Hardest/easiest/coolest spellcard of each stage?

[Milkyway64]

Another one of those "HARDEST SPELLCARD/BOSS EVER" topics, but those are boring. We're also going to share the spellcards that make us yawn, and also which ones we just like for whatever reason. Extra and Phantasm will be counted as one.

Hardest (according to Normal difficulty)

Stage 1: Yamame's last spellcard. Something-Miasma. It's very Orin-ish, but much toned down. Little Bug Storm is a close second.

Stage 2: I'm going with Kogasa's train card for this one. I was about to list Venoumous Moth's Dark Dance, but that's Lunatic difficulty, not normal...

Stage 3: Foggy London Dolls, or whichever of Alice's has a bunch of green bullets spraying from dolls like nuts. Knockout in Three Steps is a good contender, but I seem to survive it more than the dolls. Also, Brofist's last card with the eye lasers. I can NEVER read the lasers right.

Stage 4:

"Aya" and "Patchouli" comes to mind, but I'm just going to go with anything Satori has. Barring a few exceptions, her recollection cards are too difficult with too much HP. Are we seriously dealing with shoot the bullet cards?! EXTRA StB cards?! Nooooooo thanks. Oh, and her double death butterfly > Yukari's.

Stage 5:

Shou's spinning lasers. Ironcally, I cap this somewhat often. However, it's ALWYS full of near-deaths and lucky, blind rushing hoping I don't crash into a bullet.


Stage 6:

I hate so many stage six cards, like Yuyukos lolbutterflywalls and Heaven and Hell Meltdown, (Hourai Jewel/Elixer and VoWG above Normal) but the one that takes the cake is Dragon's Necklace from IN. I swear, the Lunatic version of this card is easier than this. To cap it with Marisa solo, it took me 400+ attempts. I am not kidding. I capped Fantasy Heave sooner than that. Geez.

Extra:

Would it be fair to put Imperishable Shooting here? If not, Genetics and/or Danmaku Rosarch might be the winner. Boundary of Life and Death is also an honorable mention.


LW: Fantasy Heaven, Need I say more?

Easiest: (Normal)

Stage 1:

Rumia's first card. I don't think I've ever died to either of her cards on anything below Lunatic, maybe Hard.

Stage 2:

Spingid's wingbeats. Are we quite serious? A few aimed shots, and largely spaced arrowheads going straight down. As soon as you stop being afraid to go through those, you'll never fail this card again.

Stage 3:

Probably the Normal version of Shackles a Criminal Can't Remove (forgot the name) if you're not Reimu C. Although, anything above Normal is Alice's midboss card, Maiden's Bunraku. I have a perfect capture rate on it, even on Lunatic.

Stage 4:

Probably Murasa's first anchor card, just as long as Murasa doesn't move so the anchor comes back up into you.

Stage 5:

I'm going with Sakuya's first timestop card, where she summons a bunch of blue knives above you that... just pass on by with one simple tap.

Stage 6:

I'm going with Byakuren's butterfly card. I never have to worry about it.

Extra:

Toss up between Nue's green snakes and Perfect Bhuddist. Flaw of Forgiving Shrine is an honorable mention.

LW: Heaven's Spider's Butterfly Catching Web. If not this, then I find Lunatic Red Eyes stably capturable.

Coolest: (All difficulties)

Stage 1:

I'm going with Nazrin Pendalum on Hard or higher. Nothing else jumps out at me, other than Gold Detector...

Stage 2:

Perfect Freeze. Whee, colors!

Stage 3:

Anything Hong has. Again, whee colors! (Brofist's cards are second)

Stage 4:

Hakurai Bounded Feild,  or Event Horizon. One for the uniqueness, one for being plain awesome. Satori's Mist Labyrinth is pretty awesome, too.

Stage 5:

Sanae's The Day the Sea Split. Other good mentions are Reisen's Visionary Tuning and Shou's card with the six beams occsionally comng down and walling you while yellow walls slowly descend.

Stage 6:

While I LOVE how Utsuho's entire fight looks on Lunatic and think Ten Evil Stars is the single most epic looing card I've seen, I think I'm either going with Hourai Elixer or Mornin Mist. IN was the first touhou I played, and after three hard fought attempts, I finally finish the game on Easy and... intense piano start, figure 8 lasers... spray of bullets coming in, and as I start dodging, the music picks up. That was a VERY powerful moment. Morning Mist is there simply because I like how it flows above higher difficulties. Each wave clears out as the next comes in, building up until a grand explosion of colors and shapes sends the player into a panic.

Extra:

Danmaku Bounded Field, or Nue's survival card. Both are very impressive, especially the latter.

LW: Blazing Star. Nuff said. ...Or Profound Field.

[Zengeku]

According to Lunatic mode.

Hardest:

Stage 1: Gold Detector (UFO). Easily the hardest for me. A second place would go to Promise of the Wheat God (MoF) but the only thing difficult about that is how fast the lasers turn on. That can screw you over.

Stage 2: Parasol Star Memories (UFO). This one is almost impossible. A second place would belong to Kimontonkou (PCB)

Stage 3: King Kraken Strike (UFO). With those hands covering all the screen, reading the bullets is a dreadfully difficult task.

Stage 4: Peerless Wind God (MoF). I don't need to say anything here. In terms of more legitimately hard spells i'd go by Lava Cromlech (EoSD)

Stage 5: Anything Shou has. I hate that boss battle. Not counting UFO, Hell God Sword.

