Legendary Alear (M) Banner Review

I thought Elusia has already spread the Engage hype, but it seems not enough. We got a new legendary unit this month, and that is male Alear. I'm shocked that the other gender has received a legendary alt so soon after 6 months, which reminds me of the Byleths who received the same treatment as well.

Anyway, it's been a while we have an Earth legendary since male Robin and here's my in-depth analysis on this unit.

Legendary Alear (M)

His weapon has Slaying and an unconditional brave effect like female Alear does. He can also grant Omni+5 & inflict penalties on all stats from his foe during combat based on the number of different non-Engage units present within his vicinity. Then, he pierces through damage-reduction effects by 50%, and that he inflicts the Scowl effect when he meets the Res check. 

He has a new special called "Dragon's Roar" which is not a preferred skill this time, as his A slot already has one. It is an excellent inheritance option for most dragons which functions similarly to "Armored Floe" as it grants the 40% unpierceable damage-reduction to the user, but it has the Res check instead of the range restrictions.

Emblems' Miracle is his preferred A skill which has built-in Distant Counter, and he grants himself Omni +9 and 40% damage reduction including brave hits if he's within 3 spaces of an ally, which is like a Finish effect. What's more, if there are more than 3 allies within 3 spaces, during enemy phase, he has a Miracle effect as a long as his HP is more than 1. After that, he restores full HP to himself and he does so once per map. It appears that he's way more formidable than his female counterpart in terms of his omni-tank capabilities. However, he might struggle to survive against units with Sweep effects unless he has Null C Disrupt 4.

And finally, we have an another version of Bulwark 4 which inflicts penalties on Spd & Res.

Overall, I'm looking forward to seeing his prowess as a frontliner, but I prefer female Alear over him due to her everlasting support capabilities. If nukes are still getting prevalent, he might show his age after a few months.

Thoughts on Overall Banner

Despite being the latest unit on colorless, I don't think his colorsharing is great. Gullveig doesn't really excel in her role as a defense Mythic because it's tough for her to do three actions simultaneously. However, she has great fodder, with Flared Sparrow & Occultist Strike for your mages. Gotoh has diminished the value as he ages poorly after a year. He's no longer a good omni-tank anymore, yet his support effect grants a ton of damage-reduction from AOEs, and it is pretty decent.

Green being the top choice is my hot take. It has two amazing refreshers, with Attuned Peony being a nice fodder factory, and Ninian still retaining her prime for nearly 2 years. The former especially, will be facing off against Edelgard very soon, and I encourage pulling for more copies of her there than the potential all-green AHR banner. Heidr is also a noteworthy mention for being a solid rally support in Astra season.

Red has some good value, with Kvasir being a solid defense Mythic and she has a unique Special that grants another action to one of her allies. Attuned Triandra is an another excellent refresher like her sister with more fodder opportunities. And finally, Harken has an great niche which is underrated by most players.

Blue has Freyr, but he is in a tough spot. Legendary Myrrh's niche is outclassed by her Valentine's counterpart, and hopefully she gets a refine next year. I don't care about Febail other than the fact that he's Phys. Null Follow fodder.

Next Reruns & Wrap Up

The reruns are stressing me out after I've spent a lot on the Elusia banner (with rather terrible luck). Male Alear is scheduled to return in July which is rather surprising as I would rather have him on April instead. Freyr, the one I'm looking for comes back in August with Ratatoskr. It pushes my orb strain even more, as I really need him desperately for Anima season. As far as I want Alear for my collection, I think it's best for me to get Freyr ASAP, because I play Aether Raids very often, so I'll will get him on Spark no matter what. Also, this banner lasts for 2 weeks which gives me time to plan my orb budget accordingly.

Let me know if you're excited about legendary male Alear. Thank you for reading my thoughts on this unit. Have a nice summoning session :)

My Opinion on AHR Results 2024

The final results for this year's AHR is already out for some time, so I'm going to share my thoughts on the rankings while we're waiting for the upcoming Voting Gauntlet.

Final Results

On first glance, I'm so excited because the menace herself, Fallen Edelgard is no longer part of the Top 20. The Fedelgard curse is over at last, and all of the Edelgard fans must have switched to the Winter alt instead, which is the right choice given her limited availability. The insane amount of votes must have pushed her to 1st place, just like her summer alt last year. 

