Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha/Zangief

Introduction

In the rapidly evolving, two-man Street Fighter EX1 scene, Zangief might be just the hero we need.

"Competitive" (hahaha) SFEX is quickly becoming a setplay arms race. It was (re?)discovered earlier this year (2024) that any Super Move that caused a sideswitch could set up unblockable meaties. Early setups were so strong and counterplay so inconsistent-- EXA could've been the first Street Fighter game in history where it's players soft banned much of the roster.

Now it's been a few months. Within EXA's small scene, most of the roster can consistently set up utterly inane two touch sequences. With a little lab time, the top tiers can take a round with one. Even with the game set to best of five rounds, EXA is becoming more explosive by the day.

Unless you're 'Gief.

• By pressing three buttons, Zangief shoves that setplay nerd into a locker and drags SFEX back to reality. Despite having zero invulnerability, Lariat is easily a frontrunning anti-air in EXA, and makes him uniquely strong in this metagame.

Normals

Standing

Standing Light Punch
5LP

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	H/L	Sp/Su

Standing Medium Punch
5MP

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	H/L	Sp/Su

Standing Heavy Punch
5HP

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	H/L	Su

Standing Light Kick
5LK

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	H/L	Sp/Su

Standing Medium Kick
5MK

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	H/L	Sp/Su

Standing Heavy Kick
5HK

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	H/L	Su

Crouching

Crouching Light Punch
2LP

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	H/L	Ch/Sp/Su

Crouching Medium Punch
2MP

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	H/L	Sp/Su

Crouching Heavy Punch
2HP

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	H/L	Sp/Su

Crouching Light Kick
2LK

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	L	Sp/Su

Crouching Medium Kick
2MK

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	L	Sp/Su

Crouching Heavy Kick
2HK

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	KD	-	L	-

Jumping

Jumping Light Punch
j.LP

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	H	-

Jumping Medium Punch
j.MP

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	H	-

Jumping Heavy Punch
j.HP

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	H	-

Jumping Light Kick
j.LK

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	H	-

Jumping Medium Kick
j.MK

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	H	-

Jumping Heavy Kick
j.HK

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	H	-

Moves List

Throws

Punch Throw
4/6+MP/HP

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Kick Throw
4/6+MK/HK

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Backturn Kick Throw
4/6+MK/HK

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Command Normals

Flying Body Attack
j.2HP

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Special Moves

Spinning Piledriver
360P

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Running Bear Grab
360K

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Lariat
PPP

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Quick Lariat
KKK

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Super Moves

Guard Break
LP+LK

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Unblockable	-

Super Stomping
236236K

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Final Atomic Buster
720P

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Final Atomic Buster Level 3
720PPP

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

The Basics

Street Fighter EX's coinflip character might be among the most balanced and honest there is. In what has seemingly become a real 3D game overnight, Zangief's Lariat beats many setups clean. Even when 'Gief wakes up BACKWARDS, Kara 2LK~PPP Option Selects a low profile normal and one of the fattest anti-airs in the game. Consistent, easy, and with other quirks of his kit, AA Lariat is an infamous party starter.

• Not everyone in SFEX has a Level 3 Super... Zangief does. Cosmic Buster is the most damaging move in the game.
• Super Stomping is Zangief's only other meter dump: A looping ranbu that can tick into 720 on block or be repped for gargantuan damage.

Match-Ups

Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha