Before continuing, the player should have already considered Ophiuchus, Azathoth, and Daoloth. You may consider moving on to these interesting picks if at least two of the following are true:
- Already owned Ophiuchus; or, do not own Ophiuchus nor Gemini and not interested in a team great at dismantling enemy skills
- Already owned Azathoth; or, do not own Azathoth nor Novalis to make good use of Dragons, or simply not interested in dragons or a team low on recovery
- Already owned Daoloth; or, do not own Daoloth nor important Light beasts or Light dragons to make good use of them; or better, already owned Tang San Zang or Maya as great light team leaders
Table of Contents[]
- Page 0: The "Summary"
- Page 1: Top pick analysis
- Page 2: Interesting Picks and Niche Leader Picks
- Page 3: Regular Draw Member Picks
- Page 4: For Starters, Returners
- Appendix A: Recent Black Diamond Event Analysis
- Appendix B: All Available Choices based on Race and Attribute
Interesting Picks[]
Rose[]
Rose is an excellent elf team leader, but to put it bluntly, she is a leader that emphasizes good technique. In order to make use of the Heart skydrops, the player needs to dissolve multiple rows in only 5 seconds. The heart runestones have 100% effect of all attributive runestones as well, and therefore, the team allows a multi-attribute setup. The team essentially restricts Elf team, while one additional member from Elfish Perennials is required for the "tumbler effect" to kick in (surviving one strong hit from full HP).
The greatest trait, however, is that the dropped hearts allows the player to break through Overheal shields, which has become increasingly common. Some of them are even paired with Trojan attack, which discourages stalling for more than 6 rounds.
One fun fact is that even an Anti-Enchanted shield does not stop Rose - Enchanted Hearts will not nullify regular attacks because other Enchanted runestones are not dissolved!
The incentive for picking Rose is that the player definitely owns a good number of Elfish Perennials but couldn't get a leader because the chances of getting Cornflower, Rose, or Sakura is mind-boggling low even during the day with special drawing boosts. If the player does not own Matryoshka (key member to Izanagi and Ophiuchus to deal with Overheal) and the stage is not Diablo-friendly (such as Khaos Ultimate), then it is suggested that a player gets a strong elf leader in order to deal with tricky stages, provided that the player tried Elfish Perennials series with at least one draw.
Rose teams favor Dark Elves in general, in contrast to Sakura team favoring a multi-attribute setup.
If you decide to get Rose:
To justify picking Rose over others, the player has all other top-tier leaders but lack a combat-ready Elf team, and is willing to put extra effort into spinning techniques. Remember that Rose has very limited use outside of Elf teams!
- The main draw for getting Rose is getting a top-tier Elf team. If the player owns Sakura, then Rose may not be necessary (even using Cornflower as an Elf leader doesn't seem too bad if you have an army of Elves ready).
- Another main draw is that Diablo teams cannot deal with certain Enchanted shields, and Monster Strike Lucy has an outdated multiplier. If the player tried Elfish Perennials before, he/she has the reason to choose Rose.
Before picking Rose, also consider the options of many top-tier leaders. Choose Rose if the player strongly desires a strong elf team leader and has the right cards to support it. Additionally, DO NOT choose Rose if you do not own a single Elfish Perennials series - it will not trigger the tumbler effect that makes elves so fearsome.
Select the 5-year draw as "Dark Elf" and you are guaranteed to get Rose because there are very few Dark Elves available for drawing.
- Dark Elves:
Sakura[]
Sakura, as an elf leader, is a fairly special. The damage output is high, although bursting damage is slightly low. Any 2-match Fire or Heart will dissolve itself, yet Sakura plays much different than Randeng/Yang Jian. In order to make use of Fire and Heart skydrops, the player needs to make many combos of different attributes. The fire and heart runestones have 25% effect of other attributive runestones as well, and therefore, the team allows a multi-attribute setup. The team does not truly restrict an Elf-only team, though the tumbler effect still requires a team with pure elves and at least one member from Elfish Perennials.
The greatest trait, however, is that large damage can be done each round regardless of board conditions, at the cost of being unable to stall well. the dropped hearts allow dismantling Overheal shields. Additionally, it handles Enchanted Shields well, although Anti-Enchanted Shields are a problem. Do not be tricked by the low multiplier, as the damage output can be deceptively high. However, Sakura's active skill effect is not immediate and does not help with bursting, so keep that in mind. Also, an enemy enforcing ZERO recovery can be problematic, because a high recovery is needed for most of the team skills to work.
In order to activate the maximum multiplier, the assembled team needs 4000 recovery value. While it may seem that a team needs to be made entirely out of elves, Sakura team have a number of interesting variants utilizing non-elf members, and I will list down these variants as an overview. To compensate the lost recovery, Khaos and PR Diablo would then be added to the team:
- Kyo Kusanagi (King of Fighters) - utilizing the property that 6+ Fire will be dissolved each round to build up self-multiplier.
