Collab REM Review – Rurouni Kenshin

Writing this review was a slog. The content delay is NA’s greatest advantage, but it’s also our greatest curse. With over a month having gone by since JP got these cards, we now know that most of them have amounted to very little. We can use that information to our advantage, but at the same time that knowledge kills the hype surrounding what would otherwise be an exciting event. It certainly made it difficult for me to put in the effort to do that extra research and subsequently write a review.

It’s hard for me to put that sentiment aside and be objective, but I do believe that this collab is mostly trash, as most collabs wind up being. Kenshin and Saito with their ridiculous cross-based multipliers are flashy, but as it goes with most collab cards, they’re simple testbeds that have been equaled or surpassed by subsequent, non-collab cards. The rest of the REM is fairly dismal, with a few cards having niche utility use, mostly for skill inheritance, but they’re not exactly must-haves. I think it says a lot when the most useful cards in the REM are silver, Kaoru and Kamatari. For most, it will be worth giving a small number of rolls since the silvers are good, but I wouldn’t recommend people go all-out unless they’re die hard fans as the top-end is poor.

Also, I usually never mention the farmables since that’s just more work for little return, but this time I strongly suggest picking up a Yukyuzan Anji from the collab dungeon. Even if you can’t spare the stamina to max skill him, make sure you remember to favorite him when you clear the dungeon for the stone; even with no skill ups he’s worth having around.

6-Star Gold Eggs

Grades are given relative to monsters of the same rarity.

Himura Kenshin – A-
	At a Glance A leader skill with the potential to reach the damage cap. Easier to activate than it seems. A glass cannon in a world of heart-cross shields.
	Notes All leaders will inevitably be compared to the dreaded heart-cross meta and, as is usually the case, Kenshin fails that test. While he’s the king of glass cannons and has so much going for him, it’s hard to get excited about anything when leads like Kaede and Myr bring a previously unparalleled combination of offense and defense. We all know this and it’s boring. So rather than expand upon why Kenshin is inferior, let’s explore why he’s good. I personally feel that Kenshin doesn’t get the love he deserves. You Yu and Dantalion are probably the best leaders that are most similar, but they’ve been getting more recognition even though they aren’t much better, if at all. I’d say, orb for orb, Kenshin is just as good. “Low” refers to the lowest multiplier with that number of relevant orbs. “High” refers to the highest multiplier with that number of relevant orbs. Relevant orbs refers to any combination of elements that are used to activate that card’s leader skill (fire and light for Kenshin, water for You Yu, fire and hearts for Dantalion). For example, if Kenshin only has fire orbs, his activation becomes reduced since he also needs light for the 2x bonus. Orbs Kenshin You Yu Dantalion Low High High High 5 3x 3x 5x 3.5x 6 3x 3x 5x 3.5x 7 3x 3x 5x 3.5x 8 6x 6x 7.5x 3.5x 9 6x 6x 7.5x 3.5x 10 9x 18x 7.5x 12.25x 11 9x 18x 10x 12.25x 12 9x 18x 10x 12.25x 13 9x 18x 10x 12.25x 14 9x 18x 12.5x 12.25x 15 18x 54x 12.5x 12.25x 16 18x 54x 12.5x 36.75x This comparison is apples to oranges since each leader skill has its own quirks. Like Kenshin has some flexibility in activating off either fire or light, but this can also be a drawback since it’s not always possible to get both colors. Regardless, his multipliers still compare favorably. There are other reasons why Kenshin might be considered worse than the other two — Dantalion’s system-able active and healing-while-attacking nature are probably why he’s more highly regarded; inertia and a simpler matching requirement are probably why You Yu is — but I still believe he should be getting more respect. Anyways, outside the silvers, Kenshin is the only good roll in the machine. Not worth rolling for specifically, but fans of the character will be happy to know that he’s a fairly capable lead.

