Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Questions from the Unknown Part 3: Ryu - Ending Your Combos

Unknown said...

When do you use cr.mp, cr.mp, cr.hk? instead of say, cr.mp, cr.fp, XX wk.tatsu? Why? I understand that the 1st combo would keep them close and allow for mixup opportunity. Do you do that combo vs characters that you want to rush down? Do you do it vs characters without srk? Does it depend on the player and not the character? (IE it's a player that you think is good at being aggressive, so you use the wk tatsu to push them away)


There are a couple of reasons why I end my combo into a sweep, Tatsu, or DP.


Mid-Screen

In about mid-screen, it's better to push your opponent into the corner. That is if you have the ability to end your combo into a Tatsu. Thus, if you are too far you can end with a sweep (untechable knock down), safe-jump for free pressure and meter, and push your opponent into the corner with your block-strings.

Ryu is in the corner

If you are in the corner, it's better to end your combo with Tatsu if possible. You'll notice a lot of Ryu players that end their combo into sweep try to cross-up with Tatsu as their next mix-up in order to get out of the corner. When you end your combo with Tatsu you get additional space for yourself while pushing your opposition into the corner as well.

Your opponent is in the corner

It's better to build as much meter as possible during the whole round as well as prepare yourself for next round. When your opponent is in the corner make sure to end your combo with a lk.Tatsu or lp.DP. Tatsu and DP in the corner followed by mp.DP will give you the same amount of damage. However, lp.DP into mp.DP will give you more meter. Make sure to keep that in mind when you are ending your combo in the corner.

Occasionally in the corner, I will end my combo with sweep to do a certain mix-up. But for the sake of damage and meter, I'll traditionally end my combos with Tatsu or DP for extra meter gain and damage.

Character Specific

How my combos end are not so much dependent on who the player is as opposed to which character they are playing. All characters I put into the corner are limited in their actions and options. Depending on the character, how much meter they have, and my position on the screen as well as when and where I hit them gives me an idea of how to end my combos.

It's also dependent if they have a 3/4/5 frame DP. For example, you can't really safe jump Ryu after ending your combo into sweep, but you can still do a mix-up on the ground or an empty jump. Another example is Sagat. His DP is 5 frames and allows you to do safe-jumps with free pressure.

There is also the case of how much invincibility their wake-up options have. For example, you really want to be as close to C.Viper as you can when she's knocked down. However, you also have to be aware of her invincibility on some of her moves as well as her options on wake-up.

Against Zangief, you want to a little extra space to keep yourself out of his SPD range. You can't really do a safe-jump on Zangief and you really don't want to be close him. When I play against Zangief (and I've just ended my combo) it's very common for me to set up a safe meaty fireball for free chip damage and meter, pressure Zangief for space while creating space for myself, and continue on with my game-plan.

Conclusion

As you can see it all varies between different characters. All in all, it really depends on the situation at hand. For example, if you need to end the round with a killing combo that's when you want to use DP instead of Tatsu.

Ryu's combos differ at every pixel you and your opponent are when the initial combo starts. That's why it's always important to stay alert visually, adapt and know which combos can connect at certain spaces, understand the situation after the combo ends, and always maximize your damage and meter gain.

Hope you guys are enjoying these segments! What's your favorite Ryu combo? Don't forget to leave your questions and comments below. :)

-Miky

P.S. I think my favorite combo is against Chun-Li. I can do f.HP xx cr.MP xx cr.MP xx cr.MK xx HK.Tatsu.

10 comments:

  1. Hey Miky, I have another topic you could possibly discuss. How do you get mentally prepared? What do you do to retain a balanced mindset? Talking about stuff like sleep schedule, eating habits, what keeps you going if you're getting beat etc.

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Lt.Surge - Definitely! I've been wanting to do a post on this. But it's a lot to write about. I'll give it a go though since you requested it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "However, lp.DP into mp.DP will give you more meter. Make sure to keep that in mind when you are ending your combo in the corner.
    Sweeeeeeeeet.
    "How my combos end are not so much dependent on who the player is as opposed to which character they are playing."
    Ya the reason I asked this is cause I remember reading something about how Daigo would people into different categories. Emotional/not emotional. Intuitive/like frame data and conservative. Agressive/not aggressive. Something like that.
    "It's also dependent if they have a 3/4/5 frame DP"
    So there are different options you choose depending on each of those DP's? You must know things.
    "As you can see it all varies between different characters. All in all, it really depends on the situation at hand. For example, if you need to end the round with a killing combo that's when you want to use DP instead of Tatsu."
    Thank you sir.
    "P.S. I think my favorite combo is against Chun-Li. I can do f.HP xx cr.MP xx cr.MP xx cr.MK xx HK.Tatsu."
    Favorite combo is cr.mp X3, cr.hk.

    ReplyDelete
  4. or the one you said. or cr.mp, cr.wp, s.wp, cr.mk XX FB, dash forward cr.mk XX wk. tatsu, EX srk FADC back, Ultra.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Samurai,

    I was wondering, when you go into a match when you start out. How do you like to test your opponent?

    Also if you are mid screen, and land a combo ending in tatsu. Do you prefer to use HK or MK tatsu, or is it more a positional thing. I find that how deep the c.mk, c.fp or what ever I use to cancel into tatsu determines how far away I am when my opponent and I land from the tatsu.

    ReplyDelete
  6. @Makoto00 - At the beginning of the round, I like to test my opponent by walking forward/back and throwing a fireball. A lot of people react differently, but it's quite usual to see people avoid the fireball. It builds me meter and gives me space.

    It also lets me know if my opponent is willing to jump in. That way I could categorize them into what type of player they are.

    As for using MK Tatsu or HK Tatsu, it all depends on whether a) you want to be in the corner or not, b) you want to do a left/right mix-up or not or c) you want the extra damage or mix-up/corner choices or not. I hope that makes sense.

    It also depends on whether you want to be next to the opponent or not. A quick tip against Zangief is that if you punish him with cr.MP xx cr.HP xx mk.Tatsu Zangief cannot do anything on his wake-up. If he does, you can reaction footsies or punish him for his next action. Test it out and training mode and let me know what you think.

    I hope this helps! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That helped a lot, thank you very much. Are you on XBL much?

      Delete
  7. @Makoto00 - Yes, but at random times as of lately.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally understand, right now my xbox is in the shop. Think you'd be up for a set once I get it back?

      Delete
  8. @Makoto0 - Yeah. You just gotta catch me at the times I play. bLndJuN on XBL. :D

    ReplyDelete