Street Fighter 6/Marisa/Introduction

Introduction

An up-and-coming jewelry designer from Italy who claims ancestry to ancient Greek warriors. As a child, she was inspired by a vision of the Colosseum in its prime. Today, she seeks glory with a smile—and an eye for beauty.

Marisa is a high-damage juggernaut with a variety of far-reaching normals. She is able to charge all of her heavy attacks and some of her specials by holding the button down. If blocked, Marisa's charged moves deal significant chip to the opponent's drive bar and are extremely plus on block, allowing Marisa to continue pressure. She also has several moves with armor and can bully through an opponent's attacks.

Although she has some of the most damaging combos in the game, Marisa's offense can be volatile. For instance, charging a heavy attack can leave a large gap where an opponent can press a button or jump out. Some of her moves have armor, but the armor does not protect against low-hitting attacks. Many of her attacks cannot be special canceled and so can lose to drive impact. Marisa also lacks some tools that other characters use to keep defenders in check; for example, Marisa has no low attack that can be special canceled or drive rushed.

In short, much of Marisa's offense gives the opponent multiple ways to defend, escape, or punish you. What she lacks in offensive consistency she makes up for in damage, as she has high-damage combos and a variety of other attacks that can quickly drain an opponent's health bar.

Playing Marisa at a high level requires a tolerance for risky and volatile situations, strong hit confirms, and a knowledge of high-damage combo routes in different situations.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Huge Damage: Marisa has extremely high-damage combos and occasionally gets huge damage off other interactions or guesses. For example, charged gladius deals 3120 damage on a punish counter (such as against DI) and enfold (her command grab) deals 2500 damage. With a couple of big starters, Marisa can end the round in 2 or 3 touches. Huge Buttons: Marisa has several normal moves and specials that, although slow, give her long reach in neutral. Opponents have to play around moves such as gladius, 5MK, and 5HP. Armored Moves: Marisa has several moves with armor that absorb mid or high-hitting attacks. Although vulnerable to low-hitting attacks, these armor moves allow Marisa to bully through attacks such as most fireballs, standing heavy attacks, and neutral pokes that hit mid. Armor Breaker: Marisa has ample access to armor breaking moves. Charged or OD gladius, OD phalanx, and OD quadriga all break armor. Charged gladius gives Marisa the rare ability to break armor (such as on DI) without meter. Meterless Plus Frames: Phalanx and charged moves are plus on block and can be used without meter. Turtle-y opponents will find themselves stuck in perpetual negative frames. Meterless Answers to Drive Impact: In burnout (or to save meter), Marisa can use scutum (214K) and the armor frames of gladius (236P) to defend against DI.

Mediocre Midrange: At medium-button ranges, Marisa has weak options compared to most of the cast. Other characters can easily outrange her or press faster buttons. Marisa also has no good way to attack low, so she can't do much to prevent an opponent from walking back and forth. Her 2MK is relatively slow and cannot be special canceled, and her sweep is both slow and short. Drive Gauge Dependent: Marisa relies heavily on drive gauge for high-damage conversions, and she typically needs drive gauge for strong oki after a knockdown. Though Marisa has some advantages in low meter or burnout (such as the ability to respond to drive impact), her damage and oki suffer greatly. Weak Low and Light Conversions: Marisa has no special cancelable lows, and her fastest button (2LP) only combos into LP Dimachaerus (214LP), even with drive rush. It is extremely important to know your oki after LP Dimachaerus, and Marisa players must be aware of counterhit situations that allow them to get better conversions. Weak to Drive Impact: Marisa, more than most characters, is vulnerable to DI guesses from the opponent. Marisa has many moves which cannot be special canceled and have an overall duration longer than DI. For example, 5MK, 5HP, uncharged/non-OD gladius, and non-OD phalanx. Marisa can also risk losing to DI when she charges a heavy button. Despite having armor-breaking moves, Marisa still risks being hit by DI a lot.

Players to Watch

• Big Bird - (https://twitter.com/Bigbird_fgc)