Introduction

The Sword Art Online (SAO) Collab makes a debut to North America on January 7th, 2019 and follows the recent trend of 5-Stone machines having Weapon Assist forms at the top rarity. This is valuable because it can open up team building compositions along with expanding the value a 6-star card can bring. Furthermore, all 6-star cards will be available through the Monster Exchange system but tend to fall short as a whole.

The main problem with the Sword Art Online Collab is that most of the cards are not meta changing despite being reasonable overall. Furthermore, the 5-star pool is quite lacking which means players will mostly be chasing for the top rarity cards. Thankfully, the event has a valuable event dungeon which can yield lucrative rewards and cards with Eugeo  being a must have.

This article will examine each of the Egg Machine cards featured in the SAO Collab to give players an idea of what to expect and whether or not they should spend their Magic Stones.

As always, the decision of whether to roll or not to roll will still come down to individual preference and how much you value the cards or franchise.

On a positive note, all of the Voice Awakenings  will be in Japanese and there will be no option to convert to English.

Video commentary

—video coming soon (when I get over this cold/sore throat)—

Overview

Sword Art Online REM
6 Star base
5 Star base

Sword Art Online Rankings – January 3, 2018
S
A
B
C
D

Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking

Regardless of card’s ranking, you should always keep it if it is your very first time acquiring them

Limit Breaking

Limit Breaking is the process of leveling a card beyond level 99. This will unlock more weighted stats along with the potential to receive Super Awakenings. These additional awakenings can add significant power but only function in solo mode.

Any card that can qualify for Limit Breaking will having their level displayed in blue and feeding a Super Snow Globe will push them beyond the level 99 cap.

You can read more about Super Awakenings HERE.

Weapon Assists

Weapon Assists are a special evolution for select cards that will be used exclusively as inherits. This form retains the same base stats as the original form but will also transfer over all awakenings on the Weapon Assist card and this occurs if the Awoken Assist  is present.

This type of evolution is permanent and cannot be reversed; however, during the card’s respective event, it is possible to Monster Exchange them to reverse them back to the original form. Doing this will forfeit all pluses, skill ups, and awakenings.

The SAO 6* cards do not have Super Awakenings yet but most likely will in the future. As such, think carefully before converting into Weapon Assists

6 Star base

Kirito – A

Active: +1 combo count for 1 turn. Removes lock status on orbs. Change all orbs to Water & Dark orbs. (13 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: Dark attribute cards HP x1.5, ATK x1.5, RCV x1.5. Increases time limit of orb movement by 2 seconds. All attribute cards ATK x3 when reaching 6 combos or above. All attribute cards ATK x3 when reaching Dark & Water combos.

Awakenings:         
Super Awakenings: –
Weapon Assist:    
Worth Monster Exchanging for? No

Pros	Cons
Dark alternative to Yusuke  2.25x HP / 182.25x ATK / 2.25x RCV Built in movement time Multipurpose active Bicolour board Unlocks orbs +1 Combo High personal damage	Inferior to Yusuke 225x vs 182.5x ATK No VDP

Kirito is the main character of the Sword Art Online Collab and is unfortunately underwhelming due to the fact that he is essentially an inferior version of Yusuke . This is because they both share the same HP/RCV components but Kirito falls short in the ATK department. While the difference could be salvageable, Light has an arguably better sub pool filled with incredible triple 7 Combo  cards and the fact that Kirito trades a VDP  for two TPA .

For general usage, the TPA may be incorporated into regular matching, but lacking the ability to penetrate through Void spawns is a significant drawback. Perhaps as a saving grace, Kirito is easier to use as dual leaders come with +4 seconds orb movement time (compared to Yusuke’s 1s) along with maximum ATK multiplier being achieved at 6 instead of 7 combos. This leniency will make him more beginner friendly, but will not transition well into late game compared to Yusuke.

Weapon Assist form

Kirito’s Weapon Assist form provides a single TPA but will most likely not be heavily utilized as he is still a reasonable leader and should not be converted unless duplicates are owned.

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Asuna – A

Active: +2 combo count for 2 turns. All attribute cards RCV x2 for 3 turns. (14 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: Light attribute cards HP x1.5, ATK x3. Increases time limit of orb movement by 2 seconds. ATK x5 when simultaneously clearing 5 connected Fire, Water, Wood, Light, Dark, Heart, Jammer, Poison, Mortal Poison or Bomb orbs.

