Introduction

The New Year’s REM returns just in time for the Lunar New Year and features two new cards while also providing various buffs/evolutions for existing cards. Unfortunately, there will still be two silvers available along with this Collab being average at best.

With the REM Renewal and disclosed rolling rates, Collabs and Seasonal events have gained increased value due to GungHo not wishing to showcase abysmal rates. Thus, it should be easier to roll the top prizes, but you must also be prepared for the bottom rarity fodder.

As such, the decision of whether to roll or pass should be done based upon your individual box needs, desire to roll the cute artwork, and whether or not the lower rarity cards have merit for you.

As a whole, most of the New Year Event is mediocre but not game breaking which should be taken into consideration if thinking about rolling.

Video commentary

—video coming soon—

Overview

New Year REM – February 1, 2019
8 Star base
7 Star base
6 Star base
5 Star base
4 Star base

New Year REM Rankings – February 1, 2019
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.

8 Star Base

 NY Yomi – A

Active: Enhance all orbs; For 3 turns, increase orb move time by 5 seconds; Reduce awoken skill binds by 3 turns (8 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: 6x ATK for matched Att. when matching 5 Orbs with 1+ enhanced; 3x ATK and reduce damage taken by 25% when 6 or more combos [1/324/1 Resist 43.75%]

Awakenings:         
Super Awakenings:    
Weapon Assist: –
Typing: God/Balance
Weighted Stats (Limit Break): 912 (1094)
HP 4572 (5486) / ATK 1736 (2083) / RCV 325 (390)
Worth Monster Exchanging for? No

Pros	Cons
Received sizable buffs Natural L  awakening Time Extend  stick with damage Greatly helps Dark Metatron  Reasonable Leader Skill Active now clears Awoken Binds	Only bind immune with SA Competes with numerous Light damage subs Lowish weighted stats

New Year’s Yomi received several sizable buffs since last year which gives her more value beyond a Time Extend stick. Prior to this, New Year’s Yomi was just one of many Light subs who can act as a damage stick while also being able to provide a full +2 seconds of orb movement time.

This additional movement time can can benefit Dark Metatron  teams as many compositions lack this type of awakenings. As such, being able to consistently hit 7 Combos outweighs the benefits of bringing various other cards. Fortunately, New Year’s Yomi is now able to provide additional utility through their revamped active skill and awakenings.

New Year’s Yomi now naturally comes with an L  awakening which can cancel out all locked orb skyfalls. While many cards now come with an orb unlocking function, being able to preserve those by simply matching 5 connected Light or Dark orbs can be invaluable.

In addition to this, New Year’s Yomi is now able to remove 3 turns of Awoken Binds. While this may not counter all binds, having the additional flexibility of using this active instead of something more powerful can help when pushing through new content.

In addition to these buffs, New Year’s Yomi has received a sizable overhaul to their Leader Skill as they are now able to function as a 324x ATK / 43.75% Damage Reduction leader. Unfortunately, this is tied to the 5o1e mechanic which is problematic as a whole. This is because only enhanced orbs count towards activation (while also only boosting that particular colour) which leads to consistency issues. By comparison, leaders like Madoo  are able to fully activate from any 5-connected orbs and all cards receive the full multiplier.

---

 NY Kanna – C

Active: For 2 turns, 2x ATK for Dragon, God types; Charge allies’ skill by 1 turn (9 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: 4x ATK and 1.5x RCV for Dragon, God type; 3x ATK and reduce damage taken by 50% when matching 5 Heal orbs in a cross formation [1/144/2.25 Resist 75%]

Awakenings:          
Super Awakenings:    
Weapon Assist: –
Typing: God/Dragon
Weighted Stats (Limit Break): 962 (1154)
HP 4078 (4894) / ATK 2100 (2520) / RCV 403 (484)
Worth Monster Exchanging for? No

Pros	Cons
Naturally high ATK 5 TPA	Active is underwhelming TPA  is not favoured at the moment Weaker compared to farmable Myr  as a leader Does not fit on most teams

New Year’s Kanna suffers from the same drawbacks of REM Kanna : the low viability of TPA  and lackluster active skill (REM Kanna has still not received a Mega Awoken).

TPA awakenings used to reign supreme but were quickly outclassed by 7 Combo  awakenings. This is because it is far easier to match orbs in a 3-connected pattern along with a higher combo count benefiting all members. Each additional combo matched adds 25% more potency whereas TPA only truly helps the possessing card (there is a slight damage boost for that element, but off-colour cards receive no perk). Furthermore, you may have to sacrifice a combo to connect 4 orbs (think of a board with 6 Light orbs).

As a result, TPA-oriented cards have been largely replaced and NY Kanna is no exception. With that being said, NY Kanna does possess a large ATK stat along with potentially 5 TPA through Super Awakenings.

Finally, NY Kanna’s active skill does not hold much value as the burst is only 2x which may be insufficient for a large amount of content.

---

NY Kamimusubi – A

Active: Change bottom row to Heal orbs; Recover 30% of max HP; Reduce binds by 3 turns (9 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: 5x ATK when above 80% HP; 3x ATK & RCV when below 79% HP; 3.5x ATK and reduce damage taken by 25% when matching Fire+Light [1/306.25/9 Resist 43.75%]

Awakenings:          
Super Awakenings:    
Weapon Assist: –
Typing: God/Balance
Weighted Stats (Limit Break): 1003 (1204)
HP 4638 (5566) / ATK 1935 (2322) / RCV 458 (550)
Worth Monster Exchanging for? No

Pros	Cons
Easy to activate 306.25x ATK Still has 110.25x ATK when <80% HP Most given boards should have Light and Fire present	HP Conditional LS Active does not guarantee activation May not heal enough May override Light/Fire SFUA  is lackluster

New Year Kamimusubi has received a new evolution along with gaining access to Limit Break/Super Awakenings. All of these enhance her capabilities and functions in a similar role to her REM cousins.

As a leader, NY Kamimusubi requires Fire and Light combos along with being above 80% HP in order to unleash a massive 306.25x ATK. This activation is not tied to combo count and can be used to quickly waltz through content. Furthermore, even being below 80% results in 110.25x ATK along with augmented RCV and a self healing active. These can help players to quickly heal back up while potentially sweeping a floor.

Unfortunately, the main downside of NY Kami compared to Yog  (another 2 Combo, >80% HP, high ATK leader) is that she requires two different colours along with Fire not having a Light Vaj  card.

In the context of farming content quickly, the two different colours restricts the type of board changers that can be used (along with NY Kami not owning a board changer) along with having less efficient means to deal with Resolve.

The Super Follow Up Attack  is far too orb hungry (9 Heart Orbs) compared to a regular FUA  (column of 5 Hearts). Naturally, players will gravitate towards regular FUA subs but pairing with a leader who can deal follow up damage after matching orbs can be invaluable.

Yog paired with Light Vaj still results in a respectable 108x ATK multiplier (which can be padded with numerous Light orbs and Killers) but enables all matches to deal a modest amount of follow up damage. This means that all resolve spawns no longer require a FUA to kill which can greatly aid in VDP  boards and ease in matching.

is known for her prowess as a leader due to the explosive damage along with being one the rare dark cards with Follow Up Attack . However, her New Year form trades a regular Follow Up Attack for a Super Bonus Attack .

Super Bonus Attack enables the owning card to deal 2 True Damage when matching a 3×3 square of heal orbs. This does accomplish the same net result of killing a Resolve spawn, but is far more cumbersome to form.

The idea behind Super Bonus Attack is that it enables row-based teams to be able to deal with Resolve spawns while still forming a horizontal line of orbs. However, row teams are becoming lackluster due to their orb hungry nature, a lack of potent leaders, and most end game dungeons featuring a large combo shield. Thus, the Super Bonus Attack will often feel like a downgrade as most teams rely on combos to deal damage and sacrificing 9 orbs severely cuts down on your combo potential.

---

NY Artemis – S

Active: For 1 turn, void damage absorb shield effects; Change Fire orbs to Wood orbs (20 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: 2x HP for Wood Att.; 3x ATK and 1.5x RCV when 4 or more combos; 4x ATK when matching 4 or more connected Wood orbs [4/144/2.25]

Awakenings:          
Super Awakenings:    
Weapon Assist: –
Typing: God/Attacker
Weighted Stats (Limit Break): 1003 (1202)
HP 4630 (5556) / ATK 2568 (3082) / RCV 78 (94)
Worth Monster Exchanging for? No

Pros	Cons
4x HP Can naturally tank preemptives 2.25x RCV Can heal without as much issue Flexible team building Can use any Wood card Some form of damage control Easy to activate LS Fujin  style active	Lacks TE  144x ATK is “low” No Damage Reduction Vulnerable to gravities Having 2 Fujin actives tends to be redundant (as leaders) Long Cooldown

New Year Artemis is a new 8-star card to be added into this event and is a potent leader overall. Firstly, she is able to provide an unconditional 4x HP which means one can naturally tank preemptives (saves an active skill slot) while also being able to tap into 2.25x RCV.

