You’ve finally rolled that 3-star character you wanted. You hit the training center, ready to conquer the URA Finals or the latest Scenario, only to end up with a girl who has the stamina of a wet paper towel and the speed of a snail. It's frustrating. Honestly, it's usually not your horse girl’s fault. The problem is almost always your deck. Uma Musume Pretty Derby support cards are the actual engine under the hood of this game, and if you treat them like an afterthought, you're going to keep losing.
Most players just look at the rarity. They see an SSR and think it's automatically better than an SR. That is a massive trap. In the world of Uma Musume, a max-limit-broken (MLB) SR card often wipes the floor with a base-level SSR that has zero stars. It’s about the bonuses, the "Hint" levels, and that elusive thing called Friendship Training.
The Stats Nobody Explains Properly
Let’s get real about what these cards actually do. When you're picking your six cards, you aren't just picking stat sticks. You're picking a curriculum. If you load up on Speed cards but your girl is a Long Distance runner like Mejiro McQueen, you’re basically training a sprinter to run a marathon. It won’t work.
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Training Efficiency is king. You want cards that have high Friendship Bonus and Training Effect Up. Why? Because once that bond gauge hits orange, you get those rainbow-glowing training sessions. That’s where the real gains happen. If your support cards don't have a high "Starting Bond" stat, you waste half the scenario just trying to get them to like you. You're basically chasing them around the school like a weirdo instead of actually training.
Then there’s the Specialty Rate. This is a hidden killer. If a Speed card has a low Specialty Rate, it’ll show up at the Stamina or Guts training spots instead of Speed. It’s annoying. You need your cards to actually be where they belong. Cards like Kitasan Black (SSR) became legendary not just because of her skills, but because her Specialty Rate was so high she felt glued to the Speed training button.
Skills vs. Stats: The Great Debate
Skills are flashy. We all love seeing those gold icons pop up during a race. But here is a hard truth: a gold skill won't save you if your raw stats are trash. Uma Musume Pretty Derby support cards provide both, but the priority should always be stats first, skills second—unless we are talking about "Maestro" or "Arc de Lumiere."
Some skills are mandatory for certain distances. If you don't have a Stamina recovery skill for a 3200m race, your horse girl will literally run out of gas and start walking at the final stretch. It’s painful to watch. This is why cards like Super Creek (SSR) stayed in the meta for years. Her "Pure Heart" (Maestro) skill was the gold standard for staying alive in long races.
Why SR Cards are Secretly Your Best Friends
Stop ignoring your SRs. Seriously.
If you are a free-to-play player or even a light spender, a Level 45 SR is your bread and butter. Take a card like Marvelous Sunday (SR). She’s an Intelligence card, but her bonuses are so well-rounded that she fits into almost any deck when you're starting out. Or look at Sweep Tosho (SR). She gives a massive Speed boost and has a random event that can give you the "One-Track Mind" status, which is huge for training efficiency.
The math is simple. An SSR at Level 30 (no uncaps) usually has a Training Effect of maybe 5% or 10%. A Level 45 SR often hits 15% or higher. Plus, the SRs are way easier to "Limit Break" because you’ll pull copies of them constantly while chasing the shiny new SSR banners. Use them. Lean on them.
The Power Creep is Real (But Manageable)
The game evolves. What worked in the URA Finals era doesn't necessarily work in the newer scenarios like Project L'Arc or U.A.F. Ready GO!. The developers at Cygames love shifting the meta. They do this by introducing cards that cater to specific scenario mechanics.
Take Mejiro Ramonu (SSR). When she arrived, she redefined what an Intelligence card could do by offering a stacking bonus based on how many speed skills you acquired. She didn't just give stats; she rewarded you for playing the game a certain way. If you're using old-school cards in a new-school scenario, you're playing at a disadvantage.
Intelligence Cards are Not Optional
Early on, people thought Intelligence was a dump stat. "Who cares if she's smart if she's fast?" they said. Wrong. Intelligence dictates how often your skills trigger and how well the girl positions herself in the pack. If your Int is low, she’ll get "blocked" by other runners and spend the whole race stuck behind a wall of horse girls, unable to break out.
Moreover, training Intelligence restores a small amount of Stamina (HP). It’s a free turn. In a high-level deck, having two strong Intelligence cards is the difference between having to hit the "Rest" button (and risking a "Sleepy" debuff) or power-training through the entire summer camp.
How to Build a Deck That Doesn't Suck
Build for the distance. That's the golden rule.
- Short Distance/Mile: You want 3 Speed, 2 Intelligence, and maybe a Friend/Group card. You don't need much Stamina because the race is over in a flash. Focus on "Power" to ensure she can accelerate out of the gate.
- Medium/Long Distance: You absolutely need Stamina support. Usually, a 2 Speed, 2 Stamina, 2 Intelligence split works, or you swap a Stamina card for a Power card that has a Stamina sub-stat.
Don't forget the Friend Cards. Cards like Tazuna, Akebono, or the scenario-specific NPCs are weird. They don't give traditional training in the same way, but they reduce failure rates and give massive energy boosts. In some scenarios, they are mandatory. In others, they're a waste of a slot. You have to read the room. Or the patch notes.
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The Friend Slot Strategy
Always, always borrow a max-level SSR from your friend list. Even if your own collection is pathetic, that one Level 50 Kitasan Black or Duramente can carry your entire run. Don't be proud. Use the follow system to find players who have the "Whale" cards and let them do the heavy lifting for you.
Common Mistakes with Support Cards
Most people fail because they "chase hints." You see an exclamation point on a card and you click it because you want that skill. But if that card is standing alone in the Guts training area and you have a triple-friendship stack in Speed? Go to Speed. Every time. Raw stats win races. Skills just make those wins look pretty.
Another mistake: ignoring the "Condition." Some cards give you "Excellent Condition" or "Small Talk" perks. Keeping your horse girl’s mood at "Perfect" (the pink smiley face) gives a 20% bonus to all training gains. If a support card event offers to raise her mood, take it. It’s worth more than the +10 Speed choice.
Lastly, stop spreading your resources too thin. Focus on leveling up a core group of cards. It’s better to have five Level 45 cards than twenty Level 35 cards. Support points and Mana are expensive. Spend them wisely.
Moving Forward: Your Training Plan
You need to audit your library. Go into your support card menu right now and filter by "Limit Break." Look at those SRs you have at 3 or 4 stars. Level them up. They are going to be your workhorses while you slowly save up "Jewels" for the next meta-defining SSR banner.
Watch the "Tier Lists," but take them with a grain of salt. A Tier 0 card is only Tier 0 if you have the resources to max it out. For most of us, the best Uma Musume Pretty Derby support cards are the ones we actually have at high levels.
Actionable Steps for Better Runs:
- Check the Scenario: Ensure your deck matches the current scenario’s gimmick (e.g., focusing on specific training types highlighted by the scenario mechanics).
- Prioritize Bond: In the first year of training, click on whatever buttons have the most people. Get those bond gauges up by the end of the first December.
- Balance your Stats: Use a calculator or a guide to see how much Stamina you actually need for your target race. Don't overtrain stats you don't need.
- Borrow Wisely: Use your daily 5 "Rentals" on the highest-tier, max-level card that fixes your deck's biggest weakness.
- Event Choices: Memorize (or look up) the event outcomes. Choosing the bottom option vs. the top option can be the difference between getting a "Gold Skill" or just a handful of Stamina points.
Stop clicking buttons randomly and start looking at the bonuses. The difference between a B-rank and an SS-rank horse isn't luck; it's how you use your cards. Now get back to the stable. That Mejiro Arima Kinen isn't going to win itself.