Awakenings:         
Super Awakenings: –
Weapon Assist:    
Worth Monster Exchanging for? No

Pros	Cons
2.25x HP / 225x ATK Can always activate Built in movement time No combo requirement 3 Skill Boosts  Powerful Weapon Assist Provides full Bind Immunity  20% Poison Resist	Base skill too long for SI Better SB sticks exist Some boards will not have 7 combos Rows  are often wasted Madoo  is a better match-5 leader Light restriction makes it hard to build farming teams

Asuna had the potential to be a powerful card but is unfortunately suffering from several liabilities. Firstly, she had the potential to be a premier farming leader due to the match-5 clause (easy to do with dual column generators) but being restricted to Light types means she has less flexibility. With that being said, one can use a sub with a Light sub attribute in order to save orbs.

On the other hand, Asuna is able to be used as a reasonably strong traditional leader due to the fact that she will always have 2.25x HP and 225x ATK as any 5-match triggers her multiplier. Thus, she has some innate tankiness and damage output but may feel like a less Madoo . This is because Madoo has built in damage reduction (instead of HP) along with RCV which can make stalling easier. Furthermore, Madoo has superior awakenings as the VDP  can be used to solve and Void spawn.

In regards to her active skill, Asuna’s +2 Combo and 2x RCV helps her own team but is not that amazing since her health pool is not 4x.

Weapon Assist

Asuna’s Weapon Assist provides full Bind Immunity  along with 20% Poison Resist . This combination makes her the strongest Full Bind Immunity Weapon as it has universal value (unlike others who provide orb enhance) and can help players achieve 100% poison immunity.

For example, Rathian Weapons  provide 60% Poison Resist and when combined with Asuna yields 80%. This means something like the purchasable Odyseus (Rainbow Event Medal ) brings the team up to full Poison immunity.

While the temptation to create an Asuna Weapon Assist may be high, one has to remember that most valuable cards are already bind immune by default so do not convert her into a Weapon unless you have a dedicated card who can use it (eg. Beach Fujin ).

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 Leefa – B

Active: Recover 40% of max HP. Change Fire, Jammer, Poison & Mortal Poison orbs to Wood orbs. (7 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: All attribute cards ATK x4, 50% all damage reduction when HP is greater than 80%. All attribute cards ATK x3 when reaching 2 set of Wood combos. ATK x1 for each additional combo, up to ATK x4 when reaching 3 combos.

Awakenings:         
Super Awakenings: –
Weapon Assist:      
Worth Monster Exchanging for? No

Pros	Cons
Active synergizes well with Zela  & Vraska  Weapon Assist adds even more damage for these teams Personal 5x damage when HP > 80% LS provides 75% damage reduction & 256x ATK	Requires 2 Wood Combos to deal damage Must remain > 80% HP Vulnerable to Multihits Less consistent compared to Zela  >80%  is inferior to 7c

At first glance, Leefa functions like Zela  in that both have damage reduction and bonus ATK when above a certain threshold along with relying on multiple Wood combos. Furthermore, Leefa has a a higher Damage Reduction component and ATK multiplier, but her window of opportunity is significantly smaller.

Leefa teams must remain above 80% HP to function whereas Zela works when above 50%. While the 75% Damage Reduction may look more appealing compared to 57.75%, the amount of effective HP each team can tank to remain above their threshold differs. In essence, Zela teams are able to withstand up to 1.18x their total HP (when at full health) before dropping below 50% which means they are safe from 99% Gravities. On the other hand, Leefa safely absorb 0.8x their HP before dropping below 80%.

In addition to an inferior Leader Skill, Leefa also has weaker awakenings compared to Zela as triple 7 Combo  provides 8x personal damage versus 5x with four >80%  along with having lower weighted stats, no Super Awakenings (Great Witches will receive those soon), and no FUA .

Moving beyond her leadership role, Leefa’s active can functions well on both Zela and Vraska  teams as both teams appreciate the ability to heal 40% of their health. With that being said, Leefa’s Weapon Assist outclasses her sub potential as it will provide 60% Enhanced Wood Orb  along with a single >80%. This translates into higher overall damage for the entire team along with a personal bonus of 1.5x ATK to the owning monster when above 80% health.

