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
(From Behind) 4/6+MK/HK

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
"Stomach Block" is a neat one. This is a throw almost exclusive to punishes. Leaves the opponent point blank and off axis. To guarantee an SB outside of a punish: Guard Break the opponent, cross them up, and throw them before they leave stun.

Command Normals

Flying Body Attack
j.2HP

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

Special Moves

Spinning Piledriver
360P

SPD's First Frame

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Don't sweat the technique. Command Throws in EXA work just like Street Fighter II: They're all instant and have zero recovery. TO BE VERIFIED -- SPD has just one strength, meaning Zangief can piano his 360s for free. Blockstun, hitstun, knockdowns-- EXA Gief was born to churn.

Running Bear Grab
360K

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Hit	On Block	Guard	Cancel
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Except this one, actually. This one has recovery. :( RBG, or "Russian Suplex", is a gimmick. I've never landed this. Zangief has far better options to contest space on the ground; Avoid.

Lariat
PPP

Lariat's First Frame

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

Quick Lariat
KKK

Quick Lariat's First Frame

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

"Gottem."

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

Final Atomic Buster Level 3
720PPP

"GOTTEM!"

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.

• SPD has no whiff animation.
• 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.

Advanced Strategy

Life, is death, is life.

Match-Ups

Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha