy is to always look at Yang and prepare to AA with St.LK or cr.HP (I prefer crouching fierce against Yang), of course if you can react to it, use SRK. Once you have focused on the anti airing, you will have to focus on footsies. Eventually Yang will put you in the corner by just walking you in the corner and out in order to prevent that to happen, you have to out footsies Yang.

Close Range: As I mentioned above, Yang is like a Bison, especially when he’s up close with his 3f low short, it has great range and not just that, it also allows Yang to combo into standing short into combo which greatly extends more range of 3f normals. Moreover, like Bison, depending on how close Yang does low short > 1 hit Rekka, he can do a loop like Bison’s low short > scissor kick. Bison can do it two times, but Yang can do it up to three times if he’s close enough. Not trying to repeat myself, but like I said, like Bison, you can also counter Yang like how you do against Bison by using standing short to make Yang’s low/stand short whiff to break his loop.

Counter:

Mantis Slashes (Rekka): Yang’s first hit jab rekka is always safe on block and the second hit is always punishable on block. His fierce on block is -6, which means you can always reversal with SRK no matter which hit of the Rekka you blocked.

Ex Version: The full combo contains 5 hits, the first 3 hit = a true block string, but after it’s not, which means you can mash a SRK on block unless your opponent stops during the 1-3 hits and that’s what usually people do when I was in Japan because the first 3 hits are completely safe on block. When you block the 1-3 hits of Ex Rekka, once they stop, they can grab you or keep applying pressure by attacking you, therefore make sure you pay attention.

Kaihou (Teleport): Any normal attacks (The normal version is useless on wake up)

Ex Version: Throw (Exactly like Abel’s Ex roll)

Palm: This special move is like an invisible projectile with little range and can only be countered with MP/EX SRK and ultra.

Ex Version: The ex version gives invincibility on start up, but it still can be beat by MP/EX SRK.

Roll Kick: A projectile invincible move, but any attacks can stop it before the kick stretches out.

Ex Version: Though this move starts up quite fast, you can still counter it with SRK (I never beat it with normals), however I would recommend you to block and then punish even if you can react to it.

Flip Grab: Any attack

Ex Version: The ex grab is invulnerable to any attack that has no invincibility. Therefore only SRK/Super/Ultra can beat it.

Against Ultra 1: This ultra is usually used to connect into combos and it’s an extremely great to use as an anti air.

 Against Ultra 2: This is just a more damaging of the regular version roll kick. It has no invincibility on start up……hmmm I don’t think I need to explain much. Just don’t throw fireballs when he has ultra meter and at a distance where he can easily react to.

On Ryu’s Wake Up:

There are a lot of mix ups Yang can do on Ryu and here is a list of the general mix ups

-After forward throw -> dash forward -> forward jump mk = ambiguous cross up (Ryu has to block, wake up SRK will whiff)

-Forward throw -> dash forward -> dive kick = hits front (can be countered by wake up SRK)

-Anything that leads to low forward (cr.mk) > MK roll kick > immediately forward jump MK = an ambiguous cross up ONLY if you quick wake up (Ryu has to block, wake up SRK will whiff). However, if you perform a 5f delayed wake up (I mentioned this in the Zangief/Rufus guide) it is possible to auto correct wake up SRK.

-(I might be wrong on this, however, I am 80% sure, lol…somebody can correct me ) When Ryu is in the corner, after any knock down, whether you quick wake up or not, a LK dive kick on your wake up is always an ambiguous cross up and it always lands in front. The MK dive kick can land both front and behind, but you can still block it as a non-cross up. The HK dive kick simply whiffs.

-When Ryu is in the corner, after Yang lands a forward throw > forward dash X 2 > earlier forward jump MK = ambiguous cross up.

-When Ryu is in the corner, after Yang lands a forward throw > forward dash X 2 > late forward jump MK = cross up BUT you still block it as a non cross up and Yang will end up behind you.

-After forward throw > forward dash > forward empty jump > low short x 2-3 > Rekka

-After forward throw > forward dash > forward empty jump > command grab

These are general mix ups that Yang can do on Ryu’s wake up. I am sure there are more and on the other hand he also has a lot of reset combos that can lead to a command throw/hitting low/cross up/ambiguous crossup or simply just block. Therefore I will not list any because there are just way too much to and it’s not possible to react to it, it’s all pure mind games.

Mind Games and Option Select:

Alright, like his twin brother, Yun, his roll kick is somewhat different compared to other wake up reversals. After a sweep, forward jump attack immediately then OS sweep is a true safe jump plus option select. But the weird thing is that whatever OS I do following the jump in attack voids the safe jump even if I use ex SRK.
As you know, when you do a jump in attack, you have two frames after you land where you cannot block or move or anything other than throw tech. After those 2 frames, there are two more frames where you can block, but you cannot perform any other actions except throw tech.
If you buffer a move during the jump in, the frames that you cannot block when you land are extended to 4 instead of 2, UNLESS the move you did ends in the down back position (which is why you can sweep)
This prevents stuff like OS srk beating reversal SRK, feilong safe jumping and performing ultra 2 against SRK.. anything like that would be ridiculously cheap.
Also against Yang, aside worrying about his back dash, he also has ex teleport to get out. Therefore you got to guess when he’s going to do it and switch up your OS into grab.

