Introduction

Ryoko is an oddball. Coming in dead last in regards to tiers, she doesn't have a solid way to deal with fireballs and other seemingly basic situations. She is also short, has small attack range and has a weakness on her head. Why play Ryoko? One word. Damage. Ryoko is a high risk high reward ride that is full of trying to set up situations in where you can fire wheel for HUGE damage. Underplayed, she is still a rewarding and fun character. Just don't expect to win any big matches with her.

Weak Spot


Frame count	-	2	2	-

Having a weak spot on a head is not good because it's very vulnerable to jump-ins. But in Ryoko's case it's even worse. She's really short and because of that her weak spot is hittable with many normals and special moves. The only real pros is that it's pretty safe while doing crossups and jump-ins.

Color Options

Punch	Kick

Moves List

Quick Reference

Special move name	Input	Nickname	Note
Yama Arashi	/ +	mountain storm, fire wheel	command throw (point-blank range)
Zenten Ukemi	Charge , +	roll	reversal/trade, move through projectiles
Ippon Seoi	/ +		command throw (1/3 screen range), can be done in air (normal range)
Kata Guruma	/ +		hidden move, command throw (point-blank range), no damage

Normal Moves

Light Punch

Standing LP (Close)

Damage	5	Startup		Recovery
Chain cancel	yes
Special cancel	yes
On hit	+6
On block	+7
Frame count		2	3	3

Bufferable and quick, you can interrupt opponents' attacks with this.

Standing LP (Far)

Damage	5			Recovery
Chain cancel	yes
Special cancel	yes
On hit	+6
On block	+7
Frame count		2	3	3

Crouching LP:

Damage	5	Startup		Recovery
Chain cancel	yes
Special cancel	yes
On hit	+6
On block	+7
Frame count		2	3	3

Same as the 2 above, but crouching OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Jumping LP (Diagonal/Neutral):

Damage	8	Startup
Chain cancel	no
Special cancel	no
Frame count		4	∞

Good attack, this and jump in light kick will help you score ticks. okay-ish priority, stays out till she lands.

Strong Punch

Standing HP (Close):

Damage	28	Startup		Recovery
Chain cancel	no
Special cancel	yes
On hit	-3
On block	-8
Frame count		4	6	18

Awesome hand slap. Everytime you get a dizzy, you will use this to combo into Fire Wheel for spectacular damage. This move has great damage.

Standing HP (Far):

Damage	28	Startup			Recovery
Chain cancel	no
Special cancel	yes
On hit	-3
On block	-8
Frame count		4	6	(6) 18

Great priority, quick and with decent range (for Ryoko that is), this attack is a staple for combos. Works as an anti air against some. Bufferable. Good after a knockdown.

Crouching HP:

Damage	16	Startup					Recovery
Chain cancel	no
Special cancel	yes
On hit	-3
On block	-8
Frame count		4	1	2	3	(6) 18

Upward knife-palm strike. A solid anti air with great priority at the end. As you can see, Ryoko's hurtbox extends for a while. It's also happens after hitbox disappears. Actually, many of game's hard normals have this trait, so keep it in mind.

Jumping HP (Diagonal/Neutral):

Damage	28	Startup		Recovery
Chain cancel	no
Special cancel	no
Frame count		4	6	∞

Animation and hitboxes of these attacks are identical to jumping LPs. Not bad for landing deep hits, but generally not as effective as her jumping hard kick.

Light Kick

Standing LK (Close/Far):

Damage	Close 5 Far 16	Startup		Recovery
Chain cancel	no
Special cancel	yes
On hit	kd
On block	+4
Frame count		1	1	11

Quick innocuous looking move... THAT TRIPS!! and it's a low! This can certainly catch people who just block all day off guard. It has a uniqe trait having blockstun value of a heavy attacks, making it pretty safe.

Crouching LK:

Damage	5	Startup		Recovery
Chain cancel	yes
Special cancel	yes
On hit	+6
On block	+7
Frame count		2	3	3

I personally use this a lot into Fire Wheel or rolls. It's quick, but don't expect your poking game to incorporate this move...

Jumping LK (Diagonal):

Damage	8	Startup
Chain cancel	no
Special cancel	no
Frame count		4	∞

Poor priority but great for ticks, stays out for an eternity.

Jumping LK (Neutral):

Damage	8	Startup
Chain cancel	no
Special cancel	no
Frame count		4	∞

A pretty solid air to air. Sometimes I'll do this on an opponent's wake up to combo into Ippon Seoi.

Strong Kick

Standing HK (Close):

Damage	28 total	Startup				Recovery
Chain cancel	no/no
Special cancel	yes/yes
On hit	-/0
On block	-/-5
Frame count		4	2	1	3	18

Great for meaties, this hits twice and is bufferable.

