Though it came with no new characters, the December patch for Street Fighter 6 ended up being a big one considering that every character received some changes. It can be argued that Ryu was one of the big winners of the latest update as he received some very noticeable buffs.
Fans frequently pay attention to BST|Daigo Umehara whenever Ryu gets major buffs in a Street Fighter entry since Daigo was able to make quite a name for himself using Ryu in Street Fighter 2 and Street Fighter 4. However, it would seem that Daigo is content with Akuma even though that combatant received a number of nerfs.
“Ryu? Sorry, I don’t really know,” responded Daigo during one of his livestreams. “He is stronger now. He fell so far and has been climbing back up all this time, so…”
The last time Ryu was considered top tier in Street Fighter was Season 1 of Street Fighter 5. It was also believed that Ryu could’ve been strong during the Street Fighter 6 beta period. Ultimately though, Ryu and his straightforward game plan continues to struggle even in Street Fighter 6.
“Right now, when I play Akuma, I’ve been relying on stuff like Drive Rush and Demon Raid, right?” continued Daigo when he was asked why he hadn’t returned to Ryu after the patch. “You can’t do that with Ryu. He has to make do with fireballs and footsies.”
Overall, the main reason why Daigo isn’t necessarily interested in playing Ryu is because he’s wanting to keep things fresh by playing Akuma. Daigo notes that he could’ve potentially been placing better at the beginning if he had just stuck with Guile after Street Fighter 5, but this might’ve resulted in him becoming bored with Street Fighter 6.
Check it all out in the video below: