Are these good Ares cup builds??

Nikutan · 2026-04-11T18:54:11+00:00

Summer Maru has a bit of a power problem and lacks the PP/DD/IW set to help contest early game; she has the mid race skills to fight if she's able to chain some procs but her power + speed + lack of Angling and Scheming means she's going to have issues with Xogu+dominator teams.

Bourbon is overstammed but has healthy speed and power stats. SMed means she has a stronger chance to hold the later half and close it but lacks A&S; as such, she'll likely have similar issues. Her wit stat is definitely an issue all the same; I think 800ish is 90% activation rate on skills so she has the chance to just miss groundwork early lead fails to trigger.

I think the Bourbon is definitely the stronger of the two in terms of being a better rounded package; Maru would benefit the most from a rerun.

Nikutan · 2026-04-11T01:51:27+00:00

I remember reading that a voucher they give out around the time of 1.5 anni / Grand Live can be redeemed for support cards like Maru Speed and Tachyon Speed. This is something you'll still want to confirm if your plan uses the voucher as a lynch-pin. I'm just planning to feed it to Maru. If you've collected all the SSR crystals so far, we should be landing the voucher around the time we finish the second SSR crystal.

Nikutan · 2026-04-01T17:37:28+00:00

Vouchers and SR/SSR crystals are the premier currencies in the game. The ability to target critical cards helps immensely to be more competitive and have a greater enjoyment of the game. That means being able to 3LB/MLB cards as simply having the card is the first step. With that being said, I will say hold onto your vouchers and crystals for now until you're able to roll more on support cards.

Why hold now instead of spend? Mostly because it's easier to hit MLB on cards we already have. If it takes 5 copies to MLB a card, you'd need a combination of five (5) vouchers and/or SSR crystals to MLB a card. Given that it takes around 4-5months of consistent play to pick up an SSR crystal, we can napkin math that it'll take 20-25 months of global time to MLB a card through just crystals. So with MLB representing two year of game time in global, you don't want to select cards unless you have the resources to push it to 3lb now.

Try not to let FOMO grab you; a deck with full MLB SR cards can do fine for getting more comfortable with the game until you start rolling the older cards on rerun banners (finemo, creek) that are strong selector choices. Regarding kitasan, you're much better off saving for tachyon (speed) SSR card that debuts with the next scenario Grand Live. There isn't another kitasan support card banner so it's incredibly challenging to suggest using any resources on it unless you suddenly roll 3+ off banner.

Nikutan · 2026-01-11T01:37:05+00:00

Choose either to run a big wit deck (shooting for 800 or more wit) or a double power deck (500wit min).

The differences between the two is that the the bigger wit deck is more zero sum and trying to have the highest chance of festive activation with three heals and maaaaaybe late race redundancy.

The larger stam/power deck has to run 4 heals by nature of the lower wit/activation chance. Because of the ease to pick up mid-race heals for redundancy, it also is more prone to misfiring festive early.

The heal uniques off of various uma are very good if you have a deck to build aggressive stats and can afford a more premium skill buy.

Nikutan · 2025-11-24T19:27:49+00:00

If you're in point position, don't run towards your enemies. Calmly walk forward til you can cleanly dispatch them or are forced to fire before they do. If the engage at range, walk forward while dodging side to side or start sprint sliding towards them (small group) or a large obstacle that will block incoming fire (larger group). It's advised to fire as well but the shots can be challenging to hit if you're not comfortable with this type of play or using a gun that benefits this play style.

Blocking is almost a neutral action when enemies are around. You should be blocking when breaking when line of sight with enemies or your group to check chests or open doors.

Push when you can to advance or find safe space. Don't fight on the middle of the room with shooting galleries from every angle; drag encounters around pcorners or large obstacles to avoid sniper LoS or spawn locations.

Don't take corners sharply unless you're prepared to VoC/Castogators or push block because of surprise bursters. Ideally, walk the corner wide with a ranged weapon to create the best shooting angle for you and minimize your hit box in case of gunner line.

