Guides

Street Fighter V Dan guide – Unleash the power of Saikyo

02/26/2021

Season 5 of Street Fighter V is finally upon us and it brings with it its first DLC character, Dan Hibiki. Our Street Fighter V Dan guide will teach you all of his moves, what they do, and how best to wield the master (and only practitioner) of the Saikyo arts!

History and overview

First appearing in Street Fighter Alpha in 1995, Dan’s origin is an interesting one. Dan was made as a direct response to Capcom’s rival SNK for Ryo from Art of Fighting. Ryo was such a blatant rip off of Street Fighter poster boy Ryu that Dan was created to clown on them. Hence the pink gi and wacky attitude.

Throughout the years Dan has always maintained his role as the joke character of Street Fighter, but with each entry he’s appeared in he has slowly been turning into a real one. In Ultra Street Fighter IV–despite still being a low tier character–Dan was able to actually do a few things pretty well. He was even one of the few characters with a true infinite blockstring. Now in Street Fighter V Dan is actually a viable character. He is able to deal offensive pressure, has some unique tools, and can land some pretty good damage. Dan is also just a blast to play and all of his extra visual flourishes add to the charm of his character.

Turn to the next page to learn about Dan’s normal and special moves.

Notable normals

Dan’s st. LP, cr. LP, st. LK, and cr. LK are great tools for extending combos. While his cr. MK may not be as solid as someone like Ryu’s, it still makes for a great poking tool to fish for hits. Crouching MP is also a great poke and good for the middle of blockstrings and combos. Crouching HP also makes for a decent anti air option in a pinch.

Dan’s st. MP, while having short range, has a very active hitbox and is great for frame traps and stuffing other normals, or even certain specials. Dan’s crush counter normals are B+HK and st. HP. B+HK will be your go to most of the time as it has a very wide hitbox, can link into other normals very easily, and is easily cancellable into both V-Triggers.

Special moves

Gadoken – QCF+LP/MP/HP: Due to its comically short range, Dan’s fireball is not used for zoning when compared to the other shotos like Ryu, Ken, Sakura, and Akuma. Instead it is mainly used to end blockstrings, and it is very good at that. All versions are -2 on block and have enough pushback where it cannot be punished by a three frame jab at the end of a true blockstring. A st. LK can be used to combo after the EX version.

Koryuken – DP+LP/MP/HP: Your standard Shoryuken type uppercut move. While it doesn’t have full invincibility frames it is still a very good anti air attack. The MP version is preferred for anti air purposes. Can also be used at the end of long combos, usually after an EX Danretsuken into a Dankukyaku.

Dankukyaku – QCB+LK/MK/HK: Another good combo ender for Dan and is safe on block when used at max range. Can be used to hit crouching opponents and is actually a better overhead than F+HP. The EX version has very fast startup and can be used to end combos in a pinch.

Danretsuken – QCB+LP/MP/HP: Originally introduced in OMEGA Mode in Ultra Street Fighter IV, this move has great combo utility. The LP version can be comboed into after V-Trigger 1, and stronger versions as well with the opponent in the corner. This move is very unsafe on block and is only good for use in combos. Only cr. HP can combo into the EX version, not st. HP. The HP version is also great for cancelling into critical art.

The EX version is where Dan gains access to some of his more powerful juggle combos. After an EX Danretsuken you can follow it up with QCB+LK into DP+MP midscreen. With the opponent in the corner you can use QCB+MK and end it with DP+HP for some extra damage. The EX version will not fully combo if the opponent is already airborne in a combo, even in the corner.

Next up in our Street Fighter V Dan guide are Dan’s V-Skills and V-Triggers.

The V system

Each of Dan’s V mechanics are very unique and serve different purposes depending on how you want to play him. One important thing to remember is that when Dan uses his V-Skills he raises the V-gauge of himself and his opponent. If you aren’t careful with how often you use your V-Skills, you could be giving your opponent the ammo needed to finish you off. Be especially careful against characters with powerful V-Triggers like Akuma, G, and Urien.

Saikyo-Style Burairuten no Kamae – MP+MK: V-Skill 1 is a roll that can be used to combo out of special moves. This opens up lots of combo routes for Dan as a result. Can also be done while holding back to roll backwards, and can also be used in the air as well. Keep in mind that the roll is not safe, and if used to try and escape a pressure situation you will be punished. Keep in mind that you can only use V-Skill 1 to cancel out of a Koryuken on hit. You won’t be able to fish out an uppercut and backdash out into safety like in Street Fighter IV.

Saikyo-Style Otokoboe – MP+MK: V-Skill 2 is a standing taunt and down can be held to taunt while crouching. The move is minus on hit and incredibly unsafe on block. However the taunt can be cancelled out of itself with another normal or a special before Dan actually makes contact with the taunt. The crouching variation lets Dan cancel into crouching normals. This works with every special and every normal except cr. HK. This is great for setting up frame traps and big combos. The timing is much stricter than cancelling with V-Skill 1, but the combos you can get from it are much more damaging.

V-Triggers

Haoh Gadoken – HP+HK: V-Trigger 1 is unique in that it only costs one bar of V-gauge to activate. It can be cancelled from any normal, and when fully charged causes a guard break and a wallbounce. As stated before you can combo after it with QCB+LP midscreen and stronger versions in the corner. An EX Danretsuken will not fully combo after V-Trigger 1 in the corner though.

Tenchi Saikyo No Kata – HP+HK: Dan’s V-Trigger 2 is incredibly similar to Sakura’s Sakura Senpu. When active it powers up both the Gadoken and Koryuken. Both moves become more powerful and if you input the final directional input with the desired button at the same time you will get special powered up versions of the moves. These are similar to Just Frame moves in Tekken and Soul Calibur, but the timing is far more lenient. In fact, it is actually harder to get the normal versions of the moves when in V-Trigger 2.

When input with the right timing in V-Trigger 2 Gadoken becomes Haten Gadoken. It is much safer than the normal Gadoken being +4 on block. The fireball also travels a normal distance and can actually hit someone further than one character length away from Dan.

Similarly, when input with the right timing in V-Trigger 2 Koryuken becomes Goh Koryuken. The uppercut will swing with two full arcs and is completely invincible. This is a great way to get out of pressure and will make your opponent think twice about throwing out moves without caution. Also, just like with Sakura, the second swing can be cancelled into critical art.

Last but not least in our Street Fighter V Dan guide, are some combos to try in training mode.

Combos

To cap this Street Fighter V Dan guide off, here are some basic combos to get you started off with Dan. If you need any help deciphering combo notations, check out this guide here. An “XX” indicates that the prior move must be cancelled into the proceeding one. Make sure to set the training dummy to guard “after first hit” so you know your timing is right.

Hit Confirms:

cr. LK, cr. LP XX DP+HP

cr. MP, st. LK XX QCB+LP

st. MP, cr. MP XX QCB+PP, QCB+LK, DP+MP

On Crush Counter:

st. HP. cr. HP XX DP+HP

B+HK, cr. HP, XX QCB+HK

B+HK, cr. HP XX QCB+PP, QCB+LK, DP+MP

V-Skill 1:

(any normal except cr. HK) XX DP+HP XX VS1

(in the corner) – (any normal except cr. HK), XX DP+HP XX VS1 (early cancel), DP+PP

(any normal except cr. HK) XX QCB+PP, QCB+LK, DP+MP XX VS1 – This combos lets you keep close to your opponent and apply pressure on their wakeup