When I play against Yang, I usually don’t save up a super meter, instead I usually use ex Tatsu as a frame trap because it works extremely well. Whenever you approach Yang and he’s blocking your poke string, he’s going to mash on low short (tech throw) or back dash. Either one loses to ex Tatsu, and once they are scared to mash, then I throw or do an over head on his wake up.

Tips and Tricks:

Majority of the tricks are the ones I mentioned against Yun. The on ground cross up tatsu (back throw > forward dash X2 > HK tatsu, and then the fake safe jump ex Air tatsu to beat his wake up roll kick.

Also if you didn’t read it carefully above at the ground game section, Ryu’s standing short works extremely well against Yang because it makes all his lower normals whiffs (e.g Yang’s stand short, low short, low forward, etc).

Things to be aware of:

Yang’s dive kick into in to low short is a true block string (if Yang’s dive kick is performed correctly), so mashing on anything will get you hit. His ex command throw is like Yun’s, so basically there’s nothing much you can do but guess when he’s going to do it during a poke string then jump to evade and punish.

In this match up, it’s best to rush him down rather than letting him put you in the corner. Once you are in the corner, the match up turns in to 7-3 or even 8-2. But putting Yang in the corner makes the match up 6-4 in Ryu’s favor. 

Ryu vs Yun

Yun

In arcade edition, though Yun is a really strong character (some might call him broken) and Ryu has been nerfed a lot, but this is actually one of the better match up for Ryu to put up against. A lot of people came to me for tips about this match up and telling me that they are getting bodied by Yuns. I can’t say this is an even match up right now…I would say 5.5:4.5 in Yun’s favor due to his damage output and various tools that can go through projectiles, however, I guarantee that this will be an even or maybe a match up in Ryu’s favor once 2012 hits. In this guide, it will cover little things that Ryu players might not know, and I am sure this will help you with this match up! Here we GO!!

Ground games:

Far Range: It’s free to throw fireball and all Yuns at this range usually build meters with his palm. Aside from building meters with Ryu, make sure you throw different versions of Hadokens to make Yun having difficulties to cancel the projectile with his palm. You can also walk close, NOT too close but right outside of the Palm range, once it whiffs punish Yun with sweep. Don’t forget that Yun has this move called the Lunge punch which reaches from full screen, however, the regular version if SRK reversal-able at this range while Ex version is not. So beware, Yun players with meter might try to get in for free with this tool (it actually not a really fast move, I would say almost same as ex psycho crusher, therefore it’s not too hard to react to)

Mid Range: I personally do believe that Yun has better footises than Ryu. Yun’s low forward (Cr.mk) is better than or as good as Ryu’s as a poke and his far target combo (strong > fierce > back fierce) has great range and the first two hit is safe on block unless Ryu has super. Yun players would usually dive kick in at this range since it is hard to counter SRK his kick (Yuns dive kick has to be reacted quick, otherwise it stuffs any of your moves). Always be ready to anti-air, however, it is not possible to react to his moves every moment (I mean it is…..but not for me at least..), therefore, substitute your SRK with stand jab or stand short as anti-air tools. I personally prefer standing short because of several reasons; first the hit box extends upward, second it beats Yun’s target combo and lastly it makes Yun’s low forward whiffs. As for standing jab, I would only use it when I am in the corner mainly because I can mash it hoping it will hit something, since it’s too hard for me to react to Yun’s dive kick at this situation.

Close Range: At this range, it really limits Ryu’s options. Yun has a 3f low jab which takes control of the whole range leaving Ryu 2 options, which are block or mash on low jab/SRK. Yun doesn’t have much frame trap, but he has a command grab, therefore I would recommend Ryu players to mash on low jab while blocking his poke strings. Worst comes to worst, you get ex command grabbed out of it, but at least you burnt one of Yun’s meter. I don’t think I need to explain why mashing on SRK is a bad idea….just mash it on your own risk.

Counter:

Lunge Punch: Any attack before it hits you. It is also punishable with SRK on block except the lunge punch it performed in max distance, than it is only punishable with SUPER.

Ex Version: Any attack can either beats it or make it trade. MP/EX SRK can beat it clean and THIS MOVE is not punishable on block.

Palm: This special move is like an invisible projectile with little range and can only be countered with MP/EX SRK and ultra.

Ex Version: The ex version gives invincibility on start up, but it still can be beat with MP/EX SRK.

Dragon Kick (Up Kick): Different version of his Up kick has different invincibility and priorities. His round kick version has the most invincibility which makes MP SRK trades (EX SRK beats it clean), however, the other two versions completely lose to MP SRK.

