001. STREET FIGHTER 4 - ZANGIEF - INTRO & STRATEGY

NORMAL MOVES | SPECIAL MOVES | COMBOS | MATCH UP NOTES & VIDEOS

OVERVIEW

• Dominates the cast under him, but has a lot of bad matchups that vary from 6-4 to 7-3.
• Lariat is one of the best moves in the game, allowing him to stop jump-ins, pass through projectiles, and cleanly beat many other moves.
• Has one of the best wake-up games. Once he gets in, a good Zangief will do a ton of damage through tick throws, lariat, and SPD set ups.
• Has a lot of stamina and fairly easy combos. Easy character to pick up but hard to master.
• Banishing Flat allows him to close the distance after a knock down to apply more pressure, but if blocked or if it doesn't knock down, it is an unsafe move.
• A good set of hard-hitting normals.

RESOURCES

ZANGIEF SUPER GUIDE - 1UP.COM MYCHEATS

ZANGIEF FORUM - SHORYUKEN.COM

ZANGIEF FRAME DATA - SHORYUKEN.COM

002. STREET FIGHTER 4 - ZANGIEF - NORMAL MOVES

JAB (LIGHT) PUNCH

• His Light Punch is one of his best normal moves; it leads to tick throws and knock down combos for further mind games. His crouching version also has more frame advantage than crouching light kick, making it safe to do against characters with a shoryuken.
  

STRONG (MEDIUM) PUNCH

• Standing medium punch from afar is a very powerful poking tool. Use it; abuse it. Crouching medium punch acts as an anti-air and should be used as an experimental anti-air agaisnt normals that beat lariat i.e. Chun Li's neutral jumping roundhouse. Pressure opponents with standing medium punch and then use it as a buffer to extend your light punch SPD range.

FIERCE (HARD) PUNCH

• Not much use when done from standing. Crouching hard punch can be used to go under certain moves such as Chun Li or Sagat's standing roundhouse (from certain distances). Jumping fierce has a lot of range, so use it well to get in. Also, because of most players don't like to jump after blocking one hit, use jumping fierce punch and then walk up SPD.

SHORT (LIGHT) KICK

• Standing, close light kick is an easy tick throw, but it is not comboable. Far standing light kick acts as a good tool for footsies, and if used correctly, can lead to knock downs via ex banishing flat. Crouching light kick can also be used as a tick throw, but because of the low block stun, a crouching light kick block string must be precise otherwise it will be beaten by a shoryuken if the gap is big enough. Use the space between a crouching light punch and crouching light kick to allow space for an opponent to start his/her prejump frames and punish accordingly. Doing an angled jump and pressing down and light kick makes Zangief drop to the ground with his knees faster. There are two main purposes for this: 1) To land on the ground sooner (he extends his legs after the knees quickly) and 2) It is used as a good tick throw. For advanced Zangief players who are looking to up their game, crouching light kick combos are the next step. Although difficult to consistently get, the advantage of a crouching light kick is that it stops jumpers, deals more damage, and it can lead to tick throws.

FORWARD (MEDIUM) KICK

• Close standing medium kick is comboable into ex banishing flat. Far standing medium kick acts as a unique footsie tool for certain low normals (Ryu's crouching medium kick). It is negative on block and hit, so use it sparingly and at appropriate distances. Crouching medium kick shortens the distance a bit and can close the distance enough for a light punch SPD. However, on block, this move is negative and should be used sparingly. Jumping medium kick can be used as a tick if high enough and can be used early to stuff out certain moves, such as Dhalsim's standing roundhouse (the extended version).

ROUNDHOUSE (HARD) KICK

• Standing hard kick is a good tool for anti-air purposes and 720 setups. It is also Zangief's normal for karas (kara ex banishing flat). Crouching hard kick is a decent sweep and down forward crouching has improved range but more negative frames on block. Because of the range, use this as punishes or a good footsie tool for knock downs.

COMMAND NORMALS

HEADBUTT

VERTICAL JUMP + MP or HP

• MP version deals 500 stun / 200 damage.
• HP version deals 600 stun / 150 damage.

003. STREET FIGHTER 4 - ZANGIEF - SPECIAL MOVES

CLICK FOR FULL SIZE

SPINNING PILE DRIVER

360 + PUNCH

BANISHING FLAT

FORWARD, DOWN, DOWN-FORWARD + PUNCH

• Absorbs fireballs.
• Good for zoning, getting in close to set up SPD.
• EX version knocks down.

