Street Fighter 6 has seen the addition of its latest DLC character. Making his fighting game debut back in Street Fighter 5, the Psycho Powered boxer Ed has made his grand return in Capcom’s latest major fighting game.
While several of his maneuvers have been brought over from SF5, there’s a lot to learn and re-learn here in Street Fighter 6, and he also has some interesting new tools at his disposal. Let’s talk about what all Ed can do in Street Fighter 6 and how he stacks up against the rest of the game’s roster.
Presentation:
For the most part, Ed looks great in Street Fighter 6. He has a lot of killer effects with his Psycho Powered moves and strong animations like his level 1 super, which uniquely sees him move toward the foreground of the stage as he fancy footworks his way around and wallops the opponent.
His default look sees him with an updated design for Street Fighter 6, which features a jacket/hoodie combo, tight jeans, and boxing boots. His outfit 2 sees him rock a full on hoodie with other workout gear, which looks a lot like his Story Mode costume from Street Fighter 5, and it translates over nicely to the latest game.
While there’s a lot that looks great about Ed in the game, some fans pointed out that his character model and his face looked a little… off in his initial teaser trailer. That remains a constant with the launch version of the fighter, as he can definitely look gaunt and a bit unwell from certain camera angles, not to mention his shoulders looking too large and pronounced when you go to select his outfit 2 on the character select screen.
That being said, Ed animates well in this game, and his swift movements really do feel smooth when he gets rolling. His cinematic level 3 super and Critical Art are also top notch, and seeing him pummel an opponent like a speed bag is hilarious and looks great in action.
Gameplay:
Where Ed shines brightest, though, is in his gameplay. Here in Street Fighter 6, Ed is a surprisingly technical character that has a steeper learning curve than you would imagine.
Back in Street Fighter 5, Ed’s biggest draw and unique trait was that he had simplified inputs over everyone else on the roster (except Falke). He could perform special moves like his uppercut by just hitting two punch buttons, which allowed players to respond earlier with counters to things like jump ins.
Essentially, Ed’s tool kit in Street Fighter 5 worked a lot like Modern Controls do in Street Fighter 6, but this time around Capcom designed Ed to have classic special move inputs in Classic Mode. When selecting Modern for Ed, he functions a lot more similarly to his SF5 counterpart.
Outside of that major change for the character, it’s surprising to see Ed be as technical of a character as he is in Street Fighter 6 when his initial design motif was pretty much “simplicity.” This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though, as he has several strong tools that can really put the hurt on the opponent if you know how to use them correctly.
One of the things that makes Ed trickier to learn and master in Street Fighter 6 is his Kill Rush special move, specifically its follow ups. When using the forward moving version of this command dash, Ed can cancel into either Kill Switch Break or Kill Switch Chaser.
These two follow up attacks are two different rush punches, and instead of having a different input each, you perform both the exact same way except with varied timing. If you hit forward + punch during Kill Rush early, you’ll get Kill Switch Break, but if you hit it later in the animation, you’ll see Ed perform Kill Switch Chaser.
This ends up feeling similar to something like Luke’s charged Flash Knuckle where you have to get the timing just right to get the proper juggle. That said, it’s riskier for Ed as he is often punishable in bread and butter situations when he misses one of these moves, whereas Luke usually just gets less damage for messing up his timing.
Making things even more complicated, the follow up attacks you can juggle with after Break and Chaser differ, and they change depending on what you hit the initial special move from. For example, using Ed’s MP – HP target combo sends the opponent up into the air, which changes the height they’re at and ultimately changes what you can connect after Kill Switch Break and Kill Switch Chaser — not to mention you need to hit the proper timing of the special move you want in the first place and all in the heat of battle.
Another highly technical aspect of Ed comes in the form of his level 2 super, Psycho Cannon. Just like in Street Fighter 5, Ed fires off a multi-hitting orb of Psycho Power that travels at different speeds depending on the button strength used and is a cornerstone of his gameplan in Street Fighter 6.
Because of the utility of this super and its ability to extend combos and set ups, there is a ton to explore with Ed here in the latest Street Fighter title. We have already seen how it can lead to big damage, create terrifying situations for the opponent, generate a ton of chip damage while his foe is in burnout, and how it can open up the doors for all kinds of incredible juggle combos and sequences.
I MADE THE COMBO EVEN MORE DIFFICULT!
