Hiya!

Street Fighter 6‘s latest balance patch did kind of ruffle a few feathers when it was released almost a month ago. Some fans felt Capcom didn’t really do much for some of the characters who needed buffs. Some fans also felt Capcom could’ve hit some of the top tiers harder with the nerf hammer. This is why, when I made my list for who I consider to be winners with this balance patch, I had to mention how some characters like Mai and JP still made it onto that list.

Sadly, this is going to be the case with how I looked for who were the losers in this latest balance patch but in kind of a Bizarro way. Some of the low tier characters who needed buffs were not granted any by Capcom and, more importantly, some of the top tier characters who were smashed by the proverbial nerf hammer. Honestly, this list was harder to put together because I only really saw 3 characters who Capcom really tried to bring down. Finding 2 more was a bit more difficult as even they did get some buffs which I do think are good. Even with that in mind, I just felt these 2 characters needed a little more than what they got.

So, anyway, here are the 5 Street Fighter 6 characters who I think “lost” with this patch.

#5 Manon

I have a feeling Capcom is simply afraid of buffing grapplers because of their sheer damage output. All a grappler needs is a single good command throw and they can put the fear of god in their opponent. Besides Lily (who is considered to be one of the lowest of the low tier characters in the game), the other 2 characters known for their command throws got any major buffs. With that being said, I do think Manon did better, which is why she’s last on the losers list.

Capcom did give Manon a couple of, shall we say, interesting buffs to her toolkit. The most significant is how her standing heavy punch into heavy punch target combo now has juggle potential. This is good for a couple of reasons. First, it works better as a reset which bring the opponent closer, putting them in a mixup. Second, if you accidentally hit an airborne opponent with it, the 2nd hit doesn’t whiff, meaning your opponent can’t counterattack you while you’re recovering from the 2nd part of the target combo. This is actually a pretty strong buff. Capcom also made it so the 2nd hit of her back medium kick target into medium kick target combo also gets the counter hit state if the 1st hit hits as a counter hit. This enhances Manon’s combos pretty good.

Unfortunately, Capcom had to take away the proximity blocking of Manon’s standing heavy kick. This was one of Manon’s best buttons as it reaches far and, if spaced, is safe on block. This does hurt Manon’s ability to approach the opponent safely somewhat. She still has a good poke with her standing medium punch but it wasn’t the awesome button her standing heavy kick was. So, while Capcom did give her buffs, the nerf to her standing heavy kick really hurts Manon’s offense. Still, it’s not as bad as the others on the list.

#4 Zangief

We move on to the other grappler Capcom refuses to give significant buff to. Capcom did technically only buff Zangief but the problem is these buffs feel pretty superficial. The first buff is to his down-forward with heavy kick command normal. It now works better at going over low attacks, which is a weird buff to give because it was supposed to be already good at going over low attacks. The problem is most players, even Zangief mains will still not touch this move because it still has very slow startup and is incredibly unsafe on block. Capcom didn’t touch these aspects so it’s still going to be a move no one uses as it’s still too risky.

The other buff Zangief buff has to do with the Overdrive version of his Double Lariat. The last hit of the move can now hit crouching opponents. By itself, this isn’t all that useful as Zangief is still super unsafe if blocked. Its only real use is against opponents in Burnout status as Zangief can now chip them out with this. This means this buff is hyper situational.

The problem I have isn’t how Capcom buffed Zangief but how they tried to buff him. I understand the change to his down-forward heavy kick as, like I said, no one uses it but I still don’t think Zangief mains will be relying on this as a counterplay to low attacks. The change to his Overdrive Double Lariat is nice but I don’t really think Zangief players will be using this much as well. So, while they did give him buffs, these buffs don’t really do anything for Zangief in the long run.

