

Zangief
Known as the "Red Cyclone" in his home country, Zangief is the paragon of country pride. Trained by fighting grizzly bears in Siberia, Zangief uses his extremely powerful wrestling techniques, including the Spinning Pile Driver (which was said to have been learned when he got caught in a tornado while wrestling bears), fighting for the pride of Russia has become Zangief's main goal in life, especially after being noticed and hired by the Russian government to represent them in the world Street Fighting circuit.
In a nutshell
The Red Cyclone returns for another round of spinning death. Zangief has received some monstrous buffs from Vanilla SSF4, making him closer to, if not better than, his original SF4 incarnation. The most fearsome change is the new length of his light SPD. It now reaches roughly 1/4 of the screen away from Zangief, allowing him to grab many characters out of their long range pokes. In addition, both the light and heavy SPDs have had their damage increased by a slight amount. His EX Green Hand no longer knocks down, but at the same time it puts him in range for his light SPD. Finally, his Siberian Blizzard Ultra can now be steered freely, opening up some new setups and possibilities. Playstyle-wise, Zangief has not changed one bit, so the transition will be very smooth, and likely very enjoyable due to the aforementioned buffs.
Moves
Unique Attacks
Throws
Special Moves
Super Combo
Ultra Combos
AE Changes
- Increased range on Far Standing Hard Punch
- Light Punch and Hard Punch Spinning Piledrivers damage buffed
- Increased range on Light Punch Spinning Piledriver
- EX Banishing Flat, when it hits a grounded opponent, will no longer knock down but you will have advantage.
- Alter Siberian Blizzard's traveling distance by putting in a forward/backward input between Ultra freeze and start-up.
Forward direction can travel much further than before, so it's easier to grab backdashing opponents.
Ground recovery on whiff has increased.
The Basics
Combos
Strategy
Matchups
Frame Data