Introduction

The PAD Academy makes a return to North America and comes with delightful school uniforms and glasses for some of your favourite characters.

As a whole, this event is top-heavy with many outdated cards across all rarities. Furthermore, it will be hard to find much value out of the 5 and 6-star cards which further lowers the motivation to roll.

With this in mind, PAD Academy is best approached by doing the free roll and then saving for a stronger event as most rolls will end in sadness from a usability point of view. Of course, if you have a thing for school outfits and glasses, this is the best time to make all your dreams become a reality.

This article will outline the pros and cons for each card within the PAD Academy event to give players a better understanding of what each monster can do.

Video commentary

—video coming soon—

Overview

PAD Academy Pros & Cons – April 18, 2020
Pros	Cons
School uniforms Glasses	Laughably bad 5-star cards Bottom rarity is lackluster Low Weighted stats all around due to 5-Stone cost

PAD Academy REM
9 Star base
8 Star base
7 Star base
6 Star base
5 Star base

PAD Academy Rankings – April 18, 2020
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 have 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.

Monster Exchange

The Monster Exchange System has mostly eliminated the need to roll in most events as players can simply trade in for a card of their choice. This is often done during lackluster events to avoid spending Stones on poor bottom rarity cards or to snipe a specific card if luck is not on your side.

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.

My approach to Collab/Seasonal rolling

Rolling any Rare Egg Machine is a gamble and it becomes a matter of maximizing your rate of returns in an event.

This translates into rolling when the bottom rarity has high value as those will be the most common cards. Furthermore, I may utilize the Monster Exchange system to acquire the higher rarity cards if they will significantly advance my progress. As such, I tend to look most closely at the bottom rarity pool to determine if it is worth rolling in.

This is just my own personal approach and everyone has different goals/motivations so take this section with a grain of salt.

9 Star base

Valeria (New) – S

Pros	Cons
5-6 Skill Boosts High personal damage Triple 7c Can gain VDP Active provides RCV & TE buff Strong LS multipliers	No SBR LS requires Light/Wood cards No Wood means no bonus HP Cannot easily swap SA

Academy Valeria is the only 9-star card within the PAD Academy event and puts an exciting twist on Varleria’s kit. Valeria has always been prized for her high Skill Boost count and that holds true for her Academy version as she can bring 5-6.

I say 5-6 because players may desire a different Super Awakening such as VDP in order to take advantage of her strong personal damage as she naturally comes with three 7 Combos . As such, electing to use VDP Super Awakening means Valeria can function as both as Skill Boost and damage solution as her output will no longer be Voided. The ability to deal meaningful damage is often absent from high Skill Boost cards which means Academy Valeria may also ease team building restrictions. Sadly, you cannot easily switch between previously unlocked Super Awakenings and gambling with 5 different options means you will not be swapping at your leisure.

Looking at her active, Academy Valeria’s ability to counter three minor mechanics can be meaningful. Being able to overwrite Time or RCV debuffs is valuable in high level content and while the board refresh is unpredictable, it gives the small chance of a Skyfall which leads to 1 turn of charging actives while resetting the board. While each component is minor, having all three will grant further flexibility when team building. Just be aware that Academy Valeria lacks SBR which only becomes an issue when using two cards who lack this awakening.

Another possible use for Academy Valeria is her leadership potential as she has solid all-around multipliers but does require Wood and Light cards to fully take advantage of it. With that being said, opting to not use Wood cards only results in an HP loss and depending on your pairing, it may not be the end of the world as you still retain Damage Reduction. Due to Valeria’s Attacker typing, she can pair with Fasca to take advantage of the 7×6 board and should have less problems Transforming.

