Aries Cup (CM12) Champions Meeting Guide

What is the Aries Cup Champions Meeting?

The Aries Cup (CM12) is the 12th Champions Meeting in Umamusume: Pretty Derby and the second one held after the Trackblazer scenario launched. It runs from April 20 to April 29, 2026 (UTC), with Round 1 kicking off at 10 PM UTC on April 23. The race itself is a Nakayama Turf 2,000m Medium distance event under Spring, Sunny, and Firm Ground conditions. If you've been sitting on a well-built Oguri Cap (Ashen Miracle), this is the cup you've been waiting for.

Nakayama 2000m course layout

Aries Cup race course: what makes Nakayama 2000m different?

This course has some specific quirks that directly shape which characters and skills you should bring.

• Late-race starts at the 3rd Corner. Acceleration skills that fire before the final corner are far more effective than late-corner options like Red Shift or Shooting for Victory, which activate too late to matter.
• 3 Uphills and 1 Downhill. High Power helps on the uphills. The downhill rewards Wit, so don't neglect it.
• Triple 7s activation is close to the late-race start point. This is the key reason Christmas Oguri Cap and Summer Maruzensky are so strong here. Their unique skills feed directly off that recovery window.
• Angling and Scheming is at peak effectiveness. Front Runners who activate it at the start of the late-race get a significant positional and acceleration advantage.

The best acceleration picks for this course are Angling and Scheming (Front Runners), Let's Pump Some Iron, and Moving Past, and Beyond. Final-corner skills underperform here.

Who are the best characters for the Aries Cup?

Tier overview

According to Game8's CM12 tier list, the character rankings break down as follows:

Christmas Oguri Cap is the one to beat

Oguri Cap (Ashen Miracle) is the clear frontrunner for CM12. Her unique skill Festive Miracle fires at a position that overlaps with the Triple 7s activation window, giving her both a speed boost and an acceleration boost simultaneously. The built-in recovery component also makes her largely immune to Stamina debuffs, which is a meaningful advantage against debuffer compositions.

Run her as a Pace Chaser. She's easiest to build in that role, she can catch up to Front Runners from a reasonable gap, and her recovery skills (Triple 7s, Corner Recovery, Hydrate) line up cleanly. She needs at least 3 recovery skills active to trigger Festive Miracle, so prioritize those over raw Stamina investment. Oguri can function with as little as 500-600 Stamina if her Wit is high enough to guarantee those recovery activations.

Front Runners are legitimately threatening

Angling and Scheming being at full power here means Front Runners are not just filler. Summer Maruzensky and Valentine's Mihono Bourbon are the standout picks. Seiun Sky (Reeling in the Big One) also gets full value from her unique skill on this course.

Silence Suzuka has a niche role as a Runaway to deny other Front Runners the positional requirement for Angling and Scheming. She must be trained in the Unity Cup scenario to access the Runaway style, since Trackblazer doesn't support it through secret events.

Late Surgers: gamble or debuff

Late Surgers are the stronger backliner option compared to End Closers here. The reason is simple: Let's Pump Some Iron (from Mejiro Ryan) and Moving Past, and Beyond (from Mejiro Dober) both activate right as the late-race starts, which is a powerful window on this course. The catch is that both require being in 6th place at that point, so there's genuine variance involved.

Mayano Top Gun (Scramble Zone) and Kawakami Princess (Princess of Pink) are solid picks because they run No Stopping Me! without needing the Yukino Bijin Wit SSR to get it.

Debuffers with Dominator are viable as well. Medium distance opens up a wider pool of debuff skills, and Dominator's speed reduction can swing races against stat-heavy aces.

What stats should you target for the Aries Cup?

The Aries Cup 2026 baselines for a 2000m Medium race are:

Stat priority order: Stamina > Speed > Power > Wit > Guts.

The race sits on the shorter end of Medium, so 600 Stamina is survivable if your Guts and Wit are solid. Pace Chasers should aim for 750 Stamina to account for debuffer pressure. Power investment matters here because of the 3 uphills.

What skills should you prioritize?

Green skills (passive stat boosters)

Stack as many course-relevant green skills as possible. The key ones for this cup:

• Right-Handed / Right-Handed Demon (Speed)
• Spring Runner / Spring Spectacle (Speed)
• Firm Conditions / Firm Course Menace (Power)
• Standard Distance (Stamina)
• Nakayama Racecourse (various)
• Sunny Days (various)
• Front Runner Savvy (Wit, for Front Runners)

Narita Top Road SSR is worth including in your support deck specifically because she provides Firm Course Menace, which boosts both Speed and Power.

