Street Fighter 6: Complete Character Tier List

Before we get into it, though, a disclaimer: this is not meant to be an exhaustive list. Tier lists will vary from player to player, as they are primarily opinion-based more than a set of hard and fast rules. Also, this is not meant to be a character tournament viability list.

Rather, this list is all about online and casual play. Moreover, characters placed towards the bottom of this tier list are not necessarily unplayable or unviable — so don’t let it discourage you from characters that you resonate with naturally. SF6 is actually remarkably well-balanced for a brand new fighting game, so it’s don’t worry too much about whether or not your character is worth picking up.

Without further ado, here is our Street Fighter 6 tier list!

S Tier — The Cream of the Crop

The S tier contains characters that have only a few weaknesses and no glaring flaws, as well as strengths that put them above the rest of the cast. These characters are all tried and tested in online play, and it’s very hard to go wrong choosing them when going into battle.

Ken

• Archetype: Shoto, rushdown
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Amjad “AngryBird” Alshalabi, Daigo “The Beast” Umehara, Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi

Ken Masters is the more offensively-oriented one between him and Ryu, as both are shotos but Ken is designed more with rushdown-heavy playstyles in mind. This means that Ken is better when played more aggressively, in contrast to Ryu who prefers a more balanced approach that leans towards zoning with his Hadouken.

In this game, Ken is a corner carry god. His Quick Dash into Tatsumaki Senpukyaku corners the opponent from the middle of the stage, and his back throw flings the adversary a really long distance while switching sides. Quick Dash into Dragonlash Kick likewise switches sides, which makes Ken a huge threat even if he gets cornered himself.

From there, he can apply ridiculous amounts of pressure. Without even considering the threat of Drive Impact in the corner, Ken can smother his opponent by cancelling his normals into Jinrai Kick or Dragonlash Kick, which either forces the opponent to react in order to interrupt him or accept that they will take Drive Gauge damage.

He doesn’t have any normals that are plus on block, though, so Ken isn’t very good at maintaining momentum — especially if his opponent knows how to punish his moves. Drive Impact is also a huge problem for him thanks to the long recovery on his key normals. His zoning game is also subpar, as his Hadouken has to go through a lot of recovery frames and is highly punishable up close.

Still, Ken’s pros definitely outweigh the very few cons he has. He is just overall extremely solid, and has very little wrong with his kit.

Luke

• Archetype: Shoto, all-rounder
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi, Saul Leonardo “MenaRD” Mena, Masato “Bonchan” Takahashi

The new poster boy of the Street Fighter franchise, Luke Sullivan is a versatile character with a complete set of tools for every situation. There are no characters he can’t face while finding himself lacking in key areas of the matchup, as he has answers for the entire cast and their respective gameplans.

His own gameplan starts with Sand Blast, one of the best projectiles in the entire game. It has a long startup window, but travels across the screen at breakneck speeds. Opponents will have to approach Luke carefully because of this, as they could find themselves eating fireball after fireball if they just keep walking forward. Should they manage to close a bit of distance, Luke’s excellent midrange game in the neutral comes into play. His normals are all amazing at keeping opponents at arm’s length, and his forward-lunging moves allow him to punish whiffed attacks with ease.

Once Luke gets you in the corner, you better be on your toes; his corner pressure rivals even that of Ken. Access to a true throw loop, a fast, safe on block overhead in Rawhide, and easy-to-confirm target combos make him difficult to get away from when your back’s against the wall.

It’s really hard to go wrong with Luke. Aside from Ryu and Ken, he’s a great character to start learning the fundamentals with, and to take with you when you reach higher levels of play.

Guile

• Archetype: Zoning
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Sean “imstilldadaddy” Dench, Du “NuckleDu” Dang, Cristopher “Caba” Rodriguez

Guile retains his status from Street Fighter V as the best projectile-based zoner in Street Fighter 6. His signature special move Sonic Boom is better than ever, even though it trades the chip damage of old for the Drive Gauge damage of new. It is hands down the strongest fireball in the game, and is very flexible thanks to its variable speeds.

