Zangief
"Cleanin up the competition. He even has his own spin cycle."

In a world of speed, launchers and air combos, poor Zan is obselete.
Fortunately Zan has a few tricks up his sleeve to make up for the
clumsiness. I feel so bad for I have neglected one of my first street
fighter characters. I still play him but not as much anymore. People
are so used to running away, they can leap for hours (not literally)
and avoid half the stuff Zan wants to dish out. I was going to wait a
little longer before addressing him but I ran into a good friend who
happens to be a Zangief warlord. After bowing down in honor of his
skill I ask if he could give me some tips on what to do about Zangief
vs. other speedsters in the game. Zan can't combo well, no projectiles
(Mega Zan will be a whole new page), and forget about any area type
supers. So I ask, what does Zan have? I can beat a lot of people with
him, but I get my ass kicked by twice as many. My mentor merely
answered, "Zan has patience". Well duh, I thought but he showed me
playing against some ken and spiderman junkies that Zangief...plays by
different rules. Let's go over what I saw and what I know.

-----------THE SPINNING SPEED DRIVER----------
Zan players must know
the attributes over the punch buttons when pulling off the spinning
pile driver. Pending the punch button you use results in the severity
of the damage. Jab button will grab super quick but only spin them up
a little bit. This one is excellent for air SPD and recovery time but
the grab range is very close. Strong button is your average SPD which
is good for counters and throwing them off guard. Fierce is the
granddaddy with the longest range of grab (almost as farther than
Ryu's leg when he sweeps) and the recovery time of a comatose patient.
But he spins to the moon and back. When dealing with fast characters
who dash in on you, use the jab to do the SPD and you can grab them as
they come in. Use the fierce after a lower kick or punch button. I
like using standing kick when they are in the corner cuz even if they
block the kick, they get grabbed. Or you can jump kick them with the
forward kick button and then pull off the fierce. Cuz of the long
start up time of the fierce, by the time you get to the ground, you're
going back up again! Counter jumpkicks with air jab then medium SPD for
a good cancel. You cannot cancel the clothesline or lariat into the
SPD.

------------MERRY-GO-COUNTER----------
It's real annoying to keep havin
everyone jump kick you cuz you're a big target. Well, when in block,
counter with the Lariat (all kick buttons) or clothesline (all punch).
Once their kick or punch is blocked, the twirl will smack them
senseless. Wolvering and Chun Li are a little harder to pull this off
on but when they go into their fierce and you block it, POW! Twirl
their asses back in check. Another really cool thing I learned was
that the air roundhouse kick warps the Lariat closer to your opponent.
Here's an example. Spiderman players enjoy toying with the warlord
with web globs in the air staying at a safe distance. Warlord hopped a
little towards them and super jumped under them while they were in the
air. He struck them with the roundhouse kick and I thought "uh oh,
spider counter from hell." But as soon as he hit spider, he canceled
right into the Lariet and it warpped his body upward and spinning.
That hit spider hard and popped him up a little and crashed his body
down. Remember that move. It has alot of potential.

---------AIR ZANGIEF---------
I wonder if he's willing to market his
boots? Anyways, A really neat way to get closer to you opponent
without moving like a pet rock is by doing your air grab assault. Use
either the medium or the fierce and he'll fly into the sky like
superman and land in a conventional spot. You may think that he's
askin for trouble doing that but most players don't expect him to
travel that length in such quick time so they try fireballing or
something from a distance. If you do the leap in time, the fireballs
go through his legs as he takes off. Also this is a great way to keep
those leapers on the ground cuz if they jump, they'll eat concrete from
Zan's air throw. Try to avoid jab, it goes more horizontally than
vertically.

