Athena (NGBC)

From SuperCombo Wiki

Body Tosses

Silky Throw - Near opponent, press Back or N or Forward + C + D

Unique Moves

Icarus no Kutsu - Press Down Down + D

Special Moves

Hamadrias Buster - QCF + A or C (useable in air) (hold A or C to delay) (SC)

Neptune Killer - DP + B or D

Morning Star Attack - QCB + A

Morning Star Crash - QCB + C

Lion's Shield - hHCB + B or D

Life Flower: Yakusouka Tairyokume Corpse - Press Down Down + A + C

Yakusouka Tairyokume Pneuma - Press Down Down + B + D

Yakusouka Bakutenme Pure Blossom - Press Down Down + B + C

Pukapuka Hovering - During jump, press B + D

>Unicorn Horn - Press A or C

>Typhoon Sing - Press B

>Cancel - Press D

Desperation Moves

Poseidon's Rage - QCB Down Back QCF + B or D

Heaven's Gate - Forward HCF + A or C (2 stocks required)

Pegasus Fantasy - QCF Down Forward QCB + B or D (3 stocks required)

Homura no Tsue - QCF QCF + A

>Flying Fire - QCF QCF + A

>Fire Storm - QCF QCF + C (1 stock required)

Kaze no Tsue - QCF QCF + C

>Flying Hurricane - QCF QCF + C

>Storm Fire - QCF QCF + A (1 stock required)

Combos

Crouching C, link crouching D

Jumping cross-up B, crouching B x3, Neptune Killer (D)

Jumping deep C, crouching B x2, Neptune Killer (D)

Jumping deep C, standing close D, DA Assault

Jumping deep C, standing close D, Heaven's Gate (A)

Crouching C, link crouching D (AC Tactical Step), Pegasus Fantasy

Basics

Goddess Athena NGBC Primer I: By Dark Geese

DG G.Athena Disclaimer: Okay this is one of the characters I have worked hard to make a threat since the game came out in 2005 to PS2. I will share some of the things I do for now but keep in mind things are changing rapidly as I adapt her so much of this stuff though it may apply is not exactly how I play her. I even play her somewhat different than the EVO World vids you saw, and certainly will by NEC8. So don’t think just because of what I post you got me figured out…Hahhaa.

-First thing first know that while Athena does not necessarily need meter, her Meter is valuable! If you want to think how I play Athena, you need to consider Athena how I play her as a mix of Strider, Yun, and Sentinel. While the Strider and Yun may be obvious, I ain’t telling you the Sentinel, that shall be saved for NEC8!!

- As far as her specials are concerned, Mermaid Kick DP+K has a lot of priority and very few things beat it as an anti air, it also lands on the opposite side of your opponent blocked, screwing up their timing for combos…so keep that in mind. I prefer DP+D over DP+b because I track the opponent and land in their face when they tech or wakeup.

-Shield Flip (qcb+A/C)- Another one of her best moves. Why? This move not only crosses up your opponents but is AN OVERHEAD. So yeah it must be blocked high, on top of this though it’s not totally safe only a few things can punish it off GCFS ONLY. This move can also be used as an Anti-Air if timed right as you will see me do. Mix up Shield Flip (overhead, crosses up, cant tech it if it hits!) with her slide and a throw and you got a SOLID WAKEUP GAME.

-Reflect- Another one of Athena’s best moves. It has more priority than MERMAID KICK. It can be used as an Anti Air and where Mermaid Kick fails, this will either beat it straight up or TRADE at the worst. What’s best about this move in addition to what I said? This is what you need to use for battery and in addition to this, this move is ANTI-CROSSUP..thus meaning those that like to crossup like Kim and do Backturned Tricks…this will stop it!!

-BNB Athena combos-

a. cr.bx2 to B/D Mermaid Kick (Low)

b. cr.bx3 to b/D Mermaid Kick (Low)

c. cr.ax2 to Mermaid Kick (High- hence why I DON’T USE IT)

d. St.ax2 to Mermaid Kick (High- Use it rarely)

e. St ax2 to Deadly Assault (A DG Specialty of mine…if I get this I get FREE HEALTH)

DG Free Health Parlor Trick #1- After a Deadly Assault because you wakeup backturned plus you cannot tech DA’s PLUS you are on the other side of the screen, Plant a Heal Plant (down, down A+C) and then slide underneath it to get the health. To make it even more consuming, I now slide into Reflect so that if they throw a projectile or jump it will reflect or they will get hit. You have enough time to slide and block and get the health. Don’t think this is all the Athena Parlor tricks I have, I have MANY MANY Parlor Tricks with Athena, I ain’t saying them all quite yet! Also by doing reflect after slide to catch the plant you build your SUPER METER, meaning yes its almost glitchy..hehe..you build health AND build meter at the same time!