One final thing I want to mention is that Academy Valeria provides Skill Boosts, not Effective Skill Boosts. While this does cut into her total awakenings, it also means players do not have to delay/haste in order to use key actives which is valuable in time-sensitive content such as Ranking Dungeon or fast Farming.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
Skill Boost 20% Blind , Jammer , & Poison Resist Useful active RCV & TE buff	Super Resists (100% protection) are more common Must give up Base form

Academy Valeria’s Weapon Assist has several strong component going for it but has the high opportunity cost of giving up her powerful Base form. While a single Skill Boost and 20% Blind , Jammer , & Poison Resist is quite powerful, the main issue is Super Resists granting 100% protection being more common. As such, many of these Fashionable Sunglasses’s awakenings will go to waste.

With this in mind, I would not convert to this form unless you own 3, maybe 2 copies of Academy Valeria.

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8 Star base

Competitive Dragonbounds, Rikuu & Distel (New) – A

Pros	Cons
Cloud Resist & L 4 Skill Boosts or high personal damage Active provides small ATK & RCV buff 5 elemental board changer Valuable Rainbow sub	Cannot easily swap SA Reliant on Void Damage Void vs Void spawns

Rikuu & Distel is a new 8-star card within the PAD Academy event and has the capacity to function as a potent Rainbow sub due to their awakenings and active. They naturally come with Cloud Resist and an L awakening along with the ability to either achieve 4 Skill Boosts or 10x personal damage if electing to use 7 Combo Super Awakening. Both options have their merits and it is unfortunate players cannot freely swap between previously unlocked Super Awakenings as gambling for a new random one is not a good design. Regardless, this does not take away from Rikuu & Distel’s ability to function once given a Super Awakening and can help alleviate some team building restrictions.

In regards to their active, it is somewhat like Valeria in the sense that it provides several small benefits that become valuable all put together. Rikuu & Distel are able to provide a small ATK and RCV buff which will overwrite any debuff along with changing the board to Fire, Water, Wood, Light, and Heart orbs on a fast 7-turn cooldown. These two buffs have meaningful applications in the future A6 dungeon as players have a strong likelihood of both these metrics being debuffed.

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Academy Kali – C

Pros	Cons
4 Skill boosts Cloud Resist Full Rainbow board changer	Rikuu & Distel feel so much stronger Better awakenings, and active skill upgrade No personal damage

Academy Kali has always felt a little awkward as she brings Wood Rows but provides a full Rainbow board changer. This is counter intuitive and this problem continues today as she is mostly a 4 Skill Boost card with Cloud Resist that has no personal damage.

Perhaps if players are desperate for her colour coverage, lacks a Rainbow board changer, and can already cover damage output Academy Kali may be used but stronger options exist.

What bothers me the most is that Rikuu & Distel have a similar active and same cooldown but provides 2 additional benefits at the cost of losing Dark orbs (usually not an issue with most Rainbow leaders who need 4/5 colours).

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Academy Orochi – B

Pros	Cons
4 Skill Boosts 8 Effective Skill Boosts Big HP	Active has 15 turn cooldown Only truly shines on teams with 19 SB needs

Academy Orochi has the capacity to function as an 8 Effective Skill Boost card but the main issue is his 4 turn delay has a 15 turn cooldown. While this should be achievable, the problem is some of this Delay will be wasted if your Transforming needs are under 19 which includes the majority of Transforming cards outside Fagan Rai .

This does not mean Orochi is a bad choice, it just means he is not being used to his full potential and the vast majority of his kit is high Effective Skill Boosts. As such, you may be better off using a different sub who provides other benefits as Academy Orochi provides no Resists, low personal damage, but exceptionally high HP.

With this in mind, Academy Orochi may become a stronger option if longer Transforming cards are released.

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Academy Uruka – B

Pros	Cons
3 Skill Boosts Rainbow board + Colour Absorb Void 2s movement time	Low personal damage No Resists Low utility

Academy Uruka is modest Rainbow sub as she can provide a full 6-elemental board changer along with a Colour Absorb Void on a reasonable 11 turn cooldown. Furthermore, she provides 3 Skill Boosts and two seconds of orb movement time.

