Pisces Cup

Pisces Cup, or the 11th Champions Meeting (CM11), takes place on the Hanshin 3200m Turf Track. The Conditions are as shown on the Champions Meeting page (Right, Heavy, Rain, Spring).

Also check out our Trackblazer Guide!

CM11 Pisces Cup Infographic

TIP

Despite being based on the Tenno Sho (Spring), Pisces Cup occurs on the Hanshin Racecourse due to the Kyoto Racecourse being under renovation in 2022, when this Champions Meeting occurred originally.

When making Practice Rooms for the Pisces Cup, make sure to make a Hanshin 3200m Room instead of selecting Tenno Sho (Spring)!

The proper conditions for a CM11 Practice Room

Acceleration

Similar to other Long Tracks, Hanshin 3200m starts its Accel Zone on a Straight. This allows us to use Acceleration Skills that proc on a late-race Straight such as Straightaway Spurt. However, as this is not the final Straight, Skills such as Victoria por plancha ☆ are not viable as Acceleration Skills.

CM11 Track

The first late-race Corner is 117 meters delayed, and renders all Corner-based Accel Skills such as Let's Pump Some Iron! and Angling and Scheming invalid. These Skills activate too late to have a meaningful impact.

The most universal Acceleration Skill is Nimble Navigator / No Stopping Me!. The Accel Zone begins before the final Corner, making it easier for these two Skills to activate. However, as No Stopping Me! is no longer universally provided in Trackblazer, acquiring these Skills may be difficult.

A new generic consideration for Acceleration in Trackblazer is Radiant Star. Radiant Star is a Scenario-exclusive Skill that provides Velocity, Acceleration, and Recovery for 1.2 Seconds. Because of this Skill’s inconsistent Activation Conditions and high SP Cost, relying on Radiant Star is not recommended.

Front Runners

The main Acceleration for Front Runners is inherited Victory Cheer!, Kitasan Black’s Unique. The Skill only provides .1 Accel when inherited: However, as Angling and Scheming is NOT viable on Hanshin 3200m, there are no better options.

INFO

Kitasan Black’s Unique, Victory Cheer!, will only provide Acceleration when positioned at the Backstretch late-race.

The Backstretch is defined as a Straight that is on the opposite side of the Racecourse as the final Straight. Simply put, Kitasan Black’s Unique will only provide Acceleration if the late-race begins on a Straight that is not the final Straight, a characteristic mainly found on longer Long Tracks.

The Arima Kinen, or Nakayama 2500m, has a late-race that begins on a Straight that is not the final Straight. In this situation, Kitasan Black’s Unique will provide Acceleration.

Pace Chasers

Pace Chasers, similar to Front Runners, rely on Victory Cheer! as their primary source of Acceleration. While Head-On remains a viable Acceleration Skill, it is less effective than it was in the previous two Champions Meetings.

WARNING

Because of the positional requirements for Victory Cheer!, it may be difficult for Pace Chasers to reliably activate this Skill. Due to the lack of a consistent Accel option, it is not recommended to play this Style in Pisces Cup without a proper plan.

Late Surgers

Outside of universal Acceleration Skills, the only option for Acceleration Late Surgers have is On Your Left!. Due to the longer Accel Zone in Long Tracks, it is even more unlikely that On Your Left! will be effective and is not recommended.

End Closers

Because the late-race begins on a Straight, End Closers have access to a consistent Acceleration Skill in Straightaway Spurt.

Velocity Skills

Velocity Skills that activate on Straights have additional value for several reasons. First of all, because the late-race begins on a Straight, most random or mid-race Straight Skills have a chance to Carryover. However, unlike Skills such as Speed Star or The Duty of Dignity Calls that can semi-consistently Carryover when the Track allows for it, this is an uncommon occurrence and should not be relied on.

In addition, as overtaking on a Straight is easier than overtaking around Corners, Straight Skills can be used to gain position in the mid-race. Unlike many previous Champions Meetings, there are no position-based Accels that will punish pushing up too far in the mid-race. However, as there are four separate Straights throughout the Track, random Straight Skills cannot be relied on to consistently activate in the mid-race.

Because the duration of Skills scale with the length of the Track, Skills with longer duration have priority over shorter Skills. In Pisces Cup, Skills will have their duration multiplied by 3.2x. This means that Skills that have a base duration of 3 seconds will have a 9.6 second duration, while a Skill with 1.8 second base duration will have a 5.76 second duration.

