Hiya!

I know EVO is all over and some characters have proven to be much stronger and much weaker than the others. I also know Capcom mentioned they won’t be doing any radical balance changes to Street Fighter 6 very often. However, as the game has been out for a couple of months now, more and more people are starting to get a feel for the game as well as how strong and how weak the roster is. In fact, there has been some debate as to whether or not Street Fighter 6 is a “scrubby” game or not. Depending on the day and how salty I get, I tend to bounce around between the two camps.

I will say it seems like some characters do seem to get away with murder. E. Honda’s Sumo Headbutt and Sumo Smash is easy to abuse, especially in lower ranks. It can be hard to get in on JP when he gets in a groove. Marisa’s rather simple combos can deal a ton more damage than most characters. Unfortunately, there are 3 characters currently in Street Fighter 6 who do need this kind of “scrubby” ability as you would constantly see them on the lower half of a tier list. I’m not a fan of nerfing characters and I definitely would rather buff the “weaker” characters to make them more viable.

While I’m not a pro player, I do think I can provide a little insight on what a newbie would want to see change with some of the Street Fighter 6 characters, especially the ones who need a little more help in climbing the tier list. So, with that in mind, let me go through the 3 characters in Street Fighter 6 who need a just a little more “scubbiness” to make them feel stronger.

#1 Lily

If you’re like me and you haven’t run into a lot of Lily players out there, there’s a reason for it. That would be because most players consider her to be the, let’s just say, the most “fair” character in the roster. A lot of her normal attacks are kind of stubby, despite wielding war clubs. You have to give up some pressure if you want to get some Windclad stocks. Her command throw comes off as weaker than, say, Zangief or Manon with a couple of medals. You can do rushdown with her as effectively as someone like Juri or Cammy. However, even with all of that, I still think Lily is being slept on as, when she gets going, she can be a scary character to face off against, especially if she does have Windclad stocks on her. I should know; I got her to Platinum during my placement matches with her. I got a 6 our of 10 win rate with her. Not bad for a “weak” character I didn’t do much practice with.

However, the problem for me was finding the right time to get a Windclad stock. When I had at least 1 Windclad stock, there were so many things I could do with it. I could safely go in with a Condor Spire as it kept me plus even when blocked. Anti-airing with the Tomahawk Buster feels much easier as the hit frame comes in earlier. I didn’t use it for Condor Dive because it seems like the move is so unpredictable and unsafe but I did like that it was there.

So, how would I buff Lily? Well, for starters, I would give Lily 1 Windclad stock at the start of each round. It’s not like Juri where she can safely get her stocks and deal a damaging combo. Lily has to work a little bit harder to get it. Sure, there are ways to stick in the stock but you have to be much more deliberate and conscious in doing so during a match. So, just give her 1 stock at the start.

Second, I’d make it so her Mexican Typhoon, Lily’s command throw, do more damage if she has a Windclad stock built up or just bump up the amount of damage she does with this move in general. I guess it makes sense gameplay-wise wise all of her special moves except the Mexican Typhoon is linked to the Windclad stocks as she does need them to make her other special moves feel more special. However, like I said, Lily’s command throw does come off as the weakest one out of all the characters with damaging command throws. She needs something to make her feel more of a threat up close and buffing her Mexican Typhoon would do that.

#2 Zangief

Speaking of characters with command throws, Zangief just so happens to be one of the Street Fighter 6 roster who usually hang in the lower part of most people’s tier lists. It’s weird, though, the Red Cyclone has a lot going for him. His Spinning Piledriver can take off at least a quarter of his opponent’s health. His Running Bear Grab can catch his opponents by surprise in the literal sense. His Double Lariat, under the right circumstances, is a phenomenal anti-air. His Level 2 Super, the Cyclone Lariat, is a fantastic and versatile anti-projectile move. Finally, his Level 3 Super or Critical Art, the Bolshoi Storm Buster, will destroy more than half of an opponent’s lifebar. It’s that powerful!

Of course, there is the downside of Zangief being a huge, slow lumbering musclebound oaf, making it difficult to get in to do all that damage. His normals are pretty slow and prone to getting whiff punished by an alert opponent. Strangely enough, I think it’s fair due to how much damage Zangief can do with just one command grab. So, what needs to be buffed with this powerhouse?

Well, his defensive options do need some work. He doesn’t do well against crossups. Unless you’re looking for it, Zangief has no real answer for crossup attacks, which is stupid since his Double Lariat looks like it should hit behind him. Surprise! It doesn’t! This is a quick fix as all Capcom would have to do it make it so it hits both his front and back areas. Also, he has a move called Tundra Storm and it only works against some specific standing kicks. I’ve never been able to get it to work because of how specific it is. I’ve seen it done but you have to be a little psychic to get Tundra Storm to counter properly. It does more mental damage to your opponent than it does to their lifebar.

The problem is most other characters don’t really poke with a standing kick in Street Fighter 6. They usually use their punches in this game. So, why not have Tundra Storm also work against standing punches? It’ll still be hard to get it to work but it’ll make Tundra Storm more efficient as it works against both standing punches and kicks. It still won’t work against any crouching attacks, even against punches that don’t attack low. To compensate for this, I would be fine with decreasing the damage done by this counter attack. Besides, it’s the mental damage that hurts.

Finally, his Level 1 Super, the Aerial Russian Slam, looks like a good anti-air Super but it can be flaky at times. If the opponent is going for a crossup, it won’t connect. If someone like Cammy uses a Cannon Strike to attack at a low jumping height, Zangief will be eating Cammy’s foot. Both of these issues are easy fixes as all Capcom would have to do is expand the upward hitbox and have it come out faster. Easy breezy.

#3 Jamie

The last character who needs a little bit of help is Jamie. Frankly speaking, he’s actually a scary opponent. He’s light on his feet and can speed in to do a combo easily. He has awesome anti-air abilities with his Arrow Kick special and jumping heavy kick, with the latter being able to combo into the Arrow Kick when Jamie lands! He can pressure his opponent like no one’s business and has meaty attacks for days. The only issue is Jamie is not a complete character out of the gate. Jamie starts off each round with a 10% damage nerf. He can easily negate this by getting his drinks in, with each drink giving him a 5% damage buff. So, with a maximum of 4 drinks, he can do 110%! It’s pretty easy to get the drinks in, unlike Lily getting Windclad stocks. However, the initial damage nerf does hurt him quite a bit and some of his special moves only become available when he reaches a certain drink level.

However, Jamie is plenty dangerous without any drinks in him and it’s easy for him to take a sip or two throughout a single round. This does mean you need a little more patience to unlock his special moves. So, the only thing I would change with his drink mechanic is the damage nerf/buff. Instead of starting with any kind of damage nerf, he stays at 100% damage scaling from 0 to 2 drinks. When he gets to his 3rd and 4th drink, that’s the only time he gets a damage buff. It’s a little wonky but it would serve Jamie just a bit more and make him more like a full character at the start of each round.

Byee!

Who would you buff in Street Fighter 6 and how would you do it? Let me know in the comments section below!