Best Fighters in Street Fighter 6

Which of the 18 fighters in Street Fighter 6 is the best? Choosing a favorite fighter can be difficult if you're just getting started. Veterans may also be perplexed by the new control mechanics introduced in Street Fighter 6. Further, each fighter has unique abilities. So, deciding which fighter to use has the potential to make or break a match. We evaluated each character's special combos, damage strength, ease of use, and other factors to determine the best fighters in Street Fighters 6. Among all others, these characters rank higher than the rest.

5. Kimberly

Meet Kimberly, a bright and charismatic African-American girl with long black braids adorned with stylish blue tips. Her backstory is just as intriguing as she is. As a true prodigy, she graduated from college earlier than most.  Then, decided to become a spunky new ninja. Her style is hard to miss, oozing from 1980s pop culture. In her spare time, you’ll probably find her spraying graffiti.

One of Kimberly's greatest strengths is her unpredictability. It's always hard to anticipate her next move, making her a force to be reckoned with. Kimberly's unique blend of martial arts allows her to switch between lightning-fast movements and slow, calculated maneuvers with ease. Her agility and skill are always on full display. Generally, she’ll combine elbow drops, and upward spinning kicks that pop enemies into the air before landing a devastating Nue Twister, among other special moves. Learning these is pretty easy. However, she does have a significantly low hit-to-damage ratio that can possibly cause problems winning later on.

Since Kimberly is a new face in Street Fighter 6, you may want to take her out for a spin to see whether she matches your playstyle. If you’re a veteran familiar with Maki, Zeku, or Guy, you should have an easier time given they’re all graduates from the Bushinryu school of ninjutsu and all use a similar fighting style.

4. Zangief

Otherwise called the Red Cyclone, Zangief is a humongous fighter, weighing 400 pounds and standing over 7 feet tall. Going up against Zangief is a gamble with life. He’s pretty much hands-on and committed to physical improvement.

Gamers who choose Zangief often want to pull off his famous whirlwind move. Zangief can essentially spin and create a whirlwind that draws opponents closer to him. Also, he can wrap his arms around opponents, lift them into the air, and throw them onto the floor, popularly known as the grapple move. However, he tends to have an alarmingly slow response that can affect the outcome of a match.

Generally, if you want a male version of Manon, Zangief is the way to go. They’re both heavy hitters who excel at sucker punches and intimidating opponents into submission.

3. Marisa

Proud warrior of the Colosseo. Heavy-weight muscular champion. A whopping 6’8″ tall Spartan descendant. Marisa is all heavy punches and no apologies. She stands tall above nearly every fighter present. Definitely the type of fighter to want to be all in your face. Interesting backstory, Marisa would design jewelry in Italy as a child before becoming the no-nonsense woman she is today.

Marisa’s greatest strength is her extremely high hit-to-damage ratio. One sucker punch will send your opponent spiraling. It makes it easy to use her during fights because all you need to do is focus on landing those devastating heavy attacks at close range. What’s more? Marisa has armor to protect her from incoming attacks.

Marisa is also a newcomer to Street Fighter 6. So, veterans and beginners alike should have a blast exploring all she has to offer. She’s the type of fighter to go for if you want an aggressive show-off that captures the eyes of most.

2. Manon

Manon is like a swan, strutting the hallways of battle with pride. She’s a French model and idealist in the pursuit of beauty. But let that not fool you. When she’s in the ring, she doesn’t come to play. 

Her fast, ballet-like kicks quickly pick up speed in a match. She powers up by using judo throws at close range that opponents will find hard to block. Best of all, she lures opponents in for the kill using long-reaching attacks and power-grabbing them for a graceful finish.

On the downside, Manon tends to start slow. However, if you master enough stamina, you can gradually power up her attacks and skyrocket Manon’s hit-to-damage ratio to irreparable damage.

1. Guile

At the top of the list of the best fighters in Street Fighter 6 is Guile. He’s an Air Force major and family man who specializes in martial arts and professional wrestling. The good thing about Guile is that he’s no stranger to the game. So, veterans will have an easy time having Guile in their corner. Newcomers, on the other hand, may take a little longer to master Guile’s moves. Once done, though, you can start to use Guile to quickly climb the ranks against other players.

As always, Guile’s strategy is to unleash consecutive attacks on opponents. Especially when you time an opening, that’s when you consistently deal combos to achieve the highest damage. Guile’s strengths lie in dealing devastating surprise attacks that opponents won’t see coming. Plus, he has no problem taking the fight to others by pinning opponents into a corner using his Super Arts. In turn, Guile has put up robust defenses. 

While most fighters will rely on one or two special attacks, Guile has a variety of moves working for him. He can counter nearly every other opponent’s attack, which makes it difficult to come up with a strategy against him. The only thing with Guile is that you need to string powerful sonic attacks together to win the match in a super match. As well as perfectly timing the attacks. In fact, there’s a “Perfect” mechanic that powers up your moves the more you’re able to time attacks correctly. So, as long as you can precisely time counter-attacks, you’ll be good to go.

So, what’s your take? Do you agree with our best fighters in Street Fighters 6? Are there more fighters we should know about? Let us know over on our socials here.