Introduction

The Gintama Collab comes to North America after a surprising, late night, hours before midnight/release announcement. Upon the initial debut in JP, it was one of the most exciting Collabs but failed to come to us until after a second run.

This means many of these cards are older which has cut into their overall value, especially at the bottom rarity. While every single card does own a Weapon Assist, the 5-star cards bring the bare minimum to the table.

With that being said, it is potentially a way for less developed accounts to acquire Assists and awakenings they do not currently own but also means players with deeper Monster Boxes will find much less value.

As such, this event is better suited towards those who lack a large pool of useful Weapon Assists as they can potentially fill in many of these gaps.

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

This review is somewhat rushed due to the last minute announcement so let me know if there are any errors or areas that require further clarity

Video commentary

—video coming soon—

Overview

Gintama Pros & Cons – April 23, 2020
Pros	Cons
All cards have Weapon Assists  5* provides some useful awakenings 5 Magic Stones Cheaper to roll Almost every card has some value	Average is a good word to describe the event as a whole 5* provide the bare minimum for Weapon Assist value Becomes redundant if owning other options

Gintama REM
6 Star base
5 Star base

Gintama Rankings – April 23, 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

5 Star quick summary

The 5-star cards/bottom rarity should be the main motivation to roll in an event and here is a brief summary showcasing their Weapon Assists  or sub usage if applicable. Let me know if this information is helpful and I will include it in future reviews.

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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.

6 Star base

Shigeshige Tokugawa – A

Pros	Cons
Strong personal damage Triple 7c VDP True Damage aspect is niche	Active has a longer cooldown Generic damage sub Evolved form provides more unique value

Shigeshige Tokugawa is the first card within the Gintma Collab and can be used as a relatively generic offensive Wood card. This is due to their potential to gain triple 7 Combo while having a natural VDP to pierce Void spawns.

As a whole, this is nice but at the same time, nothing truly special overall as their active has a lengthy cooldown due to the True Damage aspect. In most situations, the True Damage is wasted but it can have a place in Arena 6 as the Latent Tamadras have exactly 300,000 HP with 2 Billion DEF and 99% Damage Reduction.

Even with this particular niche, his Evolved form is much more exciting.

Shigeshige Tokugawa in Ganesha Costume

Pros	Cons
1.8x Rank Experience Same as Saline Has reasonable ATK multipliers 3 Skill Boosts Easier to Leader Swap Cloud Resist Has some personal damage	Bonus Rank Experience can be a double edged sword

Tokugawa’s Evolved form has the ability to multiply Rank Experience by 1.8x when entering a dungeon as a leader. This puts him on par with Saline and the most common approach for non-Experience of a Lifetimes is to enter with an EXP-boosting card and then Leader Swap into something more desirable.

Doing this will allow players to clear the dungeon in question with stronger leaders but will still retain the bonus Rank Experience (kind of like how 7×6 Leader Swapping worked: you enter with 7×6 and still retain it after swapping). With dual Saline/Tokugawa, players will enjoy 3.24x Rank Experience which will greatly accelerate your ability to rank up faster, especially during bonus Rank Exprience for Arenas.

This certainly has its appeal but the bigger issue is how higher rank in PAD is somewhat punishing after a certain point. This is because the amount of experience needed to rank up after rank 920ish jumps at such a rapid pace that it becomes impossible to rank up without refilling stamina or waiting for it to restore. For myself, I am currently at rank 958 and I require around 37 million or so Rank Experience to get to 959. While I am a higher rank compared to the average player, this is what you have to look forward to later on.

By comparison, if you are rank 600, you can much more easily loop/time your rank ups to ensure continuous play when you want it. I am not sure where the sweet spot is for chain rank ups from Arena, but utilizing bonus Rank Experience cards will take this ability away. I am not saying bonus Rank Experience cards are a bad thing, it is just something you should be made aware of if you are blindly rushing through lower ranks. I have never used these beyond Experience of a Lifetime so my own personal bias/no motivation to use these cards puts a damper on how much I value Tokugawa.

