[Clan Analysis] Aqua Force
Overview:
Aqua Force is a clan that focuses on racking up the number of attacks to activate skills, which are mostly their boss units'. Of course, there are units which have certain skills to help to rack up on the number of attacks. There are even units which would require a fourth attack count in order to activate them. However, all of this trouble to activate their skills will be worth it. You’ll understand why as we go along in this Clan Review.
First Vanguards
Let’s start off with the 2 most likely units you would use for Aqua Force.
Firstly, we have
Officer Cadet, Erikk
Auto: When another <<Aqua Force>> rides this unit, you may call this unit to a Rearguard Circle.
Activate [R]: [Counterblast (1), Put this unit into your soul] Look at up to five cards from the top of your deck, search for up to one Grade 3 or greater <<Aqua Force>> from among them, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your deck.
Activate [R]: [Counterblast (1), Put this unit into your soul] Look at up to five cards from the top of your deck, search for up to one Grade 3 or greater <<Aqua Force>> from among them, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your deck.
It’s a generic First Vanguard that searches out for a Grade 3.
Basically a good card that helps to prevent grade locking if you haven’t got a
Grade 3 in your hand to ride on yet. However, that’s not all it does. While his
4000 Power is kind of lacking as a boosting unit, he is a unit you’ll use very
often and his skill can get you back a potentially useful attacking unit to
place on the field while freeing a space for a better boosting unit to place on. However, it has an element of risk to using his skill as it
doesn't guarantee you a Grade 3 unit and potentially waste a useful
Counterblast. You’ll however, find yourself to be glad to have him as an
option. It’s a very useful unit to have even after you have gotten your Grade 3
to ride on. You’ll find out more as we go further into the review.
Next, we have
Aqua Breath Dracokid
Auto: When another <<Aqua Force>> rides this unit, you may call this unit to a Rearguard Circle.
Activate [R]: [Put this unit into your soul] Choose one of your <<Aqua Force>>, and that unit gets Power
+1000, gets "Auto [V/R]: When this unit's attack hits a Vanguard, if you have an <<Aqua Force>> Vanguard, if the number of battles during that turn is four or more, draw a card." until end of turn.
From what I was talking about earlier, Aqua Breath Dracokid is one of
the units that would need a fourth attack to get his skill going. He has a
decent Power of 5000 which is better than a 4000 Power unit like Erikk and
allows himself to move into Soul for some unit pressure while also freeing up a
space for a better boosting unit, like Erikk. Upon first glance, you might
wonder how this unit would give pressure since you’d need to rely on a Stand
Trigger. Well, he doesn’t. As stated before, there are units which help to increase
the attack count which will enable this unit to work even without Stand
Triggers! He, however, is not a unit
that I would run since there are some units which can give the same amount of
pressure and doesn’t just last for just a turn. These units will be talked about
in the next section, the Key Units.
Aqua Force have a few interesting units to say the least. Mentioned before, Aqua Force have some units that help to rack up attack count and units that activate in regards to the attack count when they attack. Let's have a look at one of the few units that do so.
There are 3 boss units for Aqua Force currently and all of them have really powerful skills to back them up for their limitation of needing to reach Limit Break and needing a set amount of attack count. Now let's look at one of the boss units, which requires the least amount of attack count out of the three.
With a powerful skill that allows 2 units to Stand by hitting the Vanguard after activating his Limit Break, Navalgazer is force to reckon with and he is by no means a weakling even with his 10000 Power. Due to his re-standing skill, he is able to give Trigger effects to the units he'd stand with and this will hurt real bad, for your opponent. He makes things worse in a fact that he gains +3000 Power per activation of his Limit Break and reaches 24000 Power with Tear Knight, Theo behind him, or 26000 Power if he is boosted by Battle Siren, Dorothea, making him a pain to guard against. He can even activate his Limit Break twice in one turn if you are feeling up for it and re-stand a total of 4 units if he hits. However, he'd most likely to be attacking last to make full use of his Limit Break and this means that a Perfect Guard will make your Triggers which aren't Stand Triggers, moot. He however has no need to rely on a Storm Rider or Benedict to activate his re-standing skill. A decent boss unit if I were to say.
Don't set your eyes on this unit just yet. There are 2 more to go.