Acceleration skills by style

• Front Runners: Angling and Scheming is mandatory. Back it up with Groundwork and Taking the Lead for early positioning.
• Late Surgers / End Closers: Let's Pump Some Iron and Moving Past, and Beyond are the priority pair. Both can activate at the late-race start.
• All styles: No Stopping Me! is excellent if you can access it.

Recovery skills

For most characters, recovery is optional on this shorter Medium course. The two exceptions:

• Oguri Cap (Ashen Miracle): Needs 3 recovery skills to trigger Festive Miracle. Triple 7s is mandatory; add Corner Recovery and Hydrate (Pace) or U=ma2 from Agnes Tachyon.
• Summer Maruzensky: Needs 1 recovery for A Kiss for Courage. Triple 7s is the best option since it fires before the late-race.

Red skills (debuffs)

Medium distance makes strong Stamina debuffs like Mystifying Murmur theoretically viable, but Trackblazer's inflated stats reduce their effectiveness. Dominator is the more reliable debuff pick here since its speed reduction is harder to offset with raw stats.

What team compositions work best?

• Christmas Oguri Cap + 2 Late/End Closers: Oguri is your ace. The backliners serve as backup aces or Dominator debuffers.
• 2 Front Runners + 1 Pace/Late: Front Runners support each other. The third slot is your backup ace.
• 1 Runaway + 2 Pace/Late: Counter-meta pick against Front-heavy lobbies. Runaway blocks Angling and Scheming for opposing Fronts.
• 3 Late Surgers: High variance but high ceiling. Gamble on Let's Pump Some Iron and Moving Past, and Beyond both firing.
• 2 Aces + 1 Debuffer: Effective for stat-checking weaker teams. Debuffer weakens the opposing ace rather than winning outright.

Every composition needs at least one dedicated Ace. Debuffers are a supplement, not a substitute for building a strong primary racer.

What support cards should you use?

General deck structure

Aim for 2 Speed cards and 3 Wit cards, with the sixth slot going to a strong Power card. Wit is the priority secondary stat because of the downhill and skill activation requirements.

Narita Top Road SSR (Speed) belongs in every deck for Firm Course Menace. Yukino Bijin Wit SSR is worth a slot if you want No Stopping Me! for your backliner.

Under Trackblazer, target at least 50 Race Bonus to maximize stat gains and skill points from race wins.

Sample decks by style

What rewards can you earn?

The Aries Cup follows the standard Champions Meeting reward structure across Graded and Open Leagues.

Graded League Round 1 highlights:

• 5 Wins: 50 Carats, 2 Goddess Statues, 8,500 Monies, 4,000 Support Points
• Participation: 10 Carats, 1 Goddess Statue, 5,000 Monies, 2,500 Support Points

Graded League Finals (Group A, 1st Place):

• Aries Cup Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Epithets
• 5 Trainee Scout Tickets, 5 Support Card Scout Tickets
• 2,500 Carats, 30 Goddess Statues, 100,000 Monies, 25,000 Support Points

Group A consistently pays out more than Group B at every win count, so pushing for 3+ wins in Round 1 to secure Group A placement is worth the effort.

How does the Champions Meeting work?

Champions Meeting is a 3v3v3 format where 3 trainers each field a team of 3 Umamusume. The trainer whose Uma finishes 1st wins the race. You need a team rank of E2 or higher and 3 Veteran Umamusume to participate.

The event runs 3 rounds:

1. Round 1: 5 races. Win 3 or more to advance to Group A of Round 2; 2 or fewer sends you to Group B.
2. Round 2: 5 races. Group A needs 3+ wins for Group A Finals; 1-2 wins drops to Group B Finals. Group B needs 1+ win to reach Group B Finals.
3. Final Round: Single race. The winner takes the top prize.

Rounds 1 and 2 allow up to 4 free entries per day. Additional entries cost 30 Carats or an entry ticket. The Final Round is free to enter.

You can swap your registered Umamusume between rounds during the Entry phase, but not mid-round after you've locked in your 5-race attempt.

For more Umamusume: Pretty Derby guides covering every aspect of training and competition, browse the latest guides on GAMES.GG.