SPINNING LARIAT

THREE PUNCHES

• Goes through fireballs

QUICK LARIAT

THREE KICKS

RUNNING BEARHUG

360 + KICK

• Perform right next to opponent for a suplex.

SUPER

FINAL ATOMIC BUSTER

720 + PUNCH

ULTRA

ULTRA ATOMIC BUSTER

720 + THREE PUNCHES

004. STREET FIGHTER 4 - ZANGIEF - COMBOS

MASTER GUIDE COMBOS

• cr.lp x2-3, standing far lk, cancel into ex banishing flat
• cr.lk x2-4, cancel into ex banishing flat
• close standing mp, cancel into ex banishing flat
• double lariat (opponent fadc), ex banishing flat
• jump in hp, close standing mp, cancel into ex banishing flat
• crossup flying body attack, cr. lk, cancel into quick double lariat
• focus attack (opponent crumple), dash cancel into super or ultra

005. STREET FIGHTER 4 - ZANGIEF - MATCH UPS

Choose a character to view match up notes and videos.

VS.VS.VS.VS.VS.

VS.VS.VS.VS.VS.

VS.VS.VS.VS.VS.

VS.VS.VS.VS.VS.

VS.VS.VS.VS.VS.

ABEL | AKUMA | BALROG | BLANKA | C. VIPER | CAMMY | CHUN-LI | DAN | DHALSIM | FEI-LONG |  E.HONDA | EL FUERTE | GEN | GOUKEN | GUILE | KEN | M. BISON | ROSE | RUFUS | RYU | SAGAT | SAKURA |  SETH | VEGA | ZANGIEF

vs. Dictator (Bison)

• Any scissor kick that isn't light kick can be punished with an SPD.
• Scissor kick and psycho crusher have frames where they aren't considered off the ground, so sometimes a lucky SPD will grab him out of the animations.
• Neutral jumping up fierce (headbutt) is a good counter to Ditactor's headstomp (if timed correctly). Do it early enough and it will stop and headstomp shenanigans.
• Focus attack dash cancels all lose to Dictator's roundhouse, so if Ditactor blocks your ex greenhand attempt, just take the hit or combo.
• Ditactor's standing roundhouse is an incredible zoning tool against Zangief. To get past it, use properly spaced crouching light punch buffers (into ex banishing flat), so if he whiffs it you get a knock down. Use crouching down forward roundhouse to knock him down as well. Do this far away rather than up close, because Zangief's hit box moves forward enough to get hit by standing roundhouse. Lariat will lose to Ditactor unless used at the exact moment he does standing roundhouse or if Zangief's hit box is in between Dictator's boot and his thighs.
• Against a good Ditactor, knocking a Ditactor down becomes important: it is the decisive factor of whether you win or lose. After a knock down, Dictator's best options are to: back dash, ex devils reverse, ex psycho crusher, block, jump, and teleport. Cancel out most of his charge options by crossing him up on wakeup and do a well-timed meaty body splash (down fierce). This cancels out Dictator's ex psycho crusher and jump. Now option select body splash into banish flat (or the ex version if you have the meter). If you hit nothing, banishing flat will come out if you input the move during the body splash. Thus, if Ditactor does a teleport, you can throw him. If he does a back dash, you knock him down. If Dictator does ex devils reverse he escapes, but you are STILL close to him. If you feel that the Ditactor is abusing ex devils reverse, body splash, then neutral jump headbutt him. Now he has to worry about stun and a possible knock out.

vs. Blanka

• Blanka's rainbow ball can be absorbed by a focus attack. Dash at the appropriate time and spd.
  
• Kara ex greenhand can punish a block upball or horizontal ball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT4QQgBPVFM&feature=channel_page
  
• Bait Blanka's slide which quick lariat and focus attack to absorb the slide, then dash and spd.
• Blocking Blanka's ultra yields an easy ultra if you have the bar. After Blanka rolls into your guard, mash light punch banishing flat to get a reversal out. The banishing flat will whiff blanka as he recoils/bounces from his ultra and as he lands, you are free to ultra.
• Because of kara greenhand, you should always pressure Blanka on his wakeup with crouching light kick. He has no reliable wakeup options that can beat crouching light kick pressure. If Blanka tries to jump, he gets stopped by crouching light kick. If Blanka tries to back dash, he gets hit by crouching light kick. If Blanka tries to focus back dash crouching light kick, you can buffer into ex banishing flat and knock him down for his efforts. Now, here comes the brilliant part of this. If Blanka decides to ex upball you on your wakeup (down charge then up two kicks), then kara greenhand gives you enough distance to knock him down (if you weren't crouching, you can just do regular ex banishing flat). The only time you really stop doing this is when Blanka gets ultra meter or if you are lower on the life scale than Blanka.
  

