Okay, this took a while. A part of it was due to me being unable to figure out what I wanted 5th place to be but I think I got it down.

This is a Top 5 list of who I considered to be woefully underrated by NA players. Of course, these are just my opinions and many others could have made this list. Here goes.

5) Fifth place: Reincarnated Shiva

This guy never really got much traction in NA, even when Awoken Shiva was first released. Of course, he was played a lot more than now but still I never really understood it.

For beginners, he offered an excellent way to learn about the game. Forcing people to learn how to combo beyond simple Bejeweled while retaining an incredibly high RCV multiplier to keep them safe.

For the intermediate, he suggested consistency, if you could hit 6-combo every turn you had little problem blowing every descend out of the water for the longest time. In Co-op he was even stronger, using multiplayer HP to offset his one true weakness. There is little doubt that Awoken Shiva did Arena 1 with little problem.

Now, I’d like to bring him back into the light. Just a little. With so many cards getting their Reincarnated forms and the introduction to the Enhanced Combo (7combo) Awakening Skill, I think Shiva has a place as a lead again. Maybe he’s not cut out to do Arena 3 or Colosseum with 100% clear rate but I do not doubt with the right subs and inherits, he is fully capable.

Some GREAT new options:

4) Fourth Place: Nightshade Sun Dragon Caller, Kanna

I think a lot of people understand that D.Kanna is strong but they usually only have one so they turn it into the LIGHT form. While I don’t disagree with that, if you’re not playing LIGHT teams I think you should try this out. There’s only a handful of teams that would use LIGHT Kanna anyways.

Kanna’s strength is in her survivability in exchange for a rather low ATK multiplier of 27.5x. In many ways, she’s the same as Reincarnated Shiva except she has an HP multiplier. Requiring 5-combo to activate her RCV multiplier is a small price to pay in exchange. There’s less of a natural fix to Bind Clears than R.Shiva’s Ame-no-Uzume but there are ways around this.

Like with R.Shiva, I included D.Kanna in this list because she too makes great natural usage of Enhanced Combo. Oh, what’s that? Haku? Yes, Haku.

Some GREAT new options:

3) Radiant Mechdragon Technician, Julie

There’s an entry barrier that she’s a 6* exclusive to a 10-stone REM machine. Beyond that, I don’t know why you wouldn’t play her. There’s D.Athena and then there’s Julie. For a brief amount of time, D.Athena and Julie were even in the same tier on Setsu’s Aggregate Tier List. That is how highly rated Julie. She is, in my opinion, the strongest WATER lead by a long shot. No, Aizen is not a WATER lead.

Playing Julie is akin to playing Kushinadahime and we all know how good Kushi is. No, I’m not crazy – let me explain. Kushi provides a huge HP pool and perfect damage control in exchange for a lack of RCV multiplier but with a team full of Healers, the RCV is not that bad. Julie also lacks RCV and also has a large HP pool. In turn, Julie trades the RCV powers of all Kushi’s healers for a larger sub-pool (you can still use healers!) and upfront damage reduction. While Julie doesn’t have perfect damage control, between avoiding 7C, TPAs or just not matching WOOD, she has solid damage control options too.

She is a flexible lead in teambuilding but I do believe that a mix of TPA and 7C is ideally the best. The only limitation is making sure your units don’t take away WOOD orbs when you orb change. Keep in mind there are two ways to play Julie; with God-killer and without it. I’ll get into details at a later point though – in a guide for her. I love Julie and believe she deserves a lot of attention.

Some GREAT sub options:

2) Radiant Staff Mechdragon God, Balboa X Reincarnated Artemis

(click HERE for Balboa and HERE for Artemis)

I know that Reincarnated Artemis is NOT out but this entire posts applies to Awoken Artemis. Also, I fully expect R.Artemis to be out within the month. Sorry for the confusion!

Anyone who knows me should know that I am a huge fan of this team, always suggesting this as a team for players at all stages of the game. Here is where I state why and review the state of this team.

Art-boa? Bal-temis? Bartemis! Whatever you want to call them, I want to display how strong they are with a direct comparison to D.Athena. This pair does less damage, has one half that is bindable (Artemis) and also has a bunch of killers on Balboa to ruin damage control. These are easily remedied though the wonders of BF! (BF someone with a Fujin if you can’t roll one). Firstly, the person running Artemis can always use the unbindable badge. WOOD also has access to a wide range of powerful bind clear sub options.

Why would you play Artemis/Balboa? Well first they don’t cost 750k MP. Secondly, they have a lot of benefits over D.Athena. Firstly, Balboa/Artemis has SBR, which is a huge barrier for building D.Athena (who requires Loki, Castor, Durga or an SBR badge to fix this problem). Secondly, this team stalls infinitely better than D.Athena. D.Athena’s RCV is tied to match DARK+WATER which means they will always be doing damage while trying to heal, which impedes their ability to stall. Balboa’s RCV multiplier is tied to your subs being WOOD, which makes stalling much, much easier. Finally, there are simply so many powerful WOOD TPA subs that building the team with strong subs is incredibly easy. Too bad Reincarnated Freya has no 7C though…

Some GREAT new options:

EDIT: Thank you to /r/Yuuuuuuu for pointing out one of my edits DID NOT SAVE due to shoddy Starbucks Wifi.

1) Ash Phantom Demon of Deliverance, Ilmina

Paired with:

Our fluffy companion here is not only one of my favourite cards but also the lead I enjoy playing the most. Best part about it? You don’t need to own one.

Ilmina’s true strength is in her versatility and shield. While a 7×6 board takes a little while getting used to, it quickly turns into an incredible asset. I use this team to solo all sorts of C9/10 and I do not hesitate to take Ilmina teams into Arena 1-3.

Anubis: I play Anubis/Ilmina the most and I have a blast. I do not bring Super Gunma on my team because regular skill activation isn’t necessary – 10 combo and 45x multiplier is enough for most floors. Bring your best subs with 7C and some time extends and you too will love this duo.

Sakuya: Before Tachibana Ginchiyo was released, there was Ilmina as Sakuya’s partner. While Ginchiyo has solidified herself as Sakuya’s “ideal” partner, pairing with Ilmina is still a solid idea when you want some lower damage thresholds. Of course, Ginchiyo also isn’t out in NA yet so you can get some mileage in with Ilmina still.

Ilm: Mother and daughter duo is just as impressive while offering a slightly different playstyle than Anubis or Sakuya. Ilm provides the immense damage and RCV while Ilmina provides the shield. Quite an excellent match together. I wouldn’t say this pairing is better than double Ilm but I also think you can’t say it’s worse. There are pros and cons.

Trailokyavijaya: With a huge board, it becomes really easy to activate Trail’s amazing multipliers. She brings the HP, RCV and decent damage while Ilmina brings the easy activation via 7×6 board and a shield. Together, their multiplier is 63x, resulting in a medium power multiplier. To really push your damage, bring all your subs withs 7C awakening in Leilans, Valkyrie Femme and Ame No Uzume.

Kenshin: This is the most popular combination with Ilmina so I won’t go into it much. It’s powerful, you can hit the damage cap and all that jazz. You have nearly perfect damage control because you just choose how many crosses to make.

Some GREAT subs of note: Everything with 7C. Examples:



Alright folks, that’s it for now. If you made it this far, thank you SO much for reading.

As always, feel free to comment, ask questions and give suggestions. Just play nice!

Signing off, Evening.

P.S.

Please drop a comment below to vote for which one of these guys specifically you’d like my next guide to be about. If no one says anything, I will default to Julie. Cheers!