Cipher Series 9: June 19 - Ranulf HN

[SalShich10N]

I wonder how many people actually, out of their own volition and not forced by the game, actively and consciously deployed and used Skrimir given he lacked Formshift.

[Kirie]

1 hour ago, SalShich10N said:

I wonder how many people actually, out of their own volition and not forced by the game, actively and consciously deployed and used Skrimir given he lacked Formshift.

Not me. :U I hardly ever used any Laguz in either PoR/RD because the whole transformation gauge thing seemed overly confusing and not worth the hassle. The only exception being the Herons (since they stayed out of combat anyway and being transformed was a perk but not necessary) Volug (fuck yeah Wildheart), and the royals at the end of either game (fuck yeah Formshift).

PS: Livestream in a bit less than 5 hours!

[SalShich10N]

It isn't even confusing, just downright crippling. So you have these units that can be very good potentially better than beorc at glance, but only for a few turns and then they are turned to deadweight for full 5 turns, and their empty gauge carried over between chapters. To top it off they don't promote so no bonus stats, they don't get new weapons so enjoy range 1 weapons with no variation the whole game. The worst part is that eventually become so common it feels like normal Laguz only exist so the player understand how powerful the royals are. And we complained about Fates having preference for royals, didn't we?

It'd had been better if the gauge got filled the more they fought, but depleted very quickly if they didn't fought during a turn. That way the player would have to opt for more aggressive strategies when using Laguz to keep them transformed.

[Kirie]

I had always assumed it was confusing because I assumed that there was a way to make them viable units that I just wasn't seeing. Instead I guess it was just shitty all around. :P

[Kirie]

I'll edit stuff into the OP later, but for now you can see all of the S9 cards revealed in today's livestream here.

S9 Highlights include: SRs for Al, Alm, and Celica, and booster box promos (magazine reprints of Lilina and Elincia), preview promos (colourless Alphonse and Sharena).

[ChibiToastExplosion]

As always, thank you for your hard work Kirie <3 I had to miss this stream, but knowing I could rely on you was awesome. You never disappoint!

So happy to see the Roy R (it's awesome), and Echidna! I just need Geese and Hugh and Niime to die happy now, lol

[Hardin]

I really appreciate how so far, they've been showing a good deal of new characters in the purple set. About half the green cards we've seen are old characters, but I think Roy is the only old purple so far. 

[Kirie]

I've updated the album link in the OP so that it's a new album with just the new S9 cards in it, for easier reference.

[Hardin]

With the Gromell reveal, I'm thinking Petrine will get an SR card for this set. They're really scrapping the bottom of the barrel for good SR characters, and being a woman and a villain, I think gives a bit more desirability for her card. 

[Kirie]

Twitter decided to officially reveal the Alm/Celica SRs now, so we have a better image of them:

[ChibiToastExplosion]

Best paired art in cipher, hands down <3

Hmm, that's interesting, though - by the numbering, we can see that each lord is likely getting 3 cards. I wasn't sure if it would be toned down a little since there were double lords (I guess it wasn't in set 7 or any of the royals either). At that rate, we know 6/48 cards so far. 

I can at least breathe a little easier knowing that Echoes will make a comeback in set 11, as far as cuts are concerned. I want my Luthier card now, damnit

[Hardin]

That is really nice, certainly better than Kurosawa's Micaiah and Sothe pair. 

The only Echoes character I'm concerned about is Nomah. I don't want him to join old man purgatory like Wendell and Tauroneo. 

[ChibiToastExplosion]

I had a thought for the other BB SR cards; there is a change for both Zephiel and Murdock.

Obviously Zeph would get priority out of the two, but Murdock played a significant role in both the game and the manga. I'd adore a Murdock card, as he's one of the best bosses in the series IMO.

This is also a pretty good chance for Niime as well.

I really wish they would have done a second wave of actual BB characters before focusing on the manga - there are so many characters yet to see the light of day. It's no use crying about that now, though.

[Kirie]

I made SR predictions on another site; may as well share them here for fun.

For SoV, I'm thinking Berkut is a shoe-in for the S9 villain SR; we already know he's getting an unpromoted card, after all. That leaves 3 more... maybe Faye, Mae, and Lukas? Would be an even gender split, and those three characters are among the ones they've been promoting the most. I think Faye at least is very likely.

I'm thinking we'll see 2 other Laguz for the remaining Green SRs. Personally, I'm really hoping Lehran is one of them; he's too important of a character to have been left out of Cipher so long, and I can see him snagging an SR spot. Maybe Ranulf for 3rd? I'm not sure which of the Laguz are really all that popular. (I hardly used them in game myself (aside from the royals, anyway) due to transformation shenanigans).

Purple SRs are the real wildcard for me, because I'm guessing they'll probably go to Hasha characters and I don't know them at all. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Hardin]

For purple, I think Tiena and Kilmar will get the SR's with Al. Tiena is his love interest, and Kilmar is the typical edgy Swordmaster SR. Maybe switch out Kilmar, for Zeed since his sister Jemmie was given an R. 

 

[Troykv]

2 hours ago, Kirie said:

I made SR predictions on another site; may as well share them here for fun.

For SoV, I'm thinking Berkut is a shoe-in for the S9 villain SR; we already know he's getting an unpromoted card, after all. That leaves 3 more... maybe Faye, Mae, and Lukas? Would be an even gender split, and those three characters are among the ones they've been promoting the most. I think Faye at least is very likely.

