Hi guys, welcome to the latest New Unit Analysis! Today we'll be covering the last of this batch Duel-SGX, and what a unit to finish on!

We'll be looking to see how Duel-SGX compares with some fellow dark units as well as some fellow offensive buffers (Bordebegia isn't included because he's not released yet in Global, that comparison will be in his own analysis). We'll then look at how our favourite crab fits into the current metagame and how he'll fare in the future.

Let's get started!

Disclaimer: As always, I try to keep these as objective as possible, but they're ultimately my opinion and yours may differ. Please read them with an open mind and a view to make your own decisions. :>

Duel-SGX vs. Zephyr, Kikuri, Michele, Aisha

Duel-SGX's Stats:

Lord: HP 5676 ATK 1592 DEF 1833 REC 1520

Max Imp Bonuses: HP 750 ATK 240 DEF 240 REC 420

LS: 25% boost to ATK of all units and chance to ignore DEF when attacking (DEF ignore chance 15%)

Hit count: 15 (drop check count 2/hit)

BB: Increases critical hit chance of all allies for 3 turns and adds Dark attribute to the attacks of all allies for 3 turns (20BC to fill)

SBB: 20 hit multiple target Dark elemental damage, increases critical hit chance of all allies for 3 turns and adds Dark attribute to the attacks of all allies for 3 turns (30BC to fill, Crit chance 60%, damage modifier 350%)

• At a glance, Duel-SGX doesn't seem particularly special since his stats are decidedly lackluster. His DEF is phenomenal, being the highest in the game at the moment, but he's only got average HP (better than his batchmates but average overall) and his ATK is mediocre while his REC is only serviceable. Not a stat total to be boasting about but luckily, no one's using Duel-SGX for his stats. ...Or his Leader skill which like Melchio's, is pretty pathetic outside of the the metal parade. His hit count is phenomenal at 15, equalling Michele as the highest hit count off a regular attack for a Global unit. And finally, his crowning glory is his SBB which has a massive 20 hit multiple target attack, putting him currently in second place in terms of BC generation behind Douglas, the resistance removing dark elemental attribute buff and most importantly, the largest crit buff in the game.

• First up for comparison is our only 5* unit for today; Zephyr. Compared to the level-headed Guardian, Duel-SGX has better HP ( 55), ATK ( 5), DEF ( 245) and REC ( 160). While the Crab does actually beat Zephyr in every stat, the margins are pretty slim for someone who's an evolution tier higher. The most significant difference here is obviously DEF so Duel-SGX is bulkier with better sustainability and similar offensive prowess but overall it's actually uncomfortably close. Hit count wise, no one's beating Duel-SGX and Zephyr is no exception, not even coming up to half of Duel's 15 hit combo with his 7 hits. Comparing their BBs/SBBs, it's also no competition, Duel's SBB only takes 6 more BC to fill (more than made up for by his superior hit count), has 20 hits to Zephyr's 10 and crit is WAY better than DEF ignore. Remember when I was super excited about DEF ignore and how it was super awesome? Throw that out the window, I was young and naive, it's probably the weakest offensive buff in the game while crit is without a doubt the strongest offensive buff in the game even without Zebra (though spark gives it some competition in this scenario). Duel-SGX definitely wins at the moment.

• Next up is Kikuri. Compared to the dark lady, Duel has better DEF ( 180), but loses in the other stats: HP (-380), ATK (-340) and REC (-200). As you can see, Kikuri has a much larger stat total. They're probably comparable in bulk with Kikuri outscaling Duel in shorter fights but Duel probably eventually winning in longer fights, but Kikuri is much stronger on the offensive spectrum and has nicer sustainability as well so she wins statistically overall. Kikuri's got a nice hit count too at 12, but it still loses to Duel-SGX's 15. Comparing their BBs/SBBs. Duel's SBB actually fills at the same speed as Kikuri's regular BB and 20BC faster than Kikuri's SBB, so he's got the advantage there. In addition while Kikuri has the larger damage multiplier by far and the sometimes useful Curse effect, Duel-SGX has a superior hit count, the most powerful offensive buff in the game and the dark attribute buff for non-monodark teams. Kikuri's a great leader for mono-dark (particularly for the Arena), but her utility elsewhere is pretty limited while Duel-SGX fits into basically any squad you can think of, heck even mono squads could do worse than run a Duel-SGX. Crab definitely wins overall here despite his inferior stats.

