Hiya!

Street Fighter 6 finally released its big balance patch a couple of weeks ago. While I will give props to Capcom for sticking to their guns and just release one balance update for Year 1, I’m relieved they’re changing that policy and will incrementally update the game based on the current meta. The minor balance patch they put out after Capcom Cup just isn’t enough!

Even with this new mindset, the next balance patch isn’t coming up anytime soon and, with the entire Street Fighter 6 rosters getting a slew of buffs and nerfs, it seems like a good time to see which low tiers made out like bandits and which top tiers managed to get out relatively unscathed. There’s a lot to go through and I know I’m hardly a Street Fighter 6 god. However, I do want to give my opinion on this as a casual so Capcom can know what us normies think of the buffs and nerfs.

There are a few things in my analysis you have to know first. One, I’m going to just not be looking at who got the most buffs and nerfs but who got the most notable buffs and nerfs. I’m going to checking out on the low tiers who got the useful buffs and the top tiers who got negligible nerfs. Those are the kinds of factors which helped me make this list. With that out of the way, let’s check out who’s going to be eating good in Year 2 and who’s going to be starving.

Winner #3: Zangief

Zangief got a lot of changes which, on paper, doesn’t look like much as most of it revolves around his normals not doing that much pushback anymore and his buttons doing slightly more damage. However, as a grappler, not doing too much pushback on your attacks is a really good thing as, not only does it allow combos into his Spinning Lariat more consistently, it also increases the threat of a Zangief player conditioning you into blocking so he or she can hit the Spinning Piledriver while the opponent is waiting for an incoming hit. At the same time, as his hits do more damage all around, Zangief opponents will also try to avoid getting hit. All these factors makes Zangief much more scary now than he was previously.

Zangief also got a notable buffs to his Headbutt and crouching Heavy Punch. The Headbutt gives Zangief enough frame advantage to link into his Hellstab, allowing for more combo routes. Crouching Heavy Punch causes a ground bounce on Punish Counter, allowing for some nice Drive Rush combos in the middle of the screen and, in the corner, link into his Hellstab for more juggle combos. Capcom even gave him a way to armor through zoners with his Overdrive Running Bear Grab as, if he’s hit during the move, Zangief will rush and grab the opponent with turbo speed! While it’s still going to be a slog getting in, once he does, Zangief can be a total nightmare thanks to these buffs.

Loser #3: Guile

As someone who mains Guile, I really didn’t expect him to get that many buffs as, admittedly, he is already a pretty good character. However, at the same time, I didn’t expect Capcom to almost ignore him completely! His crouching medium punch is now easier to whiff punish and, while this is kind of a universal nerf for the entire Street Fighter 6 roster, this hurts Guile a little more as this isn’t a low and it doesn’t reach as far as the other crouching medium attacks which can be Drive Rush cancelled. His standing heavy punch also got hit with the more damage scaling nerf but this isn’t too much of an issue.

The thing is Guile’s buffs aren’t all that useful and mostly there to get Guile mains to use them more. I may be the only one who uses his jumping medium kick so the extra damage it does is nice. He now only uses 3 Drive bars for his Overdrive Sonic Blade into Overdrive Sonic Cross move. The Sonic Blade also launches the opponent higher so it can cause a higher wall splat. This does give Guile some time to charge up a Flash Kick or a Sonic Hurricane if he’s close enough to the corner. While I don’t think his current place as an upper-mid tier is going to change, the mere fact he doesn’t have any really good new toys to play with makes him a loser in this balance patch.

Winner #2: AKI

AKI is probably one of the most complex characters in Street Fighter 6 and this makes her one of the least newbie friendly ones. However, even as a newbie, I can still see the implications of her getting a quick standing light kick as it’s a relatively long range move for a quick normal and causes enough hit stun for better combos. Some of her other buffs, like the heavy version of Serpent Lash is now a better anti-air and Cruel Fate now able to combo into her Level 3, are evident. However, some others, like her light Serpent Lash causing a crumple state on Punish Counter, will only be used by more dedicated players.

The only really weird thing Capcom gave AKI was making the light version of Snake Step move backwards. They may have done this as some kind of shimmy tactic but she can just, you know, backdash for the same effect. Still, this is the only misstep they made with AKI and, while most players won’t be able to fully unlock her new potential with these buffs, AKI mains are jumping for joy at how good they have it now.

Loser #2: JP

Look, I hate myself a JP. JP is one of those characters which can keep an opponent full screen and just pelt them with projectiles and spikes and portals until they get into Burnout. Capcom did understand this and shoved a lot of nerfs down JP’s throat throughout the 2 balance patches. While I say he’s still a bugger to fight against, he does seem more manageable now. They already went after his damage scaling and his crouching heavy punch in the minor balance patch but they still went after him in this balance patch. A lot of his normals are now much more easy to whiff punish so JP players can’t just throw them out willy nilly.

The biggest nerf JP got was the slight increase in the startup of his Super Art 2. While it’s not a lot, it is enough so he has to be more strategic with picking what normal to cancel into his Super Art 2 and what to link into it as it can be interrupted if JP is not careful. Still, a part of me wishes Capcom hit JP with the nerf hammer a little harder as he’s still very bothersome at full screen.

Winner #1: Ryu

With Ken already overshadowing him throughout Year 1 and the return of Akuma, Ryu needed some really big buffs to make him worthy of being Street Fighter’s poster boy. Thankfully, Capcom did right by Ryu with both the minor and major balance patches. The minor balance patch saw his Hashogeki becoming mostly safe on block, making it a great pressure tool. The major balance patch enabled Ryu to choose when to use the Denjin Charge, which is super useful, and he can even cancel into the Denjin Charge from his Target Combos, which were underutilized before.

Ryu also got a lot of little tweaks, such as his back heavy kick causing a ground bounce when it hits an airborne opponent and his standing heavy punch can now link into his light punches. These tiny changes have huge implications as these can greatly extend Ryu’s combos. He also got some damage buffs on all his Tatsumaki-Senpu-Kyaku and High Blade Kick special attacks. They also increased the damage on all his Super Arts across the board. Ryu already hit like a truck and now he hits with the force of 2 trucks!

Loser #1: Dee Jay

Among all of the characters to get hit with the nerf stick, Dee Jay was hit the hardest. Before the patch, Dee Jay was a juggle combo monster, able to launch his opponent with an Overdrive Maximum Strike and carry them all the way to the corner while doing extreme damage. Capcom tried to fix this by having his back heavy kick not launch the opponent high enough to combo into his normal Maximum Strike. He still has other juggle roots but this was one of Dee Jay’s best combos which didn’t use that much meter and Capcom took that away!

Capcom also hurt Dee Jay by increasing his damage scaling with his better starters, such as his standing heavy punch and the counter hit Funky Slicer. In the long run, Dee Jay is still a phenomenal and dangerous character since they didn’t touch his super speedy Drive Rush. However, he still is the biggest loser as Capcom essentially capped his damage output with this patch. He’s still more than viable but, considering where he was before, Dee Jay has taken a step down the ladder.

Byee!

Who do you think were blessed and cursed with Street Fighter 6’s balance patch? Let me know in the comments section below!