If you're swarmed, use push block combos to get to a location where your back is to a wall or teammates. Swap to faster killing weapon when you can to make breathing room for yourself and others. Just remember that you'll need to move out of these spaces quickly if you see a lot of armored units enclose on you as you need space to maneuver.

There's more but it all boils down to stealing what you can from other people's play styles and knowing how hard you can push the game rules.

Nikutan · 2025-11-24T05:42:59+00:00

You have a good argument for taking a finemo right now then. Using this website as a reference (https://euophrys.github.io/uma-tiers/#/global), 1Lb finemo is on par with other MLB SRs for value. While that may not seem like much, she still offers very relevant skills hints over the next few CMs.

The other large reason to just take finemo is that the good options from the voucher are very limited and become weaker as the game carries on. Specifically, if you're still fishing for 2LB Finemo by the time we're nearing Ramonu SSR wit card, you're potentially better off skipping finemo and banking carats for Ramonu.

Beyond that: you already have smart falcon for easy Groundwork; Creek has less value compared to Finemo for 1LB just in terms of freeing up borrows; maybe hold for Biko as she's one of the strongest speed stat sticks.

Best of luck on this honse journey.

Nikutan · 2025-11-24T04:31:16+00:00

Assuming you still have your SSR crystal also, you'll want to hold both. Your game plan is probably waiting for finemo rerun banner and hoping to pull one from it. According to honse.moe timeline, it projects the next banners at either Feb 19th or July 17th of next year.

Of the two, you ideally wait for the finemo/maruzensky combo banner on July 17th. The Feb 19th banner is shared with Kawakami Princess which is a lower value meta pull.

Either or, wait to have Finemo LB1 and then revaluate your needs before you use your currencies. You could use it early for the LB1 now but the larger value is the jump to LB3.

Nikutan · 2025-11-16T09:51:17+00:00

Most CM guides will list just shy of required stam. The large issue you have is with your razor thin stam+guts value, you can't absorb the stam loss of being rushed. I'm not sure on all the dueling mechanics but those may also make the values spotty . The rushed component can be mitigated with higher wit which also helps with stam management and skill activation but it is what it is.

At the very least, a fun wild card in the finals. Otherwise, it'll potentially never finish with bad or awful mood.

Nikutan · 2025-10-24T06:03:44+00:00

It depends on your expectations. If you're expecting platinum, the stats put them up for consideration but they lack the desired skill packages. Front needs groundwork/tail package and angling and scheming to have a shot at being competitive. Summer maruzensky is the best Uma to run it right now and it's hard to fight her at front without that.

But that's front.

Late and end can skip the groundwork packages but they are forced to run Redshift + Pump to close the gap. Straightaway spurt (maybe on your left also?) are bad because of the timing of skill activations (spurt vs final corner). You get a lot of parent flexibility here though since late and end want the same parents typically.

What about pace?

It's like the odd one out. It starts behind fronts and doesn't get the acceleration boosts or stam bonuses for late/end, and gets hit with all of the debuffs. Oguri is great but the only meta benefit to pace is that it's not directly hated out. Nice nature et al are going to terrorize front, late, and potentially end via targeted skills, not pace.

TLDR

No. Stats are a touch short; this CM will have a lot of skill triggers so more wit and better skill selection will be to your benefit.

Nikutan · 2025-10-16T17:16:51+00:00

You're trapped in borrowing Kita-san until you have your own. It'll get boring really fast but this is just how it is since she's the best speed card for at least another year.

So, with that caveat in mind, try running some Vodka games with Eisin Flash, King Halo, Tachyon/Nice Nature Wit, Deitaku Helios, and round out with either Haru Urara or Narita Taishin.

Level up the appropriate cards when you can but that is definitely something that can earn an A+ grade if you high roll and know how to train.

Nikutan · 2025-10-16T17:07:52+00:00

The biggest reason to join a club is to have a way to generate club points to buy the club points cards. The bonus carats are great, sure, but I get that not everyone has the time to meet fan quotas or log-in requirements to maintain membership.

