Street Fighter 6: Best characters to pick for beginners

The Street Fighter games have always been regarded as one of the top fighting game franchises. Street Fighter 6 will have 18 fighters in its roster on release (which is only a few days away) and it can be confusing for players who are new to the game or the genre to pick the perfect character.

Below we have a list of characters who are great for newcomers. Keep in mind the list is in no particular order and each fighter is equally as good as the next. 

Ken

Ken’s attacks are fast and offer great movement. They are also easy to chain together, making him one of the best characters for beginners as players can attack away without having to think too much about the next move.

Hadoken, Shoryuken, and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku are faster this time around and move Ken slightly further too. Tatsumaki Senpukyaku in particular is great as it can be used to extend combos and juggle into Shoryuken or Super Arts. 

Pressing two kicks simultaneously performs a Quick Dash that takes him forward rapidly. It can be performed mid-combo to push opponents into a corner or can be canceled into an overhead kick or a special move. 

Luke

Originally introduced in a DLC for Street Fighter 5, Luke is one of the best beginner fighters in Street Fighter 6 because of his juggling capability and how intuitive his moves are.

Almost all of his moves take him forward, making it easy to close gaps and keep the pressure on opponents. His special moves are easy to get the hang of; Rising Uppercut is great at countering jump-ins and Sandblast is useful to attack enemies from a distance. 

Luke’s Flash Knuckle special move has three variants — Light, Medium, and Heavy — that can be used to form light, medium, and heavy combos respectively. They can also be charged for more damage and can combo with each other. 

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Guile

Introduced way back in Street Fighter 2, Guile is a US Air Force pilot who became popular because of his Sonic Boom, which of course returns in Street Fighter 6

Guile only has two other special moves that include Flash Kick and Sonic Blade. Flash Kick is great against jump-ins and can be used to kick opponents away and create distance.

The only drawback of this move is that it needs to be charged. Guile’s other special move, Sonic Blade is a stationary projectile that can also be used to increase the damage of Sonic Boom by firing Sonic Boom through it.

All these moves make Guile amazing at creating and keeping distance while also having the ability to hit opponents from afar.

Ryu

The iconic fighter from the Street Fighter series and one of the most recognizable characters in gaming, Ryu is unsurprisingly one of the best fighters for beginners and his all-rounder fighting style is what makes him so. 

His attacks are fast and naturally long reaching, making him good at closing distance and striking successively. His classic moves are effective as always; Hadoken is very useful at keeping opponents away, Tatsumaki Senpukyaku allows him to phase through fireballs, and Shoryuken prevents opponents from doing aerials. 

His Donkey Kick can be used to extend combos and is a great combo ender as well. Hashogeki is a close-range energy blast that can be used to keep the pressure on opponents. Shinku Hadoken, his Level 1 super art is useful in combos, but more importantly, is amazing at countering projectiles last-second because of how quick it is. 

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