Fighting games require players to bring both brains and brawn to the battlefield, outsmarting opponents and hitting them hard when the opportunity strikes. While training one's brain is important, it can’t hurt to bring some extra brawn to the fight.
Street Fighter 6’s Power type characters do just that. They grant those who play them massive damage, huge punish opportunities, and the chance to instill fear in their opponents. With Street Fighter 6 already being a fairly high damage game compared to the rest of the series, players should put time into learning these characters if they’re looking to win rounds in only a few interactions using calm patience, hard reads, and brute force.
5 Zangief
The grandfather of grapplers returns in Street Fighter 6 to command grab opponents into oblivion and win rounds with just a few hard reads. Zangief’s entire gameplan revolves around landing his famous Screw Piledriver, a long-reaching and incredibly fast command grab that deals incredible damage, especially if the OD version is used. As such, players can use moves such as Crouching Light Punch to set up tick throws, making the opponent block so that they are susceptible to a Screw Piledriver.
If opponents jump to avoid Screw Piledriver, Zangief can jump with them and grab them out of the air with Borscht Dynamite. Alternatively, on an incredibly hard read, he can use his Aerial Russian Slam Super Art to massively reduce their health bar. Both options grant decent okizeme to start his strike/throw loops once more.
While Zangief can be difficult when faced with fireballs or long reaching pokes to counter his slow speed, he can use Drive Parry, Drive Rush or his armored running command grab Siberian Express. This way, he can quickly close the gap and get to his optimum close range.
4 E. Honda
The hybrid grappler sumo lands in Street Fighter 6 with all his usual pressure tools alongside some new tricks. His signature Hundred Hands Slap deals massive damage on hit and can be canceled into from his best pokes such as Standing Medium Punch. The OD version deals higher damage and is even relatively safe on block.
Honda's new Sumo Spirit special move is an install that enhances the next use of Hundred Hand Slap, giving it an extra downwards chop at the end that allows Honda to combo afterward. Players should generally link enhanced Hands into his Crouching Light Punch, as it can combo into both Light Hands or OD Hands for extra damage and good okizeme.
To keep his pressure going, Honda can advance towards the opponent using his charge moves Sumo Headbutt and Sumo Smash. All versions of Headbutt are safe on block due to their pushback and also invincible to aerial attacks, making it his best anti-air option. Sumo Smash is useful to fly over fireballs and pokes, leaving Honda close enough for a strike/throw mixup. His Oicho Throw command grab is perfect for this situation, as it’s quite fast and deals heavy damage. It can also be used in neutral when Honda is close to an opponent ready to block his Headbutt.
3 Marisa
Street Fighter 6’s resident brawler archetype is an incredibly heavy hitter, able to decimate an opponent’s health in only a few hits. This is due to three unique aspects that make her an almost unstoppable force. Marisa has super armor and frame advantage on most of her heavy attacks and specials, meaning she can power through pokes without being stopped. Many of her specials like Gladius and Phalanx break opponent’s armor, countering options like Drive Impact. Lastly, all of her Heavy attacks can be charged for extra damage and unexpected shifts to their timing.
Marisa also comes with several built-in target combos, such as Standing Heavy Punch>Standing Heavy Punch and Standing Light Punch>Standing Light Punch. These can generally be canceled into special moves for simple confirms and to break armor. Gladius, Phalanx and Dimachaerus are all powerful combo enders with useful corner carry. Phalanx’s OD version even causes a ground bounce and leads to combo extensions in the corner. Scutum is an armored parry that activates instantly and can lead into a punch, kick, or command grab followup, punishing opponents for throwing out risky or reactable moves.
2 Ken
Rivaled only by Ryu in terms of series appearances, Street Fighter’s staple aggressive shoto brings the heat once more. Ken’s playstyle is built around not giving the opponent a moment to breathe, maintaining repeated pressure and mixups to suffocate their defense. Ken is a master at carrying the opponent to the corner for this purpose, using moves such as Tatsumaki Senpukyaku (especially its OD variation) or Dragonlash Kick to lock opponents in the corner.
Ken's signature Shoryuken is still a core part of his moveset, used to end the majority of his combos for high damage or as a very reliable anti-air option. His Standing Medium Punch>Standing Heavy Punch target combo is one of his most important tools, linking from his Crouching Light Punch (a fast, far-reaching poke) and putting the opponent in a juggle state for combo into Tatsumaki Senpukyaku or Shoryuken. If all else fails, his Jinrai Kicks can be followed up into a low, overhead or high damage ender for a solid mixup. His command dash can be used for a quick strike/throw mixup against opponents focused on blocking.
1 Manon
Along with Zangief, Street Fighter 6 newcomer Manon is one of the most threatening grapplers Street Fighter has ever seen. Her Renversé is a high-damage command grab that works as a hitgrab, meaning it can be canceled into from pokes such as her Standing Medium Punch or Standing Medium Kick. Her other command grab, Manège Doré, has large range and quick startup, making it very dangerous for opponents to stand near Manon.
Both of her command grabs are affected by her unique Medal Level mechanic, which is increased by landing either of the grabs and massively increases the damage of both with each level. These Medals are maintained throughout rounds, meaning Manon can effectively snowball an entire match if given the opportunity to raise her Medal Level. In addition, her Standing Heavy Punch>Standing Heavy Punch target combo pulls the opponent in on both hit and block. This sets up an immediate 50/50 for a hit or command grab that the opponent must guess right on, or take massive damage.