User:Pixelguin

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Blessed Buttons: M.Ryu's highly intuitive layout lets him use his most common moves without holding the Assist button. This isn't something to take for granted - just ask M.Luke or M.Ken.
Awesome Anti-Air: Having access to Shoryuken without a motion input drastically reduces M.Ryu's mental stack. He can also immediately perform OD Shoryuken or Lv3 while blocking with no buffer frames that would leave him vulnerable.
Radical Reactions: M.Ryu's assisted combos and supers lend themselves well to the more reactive Modern playstyle, whether that's the good old Hadoken/Shoryuken game or checking reaction tests like Drive Rush and burnout DI.
Gentle Gestures: Many of M.Ryu's combos naturally route into motion specials or give extra time to buffer a motion due to Assist moves ignoring directions. An indispensable boon for those learning motion inputs.

Modern Motions: M.Ryu is heavily dependent on varying Hadoken strength to keep the opponent guessing and Hashogeki to extend combos, both of which require motion inputs. M.Ryu's best combo damage move, H Shoryuken, is harshly scaled if executed with a shortcut input. Learning motion inputs is essential for M.Ryu to be effective in Master League or competitive play.
Damage Dilemma: M.Ryu loses most of his best buttons for combo damage: 5HK, 4HP, and 236HK. This means he either has to rely on Denjin Hashogeki to extend his combos or win significantly more interactions in neutral than his opponent.
Sideswitch Struggle: Aside from a back throw, M.Ryu has zero meterless sideswitch options. His only option is to route into OD Donkey Kick without an ender, giving up damage in the process.
Neglected Niche: Ryu is the least popular character to play with Modern controls and is essentially absent in the competitive scene, even on Classic. Resources for playing M.Ryu are slim to none.

Modern Control Combos

Meterless Combos
Combo	Position	Damage	Difficulty	Notes
A[L ~ L]	Anywhere	1200	Assisted	Your only option for Donkey Kick off a light without a punish. Great for checking Drive Rush. Don't spam it otherwise - light Donkey Kick is -11 OB and you won't be anywhere near safe.
2L ~ 2L ~ 5L > 623H 2L ~ 2L ~ 5L > 6S	Anywhere	1690 1494	Easy V. Easy	Your basic light confirm. Unlike Classic, Modern Ryu cannot confirm this string into Donkey Kick. Modern Ryu can focus entirely on confirming distance to the opponent and cancel into Shoryuken early without buffering.
2L ~ 2L ~ 2L > 4S	Anywhere	1214	V. Easy	Hooray! You get medium tatsu from your crouching light punch!
5L ~ 2L > 4S	Anywhere	1146	V. Easy	Hooray! You get confirmable corner carry from your 4f move! If you want corner carry after a perfect parry, this is your route.
2M > 4S/2S/236H 2M > 4S/2S/5S	Anywhere	980/1076/1204 884/1076/1204	V. Easy	Hadoken is the safest ender and a good option in Burnout to keep distance. Tatsu gives great corner carry and Drive Rush oki into most options except your command overhead. Donkey Kick is relatively safe and lets you charge Denjin if it hits.
A[H ~ H] > 4S/623H A[H ~ H] > 4S/6S	Anywhere	1784/2260 1784/2064	Easy V. Easy	Heavy Shoryuken is your highest damage meterless A[H] combo. Tatsu gives you corner carry and oki. You can start buffering the 623H motion immediately by holding forward for easy full damage.
5M, A[M] > 4S/2S/623H 5M, A[M] > 4S/2S/6S	Anywhere	1776/1904/2320 1776/1904/2096	Easy	A consistent combo that can be optimized for damage, corner carry, or a mostly safe Denjin charge. Since Modern Ryu does not have Short Uppercut (4HP), this is his best meterless combo without a jump-in.
A[H ~ H, L ~ L]	Anywhere	2090	Easy	Thanks to Modern controls, you only have to do one link for this combo (and it still does full damage!). Light Donkey Kick gives you space to pop Denjin.
A[H ~ H, L] > 4S	Anywhere	1922	Easy	This combo does more damage compared to A[H ~ H] > 4S. However, the oki is worse midscreen - you can only dash forward or jab if your opponent back rises.

