An interesting clip appeared on Twitter thanks to 00|The phenomenon. During the 34-second video, Venom asks BST|Daigo Umehara about his top 5 Street Fighter 6 characters.
“With the same goat, Daigo,” Venom said in the clip. “So, Daigo. Top five characters in Street Fighter 6?” Daigo thought for a brief moment, but quickly came back with an answer.
“JP, Luke, Chun-Li, Cammy, and… Guile or Dee Jay,” Daigo answered. Venom quickly turned the camera back to himself, then inquired why Kane wasn't in the top 5 (or top 6).
“Ken? Maybe…sixth or seventh,” Daigo continued. From this, Venom seemed to feel vindicated by Daigo's response.
As it turns out, Phenom, NASR|AngryBird, and Chris Tatarian, all big Ken users, recently stated that the community's perception of Ken in Street Fighter 6 may be overblown. More specifically, they were all saying that Ken should be around 7th out of 20 characters on the tier list.
It's definitely worth noting that AngryBird and Phenom are currently eligible for Capcom Cup
Although these competitors have a significant amount of success under their belts this year, the rest of the Street Fighter 6 community has dismissed opinions that Kane is outside the top three. As such, the community has since suggested that Ken users are simply trying to nerf the character in hopes of avoiding a nerf through Street Fighter 6's first major balance patch once Season 2 begins.
Regardless, Daigo Umehara, a Ken player himself, seems to agree with the idea that Ken is the sixth or seventh best fighter in Street Fighter 6. Although Daigo didn't manage to qualify for Capcom Cup And Venom has, his prestigious name certainly carries a lot of weight.
The goat Daigo Umehara brings us the 5 most powerful characters in Street Fighter 6 pic.twitter.com/XNtBaxZe5F
– Armaan Hanjani (@PhenomSF) December 30, 2023
Based on the behaviors shown in the video, it appears that Venom is posting the clip with a specific motive in mind. However, it should be noted that Daigo apparently had to think about where each character currently was in the meta, suggesting that this conversation was not rehearsed in advance.
Most likely, Venom probably felt confident about how Daigo would answer the question based on their shared experiences as Ken players.
The last time we took a look at the character usage stats for competitors currently eligible for Capcom Cup This is the second highest amount of representation for the character behind Luke who had 10 eligible players the last time we looked at those stats.
Notably, it may be very difficult to justify the types of changes that most players seem to want for Kane in Season 2 if Capcom accepts the view that he is the sixth or seventh best fighter. As it stands now, most of the community is prepared for an outcome in which higher-tier JP, Luke, and Ken get nerfs that make them normal with the rest of the roster.
But in the end, we have to see what happens from here.
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