Standing HK (Far):

Damage	24	Startup			Recovery
Chain cancel	no
Special cancel	yes
On hit	-3
On block	-8
Frame count		4	6	(6) 18

A solid anti air that also is bufferable.

Crouching HK:

Damage	24	Startup		Recovery
Chain cancel	no
Special cancel	yes
On hit	kd
On block	-10
Frame count		4	6	20

It's a trip, but with crummy range. Use it as a meaty sparingly.

Jumping HK (Diagonal):

Damage	24	Startup		Recovery
Chain cancel	no
Special cancel	no
Frame count		4	6	∞

Great for deep jump ins into Ippon Seoi, this has good priority and stays out a fairly good amount of time.

Jumping HK (Neutral):

Damage	24	Startup		Recovery
Chain cancel	no
Special cancel	no
Frame count		4	5	∞

Neutral jumping attacks are wierd in this game. I personally don't use it much because j.(n)lk has higher priority.

Special Normals

/ +

Damage	28	Startup			Recovery
Chain cancel	no
Special cancel	yes
On hit	kd
On block	-8
Frame count		4	4	(2) 20

Works as a trip, fairly quick. Good to spam on block to move you to a safe distance from your opponent. Has more range than her crouching hard kick!

Throws

Ground Throws

Damage	32
	32
Range (From pushbox)	34

Ura Nage: / +

Ryoko drops to the floor with the opponent. Leaves them about halfscreen away, so walk forward to set up a crossup.

Tomoe Nage: / +

Ryoko throws the opponent overhead with her inner leg. Leaves them slightly closer than Ura Nage. If you happen to get this go for the option below

Shiho Gatame (Hold): (up to 26f after Tomoe Nage) +

Crouching throw's followup hold. Mash for a decent damage. If they don't mash out of this, it will hit HARD.
Deals 12 damage initially, then 6 per hit, for 78 total damage with no mashing from either side.

Aerial Throws

Damage	44
Range (From pushbox)	26

Izuna Drop: ///// +

Ryoko catches opponent and does an Izuna Drop. Damage is decent, the range is 2nd best in the game. But you probably preffer doing aerial Ippon Seoi instead anyway, it has much better range and does a bit more damage.

Special Moves

Yama Arashi a.k.a. Mountain Storm: (right near opponent) / +

Damage	80
Range (From pushbox)	23

This is the one fellas. HEAVY damage. You will be looking for every opportunity plus some to score this move.

Zenten Ukemi a.k.a. Rolling Body Attack: Charge , +

Light version: cycle happens once.

Hard version: cycle happens twice.

Damage	18 total						Recovery
On hit	+2/+9
On block	-3/+4
Frame count		1	4	3	3	1	8
Loop cycle		20

Ryoko does a roll forward. While she performs it, her hurtbox shrinks to the ground. It can be used in several ways. First, as an anti-air if you'll time it right. Second, as a reversal... kinda. It can trade easily. And the third, going through fireballs. But it very depends from a matchup. It's a really odd attack. Light version safer, so use it instead of Hard. If you use it as a reversal sometimes you will roll the other way! Ryoko faces backwards during part of her knockdown recovery animation, so make sure you time correctly according to your situation.

Ippon Seoi: (1/3 screen distance or closer) / +

Damage	20
Range (From pushbox)	78

Instant command throw from a distance. Sounds great, but as a con it have really low damage (especially with damage scaling).

Aerial Ippon Seoi: (in air, near opponent) / +

Damage	48	...
Range (From pushbox)	?	...

Aerial version works more like a usual air throw. It has more grab range and a bit more damage than Ryoko's normal air throw, so it's more preferable.

Hidden Move

Kata Guruma: (near opponent) / +

Damage	0
Range (From pushbox)	58

Ryoko throws opponent right into the air. Then you can "juggle" him with ONE attack or perform an air throw. If you'll do nothing, opponent will land on his feet without a knockdown. This move can be used to setup a mixup game with crossups/crossunders. Unlike Mars, Ryoko can't easily perform / on ground, 2 frames of pre-jump animation doesn't allow her to do this. And so your only options are buffering it on landing or comboing it from a normal.

The Basics

You should always be looking for options to fire wheel or knockdowns. Should you score a knockdown you have a few good options...

1) Meaty Standing hard kick. If it hits, HCB+p for yet another knockdown.

2) Crouching light kick. Upon hit, Fire Wheel

3) Standing hard punch. Risky, but you can repeat these until you are poked to a safe distance upon block.

4) Walk up throw / Fire Wheel. This is the riskiest option but the most rewarding in terms of damage.

Fireball characters are hard to deal with. Punish fireball predictability with rolls. Learn the timing of roll under fireball. This will be key to defeating characters like Ray and Samchay who have solid anti air and fireball options. Beware though, if they change up the speed of the fireball you have to adjust your roll timing as well!

