I’ve found more and more that even on matchups where the opponent is in the air a lot (Yun/Rufus/Adon) I prefer Ultra 2 for chip and punishes and the fact it can be more cheaply (in terms of meter cost to combo into) and consistently landed.
Honestly, Ultra 1 is one of the worst Ultras of it’s kind in the game. When compared to other ultras that are meant to have similar functions. It’s the slowest starting, shortest range, and one of the most unsafe on block in the game. And has some of the lowest damage.
it is not really one of the most unsafe just unsafe , cody is not my main but i play him know all his combos and can do his 1 frame links so i sometimes play him and i actually use ultra 1 more just cuz i can combo from hk ruffian fadc ( and it is animation is better haha) but ultra 2 is just way better ( punish firballs , combo from counter hit setups from corner etc… )
The move is -31 on block and has a 13F startup. It is factually in the top 1/3rd of most unsafe ultras. The only ones MORE unsafe are throw based ultras (obviously since they have no blockstun) and DP style ultras that do most of their animation on whiff still (Ryu’s Ultra 2, Ken’s Ultra 1, Juri’s Ultra 2) however in all of those cases, they have really good hitboxes and every single one of them has a better startup.
There are only 2 strike type ultras that are more unsafe, and have nearly as long of a startup. Rose’s Ultra 1 (though it has a really good hitbox that goes long distance it is -37 on block and 12F startup. And Fei Long’s ultra 1 (which isn’t great but it also has more juggle potential and chip but it’s still 11F startup and -38 on block)
The problem is that Ultra 1 is slow AND has a terrible range. If it was Slow but with good range (Abel’s Ultra 1) or fastish but with bad range (Makoto’s Ultra 1) or slowish with bad range but easy to land without meter (Yun’s Ultra 1, Rufus’ Ultra 1) I’d find it more useful. Especially since it’s damage is lower than all of those ultras except Yun’s Ultra 1 (But Yun can combo AFTER his ultra 1 lands with a dash punch and it beats Cody’s U1)
Not saying U1 is WAY worse than others, just… worse. Plus U2 is simply so much better (and other than the fact it is unsafe as all hell on block, whiff, or air hit) it is one of the better ultras in the game due to fast startup, high chip, long range, and versatility.
wasn’t really trying to say u1 is good i just measure how unsafe an ultra is by how much can you punish it on block but yea other than combo it from hk ruffian fadc or zoink fadc it really has nothing going for it
I think the only match-up I use U1 100% of the time is Rufus. It punishes EX Messiah when delayed, he jumps a lot, many chances to use ex Bingo or HK ruffian kick for FADC, etc. U2 just doesn’t have the same usefulness in the match. I like U1 on Adon as well because you can reliably punish with it on reaction and for the same reasons as Rufus.
With Seth and Cammy, I sorta go back and forth. U2 can do so much damage to Seth, but the problem is that I am rarely able to set up a CH game on Seth, leaving U2 to be used for dizzy, blocked DP’s and whiffed SPDs. Seth is very aerial, and dive kick is easy to punish with U1. Majority of the time, I use U1 against him. It sort of depends on the Cammy. If they are mashy, random and very jumpy (not good), I’d probably just use U1.
I do prefer U2 for the most part. I guess I can see it’s use in the T. Hawk match. I still use U2 though.
Nah, the hit box on Juri’s U2 is one of the worst and very faulty. People fall out of it for so many different reasons. Can’t be used as a reliable anti-air. List goes on. I agree with everything else you said though
Hitbox for Cody’s U1 = 2F active duration, 0.45 wide 0.35 high
Juri’s U2 first hit hitbox (the one that goes into the animation) = 4F active duration 0.55 Wide 0.45 High
That said, if you DON’T get the full animation her U2 is very faulty. However you do at least still get some damage off of an airborne landed U2, compared to Cody who gets a wopping 20dmg on block (and then steps forward to make sure that they can fully punish him XD) Still I agree that Juri’s U2 should get a better vacuum effect.
Gen: The matchup is footsie based, Cody forces Gen to jump, can react to Oga wall dives with U1.
Dan: The matchup is footsie based, Cody forces Dan to jump. Cody wins the projectile war.
Yun/Yang: Can anticipate dive kicks and AA with HK Ruffian-> FADC-> U1, Cody forces Yun to jump.
Cammy: Can anticipate dive kicks and AA with HK Ruffian-> FADC-> U1, Cody forces Cammy to jump. Footsie based matchup , can react to EX Hooligan, EX Spiral Arrow and Spin Knuckle with U1.
