Street Fighter 6 features a move of classic returning fighters and dazzling new characters as the iconic fighting game franchise forges a new future. However, not all fighters are created equal, with a wide range of accessible and fun playable characters to choose from the expanding roster.
The base Street Fighter 6 roster contains 18 playable characters, with an additional three characters currently available as DLC, either purchasable separately, through a season pass, or the game’s ultimate edition. Tier ranking is based on comparing general play styles in regards to accessibility and depth, seeing which fighters are most common among public top-ranked players worldwide, and fighter usage in public tournaments, including the Capcom Cup. Here are the playable characters in Street Fighter 6, tiered from best to worst.
Table of contents
Street Fighter 6 Character Tier List
Below is a condensed version of the Stree Fighter 6 Best Character tier list. You can find more information regarding each character’s placement further down in the piece.
| Tier | Characters |
|---|---|
 | Luke Ken JP Chun-Li Dee Jay |
 | Cammy Juri Rashid Ed Guile |
 | Ryu Blanka Kimberly Marisa Dhalism Manon |
 | Zangief A.K.I. E. Honda Lily Jamie |
S-Tier
Luke
More than just being the poster boy for Street Fighter 6, Luke is positioned as the gateway fighting style for Street Fighter 6, with World Tour presenting him as the campaign’s first mentor. With all that in mind, Luke provides a balanced gameplay style that is formidable both up close and at a distance. Simply put, Luke hits fast and hard, with special moves that allow him to keep the pressure on and punish incoming attacks.
Ken
While Ken and Ryu started out as palette swaps in the original Street Fighter, Ken far exceeds his best friend’s capabilities as the clearly superior playable character in Street Fighter 6. Ken stands out from being a sheer weapon of mass destruction at close quarters, with enough move variety to keep his opponents guessing. To help close distance quickly, Ken’s special moves work in a pinch as one of the most punishing rush-down characters in the game.
JP
JP is one of the most unique characters in Street Fighter 6, with an off-kilter play style befitting his role as the game’s overarching antagonist. Tapping into Psycho Power, JP can create crystallized projectiles suspended around the stage, each with their own attack windows, while being no slouch in physical combat himself. JP takes some time to master, but his emphasis on zone control will keep opponents on the defensive as he escalates the pressure and presses the advantage.
Chun-Li
It’s fair to say that Street Fighter 6 takes a lot of its influences from Street Fighter III: Third Strike and, among these, is the fact that Chun-Li is an absolute powerhouse in both games. Nobody currently beats Chun-Li on anti-air counters and, as one can imagine, nobody can match her on how effective and how varied her kicks are. Chun-Li is a counter machine, with the sheer variety of her standing neutrals ready to surprise incoming opponents, fueled by Chun-Li’s reach, damage output, and mastery over the Drive Rush mechanic.
Dee Jay
After missing out on Street Fighter V, Dee Jay comes back in a big way in Street Fighter 6, with a drastically different design and a whole arsenal of gameplay sensibilities that makes him one of the best in the roster. With multiple ways to build punishing combos, deadly at both mid and close ranges, including anti-air counters, and just being nimble on his feet, Dee Jay has received one of the biggest glow-ups from the returning characters. The fluid way Dee Jay can build up his damage output puts him in the S-Tier alone, but his blinding speed and the way he seamlessly uses Drive Rush mechanics seals the deal.
A Tier
Cammy
Cammy remains one of the most acrobatic characters in Street Fighter, with fast and intuitive movement that will leave opponents trying to predict where she will flit and glide to next. Helping with that mobility is Cammy’s array of special moves, several of which can be inserted relatively seamlessly into punishing combos. Cammy is best used to keep the pressure on her opponents, mixing up her moveset and taking advantage of her maneuverability to keep fighters guessing how to defend against the next hit.
Juri
Juri is just as fun and accessible to pick up and play now as she was when she first hit the scene in Super Street Fighter IV, with relatively easy-to-learn inputs and combos. The caveat is Juri players who haven’t tapped into the full depth of the character’s potential, largely facilitated by the Feng Shui Engine mechanic, are also easy to predict for savvy opponents. Still, Juri is a lot of fun to play, with her sweeps and anti-air serving as a great primer for those looking to learn basic counter and punish dynamics.
Rashid
The first DLC character added to Street Fighter 6 is Rashid, the wind-riding warrior introduced in the base roster of Street Fighter V, now reimagined as an online influencer. The sheer variety of ways Rashid can move and attack, often with punishing speed, makes him one of the more delightfully unpredictable fighters and not particularly complex to learn how to control. Rashid works best maintaining pressure, either through his projectiles or an array of aerial attacks, several of which are perfectly suited for mix-up strikes.
Ed
The third DLC character added to Street Fighter 6 is the Psycho Power-imbued boxer Ed, who was first playable in 2016’s Street Fighter V. Interestingly for a boxer, Ed works best at mid-range rather than up close, using his special moves to draw in opponents, catching them off-guard, before pummeling them into submission. Ed is a fast, fluid character who excels at building combos and, after a bit of practice to capture his more nuanced gameplay, is one tough cookie.
