Hiya!

It’s been a while since I did a “winners and losers” post for Street Fighter 6. I figured out other more skilled players would be in a better position for this. So, I just stopped doing it. However, Capcom didn’t really do that many significant updates to the Street Fighter 6 roster this time around. Sure, everyone got buffed and nerfed but I think many people still believe the top tiers will be the top tiers and the bottom tiers will still be languishing as bottom tiers.

While I would agree nothing here would move the needle that much for anyone, there is enough here to make some of the lower tiers better. There are also a couple of instances where the top tiers simply didn’t get nerfed enough! So, for this week, I’m going to talk about the Street Fighter characters who made out like bandits in this balance patch!

Winner #5: Mai

Many Street Fighter 6 have claimed Mai was already one of the better characters in Street Fighter 6. So, you would expect Capcom to nerf her, right? Well, they did do that with her main offender: the charged version of Kachosen, her fan projectile. All of the charged fans now bounce higher, making it easy to walk out of it. Additionally, if Mai does the charged fan up close, like on her opponent’s wake up, the move recovers slower, making it easy to punish. By the way, these nerfs are not applied when Mai has her flame stocks from her Level 1 Kagerou no Mai. As Mai players just love using this Super for the flame stocks, this nerf only factors in during the start of a round. While all of that’s appreciated, I think Capcom could’ve done more.

They countered the nerf by giving her a couple of buffs, which I feel are pretty good. Her light Ryuenbu isn’t that big as Mai players will still be relying on her awesome standing heavy punch, which Capcom did not nerf, to catch people. Capcom also buffed the heavy version of Ryuenbu as it now launches the opponent higher if they’re in “floating” state. This gives Mai access to better juggle combos without using any Drive meter!

The heavy Ryuenbu gets even better when Mai has flame stocks as it can now combo from her standing light punch. Once again, Mai players will try to get the flame stocks anyway. So, giving Mai more conversions while she has flame stocks is not only really good, it’s already practically every Mai player’s gameplan anyways.

I will say the nerf to her charged Kachosen is a big deal as this does make Mai less oppressive in general. However, they still have the other things which makes her a terror, such as her incredibly fast dash and her throw loops. The buff they gave to her heavy Ryuenbu is also really good. While Mai’s offense did get nerfed, her damage output with the flame stocks is a really good buff and makes up for it. So, overall, Mai is a winner because she didn’t get nerfed hard enough.

Winner #4: JP

JP was one of the stronger characters in Street Fighter 6 for several reasons. He has great corner pressure with his throw loops and juggle combos in the corner. He has a myriad of projectiles which makes it a nightmare to close the gap with him. He also has really good long-range normals, adding to the difficulty of getting in when fighting him. Well, Capcom nerfed his corner pressure. It’s much harder for JP to do throw loops and pressure opponents in the corner now as the move now pushes him far away. This means he cannot just stand up close to his foe and make them guess if he’s going to do a throw or a meaty attack into pressure. That’s good.

The thing is Capcom actually gave him an incredible buff. While he isn’t as menacing in the corner anymore, they buffed him so he’s now more menacing if he has his Departure portals up! Capcom did remove his corner pressure but gifted JP with the ability to cancel into Departure: Shadow, the pillar explosion from the portals, from his standing medium punch, standing heavy kick, crouching light kick and crouching medium kick. These are move that are not cancellable but are now the exception for Departure: Shadow!

This is a really strong buff for JP since, as long as he has his Departure portals out, he can essentially make these moves plus on block! This instantly increases his mid-screen pressure and frame trap ability! Not only that, this actually makes his combo potential very scary as JP already has a wickedly good crouching medium kick and standing medium punch! Giving him the ability to detonate the Departure portal which can lead to a juggle combo that can carry his opponent back to the corner is just ridiculous!

So, while they did nerf his corner pressure with the throw pushback, Capcom then buffed his mid-screen pressure. They took something away but gave him something really good, meaning JP will still stay as one of the scariest characters to face against in Street Fighter 6. Thanks, Capcom. I hate it.

Winner #3: Dhalsim

I don’t really run into a lot of Dhalsim players online so it’s kind of hard to figure out how good his buffs actually are. What I can do it look at their applications on how it changes the character. I have to say Capcom engineered the heck out of his buffs because, individually, they don’t really do much. However, they all work sync in a way which makes it feel Capcom game him one massive buff.

