The Drive System, explained before your coffee goes cold

Coming over from another fighting game, the wall in Street Fighter 6 isn't the combos. It's the Drive System. Get a real grip on it and you've understood about 80% of what wins matches.

One gauge, five things to spend it on

You've got six bars. They go toward: Drive Impact (an armored hit that flips a round), Drive Parry (absorb to claw meter back), Drive Rush (close the gap fast and start applying pressure), Overdrive (your EX specials) and Drive Reversal (a panic button on defense).

The punishment: burnout

Drain the gauge to zero and you hit burnout. No more Drive tools, your block bleeds chip damage, and a Drive Impact in the corner can stun you outright. This is where most high-level sets are actually decided.

The one piece of advice

Don't dump the whole gauge on offense. Always leave a little in the tank to defend. Long term, it's the player who manages Drive best who wins — not the one with the longest combo.