Top 10 Characters to destroy your opponents with in Street Fighter 5
Street Fighter II was the game that started the avalanche of the fighting game craze back in the early ninety’s. It was a ruthless scene back in the day, there were no training rooms or trials to learn your character and hone your skills. Players learned everything in the match, and though every Street Fighter iteration since then has made it a bit easier to learn the ropes. The games were still tailored to those hardened veterans that is until Street Fighter V the newest entry in the series. Today I’m going to show you 10 characters to destroy your opponents.
10. Necalli
Necalli is described as the Soul Consuming Darkness, every few hundred years the stars herald the Hour of Battle. Or some would say the Hour of Necalli, during this time he walks the Earth consuming the souls of the strongest warriors.
The newest member to join the Street Fighter fray is also one of the most dangerous characters to play in the game. With his wide variety of options for zoning and rush down, Necalli is definitely a force to reckon with in any situation. The only downside is that he has no reliable recover options once the pressure is on him, if he’s put into that kind of situation he’ll have a hard time getting out of it. So, if you’re looking for a very “in your face style” character with solid damage, then Necalli might be for you. Necalli reeks of pure destruction and what makes him so fun, is that he is constantly on the offensive even when you think he’s finished his V Trigger makes him an instant threat making opponents cower in their boots.
Gameplay of Necalli
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hxt7WUDWuU
9. Vega (Claw)
Vega was born in to a privileged family in Spain, for reasons unknown their status fell and his mother remarried to stay stable financial. Sometime later his ugly step father killed his mother because he felt that she did not respect him enough. In retaliation Vega murdered him and from that incident spawned his dual personality. Honorable man by day, sadistic killer by night. Doing so caught the attention of M. Bison (Dictator), who then brought him in to oversee all assassinations the organization did.
This flamboyant man believes only in beauty that hurting people is beautiful, and you know what? He’s pretty good at hurting people. The essential mechanic with him is his claw depending on whether or not he has them, Vega loses some hit advantage or gains a command grab. Luckily in this iteration he can switch between the two, but at the same time if his claws are knocked off he cannot pick them up so keep that in mind. What makes Vega an amazing character to play is that he is highly unpredictable and unless you’ve played him yourself then you’ll keep your opponents on the ropes as soon as the match begins.
Gameplay of Vega
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSBS3qtpAyE
Fun fact Vega in Japan is actually named Balrog, Balrog is named M. Bison, and Vega is M. Bison. The reason for that name swap is because since M. Bison is an homage to the boxer Mike Tyson, fearing he might press charges they swap the names. In main stream tournaments they are named Boxer, Dictator, and Claw respectfully.
8. Ryu
Brought to the doorstep of Gouken, Ryu was trained in the Ansatsuken fighting style at a young age, alongside Ken Masters his best friend. While training Ryu learned that he had the Satsui no Hado or murderous intent, trying to not give in Ryu left the comfort of his home to hone his skills as a warrior and control the evil within his body.
This walking piece of cardboard is the most humble warrior in the game, he only wants to improve his skills as a warrior and that fighting someone will give him answers to what he seeks. Which is why his most famous quote is, “the answer lies in the heart of battle.” Very little has changed since his inception in Street Fighter II. The easiest character to learn on this list, he’s also the most difficult. Being very good at zoning and rush down, knowing your opponents weaknesses and strengths is what will get you to win with this character. Which is why he’s probably the most rewarding character to play, because he is a very simple character, but as you grow as a player he will becomes more complex.
Gameplay of Ryu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r3HbAOWWAw
Ryu is actually has arachnophobia, if you play against Spider-Man in Marvel vs Capcom 3 he’ll hint that he is in a win quote.
7. Cammy
Cammy or Killer Bee was once a Shadaloo doll, or brainwashed puppet to perform assassinations on whoever was a threat to their organization. Breaking free of her brain washing Cammy woke up realizing she had amnesia and traveled the world to find answers. Which led her back to M. Bison (Dictator) upon battling him she found out the truth of her being and since spent her life vowing to defeat him wherever he should show his face.
Cammy is definitely an interesting character to play because she is arguably the best rush down character in the game. She excels at breaking an opponent’s metal state by constantly attacking them, leaving no room for retaliation. But has one glaring omission, if an opponent can zone her properly then she’s left with no options. Much like Necalli what makes Cammy fun to play is that you’ll constantly be on the offensive and depending on the opponent they can crack and well you’ll win the match with minimal effort.
Gameplay of Cammy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcWr5qB0M_Y
She’s actually one of the few fighters that represent the United Kingdom.
6. M. Bison (Dictator)
Little is known about this man, some say he was born in Thailand, Cambodia, or even Ireland but one thing for sure is that he was once a martial artist. Wanting to be the best he murdered his master and went psycho. By doing so he was able to use “Psycho Power.” But being the best martial artist was not enough so he decided to rule the world and started his criminal empire, Shadaloo.
