Introduction
With the most recent update, North American Players will now have the chance to acquire 3 new Fest Exclusive cards: Valkyrie – Ciel 
, Zeus – Giga 
, and Athena – Non 
.
Generally speaking, having new high rarity cards being released is irrelevant for the average player due to the low chances of rolling them, but between December 12 – December 31, all players will be able to receive 1 of these new cards of their choice through the Monster Exchange system.
This is quite exciting as players will be able to choose the best card for their Monster Box; however, there is a strong possibility that all three of these new cards will be available in the upcoming Player’s Choice Godfest (PCGF) so it would be best to not exchange until after rolling.
This article will summarize each card’s strengths and weaknesses to help players determine which is the best one to choose.
Video commentary
–video coming soon–
Monster Exchange
During the December 12-31 event, players will be able to trade in a free PAD Appreciation Medal for one of the three new Fest Monsters. This process is completed via the Monster Exchange system. This is a one time trade and cannot be reversed, thus it is best to wait until after rolling in PCGF to ensure one does not acquire a dupe card.
Valkyie – Ciel
Active: Full bind recovery. Change Heart, Jammer, Poison & Mortal Poison orbs to Light orbs. (8 turn CD)
Leader Skill: Healer type cards HP x2, ATK x2. Increases time limit of orb movement by 2 seconds. All attribute cards ATK x6 when reaching 4 combos or above.
Awakenings: 
Pros |
Cons |
|
|
Valkyrie – Ciel will often be the best choice for most players as she offers an incredibly easy to activate leader skill along with high durability and damage. As such, players will be easily able to sweep early content with random subs and then transition into a more end-game focus if they own the more Ideal Healers.
Technically, Valkyrie – Ciel has the same multipliers as Beach Barbara & Julie (BJ) 
but the main limitation of Valkyrie – Ciel is her limited sub pool due to the Healer restriction.
She is able to field Light Cotton 
, Ideal 
, Yuna 
, and Eir 
. While this is potentially powerful, it is still a limited pool while the inclusion of Eir is for the Enhanced Heal Orb 
awakenings. Granted Healers have naturally high RCV, being able to heal up to full with a simple 4-match is invaluable considering one’s HP pool should be in excess of 100,000.
The 144x ATK multiplier is workable considering both leaders have double 7 Combo along with Killers with most subs having high personal damage as well.
Zeus – Giga
Active: Full HP recovery. Change all orbs to Light orbs. (20 turn CD)
Leader Skill: All attribute cards ATK x4 when HP is full. Light attribute cards ATK x4, RCV x2. Increases time limit of orb movement by 2 seconds
Awakenings: 
Pros |
Cons |
|
|
Zeus – Giga is the most underwhelming of the three due to the fact that he is essentially replaceable by the farmable Zeus Verse 
. Both share a similar activation requirement in that they must be at full HP to trigger their multipliers. This has proven valuable in Ranking Dungeons as well as farming builds but the fact that Zeus Verse can always be acquired greatly diminishes Zeus – Giga’s value.
With that being said, Zeus – Giga has the potential to be a potent farming sub on various teams as his active provides damage and a full heal.
Taking all of this into account, I am hesitant to suggest any player trade in for Zeus – Giga simply because Zeus Verse is arguably superior and will have little applications for the average player.
Athena – Non
Active: Change Dark orbs to Light orbs, Water orbs to Heart orbs. Enhance Fire, Water, Wood, Light, Dark & Heart orbs. +6% per orb (7 turn CD)
Leader Skill: God type cards HP x1.5, ATK x1.5, RCV x1.5. Increases time limit of orb movement by 2 seconds. All attribute cards ATK x6 when reaching Light & Heart combos.
Awakenings: 
Pros |
Cons |
|
|
Athena – Non is the third and final new Fest Exclusive to be released and she will often be the next choice for most players after Valkyrie – Ciel. This because Athena – Non has a more restrictive Leader Skill along with it being less potent (4x HP vs 2.25x HP/RCV).
By being restricted to Gods and being heavily implied they should be Light makes Athena – Non harder to build than Dark Metatron 
. This can be problematic as the 2.25x HP/RCV is weaker compared to 4x HP. Thus, she is a weaker leader along with having a more restrictive build overall.
With all that being said, Athena – Non has amazing personal damage due to her massive ATK stat and dual TPA with 7 Combos . This enables her to function as a potent damage stick on combo based teams such as Edward 
.
All in all, I would choose Athena – Non if Valkyrie – Ciel was already acquired.
Conclusion
Starting on December 12, North American players will be able to acquire one of the three new Fest Exclusive cards of their choice. This is wonderful as they can function as potent leaders that are easy to play for beginners and Valkyrie – Ciel having the potential to transition into a potent leader late game.