Ex Version: EX SRK only

Shoulder: Any attack including focus attack. It can be reversal SRK on block.

Ex Version: Same as ex version except it breaks guard because it contains 2 hits. This version is also SRK punishable on block.

Flip Grab (Command Grab): Any attack

Ex Version: This move is extremely broken…it beats any of your moves and grabs except SRK/SUPER/ULTRA.

Against Ultra 1: This ultra is usually used to connect into combos and doesn’t really do much damage.

Against Ultra 2: There’s nothing scary about this ultra at all. It does have good range through projectiles when performed, but other than that there’s nothing much you need to worry about. DON’T THROW FIREBALLS RECKLESSLY!

On Ryu’s Wakeup:

As scary as Yun sounds…he actually doesn’t have much mix ups against Ryu. The most common mix up he has is an instant cross up dive kick after Yun hits you with a round house version Up Kick. You can avoid this by not quick waking up or just simply quick wake up and perform jab SRK for a trade or an mp SRK. This mix up is the most often used, but however, Ryu player has to be careful that this mix up can also bait wake up SRKs but delaying his jump and using HK dive kick instead of LK (crossup). Going back to topic, at least from what I know of, Yun’s only mix ups are dive kick front and back to confuse their opponents which can be easily (to me at least) figure out which side they land.

Other mix ups that Yun can do on Ryu would be a frame trap with low strong alternating with command throw. In this case, I would usually just back dash on wake up if I see Yun on the ground, worst scenario is getting hit by an OS lunge punch which can’t be lead to any scary mix ups and it’s totally worth it to take the hit (only if you have enough life to take it).

Mind games and Option Select:

Sadly, there aren’t much OS you can do on Yun due to his round house Up kick, but gladly you can perform safe jump! After a knock down, jump forward HK immediately to make a perfectly timed safe jump and only OS you can follow is sweep or EX SRK (any other attacks lose to his HK Up kick). You can mix the safe jump with cross up hurricane kick like any other characters that have wake up reversals. And of course, without a doubt, on the ground, same OS, sweep.

Since there is only one timing to perform the safe jump, it leaves no extra time for Ryu to perform any threatening jump in mix ups, therefore, other simple mix up becomes handy such as over head.

Tips and Tricks*NEW*

If you guys have ever watched my dvd tutorial or read most of my guides, you should know my on ground hurricane kick mix ups and one of it works against Yun. I will post it here one more time in case some of you don’t know; back throw > forward dash X 2 > HK hurricane kick.

After a knock down, as long as the Yun player quick get up, doing a meaty standing fierce OR standing roundhouse can cover two things. 

1.  Hits him out of his back dash
2. Trades with any version of his UP kicks (except EX version)

It’s a really useful trick because the trade UP kick does barely any damage to you and worst comes to worst, you eat an ex version UP kick trading your life with one of his meter not allowing him to save up for SUPER meter.

*NOTE* when you do a meaty standing fierce, making sure you cancel into fireball for the following reasons

.

-If Yun does an UP kick, the fireball never releases

-If Yun ever blocks your standing fierce, you will never be punished because you canceled into Hadoken

-If Yun back dashes, fireball never comes out

Also you can do this trick now thanks to EX Tatsu’s buff in AE. Forward throw > jump forward (there’s only one range, so try it out in training mode) and do an Ex Air Tatsu. It beats any version of his up kick CLEAN and also allowing you to connect with ultra 1 (Yun will fly really high compared to the ground ex tatsu, therefore a half screen U1 is possible). Why is this useful? As I mentioned above that a safe jump is very hard on Yun, timing is strict. If he is knocked down by a sweep, it does the timing for you, but after a forward throw, it’s all muscle memory and I don’t think it’s 100% possible to perform it every time. With this fact, your opponent wouldn’t know if that timing would be a real safe jump, therefore they might take a chance to UP Kick hoping it will hit. It’s just a very neat option in AE that you can try, and on top of that, even if your EX Air Tatsu whiffs, you land without recovery!

  

Things to be aware of:

Zoning with fireball is a key to win this battle. Maybe to a lot of Ryu players it’s really risky to throw fireballs, but in fact, you do need to throw fireballs (smart ones, not predictable ones) to make Yun move. He basically has to work his way in which is not that easy unless he has ex meters (you can also throw fireball where his ex shoulder only lands 1 hit). Yun either has to get in with shoulder/ex shoulder, far dive kick or regular jump in. With good zoning, either of these 3 can be easily baited and it can be very rewarding.

When a Yun player is down by life, majority of the Yuns will be very desperate and might try to do reset combos with cross up LP shoulder during Genei Jin or command grab on your wake up or during poke strings.  Jumping back during poke strings is the only way out against an ex command grab since it has great range and as I said before, I do not recommend mashing on SRK.

*Incase any of you guys don’t know, cross up LP shoulder can only be done if Yun hits you air to air, and then LP shoulder once he lands, it will be a cross up. So with this info, make sure you block the correct direction. 