Weapon Assist

Leefa’s Weapon Assist provides a significant boost to Vraska and Zela teams but may still be a hard decision to make at this point in time. At this point in time SAO cards do not have Super Awakenings but that should change during their second inception but that may also be quite a ways in the future. Furthermore, the value gained from the Weapon Assist now may help your Vraska or Zela teams progress.

As such, it may still be a good idea to convert Leefa if owning either of these teams. Finally, the Monster Exchange lets players trade in their Weapon Assist forms for the base card during the events so one could hypothetically reverse the process next time if Leefa is buffed enough.

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 Sinon – A

Active: Inflict Light damage equal to ATK x100 to 1 enemy in exchange for reducing HP by 50%. Affected by enemy element and defense. Removes lock status on orbs. Change all orbs to Fire, Water & Wood & Light & Dark orbs. (7 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: Attacker type cards HP x2, ATK x2. Fire, Water, Wood, Light & Dark attribute cards ATK x2 when HP is less than 80%. All attribute cards ATK x4 when attacking with 4 of following orb types: Fire, Water, Wood, Light & Dark. ATK x1 for each additional orb type, up to ATK x5 for all 5 matches.

Awakenings:         
Super Awakenings: –
Weapon Assist:   
Worth Monster Exchanging for? No

Pros	Cons
4x HP / 400x ATK Synergistic active Three <50%  = 8x ATK Weapon Assist provides <50% Many options to address RCV	Rainbow requirement Must be below 50% HP 4x HP makes this easier Must carefully manage healing Subs must be Attackers Must manage HP when facing preemptives Vulnerable to binds

Sinon is an incredibly hard hitting leader due to their 400x ATK combined with their effective 8x damage via three <50%  awakenings. Furthermore, their 4x HP enables them to adjust their HP accordingly along with easily sliding into their activation requirement of under 50% HP. Unfortunately, their leadership potential is marred by a restrictive sub pool along with a rainbow clause.

Sinon teams are able to achieve up to 400x ATK when matching all 5 colours but can still deal meaningful damage when less (4 colours = 256x ATK) so one is unable to use many orb/board changers which can make it harder to concentrate your damage but the higher multiplier makes up for this.

Furthermore, being restricted to Attacker types means many cards cannot work on her team. Thankfully, better health control can be achieved via Mel  as she can single highhandedly solve healing issues. In addition, Sinon’s base active can act as another form of HP control as it will immediately put you into the damage zone along with 5 colours for 400x ATK.

Finally, Sinon’s vulnerability to binds can be addressed via Odin Dragon  (is Attacker type) along with Bind Immunity Weapon assists such as Asuna . One amusing fact to consider with Sinon being bind vulnerable is that when the bind is cleared (assuming no healing), Sinon teams will be in the correct HP zone.

As a whole, Sinon is the strongest card in the SAO Collab but will be challenging for the average player to build due to the Attacker type clause along with not being able to eclipse the current top-tier teams.

Weapon Assist

Sinon’s Weapon Assist is best on teams that wish to be low health such as herself, Raizer, or Dark Metatron . All these teams tend to utilize some form of HP-suicide skill to fully activate and Sinon’s Weapon Assist will provide that card with 2x personal damage due to a single <50%  awakening.

2x additional damage is actually quite significant as it will push Sinon’s own personal damage to 16x to all spawns.

Do not convert Sinon to a Weapon Assist unless you have duplicates.

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Yuuki – A

Active: Awoken Bind recovery for 9999 turns. Change right-most column into Fire orbs. (7 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: All attribute cards ATK x4, 25% all damage reduction when attacking with 4+ Fire orbs at the same time. ATK x4 when simultaneously clearing 5 connected Water, Wood, Light, Dark, Heart, Jammer, Poison, Mortal Poison or Bomb orbs.

Awakenings:         
Super Awakenings: –
Weapon Assist:     
Worth Monster Exchanging for? No

Pros	Cons
Multi purpose active Full awoken bind clear Spawns a column of Fire 7 turn CD 256x ATK / 43.75% Damage Reduction Only requires 4 Fire Synergy with TPA  Anything can be 5-matched	Damage reduction tied to 4 Fire match Relies on TPA for personal damage Works for her own activation Horribly RCV

Yuuki is the final 6-star card in the Sword Art Online Collab and can fulfill an Awoken Bind clearing role. Her active skill is on a short 7-turn cooldown while also producing a column of Fire orbs. While the Fire orbs may not be helpful for many teams, they synergize with herself and any 5-match farming leader. Furthermore, she can be inherited which gives her more flexibility but is generally outclassed by Odin Dragon  for bind clearing.

