Traditionally, Japanese fighting game veteran Mago plays fairly footsies-based characters with strong rushdown in Street Fighter titles. Known for playing characters like Cammy, Juri, and Karin, Mago’s playstyle and the characters that fit it well have proven to be a tried and true pairing.
Here in the recent months of Street Fighter 6 now, though, it seems as though the top level player has made a very interesting switch to former poster boy, Ryu. It’s not often we see top level Ryu play in general, and this match footage of Mago’s Ryu in particular shows that the player and the character have a strong, unexpected connection and seem to be an excellent fit for each other.
Mago is exceptional when it comes to playing footsies, and a character like Ryu in Street Fighter 6 is definitely one who wants to play heavily in neutral while also using his zoning tools to pressure the opponent and force them to make mistakes.
Something that jumps out very quickly after watching Mago’s Ryu in action is that he is extremely patient and his play is very clean. Instead of using raw Drive Rush to close the gap and get his offense started frequently, Mago puts up a wall and looks for opportunities to whiff punish and THEN cancel into a Drive Rush combo for some quick damage and corner carry.
His spacing with Ryu is also incredible, knowing which normals and blockstrings to use at any given time to make the opponent whiff their next move.
There are a handful of tools that Ryu possesses that Mago uses in unique ways, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen other Ryu players use them quite like it. While normals like crouching medium kick are used often as a low, ranged poke that hit confirms into Drive Rush cancel, Mago adds crouching medium punch usage into his kit that works very similarly to Luke’s.
Overall, Mago’s Ryu is very impressive, and the way he brings all of this character’s tools together feels very “Ryu.” It’s almost like he’s found a way to bring the traditional Ryu playstyle into Street Fighter 6 and make it effective.
Footage source: YogaFlame24.