As always, any questions or comment, leave it on my Facebook page or the comment box below! Hope this helps!

p.s once 2012 version is released, I will update all my guides with new strategy, tricks, graphics/videos and hopefully a better format! Keep supporting 

Ryu vs Blanka

Blanka

This used to be slightly in Blanka’s favor, but when it came to AE, I think it’s an even match up due to Blanka’s range nerfed on blocked “Blanka Ball”. In this match up, simple strategies such as turtling until time over with minimal mistakes or put Blanka in the corner and slowly grind your opponent’s health. It’s not a hard match up, but I personally think it’s really boring/annoying to play against. Anyhow, I will share what I know about this match up.

Ground Game:

Far Range:  Blanka doesn’t have much he can do but to build meters with electricity. As Ryu, either you can build meter full screen for super meter if you decide to turtle, otherwise, throw “jab” version fireballs to interrupt his meter management and slowly walk him in the corner.

Mid Range: Blanka at this range uses his low fierce a lot, and it is punishable on block with sweep (unless Blanka performs it at max distance) or super (any distance). Blanka’s other strong pokes such as his low strong is only whiff punishable, however it is not scary at all because it does little damage plus not a cancelable move. His sweep of course is his main footsie tool, but again it is punishable on block with low strong or low forward and no need to mention, super.

Make sure you don’t forget and respect Blanka’s slide, though most of the slides should be guesses so sometimes taking risks throwing “fierce” version fireball to make it harder to react. Whenever you block a slide, the best punish would be low forward > hurricane kick for most damage and pushes your opponent into the corner.

Close Range: Ryu has nothing  fear at this range but make sure you have no gaps in between your poke strings to get up balled and let Blanka gets away.

Counter:

Blanka Ball: Any normals or special attacks as long as you time it right excluding hurricane kick. (In AE version, Ryu can also punish with sweep on block.)

Ex Version: Any timed punches, SRK or EX SRK

Electricity: SRK

Ex Version: Same as normal version

Rainbow Ball: Any normal attacks before it hit you. (Best to use low fierce to counter)

Ex Version: Same as normal version

Up ball: Mp SRK or EX SRK

Ex Version: Nothing can beat it. You can only punish this move on whiff or block.

Against Ultra 1: This ultra is extremely scary because of its damage output. Whenever he has ultra meter, you might want to hesitate your attack on his wake up because it will beat all of your options except EX SRK. Another thing Ryu players need to be cautious about is when Blanka using this as a mix up on YOUR wake up making you guess which way is the correct way to block. However, thanks to me, you guys can now block this mix up correctly without guessing, and this is how you tell! Basically Blanak can’t perform this mix up only if he lands a forward throw. Take your time and carefully look at your foot, if Blanka is stepping on your foot then the ultra will be a crossup, if not then it’s not, simple as that.  

Against Ultra 2: Treat this move like Chun Li’s ultra 1, don’t fireball unless you are sure that Blanka has no charge. It is now not punishable on block due to Ryu’s nerfed air hurricane kick.

On Ryu’s wake up:

Blanka’s mix up games relies on his hop to confuse his opponent to block correctly or even throws causing you to hesitate either to block or to tech. Besides the hop, Blanka can do a safe jump on Ryu after landing a forward throw then follow up with a timed cross up MK, be sure to block instead of going for some crazy counter/reversal because it is not GOING TO WORK!

There is also an ambiguous cross up Electricity once you get knocked down in the corner. Blanka does it by any knock down move and then whiffs a Blanka ball ending up on either side and starts electrocuting or whatever attack they want. I am sorry I have no advice on how to deal with this mix up but to concentrate…..I usually can tell which one they end up.

Some Blankas also use this trick to finish you off when you don’t have enough life to take another Blanka Ball. If I didn’t remember wrong, they do it off a forward throw, than delays a HP version Blanka Ball on your wake up making it a cross up attack.

Mind games and Option select:

I think this is one of the match up that I have the least Option Selects and mix ups because of Blanka’s EX “UP” ball. So basically there aren’t much option selects you can do on Blanka besides catching his back dashes when Blanka sits meter-less. Ryu players can use the “BnB” (Bread N Butter) OS to catch back dashes like against most of the characters, BUT there is a pretty neat OS against Blanka and its OS into the dash punch (f.hp). Though it doesn’t catch Blanka’s back dashes but it’s a force block (gives you a counter hit if Blanka presses any buttons after his back dashes), and this allows you to put your opponent in the corner faster. Once you put Blanka in the corner, you must use OS low fierce on Blanka’s wakeup (watch out for his Ultra tho :S) to beat his Ex Rainbow Ball, keeping him away from escaping. Any other reversal he does are punishable on hit, therefore it might be worth taking the hit.

