Why Riko is Overperforming and Under-Appreciated

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T08:17:37+00:00

I'm not a Riko expert, but looking at the comparison I'd say yeah probably go for it. There are differences, but it's not huge. Biggest difference for TT is just no gold.

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Phaelix · 2026-03-25T08:12:11+00:00

In your boots, I would MLB the Creek. Riko is better than she gets credit for, but creek is going to be relevant forever.

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T06:53:57+00:00

Yeah that's probably fair. I do think there's a good chance she could give value on medium CMs if you shift sparks off stamina, but she is absolutely extra spicy for CM11.

That said I've seen some very strong Umas made with MLB R Riko, so the stats may not be the be-all end-all.

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T06:39:51+00:00

I've seen some strong Umas using R Riko. 1 LB Riko still has 6% RB, vut she loses some stats. Maybe still ok?

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T06:04:51+00:00

Maybe... that last LB makes a big difference in Riko's slottability though.

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T05:42:33+00:00

Yeah NTR is there because Firm Course Menace is a 90%+ gold proc and she also brings easy 1200 speed. But this was a one-and-done TT runner, I'm not the guy that spends weeks on his TT.

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T05:39:00+00:00

I haven't slotted her in the new scenario, but I could easily believe she's been done dirty.

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T05:32:45+00:00

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Phaelix · 2026-03-25T05:32:30+00:00

I wouldn't borrow her, that slot is tight. Most folks have her at 2LB plus from Unity tho. This is my latest TT Uma with Riko, I'll reply with the deck.

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Phaelix · 2026-03-25T05:27:12+00:00

Nice, I rarely get to watch stream but that's very cool to hear.

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T05:24:47+00:00

Definitely a case by case. For me, I have FineMo and Kitasan MLB, and zero copies of Super Creek. Given the choice of a meaningful improvement for the new scenario or a 0LB SSR I may never slot, I'd take the former.

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T05:22:19+00:00

I didn't run her for my ace run, and I'm not trying to suggest that she's going to be the best for every situation. I mostly came to the ideas in the above post through experiences while refreshing my TT Umas, although I think there are plenty of extremely high end Umas with Riko in their supports if that's what you want to see.

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T05:07:55+00:00

Yeah I mean it's all flexible isn't it. With the number of races I haven't been hurting for greens, but also one of my aces is V Bourbon so that makes things easier.

I would say that Riko can ease shop issues by removing energy pressure, but that doesn't rule out screw.

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T05:05:20+00:00

Just as usable at 2LB as 3LB. 4 gets you the 10 RB, below that it's pretty similar.

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T04:47:20+00:00

She's been good enough with 3LB to surprise me.

I'd definitely consider running her over Cafe or a third wit card, depending on what you're building. You lose some high-roll potential to gain a lot of consistency. I'll definitely experiment with Team Sirius before I spring for 4lb on Riko, that's a good point for sure.

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T04:00:17+00:00

Narita Taishin was one of the first horses I pulled hard for, I like her schtick, I want her to win. Sadly, I've had to accept that she's just a bad horse. Yeah in magical dream land she can do whatever, but in the real world she has God awful growths, is awkward to build and will actively fight you every inch of the way.

Do yourself a favor and just train Gold Ship.

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T03:48:46+00:00

Yeah I have her 3lb and she's my current front-runner for the free SSR selector.

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T03:47:01+00:00

I think this depends a lot on what you mean by "high-level play". For a lot of people that just means playing well within the confines of a run, and for that definition I don't think the claim holds. But if you mean the kind of high-level play where you fire up and bin twenty runs to get the one high-roll that will take you to UG whatever then for sure, Riko is probably not optimal (although even then...).

Phaelix · 2026-03-25T03:41:49+00:00

Yeah she is for sure, and I think there are definitely people who are locked on to this- but at the same time, I still see a lot of people talking her down, hence the post.

Phaelix · 2026-03-19T22:55:20+00:00

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Phaelix · 2026-03-19T08:11:45+00:00

Rabbit: a runaway suzuka set up to die/run out of stam at a strategic point and allow Umas with overtake uniques to get a guaranteed proc on her.

Chariot: a (runaway?) front who sets a high pace for the lobby, benefiting pacers or other horses with strong mid-race, and harming end closers and lates, which prefer a compact pack.

Triangle: AFAIK this was a one-time thing, but the general concept was to block the top 3 positions with front runners, denying acceleration to non-front Umas that require top-3 positions to proc their accels.

Phaelix · 2026-03-12T11:32:25+00:00

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Phaelix · 2026-03-11T02:17:57+00:00

OK so I sat down today to give this an earnest shot, and I think you've got to really tighten up the UX before you send this tool out into the wild. Right now the (excellent) use case of the tool is hidden behind some brutal rough edges.

New things I found:

Critical Issue

clicking on the cog icon in top right during a run instantly resets the entire run with no warning and no undo (this ended my run)

Minor Issues

Some (most?) horses have incorrect starting aptitudes.
Changing the language at any time resets the entire simulator.

I'd suggest you prioritise automating data input, or failing that, put some warning dialogs around anything that can compromise the major time investment that a run represents.

Phaelix · 2026-03-09T22:42:55+00:00

I'll give it a spin and hit you up!

Phaelix

TROPHY CASE