Should You Pull? Festival: Scarlet Ice Fairy & Fantastic Monk

Maybe, but most likely No. Instead of two rerun prayers for each of these A-Type Multiverse Friends that released around the same time, A6 Cirno and A12 Byakuren Hijiri have combined to make a singular rerun prayer! Both of these Friends are definitely decent in their own right: Cirno serving as a Freeze anomaly inflictor and breaker with some debuff potential and Byakuren going hard on the offensive end with a Sun-only Last Word. As with every other A-Type Friend, they are definitely worth picking up if you are lacking in power. Unfortunately, unlike other A-Type Friends, both Cirno and Byakuren fall a bit off compared to the others, especially in comparison to the other A6 Friends.

The other main issue of this prayer is the competition. The Ultra Festival Friends, B3 Kaguya Houraisan and B3 Watatsuki no Toyohime, will already beat both of these Friends in terms of viability due to their better stats and kits. The latest Festival Friend, Keiki Haniyasushin, is also simply better, covering both breaks and damage a lot better than the Friends available here. Even the other co-running A-Type Friend, A10 Sanae Kochiya, is arguably better, giving not much reason to pull on this prayer. The primary reason for pulling is the rarity of A-Type Friends, considering that their reruns are more sparse compared to other Festival Friends, usually only coming shortly after their release and in very special prayers. However, with a runtime lasting less than a week, as the prayer ends June 19th, you really don’t have much time to choose on pulling on this prayer, especially when considering many of the other prayers end on the 24th.

At the very least, this prayer will have Ascending God Crystal Step-UP and Fortune Dust x2 on God Crystal Pulls to give an easy 20 Fortune Dust from a 60 God Crystal pull if you want to try your luck once and then dip. Since these are both Festival-ranked Friends, it will cost 150 Exchange Points to exchange for either Cirno or Byakuren.

+ 0P All-target Water on spread shot
+ 4 to 5 easy Freeze anomalies in a single turn
+ A good amount of debuffs: Yin DEF, CRIT DEF, and Evasion
+ Self-Quick makes her a reliable debuffer before the attack-focused Friends hit
- Freeze anomaly break locked at 3P of a Solo spell card
- Needs a lot of Spirit Power to function and just cannot make that herself
- Damage is underwhelming in general
- Last Word and Skill 3 debuffs lasting 1 turn can be annoying

+ 0P All-target Sun Focus Shot
+ 6/6 Sun on All-target Last Word with great damage potential
+ Good amount of Spirit Power restoration on spell 2 and skill 2
+ Spammable Burn anomalies on skill 1 can be broken with 2P Focus shot
- Backloaded LW; though slightly mitigated by Spirit Power restoration
- Little team utility outside of Accuracy support and Yin DEF debuffs
- Here for damage and not much else

Cirno is one of the most iconic and popular faces from Touhou Project. It’s a bit strange, because while she did debut alongside Sakuya Izayoi, the Scarlet sisters, and other timeless characters in the first Windows game, Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (Touhou 6), she was merely a stage 2 boss that the incident resolvers stepped right over without a second thought. Cirno herself seemed more focused on being stronger than the humans over being worried about the Scarlet Mist Incident. Even when humiliated once, Cirno didn’t give up and struck back in Perfect Cherry Blossom (Touhou 7)... as a stage 1 midboss. Even with an endless winter and the elements in her favor, Cirno could not catch a break.

However, Cirno's popularity did not stay unrewarded for long, when Cirno starred in her own game, Great Fairy Wars (Touhou 12.8). After the Three Fairies of Light (Sunny Milk, Star Sapphire, and Luna Child) destroyed Cirno's igloo, Cirno declared war all by herself and challenged all fairykind, even her friend Daiyousei. What’s even more strange than that is that… well, she won, even surprising Marisa with how strong she was! Then, Cirno would also join the playable cast in a mainline game, Hidden Star in Four Seasons (Touhou 16)! However, let’s back up a bit, as A6 Cirno is purely based off of EoSD. We know her potential, so how far does she take it in LostWord?

Cirno starts off relatively strong with a 0P Water spread shot, Hail Core, that can even target all opponents! As for her spells, her first spell, Hail Sign: Hailstorm, inflicts 2 levels of Yin DEF and Evasion DOWN (2T), along with having Melting at 3P, allowing her to break any Freeze anomalies on the target. This synergizes well with the 2 Freeze anomalies (or 3 if you win a 50% chance) she casts on all opponents after using her second spell, Snow Sign: Diamond Blizzard. While it is unfortunate that Hail Sign: Hailstorm is a Solo-target anomaly break while the rest of Cirno’s kit inflicts Freeze to all targets, she can still break the anomalies decently and be supported by other Freeze anomaly inflicters. Last but on least, her Last Word, Permanent Red Ice Fog, takes some inspiration from the Scarlet Mist Incident, combining a mix of Water and Fire breaks alongside 2 levels of Yin DEF and CRIT DEF DOWN (1T) on all foes.

