Street Fighter Alpha 2/Zangief

Introduction

The big russian grappler who everyone loves to fight like he has aids. Gief is very good in Alpha 2, being able to tick very good unlike other incarnations. He is second tier, right below "The Big 4". This is the only game outside to SF2 (I hear SF4 also, but I havent played it) series to where Gief is pretty much gonna pile drive you when he gets close. So why use him?

• Pros:

Grabs are very damaging and pretty much free when close in some cases

PPP Lariet is awesome anti air, KKK Lariet is great vs ground moves up close

Damaging normals, solid pokes

Jumping attack have ridiculously good priority

Longest ranged Valle CC in the game

• Cons:

Big as all hell

Sloooooooooow

Can have trouble getting in on some characters

Alpha Counters

Punch AC- Pretty much only to be used against ground based attacks and very deep jump in attacks up CLOSE to gief. Very quick and good damage. If opponent gets AC'ed into corner you should be able to follow up with magic grab. Do not use this move against multi hitting attacks such as akumas dp ect as it will get beat.

Kick AC- His best option for anti air and most ground attacks. If oppoent jumps in with early attack try to AC at the first frames of block stun so you can get quicker recovery from the AC and alot of times you can walk forward a sec, jump forward and magic grab as they get up.

Special Moves

Spinning Pile Driver: 360+p

This is Gief's signature grapple. He grabs you, spins high in the the air, and comes down crasher you on your head. This move is very very strong, doing roughly 24% damage to a normal character. The fp version has very good range and jab version grabs the farthest. This is the move to use when close since it grabs characters on their first frame, thus the "Magic grab" more on this later.

Russian Suplex: 360+K (close)

Gief will grab and do a suplex then slam, this grab iirc does more in other games, but in A2 does less than a SPD, approximately 23% life. No reason to use this grab midscreen since the range isnt good and does less damage than the SPD. This grab, however, is awesome when it is done when opponent is near the corner.

Running Bear Grab: 360+K (far)

Gief will do a walking grab, the walk being actually slow. If it grabs, Gief will flying power bomb the opponent for about 12% life. Not much use for this outside the corner.

Super Moves

Final Atomic Buster: 720+P

This move at lvl 3 is very worth it, other lvls, not so much. Gief will do a a couple slams (depending on the lvl) and end in a SPD. Lvl 1 is not worth it at all, since a SPD does pretty much the same damage and it just as guaranteed and a lvl 1.

Aerial Russian Slam: qcf x2+k

Worthless, at any lvl. I've got this once. I would really like to see the grab hitbox on this cause you can be right up on someone and not grab. Horrible super. Forget you have it.

Advanced Strategy

• The MAGIC Grab:

This is a big reason of why Gief is so good. It allows him to grab his opponent the first frame out of block stun or get up. When done right you can do this on your oppoents wake up and they can hold up and they still get grabbed. It is hard to reverse and can lead to big damage. Here are some things you can do:

c.rh or df+rh, jump, land, SPD

point blank c.mk or s.mk, SPD

c.lp, s.lk x SPD

any jump in, SPD

c.rh or df+rh (close), SPD on wake up

Corner:

Lk Running Bear Grab, walk forward then jump, Russian Suplex, FP green glove or jump/land, SPD or lvl 3 FAB (character specific)

Match-ups

Vs. Adon:

Vs. Akuma:

Vs. Birdie:

Vs. Charlie:

Vs. Chun-Li:

Vs. Dan:

Vs. Dhalsim:

Vs. Gen:

Vs. Guy:

Vs. Ken:

Vs. M. Bison (dictator):

Vs. Rolento:

Vs. Rose:

Vs. Ryu:

Vs. Sagat:

Vs. Sakura:

Vs. Sodom:

Vs. Zangief (self):