vs. Abel

• Pressure Abel with st. mp and work him into a corner.
• If an Abel likes to roll on wake up, makes him scared by jumping, but time it so when you land, you can throw him.
• There is a gap in Abel's rekkas. Use lariat to stop the guessing game if he does it on you when you block or even throw him with an SPD or 720.
• Abel's wheel kick (half circle back kick) loses to standing roundhouse.
• If Abel's wheel kick lands too close, you can SPD him.
• Abel's pressure strings are incredibly tight and strict, if he tries to tick you with standing medium kick dash, and you block it, you can throw him. However, keep in mind that Abel's ex command throw has throw invincibility. So, although this isn't reliable, Abel can beat your SPD and 720 with his ex command throw. However, do not fear it. The risk reward is highly in your favor.

vs. Ryu

• Practice on reaction ex banish flat to shut down Ryu's fireball game. If the Ryu knows his spacing, then use kara greenhand to make knock him down and make him doubt his spacing.
• Push Ryu to the corner with combinations of standing light kick buffered into ex banishing flat, standing medium punch, and standing medium kick (the far version beats his crouching forward). Once in the corner, stay just under the timer and jump up fierce (headbutt) to stop him from tornado kicking out of the corner.
• After knocking a Ryu down, mix it up with jumping body splash, jumping knees (down+lk) to throw or a crouching light kick combo into ex banishing flat for another knock down.
• If the Ryu knows how to shoryuken crossups, apply short jumping (hold up then upforward), to make Zangief's horizontal distance after a jump shorter, then use knees to make his shoryuken lose (not whiff) to your jump-in attack. If properly done, you will see the animation of the shoryuken, but it will get stuffed out by knees. Body splash loses to a well-guess shoryuken because of its hitbox, but if the Ryu doesn't know which side you are going to hit, it is still a legitimate option.
• If a Ryu is not throwing fireballs at all, then use the time to properly time your lariats to gain meter (and to dodge fireballs if he throws them from max range). Pause momentarily if he's going to go in to stop you.

vs. Ken

• Ken has slower recovery on his fireball, so predict when he does a fireball and jump fierce as a way to get in or ex banish flat him for a knock down.
• Standing medium punch as well as lariat stops Ken's forward kick. If the Ken has good spacing, however, medium punch needs to be used while moving back, because it hits Ken's upper hitbox while making his standing medium kickwhiff. If you have trouble doing this or need to move forward for corner pressure, buffer crouching light punch into ex banishing flat for the knock down.
• If a Ken is using crouching medium kick a lot, a standing light kick buffered into ex banishing flat will stop him from using it so often. Also, standing medium kick beats his crouching medium kick clean.
• Any version of Ken's tatsu loses to spinning pile driver or ultra on block.
• If you are worried about Ken's wakeup pressure, then back dash. If he tries to kara throw you, he moves forward and you are in range to throw him back.