With that being said, Tokugawa has several advantages compared to Saline as he provide 2 more Skill Boosts (offset by Saline’s Haste) but has a stronger active as a tricolour board is more valuable compared to a mono Light for Arena-style content. Furthermore, Tokugawa has meaningful multipliers which will make life easier for shorter dungeons and may prevent the need to Leader Swap.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
Underpants L Team HP  & RCV	Low value if team already has an L Boxers are superior

The Underpants Weapon Assist is a thing of beauty and will provide players with an L along with added stats via Team HP  & RCV . As a whole, I feel that this Weapon Assist is something you can use only after you have covered every other important metric as directly Resting mechanics is much more valuable. Furthermore, the main appeal of this Weapon Assist is the L and if your team already provides this, the value goes down even more.

As mentioned above, the 300,000 True Damage can be used to overcome the Latent Tamadras in Arena 6 but this is a niche usage overall.

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Kintoki Sakata – A

Pros	Cons
Flexible Super Awakenings Help create a specialized card Potential for Super Blind Potential for 4 SB Potential for higher personal damage Nearly loopable shield	Light lacks ideal <50% teams Evolved form provides more generic value Active is underwhelming

Kintoki Sakata has the capacity to gain three valuable Super Awakenings which will help them fulfill a role of a Skill Boost stick , utility via Super Blind , or further augmenting their personal damage via <50% . All three have their merits and it will come down to what you need for your particular team.

With that being said, Sakata’s Base form lacks an ideal place to use them on as Light does not currently feature any notable <50% teams. Furthermore, I feel the active is mediocre as it only provides a 30%  shield that cannot be fully looped and the Colour Absorb Void is niche overall.

Kintoki Sakata in Sun Wukong Costume

Pros	Cons
3-5 Skill Boosts Attacker typing Fasca sub Super Blind if 3 Skill Boosts Strong VDP damage	LS requires an active every turn No ideal card Does not generate Light orbs Relatively weak active

By wearing Sun Wukong’s costume, Sakata is able to gain a revamped Leader Skill along with a new set of awakenings.

As a leader, Sakata boasts strong multiplier but the main issue is a lack of ideal 1-turn Light cards as none are able to generate orbs. Perhaps using two Rin Tohsaka may work but your damage will probably be spread too thin. Furthermore, Sakata does not generate Light orbs so players will be repeatedly stalling throughout the dungeon.

On the other hand, Sakata can become a potent Fasca sub should you require additional Skill Boosts are want to incorporate Super Blind on to your team. While this is valuable, one thing you might have to consider is how many non-orb generating cards you want to bring. This is because Fasca does not produce any and if paired with Alice (commonly done), both leaders will not help make Light orbs.

I want to draw attention to this because Sakata’s active is underwhelming as the 30% Damage Reduction is probably not needed and aside from Super Blind, they do not provide much else. With this in mind, you need to determine if they have a place on your team, especially if you have other non-orb generating cards. If this is the case, Sakata may be one of the first cards cut as their active is underwhelming compared to cards like Kanna or Indra who also provide a Super Resist.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
<50% Full Bind Immunity	Loses value if owning other <50% Weapons

Kintoki’s Scooter is able to provide Full Bind Immunity and a single <50% awakening. While each component is valuable, I feel it will be hard to gain meaningful usage from both at the same time.

As such, this Weapon is somewhat downgraded to providing one benefit with most likely no additional benefit. This feels underwhelming for a top rarity Weapon but if you have never acquired any of these awakenings before, it can be meaningful.

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Gintoki Sakata – A

Pros	Cons
Big personal damage on 7×6 Attacker typing Can be used by Lamp  x Fasca	Middling active on 7×6 Relatively weak overall

Gintoki has the capacity to deal tremendous damage on 7×6 board due to his 10 Combo , 7 Combo , and VDP awakening. If all conditions are met, Gintoki will enjoy 25x personal damage and can function as a potent damage solution.

With this in mind, he will function best on 7×6 teams and thankfully, his Attacker typing means Lamp  x Fasca can fully take advantage of him. This can be valuable and may become your go-to offensive sub but is not without faults as their active is underwhelming.

This is because the bonus combo is most likely redundant on 7×6 and the 75% Damage Reduction is probably too as you should have enough Effective Health to survive anything. Perhaps some arguments can be made for using the shield pre-Transform to buy extra time, but still does not correct the lack of value later on in the dungeon.

Gintoki Sakata in Amenominakanushi Costume

Pros	Cons
4 Skill Boosts	Why do you have Light Rows ?

