The King of Fighters 2002/Athena

Movelist

Throws

1. Psychic Throw - b/f+C

• Athena grabs her opponent and throws her across the screen in the direction she was facing

2. Bit Throw - b/f+D

• Athena throws her opponent across the screen to the opposite side she was facing

3. Psychic Shoot - b/f+C/D(in air)

• only works if Athena is close to her opponent while both are airborn
• hard knockdown

Command Normals

1. Renkantai - f+B

• Athena does a two hit high kick that makes her lift off the ground slightly
• considered airborne during both hits
• cancellable on the last hit into air moves
• very good recovery on block

2. Phoenix Bomb - d+B(air)

• cancellable to air moves
• overhead

Special Moves

1. Psycho Ball - qcb+P

• Athena throws a projectile that hovers above ground
• qcb+A travels slower and recovers much faster than qcb+C

2. Psycho Sword - dp+P(ground,air)

• Athena does a vertical rising attack that comes out quickly
• A version comes out faster but does less hits and doesn't rise as high as the C version
• supercancellable on all hits, but supercancelling on the last hit will result in the DM whiffing
• free cancellable into
• free cancellable out of on all hits

3. Psycho Teleport - qcf+K

• Athena teleports forward, where qcf+B goes a bit less than half screen while qcf+D goes full screen
• has a long startup, where she can easily be hit out of it. The image of where she was standing when she chose to teleport, can be attack
• free cancellable into

4. Psycho Reflector - qcb+B

• Athena creates a barrier in front of her that reflects normal and DM projectiles
• the barrier stops after it has been blocked, giving it good recovery on block - but if it
• if it hits the opponent
• free cancellable into

5. Phoenix Arrow - qcb+K(air)

• Athena performs a diagonal rolling attack from the air, with the B version going down at a steep 30% angle while D version is a 45% angle
• D version does more hits and ends in a somewhat punishable (on block) high priority kick. This kick will change directions in case the opponent switched sides before it came out
• supercancellable on all hits, though easiest to supercancel is the last hit of the D version
• free cancellable into
• free cancellable out of on all hits

DMs

1. Phoenix Fang Arrow - qcfx2+K(air)

• Athena fires a few projectiles diagonally, then comes down with a B phoenix arrow
• qcfx2+B fires projectiles in a slightly more vertical angle than qcfx2+D, which is at a 45 degree angle. In combos, qcfx2+D is more likely to combo
• if the opponent attempts to CD counter while she is still firing the projectiles, the CD counter will whiff and the opponent will get hit
• has no recovery time after the last hit
• the opponent can easily do a fast vertical reversal on reaction, before her first projectile makes contact with you. Hitting Athena's projectiles (even with fireballs) will hurt Athena for some reason. If the DM whiffs, rush DMs can easily hit her as well

2. Shining Crystal Bit - hcbx2+P(ground,air) (cancellable with ABCD)

• two balls of energy rotated around Athena diagonally for a few seconds or until cancelled
• can be cancelled with ABCD or you can throw the ball with qcb+P
• the cancel with ABCD has some recovery time and can be punished easily, though not as easily as just not cancelling at all
• has startup invincibility, one of the best anti-airs in the game
  
• can hit low sometimes

2a. Crystal Shoot - qcb+P (can be held) (after hcbx2+P)

• the balls of energy surrounding Athena concentrate into her hand
• can be delayed before thrown by holding the P button
• qcb+A throws the ball horizontally, while qcb+C makes it curve upwards
• if the opponent rolls behind her when she is holding it, they will get hit if she releases it then

SDMs

1. Shining Crystal Bit - hcbx2+AC(ground,air) (cancellable with ABCD)

• same properties as the DM version, except slightly more damage and less vulnerable hitbox due to the energy surronding her body

1a. Crystal Shoot - qcb+P (after Shining Crystal Bit SDM)

• same properties as the DM version of Crystal Shoot, except the ball thrown is bigger, does 3 hits, and a bit more damage

2. Psychic 9 - hcb f+AC

• Athena dashes forward. If the attack is blocked or the distance she dashed is too great, she will fall, leaving her wide open for a combo
• if she connects, you must input a sequence of button presses every time she attacks the opponent. The input should be started after the second hit: A, B, C, A, B, C, D, followup

2a. Sailor Finish - qcf+P (after hcb f+AC)

• hard knockdown
• does the same amount of damage as Fire Sword Finish

2b. Fire Sword Finish - hcb+K (after hcb f+AC)

• does the same amount of damage as Sailor Finish

2c. Psycho Finish - dp+P (after hcb f+AC)

• does more damage than Sailor Finish or Fire Sword Finish

HSDMs

1. Psycho Medley - qcf+ABCD

• same properties as Psychic 9, except different sequences need to be input for her followups: D, C, B, D, C, B, A, followup

1a. Healing Athena - D, C, B, D, C, B, A, qcf+AB (after qcf+ABCD)

• recovers about 1/3 of a life bar of health, but does no damage
• hard knockdown

1b. Momoiro Gatame - D, C, B, D, C, B, A, qcf+BC (after Psycho Medley)

• does about the same damage as a crouch D would, so unless this is going to kill the opponent, it is probably a better idea to use Healing Athena instead

Notes

• cancellable normals are far A, crouch A, close B, far B, crouch B, close C, crouch C, close D, jump A(not vertical high jump), high jump C
• CD is cancellable into specials and DMs
  
• she has the ability to wall jump by pressing uf when she has jumped towards a wall

