The Sword Art Online (SAO) Collab will be making a return around 15 months since its last appearance in North America. This time gap has granted all of the cards valuable buffs along with three new additions to the rolling pool.
Sadly, this event still remains top-heavy due to the fact that the 5-star cards range from okay to horrible due to no Weapon Assists and terribly low Weighted stats. Thankfully, due to the 5 Magic Stone cost, the Monster Exchange rates are significantly cheaper.
As such, doing your free roll and then trading for Alice might be the best course of action for many players as she can function as a fantastic leader pairing for Fasca while also being well poised to act as a sub for future Transforming teams.
This article will outline the pros and cons for each card within the Sword Art Online Collab to give players a better understanding of what each card can do.
Video commentary
—video coming soon—
Overview
Sword Art Online Pros & Cons – April 3, 2020
Pros
Cons
5-Stone Egg Machine
Cheaper Monster Exchange rates
Alice is valuable and easy to acquire
No need to roll due to Monster Exchange
Free roll, stop, maybe Monster Exchange
Voice awakenings
82.5% chance for a weak 5-star
No Weapon Assist
Terrible Weighted stats
Top heavy event
Low Weighted stats all around due to 5-Stone cost
Sword Art Online REM
6 Star base
(2.5% each, 17.5% total)
5 Star base
(82.5% total)
Sword Art Online Rankings – April 3, 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
In a surprise announcement late Thursday night, the Sacred Relic Dragon Saga Rare Egg Machine will be debuting in North America starting on Friday, March 27 and is home to only Transforming cards.
As mentioned in my previous articles, GungHo will be pushing the Transform meta as these cards are stronger compared to previously available options due to the Skill Boost hurdle that is required. As such, many team compositions are drastically changing in order to accommodate these new and powerful cards.
Furthermore, we will now have a more diverse set of Transforming cards in this event as some are all-or-nothing (like Yugi ) or those that provide Skill Boosts/Effective Skill Boosts and then Transform into something powerful (like Fortress Dragon ). I want to stress that cards who help you Transform and then Transform themselves are particularly powerful because they no longer have “wasteful” Skill Boosts any more.
In regards to the Sacred Relic Dragon Saga series, this is a brand new GungHo-owned even which means it should return on a regular basis (like Dragonbound & Dragon Caller (DBDC)) which means there is no “rush” to roll these cards.
With that being said, this is a debut event which mean the first several rolls should be unique for the most part. Furthermore, these cards are also at the height of their power which tends to be the case for any first-time event as it would not make sense to release cards who are already outdated.
One other nice aspect to this Rare Egg Machine event is that because all cards can Transform, there is no Limit Break/Super Awakenings. Thus, these cards have a lower investment cost compared to most other monsters. Sadly, this also means duplicates are lackluster as none of these cards have a Weapon Assist nor can they be inherited.
Regardless, this article will summarize each card’s strengths and weaknesses to give you a better understanding of what is in store within this event.
Today marks the debut of a special Seasonal Ladies Egg Machine which features a wide array of cards from different events. One negative aspect of Seasonal events is that each Egg Machine is somewhat set in a vacuum in the sense that these cards are often not featured outside their respective events.
Thus, with the Seasonal Ladies Egg Machine, players are able to roll cards from Christmas, Halloween, and New Year’s all in one place. This is an interesting twist on regular Seasonal events while also preserving the 5-Magic Stone price tag.
While this may seem like a nice idea overall, the truth of the matter is the rolling rates are terribly top heavy along with the majority of strong rolls being at the 9 or 8-star rarity. Furthermore, not all of the strong Seasonal cards are featured here.
As such, this basically creates the same issue of all Seasonal events: top-heavy with pretty filler cards at the bottom.
With this in mind, I am not inclined to roll the Seasonal Ladies Egg Machine as none of these cards have received any form of buffs along with having minimal value at the bottom rarities.
Video commentary
–video coming soon–
Overview
Seasonal Ladies REM – March 20, 2020
Pros
Cons
Pretty girls all around
Combines Christmas, Halloween, & New Year’s events
Low value below 8-stars
Weapon Assists only on 9-star cards
Missing some stronger cards from each event
Top-heavy event
7-stars and below have mediocre to questionable value
The Dragonbound & Dragon Caller (DBDC) Rare Egg Machine returns to North America on Monday, March 9 and comes with numerous buffs/upgrades to existing cards across all rarities. This is greatly appreciated due to the fact that many of these cards had less than 9 awakenings.
For the most part, the DBDC event features monsters who are quite specialized in a particular niche. These types of cards may not be used all the time but are a boon to own, especially the lower rarity cards who feature numerous Killer awakenings.
In the past, the DBDC was one of the highest value machines available and while it has declined in relative value compared to newer options, it is still home to numerous strong cards. For myself, I always look at the bottom rarity to determine whether or not it is worth rolling in and in the case for DBDC, they are mostly Killer solutions which has the most value in Ranking Dungeons or Farming builds.
Another point to consider is the Dragonbound & Dragon Caller event will return on a regular basis so there is no “rush” to pull/acquire these cards if you cannot foresee a use for them over the next several months. As such, it may be best to “time” your rolls for when the event returns after stronger buffs which makes the cards relatively more valuable compared to current options.
