Street Fighter 6 allows for a lot of player expression thanks to the freedom of movement afforded by one of its best new systems – Drive. Drive is the beating heart of Street Fighter 6, and it’s one we have had a blast experimenting with, but one of the lesser explored uses of Drive is Drive Rush.
Where other Drive mechanics are straightforward, and dare we say, obvious, Drive Rush is a bit odd. It’s a spanner in the works that, with a bit of grease, manages to keep the cogs churning. It’s an advanced technique that we are going to dive into in this guide.
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What Is Drive Rush In Street Fighter 6?
Drive Rush is a new technique added in Street Fighter 6. It allows players to move around the stage rapidly, as well as create/extend combos in new and interesting ways. Whilst Drive Rush is not needed when you first start playing Street Fighter 6, it is a technique that drastically alters how you can approach the game once you start adding it to your toolbelt.
Unlike Drive Parry and Drive Impact, Drive Rush is a bit harder to pull off, but it is also the most powerful Drive technique available to players. Learning it is well worth the effort as a result.
Advantages Of Drive Rush
Drive Rush provides several key advantages that players can use to dominate the Match and keep their opponents off balance. The most obvious advantage to Drive Rush is the mobility granted. Drive Rush can allow any character to move vast distances in a very short space of time, with that distance being manually variable. This alone gives you a lot of freedom when it comes to engaging or baiting your opponent.
What’s more, if you decide to attack whilst in Drive Rush, your character will slide across the battlefield, extending your hitbox substantially. Being able to go from a stationary position to full speed AND attack from an unusual distance opens up your opponent to mix-ups and combos.
Speaking of which, Drive Impact can also be used to execute Grabs from deceptive distances. Grabs (Command and regular) are balanced by their short range. However, since Drive Rush allows you to zip around freely, you can land these powerful tools on any unsuspecting enemy. This is especially good with Command Grabs, such as Honda’s Oicho Throw and Zangief’s SPD.
The final advantage of Drive Rush is the Frame Advantage it provides. When you attack from Drive Rush your attack gains +2 Frame Advantage. This can make typically unsafe attacks safe. More importantly, it can make attacks that can’t combo, combo. This can lead to new and interesting strings as well as Frame Traps to ensnare your opponent with obscured mathematics.
Disadvantages Of Drive Rush
Like all Drive systems, Drive Rush does come with some disadvantages. Firstly, it’s expensive to pull off. Drive Rush will drain a minimum of 2 bars of your Drive Gauge, and if you aren’t flawless with your execution, you will actually drain slightly more than that. Used at the wrong time you can drain your resources and make yourself more susceptible to Burnout.
Drive Rush also has no added protection. If someone predicts or just reacts to your Drive Rush, you can find yourself taking a few solid hits. Not only that, but you still spend your Drive Gauge, meaning you’ve gained nothing but a black eye from the attempt.
Finally, Drive Rush is harder to execute than other Drive systems. Overdrive, Drive Impact, and Drive Parry are all single-button affairs, whereas Drive Rush requires two buttons, a minimum of three inputs, and great timing to use effectively.
How To Perform A Drive Rush In Street Fighter 6
To perform a Drive Rush in Street Fighter 6, you need to hold the Parry button and then double-tap forward. You will momentarily enter your Parry stance before flashing green and propelling across the Stage. You can control your distance by inputting further directions, and you can unleash any attack (including Specials and Supers) by inputting the required motions.
How To Perform An Instant Drive Rush
Performing a Drive Rush like the above is not ideal. Since you are momentarily in Parry stance, you will drain more Drive Gauge and your Drive Rush will be delayed slightly. This can and will cause combos to fail. This is where Instant Drive Rush comes into play. This technique is harder to execute, but well worth the practice.
You will need to do the following:
- Press ‘Forward’
- Press ‘Forward’ + ‘Drive Parry’ (at the same time)
This will completely bypass the Parry animation and allow you to go straight into your Drive Rush. The timing is a little bit awkward, and it won’t feel natural to do at first, but nailing it will open up your combo game and allow you a new lease on freedom.
That’s all we have on Street Fighter 6 for now. Be sure to check out our other lists and guides for more Street Fighter content.
