REM Review – Evangelion Collab 3

Eva is a decidedly mediocre collab. While Rei Myr and Kaworu Kali are exciting cards, the rest of the REM doesn’t merit the financial investment to acquire them. This is usually the case for most special REMs, but the lack of value at 5- and 4-star rarities is a major concern. This problem is exacerbated by the recent reveal of the Weapon 2 series who basically invalidate the usefulness of Unit-13, one of the few cards in this REM that hardcore farmers would have otherwise chased. I do give credit to GungHo for giving new life to what was once one of the worst collabs to hit NA, but it just isn’t enough to recommend rolling. Perhaps Bleach has spoiled me that much.

For those looking for some roll rates, I found this page. At about 1% each, the rates for Rei Myr and Kaworu Kali are on the lower end of a typical collab REM which usually has its highest rarity cards at 1-2+% each.

Foreword

As evidenced by my lack of posting lately, my current interest in the game is quite low. There’s just very little to do in-game so I’ve diverted much of what little free time I have to other endeavors. As such, I haven’t really thought about Eva all that much nor do I care to. I don’t want to get out of habit of writing REM reviews, though, so I’m still going to try despite not being as well prepared as I’d like. Luckily, most of the cards in this collab are fairly straightforward so I don’t think the lack of research will come back to bite me. As usual, I’m happy to discuss any differences of opinion in the comments.

6-Star Gold Eggs

*Grades are given relative to cards of the same rarity (read the criteria here)

Rei Myr New

	Overall	Lead	Sub	Other
	A	A+	A-	B

• Activation was once restricted by a standard 6×5 board, but looks much better when paired with Uruka’s 7×6 board.
• Great awakenings including bind immunity.

• Activation can be awkward.

Rei Myr is a strong lead, boasting 324x ATK and a 75% heart-cross shield on top of a quality selection of awakenings which includes double TPAs and bind immunity. There’s several differences to consider when comparing her to similar leads such as Myr and Ronove, but I think the major ones can be summed up as such: her greatest strengths are bind immunity, a high damage ceiling and the ability to control damage to a degree; her greatest weakness is a relatively difficult activation which is not guaranteed after a DKali board change or even after her own active skill.

The biggest criticism against Rei Myr is likely her consistency of activation which requires matches of at least four of the five elements along with a heart-cross to get a reasonable multiplier. This is without a doubt a drawback, however it’s not quite as bad as it seems. Four out of five still results in a 81x multiplier which, when combined with TPA subs, is enough damage to take out most trash floors. It’s still not as consistent as one would like, but skilled players that can regularly clear the board will be able to consistently hit this level of offense. The real trick would be raising the consistency of her 324x activation. The answer is, of course, Uruka.

I’ve seen teams run both water and dark Uruka pairs with Rei Myr and both are reasonable. Pairing with dark Uruka results in a 1/117/2 lead with a 50% heart-cross shield where water Uruka results in 108x ATK and a 62.5% heart-cross shield. Rei is trading in a significant portion of raw multiplier for Uruka’s 7×6 board, but it’s worth it. Any activation worries are allayed by the larger board and some, if not all, of the offensive dropoff is recouped by higher combo counts, both on-board and via skyfall. However, the pairing isn’t all upside as Uruka requires a DKali activation (fire, water, wood, dark, hearts) to contribute any offense, meaning activation can still be awkward at times, especially in the face of orb changers.

This certainly isn’t an Aizen-level collab lead, but Rei Myr is still an excellent leader option. Should the bar for endgame viability shift away from Arena 3 farming, she might even have a leg up on those currently thought of as superior due to her damage potential combined with the heart-cross shield. Although, as it stands, I don’t think she’s worth going out of your way to roll for.

As a sub, Rei Myr is solid at best. All of her awakenings are quite good and the double TPAs are backed by a respectable 1,775 base ATK. She’s a natural fit on light’s heart-based teams, especially ones like Myr that can make quality bind immune teams. As an assist, her prospects aren’t all that great, generally being overshadowed by Paimon in both active functionality and bonus inheritance stats.