That basically sums up Uruka’s value and I feel she is a modest sub but is nothing flashy and may just simply be a placeholder until something stronger comes along. This is because she has low personal damage, provides little utility, has no Resists, and Colour Absorb is relatively niche.

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Academy Yog – B

Pros	Cons
Possible Ranking Dungeon solution	Niche uses overall

Any type of Yog was once heralded as a powerful leader who was used for farming various content and some Ranking Dungeons. Over time, Yog’s prowess has declined as much more efficient cards have been released.

With that being said, there is a possibility Academy Yog may be used as a Ranking Dungeon solution as he does provide a bicolour board and still retains a reasonable Leader Skill. Thankfully, his new Pixel evolution will grant him additional value.

Pixel Academy Yog (New)

Pros	Cons
Potential Grigory sub 3 Skill Boosts High VDP damage Strong finishing active Bicolour board +2 combos	Conditional personal damage Either VDP or God/Devil Long cooldown Use 1-2 per dungeon

Pixel Academy Yog grants him Physical typing which makes enables them to be efficiently used on Grigory teams. This can be valuable as Pixel Academy Yog comes with 3 Skill Boosts , a powerful on-colour board changer, and the ability to deal meaningful damage with a VDP .

I am well aware that Grigory’s active Voids Damage Void but this can become unsustainable versus repeated Void spawns and having the option to deal meaningful damage with a 3×3 Box will make your life easier. As such, forming a 3×3 Wood Box will allow Pixel Academy Yog to deal high personal damage which is further bolstered versus God and Devil types. You may not need it every turn but being able to easily bypass Star Justice or Hera Nyx in AA3 without Grigory’s active will provide an additional layer of security.

With that being said, Pixel Academy Yog’s personal damage is conditional on facing God and Devil spawns along with having enough orbs for a 3×3 Box.

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7 Star base

Academy Apollo (New) – A

Pros	Cons
Easy to achieve Auto Follow Up Damage Strong personal damage Orb Skin	Mediocre active Middling sub LS requires Light and Wood cards

Academy Apollo is a brand new 7-star card who offers an easy to achieve Auto Follow Up Damage Leader Skill as one only has to match Light and Wood orbs. This is similar to Grigory but due to Apollo’s lower rarity and 5-Stone price, has significantly weaker multipliers and more restrictive team building options.

Academy Apollo should ideally be bringing Light and Wood cards as it only the Wood attribute receives the bonus HP. Depending on your pairing, this may be an issue as you might face some issues with insufficient HP. Amusingly, Academy Apollo can favourably pair with Academy Valeria as both cards share the same colour restriction and Valeria’s multipliers are much higher. While this does lack a 7×6 board, you can ignore Resolve and are much less orb hungry compared to blob/row based teams.

In regards to Apollo’s active, I feel it is on the weaker side due to the omission of Hearts and the niche value of Colour Absorb Void. While Apollo does not require Hearts to execute Resolve spawns as a leader, being able to heal and deal damage is always better compared to just dealing damage.

With this in mind, Apollo would not bring anything special as as sub as many stronger damage solutions exist.

Orb Skin

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Academy Erika (New) – B

Pros	Cons
Fixed 8s movement time Can never be reduced +2 combos with 6 Wood orbs High bulk 3 Skill Boosts 5 Effective SB with Delay Active loops & counters Spinners	Active is situational Does not produce orbs Only truly great vs Fast Spinners Restricted to Dragons

Academy Erika is another new card added into this year’s event and comes with an interesting kit overall. Firstly, Academy Erika’s active is able to be looped to provide 10 turns of Locked Orb Skyfalls. This will ensure all orbs fall down Locked and is a perfect counter to Spinners at the cost of taking up an active skill slot.

Depending on the dungeon you are playing through, this can be invaluable, especially if numerous fast Spinners are present. In dungeons where few or only slow Spinners are present, it will provide much less value. For content such as Alt. Arena 3 and below, I feel this active is redundant as the Spinners are manageable, especially on 7×6 and the slow Spinners are often helpful.

