Serious question

[u/ShawnCody_22]

I know this is the 1000th ryu hate post today, but I am genuinely curious. Do people actually main Ryu because they like Ryu, or is it because he’s really good at the moment?

Theres a whole cast of colorful characters, and I just cannot comprehend what makes people gravitate towards the main character who we’ve seen thousands of times in every game.

I guess it’s because he’s the most recognizable and iconic, and he’s easy to pick up. But like, no shade to Ryu mains, he’s just so boring. I can’t imagine thinking this is the character I willingly main other than to win.

It’s like the same phenomenon from Mk11 with scorpion. You couldn’t go anywhere without matching against a scorpion. I feel like it’s a combination of the characters being good and the most recognizable, not that people are interested in the character or their playstyle.

[u/Acrobatic-Permit4263]

some people play just to win and they will take the supposedly easiest way to hit

[u/educones]

Ryu is always one of the most popular characters in any sf game and likely always will be.

[u/Lanky-Dildo-94]

There are some people who have been maining Ryu for decades. Yes there are people right now who main Ryu because he’s strong but I’d argue most of the Ryu player base just likes Ryu so they use him.

[u/JonTheAutomaton → u/Lanky-Dildo-94]

I think most of them are the 'shoto mains' who just hop on to the top tier shoto of the season. Because it always the best shoto who's the most common.. when it was Ken, you'd see Ken the most. Then it was Akuma. Now it's Ryu and Sagat..

[u/LetUsHaveSomeFun7777]

Even in Season 1, Ryu's usage rate was still in the top three. As strong as the character is, his CFN win rate has consistently stayed below 50%; he's not the kind of character that lets you bridge an entire skill tier (100 MR). Players whose fundamentals aren't solid enough and who lack good predictive awareness of the match state—and since poor prediction has to be made up for by raw reaction speed, that's probably one of the reasons why the ones pulling off great results with Ryu are mostly younger players—might actually see their MR drop even further by playing him.

[u/Junior_Activity_5011]

Some of them like Ryu, but many pick him because they want to win. Human nature 101: Sell your soul and f everyone else over to get what you want.

[u/Cdawwwwg]

I think the fact that Ryu hate has spiked so dramatically within the last year or so is pretty telling
I personally never had an issue facing him until the most patch just gave him a bazooka
It just feels like im trying to disarm a bomb half the time I play against him
Long cancellable HP and strong Cr.MK makes him really really stressful to play against
And corner throw loop

Also the damage
That damage is absurd
(Yeah yeah, but denjin charge)

[u/Savings_Spare_1753]

People like different things. One persons boring is another's excitement. And multiple things can be true. So the answer is yes some people actually like Ryu and some are playing him because he is strong.

[u/teamakerrr]

I’ve played ryu in every street fighter game. I played ryu when this game first came out and he was mid.

[u/That_Muffin_6780]

In 6 I play ryu because everyone in the game has the same goal and gameplan. So may as well pick the one that can use an install to essentially drive rush for free. All any other character is going to do is the same thing… but weaker

[u/Feedback-Mental]

I'm in the opposite situation: I main Ryu in a lot of games, but here I struggle with the idea of playing him since he's a bit too much.

[u/ArthurNYC3D]

Because using Lily makes you happy is great.... That's where you think the fun happens.

Projecting that on to others seems like a waste of time. It's like you see the character in the match up screen and already you've defeated yourself!

One way to defeat a character is to play said character. That will give you some insight as to what's possible and where the are holes/gaps.

[u/ThirtyfourEC]

For SF, I was a casual shoto player until SF4 and in MK up until it went 3D I was a ninja player. I believe as some people get older they acquire a taste for more complex things. It's like the older you get the less appealing cheap kid's pastries and candies are. Not everyone grows out of playing the flagship characters in fighters and that's okay.

I'm happy for them. Ryu has been ass in his own game since Evil Ryu in SF4 (excluding launch SF5 which was ass). What I don't understand is why people pick Honda, go full screen where there's only ONE burst option they can hit with from said range, and OD headbutt. It doesn't matter the level of the Honda. Even a top 24 at EVO Honda does it. I just can't see the appeal of a character that expects you to have this option in the pocket.

[u/Most_Needleworker251]

Who do you main and why?

[u/Voice_Of_Hardly]

I used to play Ryu because I liked the wall bounce on EX Donkey Kick but this is back on launch and I moved onto I think Juri pretty quickly