Oh god, retire ALL units upon 4th attack count and when it hits the Vanguard? An equivalent to Lohengrin or Demon Eater's Counterblast for just Counterblast(2)? While looking at the prospective that this unit can net a maximum of a -5 on your opponent with a mere Counterblast(2), you'll realize a few things about. Firstly, like Navalgazer, he'd need to pay the cost to activate his skill in the Main Phase, not when he hits. This makes a huge difference as unlike Navalgazer Dragon, this unit needs a Storm Rider or General of Wave-like Spirals, Benedict, to have this retiring skill activated. There's also the fact that decks running Hydro Hurricane Dragon cannot run Criticals efficiently like Navalgazer Dragon as he'd most definitely attack last, unlike Navalgazer Dragon which can use Benedict to attack twice first so that it'll have a Standing column to pass their Trigger effects to, making it possible to use Criticals efficiently while using his Limit Break. While Hydro Hurricane Dragon is a great unit for pressure, he's not as flexible as Navalgazer Dragon and the deck has to be built to solely make use of his Limit Break.
And now, we move on to the last boss unit
This unit also needs a 4th attack count, but he is fundamentally different from Hydro Hurricane Dragon. Firstly, he has a 11000 base Power, meaning a better defense compared to Navalgazer Dragon and Hydro Hurricane Dragon. That very same 11000 base Power also allows it to be a good beatstick unit to be placed behind a Storm Rider, so that you rely less on Lazarus or Coral Assault. While this unit, is also not as flexible as Navalgazer Dragon, his Limit Break has virtually no cost since Aqua Force's Rearguard units hardly use Counterblast, bar Crypus and David, which the latter isn't often used due to better Grade 3 options. He also reaches 26000 Power with his Limit Break boosted by Dorothea, or 25000 boosted by Torpedo Rush Dragon. His Limit Break is also much better compared to Navalgazer as it gives solid pluses, and a -1 card advantage to your opponent with his retire, unlike Navalgazer's which might have his Limit Break's effectiveness reduced from opponent's Damage Triggers. A really good unit overall, and I recommend this unit if you are going for the best, competitive Aqua Force deck build.
Officer Cadet, Erikk/Aquabreath Dracokid x1 (Depending on your preference)
Battle Siren, Dorothea x2
Emerald Shield, Pascal x3
Storm Rider Basil x3
Generic Key Units
Aqua Force have a few interesting units to say the least. Mentioned before, Aqua Force have some units that help to rack up attack count and units that activate in regards to the attack count when they attack. Let's have a look at one of the few units that do so.
Storm Rider, Diamantes
Auto [R]: When this unit attacks a Vanguard, if you have an <<Aqua Force>> Vanguard, if it is the first battle during that turn, this unit gains Power +2000 until end of that battle. At the beginning of the close step of that battle, choose one of your <<Aqua Force>> Rearguards in the same column as this unit, and exchange its position with this unit. (The orientation of the cards does not change)
If you didn't catch what the unit does, he swaps his position with the unit behind himself after he attacks on the first attack count, on opponent's Vanguard. Hey, this means that you can place an attacker behind the unit instead of a boosting unit. So instead of one boosted attacks, you get 2 weaker attacks instead, which would require at least a 5000 Shield to guard against for each, and what I mean by "at least", your opponent is going to have to waste some of his precious 10000 Shields if he or she doesn't want to take too much Damage. His skill also means that he can't be hit during your opponent's turn unless he or she is using Wyvern Strike Tejas, and the only other way to get at him is through a retiring skill like Blazing Flare Dragon's or Blaster Blade's. Even without a boosting unit or an attacker, he still can hit for 11000 minimally by himself, again, if he attacks on the first attack count. He's quite the versatile unit to play. I'd highly recommend you to have him in your Aqua Force deck.
Hey, he's not the only unit that can do this.
Same as Diamantes, but a Grade lower, and has 1000 Power less. Due to him only hitting for 10000 Power, he cannot hit 11000 Power Vanguards by himself, unlike Diamantes. Although that being the case, you are still recommended to play him as he's the only Grade 2 that can increase the attack count and he provides further consistency by just being in the deck, along with Diamantes, increasing the chances of drawing into one of them to increase your attack count as soon as possible, to activate your precious skills. That being said, there's also a Grade 1 version these, Storm Rider, Eugene. Although I said to run more to increase the chances of getting your attack count up, I will not recommend you to play Storm Rider, Eugene, as he only can hit 8000 by himself, making his attack a dud, nothing to gain from except that extra attack count. The only thing he can hit when your opponent is at Grade 3 is that certain unit in the game (as of now) that has 8000 Power, which will most likely not be in the Vanguard Circle. And you most definitely won't see him in most competitive AqF decks.
