Zangief's Stand Medium Punch Street Fighter 6

Domingo posted October 9, 2023

Even though this listing says "Stand Medium Punch," there is already an entry for that move and the icon is for HP.

Anyway, Zangief's standing heavy punch is similar to how the move worked in SF5. It's somewhat slow but has has long range and can be held to give it single hit of armor. The move knocks down on hit and knocks down+back on punish counter. Both put you in good position.

The added armor makes it safer to throw out than you might think. You can exchange with other single hit grounded normals and even single-hit projectiles. The armor isn't immediate, so you do have to anticipate a little, though.

The slow speed of the move can bait jumps and DI's, but it can be used to actually deal with both.

The charged standing HP actually beats DI's clean, although with some caveats. You armor doesn't kick in immediately so it really only works against DI's in neutral situations. It's too slow if they're canceling into a DI after another move.

With jumps, it typically absorbs their jumping attack and Zangief will punch as they're landing. That punch will stuff the majority of normals, although it loses to multi-hit moves (like supers) and throws. If they don't attack after they land, Zangief's punch is slightly negative, but safe. If they press any buttons after blocking that punch, your level 3 will beat it. Most players know this, so you have a guessing game built in. Some people will vertical jump, some will try for a reversal, some will use a normal anyway, etc. It's a good time to buffer your super motion and look for their next action. You have the advantage because of how close they are on (nearly) even terms.

It's a strong move you definitely want to use and also one you can play some mind games with vs. jumps. As long as you aren't too predictable (or keep a change-up in your back pocket) you can use this move in a variety of situations.