So, these buffs I’m referring to revolve around Dhalsim’s jumping medium punch leaving them in a juggle state if they’re in a juggle state already, both his jumping heavy normals are better at hitting juggled opponents and Dhalsim’s Overdrive Yoga Flame recovers faster. These don’t seem like much on their own but, since the Overdrive Yoga Flame recovers faster, Dhalsim can do a Yoga Float and conk his opponent with a jumping medium punch and then a jumping heavy!

Capcom also made Dhalsim’s jumping medium punch cancellable into his Yoga Mummy and all his Drill Kick attacks. This gives Dhalsim more aerial maneuverability and another way to control space, which is what he’s good at. That’s not all, though! They also gave his Yoga Flame’s more range and Overdrive Yoga Comet will also lead to a juggle state on juggled opponents.

All of these buffs give Dhalsim more damage potential, something I’ve noticed Dhalsim players struggle with. I don’t see him moving up the ranks nor do I think we’ll see more Dhalsim’s online because of these buffs. What I do believe we’ll see are the Dhalsim players make full use of these excellent buffs and frustrate the heck out of their opponents more than usual.

Winner #2: Marisa

Like with Dhalsim, most of Marisa’s buffs don’t seem like a lot but they actually work really well in conjunction with each other. The biggest “little” buff Marisa got involves her crouching medium punch as its now +5 on hit. This means, if she’s close enough, she can now link a crouching light punch. Her crouching kick isn’t cancellable but her crouching light punch is! So, now, if she does connect with her crouching medium punch, it can actually lead into a combo.

What makes this buff really scary is if the Marisa player does this during a Drive Rush. The extra hitstun will now allow Marisa to link into her standing medium punch, crouching medium punch and back with heavy punch. These normals are Marisa’s main combo starters. So, giving her more ways to get these normal attacks in is really good for her. They also sped up her towards with medium punch so it can naturally link from a Drive Rush crouching medium kick. Since this is Marisa’s starter for 2 of her target combos, this is really good as well.

These buffs weren’t enough, though, as Capcom also buffed her Phalanx “superman punch” special. All of them are now +3 on block, making them much better for frame traps. What’s even more frightening is the heavy and Overdrive versions of Phalanx leaves Marisa close enough to her opponent for her Enfold command throw. This gives Marisa a really good way to close the gap and it also leads to a strike throw guessing game for her opponent. Oh, they also gave the Overdrive version of Phalanx more armor time.

Marisa did get one nerf and it is a big one. It involves her standing heavy kick being easier to whiff punish. This was one of her best poking tools but this only means Marisa players have to be a little more careful with throwing this out. Still, the buffs she got feel really significant.

Winner #1: Lily

For the longest time, it seemed like Capcom didn’t really know what to do with Lily. The only things she had going for her were the Overdrive version of Condor Spire with a Windclad stock and her crouching heavy punch. That was it and Lily players consistently relied on these 2 moves to carry her. It just wasn’t enough and most people thought of her as one of the worst, if not the worst, character in Street Fighter 6.

Capcom finally did throw in some really cool things for Lily players in this patch, though. Making her standing heavy punch have the same startup as her crouching heavy punch is great as it works better as a poke. Giving Lily the ability to change the distance of her Overdrive Condor Spire will really help her approach as opponents cannot just Drive Reversal to get back to neutral.

The best thing Capcom gave her this patch, however, has to be giving Lily the opportunity to do another Condor Dive after you just did one as long as you have a Windclad stock. Her Condor Dive has always been underutilized as it can be a gamble to do because, if it’s blocked even with a Windclad stock tacked on, Lily’s opponent can do a Drive Rush into a combo. With this buff, Lily’s opponent might think twice in doing this because she can do another Condor Dive if they do try to Drive Rush after the first one. Also, doing two Windclad Condor Dives consecutively does ridiculous damage! I would’ve loved it if Capcom made it so you can now cancel Lily’s Overdrive Condor Spire into her Level 2, the Thunderbird, just to be a little bit more cheeky.

While I do still think most Street Fighter 6 players won’t think much of Lily after this patch, I do think she finally got something she can really use. That makes me so happy for all of the 12 Lily mains of the world.

That’s it for now. Now that I’ve gone through the winners, I’ll be talking about the losers next week. It only seems fair.

Byee!

Who else do you think “won” with the latest Street Fighter 6 balance patch? Let me know in the comments section below!