GATEKEEPER IN SHAMBLES - Emblem Celica Banner Review

We got a new Emblem unit for this month, in the form of Celica. Given that Ike's released very early and assuming IS is prioritizing on popular characters, I did not see Celica showing up. But anyway, let's jump right into it!

Emblem Celica

Seems like Ayra's artist is in charge of this, huh? I can hardly find any similarities to her usual art style, but I suppose that's fine. Just that the attack art seems a bit off.

Caring Magic:

• Slaying

Grants the following if unit initiates combat or is within 2 spaces of an ally:

• Atk/Spd+6
• Atk/Spd+X = 20% of Spd at start of combat
• True DMG (excl. AOEs) = 20% of Spd
• Pseudo-Lull Spd/Res
• Special Cooldown Count -1 before first follow-up
• Unconditional Desperation

Even though it's short, this weapon looks pretty strong, now that Celica's Desperation doesn't have a HP threshold. Also, being able to accelerate her Special before her follow-ups serves as an answer to Scowl from Veyle, since it only triggers before the unit's first hit.

Warp Ragnarok:

• Boosts DMG = 25% of Atk
• Pass 
• Warps anywhere within 2 spaces of any foe within 6 spaces
• Time's Pulse 3

First of all, who made this Special so insanely broken? That's so crazy, as not only she can teleport towards foes from afar like Hel, but she has built-in Pass, which I forgot it exists. It certainly puts Gatekeeper and Myrrh into shame, now that she can bypass Warp Bubble.

She has Verge of Death and Infantry NFU 4 as existing passives, and we now have Resonance as a new inheritable B skill, presumably for infantry mages.

Resonance 4

During combat:

• Self Burn DMG = 20% of X HP, where X = (Unit's Raw Max HP [excl. Legendary/Mythic/Bonus effects] - Current HP) × 2
• Spd/Res-4 on foe
• Flat DMG (Max: 12; Min: 6, excl. AOEs) = (Unit's HP before combat - Current HP) × 2
• X% DR-Piercing (Max: 60; Min: 30) =  (Unit's HP before combat - Current HP) × 10

So basically, she hits harder and cuts through damage-reduction more effectively if she has less HP. Given that she inflicts burn-damage to herself, she could possibly act as a WOM4 beacon in AR-Offense, particularly Galeforce strategies. Besides, since Occultist's Strike has lost value to BOL4, this is valuable for all of your infantry mages, who currently lack DR-piercing or True DMG in their weapon.

Emblem Effect:

• Boosts Special DMG by X (excl. AOEs) = Max Special Cooldown Count × 4
• Mini-Warp Ragnarok (excl. Pass)

Her Emblem ring is quite strong, but thankfully, it's still susceptible to Warp Bubble. In this state, it feels like Warp Bubble is rising up, yet falling out simultaneously,

Overall, Celica proves to be a menace for all game modes, and she can be very scary to deal with because of her insane teleportation and providing insane mobility from her Emblem effect. As I said for AR-Offense, you can make her a WOM beacon by slotting in Fury 4, and for better nuking capabilities, you may consider replacing Infantry NFU 4 with Fatal Smoke 4 to shut down foes' healing. 

Returning Units + Color-Sharing

When it comes to the color sharing, this banner turns out to be a double edged sword.

Blue is literally insane, as Celica is color sharing with both Ivy & Caeda as Attuned units. Two of the best fodder factories in one share are definitely worth the pull, especially for duplicating fodder. In fact, getting Soaring Echo as well as Guard Echo from Ivy and Caeda respectively will strengthen your builds further, and strength wise, they're powerhouses in their own right. Because of that, I would not stop anyone from sniping on this color.

Meanwhile, you can see a stark difference between blue and the rest of the colors. For red, you have two Legendary units from different seasons, being Hinoka and Veronica. Both have fallen off as nukes, but Hinoka can still provide decent support. I consider it a backup option as they are solid merge projects for Arena, although Embla has brought down the value a bit.

Green does not look good either, besides Ascended Merric who's decent as he can spam Specials. Rosado is alright, but usually, melee fliers can hardly earn their spot nowadays. And of course, the bottom of the barrel - Legendary Xander. I don't have to explain at all.

Lastly, I would rank colorless the same as green, for being downright the worst colors to pull from. It has three Mythic units, yet they don't contribute that much. Medeus struggles hard as an omni-tank besides shutting down Bolt Towers, whereas Fomortiis gets even worse as he just dies to everything. Gotoh might be decent, but it's hard to justify pulling for him when he gets overshadowed by better supports.

Final Thoughts + Next Reruns

In essence, this banner holds incredible value on the blue pool, yet let down by the rest of the colors. Personally, I'll just wait and save up for the upcoming second part of the Summer banner. If that banner doesn't have anyone tempting, then I could acquire a copy of Celica for myself.

Speaking of returns, she's coming back in September, where she color shares with Mythic Lumera who is suddenly shifted from October. Therefore, we could get a Blue Emblem in that particular month, as both of them are awaiting for color sharing with the latest unit.

Let me know if you're excited to pull for Emblem Celica, and thank you so much for reading my thoughts on this banner! Be sure to save your orbs before Warp Ragnarok's teleportation effect robs them away!