Ever since Street Fighter 2, players have been throwing out projectiles like nobody’s business. Naturally, this continues all the way into Street Fighter 6, and whilst it’s often considered spam, characters with good projectiles use them for a reason – it’s a core aspect of their design.
When the salt flows, it’s easy to forget that projectiles aren’t broken, you just aren’t managing them effectively. Every character in the game has a way to overcome projectiles, and it’s up to you to use those options to close the gap and pressure them for daring to throw 7000 Sonic Booms your way. This guide is going to walk you through your best options.
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What Are Projectiles In Street Fighter 6
Projectiles are attacks that travel across the screen and aren’t attached to the character using the attack. These are typically some sort of fireball and they tend to move at varying speeds. Not only that, but they can also move varying distances based on character and the button pressed when throwing them out.
Some projectiles are better than others. Ryu and Ken’s Hadouken is very strong, whereas Chun-Li’s Kikoken is far less useful. In general, the more you see a projectile being used, the better it is. Guile and JP are notorious for throwing out an endless stream of projectiles, so it’s well worth learning how to deal with them.
How To Counter Projectiles In Street Fighter 6
You have many options when it comes to countering projectiles in Street Fighter 6, however, not every character is made equal. Whilst there are some universal techniques that can be used, be sure to experiment with your chosen character to see what their unique counter is, and how to use it. For example, E. Honda has projectile armour on his OD Sumo Headbutt.
Blocking
As is usually the case, blocking projectiles tends to do well when it comes to preventing projectiles from hurting you. This is the easiest way to deal with them, but it’s also one you don’t want to overuse. Street Fighter 6 doesn’t have chip damage, however, every time you block an attack you do lose some Drive Gauge. If you block every projectile thrown at you, you will go into Burnout.
Blocking should therefore be used sparingly. It’s always better to block than to take damage, but consider other options instead of taking the hit on your guard every time.
Jumping
Most projectiles move across the screen horizontally and this makes vertical movement an obvious counter. If someone throws out a projectile, jump over it. You can jump forward which helps close the gap between you and your opponent, or you can neutral jump to clear the projectile without moving. Both have strengths and weaknesses.
Jumping towards your opponent puts pressure on them which makes it harder for them to safely throw projectiles. The closer you are, the less safe they are. However, the downside is that many characters have counters to jump-ins. For example, Guile has Flash Kick, which will punish you every time you try to jump too close to Guile. Not only that, but these counters will knock you back which restarts the whole projectile dance from scratch.
Neutral Jump, for the most part, is safe. Providing you can time the jump, you can clear the projectile and since you are likely too far away to be countered by an anti-air, you should be safe. The downside is you haven’t made any progress towards your opponent. You have delayed the game slightly. and avoided damage. There are merits to doing this, but you will want to get close eventually.
Projectiles
If your character has a projectile, then throwing it out will cancel out their projectile. Not only that, if your character has access to a better projectile, you can actually punish them for trying to fight you at a range. For example, Ryu can supercharge his Hadoken allowing it to hit twice. This will break any single-hit projectile and still persist to hit your opponent. This is a great way to pressure a ranged character.
Your projectile could also be faster. It could come out faster and recover quicker allowing you to slowly push the balance of power in your favour. Chun-li is unlikely to win a battle against JP at a range, so don’t try it.
Drive Impact
Drive Impact is handy because it has armour and it counters your opponent if they are still in an attack animation. This makes it pretty useful when it comes to countering projectiles – although it has some drawbacks. The biggest is its short range. If you aren’t close enough, this won’t do much but tank the hit.
Not only that but if your opponent has a fast recovery, then they can counter your Drive Impact with their own, which is devastating to your health bar. It can be a great tool, but one you have to use carefully.
Armour And Immunity
Any attack with Armour is wonderful against projectiles. For example, Marisa can charge a powerful punch which has a long range and will absorb a single hit. If someone is throwing a basic Sonic Boom in her range, you can clobber them with your armoured attack. E. Honda is one of the best characters for punishing projectile spam as he has a fast-moving gap-closer that is immune to projectiles. You throw one at a mid-screen Honda and you are getting destroyed.
Many characters have access to something like this – whether it be armour or straight immunity. Cammy has a back fist, Chun-Li can slide under, etc. Learn your character and find their solution to the problem.
A big thing to remember is that many Supers are immune to attacks and projectiles. Using them to punish a spammer can be a great way to apply a lot of damage very quickly.
Drive Parry
We’ve covered the humble block already, but there are other solutions. Drive Parry is one of the best. Where Block has you take damage to your Drive Gauge, Parry restores. If an opponent is spamming projectiles, Drive Parry them. This will stall the game as your opponent can’t do any meaningful damage to you, nor can they harm your resources. Parry shuts down characters like Guile in particular and forces him to either continue spamming to no avail or to come to fight you up close.
Drive Parry is very weak to Throws, however. If you are close to your opponent, don’t risk a Parry as they could get in and grab you, which isn’t ideal.
Slowly And Carefully
Our second-to-last tip is to take these things slowly. Projectiles put you on the back foot and you have to deal with it. You can’t rush these things, and you can’t just keep jumping towards them. You want to move forward, crouch block/parry, and then move some more. Repeat this and you will get close to your opponent and they will be forced to do something else. Once they do, you can use your character’s melee strengths and put them on the back foot.
Take your time, don’t take unnecessary damage, and get in there.
The Final Trick
Finally, don’t just use one method of approach. You are relying on your opponent doing the same things over and over again so you can read them and get in. You don’t want them reading you and predicting your approach. Every method of getting in has some drawbacks, and if you are always doing the same thing, your opponent will catch on and punish you. Don’t let that happen. Use every tool at your disposal to get in and grab that win.
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.