Legendary Camilla is the runner-up, and this is expected by a majority of people, including myself because of her insane pre-combat damage and DR-piercing support in the battlefield.

Reaching 3rd place, is Legendary female Alear, a great omni-tank whom I feel a bit doubtful of as she's currently on a tough spot like most other tanks. However, there is no denying that she has insane fodder, with Atk/Spd Pledge being exclusive to her, which is also invaluable.

Gullveig won CYL last year during her debut, and now she has skyrocketed through the ranks of AHR and has reached 4th place. Even with her three consecutive actions, her nuking capabilities are not that crazy in my opinion, yet Flared Sparrow & Occultist Strike are pretty good inheritance options for your builds.

Winter Dimitri, until now, is widely used by many players for being an exceptional Vantage frontliner, as well as a hit-and-run axe cavalier. No Quarter is his exclusive special which can be inherited to a majority of melee units, thus justifying his popularity in the ranks.

The ninja tradition continues today, with Ninja Sanaki reaching 6th place. She is still amazing, because of her unconditional brave attack, followed by a unique DR-piercing effect that is based on the number of penalties active on her foe. She proves to be a living nightmare for a lot of players.

I'm surprised that Wind Tribe Claude made it into the Top 8, considering he's started to show his age. It appears that the community is determined to bring all house leaders together in the ranks this time. Regardless, he's still great as a nuke as he can trigger Lethality at an instant, but he just has to watch out for units with the Scowl effect such as Veyle.

As the only fodder factory in the Top 8, Attuned Peony remains as an outstanding refresher with excellent fodder opportunities. Rockslide Dance 3 is great, and she makes good use of her Atk Oath Echo skill too. She can even act as a warping beacon if she has Guidance 4, supplementing her support capabilities further.

Overall, the top 8 looks very strong with some interesting options. In my opinion, Wind Tribe Claude should have been swapped out for Winter Byleth, who's in 10th place. The fact that the latter did not make it into the Top 8 really shocks me, as he's by far, the best Savior unit in the game. Also, Nabata Altina is only a few votes away from overtaking Peony which sounds pretty close. I'm also disappointed that Veyle did not make the cut, despite her popularity in CYL, as it could have been easier for merges if she's on the Top 4.

Predictions for the Voting Gauntlet

The units who've made it into the Top 8 will be nominated for the Voting Gauntlet at the end of this month, and that the champion of this event will be sent to all players for free. In every Voting Gauntlet thus far, the seeding is fixed, with the following matchups: 1st vs. 8th, 2nd vs. 7th, 3rd vs. 6th & 4th vs. 5th.

In this case, we'll have Edelgard against Peony; Camilla against Claude; Alear against Sanaki and Gullveig against Dimitri. There are a lot of green candidates in the bracket (credits to Pheonixmaster1 for making this), which foreshadows the possibility of another all-green banner like in 2022. 

Single-colored banners like this are a popular trend across the FEH community, as they increase the likelihood of getting a random 5-star unit while sniping on one color. However, it is a hellish place when it comes to pulling for a specific unit, and the rates for individual units are even worse than those of the standard Legendary & Mythic banners.

For Round 1, many players would anticipate Edelgard losing to Peony, as they consider this a "tradition". Camilla has a likely chance of winning against Claude, while Gullveig would probably lose to Dimitri as Occultist Strike is now available on Duo Lyon. And finally, Alear and Sanaki can go either way, and I'm leaning towards the latter. As a result, the top 4 banner will probably have Attuned Peony, Winter Dimitri, Legendary Camilla and Legendary Alear/Ninja Sanaki.

Final Thoughts + Who I Think Will Win 

Assuming the bracket is true, I personally hope that Edelgard wins Round 1, and so does Dimitri, just so that both of them can now face each other as actual rivals in Round 2. I'm already sick of the fact that Edelgard always loses the first round because of some weird pattern coincidence, and I would like to see her redemption arc this time.

As for the winner, I totally bet Legendary Camilla due to her insane capabilities as both a nuke and a support. And after some time, we may have some sort of counter that mitigates the ridiculous amount of pre-combat damage in the future. Fomortiis won the AHR last year, and he got devastated by the sheer power of nukes. So, there will be even more powercreep after that, and that the game will become impossible to play.

I hope you enjoy reading my opinions on the results, and let me know who do you think would win the AHR this year. May your summons turn out succulent.

