If you’re scanning this Uma Musume tier list because you’re sitting on 50,000 Carats and trying to figure out who actually deserves your pulls before CM13 starts, I’ve been there. The Trackblazer scenario reshaped what “good” even means in this game, and a few Trainees that used to coast are now barely keeping up. The Taurus Cup signups open May 10 and the meta has already shifted around it.
Here’s what’s inside:
- The full Trainee ranking from SS to D for May 2026
- Best picks broken out by distance (Sprint, Mile, Medium, Long, Dirt)
- Support Card tier notes since they matter more than the Trainee itself
- My CM13 Taurus Cup picks and why
- New player pull priority that doesn’t waste your starter Carats
I learned the hard way that pulling a 3-star Uma without a matching SSR Support Card is just a dressed-up B-Tier run. That’s the framing for everything below.
Table of Contents
How I Built This Tier List (Trackblazer Changed Everything)
The Trackblazer (MANT) scenario is the lens I used. It throws out a lot of old career-event scoring, prioritizes Race Bonus, and rewards a Mile-Medium-Long rotation. Race goals and most secret events that used to define a Trainee’s value just don’t exist in Trackblazer, which means a few “easy career” Umas got nerfed by relevance alone.
Rankings here weight three things: how easy a Trainee is to build well in Trackblazer, how strong her Unique Skill is in the current Champions Meeting environment, and how often she shows up as a Star factor parent for legacies. PvE solo career runs are basically solved at this point, so I’m leaning on PvP and Team Trials performance for the upper tiers.
I’m also separating Trainee tier from Support Card tier. They’re different rankings. A weak 1-star Trainee with a fully MLB SSR deck still beats a 3-star with junk supports. Don’t conflate them.
The Full Uma Musume Tier List for May 2026
Here’s the breakdown across all distances and roles. Star ratings refer to base rarity, not power. Limited variants are tagged where relevant.
| Trainee | Tier | Best Distance / Style | Why She’s Here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christmas Oguri Cap (Ashen Miracle) | SS | Medium / Pace Chaser | Festive Miracle is basically three skills in one |
| Kitasan Black | SS | Long / Front Runner | Best long-distance Front in the game right now |
| New Year’s T.M. Opera O | SS | Medium-Long / Pace | Barcarole stacks with skill activations |
| Summer Maruzensky (Formula R) | SS | Mile / Front | Red Shift acceleration is broken on most CM tracks |
| Christmas Biwa Hayahide | SS | Long / Pace Chaser | Highest stamina recovery ceiling in long races |
| Valentine Bourbon | S+ | Mile-Medium / Various | Flexible aptitudes and easy training |
| Oguri Cap (base) | S+ | Mile-Medium / Pace | Still cracked even without the Christmas variant |
| Seiun Sky | S+ | Long / Front Runner | Angling and Scheming is the gold standard |
| Tokai Teio | S | Medium / Pace Chaser | Certain Victory clutches more often than not |
| Symboli Rudolf | S | Medium-Long / Pace | Reliable late-stretch acceleration |
| Maruzensky (base) | S | Mile / Pace | Versatile aptitudes and good stat growth |
| Mejiro Dober | S | Medium / Late Surger | Still a meta-defining legacy parent |
| Admire Vega | S | Medium / Pace | Underrated Pace Chaser with strong recovery |
| Narita Taishin | S | Long / End Closer | Quiet workhorse for long races |
| Taiki Shuttle | S | Sprint-Mile / Front | Top Sprint Front Runner option |
| Sakura Bakushin O | S | Sprint / Front | Best Sprint farmer in the game |
| Daiwa Scarlet | S | Medium / Front | Reliable medium Front |
| Vodka | A | Mile / End Closer | Strong base stats, slightly outclassed |
| Special Week | A | Medium-Long / Various | Versatile but powercrept |
| Mejiro McQueen | A | Long / Pace | Solid long-distance support and Trainee |
| Silence Suzuka | A | Mile / Front | Iconic Front but weaker against new meta picks |
| Curren Chan | A | Sprint / Front | Great stat growth, narrow distance pool |
| Smart Falcon | A | Mile-Medium Dirt / Front | Best Dirt Front Runner |
| Mayano Top Gun (Wedding) | A | Medium / Pace | Improved variant, still A |
| Mihono Bourbon | A | Mile / Front | Steady but not flashy |
| Fine Motion | A | Trainee role / Support star | Better as a Support Card |
| Agnes Tachyon | A | Mile / Debuffer | Dominator debuff utility |
| Grass Wonder | A | Medium / Debuffer | Same Dominator role |