The light punch version, for example, travels very slowly and serves as a moving shield for Guile to walk behind. The heavy punch version meanwhile goes really fast, and is Guile’s go-to move in full-screen projectile wars.

Although Sonic Boom has 30 frames of recovery, most characters will find it somewhat difficult to even punish it with jump-in attacks before Guile is able to block again. It pretty much takes a hard read for anyone to punish, which good Guile players will exploit through mindgames and adaptation. For everything else, there’s Somersault Kick, which completes the anti-air component of his zoning game.

Those that choose to be patient and block Sonic Booms while walking forward in between, will have to contend with Drive Gauge damage and Guile’s incredible midrange normals. His only real weakness is that he’s a charge character, which means that walking forward causes Guile to lose access to both Sonic Boom and Somersault Kick.

Nevertheless, Guile doesn’t really have any big weaknesses that bring down the rest of his strengths. There’s very little that he can’t do, and what he does best is quite strong compared to a lot of other things in SF6.

Juri

• Archetype: Rushdown
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Alan “Nephew” Sun, Victor “Punk” Woodley, Zeng “Xiao Hai” Zhuojun

Juri Han is unhinged, sadistic, and has no regard for human life — a personality that befits her explosive rushdown playstyle. Equipped with one of the fastest Drive Rushes in the game, Juri can get up in your face in a hurry and suffocate you with her amazing set of normals. Most of her buttons can even be cancelled into light kick Fuhajin for additional safety.

Although it requires her to build Fuhajin stocks throughout the match, her projectile Saihasho becomes a very good approach tool when enhanced as such. It travels across the screen almost at a snail’s pace, allowing Juri to walk behind it safely. Should her opponent choose to jump over it, she can easily anti-air with Tensenrin.

But if they block, Juri can lay the pressure on real thick up close. Opponents who crumble under such relentless aggression will find themselves losing rounds quickly, especially when Juri has access to Feng Shui Engine — her level 2 Super Art. This “install” super greatly enhances her pressure and combos, to the point where her combos can last up to five seconds or more depending on the player’s execution.

Like the others in this tier, Juri doesn’t really have any big weaknesses either. Perhaps the only notable one is that she can have a difficult time against characters that can attack while simultaneously jumping over her fireball, such as Chun-Li.

Cammy

• Archetype: Rushdown
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Ryota “Kazunoko” Inoue, Victor “Punk” Woodley

Cammy White is the purest form of the rushdown playstyle. Equipped with a forward walk and forward dash that both rank among the fastest in Street Fighter 6, she can play the spacing game and whiff punish tremendously well with her long range normals. Her standing heavy kick has absurd reach, and takes off more than half a segment of Drive Gauge on block. Her crouching medium kick, meanwhile, allows Cammy to play neutral as well as anyone else in the cast.

Her key normals can be cancelled into Spiral Arrow, which scores a knockdown that leaves Cammy very close to the opponent on wakeup. This sets up her strike/throw mixups at point blank range, giving her some of the best okizeme (Japanese term for the “wakeup game”) in the entire game. Escaping Cammy once she’s got you cornered is a herculean task, as you are forced to guess between many different scenarios just to survive.

Failing all that, she has her Cannon Strike divekick, which allows her to bait anti-air attempts or otherwise get in quickly. Most players will try to either anti-air or block such a move, after all, so it’s a lose-lose situation for Cammy’s opponents in this regard — barring an invincible anti-air move like Ken’s Shoryuken.

But no matter what she uses, you can rest assured that Cammy will find a way to close the distance and choke out her opponents in the corner. She’s got your back if you’re looking to play at speedy, frenetic pace.

A Tier — Solid as They Come

A Tier contains some really good characters, with just a few things that keep them from reaching the very top of the Street Fighter 6 tier list. Even with their weaknesses, though, the characters in this tier are still plenty strong, and won’t let you down online as long as you play around their strengths properly.