MY WORST FEAR HAS COME - Elusia Banner Review

How amazing is that? Forget the AHR results for now. My plans of getting Freyr have shattered as IS has suddenly released a banner I'm not prepared for at this very moment. Archanea is already overdue for a New Heroes banner since almost two years, and now this, Elusia already? Don't get me wrong, I highly anticipate Elusia for this year, and that makes me hyped, but why releasing it so soon, after spending on the Valentine's banner?

Anyhow, enough of my ranting. Let's see what we get here.

Rosado

First and foremost, we got Rosado, who is very popular among all male characters from Engage, so his introduction in FEH is certainly a celebration for a lot of fans. His weapon grants Slaying and he inflicts the Atk, Spd & Def penalties on his foe during combat, which depends on the foe's maximum Special cooldown count. This sounds a bit concerning to a lot of units with Gambit, because it relies on the maximum Special cooldown count to do more Special damage, and that less will be dealt when fighting against Rosado. It also grants 40% damage reduction from brave hits, as well as a 70% DR-piercing effect if that foe's Def is more than the same foe's Res.

He has two new inheritable skills, one of which is Earthwind Boost 3, an another type of boost skill which looks decent for fast units. Then, Wyvern Rift is a new B skill which I believe is the final tier of Wyvern Flight. It will compare the unit's combined Spd & Def stats with his foe's, and if fulfilled, Rosado will deal true damage as well as flat damage reduction from brave hits based on his Def. Not only that user can do a guaranteed follow-up attack, but he can also make foes harder to do follow-up attacks, which is insane for a speedy tank. He does not have a C skill, which is great because he can run Guidance for warping support.

Rosado can be a great asset for a lot of teams, serving as both a frontliner and a warping support.

Kagetsu

Another red demote who offers nothing special in particular, besides Null Follow-Up fodder. Since he's an Engage unit, he's one of the demotes I'm fine keeping for my collection. However, with an awful lot of Book 1 demotes in the pool, I think he'll be harder to pull for, especially if you're looking for merges. And also, I wish he has a unique Special animation where he sheaths his sword, as seen in Engage.

Hortensia

We finally got an arcane staff unit after such a long wait, and Hortensia is no exception when it comes to useful fodder. Her weapon "Arcane Charmer" grants Slaying and 7 HP restoration to her nearby allies after they finished combat. Whereas at the start of combat, if the user is more than a quarter of HP, she will grant Omni+5, do a guarantee follow-up attack and Special acceleration to herself per attack. This weapon is relatively tame and not impressive for me. I expect more so that more outdated staff units can benefit from it. 

Regardless, "Glitter of Light" can be a very useful special indeed, as after it triggers, it will inflict the Flash effect to nearby foes after combat. This makes enemy phase teams even worse, and until we have a way to counter the meta shenanigans, such teams are not viable. Besides, Hortensia has a new-preferred C-skill being "Glittering Anima" which grants Atk/Spd +6, Canto (1) and penalty neutralization to herself and nearby allies. She can even inflict "Panic", "Discord" to her foes and if she's within 3 spaces of her ally, she can grant additional bonuses to Atk & Spd as well as an Anti-Guard effect. 

Overall, Hortensia can perform two roles: that of a ranged nuke and a support unit. Her versatility makes her a formidable presence in teams, especially flier lines. When consider inheriting both her arcane weapon and special, I suggest making your staff units more offensive so they can make good use on the Flash effect.

Ivy

Not a surprise for the crown princess's inclusion given that it's Elusia. I'm also surprised that her base form is now an Attuned, which is limited, so I guess there is no meaning when it comes to character choices for these unit types. Ivy's weapon shares some similarities as her summer counterpart, being able to warp to any of her support partners, but with far more range. Otherwise, she will move 1 extra space which is great as she still has the advantage without relying on them. She grants stat bonuses to herself based on 25% of foe's Atk, neutralizes Guard, heals after follow-up attacks and reduces damage from incoming attacks by a maximum of 70% from a Clash effect.

Her preferred A skill guarantees a follow-up attack for her which synergizes perfectly with her weapon, and that her foe is unable to do the same. By doing that, she can fully pierce through DR-effects from foes and as long as her HP is greater than 25%, she can attack thrice, from a Potent Follow-Up effect similar to Emblem Marth. 

