Organizing characters by strength in Season 2 of Street Fighter 6 has been anything but obvious as the community has struggled to find much consistency in tier list placement, especially when it comes to Zangief.
It’s clear the Russian wrestler got better relative to his low Season 1 status, but there’s been push back against prominent voices like Justin Wong saying he’s over-tuned and Evo winner FLY|Punk saying he’s number one in the game. Zangief was involved in a dramatic, nail-biter set finish at Esports World Cup 2024 that has the community stirred up once again.
The bout was between long time Zangief user DFM|Itabashi Zangief and TM|NoahTheProdigy’s Luke. With both players in the loser’s bracket, their clash would determine who moved on toward the event’s million dollar first place prize and who would go home tied for last.
The battle went back and forth until the set reached its final possible round, wherein Noah used Luke’s (nerfed but still notably strong) jumping fierce punch to thwart an attempted lariat anti-air by Itabashi and win the set. HiFight clipped the moment with the caption “The tragic life of Zangief,” alluding to the commonly-held (but also commonly-refuted) belief that Gief’s lariat needs to work better as an anti-air:
The tragic life of Zangief#EWC2024 pic.twitter.com/dRdA0JqdwH
— HiFight(ハイファイト) (@HiFightTH) August 8, 2024
With the community conspicuously divided on Zangief’s overall potency, the pairing of this moment with an opinion rapidly got Street Fighter social media to start generating responses. Multiple notable figures have commented directly on the clip, one of which was Justin Wong with this take that’s consistent with his previous statements about Gief being too good:
Lariat should never be a good anti air compared to a DP.
If you disagree you are bias to the character. https://t.co/tgEQXqtOeG
— Justin Wong (@JWonggg) August 9, 2024
Esports World Cup competitor and Evo 2024 runner up, NASR|BigBird, stated at Evo that he feels Zangief is a surefire top 5 character. He chimed in on the interaction as well:
Gief whiffed a button and they still wanted him to anti air??
Even DP has weaknesses (awkward angles) https://t.co/j4HsrmYac2
— NASR | Adel (@Bigbird_fgc) August 9, 2024
On the other side of the aisle for this issue are those who feel Zangief deserves the buffs he’s been given and is not overpowered, nor in the top 5. This is due in large part to his potential for bad match ups against zoners thanks to his larger size and slower movements, as well as his often inconsistent anti-airs.
Here Emezie Okorafor points to the “FGC propaganda machine” which some claim has been aimed at trying to get Gief nerfed in recent months:
A character with no reversal, no cr mk > DR, and no reliable AA is supposed to be top 5 in SF6.
The fgc propaganda machine has been working overtime the past couple months!
— Emezie Okorafor (@emezie) August 9, 2024
Another response from competitive player Boltstrike says that the interaction was fine, citing lariat’s relatively easy input nature as a reason it should not be more effective:
No sympathy for me. You don’t get to whiff your button and then expect your *checks notes* “1 button antiair” to work every time.
It’s not a DP. This is exactly as lariat should be. Don’t let Gief players gaslight you. Be strong and stand with me, my friends. https://t.co/BDEd33ymYl
— Boltstrike (@Boltstrike_) August 9, 2024
This all spills over into the wider conversation the FGC has been having for years about whether or not grapplers should be among top tiers in any Street Fighter game. What are your thoughts on Zangief’s current state in Street Fighter 6? Is he close to the top, and if so, does he deserve to be there?