Things to be aware of:

In Super, whenever you see Ex Rainbow Ball, Ryu can just simply counter it with a low fierce. Now switching to AE, it works when Blanka is trying to escape in the corner, but if its mid screen wise, pay closely attention if it’s reaching over your head before you throw out the punch. Blanka can now control his Ex Rainbow Ball like Bison’s Devil Reverse, therefore Blanka can throw you out of your whiffed low fierce.

Even though there’s not much mix ups you can do on Blanka’s wake up when he has meters, but you can do empty jump ins to bait and block his EX Up Ball then punish with Ultra 1. (*Note* You have to stand block the Ex Up Ball in order to punish with Ultra 1, and the ultra has to be a reversal)

Throw wise fireballs which means throw it when Blanka has no charge. Of course, be careful of the slides which are not hard to bait. Always have yourself ready to block low and sometimes if you predict a slide, focus level 2 for a free combo. Blanka has nothing scary when he has no charge and doesn’t have much answer against a level 2 focus. He can throw you where you can just back dash out of it, and on top of that, Blanka has to get close to you to land damage. This match up is only frustrating when you can’t get close in my opinion. 

Ryu vs Dhalsim

Dhalsim

I am certain that Dhalsim gives the most trouble to Ryu even if it’s against a scrubby Dhalsim because he is meant to be Ryu’s demon in this game. Some say Dhalsim is Ryu’s worst match up, but I prefer fighting Dhalsim instead of Fei Long if I have to choose. Why? The reason is that at least once I get close to Dhalsim there’s nothing for me to worry about except his reversal Super which can be only used once in each round. On the other hand, Fei Long, who I don’t want to get close simply because of his fast low short and jabs, reversal Flame Kick and Chicken Wings. On top of that, not just close range, Fei Long’s Rekka can zone Ryu all day…so yeah, those are my reasons.

Not trying to be too off topic, playing against Dhalsim, having Super meter is key point to turn this match up around. Taking risks such as random jab SRK is a must in order to make the Dhalsim player hesitate with his pokes, that way it allows you to make your way in much easier. So here, I will share my experience against this match up.

Ground Game:

Far Range: Dhalsim can do 3 things here to land damage on Ryu, which are his low fierce (Limbs), Yoga Fire and Teleport close to you from front or behind. Any 3 of these moves can be countered by reactions or anticipation. Even though it seems impossible, but at this range Ryu can actually land damage against Dhalsim by throwing full screen fireballs to make Dhalsim move (see how he reacts) and build meter while taking your time to read your opponent. Once you are ready to start your offence, mix up your fireball game with other normals to hit his limbs and sometimes Tatsu through the Yoga Fire and get in.

Mid Range: Ryu’s best pokes at this range are low strong and low forward. When you are out of low forward range, don’t be afraid to spam low strong because it can beat or at least trade with Dhalsim’s far range pokes like his stand short and standing fierce.

Close Range: This is your “Chance” range so try as hard as you can to not let Dhalsim get away. Don’t try to end your attack with a long recovery move like fireball unless in the corner otherwise you will lose your range and have to make an effort to get in again.

Counter:

Yoga Fire: Hurricane kick or MP/EX SRK

Ex Version: Same as normal version

Yoga Flame: Ex tatsu, MP SRK and EX SRK

Ex Version: Same as normal version

Super: Ex tatsu, MP SRK and EX SRK

Against Ultra 1: Dhalsim usually use this ultra as a mix up tool after they knock you down with a throw then teleports behind or in front of you to make it harder to block. To not confuse yourself, block where Dhalsim faces you.

There is times where Dhalsim would use his ultra to defend himself when he needs to get out of trouble/pressure or when he has a comfortable lead.

Against Ultra 2: Hmm…to be honest I don’t have much experience against Ultra 2…but according to my experience, as long as you don’t land whiffing an air attack then you should be fine. However, holding an ex meter guarantee you to avoid this ultra…I think…

On Ryu’s Wake up:

Dhalsim’s mix ups are really limited, but here is a short list of his mix ups that I know of:

• ·         After a knock down in the corner, he can do a standing back MK > Yoga Flame loop
• ·         After a back throw, Yoga flame and teleport mix up
• ·         When Dhalsim has super meter, over head > super or LK slide > super
• ·         Not going to mention about the Ultra 1 mix up (Read the section above)

Mind Games and Option Selects:

There are a lot of mind games and option selects against Dhalsim…but first thing first, you have to score a knock down in order to begin. After a knock down, always input hurricane kick as your OS to lock down Dhalsim’s escapes (teleport/backdash). Once you notice the opponent is blocking your entire jump in attacks, you can stop mixing up your wake up attacks such as empty jump into grab, empty jump hitting low, cross up with MK, and jump MP that requires Dhalsim to block high twice which usually works effectively.  All Dhalsim players are afraid of getting thrown because it leads to untech-able forcing the Dhalsim players to pressure against mix ups. Ground wise, without a doubt, OS with sweep and of course mixing up frame traps (with meterless low strong or with meter EX tatsu) and throws once you get in.

