August Release Schedule

August will be our first full month in Grand Concert. We have two Champions Meetings coming up, a Story Event, and of course new Umas and Support Cards. August is a good month to save carats, but there are also some pretty good Support Card reruns and some very strong Umas for niche roles.

August 5th - August 13th - Banners

New Uma: Yukino Bijin

​Yukino Bijin is probably best known for the welfare Support Card Yukino Bijin, featuring a 15% Race Bonus, and her Wit variant giving No Stopping Me!, a Skill she also has as an Uma. Her second gold Skill is Determined Descent.

A natural Pace Chaser, she is able to run both Mile and Medium distances. Her B Dirt aptitude also makes her suitable for both Dirt and Turf races.

​Snow Bright, Snow Flight is a Speed Skill that activates 300m from the finish line, requiring her to be within five horse lengths of the leader and in 4th place or better.

Secret Events provide some decent Skill Hints for Pace Chaser and Dirt races. Her stat bonuses are 10% Speed and 20% Guts, which is a bit underwhelming.

Overall, Yukino Bijin does not break the meta, but she can perform well among the crowded field of Pace Chasers in Mile and Medium races.

Support Rerun: Silence Suzuka Speed SSR & Smart Falcon Power SSR

This is a strong banner for Front Runners. Silence Suzuka has a lot of Front Runner Skill Hints and her gold Skill is Unrestrained, which gives acceleration in the final corner.

​Smart Falcon famously gives Groundwork in the first event of her event chain. She has Center Stage, the gold version of Prudent Positioning, which is highly recommended in combination with Dodging Danger. Fans of Copano Rickey might want her for the five green Skill Hints she has in her kit.

The original banner for these cards was shortly after launch, so as statsticks they are outdone by a lot of other cards. But they are still usable for their hints alone.

August 5th - August 14th - Champions Meeting Virgo Cup

Our first Champions Meeting in Grand Concert brings us to the Oi racecourse for a Medium distance Dirt race. The Medium distance means Oguri Cap will be a favorite once more, while the Dirt aptitude limits the pool of available Umas. Please check out our guide for this CM here. Good luck, Torenas!

August 12th - August 21st - Banners

New Uma: Seeking the Pearl

​Seeking the Pearl is a specialist for Sprint and Mile distances. Speed and Wit stat bonuses complement an already strong Skill set. She has a gold Skill for each distance: Shocking Flash is the gold version of Sprint Straightaways ○ and Big-Sisterly for Mile. Although her aptitudes cover both Pace Chaser and Late Surger, Head-On makes Pace Chaser the stronger choice thanks to its powerful acceleration.

Her Unique Skill, I'm Possible!, is similar to Triumphant Pulse, activating 200m before the finish line. The effect becomes even stronger when she is running in 2nd place and closing in on the leader.

Seeking the Pearl is not a must-pull Uma, but she performs very well in shorter races, whether in Champions Meetings or Team Trials. She is worth considering if your roster needs a strong Sprint or Mile ace. Grand Concert will feature both a Sprint and a Mile Champions Meeting later on.

If you lack the carats to pull for her now, she will receive a rerun in just a month.

Daiichi Ruby Power SSR & K.S. Miracle Guts SR

With this banner, two new Umas enter the global line-up, albeit only as Support Cards for now.

​Daiichi Ruby is a strong Power card with a lot of debuff Skill Hints. She also has a Skill Point Bonus with a high Specialty Priority. Her gold Skill is Flash Forward, an acceleration Skill for Sprint and Mile distances that requires you to overtake from 5th place or worse in the late race. Since her other Skill Hints are for Late Surgers, she supplements this style very well. Unfortunately, Grand Concert does not have much room for Power cards, so we recommend borrowing her instead.

​K.S. Miracle provides Pace Chaser and Sprint distance Skill Hints. Her Unique Perk also includes a Skill Point Bonus. As SR cards go, she is not bad for the style and distance, but you will probably have better choices.

August 13th - August 19th - Legend Races: Sprinter Stakes

Get your Sprint aces ready, because this time we take on Nishino Flower and Hishi Akebono. Challenge them for Star Portraits and the usual rewards, including carats and SR and SSR Uncap Shards.

August 17th - August 23rd - Mission Campaign Autumn G1 Celebration

The Mission Campaign Autumn G1 Celebration, Part 1 is all about the Sprinters Stakes. Here are the missions:

Mission	Reward
Complete a career playthrough having cleared all Career Goals 1 time	20,000 monies
Complete a career playthrough having cleared all 2 times	20,000 monies
Win the Keeneland Cup in Career	1 Alarm Clock
Win the Centaur Stakes in Career	1 Alarm Clock
Win the Sprinters Stakes in Career	10,000 Support Points
Complete all missions	150 carats

August 18th - August 30th - Banners

New Umas: Agnes Digital (Halloween) & Meisho Doto (Halloween)

This year's Halloween Umas are Agnes Digital and Meisho Doto.