| El Condor Pasa | A | Dirt / Pace | Top free Dirt option |
| T.M. Opera O (base) | A | Medium-Long / Pace | Outclassed by NY variant |
| Mejiro Ryan | B | Medium / Pace | Functional but not exciting |
| Bamboo Memory | B | Mile / End Closer | Niche Mile pick |
| Mr. C.B. | B | Long / Late Surger | Decent Trainee, much better as SSR |
| Seeking the Pearl | B | Mile / Pace | Outclassed but okay |
| Matikanefukukitaru | B | Medium / Late Surger | Underwhelming as Trainee, fine for legacies |
| Super Creek | B | Long / Pace | Far better as Stamina SSR |
| Tamamo Cross | B | Long / Various | Old school, low ceiling |
| Daitaku Helios | B | Mile / Front | Functional |
| Hishi Akebono | C | Sprint / Front | Outclassed by Bakushin |
| Yaeno Muteki | C | Medium / Various | Niche use |
| Twin Turbo | C | Medium / Front | Flashy but unstable |
| Ines Fujin (new) | C | Medium / Various | Released late April, mid-tier kit |
| Nice Nature | C | Trainee role | Way better as Wit SSR |
| Gold Ship | D | Long / Various | Random training events tank consistency |
| Rice Shower | D | Long / End Closer | Mood drops kill her runs |
| King Halo | D | All / Various | Sprawling race requirements |
| Haru Urara | D | Dirt / All | Starter only, replace ASAP |
That’s the meat. SS is locked to five Trainees who genuinely break the meta in their distance. Below S+, the gap shrinks fast. Most A and B tier Umas clear PvE no problem with a decent deck.
The Five Trainees Doing the Heavy Lifting in May 2026
The SS tier isn’t a vibe call. These five Umas have Unique Skills and stat curves that the rest of the roster can’t match in the right race.
Christmas Oguri Cap (Ashen Miracle)
Festive Miracle activates when she’s used three recovery skills in the second half of the race, and the payoff is Speed, acceleration, and stamina recovery rolled into one trigger. That’s three skill effects on one button, which is why she gets called “three skills in one” by basically every Uma content creator.
The build is straightforward: slot Hydrate and Corner Recovery as your early recovery skills, then use Triple 7s as your late-race trigger. Run her as a Pace Chaser on Medium turf, push 1,200 Speed with strong Wit cards, and she clears most CM brackets. She’s the one Trainee I’d recommend grinding aptitude sparks for if you want a single carry.
Kitasan Black
Long-distance Front Runner of the era. Her stat growth alone makes the case: plus 20% Speed and plus 10% Stamina is a setup most Trainees can’t touch. Her Unique Skill scales harder when she’s in the lead at late race, which means once you train her past the early-race positioning hump, she’s basically uncatchable on Long tracks.
Heads up: her Support Card “Fire at My Heels” is the single best Speed SSR right now. Pulling the SSR matters more than pulling the Trainee.
New Year’s T.M. Opera O
Barcarole of Blessings gives her a moderate velocity boost at 400m remaining, but if seven skills already activated in the race, that boost upgrades to a much stronger version. So her ceiling depends on how many supplementary skills you slot in, which makes her a skill-stacking puzzle that pays off massively in Medium and Long Champions Meetings.
Summer Maruzensky (Formula R)
Red Shift / LP1211-M is the broken skill. It’s a Mile-tier acceleration boost that triggers when she’s positioned toward the front on the final corner, with a positional requirement of 1 through 5 which is generous enough that almost any running style can take it. CM13’s late-race timing on Corner 3 means this skill cuts through the field in ways most acceleration triggers can’t.
Christmas Biwa Hayahide
Long-distance Pace Chaser with a stamina recovery ceiling that lets her sit on the rail without burning out. She’s the most “press button win” of the SS tier on long turf, which is why she’s still SS even as the meta shifts toward shorter Champions Meeting tracks.
Best Picks by Distance
The overall tier list flattens out once you sort by distance. Here’s how I’d build each track-specific team.
Sprint (1000-1400m)
| Slot | Trainee |
|---|---|
| Ace | Sakura Bakushin O |
| Co-Ace | Taiki Shuttle |
| Sub | Curren Chan |
| Debuffer | Agnes Tachyon (with Mile aptitude) |
Sprint farming is dominated by Bakushin since her career is the cheapest in the game. Build her with two Speed SSRs and a Wit, and she’ll clear Sprint Cup goals in 30 minutes per career run.