That's not all, as she has Soaring Guidance, but this time as an Echo skill. This is so disgusting because now most fliers don't have to waste their C slots for the warping effect. We already have Soaring Guidance about 8 months ago, and now IS has pushed the warping meta way too far than before like, what are we supposed to play with this game right now? First Duo Lyon, and now this. This makes me speechless, and I think we need a lot more units like Gatekeeper for some counterbalance.

By the way, she also comes with another Trace 4 skill like Reinhardt's, but it is Atk/Res based. Ivy is definitely the star of this banner, as both a potent nuke and with an overwhelming Echo skill which leaves many players questioning the balance of this game.

Final Thoughts

As an avid collector of Engage units, how can I resist summoning on this banner? It's a good thing that Goldmary did not show up, or else I would have lost my mind now. I think she could possibly appear on a Summer banner this year instead. However, Engage is back at the worst possible timing, and I don't have enough orbs for this. So, what I'm going to do is to wait and save up as many orbs as I could before summoning by 7th March, which is the last day. I hope to pull for everyone, with one copy each on full circles, but Ivy and/or Hortensia will be my top priorities if my summons go downhill.

Thank you so much for reading my thoughts on this banner. My orb wallet is already unprepared for this, but let me know if you're excited to summon for any of the unit released. May your summons turn out succulent.

Magvel Valentine's Summons

Today, I'm super excited to share with you my results of my summoning session on the Sacred Stones Valentine's banner. Duo Lyon is going to be my top priority unit as he's super busted as a nuke, so I'll get him at least on spark. For my second pick, I'm going for Myrrh as she can give the Warp Bubble support off-season, and I could use her in AR-Defense. As usual, I pull mostly on full circles, and so without further ado, let's jump in and see what we get here.

10th February 2024 - I started off with 242 orbs for this session, and the first batch went for a good start. I got Safy for my first summon. I wish it could have been Myrrh, but at least I can offer "Atk/Spd Ploy 4" to Validar, whose build is yet to be done. Then, on the 4th pull, I got base Hardin, who doesn't provide any valuable fodder at all, but I guess he can fill up the Focus Charge a bit. Ending the orb circle, I got Gatekeeper, the latest unit added to the special rate pool, and he is an excellent wall for a majority of teams.

The next summons don't really go as they should. Zero five star units after the first circle. I got Selena on my 24th summon. Luckily she has 4 stars, and so my pity rates were safe. 

On the 28th summon, I finally got something worthwhile this time. Valentine's Ephraim has plus Res & minus Atk which are not really good IVs. But, he relieved me a little.

On the 34th summon, I picked colorless, but I got Ascended Florina, who's already outclassed by so many nukes we have today. But at least, I got another Ascended Floret, which leaves Ced being the only Ascended unit I don't have for now. (sigh) You could have been Myrrh though. 

And finally, nothing after the 40th summon, so I brought Lyon & Eirika home from the spark. Could have continued summoning as the focus charges are full, but I feel like it's not worth the cost because focus charges are a scam.

Thoughts

Overall, the summons went good, but not crazy for me. Having a copy of Duo Lyon is definitely worth it as he can enhance my cavalry line for AR-defense, and I might use him in Summoner Duels if I have the mood of playing this mode. Valentine's Ephraim is an excellent Near Save unit, whom I'll be saving him for future teams. And finally, not getting Myrrh really makes me disappointed. Left with 80 orbs in my hand, it's time for me to save more for Freyr at the end of this month, and hopefully there is no Elusia banner robbing my wallet. 

Thank you so much for reading this latest entry for my summoning report series. Have some nice summons out there. I'll be writing my thoughts on the AHR results next.

 

Magvel Valentine's Banner Review

 The Valentine's banner is already out for a while, so I would like to give my opinions on every unit being released.

Valentine's Myrrh

She does better than her Legendary counterpart could, as she grants Warp Bubble to herself and her support partner. What this effect does is to prevent foes from warping into the team's range, making her a hindrance to Galeforce teams since Edelgard cannot use "Charge", and that units with "Wings of Mercy" cannot warp to an initiator unless Myrrh is defeated. In addition, she's also excellent as a far save unit, with true damage reduction based on 40% of her Res, followed by a bonus Atk that depends on the number of allies within 3 spaces of her. Her preferred C skill also has a built-in Savior effect, Guard infliction and a half DR-piercing effect. In terms of fodder, she has a new form of Scowl which grants Def/Res +7 this time, and Canny Fighter is an alternative to Weaving Fighter which still remains valuable for your older armored units. I think Myrrh is definitely a tough wall to keep an eye out for.