Stage 6: Legendary Flying Saucer. Even Scarlet Gensokyo is easier than this.
Stage EX: Q.E.D

Easiest:

Stage 1: Moonlight Laser (EoSD)
Stage 2: Song of the Night Sparrow (IN)
Stage 3: Wind Chime of Colorful Rainbow (EoSD)
Stage 4: Event Horizon (IN)
Stage 5: Yasaka's Divine Wind (MoF)
Stage 6: Madly Dance on Medoteko (MoF)
Stage EX: Xu Fu's Dimension (IN)

Most awesome:

Stage 1: Cave Spider's Nest (SA)
Stage 2: Poisonous Moth's Dance in the Dark (IN)
Stage 3: Wind Blowing Down from Mt. Ooe (SA)
Stage 4: Asteroid Belt (IN)
Stage 5: Moses's Miracle (MoF)
Stage 6: Virtue of Wind God (MoF)
Stage EX: The Bow of Yorimasa Genzanmi (UFO)

Coolest:

Stage 1: Pendulum Guard (UFO)
Stage 2: Large Pentagram Crest (PCB)
Stage 3: Benevolent Orl?ans Dolls
Stage 4: Asteroid Belt or Satori's Recollection spells.
Stage 5: Hell God Sword (PCB) - I'll say that it looks cool even though i hate it like the plague
Stage 6: Nuclear Excursion
Stage EX: Border of Life and Death.

[Bananamatic]

Hardest:
1 - MoF, that Maiden's Heart whatever. It's terrible. I don't remember the last time I've had 2/20 on a stage 1 spellcard.

2 -
3 - OH GOD NITORI
So many choices.....either EXTEEEEEEEENDING AAAAAAAAAARM or Diluvial Mare. Or her midboss card. Can't pick one, they all suck.
4 - OH GOD AYA
Actually, I'll go with Asteroid Belt. It's a huge clusterfuck.
5 - Misdirection. NOT Illusional.
6 - Omoikane's Brain. FFS might be hard, but Omoikane is just pure bullshit and boredom.
Extra - Double Death Butterfly, if we don't count survival/final.

Easiest:
1 - Moonlight Ray - it lasts 5 seconds at best. Come on.
2 - Icicle Fail lol I dunno
3 - Yuugi's Hell's Wheel of Pain.....how can you die on THAT?
4 - Murasa's first card?
5 - Mind Shaker/Mind Blowing. Piss easy, even on Lunatic.
6 - No idea....Young Demon Lord is pretty easy.
Extra - Lavatein or Nue's green snakes. Wizard Fox Thoughts still gives me problems :V

Most fun
1 - None, really.
2 - Any patternless Cirno shitstorm
3 - Extreme Color Typhoon. Same as above.
4 - Border of Wave and Particle
5 - Stage 5 always sucks(pattern heavy, stupid gimmicks, etc.). Except for IN, where it sucks in a good way.
6 - VoWG. Fun stuff.
Extra - Yorimasa Genzanmi is pretty fun. Or Border of Life and Death. And Xanadu of Straight and Curve.

[Sapz]

Hmm, why not. I'm going to be using Hard/Lunatic versions in general since I've kind of forgotten what the Normal versions of things are like for the most part. <_<

Hardest

Stage 1: Letty's Table Turning. The density is INSANE for a Stage 1 card, plus it has those really annoying PCB squiggly lasers on top of all the regular bullets. This caused the majority of my restarts.

Stage 2: I'm gonna go with Kogasa's 2nd boss card, mainly because it's very dense plus BULLETS CAN SPAWN ON YOU. Honourable mention to Crusading Cherub's Rampage.

Stage 3: Ichirin in general. They take too long, screen shaking happens, dense bullets, etc etc.

Stage 4: Peerless Wind God. I don't think I need to explain why.

Stage 5: Tie between Hell God Sword, Killing Doll and Vengeful Cat's Erratic Step. HGS for the bullet density and because trying to take into account three different kinds of bullet hitboxes at once, Killing Doll because of density and because you get knives turning around after you dodge them and backstabbing you, and VCES because it makes me want to strangle things.

Stage 6: Hourai Jewel. No contest. The precision and timing needed to pull this off is insane, plus you need to keep track of about three different groups of bullets at the same time, and on top of that there's the matter of Kaguya being invincible for the first 45 seconds or so... This took me almost 400 attempts to capture, more than any other card in the series by quite a way.

Extra: Hmm. I'd have to agree with Imperishable Shooting, I think. Other than that though, BoLaD, the last few waves are extremely difficult to dodge as well as lasting a long time.

Easiest

Stage 1: It's got to be Rumia's Night Bird. Even on Lunatic, it's just very basic streaming.

Stage 2: Hm... not really any trivial Stage 2 cards. I guess Parsee's Large Box and Small Box. Very easy dodging, move to the other side, very easy dodging, move back, repeat.

Stage 3: Shackles a Criminal Can't Remove. I honestly cannot see the challenge of this card at all.

Stage 4: I always found Bosendorfer Spirit Performance quite easy... although Murasa's first card comes close.

Stage 5: Invisible Full Moon, definitely. It's laughable, even on Lunatic.

Stage 6: Mad Dance on Medoteko. Very little dodging involved. Honourable mention to Repository of Hirokawa, too, which is basically just alternating between being at the left and right sides of the screen.

Extra: Cool as it is, definitely Lavatein for obvious reasons.

