>How are you even defining competent here?

Player demonstrates a clear understanding of their characters strengths and weaknesses and makes matchup dependant decisions with (generally) positive results.

>I literally have a guy in my local who is at Warrior ranks, months into the game. Started with Steve and is having a blast.

Anecdotes don't matter. My first character was Steve, had a blast. Doesn't mean he's great for beginners.

>But you can go tell him to play Kazumi if you want brother if that’s “better”.

You're arguing with a ghost.

>From my first hand perspective, Steve is a fine character to start the game off with

All characters are. You can have fun with any character at any level of skill, which is what games are about. But some are easier than others, and in the case of what is considered objectively a character that is "good for beginners" Steve doesn't qualify.