Introduction
Move Analysis
Normal Moves
O.Zangief's normals are decent, nothing with outstanding priority, but in contrast they do more damage than most characters normals. He does not has many normals with cancel properties.
Ground Normals
- Close Standing Jab:
| Damage | 14/12 |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Stun | 0-5 | |||||||
| Stun Timer | 40 | |||||||
| Chain Cancel | Yes | |||||||
| Special Cancel | Yes | |||||||
| Frame Count | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | |
| Simplified | 1 | 6 | 15 | |||||
O.Zangief does a knife hand strike from above his head until towards. The first active frame makes this move a very good anti air: when in the right range it can beat almost anything, while doing slightly more damage than when it hits grounded enemies. In that case, it is a good idea to always cancel it into a Green Hand if the Jab hits, as you will recover before the opponent lands and you will be just in range for the tick mix-up. Just to make it clear: only the two first active animations have the Special Cancel property and only the last active animation frame have the Chain Cancel property. You can also tick this into anything (including super) but against half the cast it will simply whiff if they are crouch blocking. Here is the list of characters you can tick if they are crouching: Balrog(Boxer), DeeJay, Dhalsim, FeiLong, Honda, Sagat, T.Hawk, Vega(Claw) and Zangief.
- Far Standing Jab:
| Damage | 14 |  |
 |
|
| Stun | 0-5 | |||
| Stun Timer | 40 | |||
| Chain Cancel | Yes | |||
| Special Cancel | Yes | |||
| Frame Count | 2 | 4 | 5 | |
O.Zangief performs a fast straight punch that can be canceled into itself. This happens to be very damaging Jab, and it even does the strong sound when it hits. Unlike most characters' rapid fire Jabs, Gief's st.Jab should not be used to beat advance moves like Blanka's rolls or Honda's Headbutt. This move really comes into play though when facing Dhalsim and Balrog(Boxer). Against Boxer you will use it to beat his Low Rushes (which is basically your only decent option), it can also beat Cammy's Cannon Drills and Hawk's Condor Dive from specific ranges and also trade unfavorably with Bison(dictator)'s Scissor Kicks. It does beat his standing Forward kick, though, from the right range. It is also a very nice ticking move, it allows you to tick from very far (e.g., it allows you to tick Dhalsim while being safe from his BS throw range). Unfortunately, against the majority of the cast, this move will just whiff if they are crouching. Here's the list of characters you can tick if they're crouch blocking: Balrog(Boxer), Dhalsim, Sagat, T.Hawk and Zangief.
- Crouching Jab:
| Damage | 6 |  |
|
| Stun | 0-5 | ||
| Stun Timer | 40 | ||
| Chain Cancel | Yes | ||
| Special Cancel | Yes | ||
| Frame Count | 3 | 5 | |
Crouching spear hand strike. The move does very low damage, but it is your most important ticking move and can also be used into combos such as cr.Jab (n times) linked into st.Short or cr.RH. It can beat a lot of different moves like Honda's Headbutt and HHS, Blanka's crouching Fierce slide, super and rolls (against his rolls it is better to use kick Lariat, and beating his super is not a good idea, unless blocking would get you killed), Bison(dictator) Scissor Kicks and some normals.
- Close/Far Standing Strong:
| Damage | 21 | File:OZangief ststrng1.png | File:OZangief ststrng2.png | File:OZangief ststrng3.png | File:OZangief ststrng4.png |
| Stun | 5-11 | ||||
| Stun Timer | 60 | ||||
| Chain Cancel | No | ||||
| Special Cancel | No | ||||
| Frame Count | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| Simplified | 4 | 3 | 5 | ||
Relatively fast straight punch. Doing it close or far will result in the exact same move, which is a horizontal knife hand strike. This attack is very important in combos: almost any decent combo will use this normal. Other than combos, there is not much use for it, since the hitboxes are quite similar to those of the standing Jab, the damage is not much greater but the recovery is. It can also be more easily stuffed before becoming active due to premature projected hitboxes.
- Crouching Strong:
| Damage | 21 |  |
 |
 |
|
|
| Stun | 5-11 | |||||
| Stun Timer | 60 | |||||
| Chain Cancel | No | |||||
| Special Cancel | No | |||||
| Frame Count | 3 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 5 | |
| Simplified | 6 | 8 | 9 | |||
A crouching straight punch that hits around the stomach, with moderate recovery. It can be used used as a poke, in trade situations and to beat some moves. Sometimes I use it to tick into Suplex after a Fierce splash cross-up: it can be effective because it is a strange use for this move, your opponent can be surprised by this and fail to react accordingly. Do not overuse this tactic, though, as it is easy to be reversed.
- Close/Far Standing Fierce:
| Damage | 26 | File:OZangief stfrc1&7.png | File:OZangief stfrc2&6.png | File:OZangief stfrc3.png | File:OZangief stfrc4.png | File:OZangief stfrc5.png | File:OZangief stfrc2&6.png | File:OZangief stfrc1&7.png |
| Stun | 10-16 | |||||||
| Stun Timer | 80 | |||||||
| Chain Cancel | No | |||||||
| Special Cancel | No | |||||||
| Frame Count | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | |
| Simplified | 6 | 6 | 29 | |||||
A powerful straight punch with long recovery. Doing it close or far will result in the exactly same move. Has a nice damage/dizzy potential but can not be properly used in combos. The only decent use I can think for this is if you're going for a trade, as you can not reliably beat something using this.
