Hiya!

Well, the first season of Street Fighter 6 is just around the corner. Akuma, the final character slated for Year 1, is about to be released in a few days. So, it’s time to look into the future and start predicting who Capcom will bring into Street Fighter 6’s roster for Year 2! Now, I’m no expert on the matter as I’m what most people in the Fighting Game Community would still call a “filthy casual,” despite having been playing Street Fighter games since Street Fighter IV. I can’t blame them, though. After all, I’ve already given up on reaching Master rank a while ago.

Even so, I do have some hopes and dreams regarding who I should think Capcom would bring back in Street Fighter 6’s Year 2. While I have some characters I like, I’m going to be limiting myself on who I actually believe Capcom will be adding. In other words, this is not a wish list. It’s me legitimately trying to predict who’s going to be included in Year 2.

To start out with my predictions, I do think Year 2 will have 6 characters instead of just 4. There are several reasons for this. For one thing, I do think Capcom will try to charge more money for the Year 2 Season Pass. So, to explain the increase price, they will need to put out more characters. I’m also predicting 2 of the Year 2 characters will be totally brand new fighters and the other 4 will be returning World Warriors. This will kind of mirror Year 1’s DLC roster. I know AKI is technically a new fighter. However, she is associated with FANG so, yeah, she’s kind of a returning character in a way.

So, this list will just be my predictions for 4 returning fighters. With that out of the way, let’s get to predicting!

#1 Sakura

I’m actually surprised Capcom didn’t already add Sakura to Street Fighter 6’s cast of characters. She’s one of Street Fighter’s most popular characters and a perennial fan favorite. So, with Year 2, I don’t see Capcom being able to give any excuses as to why they wouldn’t include Sakura as a new DLC character.

One thing I’ve been harping on about is I don’t want to see her as a “schoolgirl” anymore. Rather, I would like to see a more mature character, kind of like we see in her Super Street Fighter IV ending. It would be so easy to fit her in the story as well. After all, she is Ryu’s number 1 fan and, now that Ryu is finally taking on pupils, Sakura can finally fulfill her dream of training under him.

One of the great things about Sakura is she uses variations of traditional Shoto attacks. This would mean she would also play very differently from Ryu, Ken and Akuma. In fact, if Capcom does have her as a new character in Street Fighter 6’s Year 2 DLC, she would have invented a new move or two, maybe improving on one of Dan’s attacks, to give her more flavor than your typical Shoto.

#2 C. Viper

This is my most controversial choice on the list because I don’t see anyone really clamoring for C. Viper’s return. Honestly, I’m not even one of the few fans who may have her on their personal wishlist for Street Fighter 6! So, why am I predicting her? Well, call it a gut feeling but I do think Capcom can do a lot of crazy things with her, mostly because they can massively rework her in Street Fighter 6. After all, her special moves are mostly based on the tech in her suit and they can just say C. Viper has new equipment, giving her an all new movelist!

She would still retain some of her more useful special attacks, like her Burning Kick and Thunder Knuckle. However, they can switch up her Seismic Hammer with a more traditional projectile as I do think JP already has the “projectile coming out of the ground” special move covered. I can’t really say how Capcom would adapt her in Street Fighter 6 but I do know she would be really interesting as they can still give her the ability to feint some of her specials as to make her one of the more technical fighters in the roster.

#3 Cody

Where is Street Fighter 6’s World Tour mostly set in? Well, Metro City, of course! It just so happens the current mayor of Metro City just so happens to be Cody! Simply put, it would be so easy for Capcom to fit Cody into the World Tour mode as he’s synonymous with the city already. Even in Street Fighter V’s story mode, it already shown he has a habit of shirking his mayorly duties in order to clean up the street Final Fight style!

Gameplay-wise, I could see Cody fitting in Street Fighter 6’s combat mechanics. He would play like a mixture of his Super Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V selves. Give him his Zonk Knuckle, Ruffian Kick and Tornado Uppercut from Super Street Fighter IV but keep his Tornado Sweep projectile from Street Fighter V. His Level 2 could be an install where he would take out a pipe, giving him a unique style when he has this equipped.

#4 Alex

I know not a lot of people like grapplers but I’m of the belief Year 2 would need a new grappler character to spice things up. I originally was going to pick Laura from Street Fighter V but I thought against it. That’s because we already have a Laura archetype in Street Fighter 6 in Manon. I don’t think it would be fair to add a new strike-throw grappler when Capcom needs to buff Manon first. This is why, against my better judgement, would have to think Capcom would add Alex if they are going to add a grappler in Street Fighter 6’s Year 2 DLC. Honestly, thinking about it, he would be a great fit.

Alex’s special attack do fit in with Street Fighter 6’s gameplay as, while he is a grappler in the technical sense, he doesn’t really have to rely on grabs, like his Power Bomb and Air Knee Smash. His Flash Chop and Slash Elbow are good strikes and it would be sweet if Capcom gave him armor on them if he uses the Overdrive versions. Give him his Head Crush as well so he had the threat of a leaping, unblockable grab. Funny enough, I would like Hyper Bomb to be his Level 1 as I think Capcom should keep it as a 360 motion. This would give them room to design a new Level 3 for Alex.

BONUS: Fevrier, Satsuki or Santamu

Okay, this is just my personal wishlist this time but I do want to mention Fevrier, Satsuki and Santamu, three of the former Bison Dolls who were freed at the end of Street Fighter V’s story mode. I actually really liked their design and, despite Capcom only giving them 1 or 2 special moves, I think there’s something there they could improve and expand on to make them full fledged characters.

This is probably not going to happen but I’m just putting it out into the ether in the hopes it’ll float into the subconscious of someone in Capcom’s higher ups. One can dream, right?

Byee!

Who do you predict will be part of Street Fighter 6’s Year 2 DLC? Let me know in the comments section below!