Coolest

Stage 1: I really really like Yamame's first spell card. The way it kind of inverts itself and then spreads out is pretty sweet.

Stage 2: Kogasa's trains are awesome.

Stage 3: Tie between Hanged Hourai Dolls and Knockout in Three Steps. HHD has the awesome appear-then-invert thing going on and KITS has this awesome buildup before the actualy dodging begins.

Stage 4: Satori's BoWaP is really cool. I love how you have to keep alternating between micrododging individual bullets and macrododging huge waves of bullets.

Stage 5: Pretty much all of Sanae's cards look really, really cool, although Shou has some pretty cool ones too. For an individual card... I would have to pick Secretly Inherited Art of Danmaku.

Stage 6: Hmmm... I'm going to have to go with VoWG, predictably enough. It's the pretty much the only card that stays incredibly fun and exhilarating no matter how many times I play it. Honourable mentions are Resurrection Butterfly, Hourai Elixer, Subterranean Sun and Demon's Recital, because I'm really indecisive and they all kick ass.

Extra: I think I have to go with Subterranean Rose here, very cool looking, especially the final phase. Honourable mentions to Danmaku Bounded Field and Nue's 5th, 9th and final cards.

Wow. That took a while.

[Matsuri]

I'll even do Last Words, too.

Hardest:
1. Minoriko's 'Autumn Sky and a Maiden's Heart' can go die.
2. Hina's midboss spell "Biorhythm of the Apotropaic God". Damn.
3. Keine's "The Legend of Gensokyo". This one fucks me up even on Normal.
4. It's a tie between Marisa's 'Asteroid Belt' and Aya's "Wind God Hidden Among Tree Leaves"/"Tengu's Fall Wind"/"Storm Day. Both are nightmares in my eyes.
5. Anything Shou or Orin uses. Argh. At least their spell cards are pretty.
6. Any of Eirin's spells on Hard/Lunatic, Kaguya's 'Hourai Jewel' or the obligatory 'Scarlet Meister'.
Extra: Gengetu's fourth phase, EX-Alice's homing lasers, Yukari's 'Double Death Butterfly', or Mokou's 'Imperishable Shooting'. I have yet to play against Koishi or Nue.
Last Word: Fantasy Heaven. Dear god, that's hard.

Easiest:
Stage 1: Any of Orange's attacks, Rumia's 'Night Bird', Letty's 'Lingering Cold', or Nazrin's 'Rare Metal Detector'.
Stage 2: Cirno's Icicle Fall -Easy-. Come on, now.
Stage 3: Hong Meiling's 'Rainbow Wind Chime' at any difficulty is a piece of cake.
Stage 4: The Prismriver Sisters' 'Stygian Riverside'/Lyrica's 'Fazioli Spirit Performance/"B?sendorfer Spirit Performance". Stygian Riverside is easier than its Easy/Normal counterpart!
Stage 5: Sakuya's 'Jack the Ludo Bile'. Easy, easy, easy.
Stage 6: Byakuren's "Mystic Fragrance of a Makai Butterfly" is incredibly simple.
Extra: Yukari's 'Butterfly in the Zen Temple', Flandre's 'Lavatein', Mokou's 'Honest Man's Death'
Last Word: Tewi's 'Ancient Duper' or Sakuya's 'Deflation World'

Coolest:
Stage 1: Yamame's 'Filled Miasma'/'Unexplained Fever. Swirly~
Stage 2: Any of Chen's spells, or Kogasa's 'Parasol Star Symphony/Memories' if not only for the Taito game references
Stage 3: Alice's "Benevolent Orl?ans Dolls". So pretty. That, or Brofists. Epic.
Stage 4: Marisa's "Event Horizon".
Stage 5: Any of Youmu's spells, Sanae's 'Takeminakata Invocation', or Sakuya's "Killing Doll".
Stage 6: Before Byakuren came around, I'd say Yuyuko's 'Perfect Cherry Blossom of Sumizome -Bloom-' was the most gorgeous pattern in all Touhou games. Now that Byakuren's 'Flying Fantastica' and 'Legendary Flying Saucer' are in the picture, those come in a close second.
Extra: Yukari's 'Boundary of Life and Death', Suwako's "Frog Is Eaten by Snake due to the Croak" if not only because it's a blast to play against, or any of Nue and Koishi's spells.
Last Word: Yukari's "Profound Danmaku Bounded Field -Phantasm, Foam and Shadow-" or Kaguya's 'Tree-Ocean of Hourai'.

[?q]

St. 1
Easiest - Night Bird edges out Firefly Phenomenon for many bullets, zero threat.
Hardest - Unexplained Fever beats out High Sensitivity Nazrin Pendulum, but I don't like either of them.
Coolest - Either of Wriggle's cards.  They're pretty when you're able to watch them from a distance (read: when you're not playing)

St. 2
Easiest - Ill-Starred Dive.  No contest.  Old Lady Ohgane's Fire and Song of the Night Sparrow are next on the list.
Hardest - Ghost Train etc.  Chen wants to contest this with Giant Pentagram Crest and Kimontonkou, but no.
Coolest - I can't think of one.  Maybe Ghost Train.

St. 3
Easiest - Oni-on Rings all the way.  If we're taking the SA demo, then change this to Selaginella 9, First Pyramid, or General Headquarters Crisis (in that order).
Hardest - Knock Out in Three Steps, although "hard" isn't my word for it.  Alternatively, everything Nitori has and King Kraken Strike.
Coolest - Once again, everything Nitori has.

