Hiya!

I remember way back when the Season 2 DLC roster was announced for Street Fighter 6. Everyone was excited because this was the first time Capcom was allowing crossover characters, namely Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui, to become playable characters in a mainline Street Fighter game. While some people groaned when M. Bison showed his smiling mug, a lot of fans were concerned when they got a glimpse of Elena. Everyone who’s played Ultra Street Fighter IV still is suffering from PTSD from fighting an Elena, whittling their health bar down to a sliver then only for her to activate Healing and watch all their hard work be for naught as Elena refills her health bar instantly.

So, there was some trepidation with Capcom adding Elena to Street Fighter 6. Capcom has done some really good work kind of rehabilitating flaws characters with Ed and FANG through his student, AKI. However, this Elena is a different case as those previous characters mentioned are bad characters Capcom turned into good characters. Can Capcom work their magic in reverse and make Elena, someone who dominated the latter years of Ultra Street Fighter IV and make her too godlike while making her fun to play? Well, the character has been out for a while and I do have my thoughts on Elena’s Street Fighter 6 debut.

Before I do talk about how she plays, I do have to talk about her new redesign in Street Fighter 6. Capcom did retain her general body structure as Elena is still the dark-skinned, lanky and long-legged Capoeira fighter she’s always been. What they did modify is her outfit and hair… and I hate it! Well, her new default look hair, anyways. It looks so flat and doesn’t frame her face well. Then again, I also don’t like the poofy pants on her regular outfit as well. It makes her hips look so out of proportion with her slender frame.

I also never liked her original design from Street Fighter III: Third Strike and Ultra Street Fighter IV. So, I can’t figure out why Elena’s original costume looks great in Street Fighter 6. It’s still the same general look as she’s still wearing that bowl cut and bikini thing. However, it just works so much better here. Still, I do recommend her Outfit 3 as Elena looks gorgeous here and really showcases her cheerful and carefree personality. Putting her hair up allows her to show off her face more and, even though the parachute pants do make her hips look large, the proportions don’t come off as awkward as they hang loose over her body.

Now that we got her aesthetics out of the way, let’s get into the meat of any new DLC character of Street Fighter 6: How does Elena play? Well, I’m actually glad I had an extra week to play with her before writing this review because, during the first week, I couldn’t a handle on how to play her. The extra week of just grinding (and losing) with her made me learn a lot regarding how Capcom designed her. I was ready to give her a thumbs down early on but, with the few extra days I had controlling her, I can say she’s a really good character.

Elena’s normals can feel a little awkward at first. Then again, I generally feel that way for characters who have either all punches (like Ed) and kicks (like Elena) as it takes me some time to get used to pressing a punch button and seeing a kick come out. Her normals are a strange mix of slow, long-ranged pokes and quick short-ranged attacks. While that’s a given for any fighting game character, it just seems strange how a character like Elena, with really long legs, can have some stubby normals. Her crouching light punch is her quickest attack and can cancel to a couple of her specials. Her best normal poke would be her crouching medium punch as it has quite a bit of range on it and is cancellable. Her crouching heavy punch is a great anti-air and her best combo starter. However, her best normal, hands down, is her standing medium kick. Although it doesn’t have that much range, it is plus on block, cancellable and, if you hit it from a Drive Rush or counter hit, it can link into crouching heavy punch, which is, as previously mentioned, her best combo starter.

Elena also has a lot of good command normals and target combos. Her down-forward with heavy kick is a sliding sweep which can catch those trying to shimmy away off-guard. Her forward with medium kick is a rather far-reaching overhead kick and it also is a starter for her a target combo. However, her best command attack would be her forward with heavy punch. While it’s very slow, it has monstrous range and can be safe on block if spaced properly. It also is the starter to a very damaging target combo. It’s actually pretty easy to hit confirm, which is something I’m not good at but I’m able to do! Even so, if you do get the 2nd hit out by accident, just stop and you might get away with it still.

