Dhalsim vs. Zangief Thread

I am starting character specific threads for some of the problem characters since the match up thread is inefficient having to dig around multiple pages when you are only having trouble with certain characters and it switches around a lot. I’ve been playing as Dhalsim for 4 days now and just now feel really comfortable with him and can now pull of IAT his BnBs. The only thing is my experience and knowledge of matchups is lacking.

When ever I get this match up my face goes :annoy: and after my two rounds my Dhalsim goes :wasted:

It feels like if the Zangief can mix up his Lariat or or EX Green hand he can force me into the corner and Dhalsim has no answers to counter his kick Lariat or jump in > SPD mixup in the corner.

Almost is a free win. What is a Dhalsim to do?

I have a lot of practice with this matchup and it ain’t fun. It’s all about not letting him though anything. Keep him at a distance and zone with fireballs, If he lariats, punish with standing HP. If he jumps, standing HK or b.HK stuff a lot of what he has. If he comes in with green fist, just block and throw. If he green fists a fireball just follow with super or ultra. When in the corner, don’t ever teleport, just wait for him to jump or lariat and slide out.

From the Matchup Thread…

From the Match up thread.

Delted this post. Too long

[media=youtube]8Vd0GaIpqAM[/media]

Ah dude, don’t quote those posts, they’re from more than half a year ago, from when I first started playing Sim, and they’re basically useless now.

Cool I’ll just leave it up to others then to post in here for new tactics.
Maybe useful for people still in G2. Will have to sift through the matchup forum more I suppose starting from the most recent date.

Omg the biggest quete post i’ve ever seen lol…
About the match up…zangief is an easy match up for me…tips:
NEVER teleport close to him!Lariat is the simple answer…use it at 1/100 knockdowns with fire trap.
Dont tele if you r to close to wall…if he trap me i do slide under jumps and throw or backdash…also a good solution is when u thow him and accidentaly he wasnt thrown at wall try jump above him and low spear…last solution if u see a jump in and u have super or ultra when he is down two teleport to get the ticket to freedom :-?(iyo trick)
When u block simple green hand or ex just throw throw and throw…even if u have been hitten by the simple one again throw…
Mix up ur antiairs…he has the solution for every antiair but can he guess right?antiairs against him are s.rh,b+rh,s.fp(stricted frames before he land AND if he had iput a move at the start of the jump),b+mp,j+mp(favourite),j+fp(risky),s.mk(if he attemp to jump) and of course super and ultra…
Be careful at midscreen fires because of his ex green…
If he try to come close with green hand punish him after the active frames of the hands or even better throw him if he is too close.
Mix up ur stand ups to fast and slow…if he dont cross up u and he tries only jump ins reversal tele happy or backdash…try not to guess his block strings…they pain so much!
Sweep to close lariat…s.fp the away…
I hope that helped and didnt had the time ?? see all the quotes to take the similar ones…
Nivek :wink:

What a love/hate matchup this is. Whenever I’m matched against Gief, it’s either I get steamrolled, or I get him locked down.

Generally speaking, playing Sim feels like a balancing act, but against Gief, it’s a high-wire act riding a unicycle while juggling chainsaws. It’s gonna be a fireball zoning game. Kick him out of the air when he jumps. Poke when he walks forward and when he lariats. Not long after, he’s gonna start the green-handing forward. Be wary of his LP-SPD range. Punish them on block. There will be little to no IAT shennanigans, as he can just mash out the lariats.

It’s a stressful fight for me, but there’s nothing more satisfying than a good zangief lockdown. :slight_smile:

the main problem for me are short jump + grab…

I eat a lot of ultra try to do b+HK…

3 possible solutions:

  • close the distance as you see he’s jumping and do b.HK
  • jump away/back dash
  • use s.MK… but if he use j.LK he’ll counter your limb.

I haven’t play yet with a real skilled Zangief… 90% of them just spam lariat and win.
For example if you see he’s not using j.MK in the air, so the match will be so much easier, because you can zoning him better with yoga fire and s.HK.

However In the training mode, when Gief is at maximum height, s.HK wins agains gief j.MK :smokin:

I actually see this as my best match-up. If they get lariat happy, then jump HK that shit right in his face. It will beat it ever time. ( As long as us 1+ character distances away. ) And pretty much just zone him out.

but it doesn’t work for KKK lariat.

I prefer to punish with s.HP. To get the right time you’ve to hearing the scream of Gief when does Lariat:

PPP -> “uuuuurrrrriiiiiiaaaaa” <— when you hear the first “a” hit HP :lol:

KKK -> “irriaa” <— when you hear the first “r” hit HP (that’s not easy)

The major danger here is sticking your limb out at the wrong time and Gief EX Banishing to get in at the right time to get into your face. That’s the only time I ever lose this match. When they don’t fish for a safe Banish, I’m golden.

Sweep beats lariat and they cant quick stand from it, so if hes close and Lariating or mid distance, HK slide/Sweep. Gives you time yo back away.

