ZETA DIVISION Pros Share Early Patch Tier List for SF6

As is common with new patches, players have begun putting together tier lists to indicate how strong or weak characters are perceived in the current meta.

This time, players from the Street Fighter 6 division of ZETA DIVISION, including Momochi, Higuchi, and Yamaguchi, came together during a periodic ZETA stream to discuss where they would place characters in the new patch.

Key Picks and Surprises

There were several interesting decisions. For instance, despite receiving some nerfs, Ed was still considered the best character in the game by the group. They also placed Sagat, JP, Blanka, and C. Viper among the top tiers.

The inclusion of C. Viper stands out. While she is not seen as weak, she is not widely considered a top-tier character. However, during the stream, Yamaguchi was so convinced of her strength that he even mentioned he is considering switching to her from Mai.

Speaking of Mai, she was also a surprise as she was moved down to the ‘A’ tier and Bison was placed in the ‘B’ tier, characters that are typically considered amongst the strongest in the game by many.

A large number of characters below ‘B’ tier were grouped together into an uncategorized section simply labeled “New.”

East vs West Perspectives

These rankings once again highlight the differences between the Japanese and Western communities. Many players in the West still consider both Mai and Bison to be among the strongest characters in the game. Some also believe that the shoto characters are being underestimated, and that Dhalsim being where he is is surprising. 

This divide was also evident in how Ed has been evaluated across regions, and for now, it seems the Japanese perspective may be gaining more support.

Of course, this is still only about a week into the patch, and the meta is likely to evolve further. It will be interesting to see how these tier lists change as players continue to explore the game. Ultimately, players will always have different opinions about the strengths and weaknesses of a character, but seeing such different perspectives is part of what makes the community so much fun.