Hiya!

I definitely hated Rashid during Street Fighter 6. While he seemed like a low tier character during the game’s launch, pro players soon developed a ton of tech for Rashid, making him one of the most feared or most annoying characters to face off in Street Fighter 6. So, when it was revealed he was going to be the first DLC character for Street Fighter 6, I was less than enthused on the prospect of facing off against his Turbulent Wind techniques.

It’s been a week since Capcom did make Rashid join the current roster of World Warriors and we’ve all had some time trying him out. So, how does Rashid fit into Street Fighter 6? Well, I can say he’s not as as infuriating to fight against here but I can definitely see him being a problem for some players and some specific characters.

Let’s first talk about his general aesthetic design in Street Fighter 6. He still keeps the Middle Eastern look for the most part but he does seem a little bit more… realistic. That’s because Rashid doesn’t seem to be the same tech head he was in Street Fighter 6. He still loves gadgets as his Arcade story involves him buying things like drones and getting into streaming. However, I do miss his weird Dragon Ball Z scouter thingamajig he used to sport as well as his backpack. It made him stand out a little bit more in Street Fighter 5. In Street Fighter 6, he simply looks more plain. It’s not a bad redesign. It’s just a little uninspired for my liking.

While aesthetics do come into play when picking a character in any fighting game, it still mostly comes down to how well you gel with a fighter’s moves. I will say Rashid has a lot going for him in general. He has a good number of normals he can use to control neutral. His standing and crouching medium kicks are pretty good pokes but it’s his heavy punches which really make him a threat as they have really good range and are great for punishing whiffed attacks. He also has a nice anti-air normal with his crouching medium punch.

One thing which make Rashid generally frightening is he has an easy link into his standing medium punch to standing heavy kick target combo with his standing medium kick. While the standing medium punch’s stubbiness makes this only viable when close, it’s still a really easy link to do consistently. Adding to that, Rashid can also frame trap with both his standing and medium punches and, seeing how rare frame traps are normally in Street Fighter 6, that’s an immediate plus for him. He also has some really wonky air attacks, like his down heavy punch which has him bounce off his opponent’s head and his neutral jumping up heavy kick. They do feel really situational but do add a lot of depth to his offensive capability.

Where Rashid really shines is when it comes to his special attacks and his wind gimmick. He does variations of his special attacks from Street Fighter 6 but they do make the transition to Street Fighter 6 well. His heavy Spinning Mixer is an excellent anti-air and is the only one which can hit behind him, making it a great counter to cross up attempts. His Whirlwind Shots return and still fly at an upward angle but they can be charged up so they can do more damage and activate his gimmick. More on that later. His Eagle Spike can be difficult to counter as Rashid will bounce backwards if it’s blocked. However, when testing, I was still able to get in with some moves so that it hits while Rashid is recovering from the Eagle Spike.

Rashid does get a new move, the Arabian Cyclone, which has the Turbulent Wind do a quick kick forward. This in itself isn’t impressive but does activate his gimmick and can link into 2 follow ups. One has him fly through the air, allowing him to get in with a very low jumping attack. The other has him do a ground roll which can go through most high attacks and projectiles. The Arabian Cyclone can also be done while jumping forward and this has Rashid do a double jump to either change his trajectory or perform a follow up attack.

His Super Attacks are kind of a mixed bag. His Level 1, the Super Rashid Kick, is an upward angled kick. If it hits a grounded opponent, he gets a special animation and will do more damage when compared to when he hits an airborne opponent with it. It is fast but can’t really be used like a surprise attack because it can fly over a crouching opponents thanks to the upward angle. His Level 2, Ysaar, has Rashid kicking up a tall vertical cyclone. This is great for controlling space and also works into his gimmick. Finally, Altair, his Level 3 and Critical Art is fully invincible and does fantastic damage. However, I do think Ysaar has more utility so I would think most players will be using the Level 2 instead of saving up for the Level 3.

Every Street Fighter 6 character does have a central gimmick to them. It’s the thing which gives them a special ability other than just doing damage and the like. For Rashid, this would be activating his wind system. When doing things like a powered up Whirlwind Shot, Arabian Cyclone or Ysaar, Rashid will leave a small tornado in the attack’s wake. If Rashid passes through the tornado, some of his abilities will get some enhancement. This is kind of central to Rashid’s gameplan and finding ways to get some wind on the battlefield really makes the Turbulent Wind a real threat.

However, the problem with the wind gimmick is finding ways to actually lay the tornados on the field. Most of the time, Rashid players will have to burn some resources, be it Drive Gauge to do Overdrive versions of his Whirlwind Shot and grounded Arabian Cyclone or his super bar in the case of his Ysaar. Sometimes, it might not be the more efficient way of using your valuable meter so it has to be used sparingly but, with the right setups, they can be used to do massive damage at the right time.

With all of that being said, I don’t see Rashid being a really top tier character this early in the game because of how complex of a character he is. Sure, he has different ways to get in and can bounce between offense and defense with relative easy because of his generally balanced moveset. However, he does feel less oppressive this time around. Rashid is still a pretty strong character but not exactly the monster he was in Street Fighter 5. Of course, this is what a lot of players thought of Rashid during Street Fighter 5’s early days. So, it’s definitely possible he could be much stronger than perceived. As of right now, however, I do think Rashid is a strong and viable character but there are still other characters to be more afraid of because of their simplistic but pressure filled style.

Byee!

What do you think of how Capcom transitioned Rashid into Street Fighter 6? Is he top tier or not? Let me know in the comments section below!