Rufus: Can anticipate dive kicks and AA with HK Ruffian-> FADC-> U1, Cody forces Rufus to jump, U1 punishes all EX Messiah follow ups.
Fei Long: The matchup is footsie based, can punish all Rekkas (except EX) with c.LK xx hk ruffian FADC, can s to CW with U1, Cody forces Fei to jump.
Adon: Zonk is very useful in this matchup (meaning EX Zonk-> FADC-> U1 will be common), Cody forces Adon to jump. Can react to Jaguar Kicks and Jaguar Tooths with U1.
Someone else posted these reasoning for ultra 1 and these are the ones i agree with for my choice but now that im trying to learn to hit confirm to ultra 2 i would say
Adon, Rufis, Yun/Yang, Cammy are one that i ALWAYS rock U1 the other ones i flip flop
Twins,Rufus, Gief, Adon, Cammy probably being the biggest.
Though Twins, Rufus, and Adon can get either ultra. But U1 benefits the most due to dive kicks and reacting with HK Ruffian>FADC<ultra.
Adon can’t do reckless Jaguar crap since you should be holding a button down for Zonk. Throw in a EX zonk for the fadc>ultra confirm. HK ruffian pretty much foces Adon to have his TK jaguar kicks or jaguar kick strings on point.
I struggle when I’m picking my ultra for the gief matchup, U2 can punish all green hands on block and even if they fadc I think, but U1 is great for anti airs, I suppose it depends what sort of gief you’re playing.
lol idk why but my cody spider senses were tingling. went into a mental self argument about ultra choices 2 seconds before i opened srk and i notice this haha.
I will say one thing and that i think is a good summary for beginners:
U1 is a combo ultra
U2 is a punish ultra
If the char has no punishable moves with U2 that are reliable pick U1 and if the char uses dive kicks alot pick U1
If you cant FADC to ultra, pick U2 ALWAYS
Obviously this isnt an end all be all but alot of arguments i see for U2 over U1 include
reactionary punishes to fireballs and dash punches
counter hits to U2
cl mp hit confirms to U2
Simply put a beginner is NOT going to be able to do these. shit i cant do any of them except number one and i can f+mp, cl+mp, cr fp decently well so while im not a pro im still not a complete noob.
TLDR:
for someone like seikano, U2 is sick because he can hit confirm off CH and cl mp all day [sorry for dick riding but i still get amazed every time lol]
for intermediate players, pick ultra 1 in matchups where you expect alot of jumping [dive kickers, maybe grappelers]
For beginners stick with U2 till you learn your shit. if you need to dedicate all of your effort into watching for a jump and fadcing it U1 prolly isnt the best.
*if hit confirming into a fadc ultra is easy for you in matches this fucks up my logic but im about a half year into this game and this is the process i went through while
learning cody
Why Gief when you can punish all Banishing Flats (FADCed or not) with ultra 2? Cody has enough anti-airs to deal with his jump-ins.
When it comes to T.Hawk, I guess it depends on the style of the player. If the guy Condor spires a lot then you can use U1 in reaction. But it’s hard to connect the ultra after an anti-air RK RK because of Hawks jump height (i.e. he will often be hit from way to far away).
Against grapplers, I also prefer U2 because you can punish whiffed SPDs on reaction.
Apart from that, I agree with everything else.
BTW: I have an unblockable setup on Yang after U1 (or was it a super ambiguous jump-in, can’t remember now), I’ll try to upload it at some point.
Hawk can get either U1 or U2. A good hawk player won’t condor dive at peak height and will mix it up with safe dives or rely on his footsie game. U1 is fine overall (punsish condor dives upon diving or after max height/badly spaced dives on block via HK ruffian>FADC>U1)
But U2 also punishes any blocked dives and unsafe crap. (sweep, most cr. hard attacks, whiff punishing.) It’s really a matter of how the hawk plays. Let the first round judge on if you should swap ultras or not.
Same really goes for Gief. But I prefer U1 because Cody’s ground normals already do good against a grounded Gief. You should be already baiting gief to approach with fake rocks. Plus for max damage, you should be punishing any jump ins with HK ruffian. (with b.strong, fierce and roundhouse being the go to normals for backup AAs) Plus you’re also getting the possibility of whatever followup if you have meter and obviously U1 if you have it. Plus you get a knockdown and gief is away from you (and you’re more than likely not inching your back in the corner anymore.)
Yeah U1 goes well in that matchup, makes them scared to jump. Also alot of guys like to do lp shoulder from st.mp, you can get a clean ultra through that.
If your playing a good guy be wary of them trying to bait it though.