vs. Chun Li

• This matchup is difficult if you don't understand the concept behind it. Chun Li's normals, arguably, are better than Zangiefs, so against a good Chun Li, you're going to be beat clean most of the time. What makes this matchup in your favor, however, is the clear discrepancy in damage. Zangief has more life and deals more damage, so with this in mind, you should adopt the bullying strategy--that is, you should NOT care about how Chun Li hits you, but instead make her scared of how much damage Zangief DOES to her.
• A good Chun Li will use her fireball as a spacing tool. Essentially, because of its slow speed, it becomes a moving wall that's used as a testing tool. If Zangief jumps, she jumps and fierces you. If you block, she can move forward and throw or use standing fierce or roundhouse to push you further back. What you can do to stop this is to not be predicatble about this and do your best to keep moving forward. If the Chun Li loses her timing, she can't throw a fireball without being in range of a ex banishing flat. If the Chun Li does know her spacing, kara ex banishing flat STILL works because it extends the range of the banishing flat and Chun Li's hitbox just as she throws a fireball is deceivingly extended.
• Utilize crouching medium punch to beat Chun Li's neutral jumping roundhouse (it beats lariat).
• If you are having trouble getting in on Chun Li's standing roundhouse, use crouching medium kick to get in. If you spam it, standing roundhouse will almost never hit. Also, although this shouldn't be relied on, a whiffed spd lowers Zangief's hitbox, so Chun Li's standing roundhouse (at max range) will whiff him sometimes. Use short jump spinning pile driver to catch Chun Li when she extends her hitbox with crouching or standing roundhouse. Also, down forward roundhouse will punish Chun Li's standing roundhouse if she whiffs.
• Do your best to work Chun Li to the corner and stay under the timer once there. Jump headbutt to stop any attempts of wall jumping out of the corner.
• After knocking Chun Li down, mix it up with neutral jumping up fierce (headbutt), jumping knees (down +lk), and safe jump to beat Chun Li's ex spinning bird kick. Change the timing of these moves if Chun Li decides to jump up on wake up and throw you. If the Chun Li's timing is amazing, then the above tricks won't really work. Instead, do a safe jump and bait out the spinning bird kick. If you block it, then walk forward and light punch SPD her.

vs. Dhalsim

• You can play patient at the beginning of the round and gain meter at max range or you can go wild in your attempts to knock Dhalsim down. The most imporant thing to understand about this matchup is capitalzing every knock down as well as understanding that you will ALWAYS take a hit when you try to get in on Dhalsim. 
• At about three Zangiefs away is Dhalsim's optimum fighting range. Weave in and out of this range to either make him whiff or to get closer. Never be within that range for extended periods of time otherwise you will get poked to your death.
• Knock down tools include: punch lariat, kick lariat, ex banishing flat, and crounching roundhouse (against his forward or down fierce) Mixing this up will make it hard for a good Dhalsim to time his footsie tools against you.
• When you break past Dhalsim's optimum range, your options are to jump, block, and to gamble a knock down via the above options. You can also focus attack some of his attack if you release it early enough, but this is not reliable. If you jump in on him, mix it up with short jump to make his knee whiff and spd him, jump in with medium kick, knees, forward fierce, or roundhouse. If he counters you with jumping neutral jab, use jumping medium punch early to stop his attempts. This honestly is a roulette of which moves beat which, but because of your high stamina, you are allowed to make mistakes.
• Once you knock Dhalsim down, DO NOT cross him up if it puts his back OUTSIDE of the corner. Winning this matchup is all about knocking Dhalsim down and putting him in the corner. One his wakeup (outside of the corner), use splash and option select to greenhand, so if he teleports, you are still close to him.
• Dhalsim in the corner cannot teleport out. Therefore, Zangief has a 50/50 wakeup option on Dhalsim. If Dhalsim decides to jump or teleport, he loses to Zangief's Lariat. If Dhalsim decides to block, he will eat a spinning pile driver.
• Lariat goes through Dhalsim's ultra and super.
• If the Dhalsim knocks you out of the air and does his ultra when he lands, Zangief's ultra will beat his ultra because Dhalsim's extended hit box. If Dhalsim does super however, his invincibility frames will not allow you to ultra him.

vs. Zangief

• This matchup is all about which Zangief knows his spacing more. Combos aren't as important and meter is generally saved for ending combos or super.
• Standing mp, standing jab, and crouching roundhouse, and standing roundhouse beat lariat on the ground. Utilize a far jumping fierce to beat a whiffed lariat. Use jump knees (down +lk) to beat lariat that has already started, but because knees has such little hit stun, the opposing Zangief can simply lariat again before you even land.
• After knocking the opposing Zangief down, utilize jumping headbutt (up fierce) to beat wakeup lariat or spinning pile driver. If the same is done to you, retaliate with your own jumping fierce (this only works if their timing is bad and if you do your headbutt early) or back dash. Back dash loses to lariat and a well-timed, walk up SPD.
• A good bait in this matchup is to use ex banish flat, then focus attack dash cancel back. If the Zangief does an ultra, you can dash ultra him back.

vs. Balrog (Boxer)