– 2 full charged HPs to cancel out level 2 super explosion & keep opponent grounded
– 4 microwalks (including the one at the end)
– Tricky juggle with full charged Psycho Yoink (I never remember what the tether move is called ) #SF6_ED pic.twitter.com/YU5jjMIbLq— Steven “Dream King” Chavez (@TheKingOfDremes) March 2, 2024
This super feels very strong right now and will likely make Ed a solid contender in this game overall. Even outside of its effectiveness in actual matches, this super is also one of the main tools that makes this character a lab monster’s dream.
You won’t be able to take too much advantage of this super, though, unless you learn how to effectively utilize Ed’s other tools as well. In Street Fighter 6, Capcom removed any and all kick attacks from Ed’s move set, and some of his standard buttons now fall more on the unorthodox side of things.
For example, his regular kick buttons all have Ed tossing out various versions of his flicker jabs, and these are used for a variety of different things like anti-airing, ranged checks in neutral, and for quick target combos to score solid damage.
Standing medium kick is an excellent poke with great range that is both special cancellable and Drive Rush / Impact cancellable, but it can leave you open to being jumped in on if you’re not careful. Another go-to attack is Ed’s standing heavy kick, but again, we have something that is effective for anti-air and used often in combos, but doesn’t hit crouching opponents, which makes it a lot trickier to consistently use.
What’s also interesting is that Ed does not have any overhead attacks outside of jumping attacks, so he doesn’t really have access to the high/low mix ups that other characters have. That doesn’t stop him from putting the pressure on his opponents and opening them up, though, as other tools like his Psycho Flicker (which I like to call Psycho Yoink) can be charged up and hit from a distance, and when it makes contact with a blocking opponent drags them right up close to Ed and leaves him at +4 frame advantage.
Ed’s strong damage output, speed and mobility, his ability to throw fireballs, and his various ranged attacks make him a well-rounded combatant, but it’ll take some time, effort, and practice to put it all together and make it work. With Rashid, A.K.I., and now Ed, it really feels like Capcom has made it a point to give these DLC characters strong tools, but lock said tools’ true potential behind strict timings, execution, and calculated thought — which is refreshing.
Dream King’s early tier take:
While exploring Ed’s options in battle and working through his trials and character guide, I found myself stopping several times and thinking, “Wow. This attack feels like something a top tier would have.” Things like being able to perform raw Drive Rush and cancel it with the backdash version of Kill Rush to sway out of harm’s way like Dee Jay or put a devastating standing heavy punch into play that works as an excellent poke like Ken’s lead me to believe that Ed might have the tools to hang with some of the best characters in Street Fighter 6.
Similar to fellow DLC character Rashid, it feels like it’s going to take some time and dedication from top players who are really willing to stick with it to truly put Ed on the map. I don’t doubt we’ll eventually see one or more top level competitors down the road do exactly that and show the world what this character can really do.
With all of that having been said, we could see a scenario where Ed’s barrier of entry and unorthodox normals just require too much out of the player and hold this character back from being top tier. Right now, Ed probably falls somewhere in the mid-tier range, but I am very curious to see what he’s looking like three to four months from now.
Closing Thoughts / Is He Worth The Money?
If I’m being perfectly honest with y’all, I never found Ed to be an interesting character on the surface. Even back in Street Fighter 5, I always felt like Ed’s design and back story were just boring to me, and just being real with you, I still feel that way.
Even with that being the case, Ed’s tool kit in Street Fighter 6 is really interesting and has lead to me spending the most time in the lab out of any DLC character so far just exploring his numerous juggles and trying to find the toughest and most intricate stuff I could. His move set really opens the door for all kinds of stylish sequences, impressive combos, and all manner of wild set ups — and it’s not only fun as hell to explore them, but to use them in actual matches.
He’s not my first pick for a DLC character, and probably not even my 50th pick, but I do feel like Capcom did an excellent job with the revamp they’ve given him for Street Fighter 6. Ed adds another unique and awesome playstyle to the roster, one that is a lab monster/combo creator’s dream, and those who take the time to really dig into what he has to offer will find a lot of great stuff along the way.
If you’re itching for a character with several strong tools who has a ton of potential and swag, but requires hard work, studying, and dedication to get good with, then Ed might be your guy. Overall, I think Ed is a solid addition to the Street Fighter 6 roster, and even if you’re like me and aren’t the biggest fan of the character in general, you’ll still have a ton of fun exploring what he can do here in the latest title.