Zangief vs Abigail: Kichipa-mu's Thoughts on the Matchup
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Zangief vs Abigail: Kichipa-mu's Thoughts on the Matchup

7:3 or 6.5:3.5 - Disadvantageous

How is the match likely to develop?

Patient play is fundamentally strong for both of these characters, so whoever falls behind in life total is forced to attack.

Poke interaction is difficult for Zangief, so it is common for him to be driven to the wall, or tagged by Abigail's pokes, and losing the lead.

For the Abigail player, since his pokes on the ground are so strong against Zangief, he can focus his attention on not allowing the Zangief player to advance through the air. However, the Abigail player can also use normals like his stand jab to anti-air which is also good on the ground, so you have to time your jump in when the Abigail player commits to medium or heavy buttons.

Then, consider that even if Zangief is able to land SPDs or jump-ins, Abigail has high HP and stun values. Thus, it is difficult to take him down by simply getting in and running oki.

Furthermore, once Abigail gets access to V-trigger, it can be really tough to handle his offense, so it isn't rare for Zangief players to be defeated once that condition is fulfilled.

Highlight point: If the Abigail player gets a lead, look for how the Zangief player either beats Abigail jab, or jumps in while Abigail commits to a medium or heavy button in order to score a comeback (but it is kind of difficult) .

Zangief points of concern: Zangief cannot afford to get crush countered, especially not by Abigail's Standing Heavy Punch, since the damage return potential is so high. Then, the Abigail player doesn't have to make any strong commitments outside of standing jabs once he gets that life lead.

Abigail points of concern: Simply looking above, controlling the skies and using low risk jabs to poke and interrupt advances while the Zangief player tries to use larger buttons. This alone makes it a difficult fight for Zangief.

Player Notes:

The scariest Abigail player for me to face in this matchup, is none other than StormKUBO. He is so good against Zangief, and because we play so much he has my movements downloaded (lol).

Advice for Zangief Users:

Aim to take the life lead and use standing and crouching medium punch to beat Abigail's jab. Try whiff punishing Abigail's crouching medium punch, but try to abstain from putting yourself at risk of a crush counter from Abigail's crouching heavy punch.

You can't let Abigail get away with doing flips for free. Remember you can use Vskill into command grab against a cancelled flip as a punish.

Against Abigail's crouching medium punch, use Standing Heavy's armor to beat it. However, beware that skilled Abigail players will parry or use EX Nitro to counter you, so use in a calculated manner.

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