Street Fighter 6 tier list – best characters June 2023

Who is on the Street Fighter 6 tier list? If you want to win, you need to pick a top-tier fighter. Character loyalty is cute, but it won’t get you anywhere. The fact of the matter is that if your goal is to win games of Street Fighter 6, you should pick and learn an S-tier character.

We’ve spent hours with the game – something you can read more about in our Street Fighter 6 review – putting eight of the Street Fighter 6 fighters to the test ahead of the fighting game’s full release date, so – for now – our expert tier list judges only those members of the roster. Naturally, this will be an ever-evolving SF6 tier list as we get to grips with each character.

Street Fighter 6 tier list

Here is the current Street Fighter 6 tier list for June:

There is currently not enough data to separate some of the fighters in A and B tiers, namely the ones added during the launch day of Street Fighter 6. We’ll collect some more data over the coming days to see how the rest fare, but for now, the fighters we’re sure of are those who were in the beta tests.

S-tier

Based on our hours of experience with the game, we can confidently say that these are the best Street Fighter characters right now.

Ken

Ken is going to be one of the most popular characters in-game because of his aggressive move-set. This latest version of Ken retains his run mechanic from Street Fighter 5 while providing more options to his close-range toolset to make him unpredictable up close. Ken is at his most powerful when he gets his opponent into the corner, and that comes naturally to him as his special moves travel surprisingly far. Give our Street Fighter 6 Ken guide a read to learn more about his powerful rush-down abilities.

Guile

It’s very difficult to know what to do against an experienced Guile player as it can feel like he has an answer to every move you make. Guile’s Sonic Booms have never been better thanks to the introduction of the ‘Perfect’ mechanic, making his charge moves stronger when timed correctly. While every character has the ability to parry moves, Guile can simply control the speed of his projectiles to throw off your opponent’s timing. His basic combos can deal devastating damage in an instant, and his advanced combos can last ages before ending in a super art. The perfect character for both beginners and experts, read our Street Fighter 6 Guile guide to learn about his deadly moves.

A-tier

The characters you see in A-tier have the potential to compete against the world’s best fighters, but they may be lacking that special X-factor to take them to the next level.

Luke

He may not be the most complex character on the roster, but Luke has everything he needs to become a dominant force in the meta. Luke can apply a lot of pressure using his strong normal attacks from a distance, then you can follow up with special attacks or a super art to deal lots of damage. His position on this list could be in danger as time goes on, but – for now – he’s an early favorite Luke players will be very powerful at launch, but we expect this to taper off as more people get their hands on the game. Give our Street Fighter 6 Luke guide a read to learn some basic combos.

Kimberly

Kimberly is a difficult character to evaluate as she can be annoying to predict, though this might change when the full game releases as her gimmicky setups can be countered in training mode. Similarly to Ken, once she gets her opponent into the corner, she can control the game using her spray can bomb setups to apply pressure. What makes us hesitant about putting Kimberly in the top tier is that her tactics may not work at launch once players learn exactly how her moves work. That said, if you can vary up her attacks, you can utilize our Street Fighter 6 Kimberly guide to crush your enemies.

JP

As one of the few true zoners in Street Fighter 6, JP has a distinct advantage when fighting from afar. He’s able to fling out psycho power with simple inputs and knock away those who get a bit too close for comfort, so it can be very difficult for the bulk of the roster to get in close. From our time with the character, we reckon he could reach the upper echelons, as his play style is unique and harder to deal with for the rest of the roster.

Marisa

Of all the newcomers in Street Fighter 6 that impressed us, Marisa has the most fun game plan. Many of her moves come with a stack of armor, which means it’s harder to interrupt with counter moves. She may not be the fastest fighter on the roster, but her armored punches cause hard knockdowns in the corner more often than not. This means Marisa can pile on the pressure with long-reaching normals and decent combo potential.

Cammy

It’ll please those who like Cammy’s rush-down strategy to know she has the same game plan. She’s combo-heavy and relies on juggles more than many of the roster, so practicing her combos is a must to get all the potential damage. As one of the fastest fighters, she can easily close in the distance, making her a handful if she ever gets the momentum. Her only slight weakness we’ve seen is that her normals don’t reach quite as far as some on the roster so she may get clipped with random pokes more often than not.

Manon

Manon has the potential to be one of the best grapplers in the game, as her throws can easily wipe out a quarter of your opponent’s health bar. This depends on the medal level, which increases every time she hits a grapple special move. If you can frequently bamboozle your opponent into getting thrown, she can be great. She also has great range with her kicks for pokes, but the only thing really keeping her from higher tiers is that her super arts are a bit weak and many moves have long cooldowns, making her vulnerable to counter hits.

B-tier

There’s nothing like a strong B-tier character to lull your opponent into a false sense of security before you bring the hammer down. The characters in this category have their flaws, but a strong player can make up for them with tactical brilliance.