---------AIR COMBO FROM HELL---------
There's one combo Zan is capable
of doing well if placed in the right hands like the warlord. So as we
continue with the fight of spider vs. Zan, spider thought he could look
smooth with a "web swinging". Zan launched spider with his ducking
strong, jumped and press jab, strong, clothesline to pop them in the
air higher and made a victim of an air juggle. Zan hopped up one last
time and jabbed then air SPD with the strong button. Do you believe in
magic? Hell, I do now. I saw Zan use standing roundhouse to hit them
on their way down but never an air SPD within that combo. It works. I
did it only twice using the jab button for the SPD but I'm not good
enough to time it for a strong or fierce. I'll keep you up to date on
how to pull it off flawless.

---------TO INFINITY AND BEYOND---------
Ok, warlord lost to a
wolverine junkie, who used throwing and combo locking Zan with fatal
claw. Warlord came back with Zan again and this time he pulled of the
cheesiest and creamiest combo on the game (we're talkin about Kraft
maccoroni and Cheese). Zan launched Wolvie and did the first part of
the combo, jab, strong, lariat. Then came down, stepped back and
ducked, Wolvie came down and Zan launched him again and redid the
combo. Boys and Girls, can you say infinity? I knew you could. Well,
by the time he was done, Wolvie was bouncing away dead from combo
platter infinity and good old akuma stepped out. Well Zan was ready
and had enough super level for double final atomic buster. End of
story. I have to tell you, this is one for the books and now you know
why we call him "the Warlord" If there are any Zangief players drooling
over this, you have to realize that this is hard! I tried it and the
positioning took a long time and I still mess up (about 3 out of 5
times). Pending on where they were hit by the lariat, you must step
back or forward to launch again. Sometimes if you have them in a
corner it makes it easier. Also I heard that it may depend on what
version of the game you have. I can't back that up but I'll find
out. Who would have thought that the Zan had an infinity death move
and if you get tired of doing it, just jump, air jab, SPD or if you're
real good just do the FAB or the Double FAB on their way down.

--------KNOW YOUR BUTTONS------------
Knowing the properties of Zan's
buttons will keep you alive longer. Let's review them.
JAB- Effective
in air fighting and stopping jumping characters if timed correctly.
Good range and can link into the SPD if close enough. This also has
good range in the air and ducking.
STRONG- Horizontal chop. Good speed
and decent recovery. Unfortunately it doesn't hit everyone standing up
and it misses most people when they are ducking. Use it for air
counters. Ducking strong is a good punch but you can see it coming but
it hurts as a launcher.
Air strong is a vertical chop that's a good counter against people who
have jumped higher than you. If you press down, you'll come down with a
forearm press which drops you on them at an excellerated amount of speed. This is a good way of sneaking in to get close and the
speed of it is cool cuz they'll be expecting to launch you.
You can even use this as an air vs. counter when they are trying to size
you up in the air or in a combo. The reason being is that the actual
hit is instant. As soon as he shows his elbow, it's a hit so you can
link it to combos as long as they are under you or tried to launch you.
They'll get slammed to the floor and you'll finish the animation of the
forearm press. I like doing this because if I jump in on them and they
try to launch me, I press down and strong and that elbow hits them in
the hand and crushes them to the floor. Be careful not to do this
often. If blocked, you are a serious target for a super like Juggernaut
was when he did his belly flop.
FIERCE- This is the long range daddy of
his punches. Hurts big time and it leaves him open like a deserted
tool shed. Use it carefully for countering your opponent's screw ups.
Ducking fierce is good for them low chracters. Air fierce has good
recovery time on it and if you are low jumping, he'll punch downward, if
you high in the air, he'll do the classic superman punch, and pressing
downward will do the belly flop with is almost useless when attacking a
ground opponent cuz they can lanch you. However, As a counter in the
air or belly flopping a mistake can open up possibilities for a jab SPD
or grab.

