Choosing a new character - need advice

[NeZQuick]

Hello!
I tend to yap a lot so I'll try to keep things as concise as possible here.

SF6 is probably my first FG where I did more than mashing buttons or learning a single BNB and actually dove a bit more into frame data, OKI, all that good stuff, SF6 is the game that convinced me to buy an arcade stick and I absolutely love it.
Choosing my first character was relatively easy, always liked Ken's design and overall playstyle (shoto, more or less rushdown) and comin on and off the game I managed to get 'almost' up to Diamond in ranked, playing nothing but Ken, improving bit by bit, learning more and more stuff BUT STILL it's starting to feel a bit stale.
Don't get me wrong I still barely scraped the tip of the iceberg when it comes to learning everything that Ken can do but I dunno, I guess I'm a bit ADHD like that and I need something fresh.

I tried Cammy, Juri, Luke, DeeJay, Jamie, obviously Ryu - honestly I dipped my fingers in the entire roster including the grapplers, zoners and charge characters which I absolutely do not enjoy playing and the dlc characters thanks to those 1hour tickets but they all feel like theres something missing when I compare them to Ken and I cant put my finger on it.
I mean sure there are some specifics like Ryu feeling just kinda 'sluggish', Juri's install super and needing to keep track of her stocks just being a bit too intimidating and so on, I'd have something like this to say about pretty much any character.

So I guess this is me asking you guys to maybe give me some ideas/convincing towards which character I should focus on as my second to Ken, which character you think would be the best replacement if Ken suddenly got deleted or smthing like that?

I 'could' go the typical "choose the top tier!" or "choose whatever you like best!" routes but I tried that, and no other character gives me as much fun as Ken did - and this is why I ask, need to bounce the idea ball off of some walls.

[Lysamus]

Pick the character who gives you the most trouble when you're playing Ken. Knowing how they operate will be useful match-up knowledge.

Normally, I'd endorse pick whoever you like, but if you've already ruled that out, this is a pragmatic option.

[NeZQuick]

Originally posted by Lysamus:

Pick the character who gives you the most trouble when you're playing Ken. Knowing how they operate will be useful match-up knowledge.

Normally, I'd endorse pick whoever you like, but if you've already ruled that out, this is a pragmatic option.

While this is pretty dang solid advice and it got me thinking, it still doesn't really work that well for me.. I'm 'only' high Plat kinda difficult to pinpoint which 'one' character I'm struggling with the most xD

yes I know I can check the stats but I also haven't played in a bit so those don't really matter now after the balancing update and 3 new characters since I last played.

Oh and for the record, yes I did try Akuma, Bison and Terry out already and I'm probably gonna try Mai when she comes out aswell hahah

[Lysamus]

It doesn't need to be the measurably worst match-up for you. Pick based on "vibes." Which character comes closest to eliciting an "ugh" when you see them pop up in the match screen?

If that's still not conjuring a character in your head. here's a few more criteria you could try applying.
- Pick the character who gets you thinking "Oh I could never win a match with them."
- Pick the character who gets you thinking "I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with them."
- Pick the character with the best fashion sense in your eyes.

[NeZQuick]

Not to be all negative here but... if I go by those criteria, the first two suggestions I mean, wouldnt I just end up with a character I'm 'least' likely to enjoy playing? Cause the first one's that come to mind are JP and Dhalsim, and I despised playing zoning characters ever since I first held a gamepad xD
Then again I suppose I could look at all the characters like that and through process of elimination figure out who to try focusing on... gonna need a minute in the think tank for this

[Nooneyouknow]

Originally posted by NeZQuick:

Not to be all negative here but... if I go by those criteria, the first two suggestions I mean, wouldnt I just end up with a character I'm 'least' likely to enjoy playing? Cause the first one's that come to mind are JP and Dhalsim, and I despised playing zoning characters ever since I first held a gamepad xD
Then again I suppose I could look at all the characters like that and through process of elimination figure out who to try focusing on... gonna need a minute in the think tank for this

As a JP player, I'd highly recommend you actually grab him and head to training mode for a bit. While he is a zoner, you end up doing quite a bit of close up play with him due the way his zoning works, and he has an absolute ♥♥♥♥ ton of fun combos to learn.

If you still don't vibe with him after a few runs through arcade and a couple of hours in training, that's fine. But you'll get a much better idea of what he's up to and about like that.

[NeZQuick]

Originally posted by Nooneyouknow:

As a JP player, I'd highly recommend you actually grab him and head to training mode for a bit. While he is a zoner, you end up doing quite a bit of close up play with him due the way his zoning works, and he has an absolute ♥♥♥♥ ton of fun combos to learn.

If you still don't vibe with him after a few runs through arcade and a couple of hours in training, that's fine. But you'll get a much better idea of what he's up to and about like that.

