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. Tiger Knee-ing this move is great for building meter from far away.
The roundhouse version is completely unsafe on block unless you hit with the tip of her toe. However it can create some nifty crossup situations when the person is knocked down. The other versions are great for pressure when rushing down on the opponent. This move can be cancelled in the air for mixups.
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, teleport shenanigans, or upon activation of a Custom Combo.
However there are many things you can do afterwards:
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.
» (jump) Super - Shining Crystal Bit will hit for good damage.
» Custom Combo
Super Moves
Grooves
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.