Hiya!

When Capcom released their last major balance patch for Street Fighter 6 for all characters, fans were surprised with the number of buffs Ryu got. Yes, he is generally the poster boy for Street Fighter so it does make senses for Capcom to make him, at the very least, better than average. No one expected him to get that many buffs, especially to his fireball game!

Well, it turns out they had to buff Ryu’s fireball game just to make him contend against Sagat, who might have the best projectile game in Street Fighter 6 now. Sorry, Ryu, but it looks like the Emperor is back to try to reclaim his crown as the best projectile chucker in Street Fighter.

Sagat has been out for a good while now and I have been playing with him a lot. I’m not really a “motion” character as I prefer to play characters who have charge inputs. While this may still be true, it feels a whole lot more comfortable playing as Sagat than with, say, Ryu or the other shotos. So I guess there is something about him which makes him “feel” different. I’ll try to explain that when I get to talking about his gameplay but, before I do, I do want to talk about his new aesthetic… which I don’t really like.

Sagat has always been a big boy and I do like big body characters. However, Sagat isn’t like your Zangiefs and Marisas as, while he is tall and he even towers over them, he’s not as beefy as these mountains of muscle. Sagat is much more lanky and wiry. His is a body that wasn’t sculpted in the gym or lifting weights. His muscles were built from manual hard labor and, while it suits the character now that he’s mellowed out somewhat, that doesn’t make his look any more appealing. I just wish his chest wasn’t so flat, I guess.

While his look isn’t that nice, his gameplay definitely is! Like a lot of the later returning “boss” Street Fighter 6 DLC characters, Capcom designed Sagat to pump out a ton of damage in a short span of time with his juggle combos. Sagat hits hard and, coupled with his deceptively far-reaching (but somewhat slow) normals and surprisingly quick Drive Rush, it’s fairly easy for him to take off 1/3 of his opponent’s lifebar while juggling his foe into the corner.

Sagat, thanks to his long limbs, has some great pokes to keep his opponent at range. Not only that, some of these pokes can be hit confirmed into their corresponding target combos. His standing medium kick not only has good range but can be hit confirmed into a heavy kick for a target combo. The same thing can be said for his crouching medium punch but you’re given a choice between 2 target combos from this, depending on the situation. What’s super amazing is his standing heavy punch, which may be slow but has incredible range, is also another target combo starter! Honestly, his only real weakness when it comes to his ranged normals would be his crouching medium kick but only because you can’t cancel it into anything. Honestly, that would be too strong if he could so I’m glad Capcom didn’t do that.

His command normals also are very useful in particular situations. He’s got a forward with medium punch overhead; that’s always good. His forward and light kick command normal is good at catching people backdashing or simply walking backwards. His forward and heavy kick command normal is probably one of the more scary combo starters as, if it connects from a counter or a Drive Rush, it can link to his standing heavy kick, which is his primary combo starter into his new Tiger Nexus kicks. Finally, his crouching heavy punch, although extremely slow, has superb range and is cancellable.

However, hands down, Sagat’s best command normal and best move altogether would be his back and heavy punch command normal. This move may not have a lot of range but it has one property which makes it an indispensable tool in his arsenal: it’s a launcher which you can cancel into a special move. First, not many characters in Street Fighter 6 have a launcher, let alone a non-special move that does so. Second, you can link this from something like a Drive Rush crouching medium kick, meaning you can launch your opponent into a combo with the right timing. It’s also a fairly good anti-air. It’s not the best but it’s fast enough to work in that way. Finally, it is cancellable, meaning you’ll be able to juggle your opponent into a lot of special attacks after it. We’ll talk about these special moves below now.

Sagat’s special moves run the gamut and pretty much allows him to play whatever style you want and I think this is why I enjoy playing as him despite him technically being a shoto. He has his Tiger Shot projectiles, which is good if you want to zone your opponent into frustration. Unlike with previous versions of the character, Sagat can only throw his Low Tiger Shot with the light punch. The High Tiger Shots are done with either the medium or heavy punches. I’m kind of disappointed by this as this means you can’t throw a fast moving Low Tiger Shot anymore. Still, his keepaway with both the High and Low Tiger Shots are great.

It’s biggest weakness, however, is Sagat reaches his arms super far, making it so much easier for someone who jumps over a telegraphed High or Low Tiger Shot and smack Sagat with a jumping attack. This is especially true for the Low Tiger Shot as it does seem to recover slightly slower than his High Tiger Shots. Of course, if they don’t time their jump right, you can snipe them out of the air with the light or medium versions of his classic Tiger Uppercut. You shouldn’t try it with the heavy version as this now works like a kara version of the move as it moves Sagat forward really far! It’s good as a combo ender, not an anti-air.