Valentine's Ephraim

We already have an Ephraim alt not more than a year (Sacred Stones lord popularity syndrome as always), and he's a near save unit this time. Anyway, his weapon grants bonuses to Atk & Def as well as a healing effect after combat to his allies within 3 spaces. During enemy phase, he would inflict his foe's Atk/Def based on the number of his nearby allies as well. He can also neutralize Guard. "Sunlit Bangle D" is his enhanced preferred B skill which basically lets his foe to counterattack first if he starts combat first, and that would grant him an unconditional brave effect, as he doesn't have to stay away from his allies. It will also inflict Guard and Atk/Def penalties, and the latter is not a Clash effect which makes sense. Luckily, we have Earthfire Boost 3 as the final tier of Earth Boost, and it can be inherited to a lot of omni-tanks that have more Def. Valentine's Ephraim is an excellent unit for a majority of teams using save-ball strategies. 

Valentine's Selena

Selena once again, receives the Altina treatment as she has a yet another alt, given that she's a background character in her game. She's the demote for this banner, and I did not expect an absurdly powerful weapon that can be inherited. It can deal some pre-combat damage based on foe's Atk, but she doesn't have impressive fodder as usual. I'm pretty sure many people would summon her just for the weapon, and it would be interesting to see certain fast red tome units putting this to good use.

Valentine's Lyon + Eirika

I absolutely adore this pair. This feels like a happy ending for Lyon if he isn't possessed by the Demon King at all. After diving into his kit, I've come to a resounding conclusion that this unit is the "delete button" for everything. He gives a middle finger to FEH's balance like it's game over already🤣🤣 

By the way, his weapon has Canto (1) and it deals pre-combat damage based on foe's Atk, and the percentage is the same as Legendary Camilla's. He also has a half-DR piercing effect, which is getting more prevalent in the meta, as well as grants bonuses to his Atk, Def & Res based on 20% of his Res. His preferred A skill, "Gray Illusion" has stolen Fomortiis' niche, yet in turn, becomes better. It activates on player phase instead of enemy phase and not only does it grant additional Atk/Def/Res bonuses to himself, but it also has a sweep effect if Lyon meets the Res check. After he destroys his target, during the next phase, any nearby foes of the target will automatically have their actions ended. That's very absurd, and you know what's even worse? Their duo skill can instantly end foe's actions in cardinal directions when they're next. Talk about OP, like this unit is going to ruin so many players, especially in Summoner Duels. Does he secretly have the Demon King's powers up his sleeve all the time? Lyon is definitely going wild this time. 

Final Thoughts

Duo Lyon is undeniably the star of this banner, as he has devastated the FEH meta with his ridiculous pre-combat damage and end-turn ability, indulging in more powercreep that makes me question if the developers simply didn't care at all. You know what? Forget about Wind Tribe Claude, because I have obligated myself to summon for him, right before or during spark. He's going to be a cornerstone of my cavalry line in Anima season. Both Myrrh & Ephraim are great, as both are great save units that play different roles. And finally, Selena has a good non-preferred weapon. However, A Hero Rise banner is on the horizon, so you may save orbs for that particular banner instead.

Thank you so much for reading my thoughts on this banner. I've already spent orbs on this banner anyway, and I'll be writing about my outcomes tomorrow. Also, the final AHR results have already released, and I'll be posting after that. May your summons turn out great.

My Ballot for A Hero Rises 2024

Unit submissions for this year's A Hero Rises event have finally come to a close. While we're still awaiting the final results, I'm thrilled to share the units I've picked. There have been a multitude of great options available since last year, and that's difficult for me to decide whom to pick.

My Battle Ballot

Day 1: Ninja Sanaki + Micaiah

There has been a history of a Ninja unit winning the AHR events, first being Lyn in 2021 while female Corrin in 2022. Camilla, despite not winning, was in the Top 4 banner last year. For this year, I can see Ninja Sanaki being an obvious candidate. She is very insane as a powerful nuke, with a built-in DR piercing effect, and its percentage increases with more penalties present on her foe. She can also deal pre-combat damage with her Flared Mirror, and it stacks very well with Attuned Triandra's support and Occultist Strike, bypassing DR effects. Because of that, not even the best tanks could survive her nuking capabilities, and that proves her as a very intimidating unit whom I'm not surprised to see climbing up the ranks.

