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, Jump A(Buffer:qcf uf+A), qcfx2+D(Buffer:qcf+D) - 50%
4. Close D, Far C - 20%
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%
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)
Move Properties:
-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
-free cancellable into moves are qcf+K, dp+P, dp+P(air), qcb+B and qcb+K(air)
-f+B is cancellable on the second hit, d+B(air) is cancellable
-hcbx2+P can sometimes hit low, has startup invincibility
-dp+P and qcb+K(air) are supercancellable on all hits
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 with intercept it.
- Throw out qcb+B for a meaty on wakeup every once in a while
-when doing hcbx2+P input up at the end of the command to do a jump version of the DM. This will give you invincibility to low attacks as well as the benefit of the opponent not being able to ground combo you in case the DM didn't anti-air. It also gives you more vertical coverage
Notes:
-hcbx2+P does just a sliver of damage less than hcbx2+AC. Thus, it is rarely useful
-although qcfx2+K(air) is totally safe on block, it can be easily anti-aired (with a fast dp move) on reaction. Whiffing this DM can also get you hit with rush DMs and fireballs as you come down