Aquarius Cup

Aquarius Cup, or the 10th Champions Meeting (CM10), takes place on the Tokyo 1600m Dirt Track, which is Left-Handed, Firm, Sunny, and during the Winter.

CM10 Infographic

Acceleration

Aquarius Cup has very standard Acceleration conditions, with a late-race that starts off on the final Corner and transitions into a Straight in 33 meters. This allows us to use Acceleration Skills that proc on the final Corner or any Corner in the late-race, such as Angling and Scheming and Let's Pump Some Iron!.

CM10 Track

As the final Straight is only 33m into the Accel Zone, we can also use Acceleration Skills that proc on Straights. Similar to last CM, the most viable Frontline inherited Accels that activate on Straights are Victoria por plancha ☆ and Give Mummy a Hug ♡. Unlike last CM, however, there are more options for Accel Skills: These two Skills are not as mandatory as they were in Capricorn Cup. Similarly, Straightaway Spurt is once again viable.

Similar to the last CM, Red Shift/LP1211-M is a Skill that can be considered on Backliners. Because this Skill procs when positioned 5th or better on the Final Corner and beyond, Backliners can delay the activation timing of Red Shift by moving up into 5th at or after the 4th Corner. However, as this can be inconsistent, Red Shift should only be considered as a secondary Accel.

WARNING

This strategy mainly works on Red Shift because of the Skill’s lenient Activation timing. Skills such as Shooting for Victory have very strict Activation Conditions, making it difficult for Umas to move into position to properly utilize the Acceleration.

The final Unique Accel Skill to consider is Shooting for Victory!. Although Shooting for Victory! activates too early when inherited, Taiki Shuttle’s Shooting for Victory! lasts 5 seconds on this track, and slightly overlaps with the Accel Zone.

Inherited Shooting for Victory versus Taiki’s innate Unique

All that remains are the Gambling Accels. All phase_random==2 Skills, such as Head-On, Ignited Spirit PWR, Forward, March!, and Updrafters can be considered for secondary Acceleration Skills. In addition, as the only Uphill of the Track is in the Accel Zone, Highlander is also a viable Gambling Accel. Late Surgers have access to Slick Surge and On Your Left!, which is not recommended due to strict position requirements making the Skill even more inconsistent.

Recommended Velocity Skills

The defining feature of the Tokyo 1600m Dirt Track is the long Straight immediately followed by the wide mid-race Corners. There are a few factors to consider with this Track’s layout.

The mid-race of the Track consists of a 383 meter Straight, then a 417 meter Corner. The Corner in the mid-race is the first Corner of the Track, which means that 200 meters out of the 383 meter Straight is a No-Zone. Combined with the fact that it is fundamentally more difficult to overtake on Corners due to Wide Swinging, most of the overtakes must happen in the early- and early mid-race.

TIP

Because Tokyo is the widest racecourse, it is especially difficult to overtake on the corners.

Due to this, Velocity Skills that proc in the early-race are valuable for fighting for position. Some examples are Leader's Pride, Productive Plan, and Uma Stan. In addition, combined with the long initial Straight, the Lane Movement Combo is very valuable for Front Runners.

WARNING

Note that Productive Plan is a phase_random Skill that cannot activate in the first 5 seconds. Due to this, it has around a 25% chance to not activate.

Skill Proc Data from Kachisim

Because of the difficulty in overtaking, defensive Skills to secure positioning are also valuable, especially in the final Corner. Examples are Skills that activate when an Uma is close behind or to the side, such as Playtime's Over!, Top Pick and Leader's Pride. Speed Eater is also a very strong skill that can stop any overtake attempt in its tracks.

Backliners often need to overtake on the Corners in order to secure positional requirements for Acceleration Skills after Position Keep ends. To achieve this successfully, stacking Corner Skills becomes necessary. Standard Skills such as Style or Distance Corners and Professor of Curvature are good, and Inherited Uniques such as Shadow Break, Nemesis, and The Duty of Dignity Calls serve as mid-race Skills in this Track. The Overtake Combo of Slipstream, Ramp Up, and Tail Held High can also be considered.

After accelerating to Top Speed in the late-race, the remainder of the Track is a long Straight. Due to this, final Straight/late-race Velocity Skills remain valuable for final overtakes and securing the lead. Skills that activate on a random Straight have a chance to proc in the early- and late-race, providing two helpful use cases.

As always, generic Velocity Skills remain effective.

Recommended Stats

Compared to several previous Tracks, Tokyo 1600m Dirt has a relatively shorter Downhill, with a long Uphill in the late-race. While the impact of the Uphill’s Target Speed penalty is minimal due to most of it occurring within the Accel Zone, the lowered Acceleration still makes Power a more favorable Stat over Wit.

Recommended Stats

The Stamina and Guts required to survive depends on the Style played. While Late Surgers can get away with Stamina/Guts as low as 500/500, Pace Chasers require slightly more Stamina at around 550. Front Runners also require around 550 Stamina and 500 Guts due to Spot Struggling.

It's very reasonable to hit the 601 threshold for an additional Speed Bonus.

Recommended Decks

The recommended Deck for Aquarius Cup is the standard 2 SPD 3 WIT Riko Deck. However, if Stamina requirements can be met without Riko due to Sparks and Stat Growths, Riko can also be replaced for another Card.

A potential replacement for Riko are Power Cards that provide important Skills. Some examples are Smart Falcon for Groundwork, Top Pick, and Prudent Positioning, and Daitaku Helios for Speed Eater, Mile Corners ◎, and Escape Artist. End Closers can also consider Admire Vega for Daring Strike and a plethora of End Closer Skills.

Recommended Uma

Tier List

CM10 tierlist

The layout of the Track favors Umas with these qualities:

1. Strong Mid Game Uniques that can threaten/defend overtakes on Tokyo’s long corner
2. Valid Accel on the Corner or Final Straight
3. Late Race Velocity

Umas with Mid-Race Uniques

Examples:

Smart Falcon, XOguri, NY Urara, SMaru

While mid-race velocity is generally powerful on any Track, it is especially powerful in Aquarius Cup. These Uma can either gain a lead early to exploit the No-Zone, or have a strong advantage when attempting to overtake around the Corners.

Umas with Acceleration Uniques

Examples:

El Condor Pasa, Taiki Shuttle, XOguri Front

Umas with viable Acceleration Uniques are always strong. As previously mentioned, Taiki Shuttle is able to overlap the tail end of her Unique into the Acceleration Zone, while El Condor Pasa activates her Unique 33 meters into the late-race. Front Christmas Oguri can also activate her Unique at the same time as El Condor Pasa through Moxie.

Uma with Late-Race Velocity Uniques

Examples:

Oguri Cap, Agnes Digital

Because of Tokyo’s long final Straight, Uma with strong late-race Velocity Skills can close large gaps. As Skills such as Agnes Digital’s Unique can activate within the Accel Zone, it is important to have sufficient Acceleration to make the most of these Uniques.

Other notable Uma

Examples: Silence Suzuka, Valentines Bourbon, Seiun Sky, Mejiro Ryan

Although there are many Umas that satisfy previous categories, they are difficult to build due to their low Dirt Aptitude. Given extremely high time and resource investment, these Umas can perform at or above the level of all Umas mentioned previously.