Gintoki’s first Evolved form is able to provide 4 Skill Boosts and that is about the extent of their value as their awakenings are mediocre otherwise and for some reason has Light Rows which are just wasteful. If they were Water Rows, he would be a bit more valuable as he would not be off-colour, but at the same time, provides little other benefits.

White Yaksha, Gintoki Sakata

Pros	Cons
Strong personal damage on 6×5 Valuable active L	Base form has higher output on 7×6

Gintoki’s final form naturally comes with triple 7 Combo along with a VDP Super Awakening which translates into 20x personal damage which can be reliably hit on 6×5 boards. While this is meaningful, his Base form has a higher damage output when hitting 10 combos and amusingly, the best Water teams tend to be found on 7×6 boards which places this form in an awkward place as you are either going to have more damage with a weaker active, or this form who has less offensive potential but a stronger active.

I find value in this form’s active skill because it is able to full clear Awoken Binds while also generating a row of Water orbs. As mentioned in various articles, I always enjoy having my Awoken Bind tied to an orb changer as you will always gain value from the active when it is used.

Taking all of this into consideration, I would still lean towards the Base form because if you were to use Lamp  x Fasca , Fasca can already handle the Awoken Binds unless you feel that will be insufficient.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
Skill Boost One Poison Resist Active helps all teams Long CD to prevent accidental charging	One Poison Resist

Gintoki’s Weapon Assist is able to provide a single Skill Boost which will always be valuable for Tranforming teams. Of course, we are always on the hunt for strong additional benefits and sadly, this Weapon does not provide as only a single Poison Resist is tacked on.

While a single Resist is better than none, essentially every other Skill Boost Weapon provides something else with more value (even the farmable Rikuu provides an SBR ), As such, I would value this option quite low unless this is the only way to incorporate one more Poison Resist for immunity.

Perhaps some arguments can be made for the 75% Damage Reduction as a way to bolster Effective HP by a factor of 4 for 2 turns but this also means skilling up this Assist in order to use it in time.

Generally speaking, longer cooldowns are preferred when the active is underwhelming and if playing on 7×6, +2 combos is not significant along with Damage Reduction being possibly not needed.

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Toushirou Hijikata – B

Pros	Cons
Fast charging bicolour board	Does not do much of anything

Toushirou Hijikata’s Base form is a disappointment as he does not do much of anything nor fulfill any particular niche. Perhaps one might find some merit in their 11 turn bicolour board changer, but at the same time, I am not sure why one would elect to use him as a sub in the first place.

Toushirou Hijikata in Liu Bei Costume

Pros	Cons
Passive damage for mono Wood Row teams Cloud Resist	Damage Reduction can be awkward if <6 Wood Do you stall or match 3 Wood/3 Dark

Toushirou Hijikata’s Evolved form is able to provide Passive Damage for mono Wood teams along with a Cloud Resist . As a whole, this is mediocre and I would not be too excited to incorporate him into a team unless lacking other options.

In regards to his Leader Skill, the Damage Reduction may be tricky to navigate as the two components are Wood + Dark match and linking 6 or more Wood orbs. As such, the problem arises if there are less than 6 Wood orbs as you will be forced to use three of those for the Wood + Dark clause in order to gain 43.75% Damage Reduction. This may or may not be enough to survive but the bigger issue is you may still not have enough Wood orbs to full activate and the cycle continues.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
Tape Resist Modestly rare for Weapons	No collateral benefits

Toushirou Hijikata’s Weapon Assist is able to provide Tape Resist which is modestly rare as it tends to be locked behind higher rarity cards. Sadly, this Weapon Assist provides little other benefits unless you can take advantage of a Wood and Dark bicolour board.

This feels disappointing considering this is a top rarity card within a Collab.

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Sougo Okita – B

Pros	Cons
5 Effective Skill Boosts Active provides big 4x ATK burst LS provides a unique +3 combos with 6 or more Light	Does little else outside a Skill Boost stick as a sub

Sougo Okita’s Base form is able to provide 5 Effective Skill Boosts along with a 4x ATK for Light and Dark cards. Sadly, this is the extent of their value as their own personal damage is small (1.5^3 = 3.375x) and locked behind being over 80% HP.

