While there’s been a ton of hype surrounding the lead up to A.K.I.’s Street Fighter 6 debut, it seems those who’ve been trying to “fix” her might have to do so in more than one way. Though we’ve had her for less than two weeks at this point, the poisonous evolution from Street Fighter 5’s F.A.N.G is widely being deemed low tier.
That might be a big problem for Capcom seeing as A.K.I. is a DLC character that players will have to fork over extra cash to use, and peppering in the fact that she may be the most difficult character in the game to use makes us a tad worried she’ll wind up dropping off after the initial excitement subsides. A recent new video from JM Crofts puts this whole concept under the microscope.
A handful of Japanese pros have already deemed her to be one of the absolute worst in the game. We’ve seen the tier lists from both WRZT|Nemo as well as a combined effort from Sako, Moke, Nuki, Uryo, Santarou, Kishiri, and Go1 where the former places her second to last and the latter sees her as the matter of fact worst.
It is still early, of course, and things will surely evolve as players learn more and more about what A.K.I. has to offer, but why is she coming across as so especially difficult to win with?
When it comes to offense, A.K.I. has a lot of useful and creative tools, which is key if you want to thrive in the Street Fighter 6 meta. Her movements are deceptive and slippery, and her unique ability to poison foes for damage over time adds an interesting element to the fight.
Her poison also leads to essentially what we saw from Gill’s Retribution mechanic back in Street Fighter 5, where landing certain attacks while an opponent is debuffed leads to either better combos or more advantageous knock down situations. Herein lies a first major hurdle as this added potential requires a good bit more time players will have to spend getting used to the character.
Not only do you have to learn her standard combos, but you also have to learn the evolved versions of said combos should you land them while your opposition is poisoned. This is in large part what makes A.K.I. a contender for being the most technical character in the game, and might scare off players from sticking with her longer term.
While her offense is somewhat double-edged, her defense is clearly among the worst on the roster. She lacks an invincible “get off me” move, and her slithery escape maneuver can be thrown, so if and when she’s cornered and attacked, it’s especially hard for her to recover.
Perhaps above all that’s been mentioned thus far is the fact that A.K.I.’s Drive Rush options are relatively lackluster compared to top tier characters. It’s no secret that Drive Rush is a bit of a make or break mechanic in SF6, so to be lacking in this particular category really hurts a character.
JM Crofts take a closer look at all of A.K.I.’s attributes in the full video below. He goes into more depth on the items we’ve covered here, plus has a few other important gameplay characteristics to highlight. Give the video a watch and let us know in the comments if you’re playing A.K.I. and whether or not you think she’s a relatively bad character.