St. 4
Easiest - Stygian Riverside and Bosendorfer Spirit Performance, followed by Princess Undine/Bury in Lake and Super Duplex Border.
Hardest - Satori and Patchouli have at least one for each shot type (DDBB, Agni Radiance, Sylphae Horn High Level, etc.).  Aya's stalker spell and Asteroid Belt come close.
Coolest - Extending Arm all the way for extreme graze abuse ^.^

St. 5
Easiest - Jack the Ludo Bile.  Alterantively, Approaching Enlightenment, or whatever Youmu calls her sandwich spell.  Shou's last card isn't bad.  And apparently I'm the only person who thinks Takaminekata Invocation is reasonably trivial.
Hardest - Killing Doll, Hell Flash Sword, Zombie Fairy, Catwalk, etc.
Coolest - Shou's second card beats out Illusion Seeker.

St. 6
Easiest - Madly Dance on Medoteko.  Byakuren's second spell comes close.
Hardest - Uncontrollable Nuclear Meltdown is just about as bad as VoWG IMO. And then there's Omoikane's Brain and Byakuren's first spell.
Coolest - Game of Rising, Scarlet Gensokyo, Yamato Torus, and everything Yuyuko and Byakuren have.

Extra
Easiest - Wizard Fox's Thoughts is pretty tough to mess up...  Honest Man's Death is second to that, and then we have Nue's snake lasers.
Hardest - Boundary of Humans and Youkai, Fujiyama Volcano, and all of Nue's garbage spells.
Coolest - Suwako's water fountain, Danmaku Chimera, Mesh of Light and Darkness, Superego, Returning-Bridge Ichigo.

LW
Easiest - Deflation World by far.  Emperor of the East is second.
Hardest - Fantasy Heaven.
Coolest - Both of Keine's cards.

[BoLaD]

Hardest:
Stage 1: Yamane's final spellcard. It's fun though.
Stage 2: Kogasa's final spell-how the hell are you supposed to dodge this?
Stage 3: Alice's final spellcard-lolwallfromtheworstcharacterintouhou
Stage 4: Peerless Wind God-lucked based spam anyone?
Stage 5: Syou's first spellcard. Lasers -> Seizure bullets -> Death
Stage 6: Byakuren's final spellcard. Fun as shit and awesome though.
Extra: Suwa War.

Easiest:
Stage 1: Rumia's mid-boss card. I have never died to this spellcard.
Stage 2: Parsee's second spellcard.
Stage 3: Yuugi's first spellcard-I think this is the easiest in the series.
Stage 4: The red Prismiver's spellcard that takes place after the one where they all come together.
Stage 5: Sakuya's first spellcard-it walls you every now and then though.
Stage 6: Yuyuko's first spellcard, the one where she throws a laser and you and makes you dodge from the top and then the side. It's fun to read though.
Extra: Either Mokou's Nazi spell (I know it's not a Nazi symbol, I just don't know how else to say it) or Yukari's Nazi spell.

Coolest:
Stage 1: Nazrin's final spell. Diamond danmaku ftw!
Stage 2: Parsee's final spellcard- it's easy but looks damn nice.
Stage 3: Alice's 2nd to last spell. Get an LCD monitor (I don't have one, I'm using the 13 inch screen that comes with the computer I got about 6 years ago. I've yet to replace this 512 mb ram machine.) and watch this spellcard on lunatic. It looks BEAUTIFUL.
Stage 4: Asteroid Belt hands down. It's fun, it's hard, and it's nice to watch. (Although it's makes me jealous how people can time this out without focusing)
Stage 5: Hell God Sword-It looks cool, even though it walls you about 90 percent of the time.
Stage 6: My mind wants to see Ressurection Butterfly but my body is refusing to type it, since I've recently become a Byakren fanboy!! It's either Byakuren's final spellcard or Ressurection Butterfly- DONT MAKE ME CHOOSE.
Extra: BoLaD-Look at my username. I'm surprised no one has pointed this out.

[Kanako Yasaka]

...how on earth do people think Rainbow Wind Chime is trivial? :<

Hardest:
Stage 1: Autumn Sky. That card is a piece of shit.
Stage 2: Train. :<
Stage 3: Anything Nitori has.
Stage 4: Illusionary Dominance.
Stage 5: Marionette. I have never captured it. D:
Stage 6: MISAYAMA FUCKING HUNTING SHRINE FUCKING RITUAL
EX: Charming Siege from all sides. >_>
LW: Fantasy Heaven

Easiest:
Stage 1: Wriggle's first.
Stage 2: Kogasa's midboss card. A hilarous joke on normal.
Stage 3: Ichirin's second endboss card.
Stage 4: Pretty much anything Patchouli has, except for Sylphae Horn High Level.
Stage 5: Red Eyes Hypnosis.
Stage 6: Expanded Onbashira.
EX: Curse of dreams and reality
LW: Paschal Moon Reflecting Satallite Slash.

Coolest:
Stage 1: Flower Wither Away.
Stage 2: I hate stage 2's in general so nothing.
Stage 3: Rainbow Wind Chime. I LOVE rainbow danmaku.
Stage 4: Stardust Reverie.
Stage 5: Gray Thaumaturgy.
Stage 6: VoWG.
EX: Danmaku Bounded Field.
LW: Profound Field -phantasm, foam, and shadow-

[?q]

...how on earth do people think Rainbow Wind Chime is trivial? :<

IIRC the main pattern is static.  I don't remember if the extra loop on Hard/Lunatic is static as well, but it's still not a big difference.