As a leader, Yuuki is able to form a modest team that has two distinct activation requirements that are not tied to combos. This can aid in clear times and the only real drawback is that one must have 4 Fire orbs present for her full multiplier and damage reduction. Without 4 Fire orbs, Yuuki teams will be left vulnerable to attacks but most boards should have them present and using a Yuuki active is not the end of the world.

In terms of Yuuki’s own personal damage, she has the potential to deal significant damage with a Fire TPA  which has perfect synergy with her Leader Skill, but will unfortunately not transfer over as well to other teams. For the most part, 7 Combo  is the superior choice and should be pursued in most scenarios; however, Yuuki teams will benefit more from TPA. This is because the match 4 and match 5 clause will greatly hinder combo formation.

As a whole Yuuki, will be a reasonable leader, but not meta changing and can act as a situational inherit should the need arise.

 Weapon Assist

Yuuki’s Weapon Assist form grants two Team RCV  along with a highly desired Skill Boost . Skill Boost Weapon Assists are primarily for farming teams or Ranking Dungeons where stalling is not desired and may be impractical for the average player.

With that being said, if you already have stronger leaders available or dislike her Leader Skill’s play style, it may not be a bad idea to convert her. The only drawback is her base cooldown is quite short so it is best to leave her unskilled.

5 star base

 Klein – C

Active: 75% damage reduction for 1 turn. Change 2nd row from the top into Fire orbs. (10 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: Attacker  type cards ATK x2, RCV x2. All attribute cards ATK x3, 25% all damage reduction when attacking with 4+ Fire orbs at the same time.

Awakenings:      
Super Awakenings: –

Pros	Cons
Forms a row Second from top makes it easier for some teams Easy to VDP  75% damage reduction can tank preemptives	Niche value overall Poverty Fire sub Low weighted stats Few awakenings

Klein is nothing special but can be used in niche situations for farming applications. The main idea is to use a full board changer and then use Klein after. This results in a 24-6 split which can form 2 rows and a total of 4 combos of a 4 combo VDP .

While either solve is inferior to double row makers, Klein can have merits on row-swiping teams as the board can be simply swiped to solve for 3 combos with 2 rows. This can have merit for Kaede  teams for a when a burst is unavailable.

Other than this, the 75% shield can be used to mitigate large preemptives on what would otherwise be a lackluster sub.

Agil – B

Active: Delay  2 turns to all enemies. Change Jammer, Poison & Mortal Poison orbs to Heart orbs. (9 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: All  attribute cards ATK x4 when HP is greater than 50%. Wood attribute cards HP x2. RCV x2.5 when matching exactly 4 connected heart orbs.

Awakenings:      
Super Awakenings:-

Pros	Cons
Only natural double Machine Killer  for Wood 9x personal damage Can use Machine Killer latents 2 Skill Boosts  Reasonably short active Easier to inherit	Niche value overall Would mostly be used for Wood farming teams

Agil is one of the few cards in NA to come naturally with 2 Machine Killers  while also being able to use Machine Killer latents. This grants him wonderful personal damage against these spawns and will primarily be used on Wood farming teams that quickly solve Zeus Dios  boards. Furthermore, it can help open up options for more 4x Machine XYZ farming due to his high personal damage being able to take care of most spawns.

Other than this, Agil will be rarely used as he is too niche and stronger Machine Killing options exist in other colours.

Lisbeth – C

Active: For 1 turn, increase ATK for each Two-Pronged Attack awakening skill on the team; Randomly create 4 Fire orbs (0.3x per awakening) (12 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: 2x ATK and reduce damage taken when matching 4 or more connected orbs; 3x ATK & RCV on the turn a skill is used

Awakenings:      
Super Awakenings:  –

Pros	Cons
Gemstone-style active Bonus damage scales with TPA  Similar to Facet  Creates 4 Fire orbs Can fix bad boards and give another TPA	Facet was rarely used TPA is uncommon on most teams Lisbeth only lasts for 1 turn

Lisbeth is similar to Facet  in that both scale with TPAs  for their burst but differ in small ways. Firstly, Lisbeth’s burst only lasts for a single turn which can be an issue in most content where it is not uncommon for two dangerous floors to be encountered back to back.

