Your first MP purchase is often a huge choice. Given that you are a non-IAP player, have reasonable restraint, and a penchant for nice things, MP purchases often are a hard choice to make. Largely, it is highly recommended NOT to buy an MP purchase simply because you think it would make for a great card to enhance your box, because chances are it WONT. MP purchases often require an existing set of cards in the box, and without them you will be buying an average card that won't help your box.
Generally, don't buy evo materials, latents, tans, or pys unless you are already on an MP farm, but then why would you be planning your first MP purchase? These are luxury purchases if you can afford it, but you should be saving for those 300k cards that you may need eventually.
MP DRAGONS
Shiva Dragon is an outdated farming lead, and his Suvo gives him a slight attack boost to help farm faster. Shivadra isn't comparatively a great lead in today's meta, but also has a very low sub requirement to run properly. Able to run both TPAs or Rows, the only hard restriction is getting good God types to put on the team. Shivadra as a sub is very bad, and is often just a stat stick. His skill is a great haste, but often you would rather have utility or an orb change instead. You can always inherit on top, but a base of 12 is unappealing.
CONSIDER: You have a great fire box, and you managed to pull a few Sado/Chad from Bleach collab for inherits but didn't get Yamamoto. You also do not have a leader stronger than 25x and are willing to give up your MP for an average leader.
AVOID: No fire box, or only have a few fire subs that generate orbs. You may have a leader in the box that is already stronger than Shivadra, even if you don't necessarily have the subs for that leader.
The release of heroines and Meri have given players not willing to roll in that REM an option to pair with their Neptune Dragon. Nepdra supplies a HP boost to a Meri team, which she needs, but weakens the team due to being extremely orb hungry and may hold back Meri from what she does best. The subs for Nepdra are heavily REM dependent, and the high orb requirement is a turn off for farming or speed runs, without Toshiro. As a sub, the amount of Row awakenings is great, but else it is another stat stick. Poison has been relegated to a few niche uses, and often Rodin is a better choice due to skill boosts, or the farmable staple Lilith.
CONSIDER: You have multiple Toshiro or a lot of water row subs with high orb creation. You also have a friend with Meri who is willing to coop with Neptune Dragon, or another Neptune Dragon friend.
AVOID: You are true non-IAP and do not roll in collabs. Other water leads in your box work just as well, if not better, and Neptune Dragon isn't entirely game changing for your current content.
Odin Dragon is the first MP purchase to receive a split ult, with one being an "easy" sub ultimate and the other a "hard" lead ultimate. The sub ultimate does what Grodin already does, but better and costs MP. The lead ult isn't the greatest of leads, but offers offensive awakenings on a high utility sub. Odindra is more of a luxury sub buy, but it is worth the cost if you have bad luck and cannot roll any bind clear subs. It can also be used if you consider using Grodin cheese teams, or just need a lot of auto heals on a low recovery team.
CONSIDER: I would recommend buying Odindra if none of the other MP purchases can fit your box, or you really need an unbindable bind clear sub on a team that doesn't mind the typing or attribute. Still, if it is your only option and you absolutely have to spend your MP, it is a good choice as a luxury bind clear sub.
AVOID: You have numerous bind clears in the box already that can also be inherited, or Grodin. Other purchases are better options if your box supports those purchases.
Fear the Mega Ultimate God Chicken, and for good reason. Ra Dragon is the prime example of a good lead in Suvo, though the ultimate is yet to be found in NA. Radra is extremely strong, provided you have the supporting subs/inherits to round the team. Radra can do high amounts of damage, receiving better control in Suvo, and also includes an all stat boost to make a lot of content much easier. If you are also comfortable with complete color matching and have experience in using rainbow teams, Radra is the lead for you. Radra otherwise is a stat stick sub, and doesn't offer much to a team.
CONSIDER: You have GOD tier luck(or whale) in rolling in Godfests and can reliably activate Radra. You have at least one DKali, or an inheritable Dkali board change, and the unbindable color subs to never get color locked. If solo, you also need a double SBR sub that can supplement the team like Indra or Ganesha, or until NA receives Suvo.
AVOID: You don't have the subs. You don't have the subs. YOU DONT HAVE THE SUBS
One of the best arena farming leads with the right subs, and even better once the Suvo hits NA. Unlike the other MP drags, Yomidra is a good sub on teams that she fits on, being an unbindable utility bind clear as well as a good orb maker with strong awakenings. While Yomidra as a lead will work best if you have the box to support it, there are numerous options than can work, as long as you have 5 dark OE+ awakenings. Suvo Yomidra however didn't get the same treatment as Suvo Radra, as in an HP boost, but has a very strong multiplier and system to farm A1 very reliably with little effort.
