EPT
Here ya go, eRyu 101:
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Gonna dump all my eRyu info in this post. Bee/Drew/anyone else considering picking him up, this is for you
Overview:
eRyu is a pretty good character. His damage output is comparable to Sakura's, though it is much more difficult executionally to pull off. His main flaws are that he's pretty squishy (900hp, low stun), that his main buttons are fairly slow (c.mk is 7 frame startup, compared to Ryu's 5 frame or Ken's 4 frame c.mk), and that he can't confirm for much damage off a [c.lk, c.jab] string. You're gonna have to go for hard reads with frame traps to open people up for his best damage, as well as put every ounce of effort into out-footsieing people with his c.mk.
Just so you understand what you're getting yourself into, eRyu has a LOT of bad matchups. He shares the typical bad matchups that other shotos struggle with (Bison, Guile, Cammy, Akuma, etc) but also has a difficult time against a bunch of other characters (Yun/Yang, Sakura, Ibuki, Seth, etc) because he's squishy and his teleport sucks.
His fireballs are ok - roughly comparable to Akuma's, though I think Akuma's recover slightly faster.
His main strengths are the fact that his c.mk xx fireball is a true blockstring at max range. This is a huge, huge deal because it means your opponent has to respect that button at every range. Bee, you'll be familiar with the concept of people focusing/ultraing/reversal whatever through your fireball if you cancel c.mk into fireball at the tip. eRyu doesn't have this problem and that helps a lot. His other main strength is his ridiculous damage. If you're gonna play eRyu, you NEED this damage, so be prepared to sit in training mode until you understand how his combos work and can comfortably confirm into them.
Gameplay with eRyu revolves almost exclusively around opening people up with c.mk - maximizing damage off this tool means learning some quite difficult combos. You can swap damage for ease-of-use by doing simple c.mk xx fireball FADC combos, but this isn't where your sako damage comes from.
Remember eRyu has a really good kara-throw with his s.fp. s.fp~lk+lp, i'm sure you guys know how to do a kara-throw. If you wanna be really fancy, you can also kara-cancel his c.mk into throw, but obviously that's ridiculously difficult because you can't throw while crouching. If you can pull it off, though, he's got the biggest kara-throw in the game. Don't recommend trying this, it's just neat to know
Basic combos:
This is your basic no-meter BnB if you successfully hit a jump-in:
close.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp xx lk tatsu, hp dp
First let me make something abundantly clear: eRyu's tatsus WILL NOT COMBO on a crouching opponent, but his cl.fp and c.fp force stand.
This combo requires you to be right next to your opponent because it depends on his close.FP. The only buttons mk axekick will combo from are cl.FP, c.FP, and cl.MP. Every other button does not have enough hitstun to combo mk axekick. axekick to c.lp is a 2-frame link, pretty easy. You have the option to use c.mp instead (4 frame startup) but it's a harder link for very little additional damage.
This is your basic FADC combo from long-range c.mk:
c.mk xx fireball FADC c.mk xx hp dp - around 320 damage for two bars, will work at near-max range because his c.mk moves him forward so much. c.mk xx fireball FADC, sweep will also work at far range.
Fireball FADC combos with eRyu are really easy and should be the bulk of what you use when you're starting out. If the opponent is cornered, you can indeed get a second axekick loop by just doing cl.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp xx fireball FADC cl.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp xx lk tatsu, dp. Outside the corner, you will never be close enough to your opponent after a fireball FADC to land any close normal, which takes his mk axekick off the table entirely. However, there's a way around this and you'll notice these are the combos Sako uses to get that ridiculous 450-500 damage that eRyu is now known for. Here's the combo:
Advanced combos:
cl.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp s.mp xx lk axekick FADC c.lp cl.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp xx lk tatsu, dp.
In this combo you focus-cancel his lk axekick. lk axekick cannot be linked from on hit, but if you FADC it, you end up right next to the opponent regardless of screen position, so you can get another axekick loop. These are difficult combos because the timing to FADC lk axekick is pretty wonky. You'll have to practice this one, and you should, because it opens up this magical series:
c.mk xx lk axekick FADC c.lp cl.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp xx lk tatsu, dp - this is ~440+ damage off a MAX RANGE c.mk. Just think about that for a second. The range on eRyu's c.mk is huge, and for two bars (and some execution practice) you can convert to massive damage from this button. This is where eRyu's true strength lies, and it's why Sako's eRyu is so scary. If you don't have these combos down, you're basically playing half a character, because your damage/stun output will be super low compared to an eRyu who can do these combos.
On some characters (Rufus, Honda, Chun, other fatties) you can do this:
cl.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp c.fp xx mk axekick, s.lp xx lk tatsu, dp
Opening people up:
Like I said before, eRyu has a kara throw. You need to use this to make people want to tech, so you can utilize your one really good frame trap normal: close fp.
