Hiya!

I know a lot of the fighting game community has moved on to Tekken 8, and for good reason. That game is pretty impressive. However, Capcom Cup is just around the corner and Street Fighter 6 is going to hit its 1-year anniversary soon. Capcom just released the Ed trailer and, probably after Capcom Cup is over, they’re going to showcase Akuma’s official trailer.

You know what comes after that, though? The first balance patch! Capcom has diligently fulfilled their promise to not put out endless balance patches for Street Fighter 6, for better or worse, but that’s all about to change as, after a full year of the game being out, played and broken down by gamers from all over the world, Capcom should have a good amount of information on who to buff and nerf as well as how.

Well, as a Street Fighter player, not a really good one but a player nonetheless, I do have a few suggestions on who to buff and nerf as well as what Capcom can do to buff and nerf them. I don’t want to give any radical changes as the game is pretty balance, in my opinion. This is why I would just like to give a single buff and nerf to some specific characters. This is just to help out the struggling characters in the roster while taking the wind out of the sails of the more powerful characters just a teeny bit.

Buff: Lily’s Overdrive Tomahawk Buster when with a Windclad stock

In most tier lists, Lily seems to be in the bottom of the pile. While I have seen and encountered some really good Lily players, they are few and far between. The thing is, when she gets going and can keep her Windclad stocks filled up, Lily can be a beast. On the other side of things, if you can pressure Lily, especially in the corner, she can have a tough time trying to fight her way out. This is partially due to not having a true invincible reversal other than her Level 2 Thunderbird Super Art.

This is why I would suggest Capcom give her one with the Overdrive version of her Tomahawk Buster. Make it fully invincible instead of just anti-air and hit invincible. However, she would need to also spend a Windclad stock as well as 2 Drive bars for it to be completely invincible to attacks.

The reason why I’m suggesting to make this potential reversal so expensive is because it has to hurt. The Lily player really needs to consider if its worth spending all these resources on a potential bait when you don’t have a Level 2 Super on deck. It also means you might want to keep a Windclad stock just in case you need a reversal move, adding to the pressure on the Lily player as, if they do choose to save it up, they are now severely limiting their damage output and combos as they won’t be able to use some of her special moves. It’s a weird balance, I know, but I think would add loads to her meta.

Nerf: JP’s Life bar by 600 points

Newcomer JP has ruffled a lot of feathers as he basically has no real glaring weaknesses but has the ability to keep opponents away thanks to the number of long range projectiles he has in his arsenal. It can be difficult, or at the very least annoying, to finally get in on a JP player after dodging his barrage of projectiles, only to get booted away full screen with a well timed counter heavy punch into heavy Stribog. Not only that, JP has one of the best reversals with his Overdrive Amnesia and it reverses every non-Super attack, even throws!

This is why I would suggest Capcom slightly nerf JP’s health from the standard 10,000 health points to a more modest 9,400. The reason is JP practically dominated in the full screen range as he is a keepaway character. So, I believe JP should be sweating a little bit more than the rest of the cast when the opponent finally gets it. By decreasing his health by 600 points, which is equivalent to the damage done by a medium punch for most characters, it makes it imperative for JP players to really control the space and keep his opponent as far away as he can. In turn, this also rewards JP’s opponents for getting in before they eventually get booted back to full screen.

Buff: Manon’s Overdrive Rond-Point to Strike invincible

Like with Lily, I’ve seen a few players really make the most out of Manon’s toolkit. She can be used in a way to make her deadly but it does take quite a bit of work to really pressure the opponent with her. She has some really good mixups thanks to the high-low element of her Degage kicks and can be downright terrifying if Manon’s medals are high enough.

However, like with Lily, Manon doesn’t have a really good reversal, meaning she has to rely on her Etoile Level 2 Super Art to get out of pressure. Once again, I would suggest Capcom make one of her Overdrive moves a reversal… kinda. My suggestion is to make the Overdrive version of her Rond-Point kick strike invincible. This means she can still get thrown out of the startup frames or get stuffed with a projectile.

You might be asking why only hit invincible when my idea for Lily’s buff was to make her Tomahawk Buster fully invincible. Well, it’s because giving Manon a move which is completely invincible might be overkill. Manon isn’t exactly on the bottom of the tier list of most players. Even though there isn’t a single Manon in Capcom Cup, she still ranks higher in most tier lists than Zangief, with Snake Eyes rocking the lone Red Cyclone in the tournament! I just think she needs a little push to push her to be a little more respectable in more player’s eyes.

Nerf: Luke’s crouching Medium Punch pushes the opponent further on hit and block

If you’re like me, you probably shudder at the thought of facing against Luke and his crouching medium punch. It is one of the best normals in the game. It’s a long reaching attack which you can cancel into special moves and Drive Rush with. It has 6 startup frames, which is normal for most crouching medium punches but its range is what makes it better than the others. It’s +1 on block, making it incredibly safe and can lead to frame traps. Luke can also tick throw very well after the crouching medium punch as well if it’s blocked. There are many more reasons why Luke’s crouching medium punch is a beast of a move.

