Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike/Ken/Introduction

Introduction

After settling into married life for a couple of years, Ken entered the third Street Fighter tournament. He's a US Martial Artist who trains to keep up with his old friend and rival, Ryu.

As one of the most famous fighting game characters ever, and a popular pick in every Street Fighter game, Ken needs little introduction. He is one of the best characters in the game, with very high meterless damage potential, one of the best anti-airs in the game with EX DP, and one of the best supers with SA3.

Super Arts

SAI (Shoryureppa)

Has good close-range hit confirms, 2 stocks, good damage, and significant invulnerability frames. It is lacking in hit confirms from Ken's long range pokes and overheads.

SAII (Shinryuken)

A fairly good anti-air since you can mash it for lots of hits. Does the most damage out of his supers by a good amount. While it does combo from slightly farther away, it has mostly the same long-range hit confirm problem as SA1. Since it has a single, long bar, this super gives you the least opportunity to use EX moves.

SAIII (Shippujinraikyaku)

The universal choice for good reason. 3 stocks means you have loopable okizeme in addition to plenty of EX meter for fireballs, uppercuts, and air tatsus. Has an absurd number of hit confirms — it links or cancels from just about everything. Extremely fast startup and far range on the first hit lets Ken punish many moves that are usually considered safe, as well as making it one of the best whiff punish tools in the game. It is his lowest damage super, but it's still respectable for a 3 bar super with short meters, and the numerous positives outweigh this one small negative.

Pros & Cons

Strengths

Weaknesses

Shippūjinraikyaku: SA3 is one of the best supers in the game. Active on frame 3, it provides abundant hit confirms, looping okizeme, and plenty of meter for EX moves. Good normals: Ken's normals are great and have lots of utility. Meterless damage: Target combo and W shoryu give Ken access to some of the highest meterless damage in the game. Quick on his feet: Ken has the 6th best walk speed in the game, an 11 frame dash, and EX air tatsu to escape corners. Well-rounded: Ken doesn't have any glaring weaknesses, and he has tools for any situation.

No gimmicks: Ken lacks the explosive damage output of other high tier characters. He thrives on consistent, strong fundamental play and good decisions. Everyone knows the matchup: Ken is an extremely popular character with a straightforward gameplan. Everyone you know has played this matchup a billion times.

Character Colors