With the new banner refresh that will last until 17 May 2021, we have the addition of Smart Falcon to the Uma Musume: Pretty Derby lineup.

Unlike the past banners so far, we are getting our first dirt track expert, as her stellar record shows. Furthermore, being a natural front-runner means that Smart Falcon will dominate the mile distances in the team races, a role that before this was only filled by Maruzensky, who had to be tuned to have dirt affinity.

Furthermore, natural speed and power bonus translates to Smart Falcon being extremely easy to raise for her intended purpose of staying in front of the pack at top speed. Her unique character skill is however harder to activate compared to her front-runner colleague Maruzensky who has a straightforward last corner acceleration boost, due to the fact that she has to meet the condition of being first place in the middle of the race, which in theory should be the case at all times, but would not always be so due to various circumstances. Good positioning and a great opening is far more important on Smart Falcon than most other front-runners for reason alone. To summarise, Smart Falcon as a standalone unit is a good addition to have in your dirt lineup if you wish to field a solid front-runner, but she is not exactly a must have considering that there other strong contenders such as Oguri Cap, Taiki Shuttle and El Condor Pasa.

5/6(木)、プリティーダービーガチャに★3スマートファルコンが登場予定！
また、サポートカードガチャでは5月生まれのキャラクターからSSRスーパークリーク・SSR駿川たづながピックアップされて登場します！https://t.co/Z2ObeWsJv6#ウマ娘 #ゲームウマ娘 pic.twitter.com/WxkUcyLRvR

— ウマ娘プロジェクト公式アカウント (@uma_musu) May 5, 2021

Worth noting that this will be our first banner with no new support cards, but that is not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you need to complete Tazuna, Super Creek or both even.  Arc Maestro is still the best heal in the game next to Breath of Fresh Air, so you could do well even with just a single copy of her at 0*. Tazuna on the other hand is more of a crutch at this point of the game than a must-have when the game first launched, although at max limit break, she can be a good addition regardless. Concentration is particularly good on short tracks in general or for any front-runners regardless of distance.

★3[あぶそりゅーと☆LOVE]スマートファルコン（CV：#大和田仁美 さん）が登場！
ダートを舞台にハヤブサの如く、鋭く逃げるのが得意なキュート全開☆ウマドルです！
ガチャで獲得すると今だけ「スマートファルコンのピース×90」がおまけで付いてきます！#ウマ娘 #ゲームウマ娘 pic.twitter.com/sCcWtqaUfz

— ウマ娘プロジェクト公式アカウント (@uma_musu) May 6, 2021

Uma Musume: Pretty Derby is currently available on Android and iOS for mobile, and DMM Games for the PC.