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Street Fighter 6 Zangief player Snake Eyez qualifies for Capcom Cup in major win

Snake Eyez made Zangief shine in the CPT US & Canada West 2023 qualifier, stirring conversation among the community that has frequently called the character low-tier.

TJ Denzer

August 28, 2023 10:20 AM

Image via Capcom Fighters

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Longtime Street Fighter pro has done what was thought to be impossible: He qualified for Capcom Cup 2023 with Zangief in Street Fighter 6. Throughout the Street Fighter series, Zangief has been argued to be low tier. His damage is huge, but getting in and doing that damage as a grappler has always been the challenge. Snake Eyez, however, is one of a handful of pro players that has remained loyal to the character and that loyalty paid off at CPT US & Canada West 2023 where he qualified with a win in the Grand Finals.

CPT US & Canada West 2023 took place over this last weekend, allowing a number of competitors to challenge each other online for a place in the Capcom Cup 2023 Finals. The final match came down to Snake Eyez on his Zangief versus Reynald, who runs a solid JP (conversely considered to be an abusive high-tier character in the game). Reynald put up an impressive offense that overwhelmed many other players on his way to Grand Finals, but Snakes Eyez kept up an impeccable defense and successfully took advantage of the right windows to grab the win.

Snake Eyez has shaken up the Street Fighter 6 community on several levels. Zangief has been considered by many to be a bottom tier because of how hard he is to play versus many other characters in the game. Meanwhile, JP has been widely regarded to be menace in the top tier. Conversations went wild about whether that was wholly true, how bad or good the characters actually are, and how much the players factor into it.

When we reviewed Street Fighter 6, we felt every character felt refreshed and viable in the right hands. No fighter feels so terribly weak that they can’t overcome. Snake Eyez win with Zangief over Reynald’s JP seems indicative of that, as does MenaRD’s excellent performance at EVO 2023 with Blanka. As we see how the rest of the Capcom Cup 2023 qualifiers shake out, stay tuned for more updates, as well as Snake Eyez and Zangief in this year’s final showdowns.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.