Depends on matchup, chars with fireball i usually use U1, chars without fireball i usually use U2. Against Blanka always U1 =)
Ultra 2 is more offense orientated. Ultra 1 is more defense oriented. Ultra 1 is great against fireballers. Ultra 2 is like 150 guaranteed chip against a lot of the cast. I like ultra 2 a lot against a fair share of characters
I think you forgot how if you do legs> U2 in the corner VS Gief he gets up faster everytime and gets a free counter ultra. 
I always use U1 unless I feel like messing around then I use U2 for the combo “oo pretty” factor.
I use U2 against characters U1 is not as good against. I use U2 when they don’t have a fireball, I don’t need U1 to punish reversals, they can avoid AA ultra, and I’m likely to DP FADC out of pressure. For example, Rufus, Cammy, and Gen (?). There are others but I can’t think of them now.
If they have a teleport or fireball I always pick U1.
I stopped using U2 against Gen. it seems a lot harder to NOT drop him out of it after one hit. Like so [media=youtube]aVM_dbgqL3A[/media]
This actually happens quite often against Gen. I’d rather wait for an Oga or random Gekiro to punish with u1.
I always use U1 on characters I can catch with it (so all characters with a fb except guile and characters that have to get in close that don’t have tools to avoid it e.g. triangle jumps) as the damage it does compared to U2’s isn’t THAT much less (well, it’s actually more against a few characters, but I’ll ignore just how broken U2 is for the rest of this post =), and it’s:
- much easier to get off
- locks down many of your opponents options when you have it
- has great follow up mix-up potential and at the VERY least will have your opponent 50/50 guessing which way to block a sb afterwards
- often safe on block/whiff
- can be used just to push back opponent and take some pressure off
and also:
- in situations where you can get off U2 you are generally doing it instead of a reset combo, which in many matches is where seth should be getting most of his damage from
- combo instead of u2 + u1 damage is probably >= u2 damage anyway + you get 2 free resets from that
- u2 is dangerously buggy in several situations
- u2 chip damage is god awful (maybe if they gave us some blanka-esq ultra chip damage it would become a much better ultra)
it is? It does ~10% on sagat I believe.
Hmm, don’t know about full strength, don’t have much u2 experience, I just know in the past I’ve used it against people with only a really tiny slither of health left and they’ve survived and killed me.
Tanden Typhoon does loads of chip damage… players complain about the fact it does too much. In certain situations it assures victory for the Seth player.
BTW did you go to SvB 20-X? Distinct lack of Seth from what I can see… I don’t think Hutch USA went either.
Nah, I was going to attend but was ill during one of my uni exams a couple of months ago so had to defer sitting it, and then guess when second sit period is for my uni…
I was mad :<.
Did you go?
I’m glad that I am not alone in thinking that u1 is better than 2 in most situations.
The bottom line is that why use u2 when you are basically giving up free pressure and mix up opportunities? It kind of reminds me of ibukis U2. If it ENDS THE ROUND than use the ultra…if not…create another mix up.
Also, anyone be interested in playing on PSN? I want to get my Seth better and would love to play with someone who knows what they are doing more to help improve my game.
I decided to do a list, maybe people could discuss where they disagree with me and the merits of each ultra on a more character specific basis…
Ultra1:
abel
adon
akuma
balrog
blanka
c. viper
chun-li
cody
dan
dee jay
dhalsim
e. honda
el fuerte
fei long
gouken
ibuki
juri
ken
makoto*
m. bison
rose
ryu
sagat
sakura
seth
t. hawk
zangief
Ultra 2:
guile
rufus
vega
Unsure:*
cammy
dudley
gen
guy
hakan
*I don’t have enough match up experience against these characters in super though tend to pick u1
U2 vs Fuerte man. unless he wises up to your acts, u2 can be a free, damaging escape from his wake-up bullshit, in case you see him mistiming it just a little bit. I guess that’s true for U1 too though… I dunno.
U2 for Fei, Bison (dash>U2 is good at shutting down headstomp/devil’s reverse shenanigans), makoto.
u1 vs Guile, if you’re at fullscreen, with a health advantage, you can simply sit down, and continuously do :d::df::d::df::d::df: and do :r: + :3p: as soon as he tries something.
Gen is kinda pointless… you wont be landing a lot of ultras on him if he plays it well. I’ll say U2, but only in combos. Don’t get fancy with anti-air U2 because he WILL drop out of it or land safely.
I will disagree with the U2 against makoto just because if it does whiff and she gets sucked into point blank range. she can do 80% from one combo. Whereas U1 will push her away and leave you relatively safe after. I’ve been hit with Super> U2 and died with almost full hp 
Yeah, I did originally have elf starred, not a matchup I’ve played too much in super. He can escape your U2 for a free punish in several situations though I believe, and U1 makes everything elf can do to get in risky.
You can basicly punish anything fei does on reaction with U1 so U1 mixups make me choose this.
Same goes for bison, you can punish headstomp on reaction with U1.
Guile you can’t punish sb’s on reaction (only guess) as you have 150ms, and that’s assuming offline with no tv lag (and unless it’s a crt there will be tv lag), you can only punish ex sb’s, and if the guile knows the matchup he won’t throw unsafe ex sb’s out once you have ultra and he won’t be predictable with his sb’s.
Can only remember fighting 2 Gen’s total in super (from ~1100 matches)… really need to find someone from Gen forum to play against!
You cant punish Guile’s booms on reaction? I’m almost sure I’ve done it before… Maybe I thought I reacted to it but I just predicted it…
You can also punish headstomp on reaction with u2 
i see what you mean for Fei and ELF
About Gen, I play against one Gen a LOT. but unfortunately, he’s PSN and you’re on 360
As a guy player, Seth’s U1 gives me more trouble than his 2nd.
Ultra 2 can also be used as an anti-air. It punishes things Ultra 1 cannot, although you sacrifce the range of Ultra 1. Does more damage though at the cost of a mix up oppertunity afterwards.
The other reason to pick Ultra 2 is that it is so invincible on start up that almost nothing can beat it. Like I said earlier if you do Ultra 2 at the right time you can basically garuntee yourself victory. You need to be aware of character matchups though as some characters can escape with meter, if done raw.
I know a sick Gen, shall I introduce you?
Well I just calculated from frame data, you actually have about 200ms to punish guiles lp sb on reaction (ignoring most of startup frames where sb isn’t telegraphed at all and assuming guile is at fullscreen), which should be doable offline, though I remember a while ago testing now, on reaction I could punish guiles hp and ex booms, but not mp or lp… Maybe the reason was lcd tv lag, as 200ms is about as fast as you can possibly react (you can react a bit faster to more distinct events, but not processing if guile has thrown out a sb or something else).
Yes please! Though I expect to loose a fair amount at first so hope I can put up a challenge before he gets bored =). I’ll go to training mode with gen first though, try and figure him out there.