Street Fighter 6 Zangief complete combo guide - BnB, Drive, Punish Counters, and more

Zangief is such a powerhouse in Street Fighter 6. While he doesn't use particularly long combos, he can. What makes the Red Cyclone such a dangerous opponent is the damage that comes from his grapples. He might lack a projectile or easy way in, but once he's in someone's face, he tends to stay there. This is easily one of the best characters in the game right now, thanks to how hard he can hit.

This article is also a work in progress. We'll add more fun combos to this Zangief guide for Street Fighter 6 as time passes. As long as you can land normals into grabs, the Red Cyclone can be successful.

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Zangief combo guide for Street Fighter 6

Note: Screw Piledriver (360P), Russian Suplex/Syberian Express (360 K), and Borscht Dynamite (360 K, Air) can be performed using an input shortcut. You can use a half-circle (backward or forward) + any up direction to count as a successful 360 motion. I've found the Hit Box is also a great way to perform these inputs.

For the SPD and Russian Suplex, the attack button has to be pressed before Zangief leaves the ground. If you perform the Borscht Dynamite motion on the ground and delay the attack button, you get an instant air version.

1) Basic/BnB combos for Zangief in Street Fighter 6

c.LK > c.LP > LP XX 3P

These combos come from MIR at VesperArcade, who recently released a video on playing Zangief in Street Fighter 6. This combo is a series of lights that cancel into the Red Cyclone's EX Spinning Lariat.

DD+MK > c.LK > c.LP XX 3P

Instead of completing the Red Cyclone's target combo, you move into a crouching Light Kick and cancel the crouching Light Punch into EX Lariat. You'll likely see many of these combos ending a particular way, much like Guile's did. In this case, Zangief likes to end with lariats, grabs, and supers.

j.U+HP XX 360.K [Air]

This combo is for neutral jumps only. If an opponent is neutral jumping, you can jump neutral Heavy Punch and immediately cancel it into your Borscht Dynamite special. It will smash your opponent's health bar to bits.

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2) Simple Modern combos for Zangief

J.Heavy [Hold] > DF+Medium > DR > DF+Medium > Level 1 Super

Courtesy of Hidden Juice Village ASAP Dream, this is a solid Modern combo for Zangief. This one uses Hellstab and Drive Rush liberally and ends with a Level 1 Super.

Down+Medium > Level 2 Super [Hold] > Jump+EX.Super

This combo comes courtesy of OneStep. We've seen Zangief Hellstab into specials before. This one goes into the held Level 2 Super and, finally, an EX Borscht Dynamite while they're still in the air. It's an incredible, fun combo for Gief players.

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3) Drive Impact/Drive Rush combos for Street Fighter 6's Zangief

DI > DF+MP XX 3P > 360 KK [Air]

Building on the lessons learned earlier, this combo is a Hellstab into EX Lariat into the instant Borscht Dynamite. It will certainly take some practice to get the air grab immediately upon leaving the ground, but it's a valuable Zangief tech in Street Fighter 6.

DR > MP > MP > MP

Learning to Instant Drive Rush will benefit this Drive Rush combo. You just Drive Rush up and mash out a trio of Medium Punches for a solid target combo. It's also a pretty hard-hitting Street Fighter 6 combo.

F+HP XX DR F+HP > DF+MP XX DR c.MP > DF+MP XX PP

A wild, lengthy, cancel-heavy combo, this one makes liberal use of two of the wrestler's normals. Forward Heavy and Downforward Medium are two of his best normals, after all. Combine these with some rushes and a Lariat, and you've got one satisfying combo.

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4) Whiff Punish, Punish Counter, and Counter-Hit combos

LK PC XX [Level 2 Super] > 360 KK [Air]

The super is in brackets because you need to hold the input. Cancel the Light Kick into the Level 2 super, hold it until the end, and nail the EX Borscht Dynamite for excellent damage.

F+MK [Far] PC > DF+MP XX PP

Ideally, you want to be as far as you can but still be able to land the knee. Once the knee hits, cancel your Hellstab into a Spinning Lariat. The knee moves pretty quickly, so it's a satisfying way to punish Street Fighter 6 players as one of the strongest World Warriors.

HK PC > DF+MP XX Level 1 Super

If you want to do tons of damage without any real work, this punish combo is for you. The Heavy Kick into Hellstab, canceled into the Level 1 Super, is devastating damage from the Red Cyclone.

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Zangief's deal isn't chaining together long combos. Instead, you set up nice, easy button inputs that follow up with devastating grabs. That's what makes him so dangerous.

If you want to share your Gief combos, please reach out on Twitter with the video and notation.