Just try not to stick out random limbs against anyone who has an invincible move (Shotos, Lariat, possibly Demon will grab the limb as well?). Only do so when you know they will get hit/have to block.

Is there a way to tell if Geif’s body splash will Cross up or not? With his new short hop thing, its even harder to tell.

I’ve noticed a lot of sim players start off by backdash/jumping back and zoning (yeah, that’s the de facto standard for most of the cast vs gief), which is awesome. I don’t play a ton of sims, but the ones I do play usually start of with that opening play- put as much distance as you can between us. While you are on the other side of the screen, you can’t touch me save yoga fire, which dissipates over time. While you are off setting up your zone, all I’m doing is building meter with kkk or ppp lariat (i vary it). I usually don’t start my attack until I have a min. one meter, because with that ex greenhand in my pocket I can knock you down, and then the fun starts. Most sims see me doing this, and break from their strat and start coming in- chasing me down! That helps me out a little more. I don’t win every match, but by and large once I have a ex bar or two, I am pretty confident I can get in and score that knockdown… If I eat a few fireballs to get them so be it.
I’m not even close to ultradavid’s level, but that works for me- and yeah it’s just online (no arcades by me). I used to hate sim matchups, but now I find them a welcome respite from shoto/blanka oversaturation, as they are dynamic and energetic.

Standing HK is a godsend in this matchup. Don’t get predictable with your pokes, of course, but Zangief is tall enough that it won’t whiff on him standing at max range, and it stuffs a lot of his jump-ins early.

Also, don’t give ground if you can help it. The first thing you do should not be backdash or jump-back. Not just because Zangief will sit around and build meter (which you can punish with the right spacing and timing, but your piddly little fists are nothing to him), but because you never want to get cornered. If you block a green hand, back throw him so you have more screen to play with.

If you’re in the corner, sliding is a pretty bad idea if they’re right next to you unless they are jumping (which I don’t see why they would unless you are knocked down and still getting up). Slide is vulnerable to Ultra and command throws at the range you will probably be of him when you’re in the corner. While you are still at risk of getting hit by lariat, that’s not as bad as eating a whole 75% of your health from an ultra or getting grabbed (but still bad). Prediction is key whether they’re going to lariat or command throw you (or even use green hand move). I’d recommend jumping your way out of the corner, but don’t be too predictable about it. I still need to try this out, but maybe light punch yoga mummy (or is it spear <.<) can help you get out of the corner.

EX banishing is pretty brutal though and whether you are still keeping the distance in the match or winning, Zangief will probably have plenty of EX to use in round 2 or later in round 1 and it’s almost like a free distance close in for them since you can’t really hit them during it except for the initial start up of the move (which isn’t too many frames). You don’t wanna get hit by it since it causes knockdown unless you’re blocking, but at the same time you do not want to end up near him after he finishes using it (EX or light punch banishing, it doesn’t matter, though EX has the quickest recovery) because as ridiculous as it looks despite the distance, they can easily follow that up with a command throw. Jumping back is the safest option if you see that coming and interrupting it is usually based on luck.

EX fireballs may actually come in handy for distancing in this match, but you don’t want to use them if you are in range of any banishing hand move or jumping fierce punch. Back throw is either hit or miss, but if you can pull it off in a corner, then you’re instantly more safe now that you’re out of the corner and have a whole stage until you hit another corner.

I’ve gotten better at this match up. Really once they get in close, you have to figure out a way to escape. MK slide and backdash away if they jump over you, or just backdash away, or throw to get away.

In general back dash instead of jump and never ever throw out your jump HP. Back jump you give up too much ground and they have time to either Lariat towards you closing the distance. Backdash and c.mp or c.HP to put distance between you instead. Do your best you keep him away with yoga flame. MK if he jumps long range and b.HK his jump ins if he gets close.

I found that b.HK is pretty effective against lariat from mid range. Pretty much i’ve been successful standing my ground with b.HK to knock them out of the air and then pushing back with Yoga fire and ducking MP.

From a distance mixing up yoga flame and crouching moves that don’t get hit by Lariat. If they Lariat from far you can hit them with c.HP at the end of the Lariat. Yoga fire will bait the Lariat, so I’d say throw a yoga flame and step forward to get in c.HP range.

Watch out for empty jump ins if the jump in just out of your b.HK. They may go for ex green hand. Block and throw.

Still a tough match. Make a more than 1 mistake your toast.

I haven’t been playing for long, but this is what I’ve found to be one of the most important things fighting Gief. I’m very reluctant to give up any ground at all in this matchup, because when he gets you in the corner, you’re going to have a hard time getting out again.

I love this matchup, I used to have trouble with it but now win like 70% of the time, everything you can do is already covered here, all you need to work on is not messing up, one slip up could and most likely would cost you the match. I’ve had so many matches against Gief where I dominate and have on more hit to win with almost full health only to lose to being caught in his ultra.

One question is it possible for him to grab you while you’re in block stun? is’t either that or you have the smallest window to jump or teleport away.

Its not possible. Theyre probably grabbing you as soon as you come out (tick throwing I think its called)