Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls – Drastic Melody (B) [02/04/2026]

I know y’all are hyped up on Uzuki’s deck (as I am myself), but just because of that, we’re doing Rin’s deck this week and y’all can’t complain (my site, my rules). Shibuya Rin, the cool member of New Generations, a diva in her own right, and powerful voice is the main star of this deck. And no, just in case you were wondering, this is not a Triad Primus deck. We’re no longer in 2016; it’s been ten years, wake up.

I’m writing this clearly because I love Rin and not to shy readers away from buying foils so I can finally foil out Uzuki. Rin Shibuya carries a powerful and resounding voice. Breaking out from the newly released premium booster, Rin is a strong finisher with a built in Moca effect with her climax and an additional effect where, if you pay her exuberant costs, you can deal a target amount of damage to your opponent (you choose based on the availability of different levels of characters on your stage). Rin’s costs are fairly high, requiring a discard of three cards when she attacks.

As a way to reduce Rin’s costs, the above Karen can be discarded as a replacement for two cards in hand. Karen is also an on-play search Riki profile, adding any blue character of your choice to hand.

There’s no real necessary early combo that selectively or thematically works very well with Rin specifically. The only requirements we really need are that we grab are that of Karen and copies of Rin. The other part of the deck is just building stock and pushing damage so we can get to our finishing turn. For my recommendations, either of the two above are fine. Nao performs an Operation Tornado effect when she does her combo with her climax. Hayate lets you rearrange the top two cards of your deck when she attacks and add a character from the top of your deck. You can choose to discard either card or both and leave the other as your trigger if need be. Their respective climaxes are shown below.

A special duo makes a return from the previous set. Wedding Rin and Swimsuit Karen are both excellent options in this deck. Rin is a self-contained card that lets you pay a stock to add a character from the top four cards of your deck when she reverses her opponent while also giving power to one of your characters. Karen reveals the top card of your deck on attack, and if that card is level two or higher (or is Wedding Rin specifically), you may place it into stock. These two can supercharge our advantage while not necessarily relying on having a climax in play.

For the last section, I’ll focus here on some cool cards that are nice inclusions with either unique abilities or niche things we can do. Syuko lets you discard two arc climaxes on play to search out two characters. Layla gives double bottom deck Adachi effect to two of your characters. Lastly, Helen is a massive beatstick on your turn that lets you discard and salvage two characters if she reverses any opponent with a climax in play.

One final synergy before we close out the article is that of Kaede and her extended form in the late game. Kaede’s braintorm gives you a scry when you place a climax in your climax zone. She also is the early play condition in clock for the Kaede early play on the right. This card is a bit unique since she grants a large burst of power on play to all your characters and gives them the ability where, when they attack, you reveal the top card of your deck and put it into stock if its a character. Think of this as a turbo-stock charging pairing.

In terms of backups, we have a bit of a unique play going on with that of Miyu. Normally, Miyu is a very niche type of counter with its ability to salvage itself. That effect is useful if you need to protect multiple characters, but in this case, we can reuse Miyu as a way to maintain our hand entering the turn for Rin. Kaede is a Leafa backup that can be used to fix our hand and push us closer to cancels.

In terms of other supports for the deck, we can begin with the classic Arisu from the second set that acts as a double cantrip to fix our hand. Keep in mind that there have been reprints for some of these cards in alternative forms. Chie is an early play if we are out three or more arc climaxes. You can sack a blue character when she enters play to stock a character from your waiting room and also shuffle your waiting room into deck. Mutsumi grants power to a character of your choice on play and gives arc climax filter on attack to all your characters. Koume is, well, the namesake of the Koume profile. Rin in her New Generations’ uniform is a blue character Akatsuki profile. Nao is a stock swap profile that grants power to a character of your choice on play.

At first glance, Rin’s combo may look perplexing and difficult to accomplish, but the idea is actually quite simple. You want to keep a full hand as close as possible when you enter the final turn. Secondly, you want to have multiple copies of Karen for discard fodder for Rin to reduce the total hand costs. Lastly, you need a variety of characters with different levels on stage. This is best accomplished by having them in the back with your Rin finishers in front. There are obviously some setup steps required, but you have Rin and her modular damage to help you close out the game. Best of luck!