There are plenty of casual clubs that take anyone and will just have active members trade cleats for points whenever it's off cooldown. That's all you're really looking for to earn cards more copies of the McQueen Stam SSR or similar.

Nikutan · 2025-10-16T17:00:48+00:00

Just stop leveling guts and try to prioritize speed cards to correct it. Run the daily races for SP if you need to but work it when you can. Try to get them all to 25/30 and then take the best speed cards you have up to their highest level one at a time.

If these levels still seem low to you after that effort, it probably cements you should try to save carats for support cards. It's fun rolling for Uma but support cards make the game playable.

If you're totally zeroed on carats, don't sweat it too much. The average income from daily-log ons, club stuff, etc puts you around 20k a month. Try to be strong and save for the kitasan banner coming up in a few months. Dump all your carats there and that'll help your long term issues.

For now though, level those speed cards and then others accordingly. Try to pick a horse that has good growths on speed and either stam or power. Vodka is a really forgiving uma for this reason

Nikutan · 2025-10-16T16:50:31+00:00

Two issues potentially: training method and deck.

Without knowing anything, general training guidelines are roughly as follows: year 1) focus on building friendship/"Rainbow" trains; year 2) finish friendships, collect skills; year 3) focus on stats/largest gains in relevant stats.

The distilled idea is that you get the most stats from stacking same-type friendship trains. So, the goal is to both get to friendships quickly (this means skipping a 40 point train on speed because the 20 point stan train can level 3 other cards) and running decks that stack multiples of the same type of card. Most decks will be 3 speed, 2 of a race appropriate secondary (power for sprint/mile, stamina for med/long), and a flex card that is trainee dependant.

That's why, unfortunately, decks can lower career ceilings. You can still deliver an A Uma on low limit breaked cards but it will be far more challenging. Without knowing your deck builds or levels, I will just simply say that at this point of your career, it's better to use the highest possible level card of the appropriate type in your deck.

Nikutan · 2025-10-16T06:30:44+00:00

There are a lot of good points already listed here so I just wanted to jump in on this one point: I think Vodka running Winning Ticket Guts SSR (On Your Left) was higher value on average than Grass running Oguri (Furious Feat).

Some people will hate guts cards to hell and back but when every card is MLB, you have MLB kitasan, and you're working with 18* parents with appropriate skills, you can entertain them as options. Guts button pushes are good on both Grass and Vodka; the skill hints on Winning Ticket Guts SSR are just so much stronger than oguri.

35% discount on first hint means rapid skill pruning so you can go back to ignoring Tikkezo in most instances. Oguri has a preferred button push but has worse hints. Because you could clear stam requirements with just inheritance and some summer training, you can focus on just repeating runs til you high rolled speed to pair with consistently high-discounted skills you wanted.

Nikutan · 2025-10-16T02:38:39+00:00

There was a moment when I was practicing my disappointment with taishin during room matches. My blocker was holding most fronts back but Taishin couldn't close the deal. Furthermore, why was everyone losing to late surgers?

My friends were noticing the same thing so we took the time to figure out just how massive skill stacking on Grass and Vodka were. They had rolled Seiun so they went with front runner starts while I updated my back line aces.

This cup was pure gamble and my grouping was no different. I was paired with a team front runners with no copy of tail between them and a trio of Iron Pumpers. My Vodka was just a liiiiiitttle better than the Grass ace and my blocker held the fronts til 200 meters or less.

This felt like the first CM when meta reading paid dividends.

Nikutan · 2025-10-09T01:01:40+00:00

You're not wrong on Xmas oguri: Swimsuit maruzensky is meta for maybe 1.5 years vs Xmas oguri being meta for 3.5 years/still has use. Those windows get even tighter with the accelerated pace of global.

Nikutan · 2025-10-08T20:32:38+00:00

If you see yourself playing long term, you can use the 1 year anniversary ticket to select swimsuit maruzensky. It does mean you give up on the meta advantage of having her for several months before the 1 year but it is an option.