Combos

Anywhere:
1. Close D, f+B, dp+A - 25%
2. Close D, f+B, dp+A(Buffer:hcb dp+A,2), (S)hcbx2+P - 45%
3. Jump D, land, Hyper Hop A(Buffer:qcf uf+A), qcfx2+D(Buffer:qcf+D) - 50%
4. Close D, Far C - 20%
5. qcfx2+D(air, angled such that it hits the back of the opponent only), Hyper Hop A(Buffer:qcf uf+A), qcfx2+D(air, Buffer:qcf+D) - 70%

Corner:
1. ~qcb+A(as opponent is waking up), run Close C, f+B, qcb+D, (S)hcbx2+P - 70-75%

Maxmode:
1. Close D, BC, run Close C, f+B, qcb+D, (C)qcb+B, run hcbx2+P/AC(Buffer:hcb, f hcb+P/AC) - 65%
2. Close D, Far C, BC, hcb f+AC/qcf+ABCD - 55%/60%
3. Jump D, Close C, BC, run Close C, f+B, qcb+D(2), (C)dp+C(1), (C)qcb+D(3), (C)qcb+B, Jump qcfx2+D(air, Buffer:qcf uf qcf+D), dp+C(6), (S)hcbx2+P - 100% (Corner, May Lee only)

Counterhit:
1. CD(counterhit), qcf+B, dp+A - 25%
2. Jump CD(counterhit), d+B(air) - 20%

Attack Strings:
1. Crouch C, qcb+A
2. Close D, Far C/(CD, qcb+A/qcf+B)
3. Close D/Crouch C, f+B, Far C
4. Close D, Far A, f+B, Far C
5. Jump A/CD, d+B(air), qcb+B(air), Crouch A, f+B (Corner)
6. Close D, f+B, qcb+B(air), Crouch C/Far A, f+B/qcb+A (Corner)
7. Crouch B, Crouch A, qcb+A, Crouch C, qcb+A (Corner)
8. Jump D, Jump A(as soon as you leave the ground), qcb+B(air)
9. Crouch C, f+B, Crouch C, f+B (Corner)

Strategies

-always backdash into d+B. The shortcut is b, db+B. Use this to get away from opponent after they jump, then punish with qcb+A as they land. Backdashing with d+B can also sometimes hit people out of their moves, mainly moves like Billy's long range crouch A pokes, or teleports that are about to go behind you

-Athena's qcb+P psychoballs are the main part of her gameplay. The qcb+A psychoball travels slow and has far less recovery than her qcb+C. The opponent is almost always unable to punish Athena if he jumps over a qcb+A psychoball on reaction. Thus, many opponents will get impatient and attempt to jump before she fireballs. Make sure that when you are fireballing and you aren't right beside the opponent, that the opponent isn't close enough such that they can hyper hop over the fireball and be able to hit you. If they jump in order to advance, use the backdash bug to distance yourself and do another qcb+A. Mixup psychoballs with whiffed jabs, to trick people into thinking the jab was another psychoball and jumping in, then punish the jumpin with hcbx2+P-whenever you are throwing out psychoballs, you should be running up slightly while readying the motion for some move in case they jump or roll the projectile. You can do hcb, then run up a bit and do a quick hcb+P which allows you to easily do an hcbx2 crystal bit while running. If they roll the projectile, throw them or combo. The purpose of the fireball zoning strategy is to eventually get them in a position where they are either about to wake up, with Athena beside them, or to have them already locked down by fireballs. At this stage, Athena can continue to lockdown as she has great pressure strings

-for pressure, Athena can use a wide variety of things. Her main pressure strings involve crouch C, qcb+A which is generally only punishable if they rolled the crouch C and you continued to do qcb+A. After the opponent blocks a qcb+A, you can try running up slightly for a far C, or a f+B, both of which will do a good job of stopping an attempted attack (or a jump attempt).

Another useful safe string to use is close D, far C. The reason close D is used over close C is because close D has an incredibly fast recovery time, enough that it is impossible to roll it and punish her. In fact, Athena will always recover fast enough to be able to throw or combo someone before they finish their roll. It is also not possible to punish her if the opponent rolled just as the far C started, except maybe with a throw. If fighting a grappler, it might be a better idea to use close D, CD since you can cancel the whiffed CD to the qcf+K teleport in case they rolled after CD has begun execution. After a close D, if they blocked, you can try a far A, f+B (which is also safe and the far A can combo after the close D). After a f+B, it is usually a good idea to try a far C, or perhaps use the backdash bug and toss out another qcb+A.

Athena can also make use of her instant overhead jump A for pressure strings. If done right, her jump A can hit (high) the moment she leaves the ground, which is almost impossible to block, and can be cancelled to qcb+B which is generally unpunishable. It can also be cancelled to her air DM. This trick works even better if you do the quick jump A after landing from doing a jump D, since the opponent likely won't be blocking high after you land. This is also worth trying after teleporting behind/up to an opponent on wakeup since they will be forced to not only block in the correct direction, but also block high.

She has even better pressure strings in the corner. Close D, f+B, qcb+B is unpunishable and pushes Athena far enough to be out of throw range. After this, she can do crouch C, qcb+A or crouch C, f+B again, or far C, and there's very little the opponent can do about it. watch for the roll, as it is the most likely move that the opponent will make if he stays trapped in the corner. He may also try to jump out, so be prepared to jump back with D to intercept it

-when there are about 10 seconds or less left in the round, and you have a health advantage, you can try doing a high jump off the wall, and then do hcbx2 shining crystal bit such that Athena jumps off screen (only her shoes should be visible). Cancel the DM into qcb+A after waiting a bit, then hold it for as long as possible before releasing. This is a good way to waste the remaining time on the clock, and there isn't anything the opponent can do about it. Anti-airs like Iori's dp+C cannot reach her, and neither can full screen DMs like Kula's hcbx2+AC SDM