Kaworu Kali New

	Overall	Lead	Sub	Other
	A+	A	S	A

• Much of the card’s overall value is in being a DKali variant that can sub on Ra Dragon.
• Also a very strong lead.

Kaworu Kali is another quality offering from this REM’s 6-stars, basically on par with Rei Myr in overall quality, being a superior sub while giving some ground as a lead.

His sub applications should be obvious as he’s basically a DKali clone which, based off just that, makes him an elite sub by virtue of subbing on what is arguably the best team in the game, Ra Dragon. He does have some advantages over her, though, trading in an SBR — which is no longer needed on Ra Dragon — for a TPA and also having greater weighted stats. The difference in his active is more of a push; while the damage enhance for gods and attackers is a nice added dimension, this comes at the cost of three more turns of cooldown. It should also be noted that his types are a bit different than DKali, allowing him to equip a different set of latent killers; this isn’t too relevant at this point, especially with damage control coming being highly coveted, but could be in the future.

As a lead, Kaworu is also quite strong, pairing an already respectable 1/156.25/6.25 leader line with a 43.75% shield. Being limited to attacker and god types isn’t much of a problem as god type alone provides a great assortment of rainbow leads. The fact that his shield is reliant on a DKali activation can be awkward at times, but in situations where you have enough HP the static 6.25x RCV is more than enough to stall. His teambuilding constraints are a bit awkward as well. He reminds me a little of Sephiroth in that you have to cover a rainbow activation while also being constrained by SBRs, but, unlike Seph, Kaworu’s sub pool has both more depth and quality and has one less color to cover. You are still priced into running a 2x SBR sub like Durga or revo Loki, though.

Much like Rei Myr, Kaworu is also a reasonable Uruka pair (which also relieves the SBR teambuilding restriction). He’s usually paired with her water version, resulting in a 1/75/2.5 lead with a 43.75% shield. Seeing as they both have DKali activations, it seems like they were made for each other and the 7×6 board makes activation extremely consistent. Relative to the Rei Myr-Uruka pairing, I think the Kaworu pairing lags behind slightly due to the lower offensive and defensive potential. I don’t think the increased consistency makes up for it since Rei Myr is still relatively consistent on a 7×6 board.

I do think Kaworu Kali is a strong lead, but like Rei Myr, I don’t think he’s so good to justify chasing. I’m also reluctant to say people that need another DKali for their Ra Dragon teams should roll, either. Most sources seem to indicate a 1% chance to roll either of the 6-stars and considering the lack of other good cards in the REM you’d just be hemorrhaging value.

5-Star Gold Eggs

*Grades are given relative to cards of the same rarity (read the criteria here)

Shinji & Kaworu Buffed

	Overall	Lead	Sub	Other
	B	B	B-	B+

• Active skill buffed to 3x ATK for attacker and machine types for two turns (up from 2.5x ATK for one turn).
• Leader skill buffed to 2x ATK & RCV when matching four elements (completely new clause, 1/49/4 up from 1/12.5/1).
• Additional time extend and multi boost awakenings.
• +400 HP and +200 ATK.
• The only inheritable suicide skill in water with only other one being Noah.

• No longer desirable as an inheritance base.

There was a point when Unit-13 was my most wanted card from this collab, being the best co-op inheritance base for Grimmjow. However, it’s been put to shame with the release of the Weapon 2 series, by Solais in particular. While Unit-13 has an impressive 2,215 base ATK to pair with a multi boost and inheritance bonus stats, Solais also has a multi boost and her 2,450 base ATK more than exceeds the bonus stats U13 receives from Grimmjow’s inheritance. Heck, she can even match U13’s bind immunity, if that’s ever relevant. As such, there’s no longer much reason for hardcore farmers to roll this REM.

Seeing as many players probably don’t care about that aspect of the card, how does he fair in other facets of the game? Somewhat surprisingly, Unit-13 has been made into a rainbow leader, albeit a poor one that is restricted to attackers and machines in return for a relatively anemic 49x ATK. The card’s sub prospects haven’t improved all that much, either, pairing a useless active with an unfocused assortment of awakenings. Bind immunity means the card will always have some potential, but even if machine teams become relevant I find it unlikely U13 will play an important role in it.

