Street Fighter 6: Day 1 Arjun Might Be Broken

Arjun, the latest character to join the Street Fighter 6 roster, has been out for about 24 hours, and players have gotten their hands on him and started cooking in the lab.

Arjun has been advertised as a brawler who deals in grey health damage, which he can inflict on opponents in a number of ways, including through some of his strikes and his command grab, Ghastly Interrogation. The move deals grey life damage if the opponent doesn't have any, and true damage if they do.

From the first impressions of many players, Arjun looks like an absolute monster. Players have already highlighted some of the advantages he has. For example, his Divine Pillar move is considered a projectile, which means it can beat a Level 1 Super if used in the corner. Some of his normals are plus on block, and his Indomitable Defense, a move that sees him puff up his body to defend against attacks, can absorb every projectile in the game without stopping Arjun.

Some clips, particularly those from pro player Nemo, have shown how Arjun's grey life damage playstyle can be exploited. Arjun can deal grey life damage and whittle down the opponent's life bar to the 'yellow' stage before cancelling into a Level 3 Super, which, on hit, will ignore the grey life and simply eat up whatever health the opponent has left.

This discourse isn't new, as first-day impressions tend to focus on a character's positives while overlooking their drawbacks. A recent example was the release of Ingrid, with many players stating at the time that she was going to be broken because of the damage she could dish out. However, as the meta developed, it became clear that she was a niche character. This is borne out by the stats, which show Ingrid in the middle of the pack in terms of representation at Legend rank. Her appearances in competitive play are even rarer, with a recent example coming at Evo France, where Problem-X used her against Kobayan's Zangief. However, this was for a very specific reason, and beyond that, she is considered a mid-tier character.

That said, Arjun certainly looks strong, but it will be a while yet before we can determine whether he is a top-tier character.