Things to be aware of:

Most of the Dhalsims, whether weak or strong, they usually have the few of the same patterns/habits especially right after a tech throw. For example, Dhalsim might do a short version slide, a standing back short or simply back dash to get out of mind games. With this in mind, semi options you can do like jab SRK which can beat both attacks and not get punished if Dhalsim ever back dashes. Not to take out the possibility that a Dhalsim would just block or do nothing after a tech throw, however though, Dhalsim does not have any damaging combo unless with super meter, therefore, in my opinion, it worth the risk.

Now let’s talk about some simple strategies/counters against his stretched arms. Dhalsim’s most abusive normal, standing HP, though can be punished or countered by Ryu’s normals, it is important to space where his limbs will whiff right in front of Ryu in order to do so. One more often used normal called “Sniper” which is just his jump back fierce forces the player to block high. It’s a fast move and usually hard to react to…..however the best way to avoid getting hit by this move is to ALWAYS BLOCK HIGH unless Dhalsim is like close to you where you can get hit by his slides. The reason is that far away, the only thing you can get hit is Dhalsim’s low jab that deals completely NO damage compare to the “Sniper”.  Now able to block the “Sniper” can lead to punishing it by low fierce. Every time you block the “Sniper” or a whiffed one, Dhalsim can’t do anything but floats until he lands, therefore immediately you do a low fierce whether it hits or not for the free damage.

Now let’s talk about his slides. All 3 of his versions are punishable by any version of SRK on block. Always get ready to punish the slides which might be a key to turn around a match. 

Also not to forget to mention, when a Dhalsim has super meter, some will use it on wake up for a surprise attack, so be cautious enough not to get caught by it.

Hope this guide helps a little…and I know that just by words it’s hard to improve in this match up. Anyways, any questions or comments, leave it below or @ my facebook page. 

Ryu vs Fei Long

Fei Long:

This is one of the hardest and least favorite match up for me that I personally think it’s a 7:3 match up in Fei Long’s favor. This is a match up where in a footsie game you lose and character that is awfully hard to zone. When I was at Canada Cup, Mago himself also told me that he thinks it’s a 7:3 match up in Fei Long’s favor and Daigo also told me that he thinks it is Ryu’s hardest match up, but he didn’t give me an exact number. Anyways, here is what I know about this match up….

Ground Game:

Far Range: I guess I can say this is the only safe range where you can throw Hadokens without thinking. Meter management is extremely important in this match up especially having full Super meter can be extremely threatening to Fei Long. Whenever you have a chance where you are safe, don’t hesitate to build some meter by throwing fireballs, whiffing jab SRK or doing air tatsu.

Mid Range: The best thing you can do at this range is to block and punish whiffs and mistakes made by your opponent or sometimes random level 2 focus attack can give you some surprises. On top of that, Fei Long does not have a really good answer to neutral jump attacks @ this range. I usually do a lot of random neutral jump MK in case I dodged a random Rekka so that I can immediately punish with a combo.

Close Range: Fei Long has a very long safe poke string @ close range, so don’t mash on SRK after you block two low shorts otherwise it’s going to be blocked or whiff by the time Fei Long ends his poke strings.  Fei Long also has really good frame traps to mix up with his throw and even his command throw, therefore sometimes instead of throw tech, mashing on low jab can get you out of that bad situation.

Counter:

Rekka: Standing jab, SRK or early low forward.

Ex Version: Same as normal version.

Flame Kick: Ex SRK (MP SRK seems to trade)

Ex Version: Ex SRK

Chicken Wing: Any standing attack (including any version of SRK) and can also counter last hit with focus. 

Ex Version: Same as normal version

Command Throw: Any attack

Ex Version: Any version of SRK, low short and ultra.

Against Ultra 1: Fei Long’s Ultra 1 does go through projectiles, doesn’t have great range, but however, it still can go through in between Ryu’s max distance low forward into fireball. Therefore, think twice before throwing HADOKEN!

Against Ultra 2: DON’T ATTACK HIM ON WAKE UP! You can empty jump after a knock down and mix up with block or throw.

On Ryu’s Wake Up:

Getting knocked down by Fei Long can be terrifying to deal with because of his varieties of mix up games including safe jumps, cross ups, frame traps, over head and even command throw. I will not mention about simple wake up games like cross ups, over head because it’s not hard to see/react to.

Some command mix ups would be his standing strong/Flame kick frame traps into combo mixing up with throws/command throws and low short into Rekka combo. This simple but yet dangerous mix up is extremely effective especially when you are trapped in the corner and the short list below explains why.

• ·         Mashing on any normals would lose to standing strong/Flame kick/Ex Command throw
• ·         Crouch tech loses to frame traps but beats command throws
• ·         Stand tech loses to low short into Rekka combo and frame traps but beats normal command throw.
• ·         Not pressing anything would lose to normal throws/command throws
• ·         Back dashing loses to Option Select Rekka/Ultra.

