Street Fighter 6/Ken/Introduction

Introduction

Former US National Fighting Champ, and ex-VP of the Masters Foundation. Accusations of orchestrating a criminal plot have forced Ken to abandon his family and business and go into hiding.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Corner Carry: Ken has many options to push the opponent to the corner, like OD Tatsu or Run Tatsu. Back Throw has massive corner carry after the side switch, instantly cornering the opponent from midscreen. He can also swap sides with Lv.1 Super or juggles into OD/Run Dragonlash, making him a threat even when cornered. Anti Airs: With an invincible Shoryuken, a long range Run~Shoryuken, a powerful Lv.3 Super, and a consistent 2HP, Ken has no shortage of anti-air options at any range. Drive Gauge Depletion: Ken's heavy normals have good range, speed, and pushback. And with his ability to cancel 5HP into Jinrai Kicks, he can remove 1 Drive bar from blocking opponents to limit their resources. Punish Game: Ken has an above average ability to convert Punish Counters into high damage, while also having great normals to start these punishes. His Supers have good range, allowing for consistent punishes that other characters struggle to achieve. Ken's optimal combos hit like a truck, especially when he has the corner and resources to spend.

Drive Impact Susceptibility: Ken's better pokes such as 5MK, 5HK and Hadoken have long recovery, making them susceptible to Drive Impact. This weakness also applies to moves like LK Jinrai, any Jinrai Overhead followup, or Dragonlash Kick. Combo Consistency: Ken's 5MP is one of his most important combo tools, as it links from 2LP and chains into his Target Combo. The range is very limited, however, and is liable to whiff in some circumstances. 2MP does not allow followup links on a normal connect. This leaves Ken a bit more reliant on single-hit confirms or light normal strings.