DG Free Meter Trick #2- If you are full on health or satisfied with your health, you need to plant the Super Gauge Plant- (down, down B+D), which looks the same as the Heal Plant and…THE INFAMOUS BOMB PLANT. Getting ideas here..aha alas you see they all look the same hehehe. Now slide and grab the Gauge plant which will give you a meter of super, then do reflect and watch your super gauge practically explode..its almost broken how much meter you gain total…..

The “Fire” vs. the Tornado- -I know you all been waiting for some of my Fire tricks. Well first I need to tell you rarely if EVER use Athena’s Tornado (qcfx2+C) over the fire because the tornado once you hit her out of it IT DISSAPEARS..not the case with Athena's Fire…(qcfx2 +A). You can release Athena’s fire onto your opponents via doing another qcfx2+a, doesn’t cost a meter. Same with Tornado, do another qcfx2 +C to release. Fire is much better because it creates hit stun, follows a long distance, HURTS, and doesn’t launch the opponent high like the follow tornado where you cannot do anything to them until they wake up!!!

Advanced Strategy

By Dark Geese

Now while I am not going 2 give away all my Athena tricks I will give those few of you out there enough to see that though bottom tier Athena can wreck havoc on characters if they are not aware of what she can do.

Sure she takes some work but in the right hands she can murder in the corner.

I am going to briefly break down some of Athena's best moves-

qcfx2+a flame super- This super is paramount to playnig Athena the best you can play her. She has many many things she can do off her "Ouroborous" Flame Super that makes this the super to use when you have Athena hands down. While in this super if the opponent gets offensive most of the time they will lose the battle.

With this super you can force the opponent to turtle, and if you are real tricky like me can even break their guard in many mischievious ways!!!

Qcb+A- Overhead smash- This move is good because it will catch MANY people off guard and can wreck havoc on them if they do not expect it. This move is an overhead as are all jump ins in NGBC/SNK games, but this one comes out relatively fast and has good priority!!! use it to catch your opponent Slipping!!! Do not do this move while in Her Flame Super because the flame will DIE OUT..

Dp+D-Mermaid Kick-This move is godly almost in its sheer priority as an Anti Air..use it practically anytime your opponent jumps..90% of the time it will beat whatever they have to offer and if not it will more than likely trade.

Dark Geese's healing trick- Okay guys here is a little trick of mine I am going to give you guys...

After you nail a Deadly Assault with Athena IMMEDIATELY do her healing Plant-down,down, A+C, because they cannot tech after a Deadly Assault making you at least 95% safe from them attacking you and healing in the process!!! it will only heal your red bar so if you have all that healed up then do her down,down+B+D move to restore super gauge so you can keep the rushdown with more Flame Supers!!!

Goddess Athena Primer II:


Things you may need to know about Goddess Athena moreso-

-As Beast of Fire says, you can knock her out of the fire on startup and a fierce enough combo will knock her out of it as well. But if you anticipate this you will space yourself correctly as I do to “Activate” (What I will call putting the fire on from here on out) If you watch closely I Space myself before Activating if I need to…which in turn causes the opponent to rush me to try and use stuff like Bigs Cr. DxxBison Torpedo (Don’t whiff versus Tung BITCHES!! ) or Kims cr.b to stop it. -Bait their poke and release the Flame to them! This will not only hurt them but will make them think twice about rushing to combo low. This will slow them down. There are MANY other ways that I will elaborate on later.

Also know that Mermaid Kick, Reflect, or Throws will cause the Fire in Activation to dissipate..so DONT USE THEM WHILE IN ATHENAS FLAME...

Something else to know about the fire- It has an add on you can only do if you have 2 supers total. So say you have 2 supers, then you again access to the Fire Add on and the Tornado Add on- Which both are FIRE TORNADOES. The difference? The Fire Tornado from the flame (qcfx2 C after Activation) stays on you for a little while, and should it hit it launches and you are right there to juggle/reset after it (Watch one of my matches vs. Mago or my first ever match vs. Cajunstrike in NEC7)

-The Tornado Fire Tornado (Yeah sounds redundant, do it by first doing qcfx2c, then doing the Fire Tornado with qcfx2 A), travels full screen but also launches the opponent for comboability. This is really the ONLY reason to use the tornado Activation AT ALL.