Vega is probably my favorite character in SF, used him in SF2.
I’ve played SF4 off and on over the past couple years. I know how to execute moves and stuff, but I am by no means competitive. I can sit down with a group of friends and win pretty decisively, but if I go to a tournament I will lose, and most importantly, not really understand how I lost. I play Ken and Evil Ryu mostly, i’m reading up proper techique/footsies and what not, and I really want to be a Vega player, but it seems most people consider him a pretty bad character to use to ever get competitive with.
The game is 6 years old. Past the first 1-2 years unless you’re extremely good at the game you won’t get any significant placing, especially if you’re just learning footsies and the game is general. Pick whoever you want and don’t worry about tournaments because 99% you won’t make it in top 8s no matter who you pick.
Such encouraging words.
Vega is a tough and unforgiving character to play. If winning is your only concern then no, you shouldn’t start off with him. If you want to have fun, then he’s still not a strong choice in that regard depending on your definition of fun. If character mastery is your thing and you’re willing to take all the good and the bad, then pick him up. He can be really rewarding especially when you consistently get 1 frame links, but he has a swarm of weaknesses that is frustrating to deal with.
You shouldn’t ask such a question. As Moonchilde said, if you are only interested in winning then perhaps select a different character… since your choices seem to based on merit rather than for the love of the character.
Then again, “it all depends on your skill, FACE IT STRAIGHT!”. Lol. If you’re good, you’re good. You might also have a “I don’t know this match-up” advantage against scrubs and non-scrubs 
I just picked him up and im having a blast playing him. I just watch Zeus play and others, they just play really good spacing and neutral and confirm all the damage they can. From there start mixups and there are some cheap stuff he can do with cross up ultra, which I have no idea if it still works in Ultra btw lol. I could totally be wrong but from what I understand Vega got better in this version and regardless the cast is pretty even, you can win with anyone. If nothing else it will force you to be good, but like I said Im pretty sure the consensus is that hes not far from the top