Street Fighter 6 Beginners Tips for Getting Out of Low Ranks

There is nothing more frustrating than struggling and trying to figure out exactly why we can’t get higher in ranks. No matter how humble you may be, we all still feel like there is something we could’ve done to improve ourselves in order to get the W. However, after spending about three weeks playing matches with friends and ranking up a bit, I started to notice some bad habits, not just from myself but amongst the players I would face while ranking up. From there, I really began to understand just what I was doing wrong and what I could do to improve the way I was playing to make this a little easier for myself. So after taking down a few notes, I wanted to help other players discover exactly what they could do to help improve their chances at ranking up with these Street Fighter 6 beginners’ tips for getting out of low ranks.

1. Pick your favorite character and learn what they can do

Although this may seem like the most basic advice given, some newer players don’t know much about frames, safe on hit, safe on block, or if a character is just outright broken, all they really care about is visual aesthetics and cool-looking moves. So choosing someone you like is the best advice one can give. Don’t be afraid to switch around and play many different characters until you figure out who you really enjoy playing. The key to victory can literally be as simple as choosing someone you like because a couple of their moves fit into what you may consider your playstyle. Don’t choose based on who is top tier and who isn’t; just play a character you honestly enjoy and keep pushing hard to learn how they work. This can truly decide how you play and who you play. This also means you should take it upon yourself to understand exactly how well your characters’ normals and specials work. If there is one thing that can help you learn to better yourself, it is knowing exactly what options you have at your disposal in certain scenarios.

2. Mashing Buttons is a huge problem.

One thing I’ve noticed while working my way up the ranks is that a lot of players have a tendency just to mash buttons on wake-up or jump a lot when they don’t know what to do in that current scenario. Assessing situations and learning what can help you get out of these can seriously help you win or lose a match. Learning extremely long combos or wasting meter to get that damage you saw in that Youtube video is really just not for you when starting out. Instead, you need to learn how to control and collect yourself and start to learn habits your opponent tends to abuse. Don’t be afraid to go into practice mode and learn to deal with situations rather than just mash out and hope for the best. Jumping is a whole other problem that tends to land you in really bad punish situations, especially if your opponent knows what they’re doing. You should only attempt to use jumping for cross-up situations, getting over projectiles, or getting the hell out of the corner.

3. Learn to confirm hits.

One of the first things you should learn is how to confirm your normals and how they link together with some of your other buttons, such as specials and super specials, as none of them will be the same for every character. Everyone in Street Fighter 6 is unique in their own way, so it is essential for you to learn your character’s buttons through and through so that you understand when they can be applied when the situation arises. The last thing you want to do is to manage to land a solid heavy punch in a scramble, only not to know how to rack up more damage if your character has something that can be used at that moment.

4. Learn to punish and defend against Drive Impact

While this is still Street Fighter through and through, one thing that may add to the complexity that is Street Fighter 6 is the drive system. Too many times have I seen players either spam this because they learn it’s a somewhat effective move or they just don’t know what else to do. Although it may seem like it’s the way to go at times, in all honesty, you should really learn to use this when it’s actually needed since it has an entire 25-frame start-up making it incredibly easy to avoid or counter. Learning to utilize this in a more well-timed manner, such as corner pressure and counters, can really help you avoid taking a lot of unnecessary punishment. You should definitely use the Drive Impact training option in practice mode just to get a slight handle on when you should be reacting to it, especially in the corner. Some skills that can help you learn to deal with this attack are to counter it with your own Drive Impact, grab them out of it, or just simply jump over it.

5. Stop letting people jump in

I don’t know how many times I have managed to get away with this early on, honestly, too many times to count, and yet the one thing I hardly see even at gold-4 is anti-air. Even though it is such an important tool to any player’s arsenal and can help you manage to deal with reckless lower-ranked players. While it may sound overly complicated to someone who’s brand new to SF6, learning to recognize jump-ins and how to punish them will really improve the way you can control the match. So once you’ve found your character, take the time to learn their anti-air options and which ones will be the most effective.

6. Learn to manage resources

Managing resources is an essential factor in any fighting game, and that fact still rings true in Street Fighter 6. It’s already enough to have to watch your health bar and super meter, but adding the drive system into the mix really adds a whole new layer of mental stress as well as a whole other resource to have to keep up with. However, while it may add an entirely new bar, you have to manage it as it is still extremely important that you learn to watch your meters and try not to put yourself in a position to be without any form of counter or protection or even extra damage when it’s needed.

7. Defend the Grab

To be fair, this one will require a little work, but when it’s all said and done, this will heavily increase your chances of getting out of bronze, silver, heck, even in gold ranks. Although not as prominent in the higher ranks, people will constantly walk right up to you and grab you or try and throw loop you on wake-up in lower ranks if they have no real way of opening you up while blocking, and if you can’t defend it, that can be a massive chunk of damage done to your health right there. Learning to recognize when people are attempting to grab and how to counter it is essential as it negates a massive problem when moving your way through the ranks. Take your time in training mode to learn how to get past throws and watch your rank soar.

Wanting to be the very best.

All in all, while it may be extremely frustrating working your way up the ladder, learning everything you need in order to get through the ranks, practice, patience, and perseverance will be the key to victory in Street Fighter 6. Hopefully, these Street Fighter 6 beginners tips will help newer players who may have been discouraged after getting their faces mashed in improve and bolster their skills as well as their ranks, as that’s what you want as a fighting game player: IMPROVEMENT!!!!.