Chun-Li

• Archetype: All-rounder
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Goichi “GO1” Kishida, Lin “Oil King” Li-wei, Naoto “Sakonoko” Sako

It seems that no matter what title in the franchise we’re talking about, Chun-Li just finds her way to the top of the tier list. She’s not quite there in SF6, but don’t let that fool you — the Strongest Woman in the World is still very much a character to pick in this game.

As always, Chun-Li is a balanced, neutral-oriented character, with several tools with which she can play the “classic” Street Fighter style. Her ground game is among the best in the cast, with pokes like her crouching medium kick and standing heavy punch allowing her to control space as she sees fit. Her Kikoken is also up there among the best projectiles around, with the light punch version in particular being a highly effective approach tool.

Speaking of approaching, her walk speed — both forward and backward — are the highest in the game. Getting in and out is not a problem for someone like Chun-Li, and her walk speed goes hand-in-hand with her excellent normals to form the core of her neutral game. She even has a way of going straight through projectiles with Hazanshu, with both the medium and heavy versions being safe on block.

Chun-Li’s only real weakness — and the one that keeps her from reaching S Tier — is the fact that she doesn’t have a throw loop. Her forward throw leaves her too far away from her opponent even when she has them cornered, so it’s possible for her to get stuffed out of followup throw attempts. Thus, her strike/throw game in the corner isn’t as potent as, say, Juri’s.

Blanka

• Archetype: Rushdown, setplay
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Leonardo Saul “MenaRD” Mena, Julien “Wolfgang” Ingram, Tomohito “Vanao” Obana

It’s almost criminal putting Blanka below S Tier considering how Leonardo Saul “MenaRD” Mena just won CEO 2023 with him, but when it comes to online play, Blanka is just saddled with enough downsides to keep him out of the top spots. Still, he has more going for him than your average character, which puts him squarely above the middle of the entire cast in terms of overall strength.

Blanka is a highly mobile character whose gameplan revolves around his tricky movement and strong setplay. With some of the most unorthodox tools in the entire game at his disposal, it’s easy for Blanka to simply confuse opponents until they die — especially if they don’t possess the knowledge necessary to counter him.

To that end, his Blanka-chan Bomb setups in the corner allow him to mix his adversaries up with some truly frightening guessing games. If they pick the wrong response, Blanka can dish out some amazing damage thereafter. He has setplay in other areas as well, such as with his Wild Hunt jumping command throw.

All of this would normally make him gimmicky enough to warrant a lower place on this tier list, but the sheer defensive power of Aerial Rolling Attack (air Blanka Ball) coming out of knockdown situations truly tips Blanka over the edge. While his opponent normally has the advantage after scoring a knockdown, Blanka can turn the situation around in a hurry by jumping and going for the air Blanka Ball to take back initiative. He can even do this in the middle of pressure strings while blocking, which is just crazy!

And while Blanka’s neutral isn’t the greatest, he still has decent buttons to use out there. His crouching heavy punch is especially notable for its ludicrous range, which is made even better by the fact that it’s only -5 on block. This, along with his setplay and incredible defense, there’s a lot to love about the way he plays in SF6.

Marisa

• Archetype: Grappler, heavy
• Health: 10,500
• Players to watch: Adel “Big Bird” Anouche, Kev “K7 Showoff” Hunt, Patrick “DaFeetLee” Lee

Marisa is the newest “big body” character to arrive in the Street Fighter franchise, with all the typical heavy-hitting moves that come with the territory. She is known in SF6 for her absolutely massive combo damage, even without having to spend resources like Drive Gauge. The way her damage scaling works is also different from the rest of the cast, allowing her to get huge conversions off of combos that would otherwise deal heavily reduced damage at the end.

Outside of combos, her neutral game is fantastic as well. Her long reaching normals and specials prevent opponents from approaching her casually, with some even protecting her from Drive Impact. The charged version of Gladius in particular has armor break properties, which allows it to slice through Drive Impact attempts from midrange.

She also sports one of the best corner setups in the game, which starts off of her jumping heavy kick after a knockdown. She is left at +11 on block after this move, which allows her to mix the opponent up with either her command throw from Scutum stance (her counter move), or with forward heavy kick for huge damage.