Misato Buffed

	Overall	Lead	Sub	Other
	A-	B	A	A-

• Leader skill buffed to 1.5x ATK at two fire combos, 2x at three or more fire combos (completely new clause, 1/25/4 up from 1/6.25/4).
• Additional TPA awakening.
• +450 ATK and +60 RCV.
• A strong sub tht lacks a good home.

Misato has the highest ATK of any triple pronger available on NA (and only behind DAthena and Trunks on JP). Combining this with a hasty double orb change and awakening-based bind utility (which can be awkward considering her own active, but still is a plus) results in a quality card. Despite her merits, she simply doesn’t have an elite team to shine on. The most prominent TPA lead NA will get is likely Shiva Dragon for which she doesn’t qualify. This leaves secondary choices such as Krishna, Minerva, Shiva, and Ares which are strong, but not overly impressive. Perhaps her best fit is on lesser used teams like Fire Sakuya, Christmas Liu Bei and Markab.

Shinji Scheat New

	Overall	Lead	Sub	Other
	B+	B-	B+	B

• A great addition to the water TPA arsenal; a fine poverty Scheat alternative.

• Orb change is a little awkward at times.

Shinji Scheat is a fine addition to water’s growing TPA sub pool. The immediate comparison is to Scheat who, after a significant buff to her base ATK, has become an offensive powerhouse. Shinji is obviously inferior in that regard, having both a worse orb change and awakening selection for offense, but he shouldn’t be written off because of that. He simply brings a different toolset, eschewing a couple of TPAs for the utility of an SBR and time extend. With a respectable 1,801 base ATK and triple TPAs, he can still be an offensive asset, especially for teams that appreciate the extra movement time like Rukia.

Asuka Yamato New

	Overall	Lead	Sub	Other
	B+	B-	B+	A

• A respectable Yamato replacement for farming teams.

While Asuka Yamato is inferior to the original in just about every way, she’s still valuable for those not lucky enough to have multiple copies of the original. With the advent of Yamamoto’s rise to the top tier of farming leads, Yamato’s three skill boosts are a key for creating streamlined farming teams and Asuka can match those. While her complementing awakenings are worse and her active is slower for very little benefit, she’s still a quality substitute. Even outside Yamamoto teams, she’s can still see use on other fire farming teams such as Goemon and Cao Cao.

Beyond farming, I don’t see much use for this card. However, the ability to create hearts is still quite valuable, opening up her options to teams like the heart-based Dantalion and just being a good defensive option for the usual suspects in fire, Krishna et al.

Mari Ceres New

	Overall	Lead	Sub	Other
	C	C	C	B-

• Yet another bind utility card that wood doesn’t need.

Of all the wood cards to take inspiration from, why did it have to Ceres? The last thing wood needs is more bind utility so I can only see this as a missed opportunity to give the element some meaningful collab cards. Perhaps her best overall use is as an inherit onto revo Ceres, giving that sub slot the potential to act as a small damage enhance as well. Outside use by players lacking better bind clearing options, I don’t see her being used much.

Misato Leilan New

	Overall	Lead	Sub	Other
	B	B-	B+	B

• A slightly intriguing bind immune version of Leilan.

Like the other regalias, Misato Leilan can mostly be considered an inferior version of the original, but, a bit like Shinji, she does offer a bit of uniqueness with her bind immunity. I’m not sure where that will ever be relevant, but it’s an increasingly valuable asset in today’s meta and could be relevant in future teambuilding. She also adds four-turns cooldown on her active for an additional turn of haste which seems awfully costly, especially considering two-turn, two color board changers are only a single turn longer.

4-Star Silver Eggs

*Grades are given relative to cards of the same rarity (read the criteria here)

Rei Q New

	Overall	Lead	Sub	Other
	B+	C	B-	A

• Row generating active skill could have future farming implications.