As such, I feel I would only turn to Sougo Okita for shorter challenges where you need to quickly charge actives and have a big Burst ready.

On the other hand, their Leader Skill is interesting as it provides +3 combos with a match of 6 or more Light orbs along with the inability to match 4 orbs or less. This creates a pseduo No Skyfall effect which can be used to hasten clears. With dual leaders, a single Row will produce +6 combos and if paired with Haoahmaru provides Auto Follow Up Damage. For the most part, this will probably be used to farm things quickly but can be a nice and mindless option.

Sougo Okita in Baal Costume

Pros	Cons
Modest TPA damage	Challenging to find a team to use on

Sougo Okita’s Evolved form has the capacity to deal reasonable amounts of TPA damage but the problem is a lack of places to use them on. TPA has always been a relatively niche offensive awakening as it is harder to fully take advantage of along with providing a lower multiplier compared to 7 Combo .

As such, Okita will struggle to find a home to be used on in this form.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
Provides 1 turn of Haste Pseudo SB ATK buff overwrite debuffs	Weak awakenings Almost not a Weapon Assist

Okita’s Eye Mask is almost not a Weapon Assist due to the lack of meaningful awakenings it provides. As mentioned above, TPA is a niche awakening that few teams truly take advantage of and a single 20% Jammer Resist being underwhelming.

With that being said, the single turn of Haste can act as a pseudo Skill Boost and the ATK boost can be used to overwrite debuffs.

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Shinsuke Takasugi – A

Pros	Cons
Strong personal damage vs Gods Full DEF Break	Low damage against non-Gods Active does not produce Hearts

Takasugi has the ability to deal sizable amounts of damage to God spawns but this is limited in value outside specific challenges where you know you will face them regularly. On the other hand, their active is able to reduce enemy’s DEF to 0 which has wonderful applications for Training Arena 2 farming.

With that being said, players will find more value from Takasugi in their D/D form and Weapon Assist.

Hades Costume, Shinsuke Takasugi

Pros	Cons
Does a bit of everything	Relatively generic sub No special niche fulfilled

Takasugi’s Evolved form can function as a relatively generic sub who has some personal damage but cannot fulfill any particular niche and does not excel in any area.

As such, it would be best to focus on his D/D and Weapon Assist form.

Kiheitai Commander, Shinsuke Takasugi

Pros	Cons
Void Damage Void 21 turns + Skill Charge 6 elemental board changer High personal damage when <50% HP	May be difficult to benefit from <50%

Takasugi’s D/D form grants them 8x personal damage when below 50% health along with the ability to Void Damage Void. This means players are no longer required to form a 3×3 Box to sweep a Void spawn which is most valuable for Rainbow teams.

As such, Takasugi owns Skill Charge which provides a turn of personal Haste when matching all 5 colours. As such, he will be a valuable Rainbow sub and in the unlikely case where Void Damage Void is not needed, he will still generate a board of all 6 elements.

Unfortunately, it may be difficult to full take advantage of his three <50% awakenings on Rainbow teams which can be frustrating.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
100% DEF Break >80% Fantastic for Training Arena 2	>80% is inconsistent

Takasugi’s Weapon Assist is well tailored for Training Arena 2 where the 100% DEF Break can be fully utilized along with the >80% providing 1.5x personal damage for your offensive card.

For the most part, >80% is inconsistent as it is quite easy to drop below the required threshold but in the case for Training Arena 2, you will not take any damage unless you want to due to no Preemptives.

Perhaps this can also be a way to incorporate SBR for a Transforming team but I feel the most value can be gained via Training Arena 2.

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Kamui – S

Pros	Cons
2 turn Damage Absorb Void 17 turn cooldown Self RCV debuff to overwrite longer debuffs	Superior in Weapon Assist form

Kamui is the final 6-star card within the Gintama Collab and comes with a powerful 2-turn Damage Absorb Void active on a fast 17-turn cooldown. This is meaningful when playing through Arena 5 / Alt. Arena 3 as there is a 25% chance for back-to-back Absorption spawns.

While we have gained numerous other options for 2 turns of Absorption Void, 17 turns is hard to compete with but Kamui is not well served in their Base form and if you desire this active skill, you will be better served in their other forms.

