Who are the easiest Street Fighter V characters?
Street Fighter is known for its colorful cast and multiple characters from different parts of the world and over-the-top personalities.
When it comes to gameplay, each character has its own mechanics and game plan, but some of them require more brainpower than others.
For this Top 10, we’ll be considering how easy a character is based on execution, strategy, and how easy it is to win with them.
10. Zangief
Zangief is widely considered one of the worst characters in Street Fighter V, and it is true that in the current iteration of the game he loses moreoften than not, but that doesn’t change the simplicity of his gameplay.
His combos are fairly easy to execute, and he is gifted with multiple ways to get up close and deal with fireballs. The 360 or 720 motion inputs required for his specials may be difficult for some to pull off, but that’s about it.
Armored moves, high-damaging command grabs, and abusable crush counter buttons make Zangief one of the easier characters to work with, but not the best choice if you’re looking to win, especially since the introduction of V-Shift.
9. Blanka
No, a charge character is not for everyone, and yes, his V-Trigger II Lighting Beast is tough to execute efficiently, but Blanka is still one of the most shenanigans-filled characters in the game.
Blanka has tons of complex tools that can be used strategically and rationally, but playing this character randomly can prove just as useful.
Different arcs of Blanka Balls, mashing electricity on Oki, and side-switching with cross-ups and Surprise hops make the wild beast incredibly annoying to deal with.
8. Rashid
Execution-wise, Rashid is far from being one of the easier characters, especially if you intend to play him optimally. However, his mobility and skill set give him a huge advantage to work with.
As a rushdown character, Rashid’s fast and has multiple ways to get in and breach the opponent’s defense. He excels in the air, where he can soar like no other character and he constantly changes his air trajectory with special moves and V-skills.
He also has a run, not just a dash, giving him further options to get in. Where he’s most dangerous, though, is in the corner, where he can quickly decimate his opponent with frame traps, fantastic crush counters, and long combos.
7. Abigail
Vroom, vroom! The most gigantic character in Street Fighter history is also full of cheap tricks and easy ways to blast his adversaries out of the screen.
He may be slow and lacking invincible reversals outside of his Critical Art, and he has been severely nerfed since his debut, but Abigail still has armored moves, huge hitboxes, a stupid amount of health and stun, and an even stupider damage output.
If you know how to play Abigail and are good at playing mind games, then it will be nigh-impossible for the opponent to beat you. His Abirun command dash can absorb hits, is cancellable from his best normals, and has multiple follow-up options that can mix the opponent up and hit like a truck.
6. Cammy
Cammy White is the quintessential rushdown character and she has all the tools she needs to do her job exceptionally well.
She might have low health, but she more than makes up for it with her overwhelming offense and good defensive options with 3-frame reversals and EX Cannon Spike. Her speed is outstanding and her combos are easy to execute between links and cancellations.
Cammy’s equipped with great buttons with good range and she has countless ways to convert pokes into hit confirms that can trigger her rushing offense and mix-up game between meaties and throws.
5. Falke
Do you want to play Street Fighter but suck at motion inputs? Falke is one of the rare characters with whom you don’t have to worry about that, as you don’t need to do motion inputs to perform her special moves.
As a zoner, Falke can keep the opponent at bay by shooting Psycho Power off her staff from anywhere on the screen, even if she’s airborne. In fact, she can even shoot her projectiles under regular ones, so that they’ll hit the opponent even if they’re trying to defend with projectiles of their own.
On top of this, the fact that she uses the staff grants her fantastic range and the frame data of her buttons make her a massive threat at mid-range.
4. Luke
Luke may be the new face of Street Fighter and own a classic hero name, but he is truly a nightmare for many players.
He is basically good in everything that a character needs to be in this game. One of the best projectiles in Street Fighter V, incredible damage output with extendable combos, some of the best normals in history, easy hit confirms and an array of useful situational special moves are just part of the package.
And yes, some of Luke’s most hard-hitting combos do require technical prowess and precise timing, but his basic gameplan and footsies strength make him an easy character to learn when compared to other top tiers such as Dhalsim, Poison, or Cody.
3. Ken
Ken is a shoto, so that makes him easy to understand. He is also a rushdown character, favoring offense, which is incredibly more rewarding than defense in Street Fighter V.
This is why picking Ken is a no-brainer pick if you want to play the game in easy mode. The only downside is that since he’s a very common character, most players will be familiar with the match-up.
Ken has multiple ways to convert into combos that seem to chain into one another flawlessly. He has a vast number of combo routes he can take, so the players can choose the most favorable ones according to their skill. Both his V-Skills and V-Triggers are useful in different ways, and let’s not forget about his main weapon and whiff punish machine: the flaming Shoryuken, with a hitbox so huge it can punish players whiffing buttons from almost across the screen.
2. Ryu
Ryu is the face of Street Fighter, and as the original playable character in the series, he’s the one all the other characters are based around. That’s why most people pick Ryu when they start to learn the game.
Ryu has access to the best Hadoken in the game, and the heavy version is especially hard to react to. The recovery of the move is also surprisingly fast, so he can catch opponents trying to jump over fireballs with his Shoryuken.
What makes Ryu frustrating to deal with, is that his combos and attacks in general inflict a lot of damage. Even his easy-to-perform target combo in strong, fierce, roundhouse into V-Skill 2 is a really helpful punish that takes out big chunks of health.
1. Ed
1, 2, 3, here’s Ed. The founder of Neo Shadaloo infuses his fists with Psycho Power to clobber his opponents to a pulp with his Psycho Boxing, and boy is he easy.
Like Falke, Ed doesn’t require motion inputs at all for his special moves, so there is not much room for execution errors and he is perfect for beginners who may struggle with the intricacies of motion inputs.
Ed’s combo routes are intuitive, his special moves combo into one another, and his normals can swiftly link between themselves as well. He wants to get close and has the tools to approach the opponent and make the opponent approach him at the same time.
And if Ed’s being pressured, the player can simply mash the 3 punch buttons and the EX Psycho Upper will come out as an invincible reversal when an opening is granted. Easy peasy.
There are different characters in Street Fighter, and the gameplay's complexity can vary greatly depending on what character you choose.
Some players prefer the challenge of mastering difficult fighters, but for some, especially for beginners, going for easier picks can be much funner and allow them to focus more on decision-making. Hopefully, this list helped you get a better grasp on what are the best easy characters in Street Fighter V.
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