The Phi apex for Sakura adds an upgrade to the teleport ability. It also changes the main weapon which is not included in the apex description. The upgrade to the teleport is called “explosive arrival,” which obviously adds an explosion to the arrival location of your teleport. This deals damage in a small radius which can be helpful in cleaning up waves or dealing extra dps to bosses. It’s a pretty good ability but I’m personally not a fan of Sakura overall. The apex form also changes the main weapon from shooting 11 projectiles to just 7. Note however that the dps remains the same. The ship as a whole is not equipped with the best kit. It has a clunky main which is hard to use, has barrier which is not really viable in harder missions due to its low hp (similar to the issue with phalanx in higher leagues), and finally teleport, which is definitely a good defensive ability, but personally I am not a fan of. Given the defensive kit, I’d expect a more forgiving main weapon to fully embrace the relaxed, defensive playstyle. However, the main weapon requires great attention which is generally not what I look for in a defensive ship. Compare this to my two favourite defensive ships - Hime and Yigothu. Both are clearly defensive and have homing main weapons which synergises well with the casual, defensive playstyle. Overall, I will give this ship a 3/10.