• Now we come to Michele, who makes the comparison because she's also a supporting character with an offensive buff. Compared to his bestest friend, Duel has better HP ( 145) and DEF ( 330) but loses out in ATK (-340) and REC (-275). Duel-SGX is substantially bulkier but Michele hits much harder and has better sustainability. I think for support units which is the main niche of these two units, defences are probably more important than offensive ability so I think Duel-SGX probably wins stat wise, but it's pretty close since his ATK IS bordering on being a bit low. They both have huge 15 hit combos so that's neither here nor there. Comparing their SBBs, Duel-SGX probably has the slightly better elemental buff since Dark isn't resisted by anything, but that's a minor advantage. More significantly, his hit count is better (meaning better BC generation) and most importantly his crit buff definitely contributes more damage out put than Michele's ATK buff even in the absence of Zebra because of the way crit acts in the damage formula (it modifies total damage, not base damage like Michele does). For these reasons, I'd probably argue that Duel-SGX is the more important unit for most teams, even non-crit ones if you had to choose one of these two. That's not to detract from the fact that Michele is a fantastic unit and they should definitely be used together if possible but if you had to choose one, go with Duel-SGX.

• Lastly we have Aisha the only comparable crit buffer. Compared to the dragon lady, Duel has better DEF ( 230) but loses out in HP (-395), ATK (-235) and REC (-170). Like the Kikuri comparison, it's pretty clear the the robot is outclassed statistically; his lone DEF advantage definitely does not outscale all the other advantages Aisha has. If there is one thing Duel-SGX is not, it's a statistical powerhouse. Duel-SGX makes up ground with his 15 hit combo which is 2.5x Aisha's 6 hit combo. Comparing their SBBs, Duel-SGX has a significant fill rate advantage (34BC to fill compared to 48BC to fill) and more hits as well as the dark attribute buff and the larger crit rate buff (75% vs. 60%). Meanwhile, Aisha has a better damage multiplier at her disposal and that's pretty much it. It's pretty obvious that as a crit bestowing support unit, Duel-SGX is clearly superior and Aisha is really only a second-line unit if you don't have a Duel-SGX. She's also a good choice as the crit buffer for mono-fire though, so that's also a thing. Elsewhere, go with Duel-SGX, you won't regret it.

• Duel-SGX is obviously fantastic as you can see from these comparisons. We'll now go into just how amazing he is in the next section, but spoiler alert, he's damn good.

Duel-SGX: Indepth Look

• Pretty weird stat distribution. Mediocre stat total with a defensive focus but only average HP makes him seem pretty bad at first glance. Not breaking 1.6k ATK in 6* form is pretty horrendous and while his DEF is phenomenal, he doesn't really carry any other redeeming features to make up for it.

• His Leader skill is bad as well, don't use it please. Unless you're running metal parade, in which case, go right ahead.

• That's about all that's bad about Duel-SGX, everything else is amazing.

• His hit count is amazing. 15 hits is the highest available in the game at the moment, and there aren't really any units that top that in the future except like, Deemo. Ideal metal parade unit? Yeah, I think so.

• His SBB is his most amazing feature. Duel-GX II was already pretty good, since his crit buff has long been recognised as an amazing offensive buff, particularly when paired with Zebra but even without and his dark attribute buff has also always been useful for removing elemental resistance.

• However, because he was unable to contribute to BC generation and he had no offensive presence himself, it made him quite difficult to slot onto teams. Now with his 20 hit MT SBB, that's no longer a problem. Duel-SGX is a powerhouse, BC generating machine. There's literally almost no team that would not benefit from a Duel-SGX.

• Crit is the most powerful damage modifier in the game with or without Zebra. Without Zebra, spark starts to creep into play as a fellow very powerful total damage modifier, but with Zebra, there's literally no competition. Crit is way, WAY out there as an outlier in terms of damage giving potential.

• This makes Duel-SGX the most powerful offensive buffer in the game since he gives the largest crit buff. The fact that he also gives a dark buff to remove resistance and a 20 hit combo to generate BC with is just... ridiculous. 34BC to fill isn't even hard. Kikuri has to fill that much with her regular BB for God's sake.

• If there was one other weakness it would be that his mediocre ATK stat is coupled by a relatively low damage multiplier, but seeing as he's augmenting the party's damage by heaps, I think we can forgive him those flaws.

• Otherwise, Duel-SGX is like a golden unit, he benefits literally every squad he's put on so if you have him, you should 100% be investing and using him no matter what type you have.

• He's probably even more universally useful than Douglas since even without a BB-spam or crit team, Duel-SGX is amazing for any squad with his fast filling SBB, high hit count and great buff.

• That said, Duel-SGX probably reaches his maximum potential on crit teams or crit-hybrid teams where he is definitely a core member. This means he really likes Zebra as a leader since Zebra's crit damage modifier is amazingly synergistic (obviously) and AMAZINGLY powerful.

• Duel-SGX also works well on BB-spam teams or with any squad members that boast high hit counts. These include units like Serin, Kikuri, Sefia, Cayena and especially Michele, Douglas and Melchio who also bring their own buffs to the table.

• You don't have to have those units to make use of Duel-SGX though, you can slap him on any team and he'll perform really well.

• If you don't have a Duel-SGX, woe is you, but you can substitute with Aisha for crit teams or mono-fire teams (or just if you really want a crit buff), Meltia if you're REALLY desperate has a powerful crit buff too, otherwise you're looking at units like Bordebegia (Centaur's 6* form) or Rashil, but keep in mind their crit buffs aren't very reliable and aren't really an acceptable substitute for Duel-SGX.

• Duel-SGX is not an arena unit, he's okay since he has high hit count and his crit buff is actually useful if it goes off, but his regular attacks are just too weak to really justify using him and you'll never see him use his SBB. Please avoid.

• In terms of future prospects, Duel-SGX is viable forever, probably, and currently still unmatched even in JPBF. No one really comes close to matching his offensive support capabilities. Maxwell will usurp Zebra and has a crit buff of her own, but you'll really want to use Duel-SGX alongside her since her crit buff isn't nearly as strong. Mariudeth also has his own crit buff but again, not as powerful.

• Duel-SGX is probably the most valuable offensive unit in the game at this point in time and as you can see, his longevity is such that he's STILL absolute top of the top even in JPBF. Truly a metagame defining unit. Congratulations if you own him.

Typing Discussion

• As always, the most important thing to note here is that if typing is the only thing holding you back from using a unit, you should definitely just go ahead and use them. Please don't discard units because their typing isn't 'optimal'.

• Any Duel-SGX is a kajillion billion gazillion million infinity times better than no Duel-SGX

• Anima is probably his best typing. His ATK is mediocre and doesn't really cope with lowering it too well so preserving that is nice and this typing boosts his HP to 6.4k which is lovely while his REC remains fairly useable at 1335-ish.

• Honestly Lord, Guardian and Breaker are probably all interchangeable with their own pros and cons. I don't really feel I can call a preference between these 3 types. Guardian gives him really nice bulk but his ATK suffers pretty badly which isn't ideal, Breaker shores up his mediocre ATK so his offensive presence increases while his DEF remains fairly strong at 1640, but dropping defences on a support unit is always pretty iffy while Lord strikes a balance between the two. Pick your poison, it doesn't matter anyway, Duel-SGX is godly no matter what.

• Finally, Oracle Duel-SGX is top tier because it's a Duel-SGX. Shut up and stop complaining.

That's it guys! Hope you enjoyed the read! Just a quick note, I probably won't have much if any at all presence on the subreddit this weekend since I have life commitments that take priority. Luckily I've wrapped up all the analyses I need to do for the time being (Mare is on the list, and I'll get to her eventually). Hope you understand!

As always, I welcome your comments/criticims/encouragements. Please drop an upvote on your way out if you liked this. I'd really appreciate the support. <3

Until next time!

Links to previous Analyses