This is a true 50/50 setup which is beaten only by using an invincible uppercut-type move. But even this is extremely risky to try, because Marisa can do a punish combo that deals more than 70 percent of a character’s health in damage — which basically equals instant death in rounds that have already seen 30 seconds of play or more.

Unfortunately, it’s not all positives for Marisa. Her armored moves lose to low attacks since they are only armored against highs and mids/overheads, so she still has to play solid defense against characters with good lows. Her moves are also quite slow to come out, so she can find herself at a disadvantage against opponents with fast attacks that can interrupt hers.

JP

• Archetype: Zoning, setplay
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Brian “Brian_F” Foster, Dominique “SonicFox” McLean, Kakeru, Naoki “Nemo” Nemoto

The absolute master of fullscreen zoning, JP is notorious in the Street Fighter 6 online community for filling the screen with all sorts of projectiles. With the power of his Torbalan and Triglav, he can lock down opponents from a mile away, forcing them to sit still and wrack their brains looking for an escape.

Torbalan is a slow projectile that takes the form of a shadowy hand. The tricky part about Torbalan is that the the medium version is an overhead while the heavy version is a low. This means that JP’s opponents can’t just sit away from him crouch blocking the whole time, as the medium version will eventually clip them. Triglav completes the mixup threat, as it comes out pretty much instantly and forces JP’s opponents to block and walk forward instead of jumping out.

And then there’s Embrace and Departure, which adds even more layers to his oppressive mixup game. Embrace is a command throw that goes full screen, which is extremely rare for such a move. It also looks exactly like Torbalan, which causes unaware players to get scooped from a distance. Departure meanwhile sets up portals on the screen, which JP can either teleport to or use as summoning points for Triglav spikes.

But of course, this all comes at a high price: that being JP’s weakness in the midrange and his extremely slow movement. His long-range normals are all very slow to recover, and his fast moves all possess short and stubby hitboxes. Ironically, he is actually dangerous at point blank range, especially on defense; all thanks to the OD version of Amnesia, which even counters throws.

Still, even with his downsides, JP is more than capable of holding his own against the rest of the cast.

Dee Jay

• Archetype: Evasive
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Ricardo “Mono” Roman, Bryant “Smug” Huggins, Keita “Fuudo” Ai

Dee Jay is all about style, flash, and pizazz. As one of the most happy-go-lucky member of the Street Fighter 6 cast, he strives for all things cool — and this includes his fighting style. Dee Jay’s set of tricky, evasive attacks and feints allow him to dodge opposing moves with ease, which goes hand-in-hand with his fast forward dash and Drive Rush to form a potent whiff punish and counter game.

He is also blessed with the ability to shoot two-hit fireballs without having to spend Drive Gauge, making him great at winning projectile wars when the bait and feint game isn’t working to its full capacity. This gives him a unique advantage that only characters like Guile possess, allowing him to save his Drive Gauge for other purposes.

And boy do his Drive options rock. There’s the aforementioned lightning-quick Drive Rush that he can use to get in with ease, but his Overdrive specials are also fantastic. OD Jus Cool (his main sway move) launches the opponent on hit, leading to a full combo that deals good damage. His combo game is among the best in the cast, thanks to having several routes involving raw Drive Rushes in between.

Dee Jay is, however, burdened by two key weaknesses that prevent him from being a top tier character. Very few of his normals are actually cancellable, which actually limits the number of moves he can Drive Rush out of. This also makes him susceptible to Drive Impact, as he cannot DI back from these moves. Also, he lacks good reversal Super Arts, which can make it hard for him to come back when put into Burnout.

B Tier — Balanced Characters with Some Faults

B Tier is home to the middle of the pack, where characters that have an equivalent number of strengths and weaknesses reside. While these characters do have some flaws that they could otherwise live without, they are still quite good in the grand scheme of things.

Rashid

• Archetype: Rushdown/setplay
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Lin “Oil King” Li-wei, Ryota “John Takeuchi” Takeuchi, Adel “BigBird” Anouche

Rashid of the Turbulent Wind leans into his title more than any other character in Street Fighter 6; that is to say that he is extremely fast and mobile, and can approach his opponents in a variety of tricky, unpredictable ways. He has everything going for him in this department: double jumps, mid-air flips, wall jumps, a command run — you name it, Rashid has it.