Jamie

Street Fighter’s first drunken fist fighter and self-proclaimed protector of Chinatown, Jamie has been inspired by his cousins of Street Fighter 3 fame, Yun and Yang. As you can see in our Street Fighter 6 Jamie guide, his full potential is unlocked when you reach drink level four. This can be difficult to achieve against some characters as you either need a spare second to drink from your gourd or you need to land a clean combo. To make matters more difficult, Jamie loses his drink level after every round, forcing you to go through the motions once again. If you can consistently get Jamie drunk, he can be destructive in the right hands.

Ryu

Ryu’s moves are mostly the same as they’ve been for decades, but his moves in Street Fighter 6 are similar to Street Fighter III: Third Strike as he can use the High Blade Kick to knock foes away. He has also mastered the Denjin charge, giving both the Hadoken and Hashogeki electrical properties, making him surprisingly versatile. We think Ryu is the best he’s ever been, even Daigo, one of the top Street Fighter players of all time, agrees with us on this, but his game plan is a tad predictable.

Dee Jay

Dee Jay excels the most at mid-range, with access to projectiles and moves for close-quarter fighting. He is primarily a charge character, so tougher for some players to learn, but he now has access to some decent moves that use more traditional inputs. If you can get close, his Overdrive Machine Gun Uppercut can deal tons of damage. He’s also one of the few characters with access to a taunt-like move that charges his super art bar, and these moves really pack a punch.

Lily

It’s unclear if T. Hawk is her father or another immediate family member, but her fighting style incorporates similar dives and throws. She has the advantage of being a little faster and uses her war clubs as extensions of her arms to grab opponents from afar. She is more in tune with her wind spirit. As such, she can charge up to three wind power stocks to buff certain moves, such as the Condor Dive and Tomahawk buster, which extends range, deals more hits, and, therefore, more overall damage.

Zangief

As one of the slower fighters, Zangief historically has a tougher time getting in close to do what he does best: throw people. However, should he connect with any of his unique special throws, such as the iconic Spinning Piledriver, they will hurt your opponent a lot. Some of his moves have armor to help him get closer to the opponent, while others have great range. Landing his super arts could be tricky, especially as they are all either conditional or require some of the hardest inputs in the game, but if they land, your opponent will be reeling.

E. Honda

E. Honda’s sumo wrestling style has always been a bit hit-and-miss, depending on the meta of each Street Fighter game he’s appeared in. He has beefy normals and a variety of special moves to push the opponent into the corner. He also has access to a move to charge his Sumo Spirit, which enables him to do more damage with techniques such as the Hundred Hand Slap and cancel into moves that he otherwise wouldn’t be able to. You only need to worry about being predictable, as his moves have long cooldowns if he whiffs them. This can lead to unfavorable counter hits that could put him in a vulnerable position.

Blanka

Blanka’s special moves revolve around spinning into opponents and electrocuting, just like he did in Street Fighter 2. He has good normals and the potential to execute juggle combos, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. In a way, he’s got enough techniques to be formidable at mid-range. However, his new moves aren’t very good as they take too long to set up. His Blanka-Chan dolls require you to perform an input to throw them to the ground and to be hit by an Electric Thunder or similar move to activate. This takes more time than it’s worth unless you manage to get a hard knockdown on your opponent while at a full-screen distance, which is very difficult to do.

Dhalsim

Effectively using Dhalsim at long range is going to be tricky. While his normals are amazing regarding range and damage output, they are rather slow, so easily avoided. With the Drive Rush mechanic, he could get follow-ups that are just not possible in other Street Fighter games. On top of this, his fireballs can launch into the air or straight at the opponent, with Overdrive versions bouncing around. He can also hover and teleport to keep the opponent on their toes, but we get the feeling that his long-range game isn’t quite as good as JPs.

C-tier

Our C-tier list of Street Fighter 6 characters features those who either haven’t come into their own yet or will take longer to learn before reaching their full potential. Certain characters like Chun-Li and Juri are complicated for even experienced players to get to grips with, let alone straight away at launch.

Chun-Li

It’s clear that even experienced Chun-Li players may struggle to get to grips with her. Chun-Li in Street Fighter 6 is one of the fastest characters in the game, and she has enough tools to approach fights both aggressively and defensively. The only problem is that her best combos can take a while to learn, so it’ll take a while to unlock her full potential.

Juri

Good Juri players are hard to come by in Street Fighter 6, as her tricky tool set can be difficult to master, especially for new players. If you’re an experienced player who can reliably create mix-ups to characters on wake up, we highly recommend checking her out, as Juri’s lightning-fast moves can bamboozle other players. You aren’t going to be able to deal heavy damage with these combos, but if you plan your attacks carefully, you should be able to land a second combo shortly afterward.

That is the Street Fighter 6 tier list as it currently stands. When the Street Fighter 6 launch finally rolls around, we’ll round off the SF6 tier list with the rest of the roster. In the meantime, why not learn more about Street Fighter 6 on Steam Deck and if Street Fighter 6 Game Pass is a reality or not.