Metered Combos
Combo	Position	Damage	Difficulty	Notes
PDR, A[M], 5M > 4S/2S/623H PDR, A[M], 5M > 4S/2S/6S	Anywhere	1776/1904/2320 1776/1904/2096	Medium	This is a core part of your Drive Rush strike mixup, 2M being the other. A[M] can be replaced with 5M to get +11 on hit (enough to link into 5H) at the cost of being -1 on block.
Any Medium/Heavy Starter > 214XX > 214214M A[M ~ M ~ M]	Anywhere	2900-3660 3460	Medium Assisted	Your basic route into level 2 - you can charge Shin Hasho to the first level. The Assist combo version starts with Classic's 2MP and does more damage than any shortcut combo.
Any Medium/Heavy Starter > A[2S], 623H Any Medium/Heavy Starter > A[2S], 6S	Midscreen	1852-2420 1684-2224	Medium Easy	Midscreen combo extension. Replace Shoryuken with level 1 for more damage. Cancel Shoryuken to level 3 for even more.
5M, A[M] > A[2S], 623H 5M, A[M] > A[2S], 6S	Midscreen	2552 2384	Medium Easy	Two-hit version of the above that does more damage than any single hit as a starter. Using the shortcut input easily lets Ryu walk forward a bit and land a good Shoryuken.
Starter > A[2S] > 214214M	Midscreen	2940-3540	Medium	Another route into level 2 that allows for full charge. Do not use with shortcut Lv2 as the damage is always less than the OD Hasho route (especially the Assist combo).
Starter > A[4S], PDR, 5M > 214M, 623H Starter > A[4S], PDR, 5M > 214M, 6S	Corner	2490-3194 2378-3040	Medium	Your basic OD+DR extension for extra damage in the corner. Can also be ended with Lv1/Lv3 super after the OD Tatsu.
DI Wallsplat, 2H > 214M, 623H DI Wallsplat, 2H > 214M, 6S	Corner	2176 1994	Medium	Modern Ryu's best wallsplat combo without spending any more meter.
DI Wallsplat, PDR, 5H, A[L] > DI Wallsplat	Corner	748+	Medium	DI re-splat that adds to the opponent's mental stack. Loses to counter DI and invincible reversals, but most opponents won't see it coming the first time.
5H > DRC > 5H > DRC > 5H > 623H > 236236H 5H > DRC > 5H > DRC > 5H > 6S > 2HS	Anywhere	4850 4682	Easy	Simple meter dump into Lv3 that works anywhere on the screen. 2HS will do the same damage as 236236H as it cannot go below 50% scaling.
5H > DRC > 5H, A[M] > DRC > 5H, A[M] > 623H > 236236H 5H > DRC > 5H, A[M] > DRC > 5H, A[M] > 6S > 2HS	Anywhere	5254 5142	Medium	Improved version of the above that requires timing a link twice. If you landed a Drive Rush 5H as your starter, you can link another A[M] for a hair more damage.