Having the ability to heal without outside help is invaluable for high HP teams as it will enable them to better recover against gravities or repeated, large hits. While this innate survivability is valuable, it is not without faults. Most notably is the vulnerability to gravities, but more importantly, move sets that include a gravity followed immediately by a normal attack. This combo will execute any team that does not have a form of damage reduction. As such, NY Artemis will fall prey to these spawns which are now seen in the new Arenas (Arena 5 and Alt Arena 2).

Moving past this, NY Artemis also features a 144x ATK multiplier that has synergy with her own TPA  awakenings. Each awakening provides 1.5x personal damage which results in 3.375 (or 5x with Super Awakening) for each 4-connected orbs which is her activation requirement. For the most part, TPA is inferior to 7 Combo  as it provides a lower amount of damage along with only triggering from a 4-match. With that being said, Artemis has to match 4 connected Wood orbs so this is not as big of a drawback as it normally would be.

Furthermore, New Year’s Artemis is able to use any Wood card in the game which creates flexible and dynamic team building options. One does not have to fully rely on Skill Inheritance and many basic Wood pantheon cards can be used.

As a whole, NY Artemis is powerful leader who can help players progress through content but she does not currently eclipse the best options available.

7 Star Base

NY Horus – C

Active: Enhance all orbs; Charge allies’ skill by 1 turn (7 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: 4x ATK when matching 4 or more colors up to 4.5x at 5 colors; 2.5x ATK for matched Att. when matching 5 Orbs with 1+ enhanced [1/126.56/1]

Awakenings:          
Super Awakenings:    
Weapon Assist: –
Typing: God/Attacker
Weighted Stats (Limit Break): 750 (975)
HP 3255 (4232) / ATK 1874 (2436) / RCV 150 (195)

Pros	Cons
Provides 4 SB  in solo Colours fit better on some teams Coop Boost  with reasonable ATK	LS is fragile and inconsistent Low value active Better options exist for SB

New Year’s Horus  was not meaningful during the last several NY event and continues that trend today.

In terms of his assets, he is able to gain 4 Skill Boosts  in solo, but we have farmable options for 4-5 which lowers New Year Horus’s value while his single Coop Boost  is nothing special in this day and age. With that being said, his Fire and God/Attacker typing may help some teams while also being a budget fit on Shirou  teams.

As such, NY Horus feels like an outdated card that requires heavy investment to bring him on par with current farmable options.

---

NY Yamato – C

Active: Change Wood orbs to Fire orbs; Change Dark orbs to Heal orbs; Enhance all Heal orbs (8 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: 1.5x ATK & RCV for Dragon type; 2x ATK when matching 4 or more connected Fire or Light orbs up to 4x at 8 orbs [1/36/2.25]

Awakenings:          
Super Awakenings:    
Weapon Assist: –
Typing: God/Dragon
Weighted Stats (Limit Break): 750 (900)
HP 3473 (4168) / ATK 1301 (1561) / RCV 428 (514)

Pros	Cons
Shirou  sub Active helps condense the board 2 Dragon Killers  in solo	Low weighted stats Fixed with coop Does not excel in any particular area Low/no personal damage Stronger options exist

New Year’s Yamato continues to fall further behind as time goes on. This is because their kit was already mediocre last year and looks pale in comparison to current day options.

Having 3 Skill Boosts  is nothing special along with a lone Dragon Killer  (2 in solo) and I feel his primary use would be on Shirou teams where his low weighted stats are somewhat corrected in coop.

Furthermore, New Year’s Yamato has a reasonable active skill for Shirou teams as it can help condense the board to more favourable colours while also providing enhanced heal orbs.

As a whole, New Year’s Yamato is a mediocre card who is does not excel in any particular area and is eclipsed by most current options.

---

 NY Khepri – C

Active: For 1 turn, increase combo count by 2; For 1 turn, increase orb move time by 2 seconds (12 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: [No skyfall]; 4x ATK when there are 7 or fewer orbs remaining; 4x ATK when matching 4 or more colors [1/256/1]

Awakenings:           
Super Awakenings:    
Weapon Assist: –
Typing: God/Attacker
Weighted Stats (Limit Break): 854 (1025)
HP 3630 (4356) / ATK 2003 (2404) / RCV 273 (328)

Pros	Cons
+2 Combo count Does not disrupt board Adds 2 seconds orb movement time	Niche inherit overall No/low personal damage

New Year Khepri has some merit as a niche assist card as she is able to provide +2 combos without disrupting the board along with +2 seconds of orb movement time. Each component is situationally useful so it would be rare to require both at the same time. Furthermore, there are many +2 combo count actives available so this is nothing special.

