Ocean though, right? I was going to write an article on Schwarzschild Dragon this week, but I decided against it because Schwarzschild is bad and I plan to write that article in a very "Zero Punctuation" manner.
So instead this week I bring you Aqua Force and Glory Maelstrom.
Blue Storm Supreme Dragon, Glory Maelstrom is the new cross ride for Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom brought to us in BT09 Clash of Knights and Dragons. It has been a long awaited card for many Aqua Force players in the English format, and many thought that his skill was broken. Here's his skill: [AUTO](VC) Limit Break 5 (This ability is active if you have five or more damage):[Counter Blast(1)] When this unit attacks a vanguard, you may pay the cost. If you do, until end of that battle, this unit gets [Power +5000, and your opponent cannot call grade 1 or greater units to (GC) from his or her hand. [CONT](VC): If you have a card named "Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom" in your soul, this unit gets [Power] +2000. [CONT](VC/RC): Lord (If you have a unit that doesn't belong to the same clan as this unit, this unit cannot attack)
Needless to say, it's a very good skill, but there's a serious problem with Glory's effect; it's not Aqua Force.
What I mean by that is that it doesn't fit into the usual Aqua Force tropes of third or fourth battle in a turn. Come to think of it, Glory doesn't really fit into any clan, he's just kind of there like an elephant in the room.
On his own, he's a very good card, but put him into a deck, and he tends to be lackluster. It's kind of the opposite problem that Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, THE BLOOD has, where in THE BLOOD is a bad card, but paired with the rest of the deck, he's useful.
Fact is, Glory just doesn't put as much pressure as regular Maelstrom. There's no reason to get the cross ride off early game because he's nothing more than a 13k until you hit 5 damage. He makes your opponent use up a lot grade zeros to guard, which is good, but regular Maelstrom not only forces perfect guards, but if he hits, you can retire an opponent's rear guard and draw a card.
Despite all this though, Glory is still powerful, and should be used in any Maelstrom build, but not as the center piece. It's a tech, so to speak, and is implemented only as a final turn push, or as an additional 11k rearguard. Additionally, Glory can be used in conjunction with Tear Knight Valeria, and assists her in becoming a much bigger threat.
Ideally, an Aqua Force player would have a field set up with a Storm Rider Diamantes Column (Either Maelstrom, Glory, or Lazarus behind him), Vanguard Maelstrom booster by Battle Siren Dorothea, and Coral Assault/Tear Knight Lazarus boosted by Tear Knight Theo.
However, for anyone running Tear Knight, Valeria, that last column would have Theo boosting Valeria. With regular Maelstrom on the Vanguard circle, the player has to rely on stand triggers to make Valeria viable. But with Glory on the Vanguard, Valeria becomes a very real threat, as Glory does not require a third or fourth battle activation. On top of that, you can assign trigger power to Valeria, increasing the threat she already presents.
But, until the player hits five damage, that kind of tactic should not be relied upon, and again Glory falls to a final turn option.
Essentially, Glory is the monster that should lurk in the deep and only brought to the surface to finish the game.
My current deck build consists of the following: 3x Blue Storm Supreme Dragon, Glory Maelstrom 3x Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom 2x Storm Rider, Diamantes
2x Coral Assault 3x Tear Knight, Valeria 4x Tear Knight Lazarus 2x Storm Rider Basil
4x Tear Knight, Theo 2x Tear Knight Cyprus 3x Battle Siren, Dorothea 4x Emerald Shield, Pascal 1x Light Signals Penguin Soldier
3x Pyroxene Communications Sea Otter Soldier (Draw) 4x Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir (Heal) 3x Supersonic Sailor (Critical) 2x Dolphin Soldier of the High Speed Raid (Stand) 2x Enemy Seeking Seagull Soldier (Stand) 2x Pyroxene Beam Blue Dragon Soldier (Stand)
1x Officer Cadet, Erikk