Water General of Wave-like Spirals, Benedict
Oh hey, it's a different way of increasing the attack count, not through using 2 attacking units but through weakening itself to do so. Unlike the Storm Riders, who cannot hit Crossrides, or Majesty Lord Blaster with both his Blasters in Soul, this unit can reach higher Power levels, forgoing the ability to 2 weak attacks, and have an attack that will take a 10000 guard off your opponent's guard when boosted by Tear Knight, Theo even if your opponent's Vanguard is at 13000 Power. That's not the only amazing thing about him. You can also play around with your Triggers and add the effects to him, which will make him re-stand as a 10000 Power unit since he doesn't need to attack first to use his re-stand skill, unlike Storm Riders. You can leave him un-boosted for his first attack and boost him for the second attack too, whether given Trigger effects or not against a 10000 Power or lower Vanguard. Being quite the versatile unit in a different way, you can choose to run him along with the Storm Riders to adapt to different situations. He's also fine without them.
Pretty useful units to pressure with. Mentioned before from Aqua Breath Dracokid, these units have similar skills and they can stay around longer than just a turn. Every turn that you attack with them last, with the fourth attack count, your opponent will most likely guard them and they are something you can use without using your boss unit's skill, which 2 of them requires a fourth attack count to use with, and a Limit Break restriction to boot too. You can even use both Argos or Valeria's skill with your boss unit's if you have a Storm Rider Basil/Diamantes and General of Wave-like Spirals, Benedict in the same column. They also often lure in attacks, which can save your precious shields on your hand. You may choose to run either of them in your deck if you like, depending on your preference to draw or to retire. They are a great option to have.
Hey, he's not the only unit that can do this.
Storm Rider, Basil
Auto [R]: When this unit attacks a Vanguard, if you have an <<Aqua Force>> Vanguard, if it is the first battle during that turn, this unit gains Power +2000 until end of that battle. At the beginning of the close step of that battle, choose one of your <<Aqua Force>> Rearguards in the same column as this unit, and exchange its position with this unit. (The orientation of the cards does not change)
Same as Diamantes, but a Grade lower, and has 1000 Power less. Due to him only hitting for 10000 Power, he cannot hit 11000 Power Vanguards by himself, unlike Diamantes. Although that being the case, you are still recommended to play him as he's the only Grade 2 that can increase the attack count and he provides further consistency by just being in the deck, along with Diamantes, increasing the chances of drawing into one of them to increase your attack count as soon as possible, to activate your precious skills. That being said, there's also a Grade 1 version these, Storm Rider, Eugene. Although I said to run more to increase the chances of getting your attack count up, I will not recommend you to play Storm Rider, Eugene, as he only can hit 8000 by himself, making his attack a dud, nothing to gain from except that extra attack count. The only thing he can hit when your opponent is at Grade 3 is that certain unit in the game (as of now) that has 8000 Power, which will most likely not be in the Vanguard Circle. And you most definitely won't see him in most competitive AqF decks.
Water General of Wave-like Spirals, Benedict
Auto [R]: At the beginning of the close step of the battle when this unit attacks a Vanguard, if you have an <<Aqua Force>> Vanguard, Stand this unit, and this unit loses Power -5000 until end of turn. This skill cannot be used until end of turn.
Oh hey, it's a different way of increasing the attack count, not through using 2 attacking units but through weakening itself to do so. Unlike the Storm Riders, who cannot hit Crossrides, or Majesty Lord Blaster with both his Blasters in Soul, this unit can reach higher Power levels, forgoing the ability to 2 weak attacks, and have an attack that will take a 10000 guard off your opponent's guard when boosted by Tear Knight, Theo even if your opponent's Vanguard is at 13000 Power. That's not the only amazing thing about him. You can also play around with your Triggers and add the effects to him, which will make him re-stand as a 10000 Power unit since he doesn't need to attack first to use his re-stand skill, unlike Storm Riders. You can leave him un-boosted for his first attack and boost him for the second attack too, whether given Trigger effects or not against a 10000 Power or lower Vanguard. Being quite the versatile unit in a different way, you can choose to run him along with the Storm Riders to adapt to different situations. He's also fine without them.
Marine General of the Restless Tides, Argos
Auto [V/R]: When this unit's attack hits a Vanguard, if you have an <<Aqua Force>> Vanguard and the number of battles during that turn is four or more, draw a card.
