As people dig through Street Fighter: Duel more and more, the importance of tank-class characters has become quite clear. Considering many characters are capable of instantly KOing another fighter, it’s important to have a solid tank set up on most teams if you want to make it past the opening seconds.
The game may not have a huge roster of tanks, but pretty much all of them can see some use for you depending on where you are in the game. Pick your favorite, see how they mesh with your chosen team, and get to putting the smackdown onto your foes in this great little mobile game.
10 Hodi
Hodi is the best of the worst tanks in the game. The slow big guy isn’t likely to stick around in your team setups for long, but he can be a big help early on in the game if your options are still relatively limited.
He starts each fight with a small boost to his attack and defense and is additionally capable of healing while dealing some damage to foes. His super has the ability to increase his defense while also dishing out damage, but pretty much any major Street Fighter character is a better choice.
9 Hakan
Hakan is another pretty lowly tank, but another one that you will be able to add to your team quite early on when your options just aren’t there. The oily red man with blue hair uses his oil attacks to deal damage while also leaving foes vulnerable to fire.
His passive Oiled ability can lead to your team gaining a big boost in attack, defense, and even damage resistance for ten seconds. Hakan is a fairly limited tank that relies on other fire characters, but he’ll work if you need someone to soak up some damage.
8 Dee Jay
Dee Jay is one of the first relatively decent tanks you can add to your teams. The fire character has a great little passive that allows him to set up a shield after a super combo is pulled off. Outside of that, Dee Jay has plenty of solid offensive options for your teams.
One major thing is Dee Jay’s super deals damage and gets a boost to resist critical damage. His other moves allow him to deal damage while potentially dispelling buffs, and inflict stun for a brief period of time.
7 T. Hawk
Depending on your draws, you may or may not be happy that you’ve gotten the Native American-based T. Hawk. The large tank can be a bit of a letdown due to how situationally useful he can be. His passive skill grants a big defensive buff but relies on resisting a debuff to activate.
His skills can be useful if your team has been debuffed, as he is capable of dispelling them for your team, but there are much better tank options out there. With that said, if you want to avoid pesky effects, T. Hawk is a solid choice, even if that’s not likely to be a major problem for most players.
6 Hugo
Who’d want to hurt potato-loving Hugo? This tank relies on his personal passive attribute of Potato Marks. These marks stack and can reduce incoming damage for Hugo, but they also link to his various super attacks.
Simply using Hugo’s super will deal damage, create a shield, and add some stacks of Potato. Hugo’s Ultra Throw may consume whatever stacks of Potato that you’ve accumulated, but each stack will cause him to heal. All of these details make Hugo an interesting choice, and a solid one if you pay attention to how he works.
5 Zangief
Zangief has a solid passive that immediately reduces flame, thunder, and soul damage for an entire fight. The better the move, the more useful it becomes, eventually extending the passive buff to your entire team.
Zangief’s super causes some serious damage, but it also creates super armor for a few seconds, letting him tank a team responding with a combo of their own. Other impacts Zangief can have include causing Taunt and dispelling enemy buffs through his attack; it all just comes down to what order you want him to attack in.
4 Makoto
One look at Makoto might not scream tank, but she’s a solid pick for any team. Her main draw is her passive Qi Focus, which allows her to stack Qi Flow, something that massively improves her defense.
Her super and combo moves are all based around building Qi Flow, so the longer Makoto is on the field and doing some attacking, the higher her defense will climb. As long as you get a super combo out first, Makoto will always be a strong tank for any team.
3 E. Honda
It’s good to see the sumo E. Honda getting some love, but he is another character with a bit more of a situational passive. His passive can increase damage resistance, but only when he’s low on health. Luckily, E. Honda has some great moves to fall back on.
He can end up stunning foes and blocking projectiles with some of his combo moves, but E. Honda is a perfect pick to keep your whole team alive thanks to his super move. Orochi Slammer will let him share the damage your team takes, letting your tank cover for characters with less health.
2 Abel
Anyone who’s played Street Fighter: Duel has probably also figured out that Abel is one of the absolute best tanks in the game. A large chunk of his abilities center around creating shields capable of blocking pretty much any attack.
Combine that with his passive ability that lets him stack White Eye, and Abel becomes a defense beast who also becomes capable of dishing out a lot of damage on his own. There’s a reason that Abel is often one of the last people left on the field despite being at the front.
1 Fashion Blanka
It’s almost impossible to say that Fashion Blanka isn’t the best tank in the game, to the point that he feels like a true protagonist. While a lot of tanks are purely good defensively, Fashion Blanka is capable of wiping entire teams by himself. His flame attacks will leave the toughest teams in ashes.
These attacks are capable of decimating entire teams at the same time, and his Wildfire passive ability serves to power up those attacks. You won’t get many defensive abilities here, but if you want someone who can absorb damage and throw it right back, Fashion Blanka is for you.