Yes, the Tsaritsa is a playable character. HoYoverse published her official character introduction on HoYoLAB on 6 November 2026 at 04:00 UTC: her name is Anastasya, her title is Frostcrown Revival, and her card gives her a constellation, Autocratrix Anastasis. A day later, on 7 November at 04:00 UTC, HoYoverse revealed her head maid Danica the same way, as a Stellar Linchpin: Electro character.
This page sticks to what HoYoverse has published, checked against both HoYoLAB posts on 7 November 2026 during Version 7.2 "Hour of Ruin". Beta leaks about her kit, rarity and weapon are everywhere this week. We do not repeat them, because none of it is confirmed and beta numbers change.
Quick answer, checked 7 November 2026: The Tsaritsa is playable. Her official card reads Name: Anastasya, Title: Frostcrown Revival, Tsaritsa of All Snezhnaya, Gnosis: Cryo, Constellation: Autocratrix Anastasis. Danica (Winter Palace's Attendant Shadow, Stellar Linchpin: Electro, Constellation: Orcinus Orca) was revealed next. HoYoverse has not confirmed their version, rarity, weapon or banner dates. The two previous Snezhnaya drips, Vesna and Mitya, both shipped in the following version, so Version 7.3 is the likely window. On the 42-day cadence that points to around 16 December 2026, with the 7.3 Special Program around 4 December. Both dates are our projections.
Is the Tsaritsa playable in Genshin Impact?
Yes. The evidence is the format of the reveal, not a rumour. HoYoverse announces new playable characters on HoYoLAB with an "official introduction" post that has a fixed data block: name, title, affiliation, element line and constellation. A constellation is a playable-character system. NPCs do not get one.
Anastasya's post, "Dawn Breaks the Long Winter", carries the full block. The Genshin Impact Fandom wiki, which tracks these posts, now lists her as an "upcoming playable Cryo character".
Three things make this reveal different from a normal drip:
- She is an Archon. The Tsaritsa is Snezhnaya's Cryo Archon, the ruler the whole Snezhnaya story has been building toward.
- Her element line says "Gnosis". The other Snezhnaya cards we checked this year (Vesna, Mitya, Valeriy, Danica) print either "Vision" or "Stellar Linchpin" on that line. Hers reads "Gnosis: Cryo".
- She came before her own maid. Danica's card followed exactly 24 hours later, and Danica's profile calls her the Tsaritsa's most loyal attendant.
What does Anastasya's official card confirm?
Here is the data block from the HoYoLAB post, with what each line does and does not tell you. The card prints the lines without labels; the labels in the first column are ours.
| Card line | What it says | What it confirms |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Anastasya | Her in-game name. The wiki lists her full name as Anastasya Feodorovna Snezhnaya |
| Title | Frostcrown Revival | Her character title on the wish screen |
| Affiliation | Tsaritsa of All Snezhnaya | Her role in the story |
| Element line | Gnosis: Cryo | She is a Cryo character |
| Constellation | Autocratrix Anastasis | She is playable |
What the card does not give: rarity, weapon type, talents, release version or banner dates. Treat any 5-star "confirmed" headline as an assumption for now. Every Archon released so far has been a 5-star, so it is a safe bet, but HoYoverse has not printed it.
The post closes with this line:
"I have taken my place on the board. Triumph or ruin, I shall see it through." (Anastasya, official introduction, HoYoLAB, 6 November 2026)
The lore section is split into her past, present and future. The past paragraph says she is "a spirit born of frost", resurrected "by the Heavenly Principles" and wandering "for centuries". The present paragraph says she "casts aside her past and chooses to live only in the present". The future paragraph frames her war with the Heavenly Principles as a chess game, and says even "our 'King' is just another ordinary piece on the board". If you have not finished the Version 7.2 Archon Quest, that is about as far as this page goes into story territory.
Who is Danica, and what does her card say?
Danica is the Tsaritsa's head maid, and her official introduction, "Steel Sheathed in Courtly Poise", went up on HoYoLAB on 7 November 2026 at 04:00 UTC.
| Card line | What it says |
|---|---|
| Name | Danica |
| Title | Winter Palace's Attendant Shadow |
| Affiliation | Head Maid of the Zapolyarny Palace Court |
| Element line | Stellar Linchpin: Electro |
| Constellation | Orcinus Orca |
The profile calls her "a third-generation palace maid of the Postelnitskaya family" and "the Tsaritsa's most loyal attendant". It also says she "trained under the Fatui Harbinger 'The Captain' himself and once traveled from nation to nation as a mercenary". Her character comes with a running joke: when she looks furious, she may not be angry at all, just fighting to keep a straight face at a joke that "wasn't even particularly good".