Sometimes you can determine you decision by how much meters they have and how much life they have. For example, they would most likely do a flame kick frame traps when they have 2 meters. Another example…hmm…when Fei Long is in a comfortable life lead he would probably use standing strong frame trap to keep applying pressure and not wasting his meter incase he needs to make a comeback.   Speaking about come back, Fei Long would probably try to command throw you because it’s the most risky thing to do but a highest reward due to the option of landing a high damaging combo.

Besides his strong mix ups, Fei Long also has safe jumps against Ryu. I am sure about one of the safe jumps but not too sure about the other one, however I will write down both for you guys.

• ·         Back throw, walk back a little, whiff standing jab and jump MP. This is the setup that I am 100% it’s a safe jump on Ryu.
• ·         This one I am not too sure, but whenever Mago does it on Daigo, he never uppercuts….and I think it only works in the corner. Knocked down by Rekka, (ONLY IF RYU QUICK WAKE UP) jump short.
• ·         Not sure about this one as well…knocked down by sweep then cross up with jump MK.

Mind games and Option Select:

Luckily, Fei Long has a 5f (if I am not mistaken) uppercut (Flame Kick), therefore in return, Ryu can also safe jump against him. However, Ryu cannot do safe jump OS sweep like most of the characters due to Fei Long’s “free out of jail move” chicken wing, therefore what suck is that on wake up you still have to guess which is somewhat not  in your favor and I will explain why.

First, inputting OS sweep makes chicken wing whiffs but Ryu does not have enough time to punish because of his slow recovery after a sweep. It is the safest thing to do but you lose a chance to do damage…so what should Ryu do?

Fei Long’s chicken wing works like Rufus’ Ex Messiah kick, which means, doing low jab can make it whiff and you have enough time to punish. Alright…I know this might sound a little too complicated, I am going to make a list like I did in several guides to make things easier.

·         Safe jump in attack OS low jab makes Chicken wing whiffs and you can punish by walking towards Fei Long and sweep. Other options you can do are HK tatsu once it whiffs, or a bigger punishes which is harder to do, ULTRA 1! However, this OS fails to punish Fei Long’s wake up back dash

·         On the ground leaves you not much choice of OS….low jab to make Chicken wing whiffs and also be able to punish, yet you have to worry about his Flame Kick and also cannot counter his back dash. OS sweep also makes CW whiffs, though you can counter Fei Long’s back dash, but fail to punish his CW and on top of that you still have to worry about his Flame kick.

·         You can also do OS low fierce which beats CW clean, but again, loses to Flame kick and whiffs on back dashes PLUS Fei Long can punish your whiffed low fierce with Rekka. (ARGGGGG!!!!)

Anyways, Ryu does have other strengths allowing him to land damage to this Kung Fu dude! After a knock down, cross up jump LK can be pretty ambiguous, and on top of that, it beats Fei Long’s Flame Kick and sometimes his Chicken Wing (sometimes it misses). Other than jump short, cross up Tatsu, as always it’s a very good and safe tool to use as an attack.

Things to be aware of:

Fei Long’s Rekka is way too far and fast to react to. In this match, you have to be very patient and always have yourself in blocking mode incase of random Rekkas. Sometimes whiffing random standing jabs or shorts can give you some surprise counters to Rekka without much risk. Punishing Fei Long’s whiffed normals is one of the main key to win in this match up. Besides his normals, also pay careful attention to the Rekkas you blocked, because some of them you might be able to punish with fierce SRK and of course, SUPER (YOU NEED SUPER METER IN THIS MATCH UP). When you are analyzing Fei Long’s Rekka, if he has half of his arm on Ryu (I don’t really know how to express this, lol) then it is reversal fierce SRK punishable.

There is one more PRETTY ANONYING trick about Rekka, and it’s HIS delayed second hit and third hit of Rekka. Most of the time you should just keep blocking after you blocked the first Rekka unless you are sure it is punishable with a SRK. If under any circumstances, you blocked Fei Long's second Rekka, don't hesitate to mash HP SRK for a 100% safe reversal.

Applying fireball pressure is important and its usually the best way to "force" Fei Long to get in with his Ex CW. I would say at almost full screen, always been prepared to counter Fei Long's CW...though it seems fast, but to be honest, there's more than enough time for you to react to it. However, I do understand the fact that some people do have slow reactions....therefore another way to counter this move is to lower your body with low forward (cr.mk) right before it hits you (This is much easier because you have your character already in blocking mode, all you do is press MK) . This allows you to make EX Chicken Wing whiffs plus having enough time to punish Fei Long.

I am done about this guide and to remind you guys, I don’t know this match up too well and I always lose to this character. Again, let me know if I am missing anything so I can learn this match up better myself, and leave your comments below or to my facebook page.

