What happened to the once proud zangief players?

Classic Fighting Games Ultra Street Fighter IV
21

Why so serious? =P

Much of the cast was nerfed, so saying that Gief got nerfed and maybe that’s why no one wants to use him doesn’t really add up to me. Things should be about equal considering the nerfs were across the board. You’ve got good match-ups and bad ones, like every other character. It’s always a game of rock-paper-scissors, what it comes down to is your knowledge of the match-up and your knowledge of your own arsenal.

I think the biggest difference between U1 is that you can set it up, like right after a focus attack or jump-in, while U2 is mainly a reaction move. I almost never pick it, because it’s already hard to land U1 on a speedy opponent. You basically have to be psychic and predict jump-ins, and if you miss you’ll eat a combo. :frowning:
Although it does allow you to play some mind games, because any smart player will adjust the match once Gief gets his air ultra.

My problem with U2 is that Zangief has a hard time getting in on certain players, his “bad match-ups,” like Sagat, Dhalsim, Seth, etc. In instances where you do break in it is not a good idea to try something with less probability of landing just due to the fact that your chances of cutting the distance were slim in the first place.

I’m not saying you can’t be good with or it that it is worthless, I just haven’t seen any good play yet with it being used in high level play.

22

[media=youtube]oSJWzfcQEnw[/media]. But now, it’s like…yeah. The nerfs suck. He’s not hilarious to own with anymore. It’s actually “good shit” when he wins.

23

Well after maining hawk inthe first month of the game (sometimes i still use the big indina) i come back to my first love zangief!
Nowadays zangief is not strong as he was but of course played with patience and mixup games is stil fun to play and can win.
The problem of Gief is that the have nerfed too many things. I think that’s is correct to nerf lariat cause it was too much strong , but i don’t agree too much with the other nerf like te 4 frames crouch lk or ex banishing flat or jab spd . With all these nerfs gief at least could still have 1200 of stamina but’s not the way and 1100 are not too much for superstreet fighter zangief.
I’ have not mastered ultra 2 yet and i would try to understand if he is only mathcup specific (chunli?akuma? honda? guile?) or if it can give new strategy and mind games.
At least zangief is still middle strong, still fun to play and ok the biggest surprise is that now you can use zangief without collecting insults or otjher disgusting messagges like you’ re noob you can win only pressing 3 buttons and so on.
A ok i have to say , just in ending of my message, that i loved to see vangief and how strong he is!Vangief best compliments for you and thanks for awkening me back to use gief!

24

No, Chun, Doofus, Bison, Sim, Guile, Rose, Sakura all got majorly buffed. Rog, Akuma, Honda, Gouken, Blanka stayed the same. Seth, Ryu got a minor twinge but still strong. Sagat only really got a damage nerf. The odd man is Abel who technically got way better because of U2 but his game is not changed, just better people pick him now.

i think Gief got the most nerfs of the entire cast which is why the sodium levels are elevated.

25

lol…sodium levels…my little tid bit to add…as mentioned in other threads previously, despite hte nerfs - his good match-ps are still good, its just that the tourny scene is filled with his B AD match-ups. In vanilla you had quick sonic booms with non-charging anti-air, with Sagat “I can touch a basketball rim with my foot while standing” rh juggles, Akuma O-S game w/ tp and air fbs, and of course Ryu. Despite the tweaks they made to the top tier, none of them recieved anything that makes the Gief match-up less favorable shrug thats why the Gief’s are a bit long in the tooth…the nerfs happend for balance reasons - yet they didn’t really balance anything. Yes, Sagat does less damage, but not only do we take less, but what killed us before wasn’t a ‘singular grappler only’ combo, but a gameplay - thats still entirely intact.

shrug

  • :bluu:
26

The games more even now look at the top eight at evo. 2 hondas and one of like everyone else very cool. If you want to use gief and win at a high level you can ie vangief but it’s trickier than vanila but the top 8 weren’t all sagats and akumas this year which is cool in my book. All match-ups in super are winnable if you out play and use the right strat I beat damdia’s Seth at evo easily when he counter picked me. There’s no point in bitching about nerf’s i’m better with super gief than I was with vanila gief because I steped up my game.

27

Zangief never won a singles major, never placed in top 3 in a singles major, never even won a team tourney major in any country, and very rarely placed top 8 in singles and top 3 in team tournies, and yet he got nothing but nerfed except for getting a crappy new ultra with very few uses. It’s just so weird.

It’s not even just that he’s worse, it’s that to succeed with him now, you have to play even more patiently than you did before because you can’t take or deal as much damage and many of your opponents can both take and deal damage better. It’s not only harder to win with him, but it’s more annoying to try to do it.

So Gief is worse, while the other returning grapplers and semi-grapplers are better (Abel, Honda, Fuerte), and there are three brand new grapplers and semi-grapplers to try out (Hakan, Hawk, and Makoto). And if you have any interest in Blanka, Cammy, Chun, Claw, Dan, Dhalsim, Dictator, Fei, Gouken, Guile, Ken, Rose, or Sakura, you’re in luck, because they all got better, so why not try them out? Or maybe you have some interest in Adon, Cody, Deejay, Dudley, Guy, Ibuki, or Juri?

