Hey, don't know if you know this already, but--
if you run front runners in CMs, it's generally recommended to run 2, because even in front heavy CMs, you can't guarantee that your opponent is going to be using them (remember that most umas are pace or late, so theoretically most trainers will be a pace or late (or both) trainer).
If you have the only front runner, then that front runner will only keep the pace of the race ahead of pace chasers by a couple lengths; if you have two, then the competition to be THE front runner will push both front runners up much more, and significantly increase their chances of winning. Also running two FR means you can use velocity skills that require them to pass umas to greater efficacy (if you don't have better skills you can buy), which are generally not worth putting on front runners at all if you can't guarantee another front runner to actually have them proc in situations where you aren't already losing. By running 2 FR, you guarantee the 2nd front runner yourself.
I'm not saying you won't win with your Bourbon (especially if she's well built: has at least 3 early race skills required to activate groundwork, taking the lead, and OG Seiun Sky's ult. FR is the most "needy" style in the game, but the work you put into it is given back to you more than any other style. I say this as an EC main that only dips into FR to use the chariot method).
By running her alone, you deprive yourself of one of the biggest advantages that the FR style has, and that is the ability to put more distance between your FR and the other three styles trying to overtake them by running your FR with a another FR friend. They're like hamsters, basically; you need at least 2. Just a head's up (^-^)
Hi, thanks for the advice!
True, I've heard about needing two fronts before. For this particular CM I honestly thought: "well, there are guides claiming that Fronts would be stronger than paces on this particular track, so the chance that others wouldn't bring a single Front are lower than usual" ^^;
I think there are several reasons that Bourbon is struggling this time; for one, she never got Medium S (none of mine did this time orz), and then I focused too much on the accel skills rather than consistent velocity boosts. For instance, I used Maruzen as a legacy for Red Shift and finally lucked into getting Seiun's ult from a grandparent in this run, then spent SP on Unrestrained on top of that; I think it would have been more effective to actually give her Escape Artist (rather than just Fast-paced) + Radiant Star to boost her velocity in this scenario. (Groundwork's also a bit shaky; she does have Left-handed+ but also has to rely on Early Lead, Focus and/or Lone Wolf to proc).
That being said, I really want to run the Bourbon + Rice + Bakushin trio for Gemini cup next for theming purposes, so in that CM I will probably run two of them as fronts 0v0b