​Agnes Digital is more niche than her OG version. Her Unique Skill, THE MOE AAAA Thanks for My Life, activates mid-race on a corner, which can sometimes give her speed carryover. Like her OG version, she spreads her stat bonus across four stats, this time on everything but Wit. For her gold Skills she has It's On! and Can't Keep Me Down, a Dirt mid-race Speed Skill.

​Meisho Doto, on the other hand, has a solid Skill set as a Pace Chaser. She comes with Neck and Neck, which is a good acceleration Skill, and Swinging Maestro, a very reliable gold recovery. Her Unique Skill Spooky, Scary, Happy is a final straight Speed Skill that also slightly debuffs the speed of other Umas. Among the many Pace Chasers, she is one of the better options.

New Support Cards: Daitaku Helios Speed SSR & Mejiro Palmer Stamina SSR

​Daitaku Helios has several Mile Skills and Perfect Spot!, the gold version of Slipstream. Unfortunately, she does not compare to other strong Speed SSR cards and falls short in that regard. There are simply better options than her.

​Mejiro Palmer is relevant for Front Runners. She has Taking the Lead, which up until now was only available on Mihono Bourbon (and theoretically on Twin Turbo). Since another Mihono Bourbon will release in a few months, Mejiro Palmer can provide this crucial Skill for Front Runners in the meantime.

August 18th - August 30th New Story Event: "Days Flying By"

This is the Halloween Story Event. Expect the usual rewards from this. The free card this time around is Shinko Windy. She is somewhat decent as a statstick and comes with Dirt Skills. Her gold Skill is curious: Maestro of the Mud is a green Skill that increases Speed and Power exclusively on Dirt tracks with soft or heavy ground conditions. In all current Champions Meetings this only ever applies to one CM, which will be the final one of Grand Concert. Maybe you want to inherit this Skill on a parent for Copano Rickey; otherwise, I doubt this card will see any use.

August 25th - September 2nd - Banners

New Uma: Aston Machan

​Aston Machan is a Front Runner for Sprint distance. Her Skill set is very strong for this specific role. She comes with Taking the Lead and In High Spirits. The first is essential for Front Runners, and the other is a great mid-race Skill in Sprint. She also has Groundwork in her kit. Her Unique Skill, Silent Letter, triggers 400m before the finish line, which is late race for Sprints. She needs to be in 1st or 2nd and must be an overtake target. When her Unique Skill activates, she gets both an acceleration and a Target Speed increase, helping her to stay ahead. Evolved Skills are not yet in the game but are expected to arrive this year, and they will bolster her solid Skills even further. Fortunately she is also very strong in Team Trials, because Champions Meetings in Sprint distance are rare. Aston Machan fills a very specific niche, but within that niche she is one of the best Umas.

Support Rerun: Fine Motion Wit SSR & Maruzensky Speed SSR

On paper this is a very good banner. Both cards are meta in Grand Concert. In case you are not familiar with them, here is a quick reminder: ​Fine Motion has been on top of the Wit Supports since launch. She has a chance to give you Speed Star and has both Fall Runner ○ and Right-Handed ○ in her kit.

​Maruzensky came out just last month and features a bonus to Training Effectiveness depending on your facility level. This makes her strong in every deck. On top of that she has a great Front Runner gold Skill in Top Runner.

However, Fine Motion will eventually be dethroned by Mejiro Ramonu, which is on the scenario banner for Grand Masters, the next scenario to be added with the 2 Year Anniversary in late November or early December.

​Maruzensky has a longer shelf-life if you play Front Runners. She will stay relevant for that style for quite a while due to her hints and Top Runner.

August 25th - September 3rd - Champions Meeting Libra Cup

We are going to the Hanshin racecourse for a Mile race. This is the Mile Championship G1, which that year was held at Hanshin instead of Kyoto. Expect to see strong Pace Chasers like Taiki Shuttle and Nishino Flower going toe-to-toe with End Closer Oguri Cap. Fittingly, both Taiki Shuttle and Oguri Cap won the real-life Mile Championship, with Taiki Shuttle claiming the title twice.

Closing Thoughts

This month we settle into Grand Concert. This scenario in general does not have new meta-defining Support Cards, so you might consider saving up your carats, because the next scenario, Grand Masters, will significantly raise the power level of Support Cards. The same goes for Umas: it is nice to have a specific niche role covered, but especially if you are a free-to-play player, I recommend exercising patience. This is usually much more rewarding in the long run, when you can keep up with Support Cards.