- Crouching Fierce:
| Damage | 26 | |
|
 |
|
|
| Stun | 10-15 | |||||
| Stun Timer | 80 | |||||
| Chain Cancel | No | |||||
| Special Cancel | No | |||||
| Frame Count | 3 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 13 | |
| Simplified | 6 | 8 | 23 | |||
Another crouching straight punch that hits around the stomach, but with much longer recovery than cr.Strong punch. It works decently as anti-air at certain ranges, it is good in trade situations and to beat some other moves. It is good against Hawk's and Fei Long's j.Jab, Vega's (claw) dive (depending on the spacing), Ryu/Ken's tatsus and Honda's HHS by anticipation.
- Close Standing Short:
| Damage | 16 |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Stun | 0-5 | ||||||
| Stun Timer | 40 | ||||||
| Chain Cancel | No | ||||||
| Special Cancel | No | ||||||
| Frame Count | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 1 | |
| Simplified | 7 | 8 | 5 | ||||
Zangief's knee bash. Used to tick into super/suplex, it is risky, though, because it is somewhat slow and you can not mix it up, if the opponent sees it coming he can easily reversal. The reward is great though, ticking into super is always nice.
- Far Standing Short:
| Damage | 16 |  |
 |
|
| Stun | 0-5 | |||
| Stun Timer | 40 | |||
| Chain Cancel | No | |||
| Special Cancel | No | |||
| Frame Count | 2 | 2 | 5 | |
| Simplified | 4 | 5 | ||
O.Zangief performs a low kick. Your best standing tick for sure. You can also mix between tick SPD or linked sweep to give your opponent extra trouble when trying to reverse. Watch out for reversal tatsus or upkicks when using this against a knocked down opponent.
- Crouching Short:
| Damage | 16 |  |
 |
|
| Stun | 0-5 | |||
| Stun Timer | 40 | |||
| Chain Cancel | No | |||
| Special Cancel | Yes | |||
| Frame Count | 3 | 4 | 7 | |
Fast crouching side kick with poor priority. Has Special Cancel properties, which allows you to combo a Lariat or a Green Hand after it, but cr.Fwrd is better for this. It's also one of your tick-into-Super options, I don't like it though. You can also cancel an running grab out of it, which will usually connect but doesn't do much damage.
- Close Standing Forward:
| Damage | 21 |  |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Stun | 5-11 | |||||
| Stun Timer | 60 | |||||
| Chain Cancel | No | |||||
| Special Cancel | No | |||||
| Frame Count | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | |
| Simplified | 6 | 4 | 9 | |||
Does not have any specific use that I can think of. It can be used as a tick into suplex or super, but its start-up makes it unreliable.
- Far Standing Forward:
| Damage | 21 | |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Stun | 5-11 | |||||
| Stun Timer | 60 | |||||
| Chain Cancel | No | |||||
| Special Cancel | No | |||||
| Frame Count | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | |
| Simplified | 6 | 4 | 9 | |||
Semi-circular middle kick. O.Gief's version does not has good range as N.Gief's but still can be used as a poke. It is, on the other hand, a viable option for antiair from specific ranges.
- Crouching Forward:
| Damage | 21 | |
 |
|
| Stun | 5-11 | |||
| Stun Timer | 60 | |||
| Chain Cancel | No | |||
| Special Cancel | Yes | |||
| Frame Count | 3 | 6 | 9 | |
Crouching side kick. Better damage and priority than cr.Short, but longer recovery. It has Special Cancel properties just like cr.Short so you can cancel into Lariat, Green Hand or Running Bear Grab. Cross-up Fierce spash, cr.Forward into kick Lariat is particularly hot. It can also be used as a tick into SPD and suplex, but you have better options for these.
- Close Standing Roundhouse:
| Damage | 26+4 |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Stun | 10-16/1-7 | ||||||
| Stun Timer | 80/70 | ||||||
| Chain Cancel | No | ||||||
| Special Cancel | No | ||||||
| Frame Count | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 8 | |
| Simplified | 9 | 6 | 8 | ||||
| Damage | 26+4 |  |
 |
 |
|
| Stun | 10-16/1-7 | ||||
| Stun Timer | 80/70 | ||||
| Chain Cancel | No | ||||
| Special Cancel | No | ||||
| Frame Count | 8 | 10 | 8 | 5 | |
| Simplified | 31 | ||||
Weird butterfly kick that hits twice. It is a quite useless move. It can hit twice from close range and it is the most damaging normal you have, but it has long start-up and recovery. The second hit has a decent anti-air priority, but the situations where you can use it like that are limited and the use is often shadowed by cl.Jab.
- Far Standing Roundhouse:
| Damage | 26 |  |
 |
|
| Stun | 10-15 | |||
| Stun Timer | 80 | |||
| Chain Cancel | No | |||
| Special Cancel | No | |||
| Frame Count | 4 | 8 | 11 | |
O.Zangief performs a high side kick. O.Gief's version of this move is pretty bad, the only use i can think for it is to fake (whiff) into a SPD.
- Crouching Roundhouse:
| Damage | 26 | |
 |
 |
|
| Stun | 6-10 | ||||
| Stun Timer | 130 | ||||
| Chain Cancel | No | ||||
| Special Cancel | No | ||||
| Frame Count | 4 | 8 | 12 | 1 | |
| Simplified | 4 | 8 | 13 | ||
Zangief's sweep kick. Animates the same as Zangief's other crouching kicks, but with longer recovery. This is a pretty awesome move, with good recovery for a RH sweep and deceptive reach. It can be linked into well, comes out relatively fast, does good damage, has decent recovery, not to say the precious knockdown which can lead into ticking mix ups or safe jumps. This move is very important in tick mix-ups, together with far standing Short: both can be used to punished the enemy for standing up, which is often necessary for inputting invulnerable reversal moves. Always going for the SPD from max range can get predictable, so this is one of the possible mix-ups one can do.