Strikeborn Best Starter Character

You have two real choices in Strikeborn early access: Yuji and Guts. Everyone else on the select screen is a promise. This page is the decision tree so you do not spend your first three nights on an incomplete Naruto slot and then decide the game is empty.

If you want the ranking logic, read the tier list. If you already picked, skip to Getting Started and the matching character lesson.

Pick Yuji if

• You play mobile or you have never labbed a slow heavy in a battlegrounds game.
• You want the fastest path into air combos. Faster M1s mean the uppercut convert from the combat page happens more often.
• You like counter buttons. Yuji footage shows a kick that can also counter.
• You want the default “learn Strikeborn” character, then swap to Guts later for style.

Read How to play Yuji the same day you pick him. Do not import Jujutsu Shenanigans muscle memory.

Pick Guts if

• You play PC with shift lock and you can stand still.
• You enjoy spacing more than scrambling.
• You want the character creators are already inventing named tech for (look-down kick, air slot 4).
• You think a greatsword on a cliff is the entire aesthetic pitch of the game, and you are correct.

Read How to play Guts before you blame the kit for your mashed hit-four slams.

Do not pick Jinchuriki or Gon as a starter

Those slots are documented as incomplete — M1-focused or missing skills, depending on the clip. You cannot learn Strikeborn’s air identity on a kit that does not have the identity yet. Details sit on the unfinished roster page. If you love those anime leads, buy early access for the map and the two finished fighters, then wait for the roadmap.

Device-specific notes

PC. Either character is fine. Yuji is still the smoother teacher. Guts becomes the more interesting main once you can camera-tech.

Mobile. Start Yuji. Guts’ slower swings plus a thumb camera is a way to donate stocks. If you still want the sword, raise sensitivity and lab on an empty cliff for a full session before you queue.

Controller. Yuji first unless you already play heavies in other fighters. Dead zones eat Guts uppercuts. Flatten the stick during the M1 string; see controls.

A 30-minute tryout that actually decides it

1. Ten minutes Yuji: only uppercut converts. Count how many you land.
2. Ten minutes Guts: only max-range M1s. Count how many people walk into the tip.
3. Ten minutes of the one that scored higher, adding one skill variant.
4. Lock that main for a week. Do not reroll because a YouTube thumbnail said the other one is “aura.”

If both tryouts feel bad, the problem is probably movement, not the character. Go back to wall jumps and jump pads on Getting Started. If both feel good, pick the one you will actually open the game to play. Early-access skill floors move faster than patch notes.

When a third complete character ships, this page will add a third branch instead of pretending the new kit is “advanced only.” Until then, your starter is Yuji or Guts. Everything else is a portrait.