He also has access to a unique, chargeable fireball in the form of his Whirlwind Shot. When fully charged, Whirlwind Shot enhances some of Rashid’s special moves, with the light version of Spinning Mixer perhaps being the most notable one. The enhanced version of the latter is heavily advantageous on block, which is rare for a move that moves a character forward full screen.

Once Rashid is in, he can layer on some ridiculous pressure up close. For one, he has a true throw loop, which keeps opponents guessing on whether or not they should try to tech the throw or accept the throw loop instead. Light punch Spinning Mixer is also great for this purpose, even when it isn’t enhanced by Whirlwind Shot. This is due to the fact that it is only -2 on block, while also doing significant Drive Gauge damage against opponents who like keeping their guard up.

But because he has so much mobility, Rashid is a very volatile, all-or-nothing type character. His neutral is below average due to having stubby normals, so playing slow really isn’t his forte. His anti-air game is also lacking, as Spinning Mixer is only invincible to airborne attacks on frame 6 rather than right away.

If this doesn’t faze you out, though, Rashid is a very exciting character to play as. If you like disorienting your opponent with tricky setups and confusing mobility, then the Soaring Eagle of the Desert is the right pick for you.

Manon

• Archetype: Grappler
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Justin “JWong” Wong, Derek “iDom” Ruffin, Tsunehiro “gachikun” Kanemori

Manon Legrand is a cross between a judoka and a ballerina, combining close range grappling with the grace of a dancer. She fully embodies the concept of a strike/throw game, threatening opponents in the midrange with her long-reaching normals and up close with her powerful command throw.

But what truly sets Manon apart from other grapplers like Zangief is her medal system. Whenever she lands her Manège Doré command throw or her Renversé hit-grab, she scores a medal at the end of the animation. Each medal earned increases the damage of both of these moves, up to a maximum of five medals.

At four or five medals, her two signature moves start to deal unbelievable amounts of damage. Manon can quickly snowball out of control during a round if her opponent isn’t ready, and she can start comebacks of her own if she has the medals to do so. Thus, the onus is on her foe to prevent her from gathering medals in the first place, as her damage is otherwise mediocre without them.

And for some inexplicable reason, these medals actually carry over between rounds. This is in stark contrast to other characters with similar mechanics like Jamie and Lily, who lose their stocks after each round ends. Manon can therefore press her advantage in match point situations without having to work towards gathering medals again.

Unfortunately, Manon lacks invincible reversal options outside of her Super Arts, which means she can get bullied in the corner if she loses momentum. None of her normals stand out in particular either, which means she loses to characters that can force her to play neutral the hard way.

E. Honda

• Archetype: Rushdown
• Health: 10,500
• Players to watch: Benjamin “Problem X” Simon, Goichi “GO1” Kishida, Careka

E. Honda is a sumo wrestler whose rushdown game is unique in Street Fighter 6. Though his build would initially suggest a lack of mobility, Honda actually specializes in advancing against his opponents from long range — similar to Blanka. He does take this up a notch, though, with both his Sumo Headbutt and Sumo Slam (also known as the “buttslam”) giving him more offensive mobility than one would initially expect.

Sumo Headbutt functions pretty much the same way as Blanka’s Rolling Attack, in the sense that it’s a striking move that flings Honda all the way across the screen. The heavy version in particular leaves him -4 on block — which would normally be punishable by the entire cast — but safe due to the enormous pushback. Opponents who sit still and block Sumo Headbutt all day will eventually run out of Drive Gauge. It even recovers fast enough for Honda to counter Drive Impact attempts with his own.

Sumo Slam, meanwhile, is perhaps the most irritating move in the entire game. At 11 frames of startup, it is ridiculously fast for a special move, and especially for one that leaves Honda at an advantage on block. The only reliable way to deal with Sumo Slam is to Perfect Parry it. Doing so is already hard enough on its own, but is made even more difficult by the fact that each version of Sumo Slam has a different Perfect Parry timing.