• Balrog's footsie tools are incredible powerful if the Boxer knows his spacing very well. He will utilize a combination of crouching roundhouse, crouching fierce (to stop your jump-ins), standing jab (to beat your lariat), standing fierce, and standing roundhouse to keep you away.
• To beat Balrog's normals, you need to know what beats what. His jab beats your lariat and stops most of your attempts to get in, but standing medium punch, standing roundhouse, and even your own jab can sometimes trade or beat his jab. His standing roundhouse and fierce lose to lariat. They also have a decent recovery time, so you can sneak in a standing medium punch to punish his whiff or standing roundhouse. If a Balrog is too happy with crouching roundhouse, you can time a kick lariat, standing light kick buffer to ex greenhand (after he whiffs, although this is tough), or standing medium punch him after he whiffs (he extends his hitbox a bit). If a Balrog is beating your jump-ins with crouching fierce very well, use jumping medium kick or short jump to make his crouching fierce whiff and throw him.
• Well-timed lariats will beat every dash punch option except for ex uppercut. Jump straight up and headbutt randomly or throw to beat dash punch options. The key is to look at how Balrog telegraphs himself everytime he does a dash punch. He lowers his body and fist a bit. When you see this, lariat.
• After a knock down, do your best to stick to Boxer. Letting Boxer get away is wasting a huge opportunity to win. Use a lot of meaty crouching light punches. If Balrog decides to jump, this will catch him and allow you to combo. If Boxer decides to headbutt, the crouching light punch will recover quick enough to allow you to block. If you knock down Boxer via an SPD, then you should kara light greenhand to get closer and attempt a down forward crouching roundhouse to beat his dash back, a crouching light kick to stop his jump, or throw to beat his block.
• A blocked ex uppercut or ex swing punch can be punished by your ultra if close enough.

vs. Rose

• Against Rose, space correctly and jump accordingly to punish her fireballs with fierce punch.
• Against a Rose with no meter, do not jump in. Do your best to work her into the corner.
• Whenever Rose is knocked down, always do a meaty crouching light punch. She has no good wakeup options that punish crouching light punch because it recovers so quickly.

vs. C. Viper

• Against Viper, patience is key. Try to gain meter with kick lariat, but only at full screen and out of the range of her specials. Her projectile whiffs if you do a properly timed kick lariat.
• Her footsie game is a lot weaker than Gief's, so if you knock her down, force her to block with continued footsies such as standing light or medium punch and standing roundhouse.
• Never be in the corner against C. Viper. Her ultra combo becomes a lot easier to land once you are there because of the location as well as your size.
• Because Viper's anti-air special is angled, she can use it to avoid an improperly timed cross up body splash (down fierce while in the air). Mix this up with cross up knees (down and light kick) or use a meaty crouching light punch on her wake up (it takes more frames than most shoryukens).

vs. El Fuerte

• To avoid his running mixup keep this in mind: jumping beats his grab option (you can punish with a spinning pile driver once he lands), focus attack and dashing beats his splash option (if properly timed, you can also throw him from this position), and his slide is also punished by a focus attack and dashing.
• Once you get a lead, sit on it and let him work to get in on you. Fuerte has no far game options or reliable way to get meter.
• If you feel that you are unable to guess on his mixup, just ex banish flat to get away.
• Jump and headbutt occasionally as a spacing tool. Let Fuerte go to you.

vs. Akuma

• Akuma is neutral (0 frames) after a blocked st. roundhouse. Try to observe what the Akuma does after this and respond accordingly.
• Slowly move forward and block fireballs or lariat through them. Only use kick lariat because Akuma's dive kick can beat a whiffed lariat or an improperly timed (this is strict) crouching punch lariat.
• Once Akuma has meter, do not jump in on him unless you know the spacing correctly. He is looking for a raging demon or some way to land it. Bait out a raging demon by doing short jump. Jump again or throw him if he's close enough.
• Once you have Akuma in the corner do not go too close to him after a knock down or her will teleport out for free. Try to space yourself directly under the timer and weave in and out from there.
• If you see a improperly-timed air fireball from Akuma, use ex banishing flant to go through the fireballs and ultra once he lands. This will take some practice, but it is definitely a skill worth learning.

vs. Rufus

• A Rufus with no meter is free game once he is knocked down. Do your best to capitalize on this situation and rush Rufus down (this includes at the beginning of the first match).
• Ex messiah kick is the bane of this matchup, but punch lariat will beat his overhead and sweep option. It will trade with his flip option.
• Lariat will NOT hit a Rufus who dive kicks from a very close range.
• Neutral jumping fierce will beat Rufus's crouching fierce. You can also ex spinning pile driver the crouching fierce, but the timing is tough.

vs. Sagat

• Sagat's standing roundhouse zones Zangief very well, but there are ways to get by it. Ex banishing flat, down forward roundhouse, jab spinning pile driver (very hard to do) when he whiffs it, and jumping from a distance with fierce beat it.If you are close enough, punch lariat will actually trade with Sagat's standing roundhouse, which is ideal for you because Sagat is knocked down.
• Sagat will mix up his tiger shots against you. Use the kick lariat to dodge the low ones and build meter. Use crouching medium kick to get by the high ones and to get closer at the same time.
• Once you knock Sagat down, this is where Zangief gains the incredible upperhand: because Sagat is so tall, many of Zangief's crossups become ambiguous. If you space yourself correctly, he can't even tiger uppercut you because your body splash will always hit him on the head. With this in mind, aim for a little in front of the head (you hit him in the front) or a little behind the head (you hit him in the back) to force the Sagat player to guess which side to block. Once you hit, be sure to always knock him down again with any variation of the ex banish flat combo. Ideally, however, you have mastered crouching light kick x 3 to ex banish flat because if Sagat does block your air attack, you need him to then guess whether he should jump to avoid a throw, block to avoid your crouching light kick, or tiger uppercut. Some dirty tricks to use on Sagat's wake up is to purposefully whiff body splash just a little above his head so the opponent thinks it hit, but then to ultra or to suplex when you are close (close 360k).
• Good Sagats won't fear SPD because post SPD, it is not possible to cross up Sagat, thus the oki is much weaker. If you're going to throw, use your ultra or suplex for your wakeup game advantage.
• Use your ultra when you KNOW it will hit (after a huge whiff). Zangief's ultra is so important to regaining the lost hp on getting in on Sagat.

vs. Vega

• Vega's walldive attacks can be beaten by a well-timed crouching lariat. Wait until his hitbox is right above you (when he is about to hit you) and punch lariat.
• If a Vega is keen on using his backflip on wakeup, whiff a standing roundhouse or a light punch banishing flat and ultra him when he is out of his flip.
• Feel free to cross up Vega. He has no reliable way to stop your body splash.
• If a Vega is using jump back fierce on your wakeup, do an ex banishing flat on wakeup and ultra him when he lands.

vs. E. Honda

• Honda has an assortment of tools that beat out lariat. Understanding what will beat it is key to winning this matchup. Honda's neutral jumping fierce (he holds out his hands) and roundhouse (belly), beat lariat at appropriate distances (medium and close range respectively). His far standing fierce can beat your lariat as well.
• Utilizes lariat on reaction to beat Honda's headbutt. Bait the headbutt by interchanging kick lariat and punch lariat.
• You can punish Honda's medium and fierce headbutt with ex greenhand for a knock down.
• If you expect a Honda to jump up on your wakeup and do fierce, sometimes you can get away with Jumping early and do up fierce (your headbutt).
• Do your best to bait Honda's ex headbutt. A Honda with no meter is a lot easier to get in on (because then his moves can trade with your air attacks).
• Utilize a strong ground game and jump when you feel he has no charge. Standing medium punch works really well in applying pressure in this matchup. Attempt to use standing roundhouse after a crouching light punch string to see if he is holding up.
• If you are ahead, sit on your lead. Build meter through kick lariat. Honda is best when he turtles, but if he cannot, then he has to rely on his rushdown. Let him play his weaker game once you get a lead. 

vs. Guile

• This is an even matchup because his sonic booms (especially his jab sonic boom) are incredibly safe. Reacting to them with ex banishing flat becomes hard, so use them sparingly or when you start to see a pattern against Guile.
• For the most part, understanding the concept against Guile is the most important thing. Realize that the chip damage from a sonic boom is very little. Thus, the idea is to walk and block, walk and block, and walk and block again. Getting Guile into the corner with as little damage as possible is ideal, but it usually never goes that well.
• Guile can use crouching fierce to beat most of your jump ins. Appropriately space yourself and use jumping medium kick to beat his crouching fierce. Guile can also interchange this with standing fierce at certain distances. Jumping medium kick and jumping fierce should beat this out.
• Once you get Guile into the corner, do your best to make him stay there. Do not use crossups unless you are sure they will hit. Guile might try to use jumping light kick to beat your lariat, but if you time it very well, it will trade and put Guile in an even worse position. Do your best NOT to use ex banishing flat here unless it's from a combo. The worst situation is Guile deals damage and gets out of the corner.