Secondly, Lisbeth is able to generate 4 Fire orbs which can help fix bad boards or give some extra firepower to TPA-oriented teams. Sadly, Facet and Lisbeht will be generally underutilized as most teams are built around 7 Combos  instead of TPAs.

 Silica – B

Active: Change  left-most column into Water orbs and the right-most column into Heart orbs. Heal for 25% of max HP every turn for 4 turns. (11 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: Healer & Dragon type cards HP x2, ATK x3. Heal RCV x20 as HP after every orbs elimination.

Awakenings:      
Super Awakenings:  –

Pros	Cons
Double Column generator Hearts for easy FUA  25% max HP heal for 4 turns Value on 4x HP teams Helpful on farming teams	Situational active overall Cannot loop the healing component

Silica has an interesting active skill as she is able to form both two columns and provide 25% max HP heal for 4 turns.

The orbs being generated help farming teams that rely on 5-matches and having a FUA ready-made can help hasten the process. In addition, mono-water teams can greatly capitalize on these orbs being generated, even after using a bicolour board with no Hearts.

On the other hand, the 25% team HP heal can be invaluable for 4x HP teams such as Beach Barbara & Julie  as it can help somewhat solve healing issues for a short term. While it is not as strong as Kuroyuri’s  40% and cannot be chained with 2 Sillica, it can make a reasonable inherit for certain content.

Sachi – C

Active: +2 combo count for 1 turn. Randomly spawn 3 Dark orbs from non Dark orbs. (10 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: Dark attribute cards HP x2, ATK x2. ATK x2 at 4 combos. ATK x0.5 for each additional combo, up to ATK x3.5 at 7 combos.

Awakenings:      
Super Awakenings:  –

Pros	Cons
Fast charging +2 Combo count 3 Dark orbs can help correct bad boards 3 Skill Boosts  for 3 Player farming May help in certain solo builds	Niche usage overall Secondary benefit is risky

Sachi is one of the shortest charging +2 Combo actives in the game and her ability to grant 3 additional Dark orbs can help correct poor boards for VDP . Unfortunately, the collateral benefit can backfire as it may overflow the board with Dark after using a board changer.

In terms of practical usage, Sachi may have some merit in certain solo challenges or niche 3-player builds as her 3 Skill Boosts  can help charge up all other active skills.

 Argo – C

Active: Removes  lock status on orbs. Awoken Bind recovery for 3 turns. (3 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: Get x2 coins after a battle. Wood attribute cards ATK x3. Increases time limit of orb movement by 2 seconds.

Awakenings:      
Super Awakenings: –

Pros	Cons
3 Killers Provides 2x Coins Ganesha  alternative	All killers are different Less likely to line up No Skill Boosts  Coin farming is usually not a priority Unlocking orbs is common now

Argo would have been a stronger card if they had been given two or three of the same Killer awakening. This is because it will be challenging to line up most of those typings for optimal damage. Furthermore, Argo lacks and Skill Boosts  which would make it challenging to use on many farming or Ranking Dungeon teams as actives may not charge up fast enough.

On the other hand, Argo is able to provide 2x Coins which can help newer accounts but this is a pretty low priority overall as farming for Coins has been somewhat invalidated by the generous Monthly Quest rewards.

 Alice – C

Active: Change Water, Poison & Mortal Poison orbs to Light orbs. Change Light orbs into locked orbs. (6 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: Light attribute cards ATK x3, RCV x2. All attribute cards ATK x2.5 when reaching Light & Light combos.

Awakenings:      
Super Awakenings: –

Pros	Cons
Locking orbs can help with Spinners	Niche value overall Only counters a low number of spinners

Alice is the final card in the Sword Art Online Collab and comes with the ability to lock Light orbs along with converting hazards and water into Light. This naturally dismisses her from Yusuke  teams but may be helpful to any team that wishes to use a VDP  against a spinning board.

At this point in time, there are not many orb lockers as these are the best counter to Spinners and being able to lock some of the orbs can help players form their desired combos. Due to the fact that only Light orb are locked means Alice will only be effective on board where only a few Spinners are present.

Conclusion

The Sword Art Online Collab is mediocre overall due to the fact that the 6-star cards are not meta changing while the 5-star cards are generally underwhelming. These factors make me inclined to avoid this event as there are far better things to spend Magic Stones on.

Let me know what you think about the Sword Art Online Collab and how much you plan on rolling.

Happy Puzzling!

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