-------COUNTER THIS!!!!-----------
Practice using the strong punch for the SPD as a counter against Fierces
and Roundhouses. Postion your joystick for blocking (standing or
ducking) and when you block it quickly rotate the stick and press the
strong (fierce can often be too slow). I thought that the warp grab Zan
did in SF2 was gone. After watching Warlord, I realize that it's just
toned down. I would advise to practice against the computer first when they do
it so you know the timing and who you can do it too.
When you get good enough as Warlord would put it "Final Atomic Buster
their ass." Note: most often, even if they cancel & pull off their super
move, you'll get them any ways. Fatal Claw and the Dragon uppercuts can't
be touched.
Here is a break down on who you can do this to. Y= yes N= no D= depends on the
situation.

There's much more in strategy on Zan. So I'll keep you updated and
possibly make a Mind melt page. It will tell you the best ways to
intimidate and mess with your opponent's head and when an when not to take a
hit to counter. There's one more secret that I have that Warlord didn't
know but I'm not sharing it until I get it finalized to explain to you.
Let's go into the ways to stop this living wall of terror.

------RUN FOR THE HILLS!----------
If you don't know already to run away from Zangief, then something is
really wrong with you. All Zan players I know go through an touring
phase. They only play Zan against the CPU when they are learing them.
Dan has a better chance of survival than Zan if you don't watch what you
are doing. Once they get down SPD, the super, the links and the
buttons. They go through a test of true survival by playing him with
another unexperienced character. So he more or less depends on Zan. If
he succeeds, he is ready for human competition. That's why you may not
see too many people play Zan unless they can play them well enough to
have you fear them. If you don't run, you will get grabbed sooner or
later. So it's often good to go in with a few hard hits and back off to
chip his block damage. So play cat and mouse and use your supers from a
safe distance.

------ALL OR NOTHING--------
If you don't get Zan when he's open, you're missing prime rib
opportunities. He is very open on his fierce and roundhouses and his
roundhouse trips are slower than ever. Block and dash in to combo and
launch this side of beef or super after blocking. Don't be afraid to
make mistakes...Zan counts on your fear to attack. Hey, it's only a
game! hehehe

-----JUMP FOR JOY-------
If you get clocked by a jumping fierce or roundhouse while you are on
the ground you may be set up for a SPD. One thing you can do is do a regular
jump straight up. If Zan doen't time correctly his SPD once he connects,
you have time to move out of there. Jump once and Zan will miss his
grab and you can kick or punch him while in the air. Don't worry about
getting launched. If Zan had plans on doing that anyway and he his you
with his fierce or roundhouse, you'll get launched by his strong anyway.

----CANCEL OR BE COUNTERED---------
You've got to know how to cancel or you could be countered by guys like
warlord. Uppercuts are great, flip kicks are good, fireballs are bait
cuz he can counter those! Supers are very good pending what they are.
Don't do rams or swings or hurricane kicks (except akuma's cheesy
hurricane). Everyone is equipt with something that will push Zan off of
them. Yes dahlsim too (yoga flame works great). Bison can disappear if
he's in trouble. Practice practice practice!

----TIME FOR A LAUNCH BREAK------
Better find an opening to launch Zan or you will lose the game. Take every
sizable advantage of Zan while you are comboing. He's big enough to
even use supers on if you have an air super. What ever you do, don't
let up or he just may try to grab you while you are paused.

----DOUBLE HIT CROSSOVER------
All characters should be able to jump hit Zangief while he's on the
ground. Make sure you use jab>strong or short>forward if you are the
same size or bigger. Medium and small can use strong>fierce or
forward>roundhouse. The bigger they are...the harder you hurt em,
hehehe.

----THERE'S MORE ON THE WAY-------
Zan is a thinking character. Well he isn't, but you have to be so we'll
be reviewing all this plus new stuff and introduce a mind meld section
on how to get into your opponent's head. HAHAHA OMEGA DESTROYER!!!

