Look, if you're playing Uma Musume Pretty Derby, you already know the struggle. One day you're sitting on a comfortable pile of 30,000 Jewels, feeling like a king, and the next, Cygames drops a Support Card that completely breaks the meta. Suddenly, your savings are gone. You’re staring at a 1-star pull result, wondering where it all went wrong. Predicting the Uma Musume banner schedule isn't just a hobby; for most players, it’s a survival tactic.
The game is a marathon, not a sprint. Ironically, that's exactly what the girls are running.
But here is the thing that trips up most global players or even those jumping into the Japanese server late: the schedule isn't just a random list of names. It follows a rhythmic, almost predictable cycle dictated by the game's anniversary milestones and the relentless "power creep" of Support Cards. If you aren't looking at least three months ahead, you're basically playing with a blindfold on.
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The Two-Year Gap and Why It Matters
Most people looking for a schedule are trying to see into the future. If you are on the Korean or Traditional Chinese servers, you have the "Clairvoyance EX" skill. You can literally look at the Japanese server's history to see exactly what is coming. Japan is the blueprint.
However, even for JP players, the Uma Musume banner schedule follows a specific cadence. We get a new character (Horse Girl) banner and a Support Card banner roughly every ten days to two weeks. Usually, these coincide with the start of a new Story Event. You get the new versions of characters featured in that story, and usually, the Support Cards give you a bonus for that specific event's points.
It's a trap.
Not every banner is worth your time. In fact, most are bait. Cygames is masterful at releasing a "waifu" pick—someone everyone loves from the anime—right before a meta-defining Support Card like Ramonu or ASMR (Sound of Earth). If you spend for love, you might suffer in the Champions Meeting. That’s the brutal reality of the schedule.
Breaking Down the Anniversary Peaks
The most important dates in any Uma Musume banner schedule are the Anniversary (February) and the Half-Anniversary (August). This is when the meta shifts.
Think back to the introduction of the Grand Masters scenario or Project L'Arc. These updates don't just add new mechanics; they usually introduce a "Scenario Link" card. If you don't pull that specific card, your training sessions for the next six months will be significantly worse than everyone else's.
The February Frenzy
February is the "Big One." This is the game's birthday. Usually, we see a massive influx of free pulls, but don't let that fool you into laziness. The banners during this period are high-density. You often get a "Double Rate" or at least highly desirable reprints.
Historically, we’ve seen icons like Kitasan Black (the Support Card version) dominate the game for a year straight after an anniversary release. If you see a major scenario update coming on the schedule, you stop spending immediately. You save. You hoard. You ignore the cute seasonal outfits.
The Summer Half-Anni Slump
August is different. It’s the Half-Anniversary. The banners here are often "bait-heavy." We get swimsuits. We get summer vibes. We get characters in bikinis that make the fan base go wild.
But check the stats.
Often, these summer units are niche. They might excel in one specific track—like a very specific Short or Mile dirt track—but they aren't generalists. The real prize in the August Uma Musume banner schedule is usually the new Scenario Support card that arrives with the late-August gameplay update.
Identifying the "Must-Pull" Support Cards
Characters are great. I love Gold Ship as much as the next person. But the schedule tells us that characters are luxury items; Support Cards are the engine.
If you look at the historical data, cards like Super Creek (Stamina) or Fine Motion (Intelligence) stayed relevant for years. When a schedule leak or announcement shows a "Speed" card with a high Training Value and a generic gold skill like Curtain Call or Top Gear, that is your signal.
Honestly, the hardest part of following the schedule is the "dead weeks." These are the weeks where Cygames reruns older cards. New players often think, "Oh, I missed Maruzensky last year, I should pull now!"
Stop.
Unless that card is still Tier 0 in the current scenario, pulling on a rerun is usually a mistake. The Uma Musume banner schedule moves forward, and the power level of cards generally increases. An older card, even a legendary one, often loses its luster when a new card comes out with 10% more "Training Effect Up" or better "Inspiration" levels.
Seasonal Variants: The Trap of the Alt-Outfits
Every month, like clockwork, we get the Story Event. This brings the "alt" versions. We’ve had everything from Halloween vampires to Christmas Santas.
Here is the trick: check the base growth rates.
A standard Mejiro McQueen might have a 20% Stamina growth, but her seasonal variant might swap that to Guts and Speed. If the current meta favors a "Guts/Speed" build (which it often does in newer scenarios), the seasonal variant becomes a monster. But if she’s just a "collection" item, you’re better off using your jewels on the Support Card banner running simultaneously.
The schedule usually places these seasonal banners right before the big Meta-Shifters. It's psychological warfare. They want you to spend on the "cute" version so you have to buy packs for the "strong" version two weeks later.