Ah…one more thing I forgot to mention, majority of the Fei Longs would do an instant Rekka after they back dash and a lot of them would do an instant jab Rekka after a tech throw. Cheers~

Ryu vs Ken

Ken

A classic match up that I have a lot of problem with since Vanilla until now. No doubt it was an even match up in SF4, but shifting to SSF4 with Ken adding an ultra 2, once Ken has ultra meter it instantly changes the match up. I would say it’s slightly turns into Ken’s favor (5.5:4.5) because Ultra 2 of Ken’s can shut down Ryu’s zoning. Ken has more superior normals compare to Ryu except his low strong. Ken has a faster start up low forward and a WAYYY faster recovery on his sweep even though the start up is not as fast as Ryu’s, but Ken’s unique F.MK covers his slow sweep. Ken’s F.MK has a great range and fast start up allowing him to punish a lot of moves on block. This special kick also allow Ken to do moves like KARA throw (GREAT RANGE), kara uppercut, kara fireball and even kara focus….anyways, enough introduction of Ken’s f.mk. In my opinion, the best strategy in this match up is……….RUN and throw jab fireballs.

Ground Game:

Far Range: Like any other matchups, throw fireball and build meters. Since Ken has a slower start up Hadoken, it is not hard to react and counter with a full screen forward jump air tatsu.

Mid Range: This range Ryu loses to Ken because of slower normals and Ken’s f.mk. It is not a great idea to challenge him in a footsies match…however if you plan to fight him at this range…a timed and spaced low strong of Ryu’s which does beat Ken’s f.mk OR throwing smart fireballs before Ken’s normal hits you are probably the only solution that I know of at this range…

Close Range: This range is as hard as mid range due to Ken’s kara throw/ frame trap mix-ups. You want to option select tech with low strong just so that it’s harder for Ken to do a safe poke string> walk back > kara throw your whiffed normal because he has to walk farther back + you might already recover from your low strong by the time his grab reaches you. However, there’s nothing much you can do against his fierce SRK frame trap but to delay tech and predict it.

Counter:

Hadoken: Tatsu/Forward jump air tatsu or super and ultra 1.

Ex Version: Same as normal version

Hurricane Kick: Doesn’t hit on crouch and can be punished with any moves. On top of that Ken’s hurricane kick does not go through Hadokens.

Ex Version: Same as normal version except it goes through Hadokens.

Shoryuken: Ex SRK

Ex Version: Ex SRK beats this version clean

Against Ultra 1: It’s hard for Ken to land a full animation ultra 1 especially against Ryu. Ken’s Ultra 1 IS an AA ultra, he shouldn’t be able to land a full animated ultra unless you are jumping NOT AFTER a knock down, crumpled by his focus attack or got hit by a counter-hit fierce SRK.

Against Ultra 2: This ultra is so good…..it has great range and it goes through projectiles. Don’t challenge his ultra by throwing projectiles (treat it as Abel’s ultra 1). Ken can also combo into full U2 by linking from Ken’s normal fireball which highly increases his chance of using ultra meter when compared to ultra 1.

On Ryu’s Wakeup:

Ken has this common safe setup on Ryu that almost EVERYBODY uses it and it’s easy to do and effective. Here is the setup: Ken ending his combo into fierce SRK then immediately crosses up with jump LK = Ryu can’t uppercut it. However, Ryu can avoid this setup by NOT doing a quick wake up and just lie on the ground.

Ken has two cross up tatsu setup after his forward throw. The first setup is just simply cross up with LK tatsu and the second is after the forward throw, does a ground tatsu to go behind you and does a neutral jump “air kara tatsu (I don’t know why it’s called kara…)” and that tatsu crosses you up.

Other then these setups Ken’s over heads are very hard to block. Though its only one hit, but it still deals a “decent” damage and it’s very effective when use to finish off an opponent. Beware once you have low life.

Mind games and Option Select:

Not much OS against Ken on his wake up except OS sweep on ground. Ryu does have a safe jump on Ken, however only works if Ken is AA with his MP SRK because it is a 4 frame start up move. (Remember, as long as it’s not a 3 frame move, you can perform a safe jump.) After a forward throw and a back throw, the cross up on ground tatsu setup works on Ken (if you watched my dvd you should know what I am referring to :D)

Things to be aware of:

His forward ex air tatsu contains 2 hits that force you to block high. It’s a very tricky move that I am sure the Ken user himself/herself doesn’t even know if it’s going to one or two hits. Therefore before the ex tatsu actually hits they would be mashing on moves like low jab…sweep, etc. Ken’s cross up air ex tatsu is very hard to AA with SRK. When I was in Japan, there was this Ken player always using his air ex tatsu to bait my SRK and punishes. Therefore whenever I play against a Ken, especially when I have a life lead, I would use low fierce as my AA just so that it beats that weird EX tatsu.

Ken’s jump HK has farther range than Ryu’s jump HK. Which means at a range where Ryu’s jump hk doesn’t reach, Ken’s might hit. Be careful with your Hadokens.

Some sample videos against Ken. Hope these helps.

As always….questions and comments..you know where to go.