Day 2: Legendary Camilla

Last year's December was a month of Powercreep, where so many new units released have changed the ways we play FEH. And legendary Camilla was one of those units. She serves as an excellent jack-off-all trades, being both a strong support unit and an extremely formidable nuke. Firstly, she can deal absurd amounts of pre-combat damage equal to 40% of her foe's Atk, which means she can reduce most of her foes' HP to half or below. After that, she can inflict "Divine Vein Haze" from Deadly Miasma which is a strong inheritance option, yet sadly restricted to fliers. Her B skill provides a half DR-piercing effect to herself and her surrounding allies, which is also insane for a support effect. Therefore, her stupid capabilities in every game mode proves her a very strong option for the Top 8.

Day 3: Winter Edelgard

This is the Edelgard that everyone should vote for "tradition". Although she lacks the brave effect like her Summer counterpart, it is still the most powerful iteration of Edelgard we've ever gotten. She has a new preferred skill which has a built-in Charge effect, one extra movement and grants another action like her past versions. Besides that, she can pierce through foes' DR effects and leave the Divine Vein Flame terrain effect after combat. She is even better as a player phase Galeforcer-initiator, and many people are switching out Summer's for her because of this. I don't care if she loses again, but getting into the top 8 is still worth it.

Day 4: Veyle

Not only she's one of my favorite engage characters, but in FEH, she is a decent nuke providing insane Scowl support to her nearby allies, which really helps so many teams. This is the answer to Wind Tribe Claude back then, who can trigger his special at an instant and devastated many units. As an Astra season equivalent to Askr, Veyle is a strong pick, and garnering more votes for her would mean easier merges in the top 4 banner, compared to the notorious rates of Legendary & Mythic banners. In fact, she provides excellent fodder, with Atk/Res Tempo 4 as a premium choice for mages. Therefore, she's my personal choice for the AHR event.

Day 5: Attuned Peony

She's excellent when it comes to fodder duplication, and as a fantastic refresher, she grants the extra "Canto 1" effect to anyone so they can retreat a bit. She also grants bonus stats to herself, together with a remarkable warping effect that allows her to move to nearby allies within 2 spaces. Since she does not have a preferred passive, there are numerous skill options available for investment, such as Soaring Guidance. As of the latest update, she now has the ability to duplicate arcane weapons, enhancing her utility as a fodder factory. What's more, Atk Oath Echo is a great Echo skill for an extra warping effect in ranged nukes, so they become even more potent on the battlefield. Attuned Peony, in my opinion, deserves my vote for her excellent versatility and refresh capabilities.

Day 6: Winter Dimitri

The last of my two votes are not surprising for the community, as they are from the Christmas banner. Winter Dimitri proves to be an unstoppable force, and he hits like a truck. He can pre-charge his special, No Quarter which is invaluable fodder to a lot of melee units who require DR-piercing. Additionally, after combat, he grants Vantage and Dodge to himself, followed by Canto (2). This combination is perfect for AR-Offense teams specializing in Vantage strategies, as well as a raid boss teams in Summoner Duels. When he's first released, many players have underestimated his potential, but now he's used quite often. He's definitely a unit I believe all players should try out.

Day 7: Winter Byleth (M) + Byleth (F)

Lastly, the Byleth duo is still one of the most insane Save armors today. They have the ability to increase the Special cooldown count on foes during combat, making Specials like Deadeye & Lethality harder to trigger. The Byleths can function exceptionally well with their base kit, including their exclusive Special that penetrates through foes' DR-effects and reduces some damage from ranged units. What's more impressive is their Duo skill, which grants significant damage reduction from AOE-Specials to nearby allies and it also cancels their armor weakness. As a result, they stand out as an outstanding tank in every game mode, capable of doing anything beyond what a typical Save unit could.

To sum up,

Those are very strong candidates in my opinion, and I can see other candidates competing for the spots as well. When the interim results are released, I noticed a lot of green options in the ranks, which leads me to believe we might get an another all-green AHR banner like two years ago. Whoever wins the event would definitely help a lot for all players.