When you're pressuring a knocked down opponent and they block your safejump, or you pressure with a meaty jab, you should be trying to frame trap them with cl.fp. You can only get a cl.fp off ONE JAB on block, so if you do two jabs, you no longer have access to your cl.fp combos, which are your max damage. That's not to say you don't have more options, however. c.mk can be linked off c.mp ONLY on counterhit, and this lets you blow meter for some bigger combos. For example:
c.jab c.jab (blocked) -> c.mp [counterhit], c.mk xx lk axekick FADC c.lp cl.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp xx lk tatsu, dp
c.jab is +2 on block and close FP is 5 frame startup. This gives you a 3 frame gap to play with. Unless someone is absolutely perfect and on point, you will not get beat out when using this as a frame trap. The opponent has to perfectly time a STANDING tech to beat this out. It will destroy any tech OSed with a crouching normal (like any crouch tech). As with any other normal used for frame trapping, there's a certain element of 'feel' necessary. I open people up with sakura's cl.fp this way - it's a fast normal, but I'll delay it 'enough' to catch people hitting a button if they're late teching or w/e.
If you are more comfortable just doing a couple jabs for your hit confirm, I recommend doing c.lk c.jab s.mp xx lk axekick FADC combos. You sacrifice a little damage due to the scaling the c.lk/c.jab put on your combo, but this will certainly give you way way more damage than doing c.lk c.jab c.mp xx fireball FADC because of the positioning lk axekick FADC gives you.
Ultra combos:
U1 is really easy to land but it does fuck all for damage. You should absolutely use U2 in every single matchup with eRyu, but only try to land it when you can get the full animation. That means you use it as a punish so you can save meter, or you use this specific combo:
[any normal] xx EX fireball FADC U2 - 3 bars, has to be done really fucking fast, grants full animation U2 for a fucking buttload of damage
Setups: I don't have too many. The main thing you'll use is in the corner: when you end your combo with lk tatsu into dp, you go dp FADC hk axekick, forward dash x2, j.mk. this will safejump people's DPs (not shotos obv). this setup using j.rh instead of j.mk is unblockable on some characters. It's really ambiguous regardless though. Remember that eRyu has a command divekick like Akuma's, d.mk at the peak of your jump. Good for baiting certain anti-airs, like sakura's c.fp etc.
Overall, you need to outfootsie people with eRyu's c.mk. That's the absolute most important skill for this character, and its why I say I'm still too dumb to play eRyu lol
Oh also, eRyu walks forward and backward VERY VERY VERY FAST. he's got the same walkspeed as Cammy, which is tied for second place behind Akuma, Vega, Chun, and Bison, who are tied for fastest.
One important defensive note is that eRyu's backdash is SUPER SUPER GOOD! Ryu's backdash sucks balls so this may be an adjustment if you're going from Ryu to eRyu. eRyu also has a fucking fantastic focus attack.
OK, have fun, practice those combos cuz they make a huge huge difference
Overview:
eRyu is a pretty good character. His damage output is comparable to Sakura's, though it is much more difficult executionally to pull off. His main flaws are that he's pretty squishy (900hp, low stun), that his main buttons are fairly slow (c.mk is 7 frame startup, compared to Ryu's 5 frame or Ken's 4 frame c.mk), and that he can't confirm for much damage off a [c.lk, c.jab] string. You're gonna have to go for hard reads with frame traps to open people up for his best damage, as well as put every ounce of effort into out-footsieing people with his c.mk.
Just so you understand what you're getting yourself into, eRyu has a LOT of bad matchups. He shares the typical bad matchups that other shotos struggle with (Bison, Guile, Cammy, Akuma, etc) but also has a difficult time against a bunch of other characters (Yun/Yang, Sakura, Ibuki, Seth, etc) because he's squishy and his teleport sucks.
His fireballs are ok - roughly comparable to Akuma's, though I think Akuma's recover slightly faster.
His main strengths are the fact that his c.mk xx fireball is a true blockstring at max range. This is a huge, huge deal because it means your opponent has to respect that button at every range. Bee, you'll be familiar with the concept of people focusing/ultraing/reversal whatever through your fireball if you cancel c.mk into fireball at the tip. eRyu doesn't have this problem and that helps a lot. His other main strength is his ridiculous damage. If you're gonna play eRyu, you NEED this damage, so be prepared to sit in training mode until you understand how his combos work and can comfortably confirm into them.
Gameplay with eRyu revolves almost exclusively around opening people up with c.mk - maximizing damage off this tool means learning some quite difficult combos. You can swap damage for ease-of-use by doing simple c.mk xx fireball FADC combos, but this isn't where your sako damage comes from.
Remember eRyu has a really good kara-throw with his s.fp. s.fp~lk+lp, i'm sure you guys know how to do a kara-throw. If you wanna be really fancy, you can also kara-cancel his c.mk into throw, but obviously that's ridiculously difficult because you can't throw while crouching. If you can pull it off, though, he's got the biggest kara-throw in the game. Don't recommend trying this, it's just neat to know
Basic combos:
This is your basic no-meter BnB if you successfully hit a jump-in:
close.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp xx lk tatsu, hp dp
First let me make something abundantly clear: eRyu's tatsus WILL NOT COMBO on a crouching opponent, but his cl.fp and c.fp force stand.
