The Changing Of Tides- Aqua Force

"Wash away all vice in the flow of a furious flood. Its name is righteousness! I ride Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom!"


This phrase explains all when it comes to aqua force. This deck is capable of flooding your opponents field with decisive and powerful attacks. However this deck does have a pretty wide learning curve and I would suggest reading and learning how everything works before jumping into this clan. On the bright side your probably here to learn anyway so I went ahead and did the hard work for you. So lets dive into the depths of the clan known as Aqua Force.

Lets start at the bottom and work our way up and in this case its with the starting vanguard options. You have 3 choices for a starting vanguard which are Officer cadet of the first battle a 6k vanilla from the trial deck, Officer cadet erikk which is your grade 3 checker, and Aqua breath dracokid which allows you to give an ability to one of your units at the cost of a counter blast this ability is the unit gains +1000 and if it is the fourth or higher attack and hits the vanguard you can draw 1. This ability sounds good on paper but in reality is hard to achieve. I'm not saying this effect is bad just hard to plan and setup. I personally like Officer Cadet Erikk due to the fact that getting your main vanguard in this deck whether it be Maelstrom, Hydro Hurricane, or even Navalgazer is very important. The reason i say this is that your other grade 3 choices are 9k power or have no use on the vanguard spot and are essentially a 10k vanilla. So after extensive testing I have decided to stick with Erikk until theres a more useful card. The only downfall to Erikk is his power being at 4k when dracokid has a power of 5k but in the end it really comes down to the usefulness of the card in question but also playing either or will add vital points to the deck.

On to the grade 1 section which is not that vast as a matter of fact its so close to standard that its boring. So i'm just going to quickly cover this section.

4 8k vanilla

3-4 Perfect Guard
4 7k booster with CB1 add +1000
3 10k booster


Like i said very standard. You can mix and match a few cards i personally like to tech 2 grade 1 units from the pain series to deal 1 point of damage early game to set off my limit break and slam relentless attacks into my opponent especially if I go first and they are on grade 2. So in short your grade 1 units should reflect your grade 2 and 3 choices.

Now to the fun part which is the grade 2 line-up. This grade is the most important part of aqua force and its where your assault begins. With the right setup you can knock an insane amount of damage and pressure into your opponent which can easily decide a game. Lets start with Storm Rider, Basil which should be the start of your combo if he is the first attack he gets power +2000 and the ability to swap with the rear guard behind him so long as he attacks a vanguard. This ability starts your conquest to 4+ attacks per turn which is the signature play style of aqua force. So what card goes well behind Basil well none other than Coral Assault which is an 8k grade 2 but if it is the 3rd or higher attack gains +3000 power till the end of that battle.  Now there are 2 other solid options as well but they don't really shine unless you hit a stand trigger on grade 2 or until you ride grade 3 and can play Benedict. The other 2 units are Marine General Of The Restless Tides, Algos and Tear Knight, Valeria. Both units require them to be the 4th or higher attack and if they hit the vanguard their abilities activate. Valeria can destroy an opponents rear guard and Algos allows you to draw a card. Both have amazing effects and all tie into the other and like i said earlier this deck requires a very specific setup in order to show its true power. If you fail to setup properly you will easily notice that the deck isn't performing to standards.


We wrap things up with the true monsters of the deck the grade 3's.
You saw me mention Benedict earlier and he is a kill on sight to the opponent for an obvious reason. Benedict Can attack and then drop his attack by 5000 to stand again. what does this mean for aqua force though? It means Benedict counts as 2 attacks every turn guaranteeing that you can threaten your opponent with your units that require they be on the 4th or higher attack. Benedict clearly presents a threat with an ability like that making him a big target so use him wisely because if you cant guard him he wont last long. So what does a typical grade 3 play look like? Its simple really your first attack should be with Basil or Diamantes use their skill to move your heavy hitter forward aka your 4th attack unit then attack with Benedict alone without boosting for 10k activate his skill to stand him again. Next attack with Benedict boosted which should be for another 10k+ so now that totals 3 attacks. So all thats left is your vanguard and your heavy hitter so in order to use your heavy hitter which is base power Of 9000 you need to hit a trigger so attack with your vanguard and hope to get the trigger if you check one then swing with the last unit. There is another setup which plays the same just swapping the heavy hitters placement with Benedict so you can then attack with your heavy hitter boosteed. Either way works it just depends on your play style. The bottom 2 cards are Maelstrom which is my vanguard of choice and Diamantes which is a clone of Basil that can reach 11k instead of 10k. All the cards that i mentioned are key cards that should be included in some way the rest is all a learning curve for the deck and once you get it down your plays will be sure to put your opponent in a tight spot. I hope you all enjoyed this article and that it has given some inspiration to try this amazing clan.

Circus Of Horrors

Today I will be covering a clan with more tricks and stunts than you can imagine I am of course referring to the Pale Moon Circus.  In this article I'm going to discuss choices, strategies, and my experience with this amazing clan.  Starting off this article I will say that this deck is not for the casual player however there are versions of it that can be used for that particular type of player.  Pale Moon requires a precise setup to make its plays devastating and if that setup is planned poorly the deck will suffer.  Many questions are asked about this clan and how it works and the answer is simple all you need to do is have the right balance of soul and field.  How does one achieve that?  There are a good variety of cards for the clan that allow a player to build their soul but these choices are the most important when constructing the deck.  You will be faced with choices such as precision soul charging which of course has a cost and free randomized soul charging which does not.  What you need to keep in mind is free is not always better in fact being able to choose the cards you soul charge is far more effective and keeps important cards in your deck where they belong.  Field setup is the other half of the equation where soul charging and it go hand and hand.  An example of this is the tamer series of crimson and turquoise which rely on having a crimson in soul.  Before set 7 the deck did not have precision soul charging and suffered because of it not being able to get the right cards in soul for its combos.  The point I am making here is that its better to precisely add cards to soul over a random pick from a card like skull juggler who is in fact a key card but is there for utility as a card that can soul charge and is a 7k booster which isn't terrible for hitting magic numbers.

Now we enter the field segment of this article and the beaters that this deck has are pretty vicious.  Starting our lineup we have midnight invader which is your typical clone of any other grade 3 vanilla.  Hold that thought i'm aware i just called it a vanilla but in essence it is due to the simplicity of the effect and that it has to attack the vanguard to get it.  So on to the next question why is this card good?  Well like any other clone of this card if you stick an 8k behind him he hits 20k on a vanguard and 18k on a rear not bad at all.  However Pale Moon does us one better with a turquoise beast tamer behind him he can hit 21k which is a key number against 11k vanguards so in short this guy alone can trample over your opponents with ease making him a solid choice for the deck.  Our next main beater of the deck is crimson beast tamer a card that was good from the start and even better now with precision soul charging added to the mix.  An 8k unit that swings for 11k is pretty nasty but if you stick a turquoise behind her she becomes a 20k column which is devastating since most grade 2 columns on hit 16k-18k.  This row in particular is important for targeting important rear guards on your opponents field making them over commit guarding to stop its assault on their precious key card.  examples of those cards would be emblem master, libra clones etc.  Basically and 8k or 9k with a dangerous effect will be a great target for the tamer duo to knock out since it will cause them to have to pitch a minimum of 15k shield to stop it.  Vanguards are also a good target of course especially 10k vanguards since it will cause them to commit 15k shield as well to stop the swing so late game this row can hurt especially alongside your 21k midnight invader.

Were coming to the mