Favorite and Least Favorite Spell Cards

[Athrel]

This is a topic where people can post what their favorite and what their most hated spell cards are and why. Why you like/dislike them can be for any reason (how aesthetically pleasing the spell card is, how difficult it is to capture, etc.).

My current favorite is Divine "Moreya's Iron Ring" because you have to go all over the screen to dodge it as opposed to just using the bottom portion of it.

My least favorite is Atonement "Needle Mountain of a Former Hell" because it's hard to see where the swirly bullets are going to land and it's generally pretty cluttered overall.

[Hanzo K.]

I actually like Former Hell's Needle Mountain. As long as you stay under Orin, there's little to fear.
It's her Zombie Fairies card that annoys me.

But one card that really burns my biscuits? Limiting Edict - Iwakasa's/Ihakasa's Moon Curse.
I know it's a simple card, but it's the simple ones that are always the nastiest.

[Drake]

I don't like Iron Ring because it's extraordinarily simple, short and exactly the same every single time. In the case you screw up, you get walled and die. There is no dodge.

I don't like Needle Mountain because when you die it's more out of frustration than "oh that was difficult and totally a warranted death". You see death coming from the top of the screen and "no i can't get out of the way aaaaapew", or you panic. Also, I can't direct the wheels well enough. Although, it's still more of me sucking.

I don't like Zombie Fairies because you do the same thing over and over and over and leading the fairies takes forever. In the case of you dying it's usually because you get overwhelmed by the fairies you just blew up or they ram you or something.

I don't like Iwakasa because there isn't enough space in between the rice bullets for anyone that isn't Border team, and the actual fun part is stupid slow. The card should have slightly bigger gaps with the rice but everything goes faster.

[ふねん1]

I'm not sure I have a single favorite card, as there are plenty I like. While I seem to break the mold in that I don't mind memo cards much, ones that still require tight and/or (reasonably) fast dodging tend to be the most fun for me. Those that come to mind include VoWG, Orin's Ghost Wheels, Uncontainable Nuclear Reaction, and Good Omen.

My least favorite card is probably Vajra of Perfect Buddhism, ironic since it's AFAIK a memo card. I do have the start roughly figured out, but the style of the card doesn't feel right somehow. Kinda hard to explain really, I just feel uncomfortable with the kind of circling the lasers force me to do.

[Jq1790]

Hm...Well, I haven't played much outside of PCB, soo...

Probably one of my favorites from recently is one of Yukari's, uh...  "Border of Motion and Stillness", I think?  Whatever replaced Ran's Banquet of 12 General Gods.

I can't really think of a least favorite card, to be honest.  I find Ran's "Charming Siege From All Sides" to be incredibly annoying though.  Sometimes I get a relatively simple/moderately fun version, other times it pretty much traps me unless I can get through the walls which I do NOT have the reflexes for.

[Nyyl]

Thinking of some cards I like off the top of my head, there's Nuclear Excursion, Youkai Polygraph, Source of Rains, Possessed by Phoenix, and Danmaku Chimera. Among others.

I really dislike Hydro Camouflage on Lunatic. Not because it's a bad card, but more because I'm so bad at it. I always get hit by the add-blend bullets because they curve as opposed to the straight bullets. Karakasa Surprising Flash is also a card I'm not fond of as it gets frustratingly difficult to keep track of where the lasers are going to land as the attack progresses.

Oh, I also have more trouble with Exiled Doll Lunatic than I care to admit. I don't really like the tiny spinning star bullets in general

[Thanuris]

Favorites(normal/hard): Wind Blowing Down from Mt Ooe(fun), Froggy Braves the Elements(fun and makes me nervous), Scarlet Gensokyo(fun), Devil's Recitation(not that fun but it looks great).
Most hated: Suwa War(i forgot how to capture it), everything Kaguya has(makes me rage at my incompetence), Philosophy of a Hated Person(same as Kaguya), and Most Valuable Vajra(always a timeout).

[Schezo]

Hmm some of my favorite cards would be Hanged Hourai Dolls, Windblown Storm on Mt Ooe, and Resurrection Butterfly.

I generally always have a thing against cards where the boss chases after you and lands on where you're standing.  So I dislike Princess Tenko and Yukari Yakumo's Spiriting Away.
Emerald Megalith is a bitch.

[8lue Wizard]

Favorite is Yuyuko's Sumizome, by far. It's got this cinematic aspect to it that just I don't even. Runner up, probably Suwako's Jade River. Only card I've ever bothered doing a perfect timeout run for. Ghost Wheels and Starbow Break are worth mentioning for being hella fun to dodge. If you'll allow me to dip into PC98 territory, everything EX-Alice has that's not purple, especially her final phase. Also, I once broke out laughing while fighting Shinki, (I think during the first phase after she busts out her wings) just because of how fun the dodging was. (Well, that and the adrenaline high I was on.)

Least favorite... I dunno. There's not that many cards in the series that I actively dislike. I'm gonna have to go with Shou's Absolute Justice. She moves around far too much for your limited horizontal freedom. Takes me back to my days hating EoSD's boss movement algorithm. Speaking of EoSD, I was never fond of Cranberry Trap. Nor of Mokou's Cran Trap clone Moon Curse watchamajigger. Also, just about everything from UFO Extra. (I think some of them are all right, but the stage is painful enough that I haven't spent the time to figure out which ones they are.)

[wailofthebanshee]

I haven't played any games other than IN and SA in ages so my cards will be from those games.
Spiritual Birth "First Pyramid" on lunatic is pretty fun once I figured it out. Love Storm "Starlight Typhoon". Many of Okuu's cards are fun too, but I've only done them on normal.
E: oh I quite like Medicine Sign "Galaxy in a Pot" as well.

As for hated cards, I can't figure out Hourai Jewel for the life of me. I hate it.

[Yukarin]

Danmaku Chimera, Nightmare of Heiankyou, Border of Wave and Particle (Both versions), VoWG, Saigyouji Flawless Nirvana, Wriggle's Last Word, Cat's Erratic Step, Miracle Fruit, among others.

Hated cards are Pandemonium, Fantasy Heaven, Apollo 13, Ghost Wheels, and LFW.

[Koakkuri]

Favourites: Flaw of Forgiving Shrine, Eternal Truth and variations, VoWG and variations, most of Mystia's cards.

Least favourites: Bad Fortune, Illusionary Dominance, anything by Orin that isn't Spleen Eater, and out of spite, everything by Murasa, especially her last two cards.

Edit: Completely forgot my intense hatred for Apollo 13.

[Yukarasaki]

My second post, yay.

Anyway, for me my favorite would be Love Coloured Master Spark. As Marisa says, "When in doubt, Master Spark it. It always kills and the cherry penalty is something to brag about". Apollo 13 would also be a favorite as I just love how insane it is.

Least Favorite? Every single one of Reimu's sperru cardos. Seriously they drive me nuts when I fight them.

[Skyler]

Ressurection Butterfly would be one of my favourites because it's the only one of Yuyuko's spell cards that I've been able to capture more than once and it has a kickass theme to go with it, but I have such an on/off record with that card which makes me not like it as much. I quite like Emerald Megalith and Jack the Ludo Bile, also. And for some reason I really like Starbow Break even though it scares me sometimes.

On the other hand, Bury in Lake, Rainbow Wind Chime, Chen's (main boss) second spell card and Maze of Love are my least favourites. Oh, and almost all of Yuyuko's spell cards because they just drive me insane. /is horrible at Yuyuko in general.

edit: Forgot Metal Fatigue which is probably the spell card I hate the most.

[CadrinHaverit]

My favorite is Hollow Giant "Woo". I don't know, I have a certain affinity for this particular spell card. The first time I saw it on others' replay vids, I was like, "Why are they going above Mokou? Why are they not doing the spell card how it is supposed to be done?". Then, when I eventually got IN and fought my way through the Extra Stage to this spell card, I went all D= and died a lot. My face is still a D= every time I reach this spell card, but...

I don't know. It gave me a hell of a fun time experimenting with it in spell practice. It seems to encompass both pure dodging and tactical misdirection. The rice bullets seem to always follow a certain pattern that is not really worth exploring. But man... it's raining rice, hater! Can you beat THAT?!

So I accepted the challenge. And made a no-focus timeout of the spell card while playing as Raymoo and tapping the bomb button to the melody and/or the beat of the background music. The "bombing unavailable" sound that plays when the bomb button is pressed in spell practice got recorded, so now you can admire my poor musical skills while watching me herpderp through walls of rice. Not going above Mokou either. I am a mediocre player at best, btw, so it felt really awesome to do that. The replay is my pride and joy.

I don't know, I don't think many have attempted such silliness as well. Never seen people attempting to play melodies or act as drums with their bomb buttons in spell practice, so I am just going to leave the replay here. Thing's extremely silly, but it might be of some entertainment value. It's the first time I upload a replay, but I don't think anything can go wrong...

Oh, and also I found another way to clear the spell card, that is to keep shooting Mokou for as long as you can while staying at the very bottom of the screen, going right to misdirect the first aimed set of slaves, then following Mokou closely to the left as she spawns the second, large wave of aimed sets of familiars, and then going all the way left and dodging very tightly-packed rice bullets in the corner before going to the right again as she spawns the middle set of slaves again, then repeating the process. It's looks very cool, but is slightly hard to pull off because there are lots of rice headed your way. But then again, since the bullets follow a certain pattern, you only have to worry about some of them and you should be able to read where the bullets will be well before they reach the corner of the screen you're in.

Ah, the fond memories. Yeah, I certainly had a blast practicing this spell card and it never ceases to be fun in Extra Stage runs. And it's still quite hard to me. But the joy of capturing it is all the greater.

Even watching other people capture it is entertaining. I guess this is pretty much a freestyle spell card.

I have to think of which spell cards are my least favourite. And also I might come up with some other favourites of mine, but not now.

[RegalStar]

For favourites, I have Border of Wave and Particles, Embryo's Dream, Exorcism of the Newspaper Subscription Solicitors (Way too funny...). If it's spell cards I actually like to play against, though, then it's probably Resurrection Butterfly.

Least favourite is definite Vajra of Perfect Buddhism and its other difficulty counterparts, as well as any cards that features the boss chasing you around (while retaining their hitboxes) like genetics and undefined darkness.

[GuppyForce]

My favourite card would definitely be Mega Flare and its counterparts. It may not be the one I liked doing the most (and in fact it screwed up many of my utsuho battles when I was still in easy mode) but it's definitely one of the coolest spells (no pun intended). It's like nukes, BUT ACTUALLY EXPLODING!

As for least favourite, I would probably say Princess Undine, that card is an absolute pain to face

[zephyredx]

Favorite? Probably Flying Fantastica or Subterranean Sun, because the "THIS. IS. IT." feel is simply exhilarating. Subterranean Sun wins by a bit in terms of cool mechanics.

Least favorite...Rose Hell in Double Spoiler, which took me more attempts than Kinkaku-ji. So easy to screw up, and the last picture is annoyingly hard to take.

[SuikaLoli]

I love Kaguya's Hourai Jewel! It's so fun, and has a "This is it" aura to it. And her theme seems to totally fit with the song!

However, Utsuho Reiugi's Subterranian Sun is the devil. She pulls you in, along witth other bullets, shoots out tiny and tightly packed bullets, and makes a HUGE sun appear around her. I like the charecter, and her theme has a this is it feeling, but SERIOUSLY?  :derp:

[Zengeku]

My favorite cards would be Virtue of Wind God for being a very fast paced spell with a decent level of challenge to it. Other than that I like spells like Complete Clarification and Radiant Treasure Gun since they are difficult and never unfair. However, sometimes I also prefer the ability to move around a bit when playing a shmup and for that I like things like Orin's Ghost Wheels. Having had quite an absence from Orin means I have forgotten how you are supposed to make it easy so I just dodge things as they come.

Other notable cards are Cat Walk, Okuu's 1st and 2nd cards, Kogasa's 3rd card, Ichirin's 2nd, Murasa's 2nd, Byakurens 2nd non-spell, Mt. Ooe, and Asteroid Belt.

As for cards I dislike; Generally I don't like cards that require you to memorize them since it usually just boils down to memorizing the cards and then pulling them off with ease from then on. Magic Butterfly, Sanae's 1st card, Hourai Jewel and all that. There is not that many cards I don't like simply because they are difficult but there is a few.

Murasa's 4th card is boring as fuck. Murasa's 3rd card seems able to screw you over. Legendary Flying Saucer though that's only me being annoyed about my incapability to capture it with anything resembling consistency. Yet anyway. Life Spring Infinity. I don't like how you need to abuse the delayed activation of the laser hitboxes to play this properly. And having to be so close to Kaguya is also irritating.

[XephyrEnigma]

Yeah I'm gonna have to jump on the bandwagon and say Mountain of Faith is one of my favorites. (the card, not the game) That said, I enjoy Flying Fantastica too, mainly because these are just straight up, legible final cards without any special trick for them.

 As for cards I don't like, I'd have to say, Fantasy Seal -Blink-, Sinker Ghost, and Most Valuable Vajra, to name a few. That last one particularly bothers me, because of what you end up doing. I mean, come on. You expect me to drain a lifebar, while circling this boss? Not to mention that these lasers center on your position from time to time and just make things more cramped for you. and what's worse, they're slightly faster than you. (in focused mode, anyway.)

[Zengeku]

Oh yeah, thank you for mentioning. That Fantasy Seal - Blink card can go fucking die. And that's any version of it. Fantasy Heaven sucks too.

[Vanhaomena]

+ Reflex dodging like Flower Dream Vine, Eternal Meek, VoWG, Mt Ooe.
- Anything that requires memorizing. If you don't know the pattern beforehand, it's death by bullets. If you do know, it's death by boredom. The worst example in the whole series is Honest Man's Death.

[XephyrEnigma]

The worst example in the whole series is Honest Man's Death.

How's that memo? From what I've seen that's a gimmick you're using to get through it. (that laser...)

[Alfred F. Jones]

Favourite is tied between Pandemonium, Suika's Ex-8 in Shoot the Bullet, and Grudge Bow in UFO Extra. No tricks, no gimmicks, no strategy beyond "just dodge". I would put Rainbow UFOs here if I could capture it even once, but I can't. Still, it's really wicked fun.

Worst is every single card Yukari has in SWR story mode. Ugh. It must be the remaining legacy of Infinite Superspeed Flying Object, which is similarly terrible. Dishonorable mention goes to Mokou's Five-Coloured Turtles in StB Extra-- either you don't know how it works and people showing you replays is pointless because you don't understand what is going on or why it's happening, or you are able to clear it with ease and unable to help anyone else do it, and after you've failed at it so many times, seeing through the trick in hindsight is humiliating, because it's just so easy, and accomplishments that make you feel bad after you've accomplished them are really dissatisfying.

[ふねん1]

If you don't know the pattern beforehand, it's death by bullets. If you do know, it's death by boredom.

For the first point, that's why you spend time to learn it in the first place, so you can stop dying to it. But if you're dying by boredom afterwards, it's your own fault for not paying attention. You want to put something you've memorized to good use? You actually have to make sure you're doing it right as you go.

How's that memo? From what I've seen that's a gimmick you're using to get through it. (that laser...)

Memo in the sense that the same motions will get you through it every time.

[Vanhaomena]

For the first point, that's why you spend time to learn it in the first place, so you can stop dying to it. But if you're dying by boredom afterwards, it's your own fault for not paying attention. You want to put something you've memorized to good use? You actually have to make sure you're doing it right as you go.

By death by boredom I didn't mean getting hit due to lack of concentration, I meant it figuratively: being bored by the lack of challenge.

[Zengeku]

By death by boredom I didn't mean getting hit due to lack of concentration, I meant it figuratively: being bored by the lack of challenge.

Another one who understands! 

Memo cards aren't as bad as stages that takes care of themselves though.