Zangief's Overhead Wheel Kick Street Fighter 6 - Cyclone Wheel Kick

Domingo posted August 11, 2023

Out in the open this move is usually easy to see coming and is punishable if blocked. You really only want to use it when you get an extremely hard read on a crouch.

The move becomes a lot more useful in scramble situations because it beats almost all jumping attacks and most normals, too. It's still risky, but it's better. It's also much safer when used at maximum range. I don't believe it's ever truly safe, but it's less punishable when only Zangief's foot touches your opponent.

The best time to use it is via a drive rush. It makes the move extremely fast and difficult to react to. It's safer to use, too. It still gets beaten by parries and drive impacts, so save it for a moment when your opponent is potentially flustered or has limited resources. Mixing up drive rush low MK (or HK) and the wheel kick can be effective against certain playstyles.

If you land this as punish counter, it actually bounces opponents up for a juggle, but you have to be really close to capitalize. If you're close, you can hell stab into lariat, level 1, or level 2. If you're further away, which is where this move usually lands, the best you can do is a low MK instead.