Online, these two attacks can just overwhelm unprepared players. However, this is where Honda’s weaknesses begin. Should he face a rival that knows what to do against him, the rest of his kit can fall a little flat. His neutral game is below average, as he doesn’t possess a long-range low normal that can be cancelled into Drive Rush. His lack of defensive options when cornered, outside of his level 1 Super Art, also means he can get rolled over when his back is against the wall.

But it’s not all bad for Honda here. His offense is varied and well-rounded thanks to his command throw mixups, and normals that are plus on block. He can easily adapt his gameplan to suit the matchup as a result.

Jamie

• Archetype: Zoning (without drink stocks), rushdown (with drink stocks)
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Ryota “John Takeuchi” Takeuchi, Avery “GentlemanThief” Carey, Keenan “Kizzie Kay” Kizzie

Jamie is a bonafide master of the Drunken Fist, and has a key mechanic related to his fighting style that shapes his entire gameplan. His strategy revolves around drinking liquor in the middle of combat, building up drink stocks as he goes. With each drink stock, his damage, frame data, and overall attributes improve gradually, essentially making him a ticking timebomb if he manages to get his drink on.

The problem here is that taking swigs from his gourd leaves him very vulnerable. Jamie is in a counter hit state during the recovery frames, so he can’t just freely drink whenever he wants to. Fortunately, he has a lot of options when it comes to keeping the opponent at bay long enough to build drink stocks. Many of his moves and target combos knock the opponent away quite some distance, buying him time to start downing his beverage.

Once Jamie builds four drink stocks, he turns into an absolute monster. He gains access to some incredible moves like a divekick, more damaging combo enders, a command throw, and longer target combos that will catch impatient opponents off guard. His Freeflow Strikes ender actually becomes safe on block even without meter at this point, allowing him to apply pressure without too much risk involved.

Astute readers might see his biggest weakness from here, though. Jamie essentially fights an uphill battle where he’s more concerned about taking sips from his bottle than actually playing Street Fighter. He does have a level 2 Super Art that gives him all four drink stocks right away, but only temporarily. Moreover, drink stocks don’t carry over between rounds, unlike Manon’s medals. So, he has to do the drinking exercise all over again at the start of each round.

But when he does get there, he becomes one of the best characters in the entire game. It’s just a serious struggle reaching that point in the first place, so Jamie requires an extremely patient player to get the most out of his kit.

Dhalsim

• Archetype: Zoning
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Nathan “Mister Crimson” Massol, Torimeshi, YHCmochi

An iconic Street Fighter character, Dhalsim returns to the cast in Street Fighter 6 in his usual stretchy form. A true master of space control at longer ranges, Dhalsim’s extendable limbs allow him to hit opponents with normals from a mile away, pestering them endlessly and forcing them to play neutral at his pace.

His movement in the air is also very unique, with no member of the cast other than JP boasting the ability to teleport around the stage. By covering his teleport with Yoga Fire, he can mix the opponent up with some left-right blockstrings. His Yoga Float also allows him to stay airborne for some time, giving him alternative attack angles that automatically protect him from throws and low attacks.

Dhalsim can run into trouble against players that actually know the matchup, however. He is the classic “knowledge check” for new players given how rare of an encounter he is online, but those that have taken the time to learn his gameplan will have an easier time against him. For example, it isn’t immediately apparent that most of his long-range normals actually have hurtboxes at the very tip, which leaves him susceptible to getting counter-poked by players that know how to take advantage of this weakness.

Furthermore, his movement outside of Yoga Float and Yoga Teleport is slow and extremely floaty. His jump animation takes ages to complete, and his walk speed is just atrocious. This means that Dhalsim can’t really play the strike/throw game up close as well as other characters. But with zen-like patience befitting a monk such as himself, Dhalsim can really reward methodical players.

