THE MOVEMENT KING RETURNS!! - Emblem Sigurd Banner Review

Sigurd is now the 4th Emblem Hero we've received, and he's ready to get his revenge after the less-than-stellar refine of his Legendary counterpart. It's kind of ridiculous that we're going back to the chronological order of these heroes except for Ike. It's almost like he's too popular of a lord to be released anytime soon!

Anyway, let's take a peek at what he has to bring to the table. Interesting enough, he's a lance unit instead of wielding his signature Tyrfing.

Emblem Sigurd

Holy-War Spear:

• Canto (3)
• Slaying
• Gallop (At Start Of Turn)
• Unit Moves 2 Extra Spaces

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

• Omni+X (Max: 14) = 5 + No. Of Foes Within 3R & 3C × 3
• True DMG (Incl. AOEs) = 20% Of Unit's Def
• 50% DR-Piercing (Excl. AOEs)
• 7 HP Healing Post-Combat

How crazy is that: 5-MOVEMENT?! The extra 2 movement from Gallop makes it a very strong Bonus effect, and units like Brave Chrom and Citrinne can essentially copy the status effect for themselves. But beware of Nergal & Tina because they can steal this status effect is treated as a Bonus effect, turning the tides and having the enemy team sweep across the entire map in no time~

As for his weapon, it's not too shabby, but let's not forget - he can deal True DMG with his AOE Special, which is rare for a melee nuke.

Override:

• AOE DMG = 1.5 × (Unit's Atk - Foe's Def Or Res)
• Self-Refresh After Hitting 2 Or More Foes With Special (Once Per Turn)
• 40% Unpierceable Beacon Effect DR

It's gets even more insane - he can initiate Galeforce just by hitting multiple enemies with his AOE Special! This makes him strong as a Galeforce initiator in AR-Offense, but keep in mind that unlike Brave Felix, who can refresh himself, Sigurd is still vulnerable to traps.

For his Passives, he gets Atk/Def Excel and Fatal Smoke 4, though the latter can be replaced with Shadow Shift, a more recent skill that works beautifully with his built-in Canto 3, allowing him to Repo any ally out of danger from his foes.

But that's not all. From what we saw in the reveal trailer, Sigurd can activate his AOE Special at an instant after moving 4 or spaces, and that's thanks to a new inheritable B skill introduced with him:

Momentum 4:

If unit/foe initiates combat after movement:

• Atk/Def-3 On Foe
• Guaranteed Follow-Up 
• True DMG (Max: 20; Incl. AOEs) = Clash × 4

If unit has an AOE Special, triggers the following:

• Special CD Jump-X Before Combat
• X = 2 If No. Of Spaces Moved ≥ 3 Clash; X = 1 Otherwise

Note: If unit does not have an AOE Special, the same effects will apply, but before unit's 1st hit during combat.

This skill is undeniably strong, though not quite as meta-breaking as Laguz Friend 4. It is restricted to melee units, excluding armored ones. It's perfect for Sigurd because the True DMG from this skill can stack with his weapon's effect, which applies to AOEs as well. The combination of his weapon and his skill really makes it extremely hard to survive his attacks. Frontliner strategies are getting tough, like you can't simply rely on Emblem Ike tanking at the frontlines with ease.

Other units like OG Edelgard, Brave Eirika and Brave Seliph can also benefit from this skill  because it makes pre-charging their Specials a lot easier without heavily relying on support such as Bridal Embla.

Last but not least, his Emblem Effect provides some Flat DMG from your Specials via Clash × 2, and it grants you Canto (X). Ranged units get Canto (2), whilst melee units get Canto (3) instead. You'll also get 1 extra movement, excluding ranged cavs which is significant. I know Canto Control exists everywhere but, it's still a very useful effect, particularly for units who need to retreat after their combat.

In summary, Sigurd is an extremely potent nuke thanks to his 5-extra movement and his whopping amount of True DMG from his AOE Special. He can not only work as a WOM Galeforce unit, but he can also excel as a powerful hit-and-run unit in both AR-Offense and Defense, as well as Summoner Duels. His Gallop status is immune to Stall, and it's a game-changer for his mobility.

Surprisingly, his Emblem ring shines well on armored units, granting them Canto which dramatically improves their mobility also. Because of this, this unit make it a compelling option for your max-invested armored units in Arena. 

Returning Units

The overall banner provides incredible value in the blue pool, where Sigurd shares the spotlight with Mythic Lumera and Emblem Celica, the latter making her first rerun. This is obviously the best color to focus on since you'll get two Emblem units and one top-tier Mythic for Light Season simultaneously. Lumera stands out as the best Light Mythic for her Divine Vein support, which can even neutralize Robin's ice terrain when positioned strategically. On the other hand, Celica's still a nightmare to face in all modes, thus in my opinion, she remains as the worst addition to the game.

The green & red pools are decent, yet Micaiah has significantly elevates the former for being a top tier support unit, who's more than just premium fodder. She's also color sharing with two Mythics from Astra season being Seiðr & Heiðr, who can greatly boost your scoring after investment.

In contrast, the red pool has Emblem Marth, alongside Legendary Yuri and Legendary Hinoka from Wind & Fire seasons respectively. While decent, this is not the ideal banner if you're looking for Marth alone unless you're aiming for Arena merges.

Finally, the colorless pool is the weakest by far. Fallen Veyle might be decent thanks to her double Scowl support, but she has fallen off shortly as Scowl effects start to get irrelevant. Meanwhile, Gullveig and Legendary Guinivere are just disappointingly lackluster - both of them can be simply summarized in one word: underwhelming.

Final Thoughts + Will I Summon?

To wrap it up, I'd say it is a solid banner, despite its minor flaws. That said, having two Emblem Heroes from one color would give you an edge in progressing throughout the game, so for me, I'll be summoning on this banner mainly for Emblem Sigurd himself. His devastating combat prowess and his insane mobility warrants him a must summon. Before this, I've summoned on the Ice Tribe banner and it's quite dreadful, so I have to save up to reach the minimum.

Regardless, if you already have Celica, then I'd suggest waiting for his rerun in December, as he's color sharing with the newest Legendary unit who might offer better value.

Let me know if you're excited for Sigurd, the movement king himself, and as always, be sure to save your orbs before Sigurd gallops and snatches them all!