Hiya!

I really hate fighting JP. Among all of the characters Capcom included in Street Fighter 6’s base roster, JP is absolutely my worst matchup. I can hold my own against some a Diamond or even a Master ranked Juri, Ken and Luke as I have eked a few wins facing off against them here and there using my Guile. I can’t say the same for JP as higher ranked players will eat me alive whenever I go up against the former CFO of Shadaloo.

I am not the only one as most Street Fighter 6 players will agree JP is one of the top tier characters in the game. You can debate whether or not if he’s better than the other upper echelon characters like Luke and Ken, but there’s no denying JP is one of the better characters Capcom included in the game.

However, what’s been bugging me is why. What makes JP so tough to match up against, especially when a higher skilled member of the fighting game community picks him? If he’s a top tier fighter, how come you don’t see that many gamers, including pro players who are vying for the $1 million prize for Capcom Cup, just switching over to JP? I recently asked myself these questions and I took on the painful and arduous task of answering them. I went online, watched a bunch of pro JP players, specifically got into Battle Hub matches against all sort of JP players and I even tried my hand at using him. While I’m definitely no expect in Street Fighter 6, I can tell you what I’ve learned from my experiences.

The biggest thing I realized about JP is how many special movies Capcom gave him. While most characters in Street Fighter 6 have around 3 to 5 special attacks, JP has 6 and that’s not including the “variant” options with his special moves, which I’ll get to in a bit. Not only did Capcom give him a lot of special moves, his normal buttons and command moves also have great utility for the most part. Unlike most of the roster, JP’s target combos and most of his command normals can be cancelled into his special moves, leading to some outrageously damaging combo.

Practically all of JP’s buttons all have some utility to them. He may not have a special attack which can anti-air reliably, however, his crouching heavy punch can take out jumpers who are too close and his forward heavy kick command normal for those who are trying to jump in at a distance. Capcom also grace JP with an air grab just because giving him solid buttons to work as an anti-air wasn’t good enough! It certainly helps how most of his buttons have good range so JP can poke at his opponent safely despite most of these attacks being minus on block.

Where JP really shines is his variety of special attacks. He has 4, count them: 4!, projectile attacks. What’s worse is how non-Street Fighter-like they are. Torbalan, his quarter-circle forward with kick projectile, goes full screen and, depending on the attack button used, will hit high, mid or low, meaning JP’s opponents will have to block differently for each type. To make matters worse, his spike projectile, Triglav, is a good way to lockdown a foe as you cannot jump over it, at least from my experience. These two projectiles are used in conjuncture to lock his opponents in place at full screen. Once the JP player has conditioned his opponent to block the barrage of Triglav and Torbalans, he can now shoot out his Embrace projectile, which kinda sorta looks like Torbalans but cannot be blocked as it is a full screen projectile grab! Couple that with Departure, which has him opening up a portal which will eventually shoot an energy spike (and he can use it to teleport himself or manually launch the spike), JP can be very difficult to get close enough to actually do some damage.

JP also has the best counter special move in the game: Amnesia. If his opponent tries to do any kind of non-super attack, even throws, JP will plant a mine on the opponent, which will explode after a few seconds. This means that, even if you try to pressure JP on his wake up, he can use Amnesia to turn the tables quickly, making you second guess if you should go for that meaty attack or not.

All of this already makes JP a very strong opponent but what makes it even worse is how everything just works together. JP can juggle his opponents at just the right time to fling them to full-screen distance where he’s the most deadly thanks to his Stribog special. He’s also very good at juggling the opponent, whether the opponent is in the corner or not, extending his combos and doing more damage in the process. All of this leads to JP opponents having a much increased mental stack vs other characters in Street Fighter 6.

For those who don’t know, the “mental stack” is generally what a player has in their minds while they’re playing. The “mental stack” includes the things they should be looking out for and how to counter them. This also includes what combos they have to do depending on different factors, such as if they want more corner carry, more damage, if they should go for a reset, etc. In Street Fighter 6, the mental stack is already high because of things like Drive Impact and Drive Rush. JP, however, adds so much more to the opponent’s mental stack because of how many options he has. He’s throwing a projectile… but is it the one I have to block high or low? Maybe it’s the grab projectile? I’m not sure if I can safely jump over it because he might recover fast enough to throw that damn spike on the ground. He has a portal above me. Is he going to leave it there or teleport into it for an instant jumping attack or an empty jump low? All of that is on top of looking out for his other regular moves, like his Drive Impact or his Drive Rush into overhead attack! It’s a lot to take into account and it’s just so damn scary!

So, if he’s so strong and top tier, why don’t more pro players just use JP and use his overwhelming mental stack to take him all the way to the number 1 spot of Capcom Cup? Well, for one thing, JP doesn’t play like a conventional Street Fighter character so it can be hard to wrap around what he can do and how to play him efficiently.

You’ll definitely need more time in training mode to get used to how JP plays as his combo routes are more unconventional than, say, Luke or Ken. The muscle memory to use his combos just is different with JP. Even the mere act of throwing a projectile feels weird as it uses a kick button instead of a punch and pushing down twice to do special moves still comes off as awkward for players who are more used to the traditional quarter-circle and charge motions. This means it’s actually hard to switch between characters as you’d have to rewire your brain each time you do.

Even so, the dedicated JP main will persevere and get over that hump. They will dominate with shrewd use of his normals and oppressive projectiles from full-screen. JP is top tier but he’s not for everyone.

Byee!

Why else do you think JP comes off as overpowered? Let me know in the comments section below!