Generally speaking, it would usually be best to choose Valkyrie – Ciel from the Monster Exchange but regardless of your choice, it is best to wait until rolling in Player’s Choice Godfest to do so.
Let me know who you plan on choosing in the comments below.
Happy Puzzling!
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Mantastic Puzzle and Dragons 
The most sobering part of this article, “don’t exchange now, wait after PCGF!”
I was totally about to exchange for Valkyrie!
Thanks for the reminder, Mantastic!!
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Glad to be of help!
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When is the PCGF roll?
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Don’t plan on rolling
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Under valk: “Arguably the best too”… should that be arguably the best SUB too?
Under Athena: Incredibly ATK stat should probably be Incredibly high ATK stat 🙂
Good write up, thanks as always!
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I fixed the parts! Thank you for the keen eye =)
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So, rolled a bunch in PCGF, didn’t get any of these guys. Torn on whether to get Valk or Athena… I have lots of the 4x HP leads (Vraska, Lajoa, BJ obviously, DMeta)… not sure how much Valk would get me, compared to Athena. Any thoughts?
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If you have cotton, chris ilmina, yuan and more than one ideal, you definitely want to exchange Valk. However, her play style is exactly same as other 4x hp leaders.
For Athena, she is not really a good leader since she only has 81x atk, but a really good sub with high stats and either 4Us or 2u with double 7c.
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I wanted to roll for barbara & julie but I didn’t get it, I can’t wait to exchange for valkyrie, after rolling in the pjgf ofc
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Sounds like a good plan!
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I heard that the new zeus could be useful for possible ranking dungeons since the active comes with a natural full heal + board changer so that increases its value for players chasing crowns?
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It is a 1c swipe so idk how great that would be overall along with 20 turn cd
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It is worth noting that Zeus has slightly different awakenings before evolving: three light rows instead of three TEs. I would argue it might be more useful to leave him unevolved, considering how swipe teams generally don’t care much about TEs (and he even provides some in his LS already). Still, he strikes me as more of a sub for a team that’s not quite here than yet another mediocre lead.
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He is used in some Light farming teams (eg Light Vaj x Yog) so I would say the rows help
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Thanks for posting this timely and helpful advice!
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Glad to be of help!
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Hello- would you recommend rolling on Part one or part two of this Player’s Choice Godfest? I’m kind of new to this, so I don’t really know.
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not that your asking me, but I would only roll in the first part if you don’t have a ney or cotton card. a good portion of the highlights are some version of those two. not sure about the roll rates for the event as a whole.
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Thanks!
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If you are really new to the game: roll as long as you can. You get evolved and max+ cards.
I rolled Vayrajaksa, goog for farming. And Macha (after 3 Li).
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Take a look at my new post but assuming you own nothing, I would recommend Part 1
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what about best sub? you only talk about valk being the best leader but I’m really not looking for any new leader. Who would be the best sub for current meta teams?
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Best sub really depends on the type of team you run and who fits in for you
Athena hits like a truck on Edward teams while Valk can be used on Ed, Yusuke, or even Dark Metatron teams
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I got valk on the first roll on my alt acct. 🙂
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Huzzah!
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Pretty good rolls this time. Second roll on alt: S.Roots! (now both accounts have roots) and on main, two dups: Oichi and Lugh (happy about this one, ’cause now I have another fugin active that is on-color for a light team)
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Glad to hear things worked out!
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Exchanged for Valk & rolled another one. I did not know that I got extra money to roll.
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Would Valkrie Ciel or Athena Non be a better sub for an Edward team?
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I prefer Athena’s active and her huge ATK stat tends to make her deal more overall damage
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Where would you use Mori? I have two Moris, and also have 2 Hakus ( each with a west loving goddes haku assisting) and find the Hakus amazing. Unbindable, haste and three colors; which pair great with many of the two color leaders like the Neys and Johiria; and the odd color helps get to the 10 or more combos. Mori giving you just two colors maks it hard to hit even the 7+ which is in such favor in the meta these days.
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Mori would be used in his un evo form for bicolour + 2 haste and is mostly for Ranking Dungeons for easier crowns on non-fixed teams
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Rolled and got a Valkyrie and still have to exchange for another so I’m stuck between Athena and Zues. Suggestions?
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Zeus is for specific farming builds whereas Athena is a strong leader and sub, especially if you own combo based leaders like Edward
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I have 1 valk and 2 Athena, Should I use my free exchange for a zeus? or shld I go for another valk? Any opinons?
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I struggle to see a scenario where you would need 2 valks. You can always hold onto your coin for a bit, but Zeus is probably your best bet
With that being said, maybe another valk for different killers if lacking strong damage subs
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What becomes of the PAD Appreciation Medal if it is unused by 02/01/19?
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I believe it becomes worthless so use it soon!
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Athena non would love to have L. Weeding scheat on her side kinda
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