In practice, when deciding between an upgrade to Long Straightaways ◎ versus purchasing Ramp Up, the upgrade can be higher value due to the 3.84 second duration difference outvaluing the 0.05 Velocity difference.

The Straightaway Skill has much more value over Ramp Up in the Long Race compared to the Mile Race.

Recommended Stats

Recommended Stats for CM11

Compared to previous Champions Meetings, the Stamina requirements for Pisces Cup is exceptionally high. On top of the 3200 meters, HP drain is increased through the Heavy Ground condition and there is only one small Downhill before the late-race to alleviate further HP consumption.

INFO

The game calculates the amount of HP needed to complete the Race when entering the late-race to determine whether the Uma can fully Spurt. While there is a Downhill in the late-race, it is not included in this calculation: Because of this, while it is unlikely that an Uma will fully die, they will often fail to fully Spurt.

Generically speaking, 1100 Stamina along with a Gold and White Recovery Skill will be sufficient for this Track. However, based on the Style, more or less Stamina can be considered: For example, Front Runners and Pace Chasers require more Stamina due to Spot Struggling and poor Stamina to HP conversion, respectively. On the other hand, Late Surgers and End Closers require less Stamina due to a better conversion.

Power is very important in CM11 due to the limited availability of Acceleration Skills and the -50 reduction from the Heavy Ground Condition, while the 1000+ meters of Downhill and the increased number of Skills acquired in Trackblazer make Wit equally important.

Due to the high Stamina requirements and the long Homestretch in Hanshin 3200m, Guts is also an important Stat. While it shouldn’t be prioritized, having at least 600 will alleviate HP consumption in the late-race and provide a small edge while Dueling in the long final Straight.

Recommended Decks

Refer to our Trackblazer Guide for general Deck Advice!

The recommended Deck for Pisces Cup is the standard 2 SPD 2 WIT 2 Flex Deck. Using Kitasan Black as one of the Speed Cards is recommended for Professor of Curvature, which can potentially activate twice on this Track.

Due to the Stamina requirements, using at least one, up to two, Stamina Cards is recommended. Super Creek is the go-to Stamina Card for both Stats and Swinging Maestro. Manhattan Cafe is the best SR Stamina Card, providing both 10 Race Bonus and hints for valuable Skills such as Wet Conditions ○, Stamina Eater, and Long Straightaways ○.

Alternatively, Cards such as Narita Brian can be considered for Beeline Burst, a Gold Velocity Skill which can potentially activate twice on this Track. MLB SSR Riko Kashimoto can also be considered over a second Stamina Card. If running several Stamina Sparks, a Power Card can also be used over a second Stamina Card.

A second Stamina Card can be replaced with a Card for its Skill, such as Admire Vega for Daring Strike on End Closers. Keep in mind that this will make it more difficult to reach Stamina requirements, and should be done with prudence.

Examples of a potential CM11 Ace Deck

Recommended Uma

Tier List

CM11 Uma Tierlist

INFO

While Runaway Silence Suzuka is not viable as an ace due to being unable to acquire the namesake Skill in Trackblazer, she remains useful by increasing lobby pace and enabling Skills such as Nimble Navigator and Pure Heart on Front Runners.

Umas with Straight Acceleration

As Corner Acceleration Skills are not viable in CM11, Umas with Straight Acceleration Skills are valuable. Kitasan Black is a strong example; Tamamo Cross, while not specifically an Accel Unique, has a Hybrid Unique that will guaranteed Carryover into the late-race if its Activation Conditions are immediately met.

The Duration of White Lightning is long enough to overlap with the late-race when activating at the earliest possible timing.

While not an Uma with an Acceleration Unique, Narita Taishin is currently the only Uma with Encroaching Shadow, the Gold version of Straightaway Spurt.

WARNING

As previously mentioned, the initial late-race Straight is not the final Straight. Skills that require the final Straight such as Victoria por plancha ☆ will not activate in the Accel Zone.

Uma with Late-Race Velocity Uniques

Because of Hanshin 3200m’s long final Corner and Straight, Umas with strong late-race Velocity Uniques can close large gaps.

Uma with Mid-Race Velocity Uniques

Due to the scarcity of Acceleration Skills and the position-agnostic nature of existing ones, Umas that can gain a positional advantage in the mid-race will have an easier time securing the win. Fighting from a forward position is easier than fighting from behind.

Other Notable Uma

Umas with Accel or Hybrid Uniques that are not Track-dependent are valuable due to potential Acceleration where alternatives are scarce. Even if Hybrid Uniques do not overlap with the Accel Zone, they provide useful mid-race Velocity.