Ryu

• Archetype: Shoto
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Alex “CaliPower” Valle, EndingWalker, Paladin

As the prototypical shoto, Ryu is the definition of “jack of all trades, master of none”. He is designed to be well-rounded with no significant strengths or weaknesses across the board, and a plethora of standard tools that help new players learn the fundamentals of fighting games. Ryu is the gold standard whom every fighting game character is weighed against, at all levels of play.

As a wandering warrior that seeks to better himself wherever he goes, Ryu is all about playing patiently while gathering information about his opponent’s tendencies and habits. To this end, his signature Hadouken keeps his adversaries at bay long enough for him to analyze their own style. Once Ryu has his rival sized up, he can then move in with his great normals — particularly his crouching medium kick (which he can Drive Rush out of) and standing heavy punch.

His newest mechanic in Denjin Charge gives him enhanced properties on his special moves, particularly with Hadouken and Hashogeki. Both of these moves deal more damage when Ryu has a Denjin stock available, and even gain additional juggle properties that give Ryu some new combo routes and enders.

Failing all  that, he can just fall back on ol’ reliable: chucking out fireballs and anti-airing jump-in attempts with Shoryuken. This gameplan actually works quite well in lower levels of play, where players aren’t quite patient enough to walk forward after blocking fireballs and instead try to jump over them recklessly.

Of course, being so versatile and having this many tools for every kind of matchup comes with caveats. Ryu being the most honest character in the game means that he doesn’t really have any gimmicks up his sleeve, so he runs into problems facing fundamentally-sound opponents. He isn’t really able to steal rounds from anyone in the cast, so it can be tricky navigating matchups where the opposing player can match Ryu’s methodical style.

But if you want to play Street Fighter in its purest form, look no further than the original World Warrior himself.

C Tier — Characters that Could Use Some Help

C Tier contains characters that have significant weaknesses holding them back from being picked more often. These characters still have their own gameplans based on their strengths, of course, but their downsides separate them from the rest of the cast in a not-so-good way. As mentioned before, though: don’t let this discourage you from picking any of these characters, especially if you vibe with them!

Lily

• Archetype: Grappler, rushdown
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: HibikiTheBeast, Benjamin “Problem X” Simon,

Lily Hawk is a Native American warrior who belongs to the same Thunderfoot tribe as T. Hawk, as well as Juli before she was kidnapped by Shadaloo. She wields special war clubs in battle, which allow her to channel the power of the wind in the form of Windclad stocks. This unique mechanic of hers enhances her special moves, which gain additional properties or improved frame data when consuming stocks as such.

Of particular note is her Condor Spire, which allows her to fly across the screen a la Blanka Ball or Sumo Headbutt and be plus on block afterwards. Condor Spire is essentially her brute force “get in for free” move as long as she has Windclad stocks, which puts her right next to the opponent where she can play her potent strike/throw game.

The threat of her command throw is more than enough to get her opponents to take risks when cornered, or forever hold the fact that they’ll be at a disadvantage blocking her strikes. This is known in fighting game parlance as a “vortex” playstyle, where Lily just forces them to guess between her many offensive options or die trying.

Sadly, Lily has to exert a lot of effort just to get to that point. She is extremely reliant on Windclad stocks, as Condor Spire is quite unsafe on block without them. Lily also risks getting hit by Drive Impact when gathering stocks using Condor Wind, as the heavy punch version actually loses to DI on reaction. She also has poor walk and dash speeds, making it difficult for her to approach opponents without putting herself at risk

Kimberly

• Archetype: Rushdown, setplay
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Tyler “Diaphone” Kusich, Sean “Shine” Simpson, Score

Kimberly is a practitioner of Bushinryu, the very same ninjutsu-based fighting style used by Guy from Final Fight. She essentially made herself into a student of Guy’s after graduating from college early, because she just wants to be a ninja, apparently.

And as with most Street Fighter characters that are designed after ninjas, Kimberly is all about tricky setplay and guessing games. Her mobility is pretty much second to none in Street Fighter 6, with high walk speeds, a Drive Rush that covers great distances, a teleport, and a command run simply called Sprint.

