An attack for all seasons: Aqua Force 4th battle enablers - Part 3

A few months ago, past me promised that I'd go through the enablers of additional attacks for Aqua Force that came from Clan Booster 2, Commander of the Incessant Waves. Well, since I have some free time and motivation let's get on with it.

The new clan booster introduced the Wave keyword for Aqua Force, which is a more concise form of the existing mechanic of counting the number of battles. Besides being easier to say, it makes it easier to see at a glance which units need which attacks to activate, and a couple of cards also interact with the wave mechanic itself, but we'll get to those later.

Girl's can't be ripples. Apparently.

The booster itself gave support for almost every major build of Aqua Force, although not all of them received attack enablers due to differences in play-style and previous support. The Ripple deck received some very powerful support, but they continued the set 11 mechanic of counting resting units rather than attacks. Maelstrom also passed up an enabler, but as he received Rascal Sweeper in the last round of support his relatively small amount of support filled in other roles.

As to the enablers themselves, we'll start with the generic cards, and picking up where part 2 left off Couple Dagger Sailor was reprinted, although not given an errata with wave. Given how rare these were in set 2, being in only 1 in 7 boxes, this is a reasonable reprint, though the amount of enablers now available make her less than essential for a lot of decks. 

That doesn't sound ri- and he's gone.

The only other generic enablers this time are the series of Violent Shooter,  Marine General of the Sonic Speed, Nektarios, and Titan of the Trench Patrol, all of whom have the same skill at different grades. At GB1, on wave 1 or 2, they can soul blast 1 for 2000 power and then at the end of the battle you check the top 4 cards for a card with a Wave ability. You can then call that unit and put any un-called units as well as the original attacking unit to the bottom of the deck. A fair attempt to create a new series of enablers, but it has some flaws. Trying to use them often will suck up a lot of soul which may be better served elsewhere, but more significantly they have reliability issues. Since it's impossible to run only units with wave abilities (if only because there aren't 4 different wave triggers), there's always a chance of the search missing - and if you're relying on it to set off something like Lambros failing to get another unit for the attack could be fatal. Having said that, If you can balance the soul usage properly and incorporate enough wave units it's not a high-cost effect, so they're not entirely useless - if they can supplement other attack enablers, or are used with decks that activate key effects on wave 3 or more where failing won't shut down those central plays entirely, then they have potential.

Wish she'd refrained from needing legion.

Although Maelstrom didn't get an enabler, Blue Storm did get one, for it's legion build. As legion decks are usually less flexible in their grade 2s, due to the need to include enough mates, here their new enabler is a new stand trigger. Blue Storm Battle Princess, Doris can, after it attacks as wave 1 with a vanguard in legion, swap positions with another rear-guard, give the other unit 5000 power, and then return to the deck. Although 4000 power means she will need a booster to hit, the power boost to the other unit means that unit is unlikely to need it to hit so she can be safely boosted. Whilst it's not going to make the Blue Storm legion deck amazing, it gives one further boost to the deck's consistency, which might make all the difference later. Since this set's release, a couple of cards have been given wording that allows them to work with legion vanguards even when you stride, so the deck may get it's chance next time around.

So, in short, he's in charge.

As the second set of G support for Aqua Force, more support for the Thavas build was inevitable. This includes his stride fusion form, Storm Dominator, Commander Thavas, who this time actually helps set up additional attacks. For flipping a copy of himself, he grants a rear-guard 5000 power as well as the ability to attack from the back row, which gives three rear-guards the ability to attack and thus with enough rear-guards sets up wave 4 easily. Since I covered this card not too long ago, I'll not go into much more detail, except to note how interesting it is to see a wave 4 vanguard who can set up it's own wave.

Thavas' new starter, Kelpie Rider, Mitros, might not seem to generate extra attacks at first glance. When a Thavas vanguard attacks at wave 3 or more, Mitros' GB1 allows him to move to the soul to call a Thavas from the deck, and then return that Thavas to the hand at the end of the turn. Since the new Thavas can come in standing it gives one

Unless it's before about 1500 AD.

extra attack, of most use for the retiring skills of both forms of Thavas. If needed, you can even call the Thavas over another unit - although you'd be advised to leave Mitros in the front instead, to open a space and avoid losing a card.

Thavas also gained a GB1 grade 2 in Battle Siren, Adelaide, who on-call can counter-blast 1 and soul-blast 1 to gain 2000 power and the ability to restand after it first attacks the vanguard for that turn. Two attacks which under normal conditions should hit help ensure that the higher wave counts can be met, acting as a Magnum Assault without the need to be boosted. Like Magnum, Adelaide can also be powered up by triggers or the effects of other units to double-up on those bonuses. Unfortunately she only gets to restand the turn she's played, but she's still a 9000 power grade 2, and can intercepy herself away for another unit once she's finished.