AND
Tear Knight, Valeria
Auto [V/R]: When this unit's attack hits a Vanguard, if you have an <<Aqua Force>> Vanguard and the number of battles during that turn is four or more, choose one of your opponent's Rearguards and retire it.
Pretty useful units to pressure with. Mentioned before from Aqua Breath Dracokid, these units have similar skills and they can stay around longer than just a turn. Every turn that you attack with them last, with the fourth attack count, your opponent will most likely guard them and they are something you can use without using your boss unit's skill, which 2 of them requires a fourth attack count to use with, and a Limit Break restriction to boot too. You can even use both Argos or Valeria's skill with your boss unit's if you have a Storm Rider Basil/Diamantes and General of Wave-like Spirals, Benedict in the same column. They also often lure in attacks, which can save your precious shields on your hand. You may choose to run either of them in your deck if you like, depending on your preference to draw or to retire. They are a great option to have.
Boss Units
There are 3 boss units for Aqua Force currently and all of them have really powerful skills to back them up for their limitation of needing to reach Limit Break and needing a set amount of attack count. Now let's look at one of the boss units, which requires the least amount of attack count out of the three.
Navalgazer Dragon
Activate [V]: Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage): [Counterblast (2)] Until end of turn, this unit gets Power +3000, gets "Auto [V]: When this unit's attack hits the Vanguard, if the number of battles during that turn is three or more, choose up to two <<Aqua Force>> Rearguards, and Stand them".
Auto [V]: When this unit attacks, if the number of battles during that turn is three or more, this unit gains Power +3000 until the end of the battle.
Auto [V]: When this unit attacks, if the number of battles during that turn is three or more, this unit gains Power +3000 until the end of the battle.
With a powerful skill that allows 2 units to Stand by hitting the Vanguard after activating his Limit Break, Navalgazer is force to reckon with and he is by no means a weakling even with his 10000 Power. Due to his re-standing skill, he is able to give Trigger effects to the units he'd stand with and this will hurt real bad, for your opponent. He makes things worse in a fact that he gains +3000 Power per activation of his Limit Break and reaches 24000 Power with Tear Knight, Theo behind him, or 26000 Power if he is boosted by Battle Siren, Dorothea, making him a pain to guard against. He can even activate his Limit Break twice in one turn if you are feeling up for it and re-stand a total of 4 units if he hits. However, he'd most likely to be attacking last to make full use of his Limit Break and this means that a Perfect Guard will make your Triggers which aren't Stand Triggers, moot. He however has no need to rely on a Storm Rider or Benedict to activate his re-standing skill. A decent boss unit if I were to say.
Don't set your eyes on this unit just yet. There are 2 more to go.
Hydro Hurricane Dragon
Activate [V]: Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage): [Counterblast (2)] Until end of turn, this unit gains Power +3000, gets "Auto [V]: When this unit's attack hits a Vanguard, if the number of battles during that turn is four or more, retire all of your opponent's Rearguards".
Auto [V]: When this unit attacks a Vanguard, this unit gets Power +3000 until end of that battle.
Auto [V]: When this unit attacks a Vanguard, this unit gets Power +3000 until end of that battle.
Oh god, retire ALL units upon 4th attack count and when it hits the Vanguard? An equivalent to Lohengrin or Demon Eater's Counterblast for just Counterblast(2)? While looking at the prospective that this unit can net a maximum of a -5 on your opponent with a mere Counterblast(2), you'll realize a few things about. Firstly, like Navalgazer, he'd need to pay the cost to activate his skill in the Main Phase, not when he hits. This makes a huge difference as unlike Navalgazer Dragon, this unit needs a Storm Rider or General of Wave-like Spirals, Benedict, to have this retiring skill activated. There's also the fact that decks running Hydro Hurricane Dragon cannot run Criticals efficiently like Navalgazer Dragon as he'd most definitely attack last, unlike Navalgazer Dragon which can use Benedict to attack twice first so that it'll have a Standing column to pass their Trigger effects to, making it possible to use Criticals efficiently while using his Limit Break. While Hydro Hurricane Dragon is a great unit for pressure, he's not as flexible as Navalgazer Dragon and the deck has to be built to solely make use of his Limit Break.
And now, we move on to the last boss unit
Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom
Auto [V]: Limit Break 4 (This ability is active if you have four or more damage): When this unit attacks a Vanguard, if the number of battles during that turn is four or more, until the end of that battle, this unit gains Power +5000, gets "Auto [V]: [Counterblast (1)] When this unit's attack hits, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw a card, choose an opponent's rearguard and retire it.".
