Athena is a very fast character that can play zoning, space control and aggressive / pressure heavy. She excels at zoning though due to having a fireball and a pretty good DP. Some of her normals are excellent (st.C, cr.C, st.D, j.D). Moreover, her teleport as well as forward B cancelled into Phoenix Arrow (air qcb+K) can help her setup pressure off her fireball frame advantage. She has some nasty instant overheads conversions and drawing out the most of her max mode potential is surprisingly challenging.
| description =Athena is a very fast character that can play zoning, space control and aggressive / pressure heavy. She excels at zoning though due to having a fireball and a pretty good DP. Some of her normals are excellent (st.C, cr.C, st.D, j.D). Moreover, her teleport as well as forward B cancelled into Phoenix Arrow (air qcb+K) can help her setup pressure off her fireball frame advantage. She has some nasty instant overheads conversions and drawing out the most of her max mode potential is surprisingly challenging.}}
Athena is a very fast character that can play zoning, space control and aggressive / pressure heavy. She excels at zoning though due to having a fireball and a pretty good DP. Some of her normals are excellent (st.C, cr.C, st.D, j.D). Moreover, her teleport as well as forward B cancelled into Phoenix Arrow (air qcb+K) can help her setup pressure off her fireball frame advantage. She has some nasty instant overheads conversions and drawing out the most of her max mode potential is surprisingly challenging.
Normals
Standing
st. A/B are fast and chain/cancel-able
st. B/C are both good pokes, but st.C does more hit-stun and has more range
st. D while useful because of it's range has a bad recovery if you whiff it
Close
All cl. normals are cancel-able and they all combo into her Renkantai command move, her st.B combos into both Renkantai hits
cr. A/B are good for chaining lights normals together
cr. C is fast and has good range
cr. D is whiff cancel-able, knocks down
Jumping
j. A combos into her Phoenix Bomb command
j. C is cancel-able
j. D has good range and can be used to during jump-in combos
Blowback
st.CD comes out quick, but has mediocre range
j.CD has really good range, cancel-able and can keep the opponent away, best used as an air-to-air
Throws
Bit Throw - (b/f + C) close
Athena grabs the opponent, swings them around her a few times then throws them near the edge of the screen
Soft knockdown
Can be teched out of
Psycho Throw - (b/f + D) close
Athena tosses the opponent to the corner of the screen
Soft knockdown
Can be teched out of
Psycho Shoot - (b/d/f + C) close in air
Athena grabs the opponent then slams them toward the ground at an angle. Depending on the jump arc of the opponent, they will land either near the corner of the screen or a few character spaces away from the corner.
Hard knockdown
Command Moves
Renkantai - (f + B)
Hits twice if close and 2nd hit special cancel-able while Athena is in a mid-air state. Good to use in the beginning or middle her bread-n-butter combos because of it's cancel ability, or to use keep the pressure going if the opponent is blocking because of it's safeness on block. You can also throw this kick out a few times during neutral play at a mid range from the opponent to check for hops/jumps and to poke around with lightly because of it's good vertical size hit box. Be careful using this kick up close against characters that have 1F command grabs (like Clark, Daimon, etc), Athena can be grabbed if the kick is blocked.
Phoenix Bomb - (d + B) in air
In mid-air, Athena uses her back to hit the opponent. Almost like a second j.CD attack with his long active frames and knocking the opponent down on hit. If blocked, Athena will bounce back in the air then land far away from the opponent; some characters may be able to punish her on the way down. It's special cancel-ability helps extend its use to either create more offensive pressure or more damage. The hitbox is pretty large which can hit opponents at surprisingly far distances, and can also cross-up if space correctly. You can also cancel into this command normal from her cancel-able jump normals (eg. j.A, j.C, j.CD) to create possible high/low mixups.
Soft knockdown
Special Moves
Psycho Ball - (qcb + A/C)
A projectile that can be hopped over by the opponent. Light punch version travels slow but Athena recovers fast, while the heavy punch version travels slower while Athena has much longer recovery.
Psycho Shoot - (hcf + A/C)
Athena's second projectile that can be hopped over by some characters. Launches the opponent into a juggle-able state on hit. Light punch version travels slower while Athena recovers fast (to enable a follow-up if close enough) while heavy punch version travels faster while Athena recovers a little slower.
Soft knockdown
Psycho Sword - (dp + A/C) also in air
Athena's dragon punch. Light punch version starts up fast & hits 3 times while the heavy punch version has slower start-up & hits 7 times. Both punish-able on block or if whiffed. Can combo easily from light normal and her f+B command normal.
Super Cancel-able
Soft knockdown
Psycho Reflector - (qcb + B)
Reflects projectiles and can be used to hit the opponent. Cannot reflect Takuma's HSDM, or KUla's Freeze Execution (hcbx2+AC). It can not reflect other projectiles that don't leave the opponent's hit box like Kula's qcf+P, Yuri's qcf+P etc but it will just negate them.
Psycho Teleport - (qcf + B/D)
Light kick version teleports Athena half screen distance while the heavy kick version travels full screen. Both versions don't have any invincibility but can phase through the opponent.
Psycho Teleport Fake - (qcb + D)
This is pretty much the heavy kick version of her Psycho Teleport but Athena stays at her inital position while the afterimage is placed ahead of her. Against expectations, the fake afterimage has a hitbox and it'll hurt Athena that seemingly hasn't moved from her spot. That property reduces this move to essentially a bad gimmick.