On the bright side, the 2 turns of Delay combined with her 3 Skill Boosts translates into 5 Effective Skill Boosts but another appealing aspect is her Leader Skill.

As a leader, Academy Erika has solid multipliers for Dragon type cards but has the ability to easily add +4 combos with dual leaders for matching 6 or more Wood orbs. This can help trivialize combo shields but has applications for Farming various dungeons that have small combo shields.

This is because a row generating active can be swiped for a total of 5 combos which can take out any thinking required and makes it easy to match more as needed. Furthermore, Erika has strong personal damage through her Super Awakenings which helps ensure this swipe is successful.

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Academy Lucifer – D

Pros	Cons
Is pretty?	So bad it hurts

Academy Lucifer is a pretty boy with a truly disastrous kit which provides no real value outside of Box Cheer-leading. This is because his awakenings, active, leader skill, and weighted stats amount to almost nothing. I am not sure how he has retained his 7-star status because he is setting the bar exceptionally low.

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Academy Isis – D

Pros	Cons
Would be good if it was 2016	No reason to ever use for practical uses

Academy Isis is another laughably bad 7-star card from the PAD Academy Rare Egg Machine and may have been a strong card in 2016 as her awakenings and active have hardly changed (was the same in 2018 and was bad then). While her Leader Skill is modest (probably buffed at some point), it does not address any of the issues Rainbow teams face and so many stronger options are available.

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Academy Athena (New Evolution) – B

Pros	Cons
4 Skill Boosts Fast charging Awoken Bind clear with Orb Enhance Glasses	Mixes Rows and TPA Other form offers much more damage

Academy Athena has received new evolutions and choosing G/L will award Glasses and more Skill Boosts whereas G/G offers higher TPA potential and double 7 Combo .

If choosing this form, G/L Academy Athena offers 4 Skill Boosts and the same fast charging active that will enhance Wood and Light orbs along with 4 turns of Awoken Skill Bind clear. This gives her some merits as a utility sub and may help some compositions but her wasted Rows/TPA hurts her overall potential.

Academy Athena (New Evolution)

Pros	Cons
Fast charging Awoken Bind clear with Orb Enhance High TPA damage Two 7 Combo Big damage potential	Requires TPA for maximum damage May interfere with VDP

G/G Academy Athena trades away 3 of her Skill Boosts  to gain significantly higher personal damage when matching a TPA . This is because she boasts double 7 Combo and 4 TPA along with high base ATK. This translates into explosive damage but at the same time, may struggle in finding an ideal home as the most dominant TPA team of Grigory cannot use her.

While Academy Athena does own a VDP , it may be harder to fully take advantage of it due to a large chunk of her personal damage being tied up in TPA. As such, in order to utilize the 3×3 Box efficiently, players must have another 4 Wood orbs and still be able to hit 7 combos.

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Academy Hestia – C

Pros	Cons
3 Enhanced Heart Orb awakenings Helps solve healing issues Tape Resist	Active is long CD for what it offers Essentially a Healing solution

Academy Hestia is a pretty straight forward Healing solution due to her three Enhanced Heal Orbs and strong RCV stat. This enables players to match 4 connected Hearts for a sizable healing bonus but at the same time, Academy Hestia’s stats are on the lower end and stronger Healing solutions exist.

Furthermore, Academy Hestia’s active provides a weaker board changers as it includes 3 colours plus Hearts along with Colour Absorb Void. For the most part, Colour Absorb is a niche ability and the longer 12 turn cooldown prevents easier usage.

While Academy Hestia also provide Tape Resist , her overall utility is quite low and will be sidelined for stronger options.

