Daigo says Street Fighter 6's randomness is great for casuals but stops a true GOAT from emerging

Fighting game legend Daigo Umehara sat down with press during Evo 2026 Sunday finals and shared a nuanced take on Street Fighter 6's current state — he's not unhappy with the game, but he thinks its design makes it nearly impossible to crown a definitive best player.

Daigo described Street Fighter 6 as "random" in a way that serves newcomers well. "The random elements in the gameplay that exist now are doing a good job of bringing in new players, so I'm not against that," he said. "I'm not at all dissatisfied with this idea that they aren't going to make major changes. The only thing is, with the way this game works, it's hard for an absolute best player to emerge, so you end up with this sort of fluctuation in who's doing the best at any given time." When asked about MenaRD — who just claimed his fourth Evo title and holds two Capcom Cup championships — Daigo acknowledged the Dominican player's dominance but stopped short of calling him the Street Fighter 6 GOAT. "He's obviously doing really well, but I want it to go even further than that. I don't think it's up to Mena to achieve that. It's more about the rules of the events."

That brings Daigo to his bigger structural complaint: tournament formats are too short. The Capcom Pro Tour currently runs Best of Three (First to Two) for most bracket matches and Best of Five (First to Three) inside Top 8. For Daigo — a player famous for his legendary First to 10 sets — that's nowhere near enough time to read an opponent properly. He'd prefer First to Five for preliminary rounds at minimum. "Currently, tournaments are formatted in this First to Two structure, which is very casual-leaning, and it's the same thing as what you would get in ranked matches online," he explained. "Everybody already knows that there's no way to win consistently in that format." He's also aware that shorter formats are part of what keeps the game accessible and draws in viewers, so he's not calling for their outright removal. The Western FGC has its own separate frustration with Street Fighter 6 right now — the Drive Rush mechanic is widely criticised as too powerful and difficult to counter, and disappointment spiked further after Capcom confirmed no gameplay changes are planned in the near term. Daigo said that news was actually new to him.

With Evo 2026 wrapped and MenaRD's legacy growing with every major, the conversation around who truly owns Street Fighter 6 isn't going away. Daigo's point is less about MenaRD's skill and more about whether the competitive structure is built to let any player prove undeniable, sustained superiority — and right now, he doesn't think it is.