Hoarding crystals for a specific hero OR wait for its Basic Arena?

Myrmidon

Premise: I stopped playing in Summer of 2019, and came back at the end of July 2022.

At the time, I decided to hoard all of my hero crystals, in order to try and get Quicksilver (at least as a 4*) once he had been added to the basic pool; recently I decided to wait even more, until Mantis gets added (especially since we got a free Quicksilver for anniversary).
However, since I would be more than happy even with a 4* Mantis (a 5* would be a dream, but for now it's highly unlikely), should I try to obtain her when the related basic arena will be announced? As far as I understood, now basic arenas guarantees you the 4* champion if you get to the 2.5 million milestone, but I'm not Uncollected yet so I can't have access to them (I only get access to Summoner Trials and stuff like that).
To summarize: do you advise me to open the crystals I saved until now, push for Uncollected and wait for her basic arena to get a 4* Mantis, OR instead to keep saving crystals until she gets added to the basic pool, and try to find her by opening all of them?
Is my account good enough to get Uncollected AND grinding at least 2.5 points in a basic arena?

AmaadAkira

Push for uncollected ASAP. The game is moving forward at a rapid rate at this point, and you'll quickly have no use for 4 stars. At this point for many players, 5 stars are useless now. Reach the higher titles and your acquisition of better 5 stars will increase, along with a decent amount of 6 stars. If you still really want mantis at that point, just save for the featured.

Furrymoosen

My question would be, why do you want 4* champs? Clearly your account has progressed beyond them, and if you continue to play you will eventually not be able to use them. If it is just for the purpose of collecting, just get her in the arena. You’re going to need to open crystals for iso to rank up champs. Don’t handcuff yourself waiting for a champion that won’t help your roster progress.
2.5 million will be a huge grind for your account in the basic arena, but by the time she is in the basic arena your account should have progressed quite a bit to make it easier. For now, open crystals as you get them and as you need the iso so you can continue to push content. You should be able to get uncollected with your account as is, just might take some revives.

Myrmidon

Furrymoosen said:

My question would be, why do you want 4* champs? Clearly your account has progressed beyond them, and if you continue to play you will eventually not be able to use them. If it is just for the purpose of collecting, just get her in the arena. You’re going to need to open crystals for iso to rank up champs. Don’t handcuff yourself waiting for a champion that won’t help your roster progress.
2.5 million will be a huge grind for your account in the basic arena, but by the time she is in the basic arena your account should have progressed quite a bit to make it easier. For now, open crystals as you get them and as you need the iso so you can continue to push content. You should be able to get uncollected with your account as is, just might take some revives.

Yes, I know it sounds strange or naive (to say the least), but I still tend to chase 4 stars, since I don't get 5 stars crystals very quickly and when I get them my luck is terrible (lately I got very lucky with Hercules, Sorcerer Supreme and the buffed Kingpin, but the duped Iron Patriot from years ago still haunts me...).
I know 4 stars champions became quite obsolete after Act 4, but I still can't get 5 stars (especially good ones) consistently, probably because of the (relatively small) amount of time I can dedicate to the game.
Thank you both for the answers anyway, I appreciate! I 100% explored Act 4 a week ago, so now I'll definitely focus on Act 5.

Iron_J3

I kinda agree with OP on chasing 4 stars. Mainly for ISO’s, but I still like many of them that I don’t have as 5 star, etc. I’m exploring Act 5. I wish 4 stars could be used Act 6, even if it’s for synergies. I digress though. I’d push for UC with your roster. Domino, Mascare, Quake and Mags can help you big time to get UC. Yes, few others can, but just mentioned those ones. Everybody progresses differently for various reasons and everybody isn’t as skilled, so-to-speak, as others.

Furrymoosen

Myrmidon said:

Furrymoosen said:

My question would be, why do you want 4* champs? Clearly your account has progressed beyond them, and if you continue to play you will eventually not be able to use them. If it is just for the purpose of collecting, just get her in the arena. You’re going to need to open crystals for iso to rank up champs. Don’t handcuff yourself waiting for a champion that won’t help your roster progress.
2.5 million will be a huge grind for your account in the basic arena, but by the time she is in the basic arena your account should have progressed quite a bit to make it easier. For now, open crystals as you get them and as you need the iso so you can continue to push content. You should be able to get uncollected with your account as is, just might take some revives.

Yes, I know it sounds strange or naive (to say the least), but I still tend to chase 4 stars, since I don't get 5 stars crystals very quickly and when I get them my luck is terrible (lately I got very lucky with Hercules, Sorcerer Supreme and the buffed Kingpin, but the duped Iron Patriot from years ago still haunts me...).
I know 4 stars champions became quite obsolete after Act 4, but I still can't get 5 stars (especially good ones) consistently, probably because of the (relatively small) amount of time I can dedicate to the game.
Thank you both for the answers anyway, I appreciate! I 100% explored Act 4 a week ago, so now I'll definitely focus on Act 5.

I understand. I will say though, you might want to do some more research on the 5* that you have. Of the 21 that you have so far, I’d say 11 of them are solid or better. Definitely useful for helping you progress through content so you can open more.