Street Fighter 6 Best Characters [Top 10]

Ryu is a popular choice for beginners in SF6 due to his balanced playstyle and ability to teach fundamental skills. He has classic moves like fireballs and DP’s, coupled with high damage, making him effective for newcomers. Additionally, his throw-loops offer pressure in both corner and midscreen situations. However, he may lack appeal for high-level players.

• Ryu does not stand out from the rest of the cast and has many bad matchups that put him at a disadvantage.
• His Denjin charge is way too slow for very little reward. 
• Ryu has to sometimes sacrifice Okizeme to get the Denjin charge.
• His anti-fireball move is the tatsu, which is extremely unsafe on the block while being too slow to be effective.
• Ryu can be an amazing choice for beginner players looking to understand Street Fighter 6. However, a lot of the high-level players will expose Ryu’s weaknesses and make it harder for you to win.

Marisa is a powerful addition to SF6, focusing on dealing massive damage to opponents. She lacks bad matchups due to her ability to quickly two-touch with her high damage output. Her command grab punishes overly defensive players, and her Gladius provides armor, making her plus on block. Marisa’s simplicity in execution makes her suitable for players aiming for early wins. However, her weakness lies in inconsistent anti-airs, but her damage compensates for it.

E. Honda is a common sight in SF6 online matches due to his simplicity, making him popular among players. His Sumo Headbutt enables skipping neutral, anti-airing, and pressuring opponents simultaneously, reducing mental load. Additionally, his Sumo Smash is difficult to anti-air even for high-level players. However, Honda’s weaknesses, such as close-range pokes and a strong Drive Rush, are still debated among top players, despite his lack of major tournament wins in SF6.

Thanks to her versatility, Chun-Li is a favorite among many top SF6 players. She has one of the fastest walk speeds and some of the best fireballs in Street Fighter 6. Her game plan revolves around zoning and frustrating the opponent’s patience, which allows Chun-Li to DR behind her fireball and go on the offensive.

Here are some of Chun-Li’s strengths: 

• You get an invincible reversal with Chun-Li to get out of tricky situations.
• She does not lack in mix-ups either, thanks to her overhead from the Serenity Stream stance.
• Although Chu-Li does not have traditional throw loops without a DR, she makes up for their absence with high-low mixups.
• Chun-Li’s walking speed combined with great jabs allows her to play footsies better than most of the cast.
• She gets safe jumps from most of her knockdowns, allowing Chun-Li to bait reversals while maintaining pressure.
• Her 5MK is a great one-button anti-air tool.

In Street Fighter 6, Chun-Li is considered to be one of the best characters. However, I think this is not true for beginner players because of the high amount of execution and spacing skills required to play Chun-Li.

In Street Fighter 6, Cammy is without a doubt a contender for one of the best characters. She is the most fast-paced character, thanks to her dive kicks. Cammy’s dive kick is likely the most diverse move in SF6. You can use it as a neutral tool to bait out an anti-air, an offensive tool to stagger or reset your pressure, and a defensive tool to punish throws or fake pressure.

Here’s what Cammy is good at:

• You can use her spin knuckles to go through fireballs. This makes her a great counter pick against zoners.
• Cammy has a relatively fast DR. If used correctly, it can be almost impossible to check.
• 2MK has a lot of range and is cancellable into DR or special moves.
• Cammy’s Hooligan allows for some nasty mix-up loops.
• She has an amazing 2HP that is +1 on the block, which leads to more pressure and mixups.
• Cammy gets throw loops in the corner without the need for DR.
• She objectively has the best level 3 in Street Fighter 6. It’s fullscreen, 9 frames startup, and goes through everything.

Cammy is extremely strong at all levels of play. She is also one of the few characters in SF6 with little to no bad matchups. If you enjoy fast-paced, rush-down characters, I suggest that you play Cammy.

DJ is another classic Street Fighter character. His main focus is putting opponents in pressure situations with all the various normals that are plus on the block. DJ also has the fastest Drive Rush in Street Fighter 6, which means you cannot check it on reaction.

These are all the things that make DJ strong:

• DJ has backsway, which is his most diverse move. DJ can use it to bait out reversals and mess up your spacing.
• DJ has a fake fireball, which he can use to bait out anti-fireball moves.
• His 5MP extends DJ’s hitbox and is + on the block, making it a great spacing and pressure tool.
• DJ also has a true invincible reversal.

However, DJ does have a few weaknesses. His level 1 is not fully invincible, which means that he has to wait until he has 2 bars before he can do a super with invincibility. Additionally, his anti-air DP is a charge input, which can make it difficult to anti-air consistently.

When SF6 was first released, many players considered Juri to be one of the best characters in the game. However, as Street Fighter 6 progressed, players started seeing some weaknesses in her game plan, and she fell off. But I still think Juri is great because of her fast Drive Rush and unrelenting rush down.

• Juri’s 5MP is + on block and is her main pressuring tool.
• Her 5MK extends Juri’s hitbox beyond the hurt box, making it nearly impossible to interrupt.
• Juri’s level 2 gives her Reverse Beat and allows you to put your opponents in checkmate situations.
• Her fireball is low to the ground and can go under most of the other fireballs in SF6.

However, Juri undeniably has some weaknesses, especially against very defensive players. If Juri fights a zoner like Guile or even Chun-Li, her options become highly limited. If you’re not worried about a few bad matchups and want a fast rush-down character with a fireball, Juri is for you.

In SF6, Luke is also considered one of the best characters. This is mainly because of his solid game plan and how well he can execute the traditional shoto gameplay. Luke has amazing fireballs, great buttons, and an invincible DP. If you want a solid fundamental-based character who is also very cheap, Luke is the character for you.

This is what Luke does well:

• In my opinion, Luke’s best button is his 2MP. It allows him to poke, whiff punish, and maintain pressure because it’s + on block.
• Luke has the best level 1 in SF6, as it can punish fireballs from a distance.
• He has an amazing 5MK poke because that normal is very hard to punish.
• Luke has some of the highest damage in Street Fighter 6.

Luke is a popular Street Fighter 6 character in not just the beginner ranks, but also at top-level play. In Street Fighter 6, he has always been know to be one of the best characters.

Many professional Street Fighter 6 players consider Ken to be at least top 2. I cannot agree more. Ken is a beast when it comes to doing everything in Street Fighter 6. He is also a great character for beginner and high-level players alike. You simply cannot go wrong when picking Ken at the character select screen.

Here are some of Ken’s strengths:

• Ken gets meterless side switch combos from any hit, which can flip the entire flow of the match.
• He has an incredibly fast DR, which becomes almost impossible to deal with if you use his fireballs correctly.
• Ken’s Dragonlash can play neutral for you.
• His Jinrai high/low is potent at the highest level.
• Ken’s 2MK is only 7 frames, making it a great counter-poking tool.
• All of Ken’s supers are fully invincible.

If your goal is to simply win while playing an easy but fun character, Ken is for you. 

JP is widely regarded as one of the most powerful characters in Street Fighter 6, with a versatile toolkit including set-play with portals, strong zoning tools, and a potent counter. His damage output rivals that of Marisa, and many professional players consider him in a tier of his own. While JP lacks bad matchups, his slow walk speed may deter players who prefer faster-paced characters. However, given the overall balance in SF6, JP is not necessary to win, and players can excel with various other characters.