Maybe from you. For this turn.

The new Blue Wave deck, centred around Tetra-drive dragon and following up on it's 'Vanguard 2nd' attack pattern, also has a similar card, in Blue Wave Marine General, Foivos. Like Adelaide, Foivos can make 2 11k attacks for a counterblast, but whilst Adelaide can make her first attack at any point on one turn, Foivos can only restand when he attack third, but on any turn provided the vanguard is a Blue Wave. Since the two Blue Wave restanding vanguards require a rear-guard to attack for wave 4, restanding after the third attack instantly sets up the conditions for this.

He needs a more dramatic entrance.

Blue Wave is currently a small group, but isn't tied into needing specific support aside from a grade 3 vanguard. The newest of these, Blue Wave Dragon, Anger-boil Dragon, also provides extra attacks. His  GB2 skill restands a unit when it attacks at wave 2 only with an extra 10000 power (as well as 5000 for Anger-boil). Whilst instantly setting up a charged-up Foivos (or Tidal/Magnum) to attack twice more, this isn't the most interesting skill in terms of enabling wave 4 or more skills. His other skill, when Blue Wave Marshal Dragon, Tetra-boil Dragon strides over him, gives him a wave 2 only ability to re-stand 2 rear-guards with 3000 power each. Like Tetra-drive, Tetra-boil requires the 4th attack to be from your rear-guard to be against the opponent's vanguard, and by standing a full column Anger-boil provides the only enabling you'd need - however just like with the GB2 can allow you to power up re-standers for more attacks.

And so we reach the end of another wave of support. Different clans are differentiating further in the cards they use, but in terms of generic enablers Tidal and Magnum still rule, with Couple Dagger for those who want swapping. With no further support announced, I'm not going to make any promises on part 4, but hopefully I'll have some articles on another clan some time.

Friday Stride, Christams Edition: Amnesty Messiah

I did have a good better excuse for not posting last week - 11 boxes of Aqua Force, 2 of Japanese Weiss, various pre-constructed decks and long work hours meant I actually spent most of my free time dealing with actual cards. Helpfully we're now in holiday season, so hopefully I can get at least one extra post up in the next week, but first back to the scheduled postings, and in the spirit of a holiday commemorating the birth of a Messiah, let's review one, more specifically Genesis Dragon, Amnesty Messiah

This lord is a shepherd of locked cards.

Amnesty is the third G unit in the Messiah series of cards, which form the core of the vanguard G Link Joker. All of these are forms of the same entity, who is integrating Link Joker units with the rest of Cray, and so they show of the new play-style of these cards - self-locking. Unlike the (thematically) overly aggressive Star-Vaders and Deletors, this group take a more technical approach, locking and each other as the cost for effects, and then unlocking for more bonuses. Amnesty slots in here perfectly - when he attacks he unlock any number of cards for a counterblast, and then gains 3000 power for each, with a critical if 3 or more were unlocked. Without any requirements for other G units face up, he's viable as a first stride, and is one of a very small number of such which can gain a critical.

It does, however, take a little bit of work to set up and get the best out of the skill. Whilst the Grade 3 Alter Ego Messiah can set up two locks along with a power boost, one of those is on your opponent's field, so you'd usually prefer not to unlock it where possible. He also needs a counterblast and a rear-guard to lock when you stride, which can sometimes leave him unable to activate. However, he's not the only locker available. Lady Gunner of the Neutron Star, Spawn of the Spiral Nebula and Wings of Phenomenon, Wingmatter also provide one-for-one locking, with the former two being able to activate on-demand without a counterblast cost. If you're wanting more conventional defence, that's also available, with the interceptor Lightspeed Cheetah who can lock any unit not under attack for a 10000 shield boost.

For more aggressive plays, Lady Battler of the Gravity Well is a common choice. A useful solo attacker for when boosters (or guaranteed unlocks for them) aren't available, she locks one of your cards in the main phase for a 4000 power boost. Whilst she'll need an 8k or better booster to make a 21k column, she's a free, reusable lock and makes a great stand target. The last self-locker in English is Heavymaterial Dragon, who for a counterblast and a self-lock can discard 1 card to draw 2. The filtration helps dig for key cards, and whilst it may only have 8000 power, the equivalent in Shadow Paladins without the self-lock is the even trickier to use 7000 (and without GB1, this falls to just 3000 power - on a grade 2), and if you're running it with Gravity Well, you might even find room for grade 1 vanillas - for now.

