Street Fighter 6 has been out for a few weeks now and it’s undeniably a success both critically and commercially. Now that people are starting to settle in for the long haul, certain things have come to light. Some Moves – whilst not broken or overpowered – are a struggle to deal with.
The first one that comes to mind is E. Honda and his infamous Sumo Headbutt. This move can be a nightmare for inexperienced players. Heck, it can seem insurmountable. This guide is going to teach you how to deal with E. Honda’s flying shenanigans. Better yet, these strategies work with all characters, so you don’t even need to change your main.
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Why Is Sumo Headbutt So Strong In Street Fighter 6?
E. Honda’s Sumo Headbutt is strong for a number of reasons. Firstly, the move is fast-moving and far-reaching. This lets Honda attack you from anywhere, and if timed correctly, can punish you for daring to move. Not only that, Sumo Headbutt does a lot of damage – especially if it lands as a Punish Counter.
What else does Sumo Headbutt do? Well, Honda can bait reactions by changing its speed and distance. He can also do OD Sumo Headbutt which not only hits multiple times at close range but also has armour against projectiles.
Finally, Sumo Headbutt is safe on block. If E. Honda connects with you, providing he doesn’t press any buttons and just blocks, you can’t punish him. At all. This can lead to E. Honda spamming this move because he can. If you can’t deal with it, you’re going to be in trouble.
As a side note, Sumo Headbutt is unlikely to get nerfed as it is clearly designed to be a key part of E. Honda’s gameplay. It’s time to look into getting around it, and better yet, how to counter it.
How To Counter Sumo Headbutt In Street Fighter 6
There are many ways to counter Sumo Headbutt, and we are going to cover as many as we can in this section. The above might have made it out that Sumo Headbutt is the insurmountable obstacle, but rest assured, there are ways around it.
Blocking
This is the most obvious. E. Honda is safe on Block, but he is still negative, meaning if you block his Sumo Headbutt and you throw out a fast, far-reaching Normal, you will either hit his Block, or hit him if he decides to try and apply pressure. Even if you decide to not throw out an attack, simply blocking his Headbutt stops E. Honda.
The downside to this is that you will take Drive Gauge damage, but this will recover quickly – even if E. Honda spams.
Drive Impact
The next option many will likely try is Drive Impact. Drive Impact is a universal attack that has Armour and can lead to powerful counter attacks if you land the hit. This works wonders against Sumo Headbutt in the right circumstances. Namely, if E. Honda is using Sumo Headbutt from full screen, then a well-timed Drive Impact will allow you to stop his headbutt and open E. Honda up to some serious damage.
However, there are downsides. Firstly, if Sumo Headbutt is used from mid-screen, then E. Honda can actually counter your Drive Impact with his own as he will recover with plenty of time. This can be round-ending as E. Honda has access to some brutal 50-60% combos. Secondly, a good player will start to adapt to this counter and use shorter-ranged Sumo Headbutts to bait your Drive Impact. Not a good thing at all.
This is helpful in the right circumstance, but like with Blocking, you can’t rely on it to carry you.
Projectiles
This one is less universal as not every character has a projectile. However, the ones who do can punish E. Honda by throwing it out. Characters like Ryu and Deejay are very good at stopping Sumo Headbutt as it doesn’t have projectile defences…kind of.
If you are going to use Projectiles, make sure you are not using them when too close to E. Honda (half screen or so), as OD Sumo Headbutt will go right through your projectiles and deal a hefty chunk of damage.
‘Dragon Punch’ And Uppercuts
You will see a lot of people online suggesting you simply use a ‘Dragon Punch’ or an Uppercut to counter Sumo Headbutt as both of these attacks have priority if timed correctly. This will not only knock E. Honda out of Sumo Headbutt, but it can deal significant damage to boot.
In a vacuum, this can work but has all the issues that Drive Impact has. E. Honda can absolutely bait your Flash Kicks and Shroyukens with a shorter Sumo Headbutt and then punish you. Not only that, there is always the chance of an execution failure or mistiming. This will lead to a Sumo Headbutt landing and dealing a hefty chunk of damage.
It’s a risky play, and one that can work if you are fire with your inputs, but a decent Honda will mix up his timings to mess you up.
Parry
This is our preferred method to deal with Headbutt. We recommend holding back so you are at the very least always Blocking, but the idea here is to try and hit Drive Parry. Drive Parry, if timed perfectly, will slow time and allow you to punish Honda. If you time it wrong, you will simply Parry the attack, take no Drive Gauge damage, and be in the same spot as if you had Blocked. Heck, if you mess up the timing and fail to use Drive Parry since you are holding back, you will just Block.
There is no downside to Drive Parry, and in fact, it is the best way to deal with a Sumo Headbutt spammer. It requires very little risk and will either revert you back to a neutral game state or give you a massive advantage. Parry, Parry, Parry.
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.