Sprint in particular can be cancelled into four different options, which her opponents have to be prepared for. Emergency Stop interrupts the run animation, allowing her to easily mix in throws alongside her strikes when she has the opponent shaking in their boots. Torso Cleaver is a flip kick that’s plus on block, giving Kimberly some frame trap options out of Sprint.

Shadow Slide shrinks her hitbox while she glides across the ground, thus evading projectiles. It is heavily unsafe on block, though, so it should be used with caution. Finally, there’s Neck Hunter, a running overhead that actually leaves Kimberly safe on block. All of these options plus her command throw from Arc Step (which is what Sprint turns into when it isn’t cancelled into anything) force the opponent to guess over and over against her.

But with all these gimmicks in one package come many weaknesses. Kimberly is absolutely awful on defense, for one, as she has no invincible reversal outside of her Super Arts. Her damage is also lower than average compared to the rest of the cast, though this is alleviated by the damage buff she gets after landing her level 3 Super Art.

Her gimmicks are also easily figured out in practice mode and with matchup experience. Many of her tricky options can simply be interrupted by eagle-eyed opponents, or have holes in them that are easily exploited by those that actually know how to fight her.

Zangief

• Archetype: Grappler
• Health: 11,000
• Players to watch: Hiromiki “Itabashi Zangief” Kumada, Darryl “Snake Eyez” Lewis, Dan “mhike2stronk” Li

Zangief the Red Cyclone is the Street Fighter grappler, with the enormous health pool, low walk speeds, and frightening command throws that come with the territory. He is a lumbering giant with no projectiles or real gimmicks to speak of, so Zangief is all about sacrificing health in order to slowly get in on his opponent and start scooping them with Screw Pile Driver (SPD).

His command throw game is second to none once he does close the distance. The OD version of SPD deals even more damage than some Super Arts, and even the regular versions allow Zangief to steal rounds left and right with how painful they are. When his opponent starts jumping in order to avoid his throws, he can mix in his fantastic normals to keep them grounded.

His level 3 Super Art Bolshoi Storm Buster is one of the best in the entire game, second only to Cammy’s Delta Red Assault. With a full Super Art gauge, Zangief becomes practically unapproachable on defense, as his opponents cannot simply backdash or jump to avoid it once the super flash has already begun. They must preemptively do one of these things on a hard read in order to not get hit by it. It is also fully invincible during the entirety of the startup animation, so it isn’t possible to interrupt it with a strike on wakeup.

Zangief’s advantages stop there, unfortunately. He has all the classic weaknesses of a pure grappler, as mentioned before. And unlike in Street Fighter V, Zangief doesn’t get a vortex situation baked into SPD. Instead, it pushes the opponent all the way back full screen, forcing Zangief to burn meter on Drive Rush to close the distance once more or play the neutral game all over again.

A.K.I.

• Archetype: Zoning
• Health: 10,000
• Players to watch: Rob “Broski” Livingston, Hikaru Nakatani, Word

Apprentice to F.A.N.G. and another aficionado of deadly poisons, A.K.I. is an unhinged, sadistic assassin who revels in causing pain and misery. Her potent toxins slowly chip away at her opponents’ health, allowing her to increase her advantage should she gain a lead in any given round. She also has access to long-range normals and a projectile made of poison, making her particularly good at playing keepout.

And because she is the student of F.A.N.G., A.K.I. really doubles down on the whole poison thing. One of her unique mechanics allows her to pull off lengthy, damaging combos if she hits an opponent that is already poisoned. This is called the Toxic Blossom, and is key to her entire gameplan as well as when she needs to make a comeback.

Unfortunately, that’s pretty much where A.K.I.’s strengths end. Many of the game’s most skilled players like Daigo rank her dead last on the tier list, due to her neutral game being incredibly weak outside of knockdown situations. Her normals are almost all quite negative on block, meaning she struggles to keep pressure throughout a round.

She is also pretty much the one character that hates Drive Impact the most, as her move animations are very long and susceptible to getting armored through as such. She constantly has to watch out for DI because of this, which can overload her player’s mental stack in a long set. But if playing around such limitations is your thing, express your inner devil with A.K.I.