A little less orthodox than the standard uthrow start:
Depending on who you're doing it to, dthrow tech-chase can also be a good way to start some percent build (or 0-death tech-chasing if you feel like that route), fthrow and dthrow chaingrabs on certain characters can be DI traps, and if you can't regrab, you can get many different tippered sword swings, often including a fulljump fair, which could be a potential Ken combo or reverse dolphin slash. Uptilt is also a giant DI trap and a pretty good anti-air, and "get off me" move for one in the #RoyZone. You can often catch someone out of the air or out of moves/movement with a dash attack, but it's not exactly safe on block. Tipper dair beats cc even if it's not something you should expect to hit someone with in the neutral as much as a punish, and leads into a lot of stuff, even if you'll usually want to grab. Most aerials work as decent two piece starters if not an extended combo. If your opponent likes doing somewhat laggy things on the other side of the stage because they think they're safe, you can DACUS and hit with the sourspot to start a tech-chase, or sometimes get a grab or tipper off of it. If dtilt manages to force a tech, the same thing happens, and you can potentially get grabs off of dtilt.
Generally you want grabs, but a safe, defensive, spaced and/or retreating nair or fair can get you positioning if not a combo.
Since the grab is most important, just try to keep in mind how movement mechanics affect your grab and the different types you can do. Shielding in initial dash stops you instantly, allowing you to space a grab, JC lets you do a normal grab out of a dash, boost pivot grab lets you grab while moving away, etc.