Kamui in Rikuu Costume

Pros	Cons
Three Skill Boosts Triple 7 Combo	Lacks VDP Damage wasted vs Voids

Kamui’s first Evolved form retains the same powerful active as their Base form and gives them more consistent and higher damage output, especially on 6×5 boards.

While this is appealing, players must be mindful that Kamui lacks VDP which means all of their personal damage will go to waste against Void spawns which can be frustrating. As such, I am much more inclined to pursue their other forms if you are interested in their active.

In regards to their leadership potential, they do boast strong numbers for Fire Rainbow teams, but one must be aware that they do not provide 7×6 or Auto Follow Up Damage which does limit their overall potential whilst also facing all the problems Rainbow teams have.

Yato Tribe , Kamui & Kagura

Pros	Cons
Strong TPA damage Physical typing Potential Grigory sub 5 turn board changer Self RCV debuff Easy to use Leader Skill Easy to swipe farm with + combos	May be hard to incorporate on Grigory teams Mostly just provides damage

Kamui’s final non-Weapon Assist evolution converts them into a TPA -oriented card along with Physical typing. These two aspects make me instantly think of Grigory but at the same time, I feel they will be awkward to incorporate. This is because they only offer two Skill Boosts and outside of a self RCV debuff, little other utility. Furthermore, Grigory himself provides monstrous TPA damage and it may be redundant to have another hard hitting card for most content.

Thankfully, their Leader Skill provides an easy solution for quickly farming easier content as they can fully activate with a single 4 or more Fire match that will also add 1 combo. Thus, dual leaders provides +2 combos which can make it that much easier to overcome combo shields such as those found in Ganesha’s Treasure Trove.

Having access to an easy to use leader for these types of dungeons is meaningful as you will eventually want to play these with as little effort as possible.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
Incredible value within a Weapon Assist 2 turn Damage Absorb Void 17 turn cooldown Self RCV Debuff Overwrites longer debuffs Enhanced Heal orb Full Bind Immunity	More 2 turn Damage Absorb Voids are available Less unique

The Gintama Collab has sometimes been nicknamed the Umbrella Collab because this Weapon Assist was unrivaled during the original debut in JP a modest time ago (JP has had 2 runs of Gintama before we had this one).

This is because it combined several valuable aspects into a single Weapon Assist and it is important to understand each one.

Firstly, the ability to cancel out two turns of Damage Absorb has value in Arena 5 or Alt. Arena 3 where there is a 25% chance to encounter two Absorbing spawns back-to-back. As such, being able to counter both of them with a single active will greatly accelerate clear times and consistency. While the second spawn only Absorbs for 10 turns and is stallable, efficiency is valuable and what makes this even better is the fast 17-turn cooldown.

Fujin is the original Damage Absorb counter and they provide only 1 turn along with a single turn of Haste on a 19 turn cooldown. So how can the Umbrella be that fast? The answer lies within the self RCV debuff.

Any time an active applies a negative effect on your team will lower the cooldown of the active as a way to compensate but a self RCV debuff is actually beneficial as it will overwrite longer and possibly more deadly debuffs. With this in mind, the Umbrella can also counter another dangerous mechanic but the fun does not stop there.

In addition to the active skill effects, the Umbrella also transfers over Full Bind Immunity and a single Enhanced Heart orb . While most cards are already bind immune, currently popular cards such as Diaochan and Aten often opt for non-Bind Immunity Super Awakenings which makes them wonderful Umbrella candidates. Furthermore, their shorter base cooldowns helps ensure the Umbrella is ready in time.

Finally, the Enhanced Heart orb awakening can dramatically bolster your healing potential as your RCV will be bolstered with every 4-Heart match.

The main idea with Umbrella is that it can address 4 different but highly relevant mechanics all within a single card that also features a wonderfully low cooldown. While more and more 2-turn Damage Absorb Voids have been released, only Raizer matches their cooldown but is not a Weapon Assist and the self HP cut is not helpful.

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5 Star base

For the most part, the 5-star cards will mostly become Weapon Assists as their Weighted Stats are terribly low. Furthermore, nearly 80% of your rolls will be comprised of the following cards which will have varying value depending on the depth of your Monster Box.