Let me know who do you think will emerge victorious in the AHR this year. Do you think it's a good idea to have a single-colored focus banner, or will it be a nightmare? For me, aiming for one particular color can be a good thing, but the colorsharing will make it harder to obtain merges on a specific unit. Thank you for reading this once again. I'm looking forward to hearing the results for the Top 8 soon.

Nabata & Double Hero Flash Summons

Since I've started this blog, I think it'll be great to share my summons from FEH. So, this is the first entry that I'll be writing about my series of summoning outcomes, which could turn out to be good or bad. So, without further ado, let's begin. 

30 January 2024 - I decided to spend orbs on the Nabata Special Heroes banner, hoping for a copy of Nabata Altina and/or Harmonic Igrene. What I usually do is fill up one or more circles for higher chances at a lower cost, and sometimes I snipe for a specific color if my orb budget allows it. At the start, I had 216 orbs.

First circle, nothing but a bunch of lowly demotes. Later, a serendipitous moment came. I suddenly got Harmonic Igrene on the 9th summon, which made me very excited, and in fact, her plus Atk stat was a huge W for me. Initially, I considered spending 155 orbs full circle on Nabata (getting both Igrene and Altina, with one of them from the spark), but after getting the duo, I changed my mind as I chose to spend on the latest Double Heroes banner instead. The final orb is red in color, and perhaps I may get a copy of Juno or Tormod, but it was merely a 4-star Chrom. 

Now onto the latest banner. Mainly, I wanted to get a copy of Emblem Marth because I can't wait to try out the newly implemented Engage mechanic, while mythic Lumera was my second option to fill up my Engage catalog.

I got Lumera on the 8th summon with mediocre IVs, but that's fine for a support unit. Next, I got Legendary Micaiah on the 11th summon, whom I already have in my barracks. I'm keeping her manual in case she receives valuable fodder during her remix, probably Ploy 4. 

The search for Emblem Marth continued, and it came to fruition, as I got him right at the final orb (16th summon), concluding my summoning session.

Those are very quick summons and they are quite good indeed, as I hauled a bunch of 5-Star Focus units from two different banners simultaneously. I was lucky for that, so now I can save more orbs for the Double Special Heroes. I need a copy of Wind Tribe Claude after realizing his meta potential and I regretted not summoning for him last year. 

Also, Freyr is returning at the end of February and he NEEDS to come home. Trying to get him last year was quite devastating, and Veyle's banner especially, proved to be the worst summoning spree I ever had. There was not a single 5-star showed up after 40 summons, so I was forced to choose between Veyle or Freyr, and I ended up getting the former. I couldn't skip her like that until this year because she's way too precious to me.

Anyway, I hope my orbs are sufficient to bring these two units home. So please, I'm pleading with the developers not to release Elusia at this moment, for my budget's sake. Fingers crossed for some great summons!

Seasonal Banner Review - Mythic Lumera & Emblem Marth

This is a detailed analysis on the Double Heroes banner announced during the FEH Channel, featuring Mythic Lumera and Emblem Marth. I will go through both of these units and give my thoughts if they are worth your precious orbs.

Mythic Lumera

Lumera is back as a blue infantry breath unit providing +5 Def to your allies and a sixth slot for your team during Light season. Her weapon, "Monarch's Stone" provides Slaying and bonus stats to herself based on 25% of her foe's Atk, minus 4 as combat begins. She can also deal true damage based on 20% of her Spd whilst reducing foe's first attacks (including brave) by 40% and inflicting Guard. 

Her kit comes with a new form of Scowl which grants bonus Spd instead of Res, but Lumera still needs to meet the Res check in order to inflict an additional Special cooldown count on her foe. I wish it would be a Spd check instead because there are so many infantry dragons that need to make use of their Spd. Legendary Corrin, for instance, would be difficult to use since she's low on Res. She also comes with "Atk/Spd Ruse 4" which makes sense with her Rally skill. It stops Triangle Attack from Catria Balls, Dual Strike from Winter Cordelia and Pathfinder effects. I heard that it's not so common nowadays as many players have switched their defense archetypes revolving around launching powerful nukes. Finally, "Dragon Monarch" is her preferred C skill that applies Divine Vein Stone within 5 rows and 5 columns centered on herself. Support wise, she's better than Brave Corrin since this terrain has now a wider stretch to her allies, and the same allies will gain the Null Guard effect during combat. What's more, if one of her allies is within the same range centered on Lumera, the latter gains Omni+4 with an additional 30% damage reduction on all foe's attacks, followed by Omni+4 and Null Guard.