Denjin Combos
Combo	Position	Damage	Difficulty	Notes
2H starter can be replaced with 5H or any route into 5M or A[M]. 4H can cancel on the second hit only. 2M can cancel into OD Denjin Hasho only. A[L] can punish into OD Denjin Hasho, but you should be routing A[L, M].
2H > 214X, [6]23H 2H > 214X, [6]S	Anywhere	2720 2496	V. Hard Easy	Extremely hard to do midscreen with motion Shoryuken as it requires a microwalk. But you're on Modern - just hold forward and press Special slightly late. Drive-free 2500!
2H > 214X, PDR, 5H > 623H 2H > 214X, PDR, 5H > 6S	Anywhere	2970 2802	Medium	Spends one bar to extend and improve the above. No microwalk, phew! Shoryuken should not be cancelled into Lv3 - it will always whiff. Dropping 623H input still allows 5H~H, so this is a good combo to practice DP motions.
2H > 214X, PDR, 5H > 4S	Anywhere	2567	Medium	Modern Ryu's best oki corner carry without meter dumping.
2H > 214X, PDR, 2H > A[2S], Extension	Midscreen	2520-5108 2520-4996	Medium	You can replace Shoryuken with any midscreen combo extension (see above). Alternatively, dash/jump forward for a sideswitch.
2H > 214X, PDR, 2H > A[2S], 3H	Midscreen	2898	Hard	Faux safejump (leaves you anywhere from +39 to +41). Will trap most anti-air reversals.
2H > 214X, PDR, 2H > 214M, 623H 2H > 214X, PDR, 2H > 214M, 6S	Corner	3330 3176	Hard	Denjin Hasho replaces OD Tatsu for this corner combo, saving two bars and opening better routes.
2H > 214XX, 5H > DRC > 5H, A[M] > DRC > 5H, A[M] > 623H > 236236H 2H > 214XX, 5H > DRC > 5H, A[M] > DRC > 5H, A[M] > 6S > 2HS	Anywhere	5708 5638	Medium	Denjin-enhanced meter dump.
2H > 214XX, 5H > DRC > 2H > 214H, PDR, 2H > 2S > 236236H 2H > 214XX, 5H > DRC > 2H > 214H, PDR, 2H > 2S > 2HS	Anywhere	5553 5553	Hard	Juggle combo that will not put Ryu in Burnout if he is at full Drive.
2H > 214XX, 5H > DRC > 2H > 214H, PDR, 2H > 214M, 623H > 236236H 2H > 214XX, 5H > DRC > 2H > 214H, PDR, 2H > 214M, 6S > 2HS	Corner	5878 5808	Hard	Corner-optimized version of the above. Can be used after landing a Stun with j.H for 5544/5516 damage, but Ryu will enter Burnout.
2H > 214XX, 5H > DRC > 2H > 214H, PDR, 5H > DRC, 2H > 2S, 623H > 236236H 2H > 214XX, 5H > DRC > 2H > 214H, PDR, 5H > DRC, 2H > 2S, 6S > 2HS	Corner	5986 5930	Hard	Modern Ryu's best meter dump without a jump-in. Cannot be performed after a Stun. Adding j.H at the start brings the damage up to 6111/6083.

Punish Combos

Punish Counter Combos
Combo	Position	Damage	Difficulty	Notes
A[L, L~L]	Anywhere	1430	Easy	Punish -5 moves with a single button. Useful if you feel overwhelmed.
A[L, M] > 4S/2S/623H A[L, M] > 4S/2S/6S	Anywhere	1476/1604/2020 1476/1604/1796	Easy / Medium Easy	Punish -5 moves into your choice of ender. You can also cancel into Denjin or OD Denjin Hashogeki to extend the combo.
A[L] > A[4S] > Extension	Midscreen	936-3916 936-3720	Easy - Medium V. Easy - Medium	Punish -5 moves into your choice of combo extension or sideswitch.
A[H ~ H] > 623H/236236L A[H ~ H] > 6S/5HS	Anywhere	2420/2840 2224/2560	Easy / Hard V. Easy	Modern Ryu's best drive-free punish combo without a link. A[H] forces stand on hit, so it can be used to punish anti-air reversals.
5M, 5H > 623H 5M, 5H > 6S	Anywhere	2640 2416	Easy	Easy punish that works anywhere on screen and costs no meter.
5H, 5M > 623H/236236L 5H, 5M > 6S/5HS	Anywhere	2680/3160 2456/2840	Medium / Hard Easy	Swaps the heavy and medium inputs. The link window is smaller, but the cancel window is larger.
DI Punish, 6H > 214XX, 623H DI Punish, 6H > A[4S], 6S	Corner	3280 2944	Medium	Finally, a use for Whirlwind Kick that does big damage. Cancel into Lv3 for 2000 more. Also works if you can somehow land 6H raw in the corner. One of Modern Ryu's best combos that doesn't require Denjin, though it's highly situational.
5H > 623H > 236236H 5H > 6S > 2HS	Anywhere	5160 4320	Medium V. Easy	5000 damage with just three hits. Less useful with shortcuts as the scaling is quite severe - try DP motion + shortcut super for 4600 damage.