Shinpachi Shimura – B

Pros	Cons
Has a nice Weapon Assist	Low Weighted stats Hard to justify using as a sub

Shinpachi Shimura is the first 5-star card within the Gintama Collab and their Base form does not do much of anything and are much better suited as a Weapon Assist.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
Cloud Resist Creates 2 Rows	Only provides Cloud Resist for awakenings

Shinpachi’s Weapon Assist is able to provide a Cloud Resist which will automatically become valuable if this is your first one. With that being said, this Weapon Assist provides no other meaningful awakenings.

Thankfully, their active has merits on mono Wood and Light teams but can also be used as a solution for Farming content. This is because a double row maker when used after a full mono board changer produces an easy to solve board assuming the mono board is not Wood or Light.

While we have had access to several double row makers, this again may be a first for some players.

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Kagura – B

Pros	Cons
4 Skill Boosts 2 Physical Killers Can use Physical Killer latents 6 turn cooldown	Niche uses overall

Kagura’s Base form can function as an efficient Physical Killing solution for Ranking Dungeons or for Farming as she also provides 4 Skill Boosts and a 6-turn cooldown. This means she can help all your other cards be ready in time whilst also having the potential to inherit an active of your choice.

While this can be meaningful, players should be aware that they are only effective against Physical spawns and her usage will be modest at best.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
?	Does not provide much of anything

Kagura’s Weapon Assist does not amount to much of anything but thankfully her Base form has value. With this in mind, there is no reason to make this Weapon Assist.

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Tae Shimura – B

Pros	Cons
Three <50% awakenings 8x personal damage 2-3 Killers	Low ATK

Tae Shimura has the capacity to deal meaningful damage to God and Devil spawns when below 50% health but this is offset by her low ATK and difficulty in using on a team. This is because Light lacks an ideal leader to take advantage of these awakenings but may change in the future. If this does occur, Tae may find some merits for some Farming or Ranking Dungeon builds.

Thankfully, her Weapon Assist is relevant today.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
<50%	Only provides <50%

Tae’s Weapon Assist is valuable because it include a single <50% awakening which translates into 2x personal damage for the owning card. This has applications for any Farming team that enjoys being low health and this Omelette does what is promised and nothing more.

As such, the value of the Assist comes down to whether or not you own other options as they are much more likely to provide other additional benefits.

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Isao Kondou – C

Pros	Cons
5 Skill Boosts Super Jammer Resist	Whaledor is farmable Has a shorter CD

Isao Kondou’s Base form is able to provide 5 Skill Boosts along with a Super Jammer Resist . This can be used to help solve active skill needs but at the same time, Whaledor is farmable and also provides the same number of Skill Boosts with a 6 turn cooldown. This is going to most likely outweigh the benefits of Isao as they will most likely both be used in Farming or Ranking Dungeons.

As such, a faster charging base skill grants an easier time with inheritance which makes me appreciate Isao less.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
40% Jammer Resist Spawns 6 Light orbs	Jammer Resist is usually lower priority

Iaso’s Weapon Assist is able to provide 40% protection against Jammers along with the ability to generate 6 Light orbs. As a whole, this can be useful for mono Light teams if all other metrics are already covered. This is because I tend to value Jammer Resistance lower compared to other awakenings as they are a relatively low risk mechanic.

With that being said, the ability to generate 6 Light orbs is helpful for mono Light teams should this inherit fully charge up.

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Kotaro Katsura – C

Pros	Cons
Super Blind Resist 5 L awakenings 3 turn active that generates 5 Water	Gimicky for the most part

Kotaro Katsura has the ability to loop their actives with three of himself in order to always produce 5 Water and 5 Bomb orbs. Perhaps this can be System-ed for easier dungeons but the issue is you still have to manually form the L for their personal damage instead of just swiping a row/board.

As such, I feel this is moreso gimicky and fun to think about but little applications in reality.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
L	Low cooldown Easier to accidentally charge up

Kotaro’s Weapon Assist is able to provide an L awakening and that is basically it as the base skill is lackluster along with charging up too fast.

Generally speaking, a single L awakening is invaluable to have on any team but you only need one and the value of this Weapon Assist plummets down to basically nothing but can be helpful if you have a free inheritance slot and have no L on your team.

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Tatsuma Sakamoto – B

Pros	Cons
Make Weapon Assist unless you lack Coins	Only useful if you need Coins

Tatsuma Sakamoto should almost always be converted into his Weapon Assist as it as quite useful but he can remain in this form if you are lacking Coins.

