Looking for the best characters and tier list for Street Fighter 6? While the latest from Capcom is balanced in such a way as to make every brawler a viable main, there are some characters who stand taller than their peers. On this page, as part of our Street Fighter 6 guide, we're going to list the best characters and tier list.

Street Fighter 6: Best Characters and Tier List (June 2023)

Street Fighter 6: Best Characters and Tier List (June 2023) 1
Image: Push Square

Below is our guide to the best characters and tier list in Street Fighter 6. It should be noted that the introduction of new characters, as well as various post-launch tweaks and updates, will have an impact on our order. Furthermore, as the competitive meta shifts and evolves, so too will our tier list. As a result, we'll be updating this page regularly throughout the release's lifespan to better reflect the order of the best characters over time.

S Tier

Character Description
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Guile A long-time Street Fighter favourite, Guile is a tough-cookie to master, but his Super Arts are utterly deadly and difficult to predict, and he has the capability to successfully pin his opponents in the corner, making him a headache to overcome.
Kimberly A newcomer and one of our favourites purely from a design perspective, Kimberly is a great option for newcomers because she's relatively easy to understand and an absolute beast in battle. Her easy to execute moves and rapid mobility make her a lot of fun to use, and difficult for opponents to deal with.
Manon Manon's unorthodox, ballet-inspired combat style brings something very different to Street Fighter 6, but her grab moves in particular are unbelievably effect. Build up her Medal System by executing back-to-back throws and you can unleash some seriously devastating damage on your rivals, especially if you find a rhythm and start Overdriving those takedowns.
Marisa Marisa is another relatively easy to master newcomer who hits hard and has pretty unprecedented range. Her hard-hitting charge punches and wide-reaching kicks make her a real handful to deal with, and if you can catch an unsuspecting opponent off-guard, she has the power to utterly obliterate her rivals in a flash.
Zangief Zangief is a monster in Street Fighter 6, owing to his enormous amount of health and utterly devastating selection of grapple moves. While he does rely on close-quarters combat, he can be ridiculously difficult to deal with unless you're up against well-trained opponent. This does, however, mean that he's difficult to learn.

A Tier

Character Description
Cammy A faithful favourite for experienced and newcomers alike, Cammy's athletic playstyle is once again comfortably on display in Street Fighter 6. The acrobatic Brit is able to cover a lot of space, and unprepared players will struggle to deal with her overall mobility.
Chun-Li A Street Fighter stalwart, the only real thing that lets Chun-Li down is her high learning curve. With a powerful spectrum of moves, and an impressive amount of range, Chun-Li can be deadly — but only in the right hands.
JP Newcomer JP looks like he should be giving skin fades to footballers in a high-end barber shop, but he's actually a very capable combatant, able to deal with opponents both at distance and in close-range.
Juri Another capable combatant with an emphasis on her thunder thighs, Juri's outrageous kick power and overall combo potential makes her a great pick, especially when you consider the obscene amount of damage she's able to unleash.
Ken Ken is, as always, a pretty accessible and obvious inclusion in Street Fighter 6's roster. Despite having a similar playstyle, he's significantly less stiff than Ryu, and his overall agility and power can segue into devastating combos which will comfortably pin most opponents into the corners

B Tier

Character Description
Dhalsim Dhalsim's elasticated appendages give him the kind of range other characters could only dream of, and his ability to teleport around the stage makes him a tricky customer to deal with. But he doesn't have quite the damage output to put him on par with other characters, and thus demands a more technical approach.
Edmond Honda Sumo wrestler Edmond Honda is a human headbutt machine in Street Fighter 6, and despite his size, he's a surprisingly mobile combatant capable of getting around the screen quickly.
Jamie Jamie's drunk and disorderly fighting style certainly brings a unique gimmick to his moveset, but he relies heavily on glugging from his bottle, and that makes him a needlessly complicated character to master. If you can get down enough alcohol then you'll be able to deal some real damage, but if your opponent is able to successful stop you from drinking, then you're ultimately going to come unstuck.
Luke Luke's not massively dissimilar to Ken and Ryu in terms of playstyle, but his long-distant punches give him a bit more personality and power than the two series icons. He's able to successfully pin opponents and is a good option for beginners, but we're not convinced he's cut out to be the cover star.
Ryu You can't really have a Street Fighter game without Ryu, and he's certainly not bad in his latest incarnation. He's here, in familiar form, in Street Fighter 6, and he's an easy to understand option. The problem is, for our money, Ken is the better of the two iconic characters.

C Tier

Character Description
Blanka Despite his size, Blanka does have pretty great mobility, but he relies on his Blanka-chan gimmick to serve meaningful damage, and so you'll need to have luck on your side if you intend to dominate as the flame-haired Brazilian.
Dee Jay Cool as a cucumber but a bit of a perennial loser, Dee Jay is far too one-dimensional to overcome a more skilled and mobile opponent. While he does have a couple of powerful tools in his arsenal, he fails to measure up to some of his admittedly less-cool adversaries.
Lily Arguably the easiest character to pick up in Street Fighter 6, tribe member Lily sadly doesn't have the same combo potential upside as her newly introduced peers.

Did you find this guide to the best characters and tier list in Street Fighter 6 helpful? Take a look at our Street Fighter 6 guide for much more information, and let us know if you disagree with our order in the comments section below.