Hiya!

Well, Capcom Cup is over and I have to give my congratulations to Uma for winning the entire thing. It’s probably a left-handed compliment to say no one expected him to win as this year’s competition had a lot of more well-known killers here. So, here’s hoping Capcom doesn’t hit Juri with the nerf hammer after this win.

Even though Capcom Cup is over, there is still a lot to be excited about for Street Fighter 6. Recently, Capcom made a few tweaks to the game to kind of balance out the roster a bit to make the stronger characters less overpowered and some of the weaker fighters a bit better. This is far from the final balance patch as they will give a more extensive update in the future. However, the biggest update to come for Street Fighter 6 is the release of Ed. The rather maligned Psycho Power user was first introduced in Street Fighter V. So, how does he play in Street Fighter 6? Did Capcom tweak his gameplay to suit the current meta? They did. Quite a bit, actually.

Before we dive into Ed’s actual gameplay, I do have to check on his new look. Ed ditched the more militarized look he was sporting in his Street Fighter debut and went for a more casual look in Street Fighter 6. It suits him more but there are definitely some aspects to his new look I don’t like. For one thing, I still don’t like the hair. I know Capcom designed Ed to be kind of the edgy emo anti-hero of the series but it’s just so cliche and ugly. I also have to say his proportions are out of whack as his upper body is much larger than the slender toothpicks he has for legs. I get Ed is a boxer so he focuses more on punches but he just looks too top heavy to me. It’s almost like he’s going to fall over if a breeze hits him.

Still, I will admit I’m glad he’s not wearing those obnoxious boxing gloves anymore. I always thought it was weird as to why you would want to pad your hands when you want to punch something out. I don’t really mind his shirtless look this time around as the oversized jacket does allow him to walk around somewhat incognito. I also do love the Converse knockoffs he’s sporting now. So, it’s generally a mixed bag when it comes to his physical appearance.

I’m glad Capcom figured out Ed is a boxer this time around as he doesn’t have any kick moves. However, much like AKI, this does lead him to be a more unconventional character. His punch buttons are what you expect but Ed’s kick buttons will take some time getting used to as they “stretch” out a bit, leading them to be somewhat slow when compared to his punch buttons. This also leads to the rather awkward mixed up control scheme where you have to use his crouching punch buttons to hit the opponent low as none of his crouching kick buttons do. In fact, his crouching heavy punch is his sweep! So, you’ll have to use Ed’s standing heavy kick for his anti-air normal button. Like AKI, you’ll have to rewire your brain somewhat to really get the hang of Ed’s normals.

Weirdly enough, Ed plays a lot like Ken and Luke in a way as he has a good number of Target Combos. The one you’re going to be seeing a lot of will definitely be his standing medium punch to standing heavy punch Target Combo as it works much like Ken’s version as it allows for some sweet juggle combos and corner carry. He also has a gimmicked heavy punch as you can hold down the button to have him charge it up. It will send Ed flying at the enemy with a lunging straight punch. Fully charged, it can actually armor through regular projectiles! It won’t win you any fireball wars, though, as it takes quite some time to fully charge. Ed is at least plus from this move if it’s blocked so it can be a good way to get in.

Ed’s special moves are useful but they are very situational. His Psycho Spark generates a stationary projectile right in front of him but he can fire it off with a follow up command, the Psycho Shoot. You can actually stop a projectile with the Psycho Spark and still fire off a Psycho Shoot, which can be helpful in projectile fights. His Psycho Uppercut is his special anti-air attack, however, you should only be using the light version if the opponent is jumping deep as both the medium and heavy version will have Ed move forward a bit. Psycho Blitz has Ed fire out a flurry of punches and a good combo ender.

Everyone in Street Fighter 6 has a gimmick to them. With Ed, it’s more of a 2-in-1 gimmick. He has a version of his V-Skill 1 with his Psycho Flicker special move. With this, Ed shoots out a tendril of Psycho Power at his foe, with the attack strength determining its angle. It acts like a projectile normally. However, Psycho Flicker can be charged up by holding the attack button or burning some Overdrive Meter. When you do this, the move becomes a lasso and will drag the opponent towards Ed, leaving Ed positive, even on block! This allows him to control the momentum of the match and steal turns.

Of course, charging up the move leaves Ed wide open. Thankfully, he can cancel the charge with his Kill Rush move. Kill Rush had Ed quickly dashing backwards or forward, depending on the direction you hold the controller. Kill Rush itself doesn’t have any invincibility but it’s very quick, making the backwards version a good way to get away from an opponent if they’re blocking your offense as you can cancel Kill Rush from cancelable normals. The forward version of Kill Rush, however, enables Ed to do two kinds of uppercuts depending on when you press the command during the Kill Rush animation. Kill Switch Break has to be done during the early portion of the Kill Rush animation and is a good combo ender and does some good corner carry. Kill Switch Chaser, however, is harder to combo into as you have to do it at the later portion of the Kill Rush animation. The upside is it launches the opponent higher into the air, allowing for some juggle combo options.

Ed’s supers are just okay. His Level 1, Psycho Storm, is invincible to grabs and strikes during its startup, has decent range and can be used after a juggle. His Level 3, Psycho Chamber, has Ed use his Psycho Power to tie his opponent up and then beat him like a heavy bag for massive damage. It’s fully invincible, of course. Ed’s best Super has to be his Level 2, the Psycho Cannon, which is a holdover from Street Fighter V. This has Ed shooting a giant ball of Psycho Power horizontally and the speed of the projectile is determine by the attack button used. This works a lot like Rashid’s Ysaar but does feel a little more versatile. This is because Ed’s moves lends to bouncing his opponent into the Psycho Cannon projectile. It doesn’t do a lot of damage and, for beginners, it’s main use will be to cover Ed’s advance. However, more practiced Ed players will have a lot of fun figuring long strings of combos with it.

That last couple of sentence sums up my thoughts about Ed. He’s not exactly beginner friendly thanks to his unconventional normal button setup and the timing needed to execute his more damaging combos. He’s not a braindead character with a straightforward gameplan. Pros and players who are willing to spend a lot of time away from their main to get used to Ed’s control scheme and mechanics will probably find his damage potential intriguing, at the very least. As someone who’s more of the intermediate level when it comes to Street Fighter 6, he’s fine but I don’t think I’ll be repping him anytime soon.

Byee!

What do you think of Ed in Street Fighter 6? Let me know in the comments section below!