Mile (1500-1799m)
| Slot | Trainee |
|---|---|
| Ace | Summer Maruzensky |
| Co-Ace | Oguri Cap (base) |
| Sub | Valentine Bourbon |
| Sub | Vodka |
Mile is where Formula R Maruzensky goes nuclear. If you skipped her banner, regular Oguri Cap and base Maruzensky still hold up.
Medium (1800-2400m)
| Slot | Trainee |
|---|---|
| Ace | Christmas Oguri Cap |
| Co-Ace | New Year’s T.M. Opera O |
| Sub | Tokai Teio |
| Debuffer | Grass Wonder |
This is the deepest distance pool and where most CMs land. Christmas Oguri is the safest carry, NY T.M. Opera O scales with skill stacking.
Long (2401m+)
| Slot | Trainee |
|---|---|
| Ace | Kitasan Black |
| Co-Ace | Christmas Biwa Hayahide |
| Sub | Seiun Sky |
| Sub | Symboli Rudolf |
Front-leaning long teams crush most long CMs. Kitasan up front with Seiun Sky as backup is the standard combo.
Dirt
| Slot | Trainee |
|---|---|
| Ace | Smart Falcon |
| Co-Ace | El Condor Pasa |
| Sub | Oguri Cap (with Dirt sparks) |
Dirt is shallow on top-tier Trainees, so you’ll lean on aptitude sparks to push someone like Oguri Cap up to A-rank Dirt.
Support Cards That Actually Carry Your Trainees
Support Cards do more heavy lifting than the Trainee itself in most builds. The current SS-tier picks:
- Kitasan Black “Fire at My Heels” (Speed): Highest base Special Priority in the Speed slot. Best card in the game right now.
- Super Creek (Stamina): Swinging Maestro is non-negotiable for Long Pace Chasers.
- Fine Motion (Wit): Forever useful, never powercrept.
- Tazuna Hayakawa (Friend/Pal): Training efficiency anchor.
- Bamboo Memory (Speed): Top alternate Speed card.
- Mr. C.B. (Wit): New as of late April, slots into Wit-heavy decks.
- Nice Nature (Wit): On Your Left! makes her great for Late Surgers.
- Twin Turbo (Speed, rerun): Still relevant for Front Runner builds.
- Riko Kashimoto (Power): One of the best Power SSRs.
- Narita Top Road (Speed): Firm Course Menace gives Speed and Power green skills, big in Trackblazer parent decks.
The Wit-stacking meta is real. Aries Cup pushed Trainees toward 1,000 Wit because skill activations are what separate top finishers when stats are otherwise similar. Don’t skip Wit cards.
Champions Meeting CM13 Taurus Cup: Who I’d Bring
CM13 signups open May 10 2026 with Round 1 on May 14. It’s a Tokyo 2400m Turf Medium based on the Japanese Derby, same track as the original Taurus Cup back in August 2025.
The big mechanic shift: late race begins on Corner 3 with the final corner only 25 meters delayed. That positioning is what makes Maruzensky’s Red Shift / LP1211-M so strong here, since it triggers on the final corner regardless of running style.
My CM13 ace lineup:
| Slot | Trainee | Style |
|---|---|---|
| Ace 1 | Christmas Oguri Cap | Pace Chaser |
| Ace 2 | Summer Maruzensky | Front Runner |
| Ace 3 | Kitasan Black | Front Runner |
The 2 Front + 1 Any composition gives me overlapping support, a Front Runner backup if Oguri Cap doesn’t hit her recovery triggers cleanly, and Maruzensky’s Red Shift as a late-corner deciding factor. Stamina requirement is fairly high for a Medium race, so I’m building all three around 750+ Stamina to absorb Dominator and Mystifying Murmur debuffs.
Christmas Oguri Cap was dominant in the Japanese version of CM13, but slightly less centralizing on global. Triple 7s now activates past the start of late race, which means it’s purely an acceleration skill instead of also providing a Speed component. Still strong, just not unbeatable.
The Trainees I Wasted Carats On
I burned 30,000 Carats on Twin Turbo’s banner expecting a viable Front Runner. She’s flashy in solo career runs and fold like cardboard in Champions Meeting. Should have saved for the next limited.
I also pulled hard on King Halo because her stat growths looked clean. Her career race calendar runs Sprint to Long which is impossible to stat-distribute properly under Trackblazer. C-tier with no realistic path to better.