This combo requires you to be right next to your opponent because it depends on his close.FP. The only buttons mk axekick will combo from are cl.FP, c.FP, and cl.MP. Every other button does not have enough hitstun to combo mk axekick. axekick to c.lp is a 2-frame link, pretty easy. You have the option to use c.mp instead (4 frame startup) but it's a harder link for very little additional damage.
This is your basic FADC combo from long-range c.mk:
c.mk xx fireball FADC c.mk xx hp dp - around 320 damage for two bars, will work at near-max range because his c.mk moves him forward so much. c.mk xx fireball FADC, sweep will also work at far range.
Fireball FADC combos with eRyu are really easy and should be the bulk of what you use when you're starting out. If the opponent is cornered, you can indeed get a second axekick loop by just doing cl.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp xx fireball FADC cl.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp xx lk tatsu, dp. Outside the corner, you will never be close enough to your opponent after a fireball FADC to land any close normal, which takes his mk axekick off the table entirely. However, there's a way around this and you'll notice these are the combos Sako uses to get that ridiculous 450-500 damage that eRyu is now known for. Here's the combo:
Advanced combos:
cl.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp s.mp xx lk axekick FADC c.lp cl.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp xx lk tatsu, dp.
In this combo you focus-cancel his lk axekick. lk axekick cannot be linked from on hit, but if you FADC it, you end up right next to the opponent regardless of screen position, so you can get another axekick loop. These are difficult combos because the timing to FADC lk axekick is pretty wonky. You'll have to practice this one, and you should, because it opens up this magical series:
c.mk xx lk axekick FADC c.lp cl.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp xx lk tatsu, dp - this is ~440+ damage off a MAX RANGE c.mk. Just think about that for a second. The range on eRyu's c.mk is huge, and for two bars (and some execution practice) you can convert to massive damage from this button. This is where eRyu's true strength lies, and it's why Sako's eRyu is so scary. If you don't have these combos down, you're basically playing half a character, because your damage/stun output will be super low compared to an eRyu who can do these combos.
On some characters (Rufus, Honda, Chun, other fatties) you can do this:
cl.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp c.fp xx mk axekick, s.lp xx lk tatsu, dp
Opening people up:
Like I said before, eRyu has a kara throw. You need to use this to make people want to tech, so you can utilize your one really good frame trap normal: close fp.
When you're pressuring a knocked down opponent and they block your safejump, or you pressure with a meaty jab, you should be trying to frame trap them with cl.fp. You can only get a cl.fp off ONE JAB on block, so if you do two jabs, you no longer have access to your cl.fp combos, which are your max damage. That's not to say you don't have more options, however. c.mk can be linked off c.mp ONLY on counterhit, and this lets you blow meter for some bigger combos. For example:
c.jab c.jab (blocked) -> c.mp [counterhit], c.mk xx lk axekick FADC c.lp cl.fp xx mk axekick, c.lp xx lk tatsu, dp
c.jab is +2 on block and close FP is 5 frame startup. This gives you a 3 frame gap to play with. Unless someone is absolutely perfect and on point, you will not get beat out when using this as a frame trap. The opponent has to perfectly time a STANDING tech to beat this out. It will destroy any tech OSed with a crouching normal (like any crouch tech). As with any other normal used for frame trapping, there's a certain element of 'feel' necessary. I open people up with sakura's cl.fp this way - it's a fast normal, but I'll delay it 'enough' to catch people hitting a button if they're late teching or w/e.
If you are more comfortable just doing a couple jabs for your hit confirm, I recommend doing c.lk c.jab s.mp xx lk axekick FADC combos. You sacrifice a little damage due to the scaling the c.lk/c.jab put on your combo, but this will certainly give you way way more damage than doing c.lk c.jab c.mp xx fireball FADC because of the positioning lk axekick FADC gives you.
Ultra combos:
U1 is really easy to land but it does fuck all for damage. You should absolutely use U2 in every single matchup with eRyu, but only try to land it when you can get the full animation. That means you use it as a punish so you can save meter, or you use this specific combo:
[any normal] xx EX fireball FADC U2 - 3 bars, has to be done really fucking fast, grants full animation U2 for a fucking buttload of damage
Setups: I don't have too many. The main thing you'll use is in the corner: when you end your combo with lk tatsu into dp, you go dp FADC hk axekick, forward dash x2, j.mk. this will safejump people's DPs (not shotos obv). this setup using j.rh instead of j.mk is unblockable on some characters. It's really ambiguous regardless though. Remember that eRyu has a command divekick like Akuma's, d.mk at the peak of your jump. Good for baiting certain anti-airs, like sakura's c.fp etc.
Overall, you need to outfootsie people with eRyu's c.mk. That's the absolute most important skill for this character, and its why I say I'm still too dumb to play eRyu lol
Oh also, eRyu walks forward and backward VERY VERY VERY FAST. he's got the same walkspeed as Cammy, which is tied for second place behind Akuma, Vega, Chun, and Bison, who are tied for fastest.
One important defensive note is that eRyu's backdash is SUPER SUPER GOOD! Ryu's backdash sucks balls so this may be an adjustment if you're going from Ryu to eRyu. eRyu also has a fucking fantastic focus attack.
OK, have fun, practice those combos cuz they make a huge huge difference
