The King of Fighters XIV/Ryo Sakazaki

Movelist

(*) = EX OK

(!) = MAX OK

Throws

Kyokugenryu Sanren Geki - close / +

Tomoe Nage - close / +

Command Normals

Hyouchuu Wari - +

Jyoudan Uke - +

Gedan Uke - +

Special Moves

Kohou - + / *

Ko-Ou Ken - + / *

Hien Shippuu Kyaku - + / *

Zanrestuken - + / *

Super Special Moves

Haoh Shoukou Ken - + /  ! / *

Ryuuko Ranbu - , + / ! / *

Climax Desperation Move

Shin • Tenchi Haoh Ken - +

Quick Combo Reference

Quick Combo Reference

Notation

0 Meter	Anywhere Low, Anywhere Low, Corner	st.C, qcf+C(to be updated once recorded) dmg cr.B, (link into) cr.C, qcf+C(to be updated once recorded) dmg cr.B, (link into) cr.C, qcf+A, hcb+B(to be updated once recorded) dmg
1 Meter	Corner Anywhere Low, Anywhere	j.D, st.D, f+A, BC, st.D, qcf+AC, hcb+D, dp+A, cr.C, df+B(to be updated once recorded) dmg j,D, st.D, f+A, BC, st.D, qcf+AC, hcb+BD, dp+A, cr.C, df+B(to be updated once recorded) [1000] dmg cr.B, cr.C, f+A, BC, st.D, qcf+AC, hcb+BD, dp+A, cr.C, df+B(to be updated once recorded) [1000] dmg
2 Meters	No Corner Corner	j.D, st.D, f+A, BC, st.D, qcf+AC, hcb+BD, dp+C, [SC] qcb, hcf+A/C(635 DMG) [1200] j.D, st.D, f+A, BC, st.D, qcf+AC, hcb+D, dp+A, [SC] qcb, hcf+A/C(650 DMG)[1000]

Gameplay Overview

Ryo Sakazaki, much like the likes of Terry Bogard and Kyo Kusanagi, is one of SNK's most well-known protagonists and has been known as a KOF mainstay ever since the beginning; '94. As usual, Ryo essentially functions as a sort of "moving fortress", this much is clear due to how a large amount of his tools place emphasis on a more defensive method of approaching until some sort of close-range pressure or dominance is established against the opponent. Once one of the aforementioned close-range advantages is established Ryo is capable of using his abilities to their fullest, such "abilities" consist of a fairly notable cross-up, fast normals, many methods in which he can use to apply safe block-pressure with, and an effective albeit simplistic high-low mix-up game can all work in tandem to place Ryo within very advantageous situations. Due to how much of what makes Ryo "truly" potent relies on him being within close proximity of the opponent along with a somewhat slow walk and run speed makes it so that a large portion of playing the character to any effective extent consists of efficiently approaching. Successful approaches typically consist of controlling space with Ko-Ou Ken (which is still "viable" despite its notable downgrade in comparison to interpretations of the move present within games which released prior to XIV), mixing the use of running, walking, hopping and jumping appropriately, and potentially most importantly, using Ryo's unique Parry command-normals to circumvent any potential attempts to halt your approach that the opponent throws at you. Despite Ryo's approach-based downsides, if used effectively Ryo is capable of posing quite a threat to the vast majority (if not the entirety) of XIV's cast.

-LEbrosaber

Normals

Standing

• st. A: Ryo quickly sticks his arm out in front of him at a very slightly raised angle, making this move function quite nicely as a way in which to stop hop-pressure with. Asides from this purpose st. A is a fairly ineffective button in which most will not find large usage for.

• st. B

• st. C

• st. D

Close

• cl. A

• cl. B

• cl. C

• cl. D

Crouching

• cr. A

• cr. B

• cr. C

• cr. D

Jumping

• j. A

• j. B

• j. C

• j. D

Blowback

• st. CD

• j. CD

Throws

Kyokugenryu Sanren Geki - (b/f+C) close

• Ryo essentially forcefully "sets" the opponent into a standing position before proceeding to punch the opponent twice within the chest area, causing the opponent to crumple and be placed into a hard-knockdown state. Due to this along with how Ryo fully recovers from the throw whilst the opponent is still falling to the ground allows for Ryo to incorporate Safe-Jumps and effective positioning-based mix-ups after the use of this throw.