The post opens with two quotes from Vesna about a train ride and a driving ban, so the two are clearly written as a pair. Players in the GenshinImpactTips subreddit were already asking on 7 November where the in-game Vesna and Danica interaction is.
The new fact here is Danica's element. The community wiki already listed Danica as a Stellar Linchpin holder, but HoYoverse had never printed which element. Our own notes from October listed her as a bearer "whose element line HoYoverse has never printed". The 7 November card settles it: Electro.
What does "Gnosis: Cryo" mean compared with a Vision or a Stellar Linchpin?
Snezhnaya characters have used three different element lines on their official cards this year:
| Character | Element line on the official card | Released |
|---|---|---|
| Valeriy | Vision: Electro | Version 7.2 |
| Mitya | Stellar Linchpin: Electro | Version 7.2 |
| Vesna | Stellar Linchpin: Anemo | Version 7.1 |
| Danica | Stellar Linchpin: Electro | Not announced |
| Anastasya | Gnosis: Cryo | Not announced |
A Gnosis is the divine artifact Celestia granted each of The Seven. Printing it on her element line marks Anastasya as an Archon, not a Vision or Linchpin bearer.
A Stellar Linchpin matters for gameplay, not just lore. HoYoverse's own 7.2 notes describe Mitya, an Electro Stellar Linchpin holder, as an Electro DPS who enables Stellar-Conduct. Stellar-Conduct is the Stellar Glimmer reaction between Cryo and Electro. Our Stellar-Conduct vs Stellar Swirl guide explains how the family works.
So the safe inference is that Danica is very likely another Stellar-Conduct enabler, like Mitya. That is an inference from the Linchpin precedent, not a published kit. Whether a "Gnosis" card counts as a Linchpin for team purposes is not published either. Do not plan a team around it until HoYoverse shows her kit.
When will the Tsaritsa release, 7.3 or later?
HoYoverse has not said. The pattern this year points strongly to Version 7.3:
| Character card | Posted on HoYoLAB | Days into the live version | Released in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vesna | 17 August 2026 | 5 days into 7.0 | 7.1 (23 September) |
| Mitya | 29 September 2026 | 6 days into 7.1 | 7.2 (4 November) |
| Anastasya | 6 November 2026 | 2 days into 7.2 | Not announced |
| Danica | 7 November 2026 | 3 days into 7.2 | Not announced |
Both earlier cards announced characters for the very next version. If that holds, Anastasya and Danica arrive in 7.3.
Version 7.2 went live on 4 November. The 7.2 Archon Quest reward window in the in-game notices closes on 15 December 2026 at 14:59 server time. Versions 7.0 and 7.1 each lasted exactly 42 days, which puts Version 7.3 around Wednesday 16 December 2026. If maintenance again starts at 06:00 (UTC+8), as it did for 7.2, that is 22:00 UTC on 15 December: evening in Europe and afternoon in the Americas. The last two Special Programs aired 11 and 12 days before their patch, on 12 September and 23 October. That points to a 7.3 Special Program around Friday 4 December. Both are projections. We will replace them with HoYoverse's dates the moment the Special Program is announced, and our Genshin livestream codes tracker will carry the 7.3 codes and their expiry.
Neither card says which banner phase each character lands on. Two character reveals one day apart fits a version with two new characters, but HoYoverse has not said whether they share a phase.
Is Mitya needed for the Tsaritsa?
One GenshinImpactTips thread on 6 November asked it directly: "With Tsaritsa and Danica coming soon I am just wondering if Mitya is needed or not."
The honest answer today: nothing HoYoverse has published says Anastasya needs Mitya. Her talents are not out. What is published:
- Anastasya is Cryo.
- Mitya and Danica are both Electro Stellar Linchpin holders.
- Cryo plus Electro is the Stellar-Conduct pairing that Mitya's kit is built around, per HoYoverse's 7.2 update notes.
That makes Mitya a reasonable partner on paper, and Danica the likelier designed partner, because she arrives with the Tsaritsa. Pulling Mitya only as Tsaritsa insurance is a bet on a kit nobody has seen. If you want Mitya for himself, his banner runs until 24 November 2026 at 17:59 server time; our Mitya build guide covers what he does today. If you are only interested in the Tsaritsa, save.
How many Primogems can you save before the Tsaritsa?