#3 Blanka

My main Blanka has always been a really tricky character. Heck, this is one of the reasons why I like playing Blanka! I guess Capcom realized this and decided to nerf some of his gimmicks somewhat. He did get a couple of buffs as his standing medium kick is now better and can link into his standing light punch. They also made his crouching heavy punch launch his opponent further on counter hit, making it easier to push his opponent into the corner and his forward heavy punch command normal puts his opponent to the ground for much longer.

However, Capcom nerfed a lot of his pressure tools to compensate for these changes. His Drive Gauge chip damage from his Blanka Balls when his Level 2 Lightning Beast Super Art is active is much less. This was a really good way for Blanka players to put their opponents in Burnout as his Blanka Balls can be made safe easily. His Blanka Chan dolls are also now taken off the board if his opponent hits Blanka. This really isn’t much of a nerf as most Blanka mains usually have tight blockstrings with the Blanka Chan dolls.

The biggest nerf for me, in my opinion, is making his Surprise Forward Hop not throw invincible anymore. This means he loses his mixup of going through his opponent as now he can be thrown out of the move while he’s doing it. This hurts me a lot as this was one of my best crossup techniques! Even though he is technically my main, I actually agree with the nerfs he got. Blanka always felt like a strong and annoying character to fight against so I understand the need to tone him down a bit.

#2 Ryu

It feels weird to have Ryu so high up on this list as Capcom only really nerfed one thing in his toolkit. The problem is the nerf is a really big nerf to Ryu’s gameplay. Capcom still didn’t stop buffing him, though, as they expanding the hitboxes of both of Ryu’s crouching heavy punch and Overdrive Dragon Punch so his combos would be more consistent. He can now also juggle from standing heavy punch into standing heavy kick target combo in the combo, increasing his damage output.

When it comes to nerfs besides the big one, Ryu’s pressure from the light version of his Hashogeki special was weakened as it pushes the opponent away more if blocked. It also doesn’t do as much Drive Gauge damage. This was mostly implemented to remove his blockstring chip damage when the opponent is in Burnout. However, the big nerf is with his forward and heavy punch command normal. This was a nightmare before as, if Ryu does this even if his opponent would only get hit by the tip of the move, they would be stuck in block, unable to move! This made Ryu a pressure monster and difficult to get away from! Capcom decided to nerf this as you can now move away from is easier!

While nerfing one move doesn’t seem like a big deal, it is for a lot of Ryu players as they rely on this move a lot to pressure the opponent. This was a plus on block move, meaning Ryu’s opponents had to eat the move and be put in a mixup. By making it much easier to walk away from this move, the threat isn’t as bad. Good Ryu players will be able to still use this when they knock the opponent down. Bad Ryu players will cry as their main move for pressure won’t work as well anymore.

#1 Ed

While most top tier characters got more nerfs than buffs, Ed is the outlier as all he got were nerfs! Mind you, these nerfs will not significantly hurt a good Ed player but they will make their life much harder as 2 of his most abused normals, his crouching medium kick and crouching heavy kick normals, don’t work as well anymore. With his crouching medium kick, it will now go over a crouching opponent at a distance, making this a less reliable long range poke. His crouching heavy kick is not more easily punishable as well.

Ed’s Overdrive Psycho Flicker also got nerfed as the damage scaling from this move is much higher, which does seem appropriate as this was one of his main combo tools. Finally, he doesn’t gain as much Super meter if you manage to juggle your opponent with a “dream combo” while his Super Art 2, Psycho Cannon is active. This does lessen the chance of Ed players being able to do 2 Psycho Cannons and 2 “dream combo” in the same round anymore.

Even though I say Ed is the biggest loser as all he got in this patch were nerfs, I don’t think these nerfs will scare away Ed players. The hit he took to his main pokes is bad, for sure. However, besides that, his main toolkit still remains pretty much the same. In fact, I was tempted to give Ryu the top spot as the nerf to his forward and heavy punch command normal hurts more as it removes a big pressure tool he used to have. Still, the fact Ed only had nerfs edged him out.

Byee!

Who do you think lost big with Street Fighter 6’s 3.5 patch? Let me know in the comments section below!