This is because he will award 2.5x Coin drop after a dungeon which can be used to quickly replenish your Coin supply. Generally speaking, Coins are of low priority as most players have hundreds of millions but it is possible you have run low and Tatsuma can help you there.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
Tape Resist Universally useful active	Does not provide many awakenings

Tatsuma’s Weapon Assist is surprisingly helpful as it provides Tape Resist along with a universally useful active. Depending on the dungeon at hand, Tape Resist may not always be required but when it is needed, you really want to have it.

With this in mind, Tatsuma’s Weapon Assist is able to provide this protection while also having an active skill you would not be unhappy to have charge up. This is because newer content is starting to feature more and more Bind/Awoken Binds and being able to naturally counter them is meaningful.

While I do not foresee players using this all the time, it is helpful to have at the ready should the need arise.

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Kyubei Yagyu – B

Pros	Cons
Modest Dragon Killing potential Can use Dragon Killer latents	Niche usage overall

Kyubei has the ability to deal 9x personal damage against Dragon spawns before Latents and can increase that by incorporating TPAs or Dragon Killer latents.

While this may be situationally helpful, it is a relatively narrow niche but you never know when it might be helpful.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
2 Enhanced Dark Orbs Team RCV	Only useful if you have extra inheritance slots

Kyubei’s Weapon Assist is able to provide 2 Enhanced Dark Orbs and Team RCV to improve your damage output and healing potential. While these are nice aspects, this Weapon Assist will never be a priority and would only be used after you are able to address all other mechanics.

As such, it may often be difficult to utilize as it only provides modest benefits to offense and healing.

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Tsukuyo – B

Pros	Cons
Fixed 8s movement time LS Immune to debuffs Reasonable multipliers Orb skin	Damage Reduction conditional on matching Light and Dark No Effective Health otherwise

Tsukuyo is the final card within the Gintama Collab and features an interesting Leader Skill as they are able to fix your movement time at 8 seconds. This directly counters all time debuffs and their multipliers are respectable, albeit risky if not able to match Dark and Light orbs.

While matching 2 different colours is not too difficult, it will put pressures on stalling if you are missing them as all of Tsukuyo’s Damage Reduction/Effective Health is tied to this.

Weapon Assist

Pros	Cons
Passive Damage for Light and Dark teams	Provides no Resists

Tsukuyo’s Weapon Assist is able to provide 3 Enhanced Light and Dark orbs which is a meaningful way to bolster your damage passively. With that being said, that is all this Weapon Assist will do as it provides no Resists and unless you are playing a team that requires both Light and Dark matches, one of the Enhnaced colours will go to waste.

Orb Skin

Do I plan to roll? & Dream rolls

I do not plan on rolling in the Gintama Collab as none of the 5-stars will help advance my Mosnter Box as I already have a reasonably deep pool of Weapon Assists. This decision is driven by myself owning Weapon Assists that can cover all the benefits the 5-star cards can provide along with extra awakenings.

For the most part, the 5-star cards can be thought of an “introduction” Weapon Assists as they may be able to provide useful awakenings you might not have had before at the cost of no/few other collateral benefits.

Regardless, for my dream 6-star roll, I would love to have Kamui due to the sheer power of their Umbrella Weapon Assist. While I am in possession of Pixel Sherias , they are impractical to inherit due to a 25 turn cooldown.

In regards to my dream 5-star card, none really jump out at me as truly magical as most are less forms of Weapon Assists I own. If I had to pick one, I would choose Tsukuyo as they are harder to roll due to their Orb Skin along with possibly being  more favoured in the future because of this.

My Dream Rolls
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 Gintama Collab makes an unexpected appearance in North America and features Weapon Assists for every single card. This helps alleviate the frustration of rolling a bottom rarity card along with containing some rarer awakenings that may be harder to find for a newer account.

With that being said, more developed Boxes may find little use for the bottom rarity cards as their Weapon Assists may be redundant or inferior to what they already own.

One thing I wish to stress is that there are no truly “bad” cards but most tend to gravitate around average which may not be what you are gunning for when spending Magic Stones.

Let me know what you think about the Gintama Collab and how much you plan on rolling in the comments below.

Happy Puzzling!

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