Puzzle and Dragons: Player’s Choice Godfest May 2016
Oh Player’s Choice Godfest, how I love thee. For those of you not familiar with Puzzle and Dragons (PAD), which if you listen to the Stone Age Gamer podcast right here on Geekade there is no way you could not, it is a puzzle/rpg/strategy game for mobile devices. It is free to play but does have in app purchases. The most simple description I can give it is that it combines the monster collecting and evolving of things like Pokemon with the puzzle solving of match three mobile games. It’s deeper than that though. There is a ton of strategy involved in building your teams and planning your combos. The monsters on your team are acquired from either drops in regular dungeons or through the Rare Egg Machine (REM). It is the monsters from the REM that we will be discussing today. Twice a year in North America, four times a year in Japan, the PAD community is given the opportunity to vote on 25 – 30 monsters that are featured in the REM. For five magic stones you get to make a pull and try your luck, just like gambling, kids! Now, there is no guarantee that you will get one of the featured monsters, you may still pull some bullshit, but your chances are better than normal. I saved up a ton of stones for this and made 15 pulls. What did I get? Read on and find out.
Pull 001: Red Dragonbound, Gadius
My first pull ended up being Gadius, one of the newer Godfest Exclusive cards. A part of the dragonbound series, Gadius evolves into a Red/Light powerhouse for row and healer teams. He was voted into this GF solely on the basis of him being a sub for Xiang Mei. As far as his impact for my teams, I’m not entirely sure where he will fit. I don’t usually play row based monsters and that is where his actives really come out. As a healer based combo lead, I’m not blown away. He may find a home on a fire team eventually but as for now, he will sit for a bit.
Pull 002: Shiva
My second pull was the number one monster on my wish list, Shiva. Now, Shiva is not the strongest lead in the game but he is still capable of clearing most of the content in the game. His playstyle is based on combos and two prong attacks and as a Bastet main, he is right up my alley. He has a ton of great awakenings, is relatively easy to use, and is able to use a bunch of different monsters as subs. Overall, I am super excited about pulling this card, tbh my daughter Prex pulled it; check out the video here, and cannot wait to build a team and use him.
Pull 003: L.Kali
Pull three, done by my other daughter Katie-Cakes-Party-Party, is one of the most desired cards in the game. Kali is super strong as a sub or a lead, especially with her current buff to x56.25 damage, and is pretty easy to evolve. Her stats are really well distributed and her awakenings and skills make her a fit in a lot of places. I already had a D.Kali in my box so with this pull, I’ve got the makings of a few different rainbow foundations. I’m not sure where I am going to use her but I am damn sure going to find a spot.
Pull 004: Shining Dragon Swordsman
Pull number four is just yuck. I mean, after those first three, there was bound to be some disappointment. This guy is probably going to be sold for monster points but may end up being fused for his plus 50 stats. As a card, there isn’t a ton to like here outside of his bind clearing active. Disappointing but thems the breaks.
Pull 005: Red Dragonbound, Gadius
A dupe Gadius so… yeah?
Pull 006: Shining Dragon Knight
The evolved form of my fourth pull, this guy is a bit better but not by much. He may stick around for the new skill inheritance system. His active clears binds by 3 turns which is not nothing. Other than that though, I’m not bowled over by him.
Pull 007: Da Qiao & Xiao Qiao
This is more like it. Above I said I didn’t play the row style and while that is true, this card may make me change my tune. With a new Awoken Evolution slated to hit NA soon, please be soon Gungho, DqXq goes from pretty good to damn good with an attack multiplier of x100 with relatively easy to meet requirements. I have an okayish light box to use as subs for this card and can use some of my off color cards as well. Overall, this is a really powerful leader card and one I was happy to pull.
Pull 008: Basilisk
So yeah, when gambling, and make no mistake that’s exactly what this is, sometimes the house wins. Thank goodness that each of these monsters comes with a +50 and is worth at least a few thousand monster points otherwise this type of pull might make me throw my phone against a wall. Nothing to see here folks. Boo.
Pull 009: Earth Dragon Knight
An okay card due to the active, bind clearing like the Knight above, and the fact that I run a mono green team mostly. Still, a disappointing pull as like the Basilsik, this was not featured in either the PCGF lineup or the Light Gala that was running along side it. The stats are okay and with skill inheritance this has its place. Not my best luck though to be sure.
Pull 010: Ruka
I knew at some point I was going to pull a Fuu. I seem to roll that damn card every single event. And with a Light Gala going on, it was almost a certainty. Such was not the case however as I rolled Ruka instead. There are some who would have been happy with this roll, I was not among them however. I do not use Water teams often and when I do, Ruka would not have a spot on them. Not a bad card really, especially when maxed, but not for me.
Pull 011: Red Riding Hood
The last of the fairytale girls I needed to complete my set of sold pantheon. To be honest, I probably should keep her but won’t. She has a place as her active creates hearts and clears 3 turns of bind. She is worthwhile skill inheritance fodder but one of those cards I just don’t want in my box for some reason. Everybody has a set of cards that piss them off, this is one of mine.
Pull 012: Immortal Dragon, Cursed Wyrm
A few months and many levels ago I would have been pretty stoked for this card. Dragon and Devil typing are good to have if you have the right leader cards and his stats overall aren’t terrible. However, with where I am in the game at this moment, this really does nothing for me. I don’t have a dark team really to speak of and outside of some niche uses perhaps, there is really no place for him. Will probably sell or fuse. (the art is terrible though, just awful)
Pull 013: Shiva
Dupe Shiva… I like it. Was super excited for the first one, still excited for this one. Would have like maybe something different but I’ll take it.
Pull 014: Isis
That’s more like it. Isis is a card I’ve wanted for quite some time. She has tons of uses throughout the game and is a very strong card overall. Her evo mats are reasonable and her active when leveled is pretty stellar. Once her active is max skilled you get a shield and bind recovery on 3 turns. Isis also has a super easy to activate leader skill. She is a great card to have and works as either a lead early game or sub late game. Dig it.
Pull 015: Da Qiao Xiao Qiao
My last pull ends up as a dupe I’m pretty happy with. DQXQ is a damn fine sub for herself. Now to wait even more impatiently for that awoken form…
And that’s it. Fifteen pulls, some really good stuff, some decent dupes, overall I’m happy. It certainly could have been better but it could have been oh so much worse. Check out our youtube page for a full video of me, Dean, and Evan making our pulls and don’t forget to like and subscribe.
