Strategy
Ryu is a very basic character who is not hard to pick up and learn the fundamentals with. However, he does have some specific stuff that can potentially make him even better than what meets the eye.
"x N" means the move notated can be repeated as many times until it falls out of range.
General Strategy
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Groove Strategy
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Level 2 Cancels
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General Strategy
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Anti-Roll
Here is the general strategy vs. rolling.
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Anti-Roll Cancel
Here are the main strategies to fight against Roll Cancels. These aren't going to cover every RC individually, however every RC in the game will be countered by at least one of these tactics.
Click "Expand" to see the contents.
- Roll/Dodge: Basically fighting fire with fire. Rolling against a roll cancel works against long RCs, examples include: Claw's Rolling Ball, Sakura's Fireball and Tatsumaki, Eagle's Sticks, Honda's Hands, Chun's Spinning Bird Kick (just hope she doesn't hit you from behind), Yamazaki's Snake Arms, etc. Dodging does not work nearly as well as rolling but it can get you out of sticky situations. It is horrible against fast RCs if you don't commit to a dodge attack as you are vulnerable to a quick throw.
- Throwing: RCs are invincible against everything against throws. Reversal RCs are not technically reversals as throws can beat them on wake-up and in other close-up scenarios. Use it if you are in range and suspect the opponent might try to surprise you with it. When the battle is face-to-face, you might want to stray away from other options since the opponent can do the same things to you.
- Get Out: Jump out of the attack. Works well against moves shown in the roll/dodge bullet point, however for specials that can actually anti-air like Honda's Hands or Yamazaki's Snake Arms, they might not work, however specials like Rock's Elbow and Eagle's Sticks will eat shit once you get out of their range. Not always a recommended tool but it is effective in the right scenario.
- Guard Cancel: Against moves that are difficult to get out of, especially in the corner (Honda RC Hands, Iori RC Rekka), you can spend a little on a guard cancel to get your turn back. This is also going to do wonders for your guard bar. If you aren't in a groove with a guard cancel (basically P or K) then this option won't be available and you have to try something else, most likely just parry or JD the best you can.
General Strategy
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If you want to see Custom Combos, refer to the Combos Section
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Anti-CC
- Blocked CC: placeholder
- Roll CC: placeholder
- Wake-Up CC: placeholder
- Anti-Air Custom: placeholder
- Trip-Guard Custom: placeholder
- Up Close Custom: placeholder
- Jump-In Custom: placeholder
Anti-Roll
Here is the general strategy vs. rolling.
Click "Expand" to see the contents.
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Anti-Roll Cancel
Here are the main strategies to fight against Roll Cancels. These aren't going to cover every RC individually, however every RC in the game will be countered by at least one of these tactics.
Click "Expand" to see the contents.
- Roll/Dodge: Basically fighting fire with fire. Rolling against a roll cancel works against long RCs, examples include: Claw's Rolling Ball, Sakura's Fireball and Tatsumaki, Eagle's Sticks, Honda's Hands, Chun's Spinning Bird Kick (just hope she doesn't hit you from behind), Yamazaki's Snake Arms, etc. Dodging does not work nearly as well as rolling but it can get you out of sticky situations. It is horrible against fast RCs if you don't commit to a dodge attack as you are vulnerable to a quick throw.
- Throwing: RCs are invincible against everything against throws. Reversal RCs are not technically reversals as throws can beat them on wake-up and in other close-up scenarios. Use it if you are in range and suspect the opponent might try to surprise you with it. When the battle is face-to-face, you might want to stray away from other options since the opponent can do the same things to you.
- Get Out: Jump out of the attack. Works well against moves shown in the roll/dodge bullet point, however for specials that can actually anti-air like Honda's Hands or Yamazaki's Snake Arms, they might not work, however specials like Rock's Elbow and Eagle's Sticks will eat shit once you get out of their range. Not always a recommended tool but it is effective in the right scenario.
- Guard Cancel: Against moves that are difficult to get out of, especially in the corner (Honda RC Hands, Iori RC Rekka), you can spend a little on a guard cancel to get your turn back. This is also going to do wonders for your guard bar. If you aren't in a groove with a guard cancel (basically P or K) then this option won't be available and you have to try something else, most likely just parry or JD the best you can.
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Parry Punishes
Here are your options after a successful parry in any given scenario.
Ground Parry vs. Grounded Opponent
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Ground Parry vs. Aerial Opponent
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Air Parry vs. Grounded Opponent
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Air Parry vs. Aerial Opponent
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General Strategy
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Anti-Parry
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General Strategy
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Power Charge
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Dodge
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Dodge Attacks
Here are how you can use Sagat's dodge attack.
