The Siberian Express is one of Zangief's special attacks, introduced in Street Fighter V.
| All appearances |  +
|
|---|---|
| Street Fighter 6 (Modern) |
 + (Far from opponent) |
Description[]
Zangief drives Cammy intro the ground using Siberian Express.
- "Run to an opponent and grab them before slamming them to the ground with a devastating powerbomb. When you're at a longer distance from the opponent, this is useful for making a surprise attack or breaking through their blocks."
- —Street Fighter 6
Executed by performing a half-circle back motion and pressing kick, Zangief opens his arms out wide and charges toward his opponent. If he is close to his opponent, he wraps his arms around their waist and uses his momentum to jump forward, hoisting his opponent's stomach onto his shoulder. At the peak of his jump, Zangief somersaults forward, causing him to flip over his opponent. As they both flip in the air, Zangief puts his opponent into a reverse-crucifix clutch, hooking each of his opponent’s legs in one of his arms, while pressing his feet against their arms. Finally, Zangief drives his opponent head-first into the ground.
Tactics[]
This move replaces the Flying Power Bomb from earlier titles as Zangief's forward moving command throw. The strength of the kick button determines the move's startup and damage. The Light version has the quickest startup, but inflicts the least amount of damage. The Heavy version does more damage, but has the slowest startup. The EX version does the most damage and has a quicker startup than the Light version. Additionally, it give Zangief 1-hit of armor.
This move helps Zangief by allowing him to catch people just out of the range of his Spinning Piledriver. He can often catch his opponent by jabbing into a range that they don't expect Zangief to use Spinning Piledriver, and then surprise them by throwing out his Siberian Express. It also catches opponents that back dash, which is one of the ways to avoid Zangief's Spinning Piledriver. The Siberian Express will have Zangief move toward the retreating opponent and still be in position to inflict massive damage. In addition, the EX version can catch opponents that try to stuff Zangief's moves because of it has 1 hit of armor. The EX can even run straight through fireballs making it great against zoners in mid-range.
This is an easy special cancel tick throw with the added benefit of catching V-Reversal attempts.
In Street Fighter 6, Siberian Express now performs Russian Suplex when done up close, making it functionally identical to its predecessor. Siberian Express now moves slightly differently compared to before. Rather than moving forward at a consistent speed before grabbing the opponent upon being in range, Zangief lunges forward for the grab at mid-range if he is too far for a Russian Suplex. At further ranges, Zangief raises his arms before sprinting forward, performing the lunge upon getting close enough. The OD version starts up slightly faster for the lunge and gains a second hit of armor when done from afar. While all versions are generally harder to use compared to Screw Piledriver's speed, damage, and range, Zangief is more advantageous on hit for Drive Rush followups.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This move is a combination of multiple moves:
- The beginning of the move is similar to a professional wrestling move called the Spinebuster.
- The flipping portion of the move is similar to another professional wrestling move called the Filp Piledriver.
- The ending portion of the move is inspired by the Kinniku Driver, one of the signature finishing moves used by the the eponymous protagonist of the manga wrestling series Kinnikuman. Zangief referenced this finishing move previously in his Ultra Combo from Street Fighter IV, called the Siberian Blizzard.