Street Fighter V Beginner’s Guide: Tips & Tricks To Master The Game

With the recent release of Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, newfound interest in the legacy fighting game giant has begun to surface. The introduction of new V-Skills, coupled with the recent balance patch, has led to a resurgence of interest in Street Fighter V. With this content being added to this new edition, there has never been a better time for a new player to join the ranks of Street Fighter V. 

The new content added to Champion Edition includes a new V-Skill for all characters, on top of the new V-Triggers introduced in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition. Although this may not seem like a drastic change, these new V-Skill abilities provide a varying play style for the cast from their prior incarnations. The variation may seem intimidating for new players, 40 characters with 4 varying play styles is a difficult wall to overcome. But with some guidance, Street Fighter V is the perfect entry point to the Street Fighter franchise, and even fighting games as a genre.

Picking a Main Character in Street Fighter V

The first step to Street Fighter V mastery lies in picking a “main” character in online matches. This character can be one you find to be cool, or that you have heard is strong in the meta. The reason behind this idea is rooted in the concept of “mastering” that character. Instead of bouncing around the cast and experiencing multiple play styles, sticking to one and refining that particular style can improve your overall play exponentially.

Let’s use Ryu as our example of this concept. Ryu is the all arounder of the cast but excels at keeping opponents off of him with his powerful fireballs. If a player sticks with Ryu they will learn his general strengths and weaknesses compared to the rest of the cast. What matchups he struggles in, what characters he does well against, and most importantly, whether or not the player enjoys his play style.

The importance of picking a main is not to stick with a character you don’t enjoy, rather it is to figure out whether this is really your main. This step may take some time and experimentation, but once the right character is found you will be one step closer to Street Fighter V mastery.

Street Fighter V’s Combo Trials

After picking a main, next is undergoing your character’s combo trials. This is a series of challenges in which players must perform the annotated combos to progress. This may be difficult at first but the mode comes with a demonstration feature that will show players the combo being performed in order to assist them.

The importance of this trial mode is to provide players with go-to combos when tackling the online landscape. Learning and practicing the combos discovered in this mode may be the difference between a frustrating loss and a well-deserved victory.

However, don’t view these combos as the most optimal combos for your characters. These are simply the foundation of your character’s combo capabilities and can be built upon as you progress. These trials are meant to show players the basic combos and allow room for experimentation.

Learning Defense in Street Fighter V

This may be one of the most important lessons a new Street Fighter V player can learn. The online landscape is dominated by devastating offensive attacks and opportunities, that can end a round rapidly. So in order to combat the prevalence of offensive play, players need to learn how to shut down an enemy’s offense as consistently as possible.

One of the most important defensive tactics is to learn your character’s anti-air attack, a move that is primarily used to stop players from jumping. The most damaging combos in Street Fighter V comes from a jump-in attack, these combos can lead upwards to half of your life if you are not careful to stop them. Every character’s anti-air is different, some possess powerful uppercuts while others have to rely on normal attacks. Either way, it is important to experiment with your character and learn which move is the most efficient means to stop air attacks.

Another important defensive skill is to make use of your V Reversal in dangerous situations. This allows your character to escape offensive pressure when blocking and reset the situation. This tool can be ignored by new players as it takes away from your powerful V-Trigger gauge in order to escape pressure. However, there are moments where escaping an oppressive situation is more important than your V-Trigger comebacks. It is important to learn when to use the V-Reversal and its usefulness in a match.

Utilizing Street Fighter V’s Replay Feature

This is an important means to improve as a player in Street Fighter V. This feature allows you to watch old matches with the ability to turn on input notifications of both players and to have the frame data display on. The importance of utilizing this feature is rooted in the concept of learning from losses. There will be matches that are incredibly frustrating to play, whether it is an oppressive character or one in which you are unfamiliar. The replay feature allows you to see what went wrong during the course of the match.

This feature can reveal weaknesses in a character’s offense. A move they used frequently is unsafe and can be punished, or it will teach what moves are safe or even advantageous and should not be contested. This feature also shows what mistakes you made. It could show that you need to use anti-air attacks better, practice a combo more often, etc. To improve your Street Fighter V play it is imperative that you use this feature to grow from mistakes, or refine what aspects of your game plan are strong and should be utilized more often.

Street Fighter V Losses are Lessons in Disguise

The final tip to improve in Street Fighter V is the idea that losses are as important as wins. When playing any game online, there will be moments where a player may lose, and that is an impossible reality to escape from. However, how a player frames a loss they received is what separates bad players from great players.

As mentioned in the replay feature section, there are tips to be found in frustrating matches. It may be difficult to manage in the moment of the match, but afterward, you may discover a way to defeat the character the next time you play them. Instead of growing frustrated at the loss, view it as an opportunity to improve, a way to learn from your mistakes. Players who adapt and grow from losses in Street Fighter V will develop as players and eventually become true masters at the game.

Street Fighter V is available now on PS4 and PC.