- AR Pollux (12 Zodiacs Gemini) - utilizing the property that 5+ Hearts will be dissolved each round to build up self-multiplier.
I am assuming the reason for picking Sakura is that the player owns a large number of Elfish Perennials but couldn't get a leader during Rate-up day, while not looking forward to the techniques required for mastering Rose team. Making a high number of combos with less effort might be another reason.
Sakura teams favor multi-attribute, in contrast to Rose favoring Dark Elves as members.
If you decide to get Sakura:
To justify picking Sakura over others, the player has to have a dire need of an elf team but couldn't make use of Rose well. Sakura currently has very limited use outside of Elf teams, so the decision is quite committal!
- The main draw for getting Sakura is getting a top-tier Elf team different than Diablo and perhaps Monster Strike Lucy. If the player owns Rose, then Sakura may not be necessary (even using Cornflower as an Elf leader doesn't seem too bad if you have an army of Elves ready).
- An unorthodox setup of using Kyo or Pollux might be interesting enough for a player to choose Sakura, especially since a pure-Fire team is possible with high recovery.
Choose Sakura if the player strongly desires a strong elf team leader and has the right cards to support it. DO NOT choose Sakura if you never tried a draw from Elfish Perennials - the most fearsome part is their tumbler effect!
Select the 5-year draw as "Fire Elf" and you are guaranteed to get Sakura because there are very few Fire Elves available for drawing.
- Fire Elves:
Cornflower[]
One of the drawbacks of using Daoloth and Azathoth is that low recovery is an issue. Cornflower aims to patch this issue by leading a Water with defensive utilities. It is also an amazing member of any Elf team. The multiplier is 112x if 2 groups of Water runestones and any number of Heart runestones are dissolved, but fulfilling all of the conditions above requires good spinning technique.
As a Water leader, good technique in stacking is required to make good use of the shielding property. Converters are needed in the team since there is no auto-generation of Water runestones. A full elf team is possible if the player is willing to sacrifice some HP and lose out some useful Water members that are not Elves.
However, Black Diamond cards such as PR Water Yan and Atlantis are giving Cornflower immense pressure, since players who already obtained a Water black diamond card no longer have to rely on Cornflower as a solid Water leader. Sun Ce, introduced in version 15.1, also provides an alternative. Thankfully, Cornflower's traits prove to be solid enough for players to choose.
It is more desirable to pick Cornflower if the player already owned Rose and/or Sakura, as Cornflower's main draw is to be used as a member of these amazing Elf leaders, and as time goes on, it appears to be even more so than before.
If you decide to get Cornflower:
Keep in mind that in order to justify picking Cornflower over others, it means that the player has a need of improving the Elf teams (Sakura, Rose) and at the same time need a top Water leader for achievements.
- The main draw for getting Cornflower is getting a top-tier Water team. If the player owns Atlantis or Su Huan Jen, then Cornflower is not a necessity. (Abraham is only passable at the moment, and therefore the motive for choosing Cornflower might be justified)
- Another main draw is using Cornflower as an amazing member of Elf team. If the player does not own Sakura or Rose to make use of it, then Cornflower's utility is limited.
Before picking Cornflower, also consider the options of certain top-tier leaders such as Ophiuchus and a leader from Prologue of the Universe. Choose Cornflower if the player strongly desires a strong water team leader that can function in an elf team, and has the right cards to support it.
Select the 5-year draw as "Water Elf", but you need to own at least one Water Elf from the list below in order to guarantee to get Cornflower.
There are exactly SIX Water Elves available, so if you do not own ANY of them, I recommend against going for Cornflower, in case you get unlucky and only get to choose vastly inferior elves:
- Water Elves (except Cornflower):
Izanagi[]
Even with Izanagi being introduced for one year, it is still a very solid Earth team leader, without heavy restrictions. The auto-generation of Earth and Heart is its signature skill, providing solid offense and recovery. With the right selection of Earth members, it is easily customizable and can be tailored to anyone's needs, and the only downside would be its slightly lower multiplier. Even in difficult Ultimates, Izanagi's ability to recover consistently and having solid damage output ensures it can continue fighting.
As long as the stage does not require continuous bursting and allow defensive actions, Izanagi can thrive no matter how uneasy the situation is. Matryoshka or Shyplant is key to defensive play, while Circe or Iron Fan is key to offensive play, though the team can still be effective without them.
If you decide to get Izanagi:
To justify picking Izanagi over others, the player needs a strong desire for a stable Earth team. It is vital that Izanagi teams have a permanent-buff member such as Circe (Regular Draw) or Iron Fan (Black Diamond), and permanent-utility member such as Matryoshka, or else Izanagi team will not be strong enough to handle certain stages.
Choose Izanagi if the player strongly desires a stable Earth team leader and has the right cards to support it.
Unfortunately, below are the Earth Gods that you need to keep in mind - if you have 5 or more cards below that you do not own, I recommend against going for Izanagi, for fear of wasting your free selection:
- Earth Gods (except Izanagi):
Niche choices[]
These are the cards that a player can have any right justifying the choice, but are only specifically useful to certain players. These choices usually have more alternatives to it, or they may only benefit short-term, or they are simply susceptible to being outclassed by a new card in the future.