CONSIDER: You have prime dark OE+ God subs, or enough to make a team with 5 OE+. Can also supplement your existing teams with her great orb creation and utility, as well as an inherit base for a burst or important skill.
AVOID: You do not have enough subs to run Yomidra, or a team that necessarily requires her kind of utility. Other purchases may suit your box better, or you have a stronger lead already.
FOUR GENTLEMEN
Orchid was an example of a stellar but restrictive row leader. XM dominated the meta for awhile, until heart crosses entered the scene and was eventually overshadowed by Krishna. Her high team HP followed by a good variable multiplier allowed her to tackle content with relative ease, and her skill guaranteed decent activation as well as haste utility for the team. In addition, the high RCV of her subs covered her lack of an RCV multiplier, so she was an all around good leader that could have also been used as a system. A lackluster sub outside her system.
CONSIDER: You have Gadius and Uriel x2, and another fire healer heartmaker to round out the team. You also want to run an outdated leader that nearly everyone has dropped due to the gatekeeper, Krishna.
AVOID: You don't have Gadius and Uriel x 2, and won't be buying dupes of XM to run the system.
A luxury glass cannon lead, You Yu can deal some real damage with average subs. There isn't much YY can't overpower with his damage, but glass cannon with no recovery multiplier severely hurts in the endgame. As the meta shifted to becoming tanky, glass cannon leads have fallen off in use, but YY is still a great choice for those with a well developed blue TPA box. YY can also supplement water teams as a luxury damage sub, but lacks any kind of useful utility and his orb creation isn't the greatest.
CONSIDER: You have Scheat and a well developed water box. You are also looking for a high damage lead to post numbers and can already clear content with your other leaders consistently. You also have access to inheritable shields and can support his orb hungry nature.
AVOID: You don't have a blue box, or are trying to look for a better leader. YY is for players with already developed boxes with multiple leaders and generally isn't a great main leader.
I've highly considered buying Xiu Min for awhile now due to his buffs, but have held back on it due to rolling Tifa. Like You Yu, Xiu Min is very orb hungry and has low RCV. Xiu Min is largely a high damage row lead, that requires the player to already have a strong light box to supplement his hunger. As a sub, his orb make can guarantee a row on a relatiely high CD, and offers teams lots of HP and no RCV. There really isn't much to note about Xiu Min due to other leads supporting HP builds better and often times his orb efficiency is not the greatest.
CONSIDER: You want/have many Tifa friends, and a light box that supports orb hunger. You may have a recovery inherit to help against gravity, and you are generally good at saving orbs to burst.
AVOID: You already own Tifa or Ilm, so its better to save MP and find Xiu Min friends or pair with the other lead for better sustain and damage consistency.
Plum has also received buffs alongside Xiu Min, but her restrictive sub pool and lack of high heart creation largely turns off players from her playstyle. A luxury staple sub for Gremory teams, the inclusion of gods to Gremory's LS means that players may want to go with Yomidra as a sub instead. Orb hunger and restrictive sub pool for her attribute make for an unattractive leader, so many times Plum is bought for her use as a sub. At least she's got great assets and boasts a thicc frame.
CONSIDER: You already have a decent Gremory team and you need a haste sub to increase her skill use active. You also plan to buy dupes or have the few good dark and balanced heartmaking subs available to her like lead Akechi or Anaphon to run her as a lead.
AVOID: You don't need thicc in your box, and she won't help your teams at all.
BASICALLY MP DRAGON
Another high luxury sub, Ragnarok Dragon is one of the best MP purchases one can buy, provided it can comfortably fit on the team. However, RagDrag is best used on MAthena speed farm A1 teams, possibly with duplicates, or on teams like Ronove or Roots. RagDrag is not a very good leader due to machine typing restriction, and a not so great multiplier. You are better off buying RagDrag as a sub than a leader.
CONSIDER: You mainly run Roots or Ronove, and want a luxury sub that is unbindable, has a DKali board, and hastes. Also if you have MAthena and plan to speed farm A1 with the proper setup and inherits.
AVOID: RagDrag does not fit on any teams you run.
OVERVIEW
Without the guarantee of DAthena coming to NA, it may be difficult to hold onto MP at this point. If she does get confirmed for NA, I highly recommend saving for DAthena as long as you have a 2 SBR dark sub. Otherwise, MP purchases largely depend on having a relative box that supports them, so let your box determine your purchase. MP buys are not as strong as they used to be, and alternatives to these purchases do exist. At some point, I may cover the other lesser purchases, but they are largely exquisite box cheerleaders, meme leads, or the puppeteers for cheese teams.
Questions? Team building advice? Want to talk to me? You can usually find me on PadRagnarok's discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/011OOhf7gdxMdQhcS
Questions? Team building advice? Want to talk to me? You can usually find me on PadRagnarok's discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/011OOhf7gdxMdQhcS