Tomoe Nage - (b/f+D) close

• After grabbing the opponent, Ryo rolls backwards and while doing so kicks the opponent in the direction in which he is rolling in, sending the opponent a fair bit of distance away of Ryo's current location. Due to how far the opponent is sent by this throw, it can function quite effectively for positioning the opponent near the corner which is behind Ryo. Unlike the Kyokugenryu Sanren Geki, this throw does NOT apply a Hard-Knockdown effect to the opponent, making it a bit more limited in its utility than the aforementioned alternate throw.

Command Moves

Hyouchuu Wari - (f+A)

• This move functions as Ryo's dedicated Overhead, as it consists of Ryo "chopping" directly in front of him in a fairly swift manner (that is despite its slight start-up animation). Being one of the only "completely" aggressive tools within Ryo's moveset, this move will typically be used in mix-up based situations which lead to some form of MAX mode combo, or to extend and/or hit-confirm st.D and st.C into MAX mode combos due to how it can be canceled into. Much like other Overheads this move lacks cancelability regardless of whether or not it was canceled into from a normal, it also happens to lose its overhead property when canceled into. Despite these fairly detrimental qualities, this move will almost definitely be a large part of most Ryos' mix-up game due to what can be achieved from successfully hitting one with it.

Jyoudan Uke - (f+B)

• Ryo quickly pushes his palm in front of him, functioning as a "Parry" of sorts if an attack comes into contact with his hand. After a very small amount of start-up, this move has a unique Parry effect applied to it, allowing for one to Special or Super cancel this move assuming that it has successfully parried an enemy attack. This Parry will only nullify High and Mid attacks, meaning that knowing when and when not to use this version of the Parry over Ryo's other variant could spell the difference between victory and defeat.

Gedan Uke - (df+B)

• Ryo swiftly leans forward and proceeds to place his palm in front of his feet, Parrying any Low or Mid attacks in which come into contact with him. Functions in a very akin fashion to the previous parry, but possesses less recovery lag and happens to move Ryo slightly forward. Due to this and how one can cancel into this move, it functions quite nicely as a way to continue applying pressure after a whiffed or blocked CD, Sweep, or any other cancelable normal.

Special Moves

Kohou - (dp+A/C)

EX:

Ko-Ou Ken - (qcf+A/C)

EX:

Hien Shippuu Kyaku - (hcb+B/D)

EX:

Zanrestuken - (fbf+A/C)

EX:

Super Special Moves

Haoh Shoukou Ken - (f~hcf+A/C) Max:

Ryuuko Ranbu - (qcf~hcb+A/C) Max:

Climax Super Special Moves

Shin • Tenchi Haoh Ken - (qcfx2+AC)

Combos

• (any special information about the character combos if needed)

Notation

Rush Auto Combo

Meterless: description here

1 Meter: description here

EX: description here

0 meter

Anywhere

• cr.B, cl.B, dp+C (165 DMG)

• cr.B, cr.C, dp+C (208 DMG)

• cl.D, dp+C (188 DMG)

Corner only

• cr.B, cr.C, qcf+A, hcb+B (187 DMG)

• cl.C/cr.C/cl.D, qcf+C, hcb+B (214 DMG)

• cl.D, hcb+D, dp+A (226 DMG)

( ^^^ Does not work on crouching opponents )

• st.CD, df+B (miss), hcb+D, dp+A (239 DMG)

• st.CD, df+B (miss), cr.C, qcf+C, hcb+B (255 DMG)

1 meter

Anywhere

• cr.B, cr.C, qcf+C, SC, f,hcf+C (329 DMG)

• cr.B, cr.B, st.B, BC, cl.C/cl.D, qcf+AC, hcb+BD, dp+C (314 DMG) { 1000 }

• cr.B, cr.C, BC, cl.C/cl.D, qcf+AC, hcb+BD, dp+C (344 DMG)

• cl.D, f+A, BC, cl.D, qcf+AC, hcb+BD, dp+C (370 DMG) { 1000 }

• st.CD, f,hcf+C (245 DMG)

• f+A, BC, cl.D, qcf+AC, hcb+BD, dp+C (318 DMG) { 1000 }

Corner only

2 meters

• (place combo here) = (place damage amount here)

(place combo description here)

3 meters

• (place combo here) = (place damage amount here)

(place combo description here)

4 meters

• (place combo here) = (place damage amount here)

(place combo description here)

5 meters

• (place combo here) = (place damage amount here)

(place combo description here)

Misc

Frame Data

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