Pulling Kitasan Black: Should You Do It?
The short answer is yes, you should pull for Kitasan Black! For the long answer, read the rest of this article.
And yes, this support card is so important long-term that she deserves an entire guide. Without a doubt.
Note that this article will be one big dose of meta. If you're happy just watching your girls run and you don't care about how strong your account is, you can safely skip this.
Table of Contents
Should I Reroll?
A lot of people, both newbies and players with established accounts, are asking whether they should reroll (start a new account). The answer will depend on your situation.
I'm completely new!
Great! Welcome to the game, this is the perfect time to start. The current banner is amazing to reroll on, so you're just in time. Skip to the next section!
I'm F2P and have a lot of carats saved (>15k)!
Your goal would be reaching at least one full pity (200 pulls, 30k carats). Why that's a good idea will be explained below.
You don't need 30k carats when the banner starts, it's important that you make it to 200 pulls by the time it ends. Check CMountain's spreadsheet for any potential sources of carats you might be missing.
I'm F2P and my carats are low!
Some people are thinking about rerolling their current accounts because they don't have enough currency to pull for Kitasan. While it can be a good idea in some cases, there are many things to consider:
- Pull with whatever you have before throwing your account away. You might get lucky.
- If your account is otherwise strong (e.g., Fine Motion + Super Creek, preferably multiple copies of both), rerolling might be taking two steps back so you can take one forward. Try your luck on the banner if you want (or save), but rather than rerolling, consider saving enough for when it eventually reruns.
- Generally, if your account is well-established and you've spent a lot of hours on it... think about whether rerolling for meta is gonna make you happy, or if it's gonna burn you out. You can still play the game without Kitasan. You don't "need" any supports to enjoy the game. However, rerolling is still a legit choice.
- If you're not attached to your account, you care about meta at least a little bit, and don't mind rerolling, then go ahead!
Note (July 18): Cygames have decided to spice things up with more free pulls, and new accounts start with 97 (!) rolls now. This is an amazing time to reroll. If you're still on the fence and not attached to your account, I'd lean toward just rerolling at this point.
I'm a low or medium spender!
This is a great banner to spend money on! Plan your savings and try to get to 200 or 400 pulls, since you get a free copy of Kitasan after every 200 pulls.
I spend a lot of money on this game!
MLB Kitasan, no questions asked. She's probably the best long-term investment support this game has ever had.
How Much Should I Pull?
Are you rerolling or not?
I'm rerolling!
(If you don't know how to reroll, it's very simple! Just use all your currency on gacha, and if you don't like the account, go back to Title Screen, click on the bottom right options, and Delete User Data. This will wipe your account if it's not linked by a password, so make sure you actually want to do it!)
At the moment (July 18), new accounts start with 14670 carats, or 97 pulls (this can change).
97 pulls puts us at approximately:
- 38.5% chance for one or more Kitasan
- 8.5% chance for two or more Kitasans
- 1.3% chance for three or more Kitasans
- 0.15% chance for four or more Kitasans.
That means, if you're rerolling, you should always aim for, at the very least, two copies.
However, unless you DESPISE rerolling with passion, you should really try going for three copies. 97 pulls for new accounts on a banner like this is amazing, and you should take the opportunity.
The reroll gets you to almost half a full pity (i.e., a free copy at 200 pulls). If you can get 3 copies from the reroll, and then play the game enough to get another 100 rolls before the banner ends, you can guarantee yourself at least a 3LB Kitasan. And that's one hell of a start!
Also, the cards that were good previously and still good! Getting 3 copies of Kitasan Black and one of (Fine Motion / Super Creek) is the dream.
I'm faithful to my account!
First, you can check your odds in the Banner Planner.
The Umamusume gacha has a pity mechanic—a free copy of the rated-up character or support after doing 200 pulls on her banner.
So, you should aim to do 200 pulls (30k carats). If you're spending money, 400 (or until you have 5 copies, which is MLB—maximum limit break).
If you absolutely cannot get to 200 pulls before the banner ends, you can pull anyway and try your luck (but seriously, try to get there). Some people might recommend saving instead, but you should only do that if your SR supports are already solid. If you've been skipping support banners until now, and skip this one as well, you're in for a world of pain. There's no other must-pull banner in the near future, and you just won't get enough supports by never pulling.
If your current supports are bad AND you don't have enough currency to pull on this banner... it might be a good time to consider just rerolling your account.
Anyway, you're not expected to get a full MLB in 200 pulls. That would be some seriously good luck. But the banner is still worth it!
So, Why Should I Pull?
There are two main reasons:
- Kitasan Black (Speed) is an amazing support, and you want to MLB her eventually.
- You will get a lot of SR cards as a byproduct, and SR cards are very strong in this game.
The second point is extremely important. Some SR cards are actually pretty amazing in Umamusume, stronger than many SSRs!
The current pool of SRs already has some exceptional ones (like Sweep Tosho Speed). Which is why you want to spend carats on the support gacha anyway, before the pool gets more diluted.
And what better time to do that than now?
So yes, even if you can't MLB, pull on this banner. You can finish the MLB during a rerun, or with the (very rare) Limit Break Crystals that will be released later.
The Non-MLB Kitasan Dilemma
You might have heard that it's not really worth it to use Kitasan Black unless she's 3LB or MLB. And it's pretty much true.
One of the biggest strengths of Kitasan Black is the huge Specialty Priority effect she gets at 3LB (and it's strenghtened even further at MLB).
It's not that she's a horrible card before 3LB. The thing is, she is such an amazing support at MLB that it's worth borrowing her instead of using your own, low-copy Kitasan.
So yes, it might feel weird to get your two Kitasan copies and then still used a borrowed one, but it's normal. This banner is a good investment into the future. Plus you'll get a lot of shiny SRs, and that's what will make your account stronger, even if your Kitasan is not yet MLB!