Reading the "Pacing" of a New Scenario
When a new training scenario drops—usually every six months—the Uma Musume banner schedule undergoes a massive shift. The first banner of a scenario is almost always a "Scenario Link."
Take Mei 7 or Riko. These are "Friend" or "Group" cards.
If you are a F2P (Free to Play) player, your entire jewel-saving strategy revolves around these six-month intervals. You need enough to "spark" (200 pulls) at least one copy of the scenario card. Without it, you’re basically playing the game on Hard Mode while everyone else is on Easy.
The schedule isn't just a list of dates; it's a list of milestones for your account's power level.
Common Misconceptions About Banner Leaks
You'll see "leaks" on X (formerly Twitter) or Reddit all the time. Someone finds a 3D model in the files. Everyone screams that Duramente or Orfevre is coming next Tuesday.
Don't buy it.
Cygames is notorious for "pre-loading" assets months in advance. Just because a model exists doesn't mean the banner is next. The only reliable Uma Musume banner schedule information comes from the "PakaLive" broadcasts. These usually happen once a month, right before the new banner cycle.
If you want to be a pro at this, watch the PakaLive. Look at the Voice Actor guests. If the VA for a specific girl who hasn't had a banner in a year is on the panel? Yeah, she’s probably getting a banner. It’s a meta-hint.
How to Manage Your Jewels Based on the Cycle
You get roughly 6,000 to 10,000 "free" jewels a month if you do everything: Dailies, Events, Team Stadium, and the Legend Races. A "spark" is 30,000 jewels.
Do the math.
It takes three months of discipline to guarantee one unit. If the Uma Musume banner schedule shows a major anniversary in three months, and you have zero jewels, you are in the "Danger Zone."
- The Hoarding Phase: You pull nothing. You use the cards you have. You rely on "Rentals."
- The Evaluation Phase: A new card drops. You wait 48 hours. You check the "Game-with" or "Kamigame" ratings. You wait for the whales to test the card.
- The Execution Phase: If the card is a "must-have," you go all in. If not, back to Phase 1.
Most players fail at Phase 2. They pull the second the banner goes live because the animations are flashy. Don't be that person.
Nuance: The Difference Between "Good" and "Necessary"
There’s a lot of nuance in the Uma Musume banner schedule that guides like this often overlook. Sometimes, a banner is "Good" for a specific distance but "Useless" for everything else.
If you primarily care about the Champions Meeting (the monthly PvP event), you only care about banners that improve your roster for that specific month's track. If the next CM is a 3200m Long distance race, and the banner is a Short-distance specialist? Skip. It doesn't matter how "high tier" she is if she can't run the race of the month.
The meta is fluid.
A Support Card that was garbage a year ago might suddenly become God-tier because a new scenario rewards "Power" training more than "Speed" training. This happened with several "Guts" cards during the Make a New Track era. Keeping an eye on the schedule also means keeping an eye on the game's evolving mechanics.
Strategy for the Current Year
As we move through 2026, the complexity of the cards is increasing. We are seeing more "Condition-based" bonuses. The Uma Musume banner schedule is now featuring cards that only work if you have a certain number of specific traits or if you are running in a specific strategy (like Runner or Chaser).
This makes "Generalist" cards even more valuable. If you see a card that offers a "Generic" gold skill that works for any distance or strategy, that is a high-value target on the schedule. These are the cards that survive scenario shifts.
Actionable Next Steps for Trainers
Instead of just staring at the banner and wishing, here is how you actually handle the upcoming schedule:
- Audit your current deck: Identify if you are missing a core stat-booster (e.g., do you have a top-tier Wisdom card?). If you don't, that is your next target, regardless of what "waifu" appears.
- Check the PakaLive schedule: Mark your calendar for the end-of-month broadcast. Never spend jewels in the three days before a broadcast.
- Use the 48-hour rule: When a new banner on the Uma Musume banner schedule goes live, give the community two days to run the numbers. The "Training Value" math is complex; let the experts calculate the "Rainbow" efficiency first.
- Focus on the "Scenario Link": If a new scenario is coming up in the next 60 days, save everything. A single Scenario Link card is worth more than five "decent" character banners.
- Ignore the "Bait" Banners: Single-character banners for permanent pool units are almost always a skip. You will eventually pull them on a spook or via a 3-star ticket. Save your jewels for limited Support Card banners or 1.5% rate-up festivals.
Planning your pulls according to the Uma Musume banner schedule is the difference between having a competitive stable and just having a gallery of pretty pictures. Be the trainer, not just the fan. Pay attention to the cycles, respect the power creep, and for heaven's sake, keep your jewels in your pocket until the meta demands otherwise.