Countering Projectiles
From the right range it’s possible to slide under a lot of fireballs on reaction. Just hover around at the max range of slide and do it when you see them twitch. Just be careful when they have meter as faster EX versions will generally hit you.
Against faster projectiles and EX ones it tends to be a bit too hard to slide on reaction so you need to rely more on reads.
Slide doesn’t go under Chun’s fireball at all, or Sagat’s low one, but with a good read you can aim to trade with it for a knockdown.
EX Rhino Horn is better at close range. It’s possible albeit difficult to do it on reaction. You have to be pretty damn close for it to hit properly, so buffer the motion while standing just outside the opponent’s normal range and be ready to hit the kick buttons when they twitch.
Evading
Standard tactic is to do an early jump over a projectile so you land just behind it. The opponent can’t throw another one until it goes off the screen, which gives you a moment to put yourself in a better position. For the most part its best to use neutral jumps, but you can often get away with a forward jump as long as you stay outside their anti-air range.
Backward jump is safe against landing on projectiles. Don’t press a button in the air you can land directly on top of one and still block (except Sagat’s high tiger).
Empty neutral/forward jump works the same way against Chun, Dee Jay, Dhalsim, Guile, and Sakura (non-charged). This makes it awkward for them to deal with an empty forward jump from just outside their anti-air range. It’s also safe against Juri/Sagat’s low projectiles, but their high options make it less safe.
Against Gouken and Seth, you can use cr.HK to go clean under a fireball just before it hits you.
Ultra 2
Ultra 2 forces people to play more aggressively. A cancelled heal gives you about 100HP back.
A full heal as the opponent throws a fireball will give you more.
If someone is playing super defensively then don’t be afraid to just sit back and focus everything that isn’t an EX.
Think of it as getting about 15HP back every time you focus a fireball.
The amount of Ultra charge is only significant for a full heal; it has hardly any effect on a cancelled heal, so just do it the moment you get an opportunity. Holding back on it means any damage you take during that time is being converted into a relatively insignificant amount of healing.