Lü Bu[]
The now old king of Dark attribute is out for at least 1 year - while he received some competitions, the sole fact that his dark attribute multiplier is the highest in the game makes it desirable to get a super dark leader - even though there are now a lot of alternatives.
As an old leader, his value has diminished somewhat. Nowadays, the competitors are mainly PR Artemis, PR Mastema, Satan, and the upcoming Lü Dong Bin (v15.2). Although, the excellency of Dark-type members still allow Lü Bu to sustain well, such as AR Gemini, VR Odin, etc. While he may be weaker at solving board hazards and shields, there is no denying that he can dish out great damage easily. After all, his 68x multiplier is the highest in the game. If the player is able to deal with the inability to stall and have to use consecutive bursts, and that all of his attacks are full attacks, Lü Bu can be the right choice to enhance Dark teams.
If you decide to get Lü Bu:
To justify picking Lü Bu over others, the player needs a strong desire for a high-damage Dark team. While not many requirements are needed to use an effective Lü Bu team, it is best for the player to have a lot of cards of runestone-conversion, bursting, and utility available. The player must understand that survival is difficult when using Lü Bu since he is an all-out offensive team.
Choose Lü Bu if the player strongly desires a Dark team leader and has the right cards to support it.
Select the 5-year draw as "Dark Human" and you are guaranteed to get Lü Bu because, surprisingly, there are very few Dark Humans available for drawing.
- Dark Humans:
Nobunaga[]
He deals the high consistent damage of fire attribute, but unfortunately, only Fire Humans and Dragons can enjoy the multiplier. He is a strong leader that can form excellent all-out offensive fire team, but the recovery options are extremely limited. Still, for players with strong Fire Humans and want to clear fire achievements, he can be considered.
If you decide to get Nobunaga: There are 8 Fire Humans available for drawing. If you have less than 5 the cards below owned, I do not recommend going for Nobunaga in case you get unlucky.
- Fire Humans (except Nobunaga):
Ghroth[]
It may seem like quite an oddball choice, but if the player is not lacking in any sort of leaders, one may want to get a Ghroth. The active skill provides insane combos and a ridiculous boost in a one-turn burst. If the player has a lot of Prologue of the Universe cards but no Ghroth, choosing Ghroth as the reward is decent. As a leader, leading beasts, demons, and dragons with a "fusion potential" are very promising, even if it is fairly unconventional.
Keep in mind that in order to play a mono-fire team with it, you need two Ghroths - but unfortunately, if you already owned Ghroth, the player is NOT guaranteed to get the second Ghroth!
If you decide to get Ghroth: There are 8 Fire Demons available for drawing. If you have less than 5 the cards below owned, I do not recommend going for Ghroth in case you get unlucky.
- Fire Demons (except Ghroth):
Arthur[]
If the player has many light humans that they can put to good use, then Arthur can be considered. Keep in mind that the selection of Light Humans is quite limited, so it should be selected by those with a comprehensive Light human deck. One card that an Arthur team needs to have is Yi Yeh Shu (
), which is no longer available. Be glad that Huang Zhong is now an enhanced version of Yu-Rou and players no longer have to count on that many collaboration cards anymore.
The weaknesses of Arthur team is mainly shield-breaking due to limited pool, as the team has a hard restriction of only allowing Light Humans and nothing else.
If you decide to get Arthur: There are 9 Light Humans available for drawing. If you have less than 5 the cards below owned, I do not recommend going for Arthur in case you get unlucky.
- Light Humans (except Arthur):
Guan Yu[]
He is a leader of Water-Fire-Earth archetype. Though "she" is no longer as strong as she used to be, she is still a strong multi-attribute leader. Plus, the team shines in the Arena environment, and there are a few buffs in version 15.0. She, unfortunately, is not a common sight in ultimates and nightmares recently, and the 3-match mechanism makes team damage output quite shaky at times.
To consider using Guan Yu, the player needs to have the Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and three witches (especially Circe), in the roster, as the advantage of Guan Yu has right now is the enhanced stats. Otherwise, he now faces some competition with Zhurong in version 15.1.
If you decide to get Guan Yu: There are 10 Water Humans available for drawing. If you have less than 5 the cards below owned, I do not recommend going for Guan Yu in case you get unlucky.
- Water Humans (except Guan Yu):
Amaterasu[]
Consider giving this card a go if you are willing to invest in expensive crafts, or simply training a lot of Fire and God members. Note that Amaterasu team has the highest bursting multiplier of 126x. It is difficult to make an effective team without having very solid game experiences and strategy-planning, though.
If you decide to get Amaterasu: There are 15 Fire Gods available for drawing. Unless you have a very comprehensive Fire God deck to filter out the less useful choices, do not go for Amaterasu.
- Fire Gods (except Amaterasu):
