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Should You Pull? Story Card Collection (June-July 2022)

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Should You Pull?

A slight lean toward Yes, depending on what you require Story Card-wise. Coming back from the start of the 1st Anniversary celebrations (and right when they are about to end) is the Story Card Collection special prayer! If you are unfamiliar with this type of prayer, you can check the previous Should You Pull for the last Story Card Collection, as the format of this Should You Pull will be very similar. But put simply, instead of pulling for featured Friends, only story cards are featured here, with only 4* or 5* cards being obtainable!

Some players may not understand the importance of story cards compared to Friends. Story cards are practically your RPG equipment for the game, being the items that enhance your Friends’ spell card damage, base stats, and even more! Every story card has its own special use and stats they provide, making choosing the best one sometimes a greater puzzle than the Friend that you should choose for the battle itself! Before you just hit “Suggested Cards” on the Equip menu, consider reading more about the important uses of story cards below.

In terms of the cards featured this selection, you have returning faces in the form of all of the 4* story cards: It’s Spring!, Midnight Tea, and Rabbit of Good Fortune. The first two cards are especially good for newer players due to being easy-to-obtain Spirit Power boost cards. The 5* story card Bonds of Blood returns as well, with the rest of the 5* lineup being completely new: Mega Flare, Members of the Yakumo Family, Standing Behind You, and Mansion of Memories. Every one of these cards has their use in a challenging fight, with special shoutout to Mansion of Memories for its teamwide Yin ATK buffs! 

Pulling on this prayer will depend on if you are truly lacking any good story card effects, but what truly solidifies the practicality of this banner are the deals. Not only are you ensured only 4* or 5* cards, cutting out most of the useless cards, but the crystal cost of 10-pulling on this prayer is halved, meaning it takes only 25 Seal Crystals or 300 God Crystals to pull! On top of that, pulling with God Crystals ensures at least 3 5* story cards, which can of course include the featured cards available! 

This prayer will last for a longer time than usual special prayers, specifically concluding July 15th. Exchange Points are available for this prayer as well, making for a rather strong combination with the halved crystal cost. Every 4* story card costs 30 Exchange Points to obtain, while the 5* cards will cost you 50 Exchange Points.

Quick Overview

[Numbers in brackets are buffs at Max Limit Break or stat sticks at Max Enhance]

  • Party’s Yin ATK 1 [2] level(s) UP (2T)
  • Focus 2 [3] levels DOWN (3T)
  • Energy Bullet power 15% [20%] UP (1T)
  • Health +70 [+370]
  • Yin ATK +46 [+106]
  • Agility 2 levels UP (3T)
  • Sun power 15% [30%] UP (1T)
  • Fire power 15% [30%] UP (1T)
  • Yang ATK +35 [+105]
  • Yin ATK +25 [+75]
  • Moon power 15% [30%] UP (1T)
  • CRIT ATK 2 levels UP (2T)
  • DMG from younger sisterly prescenes 25% [30%] DOWN (3T)
  • Yang ATK +35 [+95]
  • Yin ATK +25 [+85]
  • Yang ATK 2 [3] levels UP (2T)
  • Water power 10% UP (1T)
  • Sun DMG from enemy 15% [20%] DOWN (2T)
  • Agility +30 [+90]
  • Yang DEF +30 [+90]
  • Fire power 30% [50%] UP (1T)
  • DMG from Sages of Gensokyo 20% DOWN (2T)
  • Yang ATK +25 [+55]
  • Yin ATK +45 [+125]
  • Spirit Power collection rate 25% [40%] UP (1T)
  • Adds 1 layer to Barrier
  • Health +100 [+350]
  • Yang DEF +20 [+70]
  • Spirit Power 1.00 [1.50] UP
  • DMG from maids 15% DOWN (3T)
  • Yin ATK +14 [+64]
  • Yin DEF +26 [+76]
  • Spirit Power 1.00 [1.50] UP 
  • DMG from those with a connection to spring 15% DOWN (3T)
  • Yang ATK +22 [+72]
  • Yang DEF +18 [+68]

In-Depth Story Card Effects

The following section will review where the featured story cards will be most helpful, mainly based on their effects. Do note that using a story card as a stat stick, or mainly for the stats it provides, is always valid, but more often than not a story card is highly valued for its effect. Some cards will also have multiple effects, but most of the time the card will be considered based on its most important effect, which is (usually) the first effect listed.