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Saito Hajime – B
	At a Glance Damage potential is worse than Kenshin’s, but that usually isn’t a huge factor since it’s usually overkill. Orb hungry, so generally better in shorter dungeons. In general worse than Kenshin; it’s better to do one thing and do it well than do two things mediocre.
	Notes The biggest knock on Saito is his active reliance. While he seems like a more balanced Kenshin due to the RCV multiplier giving him some tankiness, the fact that it’s tied to an active use significantly lowers its value. Awoken Liu Bei and Cao Cao have shown that this active reliance isn’t a show stopper, but considering how much more matching effort you have to put into getting a decent ATK multiplier with him, it’s hard to compare them directly. He probably compares more closely to Ichigo and we all know how he ended up. He’s also orb hungry as his cross multiplier only activates off dark orbs, something Kenshin can mitigate by activating off both fire and light. However, considering the damage return you get on 10 dark orbs, the cost is mostly justified. That condition also means he can only fit two crosses on a 6×5 board where Kenshin can fit three, further capping his damage potential. So while Saito isn’t great, he still has his uses as a high-multiplier dark lead (like for the upcoming +297 Zeus dungeon).

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5-Star Gold Eggs

Grades are given relative to monsters of the same rarity.

Shinomori Aoshi – C+
	At a Glance An Echidna-type leader skill clause; a neat way to deal with perseverance. A water pure-combo lead is nice, but topping out at 16x isn’t.
	Notes I see Aoshi’s card mirroring his anime character: that useless thing that never accomplishes anything. As a leader, 16x ATK wasn’t even good a year ago. As a sub, he doesn’t bring enough awakenings to be relevant. His only real use is for skill inheritance, doing a poor Awoken Hermes impression. The troll gold egg of this REM.

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Sagara Sanosuke – B+
	At a Glance A unique active that has an assortment of utility applications. One of the better wood machine killers due to the two skill boosts.
	Notes When this collab’s stats were first revealed, Sano was immediately my favorite card. That feeling has subdued since that initial reaction, but I still feel the main reasons I liked him are still relevant. While the machine killer stood out to me the most, it’s the full package that appealed to me; a super-utility active, two skill boosts and two killers in what is, for now, the best element in the game. The machine killer’s applications are fairly obvious, but the physical killer is not, which is probably why this card hasn’t made as much of an impact I thought it might (the golems are really the only cards that are both machine and physical and they aren’t particularly demanding damage-wise so the 9x from killers is still searching for a good application). I also thought there was potential in the active skill. Rather than being just a single-target laser or just a defense break, Sano essentially combines the two, allowing you to get the best of both worlds. I also liked the 50% HP reduction. Sometimes you want to reduce HP for a leader skill like Dios, but not all the way to one like typical suicide skills due to the threat of preemptives. The cooldown is also reasonable enough at seven turns where you can still slap a good assist skill on top of him. On top of all of this are two skill boosts, meaning he can carry his own weight as a sub on farming teams. I still think he has a lot of potential and while I don’t intend to roll much this collab, I’d still like to get one.

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Seta Sojiro – B-
	At a Glance A fine DQXQ sub. Doesn’t have much of a place outside that team. Almost always worse than Jize.
	Notes Sojiro has some potential, but his awakenings are what hold him back the most. His four offensive awakenings are all great, but when he brings no basic utility, even lacking a single skill boost or SBR, it puts a strain on the rest of the party. The 99-damage laser has increased in value as of late; while lasers are always good, the advent of revo Zeal and his 100 damage nullification shield have made those of the 99 variety that much more valuable. The two-orb spawn seems useless, but at three-turns cooldown, it can help with activation multiple times per dungeon and can fix full-board changes if they don’t spawn enough lights, ensuring at least a five-orb activation. He fits best on a DQXQ team, providing both rows and wood coverage, but outside that there’s very little use for him. In most cases, running a Jize is just better.

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4-Star Silver Eggs

Grades are given relative to monsters of the same rarity.

Note: Silver egg ratings have a strong emphasis placed on long-term relevance which is usually tied to how well their active serves as an assist skill or how useful they can be as an inheritance base.

