Capcom vs SNK 2/Athena

Introduction

Athena's CvS2 incarnation is more or less of a mix-up type of character, that relies heavily on gimmicks and zoning. She has no reliable way to land any of her supers, so she has no real way to do the damage the other top tier characters can do easily. Therefore, her real main threat would be to use her fireball to zone, incredibly good crouching fierce to poke, and shut down options.

Athena players need to be patient, and find gaps in their opponent's playstyle to get in and start mix ups. Once the person is afraid of your strong pokes, then you can get in some reliable mixups/pressure.

Her main grooves that are played are, A (being the best), S, and N(Not too common, good battery though.)

Moves List

Normal Moves

Button	Position	Buffers:	Itself	Specials	Supers	Hit	Block	Startup	Active	Recovery	Damage
Jab	Close		y	y	y	+7	+7	3	4	5	200
	Far		y	y	y	+3	+3	2	4	10	200
	Crouching		y	y	y	+4	+4	3	4	9	200
	Jumping		-	y	y	-	-	5	23	-	400
Strong	Close		n	y	y	+9	+9	3	5	8	700
	Far		n	n	y	+0	+0	6	8	14	700
	Crouching		n	y	y	+1	+1	5	2	17	700
	Jumping		-	y	y	-	-	7	6?	-	700
Fierce	Close		n	y	y	+1	+1	8	4	21	1100
	Far		n	n	n	+3	+3	8	4	19	1200
	Crouching		n	n	y	+1	+1	5	8	17	1200
	Jumping		-	y	y	-	-	6	6	-	1000
Short	Close		n	y	y	+4	+4	4	6	7	500
	Far		n	n	y	-3	-3	6	6	14	400
	Crouching		y	y	y	+6	+6	3	5	6	200
	Jumping		-	n	y	-	-	6	20	-	500
Forward	Close		n	y	y	+5	+5	5	8	9	800
	Far		n	n	y	-2	-2	6	4	20	700
	Crouching		n	n	n	+3	+3	8	8	11	800
	Jumping		-	n	y	-	-	6	8	-	700
Roundhouse	Close		n	y	y	+3	+3	5	8	15	1100
	Far		n	n	n	-2	-2	9	4	22	1100
	Crouching		n	n	y	down	-14	8	4	34	1000
	Jumping		-	n	n	-	-	8	6	-	1100
Command Normals
f+Forward			n/n	n/n	y/n	down	-7	6	3(9)3	24	400+500
(air) d+Forward			n	n	n	Down	-	8	20	-	800

Special Moves

Psycho Ball

+ P

Version	Startup	Active	Recovery	Hit/Block	Damage
	15	N/A	46	-9/-9	700
	16	N/A	45	-8/-8	800
	17	N/A	44	-7/-7	900

- Notes: This is her Fireball. The fireball is big and the speed of the Light Punch version is her best one from full screen. While recovery is not very Sonic Boom-like, the speed of which that one travels makes it a very good fireball to run behind and zone with.

RC Psycho Ball is also a good anti air.

Psycho Sword

(Air) + P

Version	Startup	Active	Recovery	Hit/Block	Damage
	8	15	23	Down/-12/-9(air)**	500 + 400 x2
	10	18	25	Down/-18/-9(air)**	400 x2 + 200 x3
	10	20	29	Down/-29/-9(air)**	400 x2 + 200 x5

• All Air recoveries are upon landing.

- Notes: This is her SRK. However, this move does not function like an SRK upon reversal. Her LP version has some lower body invincibility, while her MP version has some upper body invincibility. HP version has no invincibility at all.

The hitbox of this move is strictly vertical in nature, so the jump-in has to be right ontop of her for it to hit fully. This move is more often used inside a combo than a traditional Anti Air. However if you do land the ground version this move, it can lead into an easy Custom Combo from anywhere.

Phoenix Arrow

Air + K

Version	Startup	Active	Recovery	Hit/Block	Damage
	10	N/A	19	+5/+5	300 x 3
	10	N/A	23	+1/+1	300 x 4
	10	N/A	51	Down/-30	300 x 4 + 500

-Notes: This move is great on chip with all versions. Differing strength means the speed and angle of the move vary a little. The roundhouse version is completely unsafe on block unless you hit with the tip of her toe.

This move can create some nifty crossup situations when the person is knocked down as well as being great for pressure when rushing down on the opponent. This move can be cancelled in the air for mixups.

Tiger Knee-ing this move is great for building meter from far away.

Super Psychic Throw

+ P

Version	Startup	Active	Recovery	Hit/Block	Damage
All	6	2	21	N/A	400

-Notes: This is Athena's Command throw. It has very little range, you must almost be point blank to hit with this. There are many ways to set this up,including dash-ins, RC, teleport shenanigans, or upon activation of a Custom Combo.

Follow-ups:

» Psycho Sword - Standard Finisher for good damage.

» Jump Fierce - This will reset the opponent in the air. This can be good to push the person into the corner, or cancel the fierce into a Phoenix Arrow for some mixups.

» Crouch Fierce - Reset

» (jump) Super - Shining Crystal Bit will hit for good damage.

» Custom Combo

» Standing Strong - This leads to a perfect distance to cross up with j.mk.

