The headline of Version 6.7 is Sandrone. The quiet story is the banner she is standing next to.
Alongside the Cryo claymore carrier and her new Stellar-Conduct reaction, Version 6.7 "Song of the Welkin Moon" introduced the Lightrace Wish, a new Event Wish format that breaks a rule Genshin has held since launch: for the first time, you are not locked into chasing one predetermined 5-star. You choose a target from a lineup and pull toward it. That is a bigger deal than a single new character, because it touches every account, not just the ones that wanted Sandrone.
What the Lightrace Wish Changes
Every standard character banner in Genshin has worked the same way for years. One rate-up 5-star is featured, you pull, and when you win the 50/50 you get that character and nobody else. If the featured unit is not for you, the banner is not for you.
The Lightrace Wish flips that. Instead of a single headliner, it runs a lineup of returning 5-stars and their signature weapons, and you steer your wishes toward the one you actually want. The banner is built around player choice rather than a fixed target, so a single event can serve the Traveler chasing a support, the one who skipped a DPS two years ago, and the one who only needs a weapon, all at once.
For the first outing, the featured pool is a strong one:
| Featured 5-star | Element / Role | Why it matters |
| Yae Miko | Electro catalyst, off-field DPS | Core of most Aggravate and Hyperbloom teams |
| Cyno | Electro polearm, on-field DPS | Quickswap and Aggravate carry |
| Wriothesley | Cryo catalyst, on-field DPS | Self-sufficient bruiser, pairs into Sandrone comps |
| Qiqi | Cryo sword, healer | Blanket healing for hard content |
| Mizuki | Anemo catalyst, support | Swirl and grouping enabler |
Each of those characters also has their signature weapon available in the same event, which is the part F2P players should read twice.
Why This Is Aimed at F2P Planners
Genshin's economy has always rewarded patience, and the Lightrace Wish rewards it harder. If you have been sitting on Primogems waiting for a specific returning unit, a choose-your-target banner means you can commit without gambling on a rerun schedule that might not arrive for months. That is the same long-horizon saving discipline we broke down in the save-your-currency planning economy and the gacha alt-version economy: the more control the game hands you over when your pulls land, the more a disciplined F2P account can punch above its spend.
The catch is the one that always applies to a wide lineup. A banner that features five characters plus weapons is a banner designed to tempt you into pulling for more than you planned. The freedom to pick your target is real, but so is the pressure to pick several. Decide your one priority before you open the wish screen, not after.
Wriothesley is the sleeper pick this run. He slots directly into the Cryo-Electro shells that trigger Sandrone's Stellar-Conduct, so if you pulled the new carrier and want a second Cryo body that does its own damage, the Lightrace pool just handed you a clean answer. We walk through how that reaction chains in our Stellar-Conduct reaction and teams guide.
Where It Sits in the 6.7 Schedule
The Lightrace Wish runs during the version's first phase, sharing the calendar with the character banners.
- Phase 1 (July 1 to July 21): Sandrone debuts, Citlali reruns, and the Lightrace Wish is live.
- Phase 2 (July 21 to August 11): Raiden Shogun reruns alongside Citlali.
If you are budgeting, treat the Lightrace Wish as competing for the same Primogems as Sandrone. You will not have the currency to do everything, so the choose-your-target design is best used to grab the one returning unit you have genuinely been waiting for, then close the tab.
The Bigger Picture
Player-choice banners are not new to the genre. Honkai: Star Rail runs free 5-star selectors, and other live-service games have leaned on selectable pools for years. Genshin adopting the idea, even in a limited Event Wish form, is a signal that the pressure to make wishing feel less punishing has reached the biggest gacha on the market. Whether the Lightrace format becomes a recurring fixture or a one-version experiment is the thing to watch through 6.7 and into Version 7.0.
For now, plan around it. Check where the returning units land in our Genshin tier list, grab any live redeem codes before you spend, and read the Sandrone build guide if she is your Phase 1 target.
Sources: Codashop: Version 6.7 Luna VIII guide, Game8: Genshin banner schedule (July 2026).