Continuous [V/R]: If you have a non-<<Aqua Force>> Vanguard or Rearguard, this unit loses Power -2000.
Continuous [V/R]: If you have a non-<<Aqua Force>> Vanguard or Rearguard, this unit loses Power -2000.
This unit also needs a 4th attack count, but he is fundamentally different from Hydro Hurricane Dragon. Firstly, he has a 11000 base Power, meaning a better defense compared to Navalgazer Dragon and Hydro Hurricane Dragon. That very same 11000 base Power also allows it to be a good beatstick unit to be placed behind a Storm Rider, so that you rely less on Lazarus or Coral Assault. While this unit, is also not as flexible as Navalgazer Dragon, his Limit Break has virtually no cost since Aqua Force's Rearguard units hardly use Counterblast, bar Crypus and David, which the latter isn't often used due to better Grade 3 options. He also reaches 26000 Power with his Limit Break boosted by Dorothea, or 25000 boosted by Torpedo Rush Dragon. His Limit Break is also much better compared to Navalgazer as it gives solid pluses, and a -1 card advantage to your opponent with his retire, unlike Navalgazer's which might have his Limit Break's effectiveness reduced from opponent's Damage Triggers. A really good unit overall, and I recommend this unit if you are going for the best, competitive Aqua Force deck build.
Popular choices of Deck Builds
Currently, outside of Hydro Hurricane Dragon's unorthodox deck builds, the only 2 other deck builds you'll see around now are Maelstrom-based builds and Navalgazer-based builds, with the latter being less popular.
Pros and Cons of Maelstrom AqF
While the deck is really powerful due to it's strong Vanguard column and repetitive Rearguard attacks, the Rearguards doesn't boast much of a Power and it is easily guardable compared to the Vanguard column. The deck is heavily reliant on their Limit Break and does not have a way to gain a solid card advantage to maintain their Rearguard columns early in the game, so they can only play conservatively before they reach 4 damage. Maelstrom however, is a big threat as it gives a gap of 2 card advantage per use of his Counterblast. People are often forced to use their Perfect Guards or let the attack through, giving the you a huge advantage over the opponent.
I recommend that your deck should run these units, with the minimum amount stated. You may raise the amount of units if you wish to.
Officer Cadet, Erikk/Aquabreath Dracokid x1 (Depending on your preference)
Battle Siren, Dorothea x2
Emerald Shield, Pascal x3
Storm Rider Basil x3
Coral Assault x2
Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom x4
Storm Rider Diamantes/General of Wave-like Spirals, Benedict x3 (You may run both if you wish)
Officer Cadet, Erikk/Aquabreath Dracokid x1 (Depending on your preference)
Battle Siren, Dorothea x2
Emerald Shield, Pascal x3
Storm Rider Basil x3
Coral Assault x2
Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom x4
Storm Rider Diamantes/General of Wave-like Spirals, Benedict x3 (You may run both if you wish)
Pros and Cons of NavalAqF
Having a flexible strategy where you can easily switch the order of attacks to abuse units like Valeria, Navalgazer is a deck that is able to adapt to various situations and make use of his Limit Break to draw out guards. However, his Limit Break has a huge cost of Counterblast (2) per use, and it's not something that you can keep using unlike Maelstrom's. However, the ability of the deck to abuse Critical Triggers with Benedict is something that Maelstrom cannot do due to his attack count restriction.
I recommend that your deck should run these units, with the minimum amount stated. You may raise the amount of units if you wish to.
Officer Cadet, Erikk/Aquabreath Dracokid x1 (Depending on your preference)
Battle Siren, Dorothea x2
Emerald Shield, Pascal x3
Storm Rider Basil x3
Tear Knight, Valeria/Marine General of the Restless Tides, Argos x3 (You may run both if you wish)
Navalgazer Dragon x4
General of Wave-like Spirals, Benedict x3
Navalgazer Dragon x4
General of Wave-like Spirals, Benedict x3
Conclusion
Aqua Force is a very powerful clan that whips out a storm of attacks and destroys your opponent with a powerful Vanguard column with a powerful skill, forcing your opponent to take lots of damage and to prevent your Limit Break from hitting or to let you gain a huge card advantage for the turn. If you are the type to hit your opponent's Vanguard like a crazed serial killer, or one that likes to do card combos, this deck would suit you well. Till then for BT09 before I update this post.
~FelGrand