Phoenix Arrow - (qcb + B/D) in air
Athena bundles up as a Psycho Ball and tumbles down towards the opponent diagonally in the air. Light kick version travels faster but at a shorter distance, while the heavy kick version travels slower at a longer distance and has a kick follow up. The light kick version is safe on block while the heavy kick version is much easier to punish if blocked.
Desperation Moves
Shining Crystal Bit - (hcb x 2 + A/C) also in air ( ABCD to cancel)
Athena surrounds her self with small psycho balls that revolve around her diagonally. Invincible during start-up and while it is active. If it hits the opponent, they will be knockdown down, while the animation stays active unless if cancelled out of, or if the Crystal Shoot follow up is used. If blocked, Athena can be easily punished if the opponent is close enough.
Soft Knockdown
┗Crystal Shoot - qcb + A/C hold to delay
Athena fires a small but fast projectile towards the opponent. Light punch version (A) travels horizontally while the heavy punch version (C) travels at a curve diagonally. You can hold the button to delay the projectile then release it at will before the max time it can be held. Holding the projectile does not grant any extra damage or hit properties.
Phoenix Fang Arrow - (qcf x 2 + B/D) in air
This is a DM version of her Phoenix Arrow. Light kick version has a steep diagonal angle, while the heavy kick version travels farther; depending on if you perform it during a hop or a jump. There is a small amount of push back if blocked but Athena can still be punished. It should not be used as an anti-anti-air because some reversal moves can snuff it out after it starts up.
Super Desperation Moves
Shining Crystal Bit - (hcb x 2+ A/C) also in air ( ABCD to cancel)
A much stronger version of the regular DM version.
┗Crystal Shoot - (qcb + A/C) hold to delay
More damage than the DM follow-up version.
Psychic 9 - (hcb, f + AC, A, B, C, A, B, C, D)
This is a ranbu type SDM in which the hits must be manually inputted, and has 3 different follow-ups. The ranbu travels 3/4 screen distance, has no invincibility, and is very unsafe if blocked. The button sequences must be inputted after the 2nd hit of the ranbu when it hits. If an input is dropped, Athena can be punished.
┗Fire Sword Finish - (qcb + B/D)
Athena changes into a Greek warrior costume, then hits the opponent with a Fire Sword.
Soft knockdown
┗Psycho Sword Finish - (dp + A/C)
Athena hits the opponent with a Psycho Sword attack.
Soft knockdown
┗School Uniform (Sailor) Finish - (qcf + A/C)
Athena smacks the opponent causing a wall bounce which can be followed up with any attack.
Wall Bounce
Soft knockdown
Hidden Super Desperation Move
Psycho Medley - (qcf + ABCD, D, C, B, D, C, B, A)
Same properties as the Psycho 9 SDM attack while whole sequence of attacks dealing more damage (200 damage compared to Psycho 9's 150 damage)
┗Momoiro Katame - qcf + BC
* Deals around 450 damage points
* Hard knockdown
┗Healing Athena - qcf + AB
* Deals around 310 damage points, gives back Athena 150 damage
* Hard knockdown
Combos
0 stock
s.D, far s.C
IO j.A, qcb+B
j.D, s.C, f+B, dp+A
j.D, s.C, dp+A
cr.B, cr.A, dp+A
cr.B, f+B(2), dp+A
cl.C, f+B [2 hit], dp+A (doesn't work on everyone)
cl.C/D, f+B(2), air qcb+D (corner only)
1 stock
IO j.A, qcfx2+D DM
xxx, f+B, hcbx2+P DM
2 stocks
xxx, f+B, qcb+D SC to hcbx2+P DM (corner only)
xxx, dp+C [6 hit] SC to hcbx2+P DM
3 stocks
s.D, BC run, s.D, far s.C, hcb,f+AC SDM
c.B, c.A, BC, c.C, hcb,f+AC SDM or qcf+ABCD HSDM
cl.C BC cl.C f+B dp+C(1~2) qcb+D(1~2) dp+C(1~2) qcb+D hcf+A dp+C(1~6) hcbhcb+AC (Corner Only) (56 to 59)
Combo Animations
cr. B, cr. A, dp+C
close C, f+B, dp+A
Notes
Misc:
j.A, j.B, and nj.B, not nj.A, are instant overheads on everyone but crouching Bao, Chin, Choi. hop B is instant overhead on everyone.
j.B and j.C are crossups.
hcbx2+P (S)DM have invincible startup.
close s.A gives frame advantage on block
s.D gives massive frame advantage, enough to link far s.C
f+B is +0 on block, and so is qcb+B in situations where the last hit connects (e.g. the corner or crossup). hcb+B is +0 on block although setting it meaty does not improve this.
hcf+P and hcb+B create a free juggle state on hit. You can combo multiple hcf+P in certain situations.
If one of her projectiles is on screen, doing qcb+AD will give you the short version of qcb+D.
dp+P finisher to the SDM gives the most raw damage, but the qcf + P finisher causes wallbounce, which allows you to set up resets without sacrificing too much damage (e.g. qcf + P finisher in s.CD xx whatever only does slightly less than the dp + P finish). You can also connect a hcb x 2+ A/C (S)DM for extra damage at the cost of more stocks.
Changes from OG 2002
Psycho Shoot returns from KOF '00
New move: Psychic Teleport Fake. Sends an afterimage forward, but the real Athena stays in place.
A version Psycho Ball recovery increased.
MAX2 Psycho Medley (Healing Athena) heals less now.
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