The main benefit of using a +2 combo active is to help ensure a specific threshold is met when forming a VDP  or FUA .

---

NY Ganesha (New) – B

Active: For 1 turn, reduce damage taken by 100%; Deal 150000 damage to an enemy 3 times (15 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: 4x Coin Drop rate; 4x ATK when 5 or more combos [1/16/1]

Awakenings:          
Super Awakenings:    
Weapon Assist: –
Typing: God/Balance
Weighted Stats (Limit Break): 852 (1022)
HP 3418 (4102) / ATK 1723 (2068) / RCV 498 (598)

Pros	Cons
4x more Coins 1.5x with normal Ganesha  Has a small ATK multiplier 3 Skill Boosts  Two 7c	Farming coins has lowish value No where to feasibly spend on Mediocre active Average Light damage sub

New Year’s Ganesha is the second new card to be released this time around and is better than average overall. This is because Light is already quite saturated with strong 7 Combo  cards so any new one faces steep competition.

As such, New Year’s Ganesha can be used in this manner, but he is nothing special outside of his triple Skill Boost  which may help ensure key actives are ready in time.

Outside of this Ganesha can be used as a niche leader to take advantage of his 4x Coin drop. This is significantly higher compared to other options available but the main drawback is that in game Coins have low value overall. Despite the fact that each Trade costs 100,000 and inherit 1,000,000, players tend to rack up coins without even trying. As a result, he may only have merit as a leader for newer players or those who have some how ran out of Coin.

---

6 Star base

 NY Leilan – C

Active: Change all orbs to Fire, Wood, and Light orbs (8 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: 3.5x ATK when matching 3+ of Fire, Wood, Light, Heal at once; 2x ATK for matched Att. when matching 5 Orbs with 1+ enhanced [1/49/1]

Awakenings:          
Super Awakenings:  –
Weapon Assist: –
Typing: God/Dragon
Weighted Stats (Limit Break): 749 (-)
HP 3335 (-) / ATK 1577 (-) / RCV 302 (-)

Pros	Cons
No animation board change Lots of Orb Enhance	Better board changers exist Low/no sub value Budget option overall

The Chinese Celestials were once renown for their impressive board changer and overall power compared to other options. Unfortunately, their prowess has declined due to the availability of tri-elemental board changers that also produce heart orbs.

For the most part, it almost always better to generate a board with heart orbs as it enables you to simultaneously heal and deal damage (along with FUA ). As a result, non-heart generating board changers have become less potent and New Year’s Leilan is no exception.

New Year’s Leilan has the non-awoken Leilan board changer and will only produce a board of Fire, Wood, and Light orbs with no collateral benefit. This coupled with her middling awakenings and low base stats make it tough to justify her usage.

This situation is not unusual for older Collab/Seasonal cards as they continue to fall steadily behind due to Powercreep.

 NY Ame No Uzume – B

Active: Remove all binds and awoken skill binds; Deal 100000 damage to an enemy 5 times (12 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: 1.5x HP & ATK for Balanced, God type; 5x ATK for Light Att. when above 80% HP [2.25/56.25/1]

Awakenings:        
Super Awakenings:  –
Weapon Assist: –
Typing: God/Dragon
Weighted Stats (Limit Break): 755 (-)
HP 3545 (-) / ATK 1605 (-) / RCV 241 (-)

Pros	Cons
Double Coop Boost  inheritable full Bind/Awoken Bind clear	Stronger Coop Boost cards exist Ame has low ATK

New Year’s Ame no Uzume was once a coveted roll from the New Year’s Collab as she was one of the few double Coop Boost  cards. This gave her significantly higher ATK to act as a button base. While she can still be used for this purpose, she has lost her unique edge as many more high ATK cards now exist to can deal more damage.

Thankfully, New Year’s Ame no Uzume has become one of the few inheritable full Bind/Awoken Bind clearers in North America (other being Jhoira ). The ability to fully clear any kind of bind can be invaluable as it can get one out of problematic situations as most other clearers cap out at 5 turns.

