Street Fighter 6/Luke

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#SF6_Luke

Introduction

A contractor for a PMC, Luke uses his elite military background to teach mixed martial arts. His days off are spent eating junk food, playing video games, and fighting, but make no mistake—Luke plays to win.

Luke Sullivan is a shotoclone character with an emphasis on a strong midrange pressure and whiff punishing. Luke has most of the standard shoto tools you could want, but puts several unique spins on them to craft his own style. Where Ryu is defensive and neutral-oriented, and Ken is aggression and combo-utility oriented, Luke focuses on a strong midrange that transitions into excellent pressure once he's gotten in.

One notable thing about Luke compared to other shotos is his many advancing target combos that let him convert openings into effective punishes and pressure. Luke can use his great 2MP, 5MK and 2MK to push opponents back, or lunge forward for punishes with 5LP, 5MP and 5HP. Complimenting this is his signature Sand Blast fireball, an exceptionally formidable tool for both neutral and pressure. Its extremely high speed allows Luke to use it as an extended poke or blockstring ender while still having good advantage on block at most ranges. If he chooses to spend meter on OD or Drive Rush, then Luke is also capable of dealing monstrous damage and carrying you very deep into the corner.

Once the opponent is in the corner or low on Drive, Luke is extremely formidable at locking the opponent down. Easy throw loops, a fast and safe overhead, a Level 3 Super that gives him oki, along with many ways to be plus or even fully reset pressure. Many of Luke's normals lunge him forward, which synergizes with Drive Rush to create hard-to-escape pressure sequences and surprise whiff punish opportunities. On defense Luke excels at well, with his 2LP being a 4f jab with a great hitbox. He has a great DP with Rising Uppercut and a fantastic anti-air in 2HP.

Perhaps the only things Luke could be considered to struggle with is his approaches, as he doesn't have as many ways to effectively skip neutral and force RPS in neutral the same way other top tiers like Ken and Juri can. He also has a rather poor sweep, but he can make up for this by using 5HP to punish a sweep on block instead of sweeping back. All in all, Luke is a character with few meaningful weaknesses, and can perform well at all levels of play. While his 5LP is on the slower side, this is because it moves him forward for better punishes and pressure and thus exists as a tradeoff rather than a weakness. Sand Blast similarly does not travel fullscreen outside of the OD version, but this is another tradeoff for its powerful speed and frame advantage. None of these differences create meaningful weaknesses in Luke, allowing him to craft a strong and reliable gameplan. If you want a shoto with more of a focus on pressure and playing out the midrange, you should hit the streets with Luke.

Pick if you like:

Avoid if you dislike:

Well Rounded: A remixed yet still generalist shoto-esque kit that is never truly out of options Extremely Safe: Pressure that is hard to challenge with a 2MP that is plus Disciplined Neutral: Many safe and forward moving normals that allow for potent whiff punishes and a hitscan fireball that keeps them locked down Everything in One Combo: His Perfect Flash Knuckle combos give his best corner carry, damage, and oki when you can route into them

Combo Focused Special Moves: Most special moves don't have much utility in pressure or neutral Low Impact: Having below average damage even with meter Straightforward: A general lack of silly gimmicks to rely on, slightly ironic considering how much of a goober Luke is

Classic & Modern Versions Comparison

List of differences with Modern Luke

Missing Normals	Standing Light Kick (5LK) Standing Medium Kick (5MK) Jumping Light Punch (j.LP) Jumping Medium Punch (j.MP) Jumping Heavy Punch (j.HP)
Missing Command Normals	Outlaw Kick (4HK)
Shortcut-Only Specials	Avenger (2S) ~5X for No Chaser (~P) ~2X for Impaler (~K)
Assist Combos	A[L~L~L~L]: 2LK ~ 2LP ~ OD Flash Knuckle ~ SA1 No SA1: 2LK ~ 2LP ~ OD Flash Knuckle ~ M Rising Uppercut Burnout: 2LK ~ 2LP ~ L Flash Knuckle On Block: stops at 2LP A[M~M~M]: 2MP ~ OD Flash Knuckle ~ SA2 No SA2: 2LK ~ 2MP ~ OD Flash Knuckle ~ M Flash Knuckle Burnout: 2MP ~ L Flash Knuckle On Block: stops at OD/L Flash Knuckle A[H~H~H]: 5HP ~ OD Sand Blast ~ SA3 Can transition to Fatal Shot by pressing S instead No SA3: 5HP ~ OD Sand Blast ~ Fatal Shot Burnout: 5HP ~ M Sand Blast ~ SA3 On Block: stops at OD/M Sand Blast (no ~Fatal Shot)
Miscellaneous Changes	Triple Impact (5LP~MP~HP) changed to 5L~L~L Nose Breaker (2MK~2HP) changed to 2M~M The L and M Assist Combos can transition from OD Flash Knuckle into DDT by pressing ~XX even with the Auto button held

Most of the tools Luke is missing in Modern are combo tools, namely 5LK in light confirms, j.MP for his only cancelable jumping normal into Aerial Flash Knuckle, and 4HK for his highest damage combo starter/filler.

The most important omissions for neutral are Classic Luke's 5MK (a low-risk ranged poke that pushes opponents out without moving Luke in) and j.HP (a jump-in hitting directly below Luke that is difficult to contest or anti-air). This makes Modern Luke's keepaway slightly worse and his jump-ins slightly easier to beat, though this difference is negligible.

Of the whole cast, Luke is probably the one whose Modern and Classic kits are the most similar, with the added benefit of Modern conveniences (auto hit-confirming low lights, instant Supers, etc).

Luke
Vitals
Life Points	10000
Ground Movement
Forward Walk Speed	0.047
Backward Walk Speed	0.032
Forward Dash Speed	19
Backward Dash Speed	23
Forward Dash Distance	1.467
Backward Dash Distance	0.751
Drive Rush Min. Distance (Throw)	0.817
Drive Rush Min. Distance (Block)	2.499
Drive Rush Max Distance	3.461
Jumping
Jump Speed	4+38+3
Jump Apex	2.115
Forward Jump Distance	1.90
Backward Jump Distance	1.52
Throws
Throw Range	0.8
Throw Hurtbox	0.33

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Overview

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#SF6_Luke