Akuma is already shaping up to be a strong character in Street Fighter 6 — to no one’s surprise. The raging demon hits like a truck and has every tool you could possibly want in a Street Fighter game, but as always all of this comes at the expense of his health.
Here in Street Fighter 6 Season 2, Akuma has lower health than anyone else on the roster which means any damage he takes is especially potent. In a game like Street Fighter 6, one mistake and his low health can spell disaster for Akuma, and this clip might be the best example we’ve seen so far of just how quickly things can turn horrible for the game’s latest DLC character.
This bite-sized bit of match footage comes from LordGQ8, who in a strange twist is actually the Akuma who is on the receiving end of the unluck this time around. Generally speaking, those who share highlights on social media are usually the star and the opponent is the one taking the beating, but this is an interesting change of pace.
Anyway, LordGQ8 shared this clip as a lesson learned to themselves and in what appears to be an attempt to help others avoid their mistake. The lesson here is… make sure you always optimize your combos (especially with Akuma).
LordGQ8’s Akuma was taking on a Zangief player in a recent match and had the wrestler on the ropes. After knocking the Gief down in the corner, the Akuma player baits a wake up Drive Reversal, blocks, and punishes it.
Though Zangief was close to a KO here and Akuma had enough resources to extend the punish combo not only with more Drive Gauge, but also more super meter, the newness of learning the character seemed to cause LordGQ8 to land a weaker combo into level 1 super. This left the Zangief alive with just about 5% health left, and, well… you can probably tell where this is going.
With the Zangief in burnout, the Akuma attempts a meaty Drive Impact on their wake up, but unfortunately for them Gief was locked and loaded with a Critical Art. Zangief wakes up with level 3 super, lands this Critical Art as a punish counter, and instantly lobs off all of Akuma’s remaining health — which is about 55 to 60% of his health bar.
Because a stronger combo wasn’t used to close out the round and KO Zangief, the wrestler was able to make a total reversal of fates here and end Akuma with just a single super. For context, a punish counter Critical Art from Zangief dishes out a devastating 5,300 damage.
If you’re playing Akuma in Street Fighter 6 Season 2, be very, very careful making mistakes…
Lesson learned..ALWAYS OPTIMIZE YOUR PUNISHES AND COMBOS. #SF6_Akuma #BuffAkuma lol pic.twitter.com/z23EAPsJXj
— TF | LordG (@LordGQ8) May 29, 2024