M. Bison is both an interesting character and a very odd one, the fact that he got his powers by going psycho should attest to that. But that aside he is probably the most unique, due the fact that his play style works around space control. Unlike zoning where you keep your opponent distant to force them into doing certain attacks or movements and punishing. Or rush down where you constantly attack limiting options for opponents, space control is a mix of both by keeping your opponent at a certain distance and then attacking them with specific attacks. Though I can’t really explain it quite how I’d like, M. Bison is probably the most complex person to play in my opinion. Due to the fact that if you can properly “space control” then you’ll be impossible to stop.
Gameplay of M. Bison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2MPwMiQzP0
In the Street Fighter movie from 1994 M. Bison is portrayed by Raul Julia and it was the actor’s last film before he passed away.
5. Karin
The daughter of two noble families Karin has always been put to the test to see if she was worthy of being the head of the family’s combined fortune. This included surviving in the woods, charming men, and stopping wild raging bulls. Whatever the task Karin has overcome them and will overcome any fighter who wishes to challenge her.
The head of two prestigious families should be a powerful fighter and Karin is definitely powerful. Karin’s strengths are in her basic attacks, in the game these are called footsies. Footsies are basically poking your opponents with attacks until an opportunity strike when you can do a combo for massive damage. Which is why she’s quite a treat to play, playing footsies until your opponent is low on health then activating V Trigger and attacking with a flurry of chained combos for massive damage.
Gameplay of Karin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PgWxL4DgmQ
4. Guile
Joining the United States Air Force, Guile was an average man in the force that was when he made a choice to learn his superior officer’s unique fighting style. Doing so he became close friends with him, that man’s name was Charlie Nash. Later Charlie went on a mission and died, enraged Guile vowed to avenge him by killing the man who did so, which was none other than M. Bison. Knowing what he had to do Guile went on the path of vengeance for his murdered friend.
Guile what can I say, he envelopes everything American. Over the top and one hundred percent awesome, that also goes for his play style too. He’s unique in the fact that he is a charge character, what’s that mean? Well instead of inputting a certain motion a button combination for special attacks he has to hold a certain motion back before inputting another motion for a special attack. Guile in particular is a combination of both M. Bison and Ryu where space control is important while at the same time, zoning is just as important. Due to the fact that once and opponent is in his face he has little to no option to get him out. Again it’s quite a rewarding experience because now you are in control of the match essentially if the opponent is doing something you don’t want, then put them in their place.
Gameplay of Guile
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp6EWSE-MTA
Guile was also in the Street Fighter movie and was portrayed by Jean Cluade Van Dame, awesome or terrible you decide.
3. Dhalsim
A noble fighter Dhalsim only joined the street fighting scene in order to raise money for his starving village. Hence the title Great Yoga Master Dhalsim was given to him for doing so, but by fighting he contradicts his passive beliefs and so retires shortly after and roams the word to aid those seeking guidance.
If you’ve ever had to deal with something very annoying in competitive online video games, then Dhalsim is the epitome of it. Due to the fact that all his standard attacks hit for quite a long range and quickly which is very frustrating to deal with, on top of the fact that he can teleport to behind, in front or above you. Not to mention he has fireballs for even more potency and a fire spit for up close. Being annoying is what makes Dhalsim so fun to play by using their own frustration as a weapon against them.
Gameplay of Dhalsim
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2F3it-ZduM
Yoga Flame!
2. Nash
An incorruptible man of Justice Charlie Nash was a high ranking official in the United States Air Force, even befriending his subordinate Guile. All seemed well until he found out that his fellow Air men were taking drugs and investigated further finding out that Shadaloo was to blame. Going to his superiors of his findings they simply turned away all notion of the conspiracy, baffled that his superiors dismissed the notions it was then he realized that the superiors were corrupted as well. Wanting Justice Nash chased M. Bison only to meet his timely demise, or so we thought.
Pretty cut and dry Nash is very capable at doing everything very well almost too good in fact, he has effective fireballs, uppercuts, gap closers, even a teleport Which is where Nash’s downfall resides he’s so good at everything that it makes it difficult to learn. Again though if you can effectively play this character then you’ll be unstoppable.
Gameplay of Nash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5EbJEJhhWk
10. Chun-Li
Losing her father at a young age, Chun-Li quickly rose to become a detective to find out just what happened to her father. Upon further investigation she learns that Shadaloo had a hand in the disappearance and thus vowed to destroy it as well as to obtain more knowledge of her father.
Now I know what most of you are going to say, you just praised Nash as one of the best so how is Chun-Li at the top? Well because she’s superior in every way, but also has the same downsides as Nash. Being the very technical if the most technical person in the game. I guess that’s why she’s the most fun to play because if you can master her than you can in theory destroy any challenger that comes your way.
Pay your respects to the first lady of fighting games!
Conclusion
Remember this list is subjective and all opinion based, simply picking these characters does not mean you’ll always win. Since in any game experience is what matters, but if you’ve never played a Street Fighter game before now’s the time to do so.