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Academy Amaterasu – B

Pros	Cons
Strong active skill Can achieve high personal damage Orb Skin	Very low HP Reliant on 7×6 for damage

Academy Amaterasu is the final 7-star card within the PAD Academy Rare Egg Machine and still remains a solid Bind and Awoken clear option for 7×6 teams. This is because she combines a valuable board changer with a full Bind and Awoken Bind clear which is one of the best combinations for these mechanics.

Most dungeons have a strong likelihood of throwing some sort of Bind/Awoken Bind at players but at the same time, it is possible they can be avoided. As such, it is important to have a valuable secondary effect to prevent a “dead” active. With this in mind, the tricolour board changer is wonderfully helpful as it is something all mono Wood and Light teams can take advantage of.

For the most part, Academy Amaterasu should be used on a 7×6 board in order to take advantage of her higher personal damage via 10 Combo and would fit right at home on Tifa teams. While Tifa is no longer the most dominating leader in the game, she can still clear plenty of content and Academy Amaterasu will be a welcome addition.

Another nice aspect to Academy Amaterasu is that she is well positioned to be used as a future sub if a newer and stronger 7×6 leader emerges.

Orb Skin

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6 Star base

Academy Hathor – C

Pros	Cons
Two Dragon Killers Potentially triple 7 Combo	Low weighted stats Terrible base active Lacks VDP

Academy Hathor has the potential to deal tremendous amounts of damage to Dragon-type spawns provided they have no Void mechanic. This is because she boasts two Dragon Killers along with triple 7 Combo . This translates into 72x personal damage but will be completely negated if facing a Void spawn.

This is a problematic situation as the most dangerous enemies tend to have Voids which means all of Hathor’s  damage and offensive awakenings will go to waste. Furthermore, Academy Hathor has terribly low weighted stats and an active skill that leaves much to be desired.

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Academy Acala – C

Pros	Cons
Strong personal damage against Devils	Low weighted stats Does not fulfill any particular niche

Academy Acala follows the same theme of Academy Hathor: potentially high personal damage against a specific spawn but ineffective against Voids.

In this case of Acala, she can deal meaningful damage against Devils but the rest of her kit provides little else along with a low impact active skill. This further worsened by her low weighted stats and inability to fulfill any particular niche well as stronger damage options exist.

This will be the theme for the vast majority of 5/6* cards within Seasonal events.

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Academy Susano – B

Pros	Cons
4 Skill Boosts Cloud Resist or 10 Combo 5 turns of 50% Damage Reduction	Low weighted stats

Academy Susano is a surprisingly strong card despite his 6-star rarity from as Seasonal event. This is because he features 4 Skill Boosts  along with Cloud Resist . These can help Transforming teams reach their required threshold while also providing additional utility by possibly freeing up an inheritance slot. If Cloud Resist is not needed or more damage output is required, his 10 Combo awakening will catapult his personal damage up to 10x.

These have merits on Dyer teams due to Academy Susano’s God typing and his Dark and Wood colouring helps provide coverage for Dyer’s Rainbow needs. Furthermore, the 50% Damage Reduction may allow for additional stalling pre-Transform as it doubles your Effective Health for 5 turns.

As a whole, Academy Susano is a solid card to own for Transforming teams and his main drawback is his low weighted stats.

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Academy Loki – B

Pros	Cons
Natural Cloud Resist Reasonable personal damage against God or Machine spawns 4 Effective Skill Boosts	Low weighted stats

Academy Loki is able to provide 4 Effective Skill Boosts through their active and awakenings along with a natural Cloud Resist . Like Susano, this can be a boon to your Transforming needs and I prefer his distribution of awakenings assuming you do not mind him being bound.

This is because Academy Loki can achieve meaningful damage against God or Machine type spawns with his 7 Combo Super Awakening.

While he also shares the same God typing  and colours as Susano (can be used on Dyer teams), Loki’s active is better suited towards mono Dark or Wood teams. Taking this into consideration, he can be a viable sub for Yugi teams due to his Devil typing.

With that being said, Academy Loki has terribly low weighted stats and his burst active is redundant for most content as teams often have sufficient damage output overall.