[Milkyway64]

Extra: BoLaD-Look at my username. I'm surprised no one has pointed this out.

Wait, which one is this? Life and death? The one with OMGSPAM nearing the end, before danmaku bounded feild?

...

*edits post, realizing I mixed the name up and to include LWs like the sheep I am*

[ebarrett]

Most of the below refers to "hard" difficulty unless where explicitly generic.

HARDEST
stage 1: autumn sky and a maiden's heart. cliptastic!
stage 2: I autobomb byorhythm of the apotropaic god.
stage 3: DAMN YOU ICHIRIN
stage 4: merlin's nonspells scare me more than anything else here. also, reimu's first nonspell: marisa solo + a truckload of ying-yang orbs bouncing around = splat
stage 5: radiant treasure gun, needles of yore and the vengeful spirits in pain (even the name is hard)
stage 6: FFFFU HOURAI JEWEL, I never played IN again after repeatedly failing to 1cc hard due to this being absolutely INSANE in comparison to the whole game. errr somewhat basic lolstreaming, at least on hard. my vote now goes to Kaguya's third Last Spell in which the walls move just too fast for my taste.
extra: q.e.d.

EASIEST
stage 1: night bird
stage 2: old lady ohgane's fire, or maybe ill-starred dive
stage 3: shackles a criminal can't take off. I mean, really.
stage 4: murasa's first. I wonder, is the lunatic version much different from the previous ones?
stage 5: yasaka's divine wind. again, is the lunatic version substantially harder?
stage 6: if we leave okuu's safespot out, then repository of hirokawa and madly dance on medoteko.
extra: wizard fox thoughts which is doable with your eyes closed, honest man's death.

COOLEST
stage 1: busy rod
stage 2: parasol star memories. kogasa's nonspells also deserve mention.
stage 3: wind blowind down from mt. ooe
stage 4: PATCHY IS LOVE, I couldn't choose one or two.
stage 5: jack the ludo bile
stage 6: everything okuu throws at you, except her last.
extra: froggy braves the elements, guerrilla typhoon

[LHCling]

All for Lunatic, save for EX obviously. Taken as an overall case (i.e. all shot types). Some things have changed.

Hardest
S1: "Hermit of an Endless Night"_{IN S1 SC4}
S2: "Parasol Star Memories"_{UFO S2 SC2}
S3: "King Kraken Strike" _{UFO S3 SC2}
S4: "Sinkable Vortex"_{UFO S4 SC2}
S5: "Vengeful Cat Spirit's Erratic Step"_{SA S5 SC1}
S6: "Legendary Flying Saucer"_{UFO S6 SC6}
EX: "Gengetu Rape Time"LLS S7 SC AP68b

Easiest
S1: "Moonlight Ray"_{EoSD S1 SC1}
S2: "Green-Eyed Invisible Monster"_{SA S2 SC1}
S3: "Trauma in the Glimmering Depths"_{MoF S3 SC2}
S4: "Terrifying Hypnotism"_{SA S4 SC1}
S5: "Invisible Full Moon"_{IN S5 SC4}
S6: "Life Spring Infinity"_{IN S6b SC5}
EX: "Honest Man's Death"_{IN S7 SC8} "Mysterious Snake Show"_{UFO S7 SC6}*

Coolest (liking for no reason... or something like that according to OP)
S1: Nil'd. None of them really appeal to me.
S2: "Super-Water Repelling Bone-Dry Monster"_{UFO S2 SC3}
S3: "Spin the Cephalic Plate"_{MoF S3 SC4}
S4: "Double Black Death Butterfly"_{SA S4 SC2a}
S5: "Vajra of Perfect Buddhism"_{UFO S5 SC4}
S6: "Devil's Recitation"_{UFO S6 SC4} inb4bias
EX: "Nightmare of Heiankyou"_{UFO S7 SC(some large number)}
inb4 Department of Redundancy Department.

[Krimmydoodle]

I haven't made up my own list yet (maybe I'll add it in later), but I'm just going to point out one problem I have with peoples' lists.

Pointing out the "easiest" Extra card is a bit of an odd decision to veterans of the series.  Sure, there are a number of cards that are absolutely trivial; Wizard Fox Thoughts, Honest Man's Death, Nine Syllable Cuts, to name a few.  These are among the easiest spell cards in the series... once you know their respective tricks.

Did we know that the method to Wizard Fox Thoughts was "tap right... tap right... wait... tap right..." or did we scream "BULLETS RUN RUN RUN!"?  Did we know during our first encounter with Honest Man's Death that you're supposed to go through the laser, or did we run away from the laser and seal our fate?  Did we know that Nine Syllable Cuts' lasers are static, or did we keep trying to actually read the lasers and constantly get zapped like the newbs we were?  I'm guilty of all three of these.  I'm sure many of you are too.

My pick for "easiest" Extra card goes to Ominous Clouds "Heian Dark Clouds" (Nue's 1st), because I didn't need a silly trick to keep a 100% capture rate on it.

[Matsuri]

I haven't made up my own list yet (maybe I'll add it in later), but I'm just going to point out one problem I have with peoples' lists.

Pointing out the "easiest" Extra card is a bit of an odd decision to veterans of the series.  Sure, there are a number of cards that are absolutely trivial; Wizard Fox Thoughts, Honest Man's Death, Nine Syllable Cuts, to name a few.  These are among the easiest spell cards in the series... once you know their respective tricks.