Regardless, this article will summarize each card’s strengths and weaknesses to give you a better understanding of what is in store within this event.
Video commentary
–video coming soon–
Overview
DBDC Pros & Cons – March 6, 2020
Pros
Cons
Virtually every card has value
Useful to own many 5-star cards
Triple Killers
Cards tend to be highly specialized
Great at their niche
Will return on a regular basis
Hardly any Weapon Assists
Dupes are less valuable
Older event
Numerous cards feel a bit outdated
Many cards still lack 9 awakenings
Large rolling pool
Hard to snipe a specific card
Monster Exchanging is costly
Dragonbound & Dragon Caller REM
7 Star base
6 Star base
5 Star base
DBDC REM Rankings – March 6, 2020
S
A
B
C
D
All 7-star cards are available for trade within the Monster Exchange but have incredibly high costs
Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking.
Regardless of card’s ranking, you should almost always keep it if it is your very first time acquiring them.
I will try to reply to all comments by Monday evening as I have my second of 4 all-day hospital procedure early Tuesday morning and the recovery time was around 36 hours last time. Hopefully this one provides more benefits
Introduction
The GungHo Collab is making a return appearance this coming Monday and features several new Weapon Assists for existing cards along with a new 7-star monster.
As a whole, this event is reasonable overall but I feel that it is starting to age badly. This may be the case for many other events as they may not have cards that help the Transform meta but can still help round out weak points in most Monster Boxes.
Another drawback is that the 5-star cards were added back into the event which further dilutes the overall value of this event.
This article will outline the strengths and weaknesses of the GungHo cards to give players an idea of what each card has to offer and whether or not it is worth their Magic Stones.
Video commentary
—Video coming Monday—
Overview
GungHo Collab REM Pros & Cons – February 21, 2020
Pros
Cons
Will return on a regular basis
Cards should be routinely buffed etc.
Valuable cards in all rarities
Symmetrical ranking chart
Massive rolling pool
Harder to acquire one specific card
Collab feels “old”
Does not help Transform meta
May be better to save your Stones
Top-heavy event
Somewhat offset but huge rolling pool
Re-added in 5-stars
GungHo Collab Lineup
7 Star base
6 Star base
5 Star base
GungHo Collab Rankings – February 21, 2020
S
A
B
C
D
Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking
Icons show highest evolution available which may or may not be their strongest form
Regardless of card’s ranking, you should always keep it if it is your very first time acquiring them.
The Valentine’s Rare Egg Machine will be making a return to North America this coming Monday and with it comes two new cards along with a brand new evolution for Sonia.
Sadly, this event feels like it is aging worse and worse due to the bottom rarity cards being neglected/receiving meaningless buffs. With that being said, it is the best opportunity to acquire a Gemstone Princess should you be lacking burst actives that scale with specific awakenings. While this type of active has merits, it is somewhat on the decline due to higher and higher multipliers often being sufficient for most content.
With that being said, this is a skip-able event unless one enjoys the artwork or strongly desires a Gemstone Princess due to the lackluster 5-star cards who will heavily dominate your rolls.
Video commentary
—video coming soon—
Overview
Valentine’s REM – Feb 7, 2020
Pros
Cons
High chance for a Gemstone
Cute/festive cards
Poor 5* cards
No Weapon Assist
Not much value
Little love for bottom rarity cards
Valentine’s REM – Feb 7, 2020
9 Star base
8 Star base
7 Star base
6 Star base
5 Star base
Valentine’s REM Rankings – Feb 7, 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.
The highly anticipated Yu-Gi-Oh Collab will be making a debut in North America on Friday, January 31st and alongside a healthy dose of nostalgia, it features tremendously powerful cards.
The main theme of this Collab is Transforming cards with Yugi paving the way for new and powerful cards. At this point in time, Yugi will be the strongest leader available by a significant margin and will probably signal a new era of Powercreep due to the additional step to achieve Transformation.
While having strong prizes at the top rarity is the norm, the Yu-Gi-Oh Collab also features numerous valuable options across all rarities and should encourage players to roll a modest to large amount. This is because many of these cards help facilitate Transformation and it is my belief that this will be the next era of PAD for the foreseeable future.
This article will outline the pros and cons for each card to help players make a more informed decision as to whether or not they should roll.
Video commentary
—
Overview
Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters Collab – January 28, 2020
Pros
Cons
Exceptionally high weighted stats
+25% Limit Break growth
All cards have Weapon Assists
Yugi
Can roll many key subs for him here
Many cards help prep for future Transformation meta
Debut event
Nostalgia
10 Magic Stones per pull
Steeper Monster Exchange rates
Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters Collab REM
7 Star base
6 Star base
5 Star base
Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters Collab – January 28, 2020
S
A
B
C
D
Order within each tier is random and not reflective of ranking.
Icons show Base form regardless if it is their most powerful evolution
Regardless of card’s ranking, you should always keep it if it is your very first time acquiring them.
might be the best course of action for many players as she can function as a fantastic leader pairing for Fasca 
while also being well poised to act as a sub for future Transforming teams.
nor can they be inherited.
