Critical Art

Bolshoi Russian Suplex

Bolshoi Russian Suplex: Zangief grabs anyone directly in front of him with incredible speed, then whisks them through a brief multi-stage, concrete-cracking suplex. This Critical Art is the game’s fastest attack, with one pre-Critical Art freeze frame and an instant grab after the screen freeze. Uncork Bolshoi Russian Suplex next to a grounded foe, and if they haven’t already left the ground during the screen freeze, it’s already too late. You can use this as a big-damage reversal against anything you block that leaves your opponent at a disadvantage as small as -1. Lots of pokes that are safe become suddenly unsafe against a loaded Zangief. You can also use this on offense, the same as Zangief grabs since time immemorial. Tick them with jump-in or Flying Body Press, pause, then Critical Art on the ground. Dash in on a passive opponent from mid range and buffer the motion during the dash. Tick with one or two crouching jabs/shorts, with crouching , or with Head Butt, pause slightly during blockstun, then Critical Art. Or simply empty jump in and do it. The classics never die.

The first three frames of the suplex are also fully invincible. That makes this Zangief’s only invincible reversal, and therefore his only true defensive pressure release valve besides V-Reversal. Guessing on Critical Arts to get out of trouble when pressured/on wakeup isn’t the best strategy over time, but sometimes, you gotta get nuts.

That’s Bolshoi Russian Suplex being used as a grab, like Zangief’s used Final Atomic Buster since Super Street Fighter II. New to SFV, you can also deploy this as a hit in combos! Any of Zangief’s cancelable normals can lead, on hit, to a successful Critical Art cancel. You can even link the suplex after grounded hits that leave Zangief with at least +2 frame advantage (most prominently, Head Butt and crouching ). For tips on incorporating the 720 suplex motion into combos, see Combo 1. As for the motion itself, the same actual input rules apply as for SPD and Borscht Dynamite, times two. You can actually spin two circles (either doing them with incredible speed or masking the first motion behind a dash, a jump-in, a poke, etc. to avoid an errant jump). You can spin a circle, then follow with a 270 motion. Or, you can input eight opposing consecutive inputs, like (which is what you’re doing spinning a 720, anyway). Tailor your approach to your personal preference and the controller you use, choosing whatever gets you the highest Critical Art input success rate.