G-BT05, Moonlit Dragonfang, introduces two new Messiahs with self-lock capability: Arrestor Messiah, who on the turn he's played gains 2000 power and then after attacking locks himself to lock any back row card, and Sacrifice Messiah, who responds to a unit being locked by locking itself to counter charge and give a 3000 power boost. Both of these units allow for battle phase locking, something which combines very nicely with battle phase unlocks - since units unlock standing, a unit which attacks before being locked can make two attacks in a turn, making Amnesty's mass unlock into a mass re-stand as well.

Since on an Amnesty turn he'll be doing the majority of the unlocking, unlockers aren't of major note here, but it's worth noting a couple of cards with skills which activate when unlocked. Neon Messiah can search for Alter Ego when unlocked, pulling a non-trigger from the deck, fixing your ride if you had to go into a backup grade 3 or netting you stride fodder. Awaking Messiah can restand another unit with a 2000 power boost when unlocked (remember how Lady Battler of the Gravity Well made a good stand target? Well this is what stands it), and lastly Dark Metal Chameleon, who grants a counter charge when unlocked. The chameleon also has resist, making it useful against control decks to retain a unit for Alter Ego to lock.

So, overall, Messiahs have created a whole new, not inherently evil, Link Joker deck. Not bad for Cray's saviour, and it would seem it isn't done yet.

Friday Stride: Storm Dominator, Commander Thavas

So after a week suffering from a severe case of laziness, we return to meet our next release - another clan booster, so now it's time for Navy Season a single review. There's a better reason than for the swordboys, or at least a less subjective one - we're getting plenty of new stuff in the next few weeks, so there's only really chance to cover one card. Maybe I'll get back to the others later, but I promise nothing. So, anyway, let's get into the super special cover card of the set - Storm Dominator, Commander Thavas.

Never release 'Battle Siren, Storm', Bushiroad.

Thavas comes to us from the first school of stride fusion, whereby you get soft advantage for your persona flip whatever and then a +1 if you have two units (and in Thavas' case, four attacks but he sets that up himself so you'll rarely be worried about that). More specifically, flipping a copy of himself gives a rear-guard 5000 power and the ability to attack from the back row. Then, if you're at Generation Break 3 (that is, you have 2 face-up G units in the G zone) he gain the on-stride skill of his grade 3 form, to force your opponent to retire one of three rear-guards on the fourth attack. It's worded slightly differently due to the introduction of the Wave keyword, but the impact is the same.

At first glance, this doesn't seem all that impressive - this is the clan that carries the monster that is Lambros, so why would you want a card that enables 4 attacks for a retire of dubious quality? To a degree, it's a valid point, as Lambros is the big finisher, but that's not what Thavas is here for. Thavas is a grinding unit, with all of his effects aiming at working more cards out of your opponent's hand. More power, means more shield to stop the attack. Attacking from the back means an extra attack, which forces the guard to be split between attacks and drain even more cards in shielding. Whilst the retire isn't the most efficient, it's one card that they have to replace in order to sustain their pressure, and it's not so good that it insists you avoid this as first stride to access it. Each extra guard, or indeed extra damage, can make the difference between Lambros ending the game or letting them survive to make their counter play.

There's also the small matter of all your 'Wave' rear-guards getting their skills enabled even if you draw none of your enablers. None of Aqua Force's other G units do this, giving it a unique and valuable role in most builds.

The other advantage he has is that he's Thavas, which means he has access to the standard suite of support for on-stride units. The most generally useful is the critical trigger,
Kelpie Rider, Petros, who can go to the soul when a Thavas vanguard attacks to draw and give a power boost. Few Aqua Force builds need especial counterblasts, so Petros is easy to fit in most decks running commander Thavas even in the absence of the grade 3. The other support is unlikely to be seen outside of Thavas-centered builds, but with only one grade 3 option you won't always have him to ride. Kelpie Rider, Mitros can search out a Thavas for another attack and then a copy in hand, but only if you have a Thavas as vanguard. Commander Thavas allows him to correct having to ride into an alternate grade 3, fetching a card to re-ride. Battle Siren, Melania also generate advantage with a Thavas vanguard, and the ability to attack from the back row is perfect for her - as a grade 1 with resist the back row is a perfect place for her, but her skill requires her to attack which would normally require her to move up to use it. The last card, Battle Siren, Adelaide, is a one-time restander with a Thavas vanguard. Being effectively 'disposable' whilst making two valid attacks without support, she's a nice way to enable attacks against control decks, and the commander allows her even more power, and even a chance to hang back to allow her to get locked without clogging up the front.

In conculsion, Thavas is a solid support card. He's probably a 2-of, since most builds have a finisher of choice they want at four, but almost every build will have use for him, either to patch up a poor hand or drag an opponent into kill range.