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5 Star base

Academy Theurgia – D

Pros	Cons
5 Fire Orb Enhances  4 turn cooldown	Low weighted stats Hard to justify using as a sub

Academy Theurgia used to be a potent 5* card to roll from the PAD Academy Event; however, they have been consistently losing ground to newer and flashier cards as their weighted stats caps out at a meager 984 at level 110.

Furthermore, with only 1 Skill Boost , Academy Therugia cannot be used to help Transforming teams and will essentially function as a not-so-pretty box cheerleader.

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Academy Sasuke – D

Pros	Cons
2 Dragon Killers	Easily eclipsed by Kiri Low weighted stats

Academy Sasuke has received a second Dragon Killer awakening which grants him 9x personal damage against any Dragon spawn. Sadly, he is easily overshadowed by Kiri who own three as the main usage for these type of cards is for Farming or Ranking Dungeons.

With this in mind, 9x is still on the lower end and I feel it will be hard to find a viable usage for Academy Sasuke.

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Academy Ishtar – C

Pros	Cons
Three <50% awakenings 8x personal damage 100% DEF Break Toast	Long base cooldown Relatively weak effect Low weighted stats Low ATK

Academy Ishtar has the capacity to achieve 8x personal damage through her three <50% awakenings but this is offset by her terribly low base ATK. As a result, Academy Ishtar will be dealing significantly less damage than what is desired.

Furthermore, her active skill is a lengthy 15 turn cooldown which provides a Water, Wood, and Light board along with a 100% DEF Break. The board changer is on the weaker side due to no Hearts and the 100% DEF Break would be mostly used in content such as Training Arena. While this is a relevant place for this mechanic, Ishtar will most likely not be selected unless you plan to use them as an inherit.

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Academy Lumiel – D

Pros	Cons
Natural Tape Resist	Low weighted stats Does not do much overall

Academy Lumiel is the final card within the PAD Academy event and is sadly another disappointing monster. While she has gained various awakenings as a buff, her overall kit is so lackluster to the point where I would find it hard to justify her usage over almost any other card.

This is attributed to her low weighted stats, only one modestly useful awakening (Tape Resist ), and inefficient active skill.

Do I plan to roll? & Dream rolls

I do not plan on rolling in the PAD Academy event as there are far too many weak cards at the bottom rarity. This will be the case for the vast majority of players who are looking to improve their Monster Box from a usability point of view.

On the other hand, it is always fun to fantasize about what could happen if I do get lucky and for my dream 9-star card, the default winner is Valeria as she is both the only one and top prize of this event.

For my dream 8-star card, I would have to pick Rikuu & Distel as they feature a strong kit and are well positioned moving forward for Rainbow teams.

I would choose Apollo for my dream 7-star card as he offers an easy to achieve Auto Follow Up Damage Leader Skill along with being much harder to roll due to his Orb Skin.

The 6-star category is a bit of a wash as Susano is easily eclipsed by his REM cousin but I cannot really foresee myself gaining more value out of Loki . With this in mind, I feel I will default to choosing Loki but do not have a place to actually use him.

Finally, Ishtar is my dream 5-star roll because she is the cutest of the four.

My Dream Rolls
9*	8*	7*	6*	5*

The above chart are the cards I would love to acquire from each rarity if I could choose one for my Mantastic account. This is my own personal opinion based on my Monster Box, goals and whether or not I have dupes.

Conclusion

The PAD Academy egg machine offers school uniforms and glasses galore but offers abysmal value at the bottom rarity along with questionable cards at the 7/8-star tiers.

With this in mind, it is best to avoid spending Magic Stones here as there is only a small chance for you to actually advance your Monster Box. For myself, I plan to simply do the free roll and move on as Seasonals are notoriously bad from a rolling-value point of view.

Let me know what you think about the PAD Academy event and how much you plan on rolling in the comments below.

Happy Puzzling!

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