Street Fighter 6 Elena gameplay revealed: Will she be viable in esports?

Street Fighter 6 players finally had a chance to see Elana’s gameplay and moves after 10 months of waiting, and she appears to have a lot of competitive potential.

Developers revealed that Elana would be the last DLC fighter in Season 2 late last year, bringing the classic character back into the action. Now, a gameplay trailer has revealed Elana’s Capoeira-inspired moves and playstyle, which includes long-range attacks and healing capabilities that will shake up the game.

Elana was first introduced into the Street Fighter series in 1997 when she debuted in Street Fighter 3: New Generation. Despite positive feedback from competitive players, Elana wasn’t seen again until Street Fighter X Tekken in 2012. She then appeared in Ultra Street Fighter 4 in 2014, becoming a dominant character.

A gameplay trailer has finally given a sneak peek into Elana’s playstyle in Street Fighter 6. She looks to have many of the same moves, including her flurry of forward kicks, Rhino Horn and Spinning Scythe. The trailer waited until the end to mention Elana’s healing, which brought back many frustrating memories of dealing with that mechanic back in 2014 for long-time players.

This was followed by a blog post where Capcom went into more detail about how Elana’s blend of old and new moves will work in Street Fighter 6.

While Rhino Horn is back, it can’t hit crouching opponents but can be combo’d with Scratch Wheel, a ‘powerful rising kick’ that can be used as a reversal. Spinning Scythe can now be cancelled into Lynx Whirl, allowing her to flow into some of her new moves a lot easier.

Lynx Song is a new stance that keeps Elana spinning close to the ground, avoiding projectiles and incoming attacks. She can perform four different actions while in this stance, like long-reaching Leopard Snap and opponent-launching Harvest Circle.

One of Elana’s specials is a new Moon Glider move, in which she steps back and performs a vertical spinning kick.

Her Level 1 Super Art, Meteor Volley, is a handy anti-air that allows her to get in some follow-up hits. Her Level 2 Super Art, Revival Dance, is invincible upon its start-up, allowing Elana to choose between a flurry of kicks or heal herself. The Level 3 Super Art, Grasslands, ‘brings the power of nature to the fight as she delivers kicks with the power of the skies and plains’.

While the healing mechanic could be overwhelming in a game like Street Fighter 6, the FGC felt the limited healing design will keep her more balanced than in the past. Choosing between guaranteed damage and healing is a tricky decision but will ensure nobody is spamming.

Elana’s command grab, drive rush into both overhead and low, multiple overheads and healing give the new fighter plenty of options in any given situation. With her ability to hit opponents from a longer rang and punish projectiles, Elana is seen as a massive threat on the roster.

The reactions to her gameplay trailer have all been positive, with SF6 players noting that she looks balanced but still carries the same powerful potential she had back in the day.

Of course, it will be similar to the recently added Mai Shiranui at the start. Most top players stuck to their trusted mains going into bigger tournaments instead of testing out how Mai would do (although Capcom Cup 11 winner Kakeru admitted he wanted to give it a try before his wife stopped him). Mai was not seen in the Top 8 at all despite being considered a good fighter.

Elana has more history than Mai Shiranui, but pro players will probably be wary of bringing her out at tournaments until they’ve had plenty of time to lab with her. But after that, expect the meta to be shaken up a bit.