I think she's a decent support unit for many Omni-Tank teams in AR-Offense, but feels weaker in comparison to Heidr, who can inflict Schism twice with the same Ruse 4. Her extended Divine Vein effect is still great, but with so much DR-piercing going on, I don't think the 30% DR against all attacks is enough to make her hold out as a front-liner.

Emblem Marth

The first Emblem hero in the game. Basically, his weapon, "Hero-King Sword" grants Slaying and dragon effectiveness like his usual alts. Its skill grants bonus stats based on 20% of his Spd and plus 5, reduction from foe's first and/or brave hits by 40%, half DR-piercing and a follow-up attack before foe's counterattack. He has "Lodestar Rush" as his exclusive special that neutralises Guard and boosts damage based on 40% of his Spd. Again, more speed-based calculations, so an increase in the Spd asset can make Marth hit harder. His special is also synergised with a new inheritable B skill called "Potent 4" which firstly inflicts -1 on Spd & Def and grants 30% damage reduction from attacks and AOEs during combat. Then the next part is getting complicated, but I'll try to break it down from what I read. 

Usually, a follow up attack will occur if a unit's Spd is greater than the foe by 5, but with Potent 4, a unit can do a third follow-up attack, but he'll attack 60% less than his usual hit. Let's say if a unit is outsped by his foe, and unit can only hit once. This skill will reduce the Spd difference necessary for the criteria by 20, and unit can still do a follow-up attack which deals 80% of his normal hit. Now, if Marth has Lodestar Rush ready/triggered and Potent 4 is equipped, he can always damage by 100% of his normal hit which is ridiculously insane for a godsword unit who has already broken the Weapon Triangle (mostly not a thing anymore). In simple words, with Potent 4, your unit can still do a follow-up attack like in the old days, even if he gets outsped. However, meeting the Spd check can result in a third hit.

Now we're out of this conundrum, the rest of his kit includes "Atk/Spd Finish 4" and "Inf. Null Follow-Up", which are decent skill options without replacement for now.

Mr. Old School Main Lord is definitely the star of this banner and as a general unit, he's a great option for so many game modes where he stands exceptional due to his god-tier power

Thoughts & Next Reruns

I think Blue is a great color to snipe on, with Veyle offering Drive Scowl support and top tier fodder including Atk/Res Tempo 4. Rearmed Plumeria is an excellent choice as both a useful dancer and fodder duplication. 

Red is the second best choice with Legendary Hinoka, a decent nuke and especially the founder of flier lines herself, but the latter role gets fulfilled by a F2P unit, Arion. Ascended Fir however, isn't a strong godsword unit, and if it's Attuned Triandra instead of her, then red would have been the top choice. Regardless, she still has good fodder, with Atk/Spd Finish 4 and Phys. Null-Follow as premium inheritance options for your speedy units. 

For green, both Ascended Ced as well as Rearmed Sonya are great AOE nukes, but Thorr has already devalued the color-sharing. The former two units are expected to return in Remix banners where there are better odds, so try to avoid this color. 

And finally, colorless has unfortunately, the weakest batch, as Ash's support gets outclassed by the more prominent skill Guidance 4. Elimine has fallen off so hard thanks to Freyr being the culprit, while Legendary Micaiah is still a terrible mage and she is desperately in need of a refine this year or two.

About the reruns, Emblem Marth is coming back on May, where he might be colorsharing with next month's legendary unit. whom I believe is also red. Besides, you have to wait until June before getting more Mythic Lumera merges. She may be colorsharing with a midpoint Mythic, probably Hraesvelgr or the nameless goat lady (assuming she's Heidrun). So, I suggest waiting for other options as the Valentine's banner is around the corner. We may even get an Engage-themed New Heroes banner centering around Elusia, featuring base Ivy and hopefully Hortensia as an arcane staff unit to improve our generic staves. Nevertheless, if you're eager to try out the Engage mechanic, getting a copy of Emblem Marth is still worth a try.

Anyway, comment down below if you have any thoughts. Thank you for taking the time to read my review on the banner and its units and have a great summoning session!