Makimachi Misao – A-
	At a Glance A fine combination of killer awakenings and orb change active. Orb change brings some utility in jammer clearing and healing.
	Notes Misao is about as relevant as it gets for a silver that doesn’t bring a unique assist skill or provides some sort of utility. While her active is quite good and the 30% heal could be useful in certain dungeons, her double killers are her main appeal. This puts her on a similar level as the buffed Ninjas, really only losing a TPA and a row to them as far as awakenings are concerned. In particular, she compares favorably to Chiyome which is a good sign for a silver. That doesn’t put her on the same level as a silver like Berserker, but with Cao Cao being a thing on NA, I could see her having marginal use as an SI base on such a team. There are better Devil Rush teams out there, but this video represents her capabilities well, her killers, orb change and heal all contributing to the clear.

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Kamiya Kaoru – A
	At a Glance High potential as an assist skill. A fine assortment of awakenings makes her a decent sub.
	Notes Kaoru is likely the most relevant card from this REM due to her skill inheritance implications. Her closest comparison is Vaan who is a widely used assist skill from the FF Collab. Kaoru makes a secondary water row instead of fire and heals 50% instead of having a one-turn haste, but she can be used in much the same way. One of the most widely used ways is to use her as a follow up to a full-board change like Dios, facilitating the easy formation of five or six combos to bypass combo shields, up to eight combos with a little more work (here’s a simple method for six combos; here’s a similar one that requires less moves, but cascades aren’t necessarily good while farming). However there’s plenty of double row changers that can do that. What gives Kaoru some identity is the 50% heal. In most cases it’s irrelevant, but there are some niche uses like surviving multiple preemptives or healing MZeus back up for his full multiplier.

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Takani Megumi – B-
	At a Glance A heartmaker in a heart meta. Boring, easily replaceable. Active is stronger than the Fairy Tale girls’, but the longer cooldown is rough.
	Notes Bind clearers are always useful, especially in the early game where finding one that is also bind immune can be somewhat difficult, but they’re also always boring and Megumi is no exception. It’s especially difficult to justify investing in her as there are farmable replacements in Aamir and Star Justice and NA will presumably get Tamazou GOdin. Her one advantage over them is making hearts in a heart meta, giving her extra value on teams like Kaede and Parvati, but wood has plenty of good replacements that don’t require Woodpys to be usable — Wee Jas and Thumbelina come to mind.

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Honjo Kamatari – A+
	At a Glance A multi-target laser with three skill boosts makes him a prime push button candidate. Able to be inherited, making him a good Ra replacement at silver. Skyfall buff can make farming slower.
	Notes Kaoru might be more desirable card since her effect is more difficult to replace, but Kamatari should be more relevant to more types of players. His most obvious role is as a Ra replacement, his 99 multi-target true damage being good enough in most circumstances (and ideal against something like revo Zeal). His awakenings are a boon as most of the low-end cards that have this type of effect don’t even come with a single skill boost, let alone three. It’s also nice that at 13-turns cooldown, you likely won’t need to skill him up if you’re using him as a base sub. For those rolling this collab, for any of the golds, I’d definitely suggest holding on to multiple copies of this card, especially if you don’t have many other lasers.

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Myojin Yahiko – B
	At a Glance Comes with great awakenings and active for a silver. Nothing stands out, meaning he’ll have little use beyond being a placeholder sub.
	Notes Yahiko, similar to Misao, is a solid, all-around card for a silver, but has little function outside being a mere placeholder for those with incomplete teams. While Misao has a unique effect in her orb change and heal combination and two desirable killers to boost her damage, Yahiko’s column change and single killer are nothing special. Without anything to define him, he’s just an easy to forget silver.

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Conclusion

Thank god that’s over. I’d say outside any sentimentality for the original work and its characters, almost all players should avoid rolling in this REM. Hardcore farmers will want to pick up a Kaoru or two, a Kamatari and maybe a Misao, but none of the golds are worth chasing. Sano is intriguing and has a chance of being an important farming piece in the future, but it’s hard to justify rolling for a collab gold that doesn’t have an immediate impact.

I usually put in at least two packs to every special and collab REM, but I’m strongly debating holding back this time. I can probably get all the silvers within a pack so I’ll likely call it there and save some funds for Halloween or whatever comes next. I’m hoping to land at least one Sano in that pack, though.