Street Fighter 5 Fighter Tier List

The best of the best in SF5.
Street Fighter 5 Ryu
Image via Capcom

Street Fighter 5 has been out for years and has a vast roster. With so many fighters, picking what's right for you can be overwhelming. That's where our best Street Fighter 5 fighters tier list comes in.

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Best Characters Tier List - Street Fighter V

Below, we've ranked all the Street Fighter 5 characters. This way, you can determine which fighters you should choose and which you should steer well away from. If you want to know more about characters from this franchise, look at the best-ranked characters from Streer Fighter 6.

TierCharacter
SBalrog, Dhalsim, Luke, M.Bison, Poison, Rashid
ACammy, Chun-Li, G, Guile, Juri, Karin, Ken, Kolin, Laura, Seth, Zeku
BAkira, Akuma, Alex, Birdie, Cody, Ed, Falke, Ibuki, Lucia, Menat, Rose, Ryu, Sagat, Urien
CDan, E. Honda, F.A.N.G, Nash, Necalli, Oro, Sakura, Vega
DAbigail, Blanka, Gill, Kage, R. Mika, Zangief

Related: How to disable ads in Street Fighter V

Best Ranked Fighters in SF5

S Tier

S-tier fighters all have features that make them difficult to play against, with zoning elements, mobility, and counters that are hard to beat. So, choose these characters if you want to win often, but be sure to give your best when you face them.

Balrog

Balrog is one of the best characters in Street Fighter 5, as his damage output is crazy, and he has excellent distance-covering options. This fearsome boxer is equally dangerous in close and long-range and can mess up strategy easily.

Luke

Luke is a newcomer Shooto character set to be a protagonist of the Street Fighter 6. His toolset is exceptionally versatile, though he excels in damage dealing. Luke is an excellent choice if you want to trounce most of your opponents.

A Tier

A-Tier fighters are solid all-rounders with significant damage, great tools for offense and defense, and excellent overall coverage. However, they're just shy of being perfect.

Chun Li

Chun Li is one of the iconic Street Fighter characters. Her speed and agility put her high in the tier list, and her high mobility all over the arena is unmatched. The only thing she lacks is a lack of more potent attacks.

G

The self-proclaimed president of the world is one exciting newcomer. Some say he's Q from Street Fighter 3, but it's not yet confirmed. Overall, he's a solid fighter with great distance work and long-range attacks.

Related: Street Fighter 6 Gifts Guide – Best Gifts for Each Master

B Tier

Akira, Akuma, Alex, Birdie, Cody, Ed, Falke, Ibuki, Lucia, Menat, Rose, Ryu, Sagat, and Urien are in the B-tier category of "good but not great." You will win most of your matchups with these fighters, but they're nowhere near A and S-tier fighters. B-tier also features some of the weaker Shoto characters and archetypes.

Akira

Fighting games veterans might recognize Akira Kazama from the Rival Schools / Justice Gakuen series. This petite Bajiquan practitioner has a surprising damage output and various offensive stances. You can also see her brother Daigo Kazama from their respective games.

Ryu

Ryu is the symbol for Street Fighter games. He's the epitome of the Shooto archetype of fighters with balanced abilities. However, Ryu is inclined to defense and distance work, as opposed to Ken's destructive up-close style.

C Tier

C- Tier has middle-of-the-pack characters from Street Fighter 5. There are some good matchups and some bad. None have exceptional tools to excel, and you'll likely find them more challenging to play than fighters in the tiers above.

Dan

Dan Hibiki was meant to be a joke character played strictly for laughs. Still, his versatility as a Shooto archetype saves him from the bottom of the barrel.

E. Honda

Honda is a legendary sumo wrestler who's a favorite character for button mashers. The fifth installment of Street Fighter improved his overall balance, but not enough to threaten the best characters in the game.

D Tier

D-Tier consists of Abigail, Blanka, Gill, Kage, R. Mika, and Zangief. These are fighters with a majority of bad matchups. Their use is situational but often lacks other fighters' tools to win. They'll often consistently beat C-tiers but lack the utility and movesets to defeat S, A, and even B-tier characters.

Gill

Gill is probably one of the most hated Street Fighter characters ever. His boss abilities in Street Fighter 3 games were infuriating. How mighty have fallen, Gill is now a bottom tier character.

Abigail

Abigail is probably the largest and heaviest character in the game. He originates from Final Fight, just like Cody, Guy, Hugo, and Poison. His power and range are impressive, but his lack of mobility puts him at the bottom of the list.

Are you looking for more classic fighting game action? Check out All Modes in Street Fighter 6 on Pro Game Guides.


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Nenad Grujić
My name is Nenad Grujić, and I'm a Staff Writer for Pro Game Guides since November 2023. My specialties are fighting games, action adventures, RPGs, driving simulations and anime games. I've been writing about video games since 2012, and I worked for IGN Adria, Blue Moon Game, Emulation Galaxy, and many other gaming sites. In my free time I like to study martial arts, watch movies and TV shows, sing karaoke, and make fandubs and AMVs.
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Street Fighter 5 Fighter Tier List

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