I'm thinking we'll see 2 other Laguz for the remaining Green SRs. Personally, I'm really hoping Lehran is one of them; he's too important of a character to have been left out of Cipher so long, and I can see him snagging an SR spot. Maybe Ranulf for 3rd? I'm not sure which of the Laguz are really all that popular. (I hardly used them in game myself (aside from the royals, anyway) due to transformation shenanigans).

Purple SRs are the real wildcard for me, because I'm guessing they'll probably go to Hasha characters and I don't know them at all. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

How many SR will be in total? I need to know to speculate about the Purple SR.

And about popular Laguz... Well... We have Tibarn, Naesala, Lethe, Ranulf and Reyson I guess?

[Lightchao42]

34 minutes ago, Troykv said:

How many SR will be in total? I need to know to speculate about the Purple SR.

And about popular Laguz... Well... We have Tibarn, Naesala, Lethe, Ranulf and Reyson I guess?

Based on series 3 (which similarly had three colors) and what we know about this series, it'll be 6 Valentia, 3 Elibe, and 3 Tellius. Additionally, Valentia will get three SR+'s, while either Elibe or Tellius will get two and the other will get one.

[Troykv]

1 hour ago, Lightchao42 said:

Based on series 3 (which similarly had three colors) and what we know about this series, it'll be 6 Valentia, 3 Elibe, and 3 Tellius. Additionally, Valentia will get three SR+'s, while either Elibe or Tellius will get two and the other will get one.

Hmm... Alm and Celica sounds like easy elections for the SR+, the third person is the questionable one...

Al is the main representative of the Hasha no Tsurugi manga, so, it's essencially a safe pick for a SR+...

[Mysterique Sign]

What were Gant's and Tina's classes in their cards?

[Hardin]

50 minutes ago, Mysterique Sign said:

What were Gant's and Tina's classes in their cards?

Knight and Princess.

[Kirie]

I'm not quite sure how the SR+ situation will be handled, since it would be kind of weird for Green and Purple to have lopsided offerings. Maybe SoV will get 4 SR+ cards and Purple/Green will only get 1 each (probably Al and Skrimir, if that's the case). They could also just do 2 SR+ for each colour. I think the former is more likely, though.

[Kirie]

Another repeat livestream reveal today, this time of Al's SR:

[Kirie]

Today's reveal is our first new card since the livestream! Looks like Valbar may be an ST Exclusive character:

[escotanner]

The chin lives!

[whase]

Since many of the recently revealed cards have not yet been translated (I've been continuously refreshing the green cards wiki page since Saturday), I've decided to try translating them with nothing more than google translate and my knowledge of card games. Take these with a grain of salt as they're just my best guess:

Spoiler

Lethe
- Choose one Laguz ally, select a card from your retreat area with the same name as that ally and place it underneath. This counts as growing that unit.
- Whenever this unit grows, you may move an ally Laguz
- fighter emblem

Nasir
- When this unit is deployed, choose a medallion ally, select a card from your retreat area with the same name and place it under that unit. This counts as a level up.

Mist
- Choose a card from your retreat area other than Mist, place it in your hand.
- If your main character has at least stack 4, your main character gains +10 power
- miracle emblem

Tibarn
- If there are at least 2 other ally Laguz on the field, gain +20 power
- flier emblem

Naesala
- [tap an ally Laguz] move an enemy unit
- strategist emblem

Grommel
- (this one was tough to understand) During your turn, gain -30 power and 1-2 range
- At the end of your turn, destroy this unit

Al (3/2)
- When this unit class changes, it gains +20 power until the end of turn
- An attack emblem that only works for a certain supported character?

Gant
- During your opponent's turn, ally Tiena gets +10
- If this unit is attacked by anything but a tome affinity unit, power +20
- defender's emblem

Tiena
- Choose one card from your retreat area other than Tiena, and place it in your hand
- Until the end of turn, this unit gains +10 power and 1 range
- miracle emblem

Echidna
- When this unit is deployed, you may choose a unit with a fighter emblem from your retreat area and place it on top of your deck
- Until the end of the turn, this unit gains 1-2 range

Elphin
- Choose an ally, until the end of turn this unit's power is +10
- Choose an enemy on the back row of cost 3 or lower and move it

Grey
- If you have an ally female unit on the same row as this unit, this unit can not be moved by enemy skills

Tobin
- +10 power until the end of turn
- You may move the attacking unit (?)

Kliff
- Whenever this unit defeats a unit in battle, both you and your opponent discard a card (?)
- mage emblem

Faye
- If this unit was deployed in the same row as (some other unit?), gain +10 power until the end of turn
- flier emblem

Lukas
- When this unit defeats the enemy main character, you may move an ally unit with 1 deployment cost
- fighter emblem

Silque
- Choose one card from your retreat area other than Silque, and place it in your hand
- miracle emblem

Mae
- +10 power until the end of turn
- mage emblem

Genny
- Choose one card from your retreat area other than Genny, and place it in your hand
- miracle emblem

Boey
- If there are more than 1 ally tome affinity units, gain +20 power

Mycen
- If your main character is Alm or Celica, if an enemy can attack Mycen, they can not attack your main character.
- Until the end of turn, gain +20 power

Alphons
- When this unit is in battle with an axe affinity unit, gain +10 power
- If the attacking unit is a (certain kind of?) unit, +10 power

Shareena
- When this unit is in battle with an sword affinity unit, gain +10 power
- If the defending unit is a (certain kind of?) unit, +10 power

Anna
- If you have an ally with a symbol, during your turn gain +10 power.
- Numerous Anna

Maybe this helps someone, hope it bothers nobody. ^^'