Here’s the thing: I don’t want to utterly nerf this normal to the ground as it is integral for Luke players to use. It may be carrying the character a little too much, sure. However, I do think there is a way to nerf this move slightly to make it a little less scary: push the opponent further when he uses this move.

One of the reasons why it’s so good is because of the range and it can actually cancel into itself if done as a counter hit. This could be fixed if Luke pushes the opponent a bit more when using this attack. You can still combo into it on counter hit but you have to be point blank for it to do so. You would also need to Drive Rush deeper for it to combo into itself if they added more distance. This leaves Luke’s ability to still use it as a poke but doing combos with it just a little bit more difficult than its current state.

Buff: AKI’s poison duration to 10 seconds

It’s kind of weird. Everyone hated Street Fighter V’s FANG but, turn him into a yandere and fans want to fix her… in the right way. I actually think AKI is a pretty cool character and can be difficult to face off against. Unlike Lily and Manon, AKI does have a way to get out of the corner with her Overdrive Snake Step. It’s not throw invincible but it is hit and projectile invulnerable, so it’s not the end of the world. What I would like to see buffed with AKI is her unique gimmick: the poison mechanic.

AKI has some moves which inflicts a poison state to her opponents. Once imbued with the poison, a few of AKI’s moves will cause Toxic Blossom, which can lead to new combo routes. However, the poison itself isn’t that scary. It does 60 points of damage per second and ends after 7 seconds if AKI is not hit during this period.

I’m fine with the damage as I wouldn’t want her to do obscene passive damage. Rather, I would like to see the duration of the poison effect extended to 10 seconds. That means it would do a respectable 600 points of passive damage instead of just 420 points of damage if AKI can defend all attacks. This is the same amount of damage done by a medium punch, which is decent. Also, by lengthening the amount of time the poison lasts, this give the AKI player more time to plan. They have more time to find an opening to engage the Toxic Blossom effect, which is where AKI is the scariest.

Nerf: Ken’s frame advantage after crouching light punch on hit to +4

Right now, Ken is one of the best characters in the game. He has a lot of combo routes and has a lot of ways to carry his opponent to the corner quickly. His standing heavy punch is a monster of a button because of how active it is, making it easy to make it a meaty attack. However, I don’t really want to nerf these moves as doing so might destroy Ken as a viable character. Weirdly enough, the nerf I have in mind for Ken is something Capcom wants players to use. That would be his godlike crouching jab as it can link into his standing medium punch. I say Capcom wants you to use this as it is part of his trials.

I already think Ken’s standing medium punch is next to insane as it has 5 frames of start up and has decent range. It’s not unheard of, though, as Chun-Li and Cammy, 2 other combo heavy characters, have something like this. However, I do think it’s a mistake for it to be able to link into it from a crouching light punch.

Ken’s crouching light punch is already fast at 4 frames startup. This means he can use this by dashing in and doing a really damaging combo without needing to spend Drive meter on a Drive Rush. So, I do want this taken out by making Ken only +4 on hit normally. This way, he can still link into his standing medium punch out of a surprise Drive Rush. I don’t really see many players trying this anyway but it would alleviate one of his most egregious accidental buffs.

BONUS: Buff: Drive Reversal should be -6 on block

Out of all the general mechanics in Street Fighter 6, the Drive Reversal is probably the least used. Not only is it a defensive mechanic, which can only be used while blocking an attack, it also costs 2 Drive meter bars. What’s worse is you’re wide open if it’s blocked as you’re -8 afterwards. Imagine doing something which is supposed to get you out of block pressure, only for you to eat a counter hit combo. This makes it unwise to do the Drive Reversal from light and even some medium normals.

So, to make Drive Reversal a little more viable and safe, I would like it for Capcom to make every Drive Reversal -6 on block. This does make it a little more difficult to counterattack with a medium normal after it’s blocked as the opponent has less time to react. This does mean the opponent can try to re-apply the pressure but at least you’re not eating a massive combo.

BONUS: Nerf: Drive Rush should be a counter state

There’s a reason why most players will choose to block against an incoming Drive Rush. That’s because it’s much more risky to try to counterattack. There’s very little reward to try to interrupt an opponent going in with a Drive Rush as all it does is stop them and the risk of you eating a counterhit is much higher. It doesn’t feel worth it.

There is a way to increase the risk-reward ratio and it’s pretty simple: make the person in Drive Rush in a counterhit state. Basically, if you do manage to hit your opponent out of a Drive Rush, you will do slightly more damage and gain an extra +2 frames of advantage. This won’t really hurt Drive Rush as there are ways to make it safe but it will reduce the number of people abusing characters with really good Drive Rush options like Juri and Dee Jay.

Byee!

What other buffs and nerfs would you want to see in Street Fighter 6? Let me know in the comments section below!