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.
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