If you want to play rushdown, Sagat can do that with his Tiger Knee Crush as this launches Sagat forward quickly. If you notice they’re low blocking, it’ll actually be plus no matter what version you use! This is extremely abuseable and, even when they do start stand blocking, you can space the Tiger Knee Crush to make it safe. Once you get in, you can slowly overwhelm your opponent with Sagat’s normals and then mixing in his new Tiger Nexus special move. This works a lot like Ken‘s Jinrai Kicks as they also have follow ups. The light follow up is an overhead. The medium is an upward kick which launches the opponent but doesn’t hit crouchers. Finally, the heavy follow up pushes the opponent away and is safe on block. If the opponent is on Burnout, it’s virtually impossible for him or her to escape Sagat from just using his Tiger Nexus and heavy kick follow up!

I haven’t even talked about any of the special moves’ OD versions yet! Sagat has an invincible reversal in the OD version of his Tiger Uppercut. Strangely enough, it doesn’t do as much damage as the normal heavy version and, if you hit the opponent using the later frames, it actually doesn’t do a lot of damage. Still, an invincible reversal is going to be indespensible. The OD version of the Tiger Knee Crush does insane damage and will get your opponent off of you so you can start chucking Tiger Shots. Speaking of that, the OD version of Sagat’s Tiger Shots, either version, will hit both standing and crouching opponents. You just need to use the appropriate one based on if you think they’re going to be standing or jumping. Another thing to note is the standing version of the OD Tiger Shot hits 3 times, meaning this will eat through other OD projectiles and still keep on going to hit your opponent, giving Sagat the upper hand when it comes to projectile wars.

Sagat’s Super Arts are insanely good. His Level 1, the Tiger Cannon, is a super version of his Tiger Shot and will eat through the majority of other super projectiles. Although it comes out slower than most invincible Level 1 Super Arts, it can actually combo from Sagat’s OD Tiger Shot from any where on the screen, even full screen away! As it hits 8 times, it can even eat through Rashid‘s Level 2 Ysaar Super Art! That’ll teach those Rashid players for trying to get cute against Sagat! I’m going to skip over to his Level 2 as that deserve a lot of attention. Sagat’s Level 3/Critical Art, the Tiger Vanquisher, isn’t that special as it works like most of the other Level 3/Critical Arts in the game.

Capcom has done a lot of work in making Street Fighter 6’s Level 2 the more utilitarian of each character’s Super Arts arsenal. I believe Sagat got one of the best ones in his Savage Tiger. When executed, Sagat will move forward with an invincible big knee kick and, if it connects, will grab his opponent. While he has his opponent in the clench, you can tell Sagat to do a total of 4 follow ups based on how you’re holding the D-pad/joystick and they’re all good depending on the situation. If you want big damage, just leave the stick alone to do the most damaging follow up, the Tiger Raid. If you’re in the corner, you can switch sides by holding back and doing the Tiger Pendulum. If you want OKI and have them try to get up right in front of you, hold down to strike with the Tiger Stomp. Finally, if you want to carry your opponent to the corner even from the opposite corner, you can juggle them into the air by holding forward to execute his Tiger Zenith. This does the least amount of damage among all of his Level 2 follow-ups. However, the mere fact you can juggle your opponent from this move makes this probably the best version.

Sagat’s Level 2 pretty much encapsulates why he’s very strong as he has combos stacked on top of other combos! He has a variety of ways to juggle his opponent, leading to massive damage as well as corner carry. He also has really good range on most of his normals, making him a poking monster and, if you can hit confirm these pokes frequently, you can Drive Rush in and start juggling your opponent!

That’s not to say Sagat is invincible as he does have a couple of weaknesses. His walk speed is atrocious, which is why Capcom probably made it so his Tiger Knee Crush can cover distances quickly. The recovery on his normals is slow and this does make him more vulnerable to whiff punishes. If you miss your Tiger Uppercut, even the light version, Sagat will jump up high in the air and will land on a punishing combo. As mentioned, his Tiger Knee Crush attacks have to be spaced or else he’ll also eat a fat punish if blocked. The light and medium versions of his Tiger Nexus can be countered with a light punch if blocked as well. His biggest weakness, however, is his size. Sagat is a big target! and he also tends to expand his hitbox with a lot of his attacks. So, if you’re facing him, your best bet in fighting him is to rush him down with a crossup. Because of his height, hitting a cross-cut light Tiger Uppercut can be difficult.

That is, you still have to rush down, though. As mentioned, Sagat has a lot of tools which helps him play whatever style. Better yet, this allows him to adapt to whatever style your facing. So, if they’re trying to bulldog their way in, you can play keepaway with his pokes and Tiger Shots. If they want to play the range game, you can get in as well with a well-spaced Tiger Knee Crush. If they try to adapt to whatever you’re doing, Sagat can switch again.

I actually think this is Sagat’s greatest strength and why I’m having so much fun playing him. You’re not stuck with what to do as he doesn’t really have an archetype. He’s everything in one big, lanky package. I can’t say he’s the toppest of the top tiers but he’s definitely up there. Hail to the King Emperor, baby!

Byee!

What do you think of Sagat in Street Fighter 6? How good of a job do you think Capcom did with him? Let me know in the comments section below!