Street Fighter 6 beginner character Tier List

Street Fighter 6 has received industry-wide praise for its accessibility for newcomers. Even with all the training tools, the genre is punishing, so we’ve compiled a Beginner Character Tier List for Street Fighter 6. These are some of the easiest characters for complete noobs. If you’ve not found your main yet, try these on for size! These are the easiest characters to learn in Street Fighter 5.

Street Fighter 6 Tier List for new players

Every character in this list has tools a beginner can learn and grow with. Ultimately, this is a small selection as many fighters have mechanics that may be a little overwhelming until you’ve learned the ropes. I can’t stress this enough. If you’re new, and your favorite character isn’t here, don’t sweat it! Use this as a rough guide, but no fighter will be better than your favorite.

C: Marisa

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Marisa is a slow but brutally powerful fighter. She has armor on several attacks, making her hard to approach. Her Overdrive moves are powerful, and many attacks let you maintain frame advantage to continue your assault.

A reckless offensive playstyle is a recipe for disaster, but Marisa can blow up players who don’t know the matchup. If they give an inch, you can take a mile; that’s what Marisa is all about.

To top it off, Marisa has a low execution barrier and no meters or gimmicks to manage. Marisa has a very different game plan from others on this list, but you can do some crazy things with her with minimal effort.

B: Guile

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Guile is very strong in Street Fighter 6. He’s hard to approach, shuts down aggressive players, and is a defensive monster.

Guile’s strength for beginners lies in his simple game plan. Throw Sonic Booms at your opponent to harass them from afar. Make them eat a Flash Kick if they get close. Ensure you’re ready to counter throws, and beware of Drive Impacts if you get cornered.

While not necessarily a downside, Guile is a ‘charge’ character. His specials are performed by holding a direction for a brief period, then quickly pressing the opposite and a punch/kick. This input requires more forethought than a ‘Quarter Circle’ motion, so Guile won’t appeal to everyone.

A: Luke

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Luke caused quite a stir when he was added to the Street Fighter 5 roster. He was oppressive to fight against, lacked any glaring weaknesses, and was easy to use. In fact, Luke was so powerful Capcom had to keep him in check with a nerf shortly after release.

It’s hard to say if Luke’s reign of terror will continue in SF6, but he’s still beginner friendly and remains a dangerous, well-rounded fighter.

Luke also has the added bonus of being the example character in most Training scenarios.

S: Lily

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If you’re new to the Street Fighter universe, you may not know who T. Hawk is. Long story short, he’s a large but deceptively fast character capable of striking from tricky angles with an oppressive play style.

Lily is the embodiment of T. Hawk, just pocket-sized! She is dangerous thanks to her long-range Normals (she uses clubs) and has a low execution barrier. Lily can enhance her attacks with Condor Wind, and compared to similar mechanics with other characters, hers is simple and intuitive. Many of Lily’s attacks bring her off the ground but not high into the sky, where she’s fodder for anti-air attacks. This makes her surprisingly evasive, and your opponent will think twice before committing to low attacks like sweeps.

If you’re a beginner and want to grow with a brand-new character, you can’t go wrong with Lily.

S+: Ryu

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Ryu is a powerful fighter with a classic move set. If you’re brand new to Street Fighter, I strongly recommend at least trying Ryu or Ken. Both teach solid fundamentals and have a simple game plan for beginners.

Ryu and characters like him are known as ‘Shoto’s’ and are characterized by three things; a fireball attack, an anti-air uppercut, and a spinning kick. These moves give you a tool for every situation in the game.

An effective beginner play style is to keep your opponent at a distance with Hadoukens. When your opponent gets frustrated, they’ll jump in. You can punish them for that with your Shoryuken and dictate the match’s pace.

Ryu’s biggest downside is that because he’s a Shoto, you need to be creative to catch an opponent off guard. Still, you’ll learn a lot, and with Akuma confirmed as a DLC character, you’ll want all the anti-Shoto training you can get!

I’m new and want to play a character you haven’t mentioned – should I?

Absolutely! No matter the writer, lists like this are opinions, nothing more. If you have a favorite character, you’ll be more driven to learn them, even if they have a high execution barrier. ‘Low Tier’ characters have stolen the show in competition many times. It sounds cliche, but usually, the player makes the character, not the other way around.

If you’re still on the fence about diving into Street Fighter 6, Capcom has put many tools in place to make the genre more approachable. If you need convincing, why not check out our full review?