i think part of the reason why it looks like damage for fs is buffed (was that confirmed?) is so you can still get great damage from c.hp > fadc without having to combo into u1. this makes u2 even more attractive than it already is. (and now we have a faster sweep? sheeeeeeit abel is lookin real solid.)
Clearly you’re well informed on Abel, I shall take your view into consideration.
I feel U2 will be really usefully in mix-ups in it provide decent AA as it will be able to connect anywhere on the screen, really boiling down his mix-up to ground pressure from the TT and air/back-dash pressure from the ultra. That said Abel already had an amazing ultra so I don’t see it improving him much overall.
Any nerfs coming in Abel’s direction?
Here’s my take on why U2 won’t be as amazing as you think it will be
Unless U2 has 1+0 frame activation (one frame for the ultra freeze, then instantly grabs like Zangief’s ultra/super) it won’t be useful in any mix up. The freeze will give every character enough time to get out of the way by a) jumping over Abel or b) armor breaking the shit out of him. That rules out the U2 tick throw game. As for “connect anywhere on the screen”, I’ve heard (but I’m not 100% on this) that he only travels half screen… might need someone to confirm that.
IMO, it’ll serve as a good anti air and MAYBE punish predicted whiff pokes, but that’s about it. 1+0 frame activation will make it OP considering it’s a damn near instant half screen punish with super armor… but on that note, I can’t wait to have a go with it.
Well if they jump out of the way, you can just wait and get them on the way down.
Swear that’s exactly what I said, albeit worded rather poorly. Abel goes from having no confirmable solutions to opponents jumping in mix-ups, having to rely on prediction with FS or jumping HP which can result in my taking a huge amount of damage if he guesses wrong. To having something that’s easy to confirm, will do a whole lot of damage and hit them not matter which direction they jump in; also I can’t see why it wouldn’t be a great counter to back-dashes.
It eliminates huge gaps in Abel’s mix-ups which makes it rather appealing.
^ unless, you know… they jump OVER you…
Edit: The only way I can see it being used is as an anti air or MAYBE to blow through pokes at mid range, like I said in my previous post. To use it as part of Abels mix up, you’ll need to bait the jump, then activate ultra - it’s no use activating it first and hoping they’ll jump, because like I said, they can just cross you up and you wasted your bar.
You don’t seem to be understanding when I said confirm: As in, don’t put in the command until you’ve seen them jump. Once there jump OVER you, you can proceed to charge towards them.
I also mentioned that in my post as well lol… it seems like we’re at least on the same page now… although technically, you’re not using the ultra as a mix up in this case, which is where I got confused. You’re baiting the jump, THEN punishing with Ultra.
cr.hp is a great anti-air, Abel doesn’t need a new move to deal with jump ins
Hmm, so i was watching the Giantbomb live stream on eventhubs, and around 50 mins in they were using abel, the guy was using sweep a lot, but i couldnt really tell if it was that much faster, if im honest, which would suck, but we’ll only know for sure once we get the game or someone confirms it. thoughts?
Also, im not sure if Abels lost health because after chun li does sweep then throws him it looks like it would do more damage than normal. I tried it out on sf4 and maybe im missing something. Someone clear this up?
You can still check the stream out on the eventhubs website. I think its around 50 mins in.
I don’t think anyones really gonna be landing u2 at full or even mid screen but as a defensive tool IMO it seems like we’ve got another great wakeup option other than blocking, back dashing (which i definitely overuse), or ex rolling. Granted, wakeup ultra is super lame but just the threat of being able to do it should have some effect on deterring meaty lows and jumpins. Seems like it will be applicable a la lp.heartless but you obviously wont need full super to use it - c.mk and c.hp are def great AAs when you learn how to space them but i still have a bit more trouble using them well under wakeup pressure (rufus dive kick anyone?). Would be interested to see a) how long can you charge u2 and b) what the priorities of u2 are vs command grabs of gief/thawk/hakan. It might make going up against better ranged/more damaging grapplers a bit less daunting. The way S.Kill keeps talking about an oily Hakan, im getting a bit nervous about that matchup.
Haven’t really heard anything on nerfs or lower life though. Either way, I’m stoked for apr 27th.
Yeah apparently they either nerfed his health or then they gave Chun-li’s normals and throws some ridiculously huge buffs. Looks like he has 1000hp now.
Ah shit. Being able to take some hits and still have a chance of winning was a big part of his game. Now i guess it WOULD make sense if its true his falling sky did more damage. Hm, slightly concerned now 
Agreed. 1100 to 1000 would really shake things up, I’m hoping its just a buff to chun.
EDIT:
from: http://www.hadoken.net/?p=1271&cpage=1
"From the rest of the roster we have collected several impressions. Abel has more stamina and his new Ultra has Super Armor and is a low grab."
Hmmm. guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
There are a lot of times where I can’t actually see people getting away from Abels 2nd ultra.
If you are half screen away and they start to jump towards you, then they get ultra’d. It’s pretty much like fuetes ultra 1 in that regard.
I like Abel
what is the command for ultra 2? zangief, hakan or akuma
Pretty sure it’s qcf, qcf, 3k
I just pick up Abel last week. I love it…
Any Abel experts here can enlighten me what exactly the changes of Abel in SSFIV other than Ultra 2? Sorry i didnt follow him much until now…
Will he move up in the tier listing in SSFIV?
Supposedly he has a faster sweep, as it was stated in MrWizard’s final build notes. Other than that, there’s been speculation on whether his stamina and damage output on certain moves (special moves and normals) has been increased. Obviously we won’t be able to confirm any of these things until the game actually comes out.