Combos

Low Hit-Checks

COMBO 1a

Crouching crouching

COMBO 1b

Crouching crouching

COMBO 1c

Crouching crouching

In a first for Street Fighter (at least since the mostly forgotten SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium on the Neo Geo Pocket Color!), Zangief can actually combo into his Critical Art, Bolshoi Russian Suplex. All you need is an advantage of at least +2, and this works whether you link the Critical Art or cancel into it. You can link any two crouching light attacks, confirm the hits, and then immediately link . You can also simply cancel the second light hit into the Critical Art, and it will still work. Go with whichever is easier for you, the link or the cancel. Either way, you might find it helpful to “mask” the first rotation during the first poke, so your overall motion becomes something like:

This lets you do the Bolshoi Russian Suplex motion more slowly than trying to squeeze it all in after the second tick, but it requires precision. You don’t want to get an erroneous standing or , which won’t link and will result in you blowing all your EX Gauge with a whiffed Critical Art. Start your rotation at down-back with the first tick, and link the second tick when you’re starting the downward part of the second rotation.

You can perform Zangief’s circular Critical Art motion in either direction, clockwise or counter-clockwise. Many players find they prefer one direction or the other, regardless of which side Zangief faces. But when fishing with crouching , it’s best to roll down and toward the opponent rather than up and away. In other words, start at and roll and so on instead of starting at and then rolling and so on. This removes the risk of accidentally triggering Siberian Express during the second crouching .

Grounded Hit-Checks

COMBO 2

Crouching , then link either:

Standing
167 damage, 323 stun (whiffs against crouching characters; 137 damage replacing crouching with crouching to hit crouchers)

420 damage, 100 stun (requires full EX Gauge)

Standing (or crouching /)
367 damage, 163 stun (requires full EX Gauge)

Zangief’s beefy crouching strong leaves him with lots of frame advantage on hit (+5) or guard (+3). Standing moves Zangief ever so slightly forward during the kick, allowing Double Lariat to combo. Beware that this whiffs against crouching targets because crouching strong pushes Zangief a little too far away. If you think your opponent might get hit crouching, use a hit-check of crouching standing Double Lariat instead for a little less damage but a guaranteed finisher. Crouching and also link after crouching , but they leave Zangief too far away for Double Lariat to connect, even against standing foes. You’ll most often have a chance to go for crouching after a cross-up jumping or Flying Body Press, or as a meaty poke (like after anti-airing the enemy with crouching or standing , or after scoring a counter-hit sweep). But if the adversary whiffs something punishable in front of you, it’s actually better to just go for HP Screw Pile Driver for damage, or HK Siberian Express to push them toward a corner. Both deal more damage than this combo unless you use versions that end with Critical Art instead of Double Lariat.

With full EX Gauge, Bolshoi Russian Suplex can be linked after crouching . With great reactions, there’s time to poke with up-close crouching , pump , then press on reaction to a successful hit. It’s also possible to link a light normal attack (except standing ) and cancel it into the Critical Art. It has to be a cancel; while BRS links after light normals up close, Zangief is too far away after crouching strong linked to a light attack.

COMBO 3

, then link either:

Standing
207 damage, 423 stun (whiffs against crouching characters)

(can also be canceled into from Head Butt)
460 damage, 200 stun (requires full EX Gauge)

Crouching
434 damage, 290 stun (requires full EX Gauge)

Head Butt combos are like crouching combos, but a little juicier. The catch is that Head Butt’s startup is much slower than crouching strong’s. This can be good against opponents who are in the habit of pressing buttons really late. It’s also good after very deep, heavy jump-in attacks or cross-up Flying Body Press. One bonus of poking with Head Butt up close instead of crouching is that it’ll spike down jumping enemies who’ve just left the ground, giving Zangief a chance to step forward and pressure a floored target. This may occur often if your adversaries try to jump away frequently, scared of Screw Pile Drivers.