The nerfs to Gief and all the new character options put a serious split in the pool of Gief players. Who didn’t expect that?

28

im still using gief only for competiton or serious matches

29

gief will always be a part of my game. if it has zangiefin it, I use him. the second I first landed a Spinning piledriver, I was hooked.

personally, I do not feel a huge difference between what zangief is now compared to vanilla. That is probably mostly because I’m an '09er with fighting games (I’ll admit it. I feel no shame for it) so I’m still learning the ropes with… everything. but a the end of the day, Zangief is still great. He’s the most solid true grappler in the cast, he’s fun to play with and its evident that he is very much viable.

I’ll always love my zangi-baby

30

someone need a hug? just c’mon over here and let ol’ Macarratti give ya a nice big hu- ULTIMATE ATOMIC FINAL BUSTER!!!

31

I don’t main Gief but i’ve loved the Big Guy ever since his redesign in Street Fighter Alpha 2. Now Zangief was indeed overpowering in Vanilla but there is a difference between balancing a character and totally screwing him up. I mean the lariat was Zangief’s only viable anti air and now it’s practically worthless, Neutral jump Fierce Headbutt is awesome but has limited range, i don’t know how good of an AA his Cr. mp is but i doubt it’s as effective as a Shoto’s Cr. Fierce and finally Capcom gives him a cool looking ultra but the motion? really? in midair? terrible hit box i mean it’s practically impossible to catch someone dumb enough to jump in this. If it were a ground to air AA ultra like T-Hawk’s who practically stole the start up from Alpha Zangief only to end in that cartoony Droopy Dog throw lol. You wanted to nerf someone why not that cheap ass Honda or Bison, how about Balrog. The same complaints of Zangief being nerfed i can apply to Akuma who’s my main i swear in every game since Third strike Akuma has been turned to paper. Let’s hope that in the inevitable sequel they fix both of them up change the motion of Ultra 2 and use it as an AA. The Gief was on top of the Street Fighter World in Vanilla and unceremoniously knocked off by jaded whining idiots complaining about balance, really cut the russian a break will ya?

32

uhh… lariat’s AA properties hasn’t changed… Not quite sure what your complaint is.

33

Yeah as crapface said this hasn’t changed BUT, I think I know what your saying. It seems now more than ever people have lariat stuffers up their sleeves. This is just 1.5 years with the game people learning the tactics. PPP can definitely AA almost anything, but the timing can be hella difficult against players who know what their doing.

34

Tons…

They calling me Spammer when I use Gief. But I only AA Lariat. They call me cheap because all I do is grab. They hate me when I meet 'em in the sky. It’s hard playing this guy. It’s harder not to. I don’t run, I don’t hold back, I don’t have it easy, unless I’m fighting Gouken.

35

Zangief’s lariat is AA but is vulnerable in the center ie his head. Any angled kick can easily stuff the lariat so is better to use crouching strong i recently tested it is not bad at all. Save the lariat to knock those annoying human projectile, hit and run characters like Blanka and Honda. Gief is a Wrestler what the hell do you want him to do? Do a fireball and a shoryuken? lol Also a jumping Zangief is a huge target for an AA so different strategies are limited for this guy. You’re not here to please your opponent you’re here to win!!! Let your opponent deal with your game. Remember it’s only cheap if it’s broken, like an infinite combo or endless loop unescapable tricks. Spam to your heart’s content i mean Shotos like to spam their fireballs so SPD over and over etc.

36

There was one Akuma, Infiltration from Korea. Best damn Akuma i’ve seen lately. I give him props for sticking with Akuma even after being nerfed yet again. Zangief can stun Akuma with only two jumping headbutts and literally destroy him with an Ultra or Super just for making that one mistake, so saying that every match is winnable is a bit of an understatement since clearly there are unfavorable matchups for some characters who just don’t have the tools to win. Also i loved how Snake Eyes destroyed J.Wong’s top tiered Rufus with Mecha Zangief but i find it stupid that another member of his team (Alex Valle) ranked 2nd by using Rufus. Where’s the originality just because J.Wong is using Rufus everyone else has to, no individuality.

37

Gief can stun anyone with two headbutts…

  • :bluu:
38

I went from gief, to guile, then ssf4 came out, dropped guile and picked up gief. who knows.

39

Except Gief himself it took about five or six lol

40

I love how shitty zangiefs i have never heard of are always saying don’t AA lariet jump-ins I would say I do about a 1/3 of my total damage by AA lariet trade to exgh. I don’t know any high level gief who can do well in a tourney who use normals as there go to aa. Yeah a hand full of special moves can beat it ie akuma dive kick done perfectly but why would you not use the best anti cross Anti jump in tool in the game because of this.