Cirno’s skills continue to solidify her purpose as a Yin and CRIT debuffer. Freshwater Iceberg is a helpful first skill that inflicts 2 more Freeze anomalies for anomaly breaking. Her second skill, Superfluidity, mainly stands out for its Quick status, allowing Cirno to go first and applying her Last Word’s debuffs before stronger Friends can finish the job. Zero-Point Motion, Cirno’s third skill, is another debuff-heavy skill, both increasing her CRIT ATK by 2 levels (2T) for her Killer bullets and decreasing Evasion and CRIT Evasion of all targets by 2 levels (1T). The debuffs are definitely helpful, but Permanent Red Ice Fog and Zero-Point Motion only lasting for a single turn can be somewhat inconvenient for dealing damage outside of a one-turn burst.

The rest of A6 Cirno’s kit is rather unimpressive. She is immune to Freeze anomalies and increases her Yin DEF by Grazing to slightly increase her Hard scaling on her Last Word, but the damage dealt is still just mediocre. Without a method to increase her Spirit Power by herself, it can be difficult for Cirno to access all of her elemental breaks or even her Freeze anomaly breaks outside of help from Friends or story cards. Still, Cirno is a decent source of support through debuffs and a few anomaly breaks, setting the foundation for someone who can be the strongest…another day, perhaps.

Byakuren Hijiri was not initially born as a youkai, but instead became one from learning more and more about the magical arts. She is defined as a magician youkai, as it is possible for humans to become youkai from studying magic. This is the reason why Marisa Kirisame does not live in the human village despite being human, as the villagers fear that her magical studies will convert her to a youkai. After becoming a youkai, Byakuren feared for her longevity, as becoming a youkai paused her aging, but she still worried that she would expire without other youkai. This is why she began to protect youkai while acting like she was exterminating them from the human’s perspective. At first, it was for mutual benefit, but soon enough Byakuren started to sympathize for youkai and genuinely cared for them.

Byakuren would continue to protect youkai lives, such as freeing the phantom Minamitsu Murasa from her curse of sinking ships and gaining the trust of Ichirin Kumoi and her nyuudou Unzan. Shou Toramaru was recruited by the monk due to inhabiting the area around her temple, and the youkai around the temple came to enjoy Byakuren’s presence. Sadly, when humans discovered Byakuren’s exterminations were an act, they feared Byakuren as a demon and decided to lock her in Makai within the fires of Hokkai. 

Byakuren would stay sealed for many years, until she found herself in Gensokyo. Her youkai crew has been trying to enter Makai to save their religious leader, a plight that Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame, and Sanae Kochiya indirectly found out when seeing Murasa’s flying ship in the events of Touhou Seirensen ~ Unidentified Fantastic Object. After following them and eventually entering Makai, Byakuren’s seal is unintentionally lifted and the youkai magician could spread her teachings once more.

In LostWord, A12 Byakuren takes a more “rowdy” approach than her defensive L1 self and acts more as she did as the final boss of Unidentified Fantastic Object: aggressive. Her shots and spells have many secondary effects, from Yin ATK UP on her focus shot, Name-Reciting Chant, to Agility UP on her spread shot, Resurrecting Light of Dharma, and second spell, Superhuman: Byakuren Hijiri. That doesn’t even go into her pre-attack effects, raising her Yin ATK by 2 levels (3T) on her first spell, Great Magic: Devil’s Recitation, and giving herself 1 Burn anomaly with a 80% chance for another with Superhuman: Byakuren Hijiri. Thanks to her character ability, each Burn anomaly inflicted on herself grants her Yin and Yang ATK UP alongside CRIT ATK and Accuracy UP, only further boosting her power. Finally, Mantra of Truth is her fully-sun, Yin-only All-target Last Word that buffs her Yin ATK by 2 more levels (2T) and debuffs all targets Yin DEF by 2 levels (2T). The first line even has Sure Hit to ensure hits despite Accuracy and Evasion.

Her skills are mostly there to make her better at what she’s already doing. Her first skill, Fires of Hokkai, gives herself 2 more Burn anomalies while also inflicting 2 layers of Burn on all opponents. Name-Reciting Chant has Incineration, or Burn anomaly breaks, at 2P and Mantra of Truth has the same at 3P, meaning Byakuren can break 2 Burn barriers every 4 turns if you are patient. Persecuted Hersey primarily serves as a Spirit Power boost of 1.00, but it also gives herself 1 layer of Barrier Restoration, which is rather good with a 4 turn cooldown. Sorcerer’s Sutra Scroll is this Byakuren's main form of team support, giving all allies a CRIT ATK and Accuracy buff by 2 levels (2T), along with granting herself Charge to be supported by debuffs. 

Outside of that and the heavy damage, Byakuren is unfortunately not doing much else. Her breaking potential is pretty underwhelming when looking past the Incineration and 0P Sun on Name-Reciting Chant, as Great Magic: Devil’s Recitation is just 2 Star, Moon, and Sun breaks and Superhuman: Byakuren Hijiri has no elements at all. While no elements might assist in doing more damage and ignoring elemental resistances, it doesn’t leave Byakuren with much else to show off. However, the damage Byakuren can pull off is still very strong, and she is even known to farm 2 story card stages at the moment (with one of them being future content). Join Byakuren as she releases her inner youkai rage for being sealed away for so long!