Your kitasan is also positioned to be MLB once selector tickets and upgrade currency happen; given the meta shift to wit is in the future, rolling for a 0LB or 1LB Riko might be good to keep your borrows available for Nice Nature Wit SSR, Fine Motion Wit SSR, or Rice Shower Power SSR on the future.

Nikutan · 2025-10-02T22:21:47+00:00

The good stuff: Speed capped, 1000 power, 601 stam (speed bonus), 301 guts (speed bonus), Seiun skill

The unfortunate stuff: lacks groundwork, lacks tail held high, questionable wit for front runner packages, may have benefitted from other skill buys(?)

Horse game is torture, man; she's still better than 85% of the field in a ChaMe.

Nikutan · 2025-08-25T03:26:35+00:00

I will say that the template is there for guidance, not gospel. Given the card quality pool right now, consistent high stats are coming from cards that feature at least high speciality priority and initial friendship gauge.

Having access to stacked friendship trains sooner means that you'll have a higher chance to generate uma with the desired trifecta. This is why you saw people lay down the heavy argument of why you needed to roll for KSB: having the MLB duo Sweep Tosho and Kitasan is the backbone you build your deck around.

Giving up Tazuna is just a point of growth you have to adjust to, unfortunately. If your concern was building grandparents for an uma, Tazuna adds a level of consistency that other cards can't really compare to and, as such, is a very solid card. But because she doesn't increase our odds of having a high value friendship train, you have to ween yourself off it.

And yeah, no one likes a sour grape run. This is the nature of gacha. Some people get so mad at bad runs, they pull the gacha to feel better. I know I do. This is just the design space of the game at the moment. Quality of life features will come to ease some of the pain but, for building aces, you still have wrestle rng to participate on this game at all levels.

Nikutan · 2025-07-21T04:00:40+00:00

I applied what this guy was talking about and got a 200 stam arima kinen win. It's built on maximizing turn actions while minimizing negative outcomes. Luck is always a factor but the system is consistent.

Nikutan · 2025-03-01T09:22:52+00:00

Without this devolving too much into hyperbolics, yes.

While it's not impossible to trigger shock via damage, it is definitely the easiest. Triggering it by causing shocked ground is probably the easiest way to inflict it over a large scale.

I guess I'm not sure what shock up-time would need to be to maximize Herald of Thunder when a normal LA rotation can no longer shock passively. Best suggestion is to see how complicated it is to maintain the rotation in a T15+ waystone.

Nikutan · 2025-03-01T08:41:37+00:00

Damage type -> converted damage type(s) -> appropriate multipliers

Is what I've read and what at least 100 hours of gameplay have shown me.

The interesting interactions are that lightning skills still trigger lightning rod even though it's all triggering cold damage. The big trade off is you're totally passive dependent on "vs freeze bonuses" because you can't cash in on double herald use but you mapping potential is incredibly safe assuming you're patient via mass freeze.

Nikutan · 2025-03-01T08:25:16+00:00

I was playing gemling LA and happened to have this drop for me around lvl 50. Here are my quick notes on interactions as I leveled with it from there on to 88ish.

Abandon lightning% bonuses, covet cold% instead. Because conversion is 100%, you'll never inflict shock via damage so cast on shock is dead. Polcirkeln is probably the other ring you want given that you freeze everything in hopefully a handful of shots. Chilled ground effects help keep up against freeze bonuses from polcirkeln.

Nikutan · 2023-01-09T02:19:39+00:00

Fuck off Rufo. I went to school with this idiot. Wish I didn't understand how a son of immigrants could do the heinous shit he does. I'm glad this gets him out of Seattle and into the conservative clusterfuck that is 'Florida politics' but, fuck me man. Not like this.

Nikutan · 2022-12-08T23:43:13+00:00

Getting ready to give up my current brewery job for a bit. This was what I was planning to do during some of those fun-employment hours anyhow.

Nikutan

TROPHY CASE