
Today, we have an interview with someone who in my opinion is the best active Zangief player in the west. This is no other than MegamanX-8, known for his relentless SPD strategies that ensure one mistake can easily mean you are done. This player is the current ambassador of ST to newer generations thanks to his current viral content when he is featured in channels by top level players from modern SF games. Today, we are asking him a few questions and finding out more about his journey to become a truly frightening Zangief player.
1.This is a question I always ask every person I interview. Give me your top 5 favorite games of all time. They can be in any genre, not just fighting games.
Mech Assault, Forza MotorSport 2, Gran Turmiso 4, TMNT Turtles in time, GTA Vice City
2.Now, tell me how it all started for you with Street Fighter. From the very first SF game you played all the way here.
It started when I first played SF2 New Challengers on the Genesis, My uncle would usually have game night with his friends and I was pretty inspired top lay the game but in order for me to do that I had to make sure I maintain my good grades ( At the time this was like 1996 and i was a honor roll student).
When I first played I was using the 3 button génesis pad and I had no idea that you can pause and change the layout from punches to kicks so I played super handicapped for like ever until my uncle went and bought the 6 button génesis pad. Since then I’ve played it alot and transisitoned to the arcades like lazer park in the city, funcoland, landromats and mom and pop stores. I’d say like years later I taken a break and went into alot of emulation period and playing other genres until i was told about GGPO, once i’ve gotten ggpo my whole world expanded cause I had no idea that you can playa all the games you played in the arcades online like that.
Since then on ggpo i’ve met JoshC who was one of the ST players here in NYC and he told me about meet ups they would do but it was at Next Level arcade and i’ve never been there before, so i’ve traveled then and that’s where I met alot of the players like Damdai, Min, TechMonkey, Marsgatti, TecmoSuperBowl, Riz0ne, Zoolander etc and I was floored cause i’ve Heard alot of stories about them but to actual meet them I was like wow man its a super honor. I would say since then they aren’t as active but we do play from time to time and it’s been one of those moments because of them I wouldn’t be where i am today.
3.Let’s get to the red cyclone and how this character became your favorite. Why did you pick him and what made you stick to him. We are of course talking about Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo Zangief.
So it’s funny at first I started as a ken main but I was a huge wrestling fan back then and I usually talk to a friend named OdLowKi and he would told me you should use gief and i’m like really? Shit why not lol. So since then even thou his toolset is super limited he’s actually pretty fun to use.
I’ve stuck with him throughout the years because he promotes hard work and dedication and it fits well with my personality. Alot of times I would like be like man the hell with this character but I’m like nah i’m no quitter so i’ve stuck with him to keep improving with him and with myself.
4.You are considered to be the most lethal zangief due to your ability to perform his SPD moves at any moment even as you walk forward. You also seem to have the ability to lock people with normals and then SPD. What was the process of going from standard skills to insane level execution?
My process is being a Wall while conditioning my opponent. Usually whenever I look at my opponent I tend to look at the neutral and focus on what they are looking for VS what are my options and walking foward to spd at any moment gives me my advantage to let them know I will do it at any moment (Special shoutout to Riz0ne for teaching me how to do spd and walk spd). Usually I tie the abilty to walk spd into psychology because the way you view the neutral you basically trying to read the opponent and make them flow into your influence to achieve the walk spd.
5.Can you give other Zangief players some execution tips regarding how SPD moves can be done faster, easier, and more efficiently in terms of motions?
You can actually do a 270 and you will be able to do the spd but for a walk i usually start from foward then clockwise spin and end in up foward.
6.Can you share what your weapon of choice is for gief? Control, stick, and which specific controller or stick would that be? Square gate, octagonal, etc?
I use a stick, my personal one is my Qanba Dragon which has a square gate in it but I can perform it on a arcade cabinet as well.

7.Give us your personal rundown on Giefs top 3 hardest matches and his top 3 easiest matches, or should I say, his top 3 least difficult matches?
Honda is the hardest by far because he really shuts down all of giefs approaches
Blanka is hard because he’s sorta similar to honda only difference is you can punish the ball but his normals def keeps gief out.
Cammy : same thing but with a dragon punch and you can’t really punish it so its pretty tough.
The easiest would be ryu and ken due to the fact that lariat and st mk does alot of work to them and the 3rd easiet would be dee jay cause even thou the match up is even i feel once your in with against dee jay it should be ggs.
8.What is in your opinion the moment when a player goes from advance to pro level? What is that one element that makes the difference?
The number one thing that would make a player advance I think is when they have fully clicked with the game, It did wonders for me back in 2018 and I was like I finally get it and since then I’ve just kept growing as a player.
9.If you only had one button you could use during a match, which button would that be for zangief? You are allowed to use all the moves and specials that can be performed with that button.
Stand Medium kick because it his best button.
10.Give me your list of top 5 Active Zangief players that are the best in the game right now?
TMF, Gunze, Stomach Momio, Suzuki Zangief, Takanotsume.
11.Seeing you demolish players like smug and Justin Wong in ST reminds of me that ST is definitely not a game for casuals. Not because those opponents are casuals, but because unlike other fighting games, even when they pro players try to get better at the game, it is not an overnight thing like it is with other fighting games. In most other games, your fundamentals can take you a long way, but not so much in ST, at least not at high levels.
To me, one of the appealing things about ST is that it is truly an elite level game in terms of skill. High execution is required, insanely fast reactions are required, and you feel like you truly have control of your space, but once you make a mistake, it can be game over pretty quick. What are your thoughts on this?
Your correct but gotta add dedication to it, I would say nowadays ST is pretty easy to get into because there is so much information out there that can help you grow as a player. I also feel one of the biggest thing about ST is it’s easy to play but super hard to master, I feel maybe like there’s like 25% of the players that has mastered the game to a point they can really anticipate anything.
I still have a very long way to go but for me playing smug and justin which i’m pretty blessed to play with them my mision was to exactly show how brutal the game is but at the same time have new eyes to flock to the ST scene that we have. I felt like i did a good job and i hope i was the inspiration for new players to try the game out!
12.I need you to show me your sales pitch skills. Give me an elevator pitch for FGC members that do not play ST, how do you sell the appeal of this game to someone?
I would be honest to them and tell them yea ST is a game that does it have its bullshit of course it does but the thing is about that bullshit is that it’s not random there are super striaight reasons on why it happens and why did you get caught into it.
I would love to show the new school on the do’s and dont’s of what you should do in ST but also give them every lesson in terms of fundamentals, conditioning, psychology everything you can name it. Also would like the debunk the stigma that this game is random which is isn’t cause we can provide a really through explination on why does this happen. Overall Super Turbo is a really fun game it’s a grind but you’ll appreciate the grind after you’ve reached the level of success!