Jump-Ins

COMBO 4a

Jump-in , crouching

COMBO 4b

Jump-in , standing

From a clean cross-up Flying Body Press, you’d most optimally link into Combo 2 or 3. These combos are for frontal jump-ins that do not realistically feature point-blank normals. You’re likely to land these when you make a good read jumping over your opponent’s mid-range projectile throw, or over their laggy poke or special. If Zangief’s jump-in is blocked, don’t perform the Double Lariat finisher; instead, transition into close-range options following a blocked tick attack. When you want a frontal jump-in that hits as early as possible for tick/interruption potential, jump in with jumping instead.

grounded counter-hits

COMBO 5

Counter-hit standing , then (depending on range):

After max-range standing , forward jumping
288 damage, 360 stun (requires one stock of EX Gauge)

After max-range standing , standing
198 damage, 315 stun

After close-range standing ,
198 damage, 360 stun

Standing whiffs over crouching characters, but it’s great at nailing backdashes and jumps. And foes will be particularly inclined to backdash and jump for fear of Zangief’s LP Screw Pile Driver, his main tool of aggression. If standing strikes a dash attempt or an incoming move, it will cause a Crush Counter, launching the victim into the air in a juggle-ready position. Since it’s a roundhouse attack, standing will also cleanly counter-hit lighter-strength pokes that clash with its active frames. With a stock of EX Gauge to spare, you can jump and grab them with aerial EX Borscht Dynamite, even from a max-range standing . “Tiger knee” EX Borscht Dynamite adds real teeth to this counter, making it even more dangerous than the SPD your foe tried to dodge in the first place. If you’re out of meter or simply don’t react in time, you can juggle them with standing instead for solid damage. If Zangief is up close (whether they happened to forward dash into your roundhouse poke, or you used standing up close expecting the opponent to backdash away from a throw), you can also juggle with Head Butt, which deals more stun damage and smacks them to the ground directly in front of Zangief.

COMBO 6

Counter-hit standing (or charged ), then (depending on range):

After standing from just inside the tip of its range, standing
210 damage, 315 stun (246 damage, 375 stun after charged )

After mid-range standing ,
282 damage, 405 stun (318 damage, 465 stun after charged )

After point-blank standing ,
336 damage, 405 stun (372 damage, 465 stun after charged )

After close-range standing ,
480 damage, 180 stun (requires full EX Gauge; 516 damage and 240 stun after charged )

Standing whiffs against crouching opponents, but standing doesn’t. It can also be charged to a more powerful version during which it has armor that absorbs one incoming attack. The payoff for landing a charged as a Crush Counter at close range can be enormous—up to 372 damage for a meterless two-hit combo!

If adversaries whiff big reversals in front of you, smash their recovery with Crush Counter standing into Screw Pile Driver for a huge punish. You won’t have time to charge for max damage, so just let it rip with regular standing fierce. Which Screw Pile Driver you use will depend on how close Zangief is when you let loose with standing fierce.

If you strike with the very tip of standing , you won’t actually be able to link anything guaranteed. Take the opportunity to walk forward unimpeded for a moment, closing in on your victim and pushing them toward the corner.

V-Trigger and Situational Combos

COMBO 7

Crouching or standing hold , forward jumping

With V-Trigger locked and loaded, Zangief gains some nasty combos into Cyclone Lariat. Crouching is best up close after a clean jump-in, like jump-in over a projectile or a cross-up Flying Body Press. Standing works from farther away. Standing can also cancel into V-Trigger to enable ground combos, but this may backfire if the opponent does something like dash into it, causing them to be launched in the air and potentially making your V-Trigger combo miss.

To get the full damage out of Cyclone Lariat, hold the heavy attack buttons, and then be ready to tack on a final hit at the end. For max damage, jump forward and juggle the enemy with EX Borscht Dynamite. Like after Crush Counter standing , the easiest way to perform this is with a motion of , slight pause, . The slight pause gives Zangief time for his pre-jump frames to elapse so that he actually leaves the ground.

If you don’t have EX Gauge to spare, if you have trouble performing a “tiger knee” aerial 360 move, or if you would rather have a reset opportunity, you can also juggle after Cyclone Lariat with any of Zangief’s unique attacks. Head Butt will spike foes into the ground in front of him, Knee Hammer will land them on their feet up close, and forward-jumping Flying Body Press will push them toward the corner. If you can score an immediate command grab, you’ll actually get more total damage than after ending Cyclone Lariat with the EX Borscht Dynamite air grab, without spending any EX Gauge.

COMBO 8

Counter-hit standing (or charged ) hold , forward jumping

Charged standing builds an entire stock of V-Gauge when it lands as a Crush Counter. The Crush Counter animation gives you time to visually confirm the hit and link directly into Cyclone Lariat. In situations where you’re poking with charged fierce while you have two out of three V-Gauge stocks filled, on contact, you can simply slap and hold them for a simple option select. On guard, nothing happens. If your opponent eats the punch as a normal hit, nothing happens. However, if your challenger eats the punch as a Crush Counter, Zangief’s V-Gauge will be full, so your input cancels into V-Trigger, which easily combos off of the spinning Crush Counter hitstun.