For her specials, Capcom did a lot with Elena to make it so she can juggle from one special move to another under the right circumstances. Her Rhino Horn is probably her worst special attack as, even though it seems like a good neutral skip attack, it can be ducked under and is unsafe on block. It is, however, great in combos. Her Scratch Wheel is her dedicated anti-air special attack and, if enhanced, is totally invulnerable, making it her GTFO move. Her Moon Glider starts with a feint rollback and can work really well as a shimmy tool to get a counter hit for those trying to jab their way out of pressure.

However, her standout special attacks are her Spinning Scythe and Lynx Song/Lynx Whirl and this is pretty much Elena’s central gimmick. Let’s talk about the Lynx Song and Lynx Whirl first. This has Elena spin across the floor and, as the middle frames are projectile invulnerable, can be used to get around fireballs. The Lynx Song does nothing by itself but it does have several follow-ups. The light kick version is a good poke while the medium kick version is a launcher, allowing for a juggle combo. The heavy punch version is her infamous Mallet Smash special from her earlier iterations and is a really good overhead.

You can forego these attacks and press use the punch follow up to upgrade to the Lynx Whirl. This is where it gets dangerous as Elena gets access to all those previous follow ups from the Lynx Song but they’re all buffed up! The light kick version does more damage. The medium kick version launches her opponent higher in the air and, get this, the heavy version, her overhead, becomes plus on block! Elena has an overhead that’s effectively a frame trap! That’s just so devious! Oh, if her opponent is just play defense, just roll up with her Lynx Song/Lynx Whirl and just throw them! That’s another mixup to this move!

Her Spinning Scythe is a beast of a special attack as it’s easy to combo into and the heavy version can launch Elena’s opponent into the air, which you can link into the medium version of the Rhino Horn. The last hit can be ducked underneath and is very unsafe on block. However, Elena can forego doing the last hit and, during the 2nd hit of her Spinning Scythe, cancel into the Lynx Whirl! Remember how the Lynx While can turn into her upgraded Mallet Smash and how you can not to anything and jumpscare them into a throw? Well, this is Elena’s main mixup and the main reason how I got her into 5-Star Diamond during my Ranked matches! I just kept on doing this and, as this is still early in her release lifespan, no one had a good answer to this mixup!

Elena’s Super Arts do feel a little weak. Her Level 1, Meteor Volley is basically an enhanced version of her Scratch Wheel. If it connects, you can link into a heavy Scratch Wheel afterwards. However, it’s biggest weakness is it’s not invincible! So, you can’t use this to get out of trouble. For that, you have to rely on either her Level 2 or Level 3 Super Arts. Elena’s Level 2 is Revival Dance. It’s fully invincible and does decent damage. Its main gimmick, however, is, if it connects, you can cancel the last hit (the most damaging part of the Super Art) into Healing, recovering some of her life bar. It doesn’t replenish a lot of life, though. So, you do have to choose if you want more damage or gain more life. It’s a nice little choice to make depending on the situation. Her Level 3 Super/Critical Art, Song of the Grasslands, is your typical super damaging Super Art and basically used to close out matches or to do as much damage as possible.

So, what do I think about Elena? I do think she’s a great character but, as hinted earlier regarding the extra time needed for me to understand what Capcom was going for, she isn’t a straightforward fighter. She’s kind of like AKI in a way as you have to be aware of the status of your opponent before you choose what combo to use. If they’re grounded, you might have to just do a bread and butter. If you’ve popped them in the air, you might want to Drive Rush in and juggle them into the corner with her specials. There also seems to be less leniency for her juggles as, if you’re off by a frame or so, they’ll drop out of them and your Elena will get punished. Even with that caveat, I can see she has the potential to be an upper tier fighter but you’ll need to be a lot more dedicated to finding the combo routes applicable to whatever situation.

Byee!

Have you tried out Elena? Do you think Capcom did a good job with her for Street Fighter 6? Let me know in the comments section below!