He's okay at casual levels, but I think even at intermediate levels he starts becoming more frustrating to play. Stray hits deal way more damage for other characters until you start learning RC extensions and how to time specific follow-ups(unlike, say, just spamming dolphins), his mobility is really slow and punishable, and everybody is way bigger and can close the gap more quickly than in other games, making zoning pretty awkward without all of Axl's tools. You end up having to play a lot more patiently, spending meter on defensive options instead of aggressive RC extensions or supers(because his supers are just plain bad, but that's besides the point).

Ironically, one of the easiest characters to play in older games became one of the hardest almost exclusively because of changes made to the game around him. He's still good, just in very weird, specific ways compared to someone versatile like Sol or May.

So, yes, pick a different character if you don't want to spend a lot of time learning all the specifics and frame data.