Did we know that the method to Wizard Fox Thoughts was "tap right... tap right... wait... tap right..." or did we scream "BULLETS RUN RUN RUN!"?  Did we know during our first encounter with Honest Man's Death that you're supposed to go through the laser, or did we run away from the laser and seal our fate?  Did we know that Nine Syllable Cuts' lasers are static, or did we keep trying to actually read the lasers and constantly get zapped like the newbs we were?  I'm guilty of all three of these.  I'm sure many of you are too.

My pick for "easiest" Extra card goes to Ominous Clouds "Heian Dark Clouds" (Nue's 1st), because I didn't need a silly trick to keep a 100% capture rate on it.

That's the biggest reason I didn't mention Wizard Fox Thoughts. It took me forever in my newbie days to realize I didn't even have to move much at all. Butterfly in the Zen Temple/Whatever Ran calls her version was always easy for me, because it's such a straightforward, predictable, easy card. 

[LHCling]

I certainly did certainly find it odd to try and point out the "easiest" Extra SC. It took me 30 minutes to make that decision.

I chose mine based on how consistently I can take on the SC (yes, I have been known to clip the others every now and then, but never "Honest Man's Death"). However, looking back at it, I might quickly make a change.
*You're probably thinking "Why this?" I chose it because:

• I worked out how it works via sightreading 2-3 waves of snakes
• I clipped Nue's first SC

[?q]

I haven't made up my own list yet (maybe I'll add it in later), but I'm just going to point out one problem I have with peoples' lists.

Pointing out the "easiest" Extra card is a bit of an odd decision to veterans of the series.  Sure, there are a number of cards that are absolutely trivial; Wizard Fox Thoughts, Honest Man's Death, Nine Syllable Cuts, to name a few.  These are among the easiest spell cards in the series... once you know their respective tricks.

Did we know that the method to Wizard Fox Thoughts was "tap right... tap right... wait... tap right..." or did we scream "BULLETS RUN RUN RUN!"?  Did we know during our first encounter with Honest Man's Death that you're supposed to go through the laser, or did we run away from the laser and seal our fate?  Did we know that Nine Syllable Cuts' lasers are static, or did we keep trying to actually read the lasers and constantly get zapped like the newbs we were?  I'm guilty of all three of these.  I'm sure many of you are too.

My pick for "easiest" Extra card goes to Ominous Clouds "Heian Dark Clouds" (Nue's 1st), because I didn't need a silly trick to keep a 100% capture rate on it.

Actually, I don't think I had a problem with Nine Syllable Cuts' lasers being static.  I run into them anyway. <.<

Heian Dark Clouds screams cheesedeath.  Nue's snake card almost dodges you so you don't have to dodge it.

[Zengeku]

Heian Dark Clouds screams cheesedeath.  Nue's snake card almost dodges you so you don't have to dodge it.

Heian Dark Clouds isn't so easy to clip is it? When i first saw it, i thought for sure that it would be easy to clip but it has only happened to me once.

Also. Yeah, that snake card is very easy. I didn't mention it because it gets me paranoid even though i beat it consistently without any trouble. It must be the way the snakes move that make me nervous.

But really, maybe that is somewhat of a theme to her battle. The patterns looking menacing. Its the same way with Danmaku Chimera. I don't really have any reason to fear it but it always get me dreadfully nervous. Maybe its because the first time i faced it resulted in me dying three times.

[Seian Verian]

Why do so many people think that Murasa's first and Repository of Hirokawa are easy? ._. I hate Repository of Hirokawa's aimed walls a lot, and Murasa's first has that annoying anchor that can kill you when it pulls back in... Not to mention the danmaku that splashes up when that big anchor hits the edge of the screen...

Anyway... These are all for Normal/Easy difficulty unless stated otherwise.

Hardest:

Stage 1- Wriggle's final spell (Only get if you have enough time points)

Stage 2- Am I allowed to say Cirno's first nonspell? <.<; Meh, I guess I'll go with either Parsee's second, or Kogasa's third.

Stage 3- Either Ichirin's first or third. Not sure which is worse, but seriously...

Stage 4- Fantasy Seal~ Concentrate from the battle with Reimu in IN. Satori's Yukari recollection spells deserve an honorable mention, as does Murasa's second, (especially Murasa's second T_T) but seriously, if anything is worse than an aimed wall shooting toward you, it's one that does it twice while still more come to do the same...

Stage 5- Orin and Shou. Just... Orin and Shou. Though I will say that Shou's third and Orin's Needle Mountain card both especially stand out.

Stage 6- Hm, so many nightmarish cards to choose from... *glares at Yuyuko* I suppose I'd say that the nastiest is probably... Miracle of Otensui. While it's easier to survive than VoWG... Only if you bomb it <.<; Seriously, just... No. Just plain... *shudders* How the heck are you supposed to do this stupid card? ._.

Easiest:

Stage 1- ...All of them?

Stage 2- ...Probably anything that was in PCB or EoSD would come close, but Icicle Fall on Easy would definitely take it.

Stage 3- Yuugi's "Hell's Wheel of Pain" would probably take this spot. It's hard to believe that one of the easiest cards in existence is in SA of all things O_O;

Stage 4- Hm... I'd have to say either Bosendorfer Spirit Performance, or Stygian Riverside, both by the Prismriver Sisters... On Hard. Seriously, these are easier than anything I've encountered on Normal or Easy =/

Stage 5- Reisen's first card. It's just pathetic once you know how to deal with it.