I do appreciate the input! but still my stubborn self is just too against even trying a zoner ^^"

ON THE OTHER HAND i am a nerd that likes to write down his thoughts so I've decided ill just try out some of the subjective 'best picks' of mine in arcade and casual matches and write it all down in a spread sheet - if I dont get that "AHA!" moment while playing i'll at least have something concrete to make my choice off of

[Lysamus]

I feel you might be putting too much structure into this decision, and that might be what's causing the issue. It really comes down to vibes.

But maybe you prefer structure in your decision making. In that case, allow me to assist.

Give each character a point based on the following criteria. Main the character who gets the most points, breaking ties by selecting the character the furthest from Ken on the character select screen (or alphabetically by name in case another tie breaker is needed).

- Not a zoner.
- Not a grappler.
- Doesn't intimidate me to play.
- Doesn't feel sluggish to play.
- Is Hot.
- Is Cool.
- I know how they want to win matches.
- I don't know how to beat them.
- I like their outfit (any one of them you own).
- I care about their lore.

This method is mathematically proven to produce a main in 100% of 1 test case I've theoretically run for myself.

[I should get more fruits]

Just play whoever and have fun, it don’t matter in SF even in top tourneys they are all viable.

[NeZQuick]

Originally posted by Lysamus:

I feel you might be putting too much structure into this decision, and that might be what's causing the issue. It really comes down to vibes.

But maybe you prefer structure in your decision making. In that case, allow me to assist.

Give each character a point based on the following criteria. Main the character who gets the most points, breaking ties by selecting the character the furthest from Ken on the character select screen (or alphabetically by name in case another tie breaker is needed).

- Not a zoner.
- Not a grappler.
- Doesn't intimidate me to play.
- Doesn't feel sluggish to play.
- Is Hot.
- Is Cool.
- I know how they want to win matches.
- I don't know how to beat them.
- I like their outfit (any one of them you own).
- I care about their lore.

This method is mathematically proven to produce a main in 100% of 1 test case I've theoretically run for myself.

You sir earned yourself a reward with that last line xD
But yeah, my testing via combotrials/arcade/casual is supposed to determine the vibes 'BEFORE' I dive into learning more about how to play them, i've had this with every fighting game i played, and thats honestly how I got to choose Ken as the main man

but the list of criterias will be helpfull aswell, vibes are important but i am a nerd that likes to make a stats based informed decision sometimes

[NeZQuick]

Originally posted by Daily Ritual Player:

Just play whoever and have fun, it don’t matter in SF even in top tourneys they are all viable.

well yeah, i would do that if i didnt have the issue of deciding "who is most fun to play, feels the best to play as... aside from this one character that is already way beyond anyone else in terms of fun and enjoyment" i honestly dont care all that much about viability hahah

[the yappiest cat]

yap you say...

[I should get more fruits]

Originally posted by NeZQuick:

Originally posted by Daily Ritual Player:

Just play whoever and have fun, it don’t matter in SF even in top tourneys they are all viable.

well yeah, i would do that if i didnt have the issue of deciding "who is most fun to play, feels the best to play as... aside from this one character that is already way beyond anyone else in terms of fun and enjoyment" i honestly dont care all that much about viability hahah

But how do you expect us to tell you it is personal and subjective.

I think this game has a crappy roster. I am learning about SNK fighters and it seems their rosters are way better. SF it’s usually shotos and Shadaloo gang that are cool with lots of forgettable characters.

[NeZQuick]

Originally posted by the yappiest cat:

yap you say...

oho my bad, didnt wanna get on your turf xD

Originally posted by Daily Ritual Player:

But how do you expect us to tell you it is personal and subjective.

I think this game has a crappy roster. I am learning about SNK fighters and it seems their rosters are way better. SF it’s usually shotos and Shadaloo gang that are cool with lots of forgettable characters.

well I suppose I worded the question in the original post weirdly, I guess I was expecting people like Nooneyouknow where they explain why they play their main, something to give me ideas.
Plus like I mentioned, the post itself serves as a way to bounce the idea ball a bit!

[FleshyBB]

Originally posted by Daily Ritual Player:

Originally posted by NeZQuick:

well yeah, i would do that if i didnt have the issue of deciding "who is most fun to play, feels the best to play as... aside from this one character that is already way beyond anyone else in terms of fun and enjoyment" i honestly dont care all that much about viability hahah

But how do you expect us to tell you it is personal and subjective.

I think this game has a crappy roster. I am learning about SNK fighters and it seems their rosters are way better. SF it’s usually shotos and Shadaloo gang that are cool with lots of forgettable characters.

Play Blazblue and Under-Night.

[Doc Holiday]

Thankfully I've never had this problem, to me it's so easy to decide which character I want to play, multiple times.