---

5 Star Base

NY Spica – B

Active: Change far left column to Light orbs and change far right column to Wood orbs; Charge allies’ skill by 1 turn (8 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: 1.3x ATK & RCV for God, Machine type; 5x ATK for matched Att. when matching 5 Orbs with 1+ enhanced [1/42.25/1.69]

Awakenings:         
Super Awakenings:  –
Weapon Assist: –
Typing: God/Machine
Weighted Stats (Limit Break): 750 (-)
HP 3220 (-) / ATK 1585 (-) / RCV 333 (-)

Pros	Cons
Forms two columns Helps with speed farming builds	Niche usage overall Low weighted stats

New Year’s Spica returns to PAD in a world where 5o1e leaders have most of their value. Her original claim to fame was the ability to spawn columns of Light and Wood orbs to help speed through content such as Arena 1.

Unfortunately, more efficient teams now exist and her primary usage will be as a double column maker on teams that activate from 5 connected orbs under a speed farming context. By creating 2 columns, players are able to sweep two different floors which can help with active skill management and team building requirements.

Outside of this, it will be challenging to use New Year’s Spica efficiently.

---

NY Mitsuki – D

Active: Change Wood, Dark orbs to Heal orbs; Charge allies’ skill by 1 turn (8 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: 2.5x HP for Healer type; 3x ATK when matching 6 or more connected Heal orbs [6.25/9/1]

Awakenings:       
Super Awakenings:  –
Weapon Assist: –
Typing: Healer/Attacker
Weighted Stats (Limit Break): 685 (-)
HP 2124 (-) / ATK 1379 (-) / RCV 592 (-)

Pros	Cons
Box cheerleader	Virtually no use

New Year Mitsuki was sometimes used as a budget sub on Xiang Mei  teams but I cannot remember the last time someone used Xiang Mei to clear current content. As a result, Mitsuki has nearly no practical usage outside of a box cheerleader.

---

Hanzo – D

Active: Change Fire orbs to Light orbs (5 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: 2x ATK and 1.5x HP & RCV for Attacker type [2.25/4/2.25]

Awakenings:      
Super Awakenings:  –
Weapon Assist: –
Typing: Devil/Attacker
Weighted Stats (Limit Break): 748 (-)
HP 2089 (-) / ATK 1898 (-) / RCV 480 (-)

Pros	Cons
To be determined	Virtually no use Not even a pretty girl

Hanzo may be a insta-locked pick in Overwatch, but you would rarely find yourself using New Year Hanzo in PAD. This is because he has become quite dated due to his age and lack of buffs.

It is hard to justify running a single Dragon Killer  sub with 748 weighted stats along with his vanilla single orb changer.

---

4 Star Base

NY Jeanne d’Arc – D

Active: Deal 10x ATK Light damage to all enemies; For 2 turns, 2x RCV (5 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: 1.5x ATK & RCV for Dragon, Attacker type; 2.5x ATK when 6 or more combos [1/14.06/2.25]

Awakenings:         
Super Awakenings:  –
Weapon Assist: –
Typing: Dragon/Attacker
Weighted Stats (Limit Break): 695 (-)
HP 3002 (-) / ATK 1556 (-) / RCV 252 (-)

Pros	Cons
Jeanne d’Shit 6 Autoheals	Ugly Useless

Jeanne d’Shit tries hard to be one of the worst Collab cards in the game in terms of both looks and usability. While the 6 autoheals  are interesting, they have so little application that it is hard to fathom a scenario where they would be used.

---

 NY Tengu – C

Active: Becomes Team leader, changes back when used again (5 turn cooldown)

Leader Skill: 3x ATK and 2x RCV when below 10% HP; May survive when HP is reduced to 0 (HP>50%) [1/9/4]

Awakenings:      
Super Awakenings:  –
Weapon Assist: –
Typing: Physical/Devil
Weighted Stats (Limit Break): 676 (-)
HP 4126 (-) / ATK 1317 (-) / RCV 0 (-)

Pros	Cons
4 Skill Boosts  4 turn base cooldown	Nearly identical to farmable Tengu  Many other Skill Boost cards exist

New Year’s Tengu is nearly identical to the farmable Tengu  except he has his sub attribute changed to Light. This has minor applications in no Duplicate or All Attribute dungeons, but the fact that a regular Tengu can be easily farmed diminishes his overall value.

Furthermore, many other more potent farmable Skill Boost cards exist (eg. Whaledor  and Orpharion ) but having a short 4-turn cooldown can be invaluable in certain set ups.

Conclusion

The New Year’s Seasonal REM is lacking overall in terms of top prizes along with almost all of the older cards having little value at this point in time.

If anything, maybe exchanging for New Year’s Artemis may be useful if lacking any Fujin  active along with strong leader, but outside of this, I would probably avoid this event all together.

Let me know what you think about these event in the comments below.

Happy Puzzling!

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