If 7.3 lands around 16 December, you have about five and a half weeks of Version 7.2 left to save. The free Primogems on the 7.2 calendar look like this:
| Source in Version 7.2 | Primogems |
|---|---|
| Event calendar rewards | 2,370 |
| Archon Quest "Hour of Ruin" (until 15 December 14:59 server time) | 560 |
| Where Kristall Roots Run Deep exploration missions | 400 |
| Repertoire of Myriad Melodies album | 60 |
| Maintenance compensation | 300 |
| Total | 3,690 |
That is 23 wishes with 10 Primogems left over before daily commissions, the Battle Pass, Spiral Abyss and Imaginarium Theater resets, and codes. Accounts that also claimed the 300-Primogem issue-fix mail before 6 November 22:00 UTC have 3,990. Our Genshin 7.2 events calendar breaks each source down with its deadline.
Now compare that with the published wish rules. A character event wish guarantees a 5-star at least once per 90 wishes, and the first 5-star has a 50.000% chance of being the featured character, before Capturing Radiance. A worst-case lost 50/50 means 180 wishes, or 28,800 Primogems. Our Genshin pity system explainer has the full official rates.
One free-to-play player weighing Zibai, the Tsaritsa and a possible Nicole rerun put it plainly on 7 November: "I'm not sure how many primogems I'll be able to get from upcoming events and exploration." If you already carry a guarantee, 7.2 alone gets a free-to-play account about a quarter of the way to the next hard pity. If you are on a 50/50, the safest plan is to skip the rest of 7.2 and bank every Fate.
Should a new player pull Furina now or wait for the Tsaritsa?
A new player asked exactly this on 7 November: "So now I need to know should I just wait or should I just pull?" Furina's rerun, "Chanson of Many Waters", is live until 24 November 2026 at 17:59 server time.
Use one rule. Pull now only for a character you would want even if the Tsaritsa turns out to be weak for you. Furina is a proven support on the live servers, and that is a fact you can check today. The Tsaritsa's kit is an unknown until HoYoverse shows it, most likely at the 7.3 Special Program. If she is the character you have wanted all along, the 90-wish guarantee math above is your answer: every Fate you spend in November is one fewer for December.
What is still not confirmed about Anastasya and Danica?
As of 7 November 2026, HoYoverse has not published:
- rarity for either character,
- weapon types,
- talents, constellation effects or ascension materials,
- the release version, banner phase or wish name,
- whether a "Gnosis" holder counts toward Stellar Linchpin team effects,
- any Special Program date for Version 7.3.
Beta leaks cover most of these. We will update this page from the official Special Program, the 7.3 wish notices and the in-game character data, in that order.
FAQ
Is the Tsaritsa a playable character in Genshin Impact? Yes. HoYoverse published her official introduction on HoYoLAB on 6 November 2026 with a full character block, including a constellation, Autocratrix Anastasis. Constellations only exist for playable characters.
What is the Tsaritsa's name in Genshin? Anastasya. Her title is Frostcrown Revival and her card adds "Tsaritsa of All Snezhnaya". The Genshin wiki lists her full name as Anastasya Feodorovna Snezhnaya.
What element is the Tsaritsa? Cryo. Her card line reads "Gnosis: Cryo", not "Vision" or "Stellar Linchpin" like Vesna, Mitya, Valeriy and Danica.
When is the Tsaritsa coming out? HoYoverse has not said. Vesna's and Mitya's cards were both for the next version, which points to Version 7.3. On the 42-day cadence that is around 16 December 2026, but treat that as a projection until the 7.3 Special Program.
Is Danica a 4-star or 5-star? Not announced. Her card confirms Electro, a Stellar Linchpin and the constellation Orcinus Orca, but no rarity or weapon.
Do I need Mitya for the Tsaritsa? Nothing official says so, because her kit is not published. Mitya and Danica are both Electro Stellar Linchpin holders, and Cryo plus Electro is the Stellar-Conduct pairing, so Mitya is a plausible partner. Do not pull him only for her.
More Genshin Impact guides on timesaver.gg
- Genshin 7.2 characters: Mitya and Valeriy kits, rarity and banners
- Genshin 7.2 Archon Quest: how to unlock Hour of Ruin, and the 15 December reward deadline
- Genshin banner schedule: Mitya and Furina until 24 November, then Phase 2
- Genshin livestream codes: every Special Program batch and its exact deadline
- Genshin pity system explained: soft pity, 50/50 and Capturing Radiance
This page covers the official Anastasya and Danica reveals during Version 7.2 "Hour of Ruin", checked against HoYoLAB on 7 November 2026. Next update: when HoYoverse announces the Version 7.3 Special Program or publishes either character's kit.
