Whether it’s the Training mode or the recently released Replay Review, Street Fighter 6 does a wonderful job of easing players into the fighting rhythm. And if you want to master mechanics and hone your play style, there are great in-game tools to help you. A fantastic example of this is the brand-new V-Rival mode, that was also added in the recent update.
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Similar to the aforementioned Replay Review feature, the V-Rival mode has been somewhat overshadowed by the Terry Bogard DLC fighter. It’s also entirely possible you missed this new addition if you haven’t visited the Battle Hub since the update. We’re going to break down how this mode works, the secret to setting up your own V-Rival, and how to complete the associated V-Rival Challenges.
How Does V-Rival Mode Work?
The mode will unlock once you’ve spoken to Li-Fen and her cute robot partner Sim Sim in the Battle Hub. Not unlike Super Ghost Battle from Tekken 8, V-Rival mode pits you against AI fighters that are compiled from player-ranked data. You enter parameters, such as a specific rank, character, and control type, then an AI opponent who meets the attributes you selected will be generated.
Win or lose, you’ll earn some post-match feedback depending on how you played. This could range from commending you on breaking throws to pointing out that you were often hit by Drive Impacts. Talking to Li-Fen directly will provide some deeper commentary on what’s going well and what you could improve on.
It’s also possible to spectate a battle between two V-Rival CPUs. All you need to do is enter the same parameters as above to narrow down what kind of CPUs you want to watch fight. I prefer to watch these through replays, but a general representation of players fighting through this is still pretty useful.
How to Fight Your Own V-Rival
For a more introspective experience, you can also face off against a V-Rival based on your play style. You need online experience against them in 10 matches to create a Simple V-Rival, and 50 matches to create a Detailed V-Rival. If you’ve played online a lot already, there’s a chance you’ll have enough matches logged to try this feature immediately. This will, unfortunately, be pretty tricky for everyone else.
The wording isn’t very clear, and has led most people to believe you either need online matches as a particular character or against them. Ironically, both groups are halfway there. The only way to log matches for your own V-Rival is through online mirror matches. If you want to fight your own V-Rival Zangief, you’ll need to play as him against other Zangief players.
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That’s not too tall of a task when you’re using a popular character like Ken, or a new roster addition like Terry Bogard, but it’s undeniably tough for fans of Dhalsim or E. Honda. My suggestion is to find people in the Battle Hub who are using the same character. This is a far more convenient method for mirror matches than the random selection of Casual and Ranked modes.
How to Complete V-Rival Challenges
At the bottom of the V-Rival menu is an option labeled Rewards. Most of these are very straightforward to earn, but a few have the confusing task of completing a V-Rival Challenge. There isn’t a proper explanation of what these are, or even how to accomplish them. You won’t be able to figure it out by just playing matches non-stop, either.
The trick is to talk with Li-Fen and ask her if she has any feedback for you. She’ll offer you some praise on what’s going well and mention a specific aspect you could work on. Keep what she said in mind and apply it during your next V-Rival matches. After you’ve had at least one successful match with improvement, talk to her again to properly complete the V-Rival Challenge.
Don’t feel bad if this left you feeling perplexed. There’s no visible marker for what the current challenge is or when you’ve improved enough to consider it done. That means you need to make your best estimate of whether you’ve shown progress toward the criticism she laid out. I’ve been able to complete a couple of these with one solid match, but it might take longer for other challenges or higher rankings.
Many find V-Rival to be a great way to experience and learn from ranked mode fights in Street Fighter 6, without the worry of losing progress. I recommend at least using V-Rival matches as a warm-up before entering ranked mode. It could be a better way to get you in the competitive mindset than just playing a few casual matches.
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