Any row generator automatically interests me and Rei is no exception. Despite dark lacking a Yamamoto-level row lead for easy farming, I think stashing at least a couple of these away for future inheritance use is a good idea. After all, neither Laila and Chad were all that coveted and now they’re my most used assist skills.

Even if dark currently lacks a great farming lead, I still use the element from time to time in that capacity, usually when clearing perseverance infested dungeons with what is usually a MHera-Kaioh pair. The use of MHera got me thinking: while there are other dark row generators like Halloween Laila and Diadem, Rei’s damage shield could actually be relevant on MHera teams in keeping her above her HP threshold. A narrow use case, for sure, but the 50% shield is far from useless. While Laila is generally still a superior option since her row is less likely to be affected by locked skyfall (as it’s generated on the bottom opposed to the top) and has a quicker animation, Rei surprisingly has the same cooldown and can thus serve as a capable, cheap substitute.

As a base sub, I don’t see much use for her. We’ve seen auto-heal sticks like this before and none of them have had critical applications.

Asuka Buffed

	Overall	Lead	Sub	Other
	C+	C	B-	B-

• Active skill Change the World effect lasts seven turns (up from five).
• Additional 2x TPA awakenings.
• Good offensive potential for a silver.

• An extremely poor active skill.

Asuka is a fine poverty sub, brining 1,813 ATK and triple TPAs, but has little applications beyond that. Considering the lack of utility awakenings and a poor active, she’s easily replaced.

Shinji Buffed

	Overall	Lead	Sub	Other
	B	C+	B	B+

• Additional SBR awakening.
• A fine silver sub, combining an orb change with decent awakenings.

Shinji is still the most useful silver in this REM. While his awakenings have a Lakshmi-esque dissonance, any silver with an orb changer — especially one that has skill up fodder — is worth serious consideration and the added SBR makes him a solid fit on just about any newbie’s water teams. While breaking hearts is never a desirable trait, he does make dark orbs from them. This opens the door to inheritance use on teams like Persephone and DAthena that require both water and dark orbs to activate. A solid silver.

Mari Buffed

	Overall	Lead	Sub	Other
	D	C	D	C-

• Active damage enhance lasts two turns (up from one).

• Yet another useless wood collab card.

I guess expecting ultimates for Mari and Kaworu was asking for too much. As it stands, she’s much too poor to see any realistic use, even on beginner teams.

Rei Buffed

	Overall	Lead	Sub	Other
	B-	C	C+	A-

• Additional SBR awakening.
• A quality assist skill, making a great poverty damage shield option for accounts that lack them.

This version of Rei is a great value for newer players, providing an inheritable two-turn 50% shield. There are only five inheritable damage shields at base four-star rarity available on NA (Rei Q, Rain, Orihime, GrimRock) and Rei is the only one that lasts more than a single turn. While pantheon options like Indra and Susano are obviously preferred, I have to say that a 50% shield that is only one turn shorter than revo Susano’s is pretty great value at silver. For those lacking quality damage shield options, I’d definitely hold on to this one.

Kaworu Buffed

	Overall	Lead	Sub	Other
	D	C	D	C-

• Active damage enhance lasts four turns (up from one).

Much like Mari, there’s very little reason to seriously consider this card for any use.

Conclusion

Despite this collab improving immensely since the last time NA got it, I still don’t think it’s good enough to recommend rolling in. In this case, this collab has a great top end, but lacks the value at lower rarities that would otherwise make testing one’s luck a bit more palatable. I guess, realistically, there are worse special REMs to roll in, but I’d personally rather just wait for FF or Bleach to come back or roll in the next godfest that will presumably bring Raijin, Fujin and Three Kingdoms 2. The being said, the art on the new cards is amazing and I can see many players rolling just for that.

Personally, I’m not going to roll very hard. Much of that is due to Unit-13 falling into irrelevancy, but I just don’t see many cards opening new doors and are thus not must-haves. Of course, having a Kaworu Kali would be nice, so would a Rei Myr, but testing those 1% rates is not something I’m willing to do at this point in the game. I do want a couple dark Reis to work with, though, just in case.