Street Fighter 6 – The most difficult characters to learn (SF6)

Street Fighter 6 has a diverse roster of fighters with unique skills and playstyles. Capcom has made the newcomer experience as buttery smooth as it can be, and many characters are beginner friendly. The key word there is ‘many.’ Some players enjoy mastering complex fighters, and there are some great ones to pick from. Let me show you the most difficult characters to learn in SF6.

Street Fighter 6 – The most difficult characters to learn (SF6)

Chun-Li

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Chun-Li has the tools to deal with every scenario in the game. She’s nimble, boasts a quick walking speed, and has decent reach on many of her Normals.

This time around, Chun-Li can slip into a low stance called Serenity Stream. From here, she can unleash six different attacks tailored to specific situations. These make her versatile but are a lot to think about in the heat of battle. Naturally, you could avoid the stance and rely on her other powerful tools, but you’ll miss out. If you’re not composed, it’s easy to miss-input with this stance and get punished for it.

Chun-Li isn’t as mechanically demanding as some other characters in this list, but she gives the player a lot to think about.

Zangief

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Zangief is a grappler who loves his fights up close and personal. His throws are the most damaging in the entire game, and he can win rounds with just a couple of decent reads. So what’s the problem?

Zangief is incredibly slow. He wants to get close, but it may never happen if your opponent is quick on their toes. The grappler playstyle rewards players that can predict what their opponents will do next. That type of knowledge takes dozens or even hundreds of hours to acquire.

On top of that, Zangief players need to capitalize on the situation when they finally get close, and some of his moves have ‘Full Circle’ inputs. His Super Art 3, Bolshoi Storm Buster, requires two quick ‘Full Circle’ inputs, which takes a lot of practice to perform consistently. Zangief isn’t ‘bad’ by any means, but takes dedication to learn. For basic inputs Zangief is arguably the most difficult character to learn in SF6.

Dhalsim

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Everyone’s favorite stretchy Yoga master offers a play style as complex as the martial art he studies. Far-reaching Normals are great for applying pressure at awkward ranges, and the shenanigans you can pull off with Teleporting are mind-boggling.

Characters with this sort of play style are known as ‘Zoners.’ Dhalsim wants to frustrate his opponents with annoying mid to long-range attacks and force them to take risks, like jumping in. The tricky part is exploiting these situations to the fullest.

Dhalsim is a classic character and has always been hard to play. Long-reaching attacks sound like they would make fights easy, but with how explosive many fighters are up close, that’s not the case. Many moves require a ‘Half Circle’ input which new players may struggle to do on reaction. Like Zangief, Dhalsim isn’t ‘bad’; he’s just unique and requires an approach you won’t learn with any other character.

JP

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Newcomer JP is a tricky Zoner with tools to frustrate opponents from afar and prevent them from closing the distance. JP has plenty of annoying moves, including Departure, a mid-air rift he can teleport to.

JP’s entire kit is focused on keeping his opponents away; even his Normals have long reach since he uses a cane. It all seems amazing on paper, but when your opponent is doing everything they can to get close, you really need to know what you’re doing!

I won’t be surprised if JP becomes one of the most tilting characters online in the hands of decent players. Still, he’s not easy to play and crumbles if he lets his opponents in.

I’m a new player. Can I still play these characters?

Never be dissuaded by lists like this. I firmly believe that if you like a character, you’ll put the time in to learn them. There’s no point learning a fighter you dislike, even if they are easy or ‘meta.’ Still, if you’re looking for suggestions for a newcomer, check out our beginner character list.