----CHARACTERS FACING AGAINST ZANGIEF-------
THE SHOKOTAN FAMILY- Fireball only at medium and long range or Zan
will counter. Get gutsy and go for the feet and launch. Ryu, get fireball
freaky. Ken, that roundhouse kick is going to come in handy and so will
your C. forward kick > super uppercut. Akuma, launch this bad boy and
end off your combo with fierce, and cancel out with your fireball
barrage!
BISON- Teleport to confuse him and do your air stomp with the psycho
hand. Keep from doing the sliding trip and use plenty of psycho
fireballs and fields. Your best super to use is psycho crusher
when you launch him in the air. Mess with his mind by using scissor
kick nightmare when he's close to you and trying to grab.
DAHALSIM- Jab Yoga flame when at close range to shrug his blocks off and
away from you. Start using them long range attacks and watch out for
him landing ontop of you with his forearm press or belly flop. You are
very vunerable when he does that so use Yoga strike. hehehehe
SAKURA- Play cat and mouse with Zan. Hurricane only when he is in the
air or on the other side of the screen. He'll try to jump at you so be
ready to dish out your upward super fireball. Using standing roundhouse
and the strong button for your running upper will fustrate Zan a lot.
Keep from doing the fireball in the air unless you know he's jump up to
you. Air running upper with jab or strong to end your launch
combos.
Chun Li- Run fast to get in your attacks and use plenty of trips.
Attack from the air and start using the heel stomp by pressing down and
the forward kick button. Lightning kick after you trip Zan or when
you're over his head. Your blazing super lightning kick is handy in
times of ground combos or when Zan tries to hit you with a heavy one.
DAN- Launch whenever possible and use the gale kicks to pin him to the
wall. Your forward kick won't save you now so stick with Gales and
fireballs. Throw him or sweep when he gets in too close for comfort.
CYCLOPS- Optic blast with the forward button. Your punches mean nothing
to Zan so you better go with the kicks. Jump kick him repeatedly. Stay
away from Jean Splice cuz if Zan pushblocks it away, you are in a heap
of trouble. Bull dog throw when he is close. Doing it from a distance
will shorten you life. Your crouching forward launches like spiderman's
and it will protect you from Zan if he wants to jump. Use it to start
your air combo.
SPIDERMAN- Use spider sting and the strong punch to shrug him off. Web
throw will do very well in this situation. Double hit when you jump
into him and then start your launch with the crouching forward kick and
then standing roundhouse. Web globs will keep him at bay but not
forever. Trip and cancel to Crawler assault.
WOLVERINE- Go low and stay there until you can launch him. Double hit
him when you jump into him and use your beserker barrage with only
strong and jab. Drill claw will open you up for a fierce down your
throat so avoid it. Standing fierce will push him away often.
CAPTAIN AMERICA- Use that fierce to keep him away. And shield slash
with strong or fierce. Jump in on him and double hit with kicks.
Air fierce will keep him away and use your helper to set him up for
final justice. Uppercut to chip away at him and launch when you see him
air attack.
HULK- Ground wave a lot if you don't want a confrintation. If you want
to get in on the action (like me), jump kick him with short and combo
out to fierce. Use fierce to keep him away. Use the standing
roundhouse when you see him jump or if he is already above you, use
crouching fierce. Gamma charge will mean gamma death if you don't
connect!
BLACKHEART- Sick your little pretties on the floor to make him jump then
meet him halfway and combo him out or inferno in the middle of the
screen. Use Armegedon Super more so he can't call on his helper. Your
standing critter super will work wonders for you. Dark thunder with
strong and use crouching forward kick when he is ontop of you. You'll
shoot out your hair and it will protect you often.
OMEGA RED- Attack with air fierce on your way down and use forward
crouching roundhouse when he's at a distance. It's time for the smasher!
Also, if you know that Zan will SPD you, go straight into your
Destroyer. Zan's grab will go through you (no joke) and you'll be giving
him many pats on the back for his mistake. Omega strike when he jumps
or is in the back and coil grab as he super jumps you or if you get the
jump on him. That air roundhouse sure looks good right about now.
Standing fierce will keep him at bay on the ground.

Suggestions, questions or feedback? Mail Migs and Silver Sage here!

We'll keep you updated on more tricks and tips.

Migs here! Check out the main Zangief page here to learn the move commands and combos!