Guile
Charge characters can be tricky for the uninitiated, who prefer the usual quarter and half-circle inputs to get special moves off, but Guile has always been a dangerous fighter, even with his normal attacks. That distinction continues in Street Fighter 6, with the game’s added emphasis on timing and perfect inputs benefitting the stoic airman considerably, as Guile can control the speed and delivery of his signature Sonic Boom. In a gameplay system full of parries and blocks, this makes Guile an unpredictable powerhouse once players get his nuances down.
B Tier
Ryu
Though Ryu doesn’t quite have the same moveset variety and Drive Impact speed as his longtime best friend Ken in Street Fighter 6, he is still not to be underestimated. Ryu was always among the more balanced and casually accessible characters throughout the history of Street Fighter, though slight changes to his special moves in comparison to Ken come up lacking. Still, for those looking for a solid fighter that favors reliable moves rather than flashy gimmicks or strategy, Ryu remains a natural choice.
Blanka
Ever since Blanka debuted in Street Fighter II, the Brazilian slugger has been one of the franchise’s wildest players, with mix-ups and speedy attacks that can overwhelm unprepared opponents. Blanka’s usual ball strikes are back, ready to clear the stage quickly, traveling both linearly and at an arc. The addition of electrified Blanka-chan dolls gives Blanka some zone control and his anti-air attacks are deceptively strong, making Blanka and inspired and overlooked fighter.
Kimberly
Kimberly is a character who lives or dies based on how well her special moves are used and, with such an unusual normal moveset, players should use her specials often. Kimberly dashes and zone controlling use of spray paint take some getting used to, especially as many are intended to link directly into a combo. However, while Kimberly isn’t the most accessible new character in Street Fighter 6, that unpredictability definitely keeps her opponents on their toes.
Marisa
One of the breakout new characters in Street Fighter 6 is Marisa, an Italian gladiator who is built like an absolute tank and appropriately packs a serious punch. Marisa struggles at a distance but, if players can get right on top of their opponent, her sheer damage output can level the playing field quickly. Given her special moves, Marisa is meant to take a punch before punishing her opponent in immediate retaliation, and that trade-off can admittedly take some getting used to.
Dhalsim
Ever since he joined the series with Street Fighter II, Dhalsim has always been a character that is deceptively good but hard to master the more nuanced gameplay elements that come with him. With his stretchy limbs and fiery projectiles, Dhalsim certainly has reach and a surprisingly high damage output, but his movement speed, particularly in the air, makes him an easy target. Use Dhalsim’s arcing projectiles for anti-air and know how to keep the pressure on while being aware he can be punished if his stronger attacks miss the mark.
Manon
Manon offers a fun twist on what a grappler character can be, lithe, graceful, and yet armed with a variety of command grabs ready to punish opponents. Arguably the best grappler in Street Fighter 6, Manon is highly vulnerable when her attacks do miss the mark, owing to her speed and size. For players who are looking for a balance between a character relying on standard blows and grapples, Manon is a great gateway character.
C Tier
Zangief
The people’s grappler, Zangief, makes his return in Street Fighter 6, boasting some of the most damaging moves in the game and with the reach to back it up. That all said, Zangief remains as slow and big a target as ever, with players having to be willing to endure a fair bit of punishment to close in on their opponent. This is all par for the course for the standard Zangief veteran, of course, so Red Cyclone fans should take this in stride.
A.K.I.
The second DLC character added to Street Fighter 6 is A.K.I., the protege of Street Fighter V’s F.A.N.G., which is immediately evident from her play style and poison-based combat. Several special moves poison their target if they successfully connect, draining their health over a period of a time, with zone control attacks also threatening to poison opponents that come into contact with it. This all makes A.K.I. a bit more difficult to learn how to play well, while many of her attacks are very punishable, making her recommended for more experienced players.
E. Honda
Edmund Honda is one of the odder grapplers in the game, still rocking the 100-hand slap and many of his other familiar attacks, but at a bit of a disadvantage with the unique mechanics present in Street Fighter 6. Whenever Honda doesn’t have Drive meter to enhance his special moves, he becomes highly vulnerable and struggles to close in on his opponent, positioned to get punished severely without the same reach as Zangief and Manon.
Lily
Lily certainly has her strengths, but still needs more polish in future patches and revisions to Street Fighter 6 if she wants to become a more serious contender. Lily’s constant need to build up her wind-based powers and weaker normal attacks puts her at the bottom of the tier, as she currently stands, coupled with her short reach. Despite taking after Super Street Fighter II’s T. Hawk, Lily’s aerial capabilities aren’t quite as strong as they should be, making her potential head-scratching and due for a change.
Jamie
Oh, Jamie. The second new character revealed for Street Fighter 6, Jamie relies on drunken boxing, fueled by periodically taking swigs from a bottle of hooch on his person, eventually moving into a transformed state. The problem is, at the start of a given match before Jamie starts drinking, he is operating at a lower damage output than the majority of the roster. In a game as fast-paced and a rush fighting style, Jamie walks into any fight penalized, making him one of the weakest characters in the entire game.
Published: Mar 11, 2024 12:58 pm