Spirit Power Restoration
Primary Story Cards: It’s Spring!, Midnight Tea

Extra Spirit Power is always heavily appreciated in a story card slot, as Spirit Power is your most basic necessity in order to dish out better attacks, either in forms of damage or secondary effects on specific spells or shots. Both It’s Spring! and Midnight Tea provide the same Spirit Power boost, with their main difference being if you’d either have a Yin or Yang stat stick. While these two cards are only 4*s and definitely do not reach the practicality level of insane cards like The Witch of Scarlet Dreams, these two are still great beginner options when you do not have enough copies of the previously mentioned farmable card. 

Unlike last time where Rabbit of Good Fortune was lumped in at the end, it will be included here due to its somewhat similar effect. Its primary purpose is to increase Spirit Power collection rate, a benefit that is much more situational when compared to direct Spirit Power increases. It may be the least useful card in this prayer, but it does at the very least provide 1 layer of Barrier upon using the spell card it is attached to, which can have its moments in certain situations. Still not enough to outplay Spirit Power Restoration cards, sadly.

Bullet Type Damage UP
Primary Story Cards: Mega Flare, Bonds of Blood

These types of cards are a bit more context-based, requiring a Friend’s spell card to have the right type of Bullet Type or Element to fully benefit from its effects, but for the right Friend, these cards are perfect! Bonds of Blood specifically stands proud as a 50% boost to any Fire bullets on a spell card, something any Fire-focused Friend will love. Mega Flare, on the other hand, is in a slightly weirder spot. 30% boosts for both Sun and Fire mean that the spell card needs both Sun and Fire on it to fully benefit, something that is very rare.

Only Utsuho Reiuji really can use it to its full extent, which is ironically who is featured on the card. More often than not, the Friends shown on the story card usually veer toward who the card is good for. But situations vary, and always remember to check your Friend’s kit before locking in a story card, especially for cards like these!

Stat Buffs
Primary Story Cards: Standing Behind You, Members of the Yakumo Family, Mansion of Memories

Outside of Spirit Power restoration, stat buffs might be the most practical effect to run on many Friends, primarily because story card buffs can be good on either normal spells or Last Words depending on the buffs’ turn endurance. The most effective buffs are ones that last either 2 or 3 turns, allowing for effects to linger over a longer time in hard fights. Multiple-turn buffs also allow buffs from spell cards to be transferred to your Last Word for very strong payoffs! 

Standing Behind You may seem like a confusing pick here since its first effect describes Moon power UP, but a small 30% boost is really not worth it most of the time. Instead, 2 levels of CRIT ATK UP is something many Friends can appreciate, especially when a Friend can hit Killer bullets on their Last Word for guaranteed critical hits. On top of that, its stat sticks are balanced to be nice for Yin and Yang attackers alike. If you want something that appeals directly to Yang attackers though, look at Members of the Yakumo Family’s whopping 3 levels of Yang ATK UP for 2 turns! Its secondary effects may be pretty pointless, but this 3-level buff is more than enough to be very useful on Yang nukes.

Mansion of Memories really deserves its own section, standing out as the best (and newest) story card on this prayer. Not only is its Yin ATK stat stick rather high for story card standards, but its Yin support goes all way by giving the whole team 2 levels of Yin ATK UP! This is a very unique effect, as no other story card currently gives this much of a notable buff to everyone on the team. Its Focus DOWN effect isn’t really that great (especially if it means enemies do more damage to your squisher Friends), but its Energy Bullet power buff can potentially be used on Friends with Energy Bullet spells. Even then, having a teamwide buff on a story card is something that should not be overlooked, especially nowadays with challenging content that rewards smart play with team synergy and support.

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About the Author(s)

I mainly go by Neku on Discord and primarily focus on writing articles for Touhou Lostword. You can usually find me on the Touhou Lostword Official Discord (Neku#9644) if needed for edits regarding any information on that side. 

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