Stage 6- ... I honestly am having trouble thinking of anything .-. Meh... Maybe Utsuho's first card on Easy, though I've never reached her on Normal...

Coolest... I don't feel like thinking about which ones I like most right now. Maybe later...

[Shizumarashi Mayuzumi]

Stage 6- Hm, so many nightmarish cards to choose from... *glares at Yuyuko* I suppose I'd say that the nastiest is probably... Miracle of Otensui. While it's easier to survive than VoWG... Only if you bomb it <.<; Seriously, just... No. Just plain... *shudders* How the heck are you supposed to do this stupid card? ._.

Ugh, tell me if you figure it out.

Anyway - EASY MOODO, and keeping in mind I haven't gotten past 5 in SA or 3 in UFO yet...

Hardest:
Stage 1 - Probably Filled Miasma, because while not exceptionally difficult even relative to other Easy mode Stage 1 stuff, it is fairly quick. Though Nazrin Pendulum gives me way more trouble than it should, I keep strafing into the little bullets while trying to direct the big bubble bullets. =X
Stage 2 - Bad Fortune. ^&%#$@$#@%^ Alternately, Kogasa's trains, though I barely see that as I've taken to bombing it. ... and actually most stage 2s are harder than they probably should be to me, but it's more a constant thing than just one or two cards that make me go "FFFFFFFFFFFFFF"
Stage 3 - Benevolent French Dolls and Unnatural Phenomenon/Mysterious Powers and Disrupting Sprits (depending on whether you prefer the patch's name or the wiki's). Stage 3s in general actually give me a hell of a lot less trouble than stage 2s, and neither of these give me a whole ton of trouble, but they are pretty similar to each other - a little dense and probably static but at least on first glance look totally random. Rainbow Wind Chime gives me significantly more trouble than it should too, have issues getting through the gaps in the narrower spaced sections.
Stage 4 - Fantasy Seal Spread. Probably shouldn't be. But it is. Deep Mist Labyrinth is a runner-up for now, but I only came across it once when messing with some other shot types when bored with ReimuA so I probably just need to figure it out.
Stage 5 - Gray Thaumaturgy. I can't think of anything else to say about it. Just Gray Thaumaturgy.
Stage 6 - The entire Yuyuko fight. Most of the Kanako fight. If I've got to pick just one or two... Mountain of Faith is too BS on Easy to even count, I'm going to have to go with Misayama Huntine Shrine Ritual (though if the blue ones were a little smaller or sparser it'd be fine) or Miracle of Otensui (I probably just need to learn the trick though).

Easiest:
Stage 1 - Capture Web. The only time I got hit by this I was just paying zero attention.
Stage 2 - Icicle Fall is too easy to even count, silly ⑨ safespot. So, Pain Flow or Midnight Anathema Ritual, which ironically are the closing cards in fights that otherwise suck horribly for me.
Stage 3 - Red-Haired Dutch Dolls or Knockout in Three Steps
Stage 4 - Duplex Danmaku Bounded Field. Though the entire Aya fight is also pretty easy on Easy, lol, especially considering it sounds like she's relatively hard on higher difficulties.
Stage 5 - Visionary Tuning or Invisible Full Moon
Stage 6 - Swallow's Cowrie Shell

Coolest:
Stage 1 - Most of these are pretty dull. Flower Wither Away is kinda pretty though.
Stage 2 - Eh. Nothing fascinating. Mystia is the only thing that comes to mind but hers feel more gimmicky than cool. I suppose Perfect Freeze is kinda neat.
Stage 3 - As much trouble as it gives me, Rainbow Wind Chime is damn pretty. Brofists are epic even if I can't even get to it half the time. I think Phantasmal Emperor is pretty cool-looking too.
Stage 4 - Stardust Reverie! With the spirals and the colors and the oooooh pretty.
Stage 5 - ... can I please just pick like everything of Youmu's? I'll go with Five Signs of the Deva or whatever, her final.
Stage 6 - Repository of Hirakawa. The HUEG aimed streams just make it feel so epic.
Extra - (since I've at least watched replays =P) Youkai Polygraph is really neat.

[Tarquinius]

This is all based on normal difficulty.
Stage 1
Hardest: Plenty Sign 'Owotoshi Harvester' (MoF). It's not hard, but I've clipped on it a few times.
Easiest: Night Sign 'Night Bird' (EoSD).
Coolest: Winter Sign 'Flower Wither Away' (PCB).
Stage 2
Hardest: Bad Luck Sign 'Bad Fortune' (MoF). My capture rate for this is lower than it is for most stage 3 or 4 cards. Honorable mention goes to Rain Sign 'A Rainy Night's Ghost Story' (UFO) for occasionally spawning bullets right on top of you.
Easiest: Large Ring 'Umbrella Halo' (UFO).
Coolest: Monster Sign 'A Forgotten Umbrella's Night Train' (UFO).
Stage 3
Hardest: Fist Sign 'Heavenly Net Sandbag' (UFO). I hate this card so much.
Easiest: Mysterious Ring 'Hell's Ring of Pain' (SA).
Coolest: Either Rainbow Sign 'Wind Chime of Colorful Rainbow' (EoSD) or Flower Sign 'Gorgeous Sweet Flower' (EoSD).
Stage 4
Hardest: Illusionary Dominance (MoF). I doubt I have to explain why.
Easiest: Capsize 'Dragging Anchor' (UFO).
Coolest: Either Recollection 'Border of Wave and Particle' (SA) or Boundary 'Duplex Danmaku Bounded Field' (IN).
Stage 5
Hardest: Hell Realm Sword '200 Yojana in 1 Slash' (PCB).
Easiest: Light Sign 'Absolute Justice' (UFO).
Coolest: Heaven's Sword 'Five Signs of the Dying Deva' (PCB).
Stage 6
Hardest: Leading God 'Omoikane's Device' (IN).
Easiest: Lost Soul's Village 'Fatal Sin' (PCB).
Coolest: Great Magic 'Devil's Recitation' (UFO).
I haven't played much of the extra stages, so I can't really rate them. I must say, though, that I found Mokou's 'Flaw of Forgiving Shrine' to be really easy.