Lesson: ignore raw stat growth percentages and check the career rotation instead. A Trainee with a clean Mile-Medium-Long career rotation outperforms one with better stats and a chaotic schedule.
New Player Pull Priority for May 2026
If you started during the 5th Anniversary period or after, here’s the order:
- Use your 3-Star Guaranteed Selector on Christmas Oguri Cap or Kitasan Black. Both are competitive across PvE and PvP, both are easy to train.
- Reroll for Kitasan Black “Fire at My Heels” Support Card. This is the single most impactful pull in the game right now.
- Build Sakura Bakushin O for Sprint farming. She comes in your starter pool. Use her to grind early Star Pieces.
- Pull on the current limited banner if it’s a Wit SSR. Mr. C.B. and Nice Nature are both worth grabbing.
- Save remaining Carats for the next limited Trainee banner with a top-tier SSR attached.
Reroll if you want, but Umamusume’s free Carat economy through dailies, story rewards, and Statue Exchange is generous enough that most players catch up within three to four weeks. The 3-Star Guaranteed Selector at the start of the game is the bigger lever.
Running Styles Without the Wiki Walls of Text
Quick cheat sheet so the tier list makes sense:
- Front Runner: Goes for the lead from start. Best for Kitasan Black, Maruzensky, Seiun Sky, Bakushin.
- Pace Chaser: Sits behind the lead. Most flexible style. Christmas Oguri Cap, Tokai Teio, NY T.M. Opera O.
- Late Surger: Saves stamina for a late kick. Mejiro Dober, Nice Nature.
- End Closer: Comes from way back at the very end. Narita Taishin, Vodka.
Aptitude letters (S, A, B, C, D, E, F, G) determine how well a Trainee runs that style. You can boost aptitude through sparks and parent inheritance. A Trainee with B-rank Front aptitude can absolutely race as a Front Runner if you build her right.
FAQ
Should I roll for Kitasan Black’s Support Card or save for the next Christmas Oguri Cap rerun?
Roll for Kitasan Black. Speed Support Cards have the longest meta lifespan, and Fire at My Heels is the best Speed SSR in the global pool. Christmas Oguri Cap is incredible but you can borrow her from friends and other players, while a max-limit-broken SSR is something you actually need to own.
Can I clear Champions Meeting with 2-star Umas?
Yes, in Graded League and the lower brackets of Open League. Once you hit A bracket, the gap between fully-built 3-stars and capped 2-stars becomes hard to close. The Open League rule change effective May 31 2026 now allows Career Rank A+ or lower (up from B), which makes 2-star ace-trained Umas way more viable.
Is Trackblazer the only scenario worth running now?
For PvP, yes. Trackblazer gives much higher stats and skill points than Unity Cup, which makes it the default for any competitive build. Unity Cup still exists if you want secret event skills like Runaway Silence Suzuka, but for almost every other Trainee, Trackblazer wins.
Will Christmas Oguri Cap still dominate the Taurus Cup CM13?
Less than she did in the Japan server. Triple 7s shifting to a pure acceleration role weakens her ceiling slightly, and the November 2025 balance patch already pulled her power down. She’s still a top-three pick, but she’s not the auto-win she was in CM12.
What does MLB mean and why does it matter?
MLB stands for Maximum Limit Break, which is the fully-duplicated state of a Support Card (4 dupes / 4 diamonds). MLB cards have significantly higher stat bonuses, skill point gains, and event triggers. It’s the difference between a card being “okay” and “meta-defining.”
How is Ines Fujin in the current meta?
Mid. The new 3-star Trainee released April 30 has a workable kit but doesn’t break into the top 10 for any single distance. Her SR Support Card variant from the same banner is more impactful than the Trainee herself.
Are SR Support Cards worth using over SSRs?
Yes when MLB. A fully-MLB SR can match or beat a 0-LB SSR in actual training output. Don’t skip SRs from your reroll account because you “want SSRs only.” The starter SR pool feeds directly into your competitive deck.
Final Take
That’s my Uma Musume tier list for May 2026. The headline takeaway: the SS tier is locked to five Trainees with broken Unique Skills, Trackblazer reshaped what training even looks like, and your Support Cards matter more than the star count of your Trainee.
If you only remember three things: Kitasan Black SSR is the best Support Card, Christmas Oguri Cap is the safest carry, and you should not pull on Twin Turbo expecting CM viability. The game is generous enough that almost any team comp clears PvE, so build the Trainees you actually like and save your Carats for limiteds you’ll actually use.