Zangief Guide & Overview

Cons

• Stiff Neutral: In exchange for his high health, Zangief is slowest character in the game and relies on hard reads to secure knockdowns. He also lacks options to outright punish things like fireballs, instead being forced to weather the storm with Drive Parry or use riskier options like jumping or Level 2.
• Slow Anti-Airs: Zangief suffers from a lack of quick anti-air and anti-crossup options. While his 2HP and Lariat deal solid damage on hit, they have poor startup and whiff recovery while providing underwhelming okizeme. Both also struggle against crossups.
• Limited Okizeme: Although Zangief's mixups are very rewarding in terms of damage, they also create a lot of distance between him and his opponent. This makes him struggle to maintain advantage and forces him to spend meter on Drive Rush and/or OD Lariat to continue his turn when possible.
• Expensive Reversals: Zangief's Level 1 can't be used as a reversal as it only hits airborne opponents. Level 2 works, but is too slow to punish most light normals. Zangief only gets a good reversal when he has full super meter.
• Poor Conversion Ability: Zangief can struggle to convert strikes into meaningful advantage outside of punishment scenarios due to his increased pushback on lights, poor linking ability, few strike special moves, and awkward supers.