[Grand Octopus]

Hardest (Lunatic)
Stage 1: Bumper Crop "Promise of the Wheat God" (Responsible for more unfair deaths than all the other Stage 1 cards put together).
Stage 2: Umbrella Sign "Parasol Star Memories" (Nothing else even comes close).
Stage 3: Barrage "King Kraken Strike" (Can't see shit, captain).
Stage 4: "Peerless Wind God" (Too much luck involved)
Stage 5: Buddha's Light "Vajra of Perfect Buddhism" (Still don't get this card. The lasers rotate far faster than I think they're supposed to).
Stage 6: Good Omen "Nirvana's Cloudy Way in Purple" (ReimuB = hahaha no)
EX: "Suwa War - Native Myth vs Central Myth" (Not much else springs to mind)

Easiest
Stage 1: Night Sign "Night Bird" (Tappa tappa tappa)
Stage 2: Envy "Green-Eyed Invisible Monster" (ReimuA = hahaha yes)
Stage 3: Shackles Sign "Shackles a Criminal Can't Take Off" (Not sure what ZUN was going for here)
Stage 4: Capsize "Sinking Anchor" (Only failed it once)
Stage 5: Corpse Spirit "Vengeful Cannibal Spirit" (Round and round in circles)
Stage 6: Weird Festival "Madly Dance on Medoteko" (There is no other answer)
EX: God Sign "Ancient Fate Linked by Cedars" (No hori required)

Don't have much of an opinion on the coolest cards.

[Henry]

Easiest
Stage 1: Night Sign "Night Bird" (Tappa tappa tappa)
Stage 2: Envy "Green-Eyed Invisible Monster" (ReimuA = hahaha yes)
Stage 3: Shackles Sign "Shackles a Criminal Can't Take Off" (Not sure what ZUN was going for here)
Stage 4: Capsize "Sinking Anchor" (Only failed it once)
Stage 5: Corpse Spirit "Vengeful Cannibal Spirit" (Round and round in circles)
Stage 6: Weird Festival "Madly Dance on Medoteko" (There is no other answer)
EX: God Sign "Ancient Fate Linked by Cedars" (No hori required)

Don't have much of an opinion on the coolest cards.

Isn't it a spell 2 spell card?

My coolest stage SC's:

1. Wriggle Nightbug's Last Spell (not last word) - Hidden Bug "Hermit of an Endless Night" It is abnormal to have such nice cards for stage 1. (Nazrin's last card would be my second choice, the one with glass?)
2. Kogasa's mid-boss spell card, this is not very hard, but the change in color is surprising
3. Not much idea on this one, probably Alice's "Spring kyoto dolls", in fact they shoots circles, but the frequency is so dense and the size (made by the dolls) keep changing and it seems not to be.
4. Reimu's Omnidirectional spell card. This card is beautiful, and hard - this card can really tell what is danmaku.
5. Shou's lasers. That's neat and strong. (before UFO I would choose Sanae's mid-boss card, stars are beautiful)
6. Subterranean Sun... It is exploding
Extra: Nue's Lasers<=>Shots The changing can be fatal.

Easiest:
1. must be Rumia's Moon Spell, easy even on Lunatic.
2. must be Parsee's spell with 2 Parsees, don't shoot the wrong thing and not arguable.
3. must be Yuugi's "Shackles Sign", just easy if the 'shackles' are not shoot completely.
Cannot finish now, come back later

[Matsuri]

Easiest
Stage 1: Night Sign "Night Bird" (Tappa tappa tappa)
Stage 2: Envy "Green-Eyed Invisible Monster" (ReimuA = hahaha yes)
Stage 3: Shackles Sign "Shackles a Criminal Can't Take Off" (Not sure what ZUN was going for here)
Stage 4: Capsize "Sinking Anchor" (Only failed it once)
Stage 5: Corpse Spirit "Vengeful Cannibal Spirit" (Round and round in circles)
Stage 6: Weird Festival "Madly Dance on Medoteko" (There is no other answer)
EX: God Sign "Ancient Fate Linked by Cedars" (No hori required)

Don't have much of an opinion on the coolest cards.

Isn't it a spell 2 spell card?

No.

[Henry]

Oh no... That's Rumia's Spell Card... I overlooked it as Mystia's

Continue:

Easiest:
4. Patchy's Silver Dragon
5. Reisen's Invisible Full Moon
6. Utsuho's Ten Evil Stars - the gap between huge bullets are huge also, and you can dodge small bullets easily.
Extra: Mokou's Phoenix - only phoenixes flying around...