Familiarize yourself with the range of her slide grab. It may not do much damage but it gives your opponent something to think about. Damage is damage, and with Ryoko you'll need to take advantage of every single opportunity to give it.

Smart opponents are going to use quick, long range pokes like Zazie's s.lk in order to disrupt your spacing. Knowing Ryoko's damage, they will turtle like crazy. It's critical that you be familiar with the recovery on characters' strongest pokes so you might be able to capitalize on a whiff or blocked move.

Advanced Strategy

Learn when you can cross *UNDER* an opponent for a mixup that will usually result in a free fire wheel.

Wrong rolling may seem useless and a mistake but it has a great advantage in a particular situation. When an opponent attempts to cross you up on wakeup, wrong roll. The Roll is a great anti air and will most likely beat or at the very least trade with their crossup! This takes some practice because there aren't many frames she faces backwards. Just keep at it and you'll eventually get it.

Match-ups

Ray

Lee

Zaz

Kar

Jea

Miz

Sam

Yun

Mat

Clo

Fei

Mar

Ryo

Ryoko

-

Vs. Clown:

Clown will standing light punch (AND HARD PUNCH) his little heart out and throw fireballs. His trip has very good range to add insult to your inability to jump in. Hope for a blocked ball to get closer to Clown.

Vs. Jean:

This is one of her worst (despite her having no good matchups)... NEVER jump in. Do rolls under fireball (hope you can time those well)... there's really not much you can do because Jean will undoubtedly turtle and you will more than likely lose.

Vs. Ryoko (self):

Standing Hard Punch is the game breaker here. You will use this as your primary poke: it'll hit Ryoko's weakness and let you combo.

Vs. Karnov:

Ryoko's best matchup! If Karnov is rushdown happy you can punish him getting too close with his kicks by a nicely placed Fire Wheel. If he balloons, get him at the beginning or wait for it to end then crouching hard punch him out of the air (Thanks to the GGPO FHD crew for pointing this out to me!)

Vs. Lee:

I bet you're expecting this by now, but this match is about as bad as Ray. Lee has excellent priority and speed, and you have no way to jump in. I am unsure as to how to deal with zetsu aside from just spamming s.lp and hoping for the best... I hope you like to lose :(

Vs. Feilin:

One of her best matchups! Don't get too excited... You cannot jump in deep due to Fei's standing hard punch. She will trade sometimes, but you will not be able to come on top of the trade. Look for situations in which you can cross her up while she is standing and her hard punch cannot hit you. You can sometimes jump over fireballs and then get in a combo, but beware. If her fireball animation is nearly done she may DP you!

Vs. Yungmie:

Yungmie can mash low and high punches / kicks all day and outprioritize ANYTHING you do. It's really that bad. There's not much you can do here...

Vs. Marstorius:

Really bad. I hope you can throw faster than Marstorius, because his Double German has more range than your Fire Wheel. He also has many more solid poking options to score combos... I hope you're ready for yet another uphill battle :/

Vs. Matlok:

This could be a lot worse. Your standing hard punch is great in this matchup. Slide tackle on a blocked overhead kick. Don't be too shy about jumping in because his only real wakeup reversal can be traded with. See if you can bait him into whiffing a standing hard punch: you can jump in and Fire Wheel if quick enough!

Vs. Mizoguchi:

If you can bait a fireball, you'll get a free Fire Wheel. Make sure you punish rdp's with Fire Wheels and slide tackles. His most dangerous move against you is his repeatable kicks. If a sequence of these hits, you'll dizzy then undoubtedly die from his high damage dizzy combo(s).

Vs. Ray:

Ray will throw fireballs the entire match and trip you on jump in. If you jump in from close, he'll wheel kick you. Try to force Ray to misjudge a wheel kick distance in order to score a free Fire Wheel. Her hardest matchup by far. You can't do much in this uphill battle, but I've seen it won. Good luck!

Vs. Samchay:

Do not get hit by Samchay's standing hard kick. It will lead to a free dizzy, and it hits your weak spot. Samchay's good moves hit your weak spot dead on because of your height. Look for standing hard punch openings and fish him into doing a close tiger knee that will result in a Fire Wheel. You can jump in with more liberty than many other matches because his crouching hard punch is slow, but conversely his DP is EXCELLENT (But hard to pull off, don't expect them to do it all the time...). This match will boil down to you having superior spacing and patience.

Vs. Zazie:

This definitely isn't so hot for Ryoko. NERD FIRE makes it incredibly hard for you to get close, but you can sometimes slide throw him afterwards. Watch out for his standing light kick from hell: it hits you from a mile away. If Ryoko gets dizzied, it's curtains due to Zazie's high damage output (he hits her weak spot with his best move....)