okay, i don’t know how to fight zangief. he has that dropping hard kick that catches me in the air, and his standing FP that has like good range with damage. he always counters with the 360 grab as well as rolling and grabbing. i just don’t know how to fight this guy anymore, i don’t know how to advance. everytime i do a false move like shoryuken, by the time i land, he counters me by grabbing me with the 360 power driver. and when i play poke at this zangief, like hit and run. zangief has like good defense, do it barely affects him and then he just smashes a punch against me that takes more damage. any good pointers?
Did you already try Sagat and Guile?
Pick Vega, do his air moves, repeat, you just beat Zangief!
Pick Athena, c.fp, repeat, guess what? You won!
Pick Kyo, do every version of his roundhouse except jump foward, you won! For so reason Kyo’s c.mp beats all of gief’s jump-ins?!wtf?
It’s not easy for Sagat to beat an RC/K Gief, it’s close to even.
To be more general (and helpful)…
Just keep your distance. If you’ve got projectiles, use them to keep him far away from you so he’ll need to jump in at you, at which point you can anti-air him. (Just be careful when he lands.) If you don’t have 'jects, use your best pokes to keep him out of throw range. This might be hard because he has some really good ones himself, but it’s better to block his c.roundhouses then to fall victim to his 360.
Also, don’t jump in at him, especially when he has meter, because hell either kick you out the air, spin you out of the air, or throw you when you land. He can go up there and grab you himself with meter.
This is why good S- and P-Groove Geifs are so dangerous, since they can walk (or run) right up to you without needing to jump in, and after a close dodge or parry, it’s a 360 throw for you. If you ever see one of these guys, you’ve got a lot more to worry about than one who can RC well.
okay, i tried the things you guys told me, and thanks.
i think ragingstorm x idea of using vega worked best for awhile, til my friend caught on, and then just start countering by blocking then rolling, or power driver or the pressure of c.lk, c.lk., c.hk… 
man, zangief is a pain in da ass.
what groove/characters do u use?
i can use everyone, but mainly the ryu, chunli and yun.
and i can use all the grooves but mainly k or n.
its not that i can’t beat him, its just that i wanna dominate zangief. cause he takes out like a character and a half practically everytime.
abuse vega’s d,u+p but watch out for rc lariats
Ryu or any of the shotos doesn’t do to well against Zangief. IMO Chun gets counterd by zangief. Yun gets hurt by anyone. For chunli, don’t get too close to him, c.mp s.mp stuff, and force him to jump in and press the magic anti air button.
Honda’s not bad against Gief, i use him against him.
With shotos, just runaway with fireballs and cr. forward. With Chun, do st. strong for keep away, and again, use fireballs. Yun’s gonna be a hard character to use VS. Zangief.
If they get close at all, get away from them. Give them a hard time with moving in with Zangief.
BTW…Is ur av from the old Mario TV show or a video?
yeah man, thanks, zangief has pretty good stardard attacks for range like sagat. with a shoto like ryu against zangief, i just shoot a red weak fire ball at him, and then run behind it to advance and h.p or h.k. whatever works. but other than that, yeah, you don’t ever get too close to zangief. even if hes knocked down. cause its weird, as soon as he gets up from being knocked down, if you’re close, you can get countered by a power driver and you cannot escape.
Well, i like going close to Zangief…With Meter. i can Activate, super blah, because you can’t get thrown while doing those.
Just pick Sagat, and Sangief is history (not the case if it’s K-groove). I have never had trouble beating Sangief. I can beat Sangief with most of my characters. I only seem to have problems when I play against him with Terry in C-groove. Sangief is rarely used here where I play, but I know he can be a pain in the ass in K-groove. Sangief has good pokes and anti-airs.
Just pick Sagat, Vega, Ken, Sakura, Yamazaki, etc…poking bastards, and San has no chance.
Ryumexiacno
A good Zangief (any groove) is gonna be able to control. You wont want to play around in his jab range due to threat of the 360. Thus Shoto/Sakura/ and other melee pokers will get shut down unless you rely on their mid-range special pokes.
Standing/Crouching Fierce WILL shut you down if you dont special vs. it. Snapping out a jab.Shoryuken will do against it.
So basically he controls 2 areas about 100%
Countering Jump-in
Throw
(small exceptions being insane priorities from vega or other throwers, who he rules on ground.)
I’m not going to say anything about Tiers, I think they are exaggerated. But Zangief is not to be overlooked in a match, he aint the sucker he was in SF2
hahahah, alotta you guys say throw fire balls, but his like red cyclon dances through it but he keeps a distance so i can’t like get a good hit like a crouching sweep kick. and yes, indeed his stand FP or FK is annoying as fuck, and if not, his crouching FP. his 360+K power bomb grab that he runs towards is a killer. attacks with his weaks and mediums, and then pulls that outta nowhere while i’m blocking, and its unexpected. as well plays mind games with me, when i think zangief is gonna do a jump kick, just he just jumps and then walks up to me and power drives.
when i think about it, i think my friend who plays zangief knows me too well. i play him constantly and he knows how i play. i guess he can predict when i’m on defense and takes that as his advantage. and for offense, i don’t know what the hell i’m doing. hahahah. but my point is, i think its me thats sucking it up. if anyone has trouble against throws, like by any character. we should discuss it.
Try Vega and Blanka against him
Vega- jumping roundhouse/fierce, crouching fierce… but avoid doing his spring roll attack. watch your jumps when he has super.
Blanka- like vega, but if gief begins rushing hard, you can suprise with a burst of electricity.
mix it up a bit, hit and run…
If he’s in K, be sure to mix it up. Any atempt to use the same GC string will result in a JD/FAB(or RBG). I never get to play against Gief around here, but I use him alot.
—>>Ben
against zan i do good with ryu vega and kyo
kyo = crazy mixups
vega = nice range and prioty
ryu = wonderful rush:D
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m having a much harder time beating a C-groove Zangief than a fckn K-groove Zan.
I mean, hes just as crappy as a K-groover though, he also can ROLL! So you can’t make him jump in on you or something.
Zangief in C-groove is probably the thoughest motherfucker in the entire game.
So, any tips? I only play C-groove myself and usually play with Joe, Cammy/Balrog, Ken. And from what I’ve heard in this thread, they aren’t thebest guys against him.
Maybe I should train up my Bison a little bit, somebody here mentioned he was like the best Zangief killer ever.
Stay cool.
Sangief has no chance against Sagat. No chance.
Ryumexicano