Street Fighter 6 tier list: Every character ranked

With a robust initial roster of 18 fighters, Street Fighter 6 offers a variety of unique playstyles to try out. A well-crafted tier list can serve as your roadmap to selecting the most competitive characters for online matches and Arcade mode.

In fighting games like Street Fighter 6, high-level competitors often base their character choice on in-game performance, making tier lists a valuable tool.

If a character showcases exceptional strengths, it’s more likely to see them chosen by top-tier players. But casual gamers who play for fun rather than competition can absolutely enjoy the game with any character they find appealing.

Let’s unveil our Street Fighter 6 tier list so you can choose the best characters in the game.

Street Fighter 6 character tier list

Here’s our Street Fighter 6 character tier list, based on their optimal performance in the game:

Tier	Characters
S	Guile, Zangief, Manon, Kimberly, Marisa
A	JP, Cammy, Juri, Ken,
B	Chun-Li, Luke, Ryu
C	Dee Jay, Dhalsim, Jamie, E. Honada,
D	Lily, Blanka

Do bear in mind that these rankings are preliminary and will undoubtedly evolve over time as the Street Fighter 6 meta evolves. It’s still early days for SF6 and players will continue to explore and maximize each character’s capabilities.

At the moment, five characters can be found in the S tier, but this number is likely to dip in the coming weeks as it’s meant to be an exclusive rank for only a select few characters.

Best Street Fighter 6 characters

Standouts of the best Street Fighter 6 characters include heavy-hitting newcomer Marisa, throw specialists Manon and Zangief, as well as speedster Kimberly.

Marisa and Kimberly are two of the easier characters to learn. Considering the fact that they’re both new characters, most players are on an even playing field when it comes to experience with them. Speed demons looking for maximum mobility will want to give Kimberly a try.

Meanwhile, Zangief and Guile have a steeper learning curve. Players who hope to master these two will need to put in extensive hours to grasp how to best utilize them. Guile’s punish game is particularly strong, as he can truly drive players into a corner with his excellent Super Arts.

Similar to Manon, Zangief’s throws are his greatest weapon. With some practice and getting to grips with optimal timings, Zangief is one of the best characters in SF6.

Low-tier characters typically present fewer counterplay options, subpar damage output, and unfavorable frame data relative to the rest of the roster. It doesn’t render them unplayable, but it means you might need to work harder to secure victories.

We will be vigilantly monitoring these developments and provide updates to our tier list to reflect the dynamic nature of Street Fighter 6’s meta.

For more SF6, check out some of our other guides:

Street Fighter 6 PC requirements: File size, minimum & recommended specs | Is Street Fighter 6 coming to Nintendo Switch? | Is Street Fighter 6 crossplay? PlayStation, Xbox & PC cross-platform details | Will Street Fighter 6 be on Xbox Game Pass? | Does Street Fighter 6 have microtransactions?