vs. Cammy

• Cammy is an oddball matchup, and usually if it's your first time playing a Cammy, you will take a lot of damage trying to understand her. However, turtling against a Cammy will reduce a lot of your damage as well as maximize yours. Her cannon spike has such range and duration that it will easily hit Zangief. On the other hand, her spiral arrow will be used a lot less in this matchup because she lacks any real purpose to use it outside of a combo. For the most part, turtle hard and build meter with kick lariat.
• Cammy has a mixup game after a blocked cannon strike. For the most part, if it hits deep, you are in trouble for a 50/50 mixup. She can throw you or cannon spike. If you are in the lead, just take the throw because a Cammy is always looking for openings to combo into another cannon spike (or worse, an ultra). If it hits too high, however, you are free to do a spinning pile driver, ultra, or a super once she lands.
• Cammy has no reliable way to beat lariat. She can use far jumping roundhouse and standing roundhouse, but these are on your whiffs, not on a properly timed lariat.
• For the most part, let Cammy whiff her specials and play a footsie game to pressure her further into the corner. 

vs. Feilong

• A mixup of kick and punch lariat can be used to bait Feilong's rekkas. If this doesn't work well (usually depends on the Feilong player's experience), then mixup the distance and use kick lariat at very random points. Also, standing medium punch if used frequently can beat his rekkas.
• Rekkas are safe if Feilong hits you at the very tip, so don't whiff anything in trying to punish them.
• Feilong's jump back medium punch can beat your lariat. Use ex banishing flat if you predict that he will do this and ultra him when he lands.
• Feilong's overhead kick is unsafe on block. Although the window is small, you can ultra him if you block it.
• Feilong's shienkyaku (his version of the shoryuken) is angled, so you can still cross him up with a meaty body splash.
• Feilong's roundhouse rekkukyaku (also known as chicken wing) is safe on block at the appropriate distance. Try not to stick anything out when he does this.
• The main part of this matchup is knocking Feilong down and holding a lead. He has no reliable way to beat your lariat (unless you whiff it), so abuse your advantages.

vs. Gouken

• Gouken has a good keep away game, but his normals aren't that great. When you are up close to him, pressure him with your footsies.
• At mid range, if you whiff a lariat, he can punish with a high fireball or a low fireball.
• On Gouken's wakeup, feel free to body splash him for added pressure, but if you feel he will parry your splash, empty jump and throw him to keep him guessing.
• Gouken's senkugoshoha is punishable with an spd if he's too close (the move where he goes horizontally across the screen and hits you with two hits of his fist).
• If a Gouken is low on life and has ultra meter, sometimes it's bestto crouch and press light punch and light kick at the same time as his block strings (continuously) to see if is going to tick throw you into an ultra setup.
• You can rely on your ex banishing flats in this matchup pretty well. Just be sure to gain meter safely.

vs. Sakura

• Sakura does not have a reliable anti-air. Feel free to cross her up on her wakeup.
• Sakura's crouching fierce beats a lot of your jumping normals, but if you space your moves correctly, you can either short jump and throw her (so her crouching fierce whiffs) or you can use jumping fierce from appropriate distances.
• Sakura cannot space with her fireball as well as Ryu or Ken, so ex greenhand is very reliable in this matchup.

vs. Gen

• Feel free to add.

vs. Seth

• Seth is an incredibly hard matchup for Zangief. He can space very well with his sonic boom, standing fierce, and jump back fierce. In truth, Seth has all the tools to shut down Zangief. If Seth somehow get a lead and an ultra, you have no real way on jumping on Seth.
• For the most part, winning with Gief is all about gaining some lead and applying a fake pressure. That is, pushing Seth into the corner without really whiffing anything. 
• At the beginning of the match. Build meter with kick lariat from the end of the screen until you have at least one bar. Then try moving in and blocking. Jump after awhile has passed so he doesn't know when you will jump.
• Ocassionally, when you see Seth jump up, throw a lariat to see if he throws out a jumping fierce. If he does, lariat will beat if you are close enough. If you are not, Seth's normal will beat yours.
• If Seth is in the corner, stand a little behind the timer, so he can't wall jump out of the corner. Lariat will not beat his down medium kick (his hop). A jumping up fierce (headbutt) will at the appropriate distance. This entire match is about distance and getting a lead. It is very difficult, but possible.

vs. Dan

• Treat this matchup like you're facing Ken except with a worse fireball (but stronger ultra).
• His ultra can be focus attacked and absorbed.