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Desperation
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General Strategy
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Anti-Dodge
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Anti-Desperation
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Playing 
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Anti-Roll
Here is the general strategy vs. rolling.
Click "Expand" to see the contents.
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Anti-Roll Cancel
Here are the main strategies to fight against Roll Cancels. These aren't going to cover every RC individually, however every RC in the game will be countered by at least one of these tactics.
Click "Expand" to see the contents.
- Roll/Dodge: Basically fighting fire with fire. Rolling against a roll cancel works against long RCs, examples include: Claw's Rolling Ball, Sakura's Fireball and Tatsumaki, Eagle's Sticks, Honda's Hands, Chun's Spinning Bird Kick (just hope she doesn't hit you from behind), Yamazaki's Snake Arms, etc. Dodging does not work nearly as well as rolling but it can get you out of sticky situations. It is horrible against fast RCs if you don't commit to a dodge attack as you are vulnerable to a quick throw.
- Throwing: RCs are invincible against everything against throws. Reversal RCs are not technically reversals as throws can beat them on wake-up and in other close-up scenarios. Use it if you are in range and suspect the opponent might try to surprise you with it. When the battle is face-to-face, you might want to stray away from other options since the opponent can do the same things to you.
- Get Out: Jump out of the attack. Works well against moves shown in the roll/dodge bullet point, however for specials that can actually anti-air like Honda's Hands or Yamazaki's Snake Arms, they might not work, however specials like Rock's Elbow and Eagle's Sticks will eat shit once you get out of their range. Not always a recommended tool but it is effective in the right scenario.
- Guard Cancel: Against moves that are difficult to get out of, especially in the corner (Honda RC Hands, Iori RC Rekka), you can spend a little on a guard cancel to get your turn back. This is also going to do wonders for your guard bar. If you aren't in a groove with a guard cancel (basically P or K) then this option won't be available and you have to try something else, most likely just parry or JD the best you can.
Anti-Guard Cancel Roll
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Just Defend
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Just Defend Frame Advantage Formula
Good to reference for your character to see what kind of returns they can have on a JD.
Click "Expand" to see the contents.
Formula
Adv = G - (Act + Rec)
Adv = New frame advantage estimate from a JD'd attack. G = Guard Stun. See Guard Stun Estimates. Act = Active Frames of the JD'd attack. Rec = Recovery Frames of the JD'd attack.
Guardstun Estimates
Light Normals: 10 Frames
Medium Normals: 14 ~ 16 Frames
Heavy Normals: 18 ~ 20 Frames
Special Moves: 19 ~ 21 Frames
Examples
Rugal 2LP = 10 Frames - (4 Act + 6 Rec) = +0 on JD (+5 Normally)
Eagle 5MK = 14 ~ 16 Frames - (6 Act + 16 Rec) = -6 ~ -8 on JD (+0 Normally)
Sagat 2HP = 18 ~ 20 Frames - (8 Act + 14 Rec) = -4 ~ -2 on JD (+2 Normally)
Rage
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General Strategy
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Anti-JD
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Anti-Rage
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Strategy
Ryu is a very basic character who is not hard to pick up and learn the fundamentals with. However, he does have some specific stuff that can potentially make him even better than what meets the eye.
Team Position
Best Position: Point
Ryu being basic is the main reason why he is the best at point. He builds meter well, but he is not the best meter builder. He is good at using meter, but does not use it to the same extent as other good mid characters, and while Ryu can be a decent anchor, he does not quite have the "X factor" to make crazy comebacks that some characters have. Being a meter builder is one of Ryu's more valuable traits, and with his constant use of tatsu, he can build it quickly.
Neutral
Ryu's neutral is satisfactory. He can hang with strong characters but he has to make very good use of his spacing.
Pokes
st.HP: Great counterpoke when hit at max range. Although you do not have to necessarily space it, as it is only 0 on block, the start-up compared to pokes that work better at closer ranges make it redundant at those ranges.
cr.MP: Decent but not spectacular. Good for counter-hitting and stuffing buttons, and is really plus so it can double as a pressure button.
cr.MK: THE poke. They don't call this footsies for nothing. This is the button that you want to base your spacing around, as the lightning fast startup, decent reward, and overall potency of this button make it Ryu's go-to for anything neutral related.
cr.HK: Basically a more rewarding version of cr.MK, but way more risky. Getting the knockdown may not necessarily be a "win condition" per se, but it always helps that Ryu is on the offensive. If blocked, you generally want to either go into a fireball, or a LK tatsu, the fireball is more preferred, but don't do this against characters with lvl3 supers, as they can blow through since there's a gap when hit at the tip.