Psycho Reflector

+ K

Version	Startup	Active	Recovery	Hit/Block	Damage
	18	N/A	64	Down/-36	900
	31	N/A	64	Down/-36	500 x 2
	31	N/A	64	Down/-36	400 x 3

-Notes: This is Athena's Reflector. All versions reflect a fireball of any kind that is not a Super once out. The MK/HK versions hop her forward a bit.

Psychic Teleport

+ K

Version	Startup	Active	Recovery	Hit/Block	Damage
	17	12	14	N/A	N/A
	17	24	14	N/A	N/A
	17	35	14	N/A	N/A

-Notes: This is Athena's Teleport. It has considerable start-up so consider using it inside a combo when planning to use it. This can be useful for getting out of corners, or starting some mix-up game. However this teleport can be THROWN while you are in motion, making it dangerous to use to escape throws or be predictable with.

Super Moves

Phoenix Fang Arrow

Air + K

Version	Startup	Active	Recovery	Hit/Block	Damage
Level 1	4	Varies	44	Down/-24	2200
Level 2	4	Varies	44	Down/-24	2600
Level 3	4	Varies	44	Down/-24	3700

-Notes: This super varies in the amount of hits done at the height you do it at. There are a certain amount of repetitions where Athena must teleport back at the starting point of her super and come on down. The closer you are on the ground the faster it will teleport back up to the starting point of the super. Depending on the distance between you and the ground, there might be less hits.

Theres no real confirmed way to land this super, and its best use is to chip the opponent to death especially against taller characters.

Shining Crystal Bit

(Air) + P

Version	Startup	Active	Recovery	Hit/Block	Damage
Level 1	4	96	54	Down/-31/-11(air)	1000
Level 2	4	128	54	Down/-31/-11(air)	1600
Level 3	4	150	54	Down/-31/-11(air)	3200

• Active/Recovery Frames are counted by if you leave the super untouched and let it run its course.
• Air Recovery is upon landing.

-Notes: This super comes out extremely fast at 4 frames. At the first active frame it may be canceled into Crystal Shoot. Due to its quick nature, it can be a great 'Get Off Me" super even at Level 1. The crystal balls always appear to the top left/right corner of Athena upon start up, and strike up and down. This does NOT mean Athena is invulnerable to any attack if you randomly throw it out. A super, or a well placed Normal can sneak by the orbs and hit you clean.

There is however no confirmed way of landing this super outside of crossup shenanigans and as an anti air. However blocking this super still regards in immense damage in the form of chip.

Crystal Shoot

((After Shining Crystal Bit)) (Air) + P (Hold)

Version	Startup	Active	Recovery	Hit/Block	Damage
Level 1	8	1/5*	38/10(air)	Down/+1/+7(air)	500 + 500 x 2
Level 2	8	1/5*	38/10(air)	Down/+1/+10(air)	500 + 500 x 2 (x3 on ground)
Level 3	8	1/5*	38/10(air)	Down/+1/+13(air)	400 + 400 x 4

• Active frames are 1 frame start up where she holds the fireball on her head, and 5 for the actual throw.
• Air Recovery is calculated upon landing.

-Notes: This is the follow-up for the Shining Crystal Bit super. It comes out quite quick, has a huge hitbox when she holds it high, and you can direct the flight path of the fireball. Light Punch goes straight down the center, Medium Punch throws it in an angle arching upwards in the end, and Hard Punch arches upward quickly upon throwing it.

The air versions of the move give you a frame advantage due to the recovery upon landing.

» Corner Trap: Due to the fact of the frame advantage you could get from this Super if done at the air, and the amount of chip it can do, it is not uncommon to see people knock someone in the corner, run up, then activate this super upon their get up as a meaty. This makes it risky for the opponent to try to escape this corner trap.

You can do a level 3 for 40% damage on chip damage alone, and still do a level 1 afterwards relatively safely. This is not inescapable, but it can be very important to know when the going gets tough and you need the cheese.

Cancel

((After Shining Crystal Bit)) (Air) File:(3p).png (3 punches)

Version	Startup	Active	Recovery	Hit/Block	Damage
Level 2/3	N/A	M/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

• If anyone has the data on this, it would be greatly appreciated! - Lionx

-Notes: This cancel stops all subsequent frames of the Shining Crystal Bit, and lets Athena recover quickly. Great for if you messed up or want to do a corner mixup. This is only available at level 2 and 3 versions of the Shining Crystal Bit. This move cannot be used once you activated your Crystal Shoot portion of the super.

The Basics

Her best poke undoubtedly is her crouching fierce. It reaches far, goes under alot of projectiles, and recovers quite quickly.

Her jab version of her fireball (qcfb + lp) is slow, and big is good for pressure and running behind it.

Many normals can connect after a close standing strong, it has a insanely high amount of +frames. For example, using standing strong then a sweep, canceling the sweep with a whiffed command grab (for faster recover) gives you ample amount of time to have cross-up opportunity.

Her best AA's are crouching fierce (which cleanly beat everyone of Sagat's jump-in's (except foward at a certain cross-up angle) and standing strong. Also Strong Psycho Sword (dp) has upper-body invincibility, so it can work as an AA too.

Match-ups