Senpu Kyaku: Ryu's hop kick is decent in CvS2, as it is plus on block and it's great to reset the distance when the opponent is blocking. It can hop lows as well, but it's pretty easy to react to with a standing button, don't use this too much. It is best to be unpredictable with this button to use it effectively.
Low Hop j.HK: Only available in P,S,N, and K grooves respectively, this gives Ryu a pretty decent mix-up, and is way better than his basic f+MP overhead. He can even confirm off of it at shorter ranges.
Anti-Zone
Fireballs: One of the easiest anti-zoning techniques: Just zone back. While this doesn't mean you win, it does allow you to protect yourself and force the opponent to make a guess as to whether or not you jump in or not after the fireballs clash. Ryu's Shinkuu Hadouken does have multiple hits, however it does not punish fireballs from farther out, but does give you time to close in the space as the opponent has to block or roll/dodge past the rest of the fireball.
Tatsumaki: Ryu's main anti-fireball tool, as the hitbox is specially designed to go over most fireballs. RCing this makes it impervious to any attack, and makes it especially deadly on the light version, since there's very little time where the tatsu can be hit. If you need to get in against fireballs, this is the best thing Ryu has to fight it.
Pressure
Ryu is decent at pressuring the opponent as he has quick buttons and can generate plus frames from many strings.
Up-Close Options
cr.LK: Good low to start offense with, as its very fast and plus. It can also lead into Ryu's blockstring options, making it great for him.
cr.MP: Stuffs any attempted counter-poke to escape pressure, good for sitting the opponent down when they try to mash out of stuff.
Throw: If pressure gets blocked too much this is a good option to deal with it. Ryu's best tick options are cr.LK and cr.LP.
Blockstrings
* x n means the move notated can be repeated as many times until it falls out of range.
cr.LK, cr.LP, cr.HK xx Hadouken: Basic and gets the job done. It allows Ryu to get up close again and push more offense, it does not work the guard bar like crazy, but it keeps Ryu on the offensive.
Throw Setups
Tick Throw: Ticking off of Ryu's crouching lights is pretty strong, as you can leave an airtight gap between the poke and the throw pretty easily.
Dash-In: Ryu's dash is fairly quick, and doing a throw after a string of lights into the dash is a pretty decent option and catches people off guard who've been properly conditioned by Ryu's blockstrings.
Defense
Ryu possesses strong defensive options, particularly his wide array of anti-airs. He has it easy when it comes to stopping any unwanted jumps from the opponent.
Anti-Airs
st.LP: Best done as an emergency anti air, since it has a very fast 2 frame start-up. It doesn't have the best hitbox, but it works for what it does.
st.HP: Best used against jumps that land in front of Ryu, the damage is satisfactory and gets them away from you.
cl.HP: Good to use as an anti-crossup move, as the hitbox is good and the damage is decent for a normal button anti air.
st.LK/st.MK: Since they're the same button, they hit at the same angle and counter the same jumps. st.MK gives you damage but it's slower, so you have to time it better, while st.LK is faster but weaker.
st.HK: Generally preferred against 45° jumps, as it has more priority and more damage than the other two stand kicks. Does the job well and is frequently used.
cr.HP: Has the same general use as cl.HP but is weaker in damage. However, it is not a proximity normal, so you can bust it out at ranges that cl.HP may come out at an st.HP. Also frequently used.
nj.LK/nj.MK: Niche anti airs, since they are weak in damage and don't offer the best reward, while not being the most consistent. Not used much.
Shoryuken: Pretty obvious anti-air, and it is Ryu's best anti air when taking into account consistency and reward. Just note that against C-Groove, you want to hit this as late as possible, since the rising hit can be air blocked.
Tatsumaki: Only really useful when RC'd. It can be a good anti air on the light version, but due to the hitbox, you have to RC it so that it cannot get clipped by anything.
Shin Shoryuken: Highly not recommending to use this as an anti air, as it doesn't have the same full confirm range as say, SF4 Metsu Shoryuken, but if you have a good read and the opponent is at your mercy, stealing round momentum with this move isn't that bad of an idea. It has to be hit late though, otherwise you get the pathetic rising hit and not the world destroying main hit.
Anti-Pressure
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Okizeme
Ryu's mixups aren't the best. His evil satsui no hado driven rival Akuma has him firmly beat in that department. Although, Ryu can still force some cheeky stuff if need be, but they are not as effective as other mixups in this game.
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Groove Strategy
C-Groove is firmly Ryu's best. After all, the main character being at his best in what is basically the default groove is the most fitting. The subsystems mesh with his playstyle well, and C-Groove has fast meterbuild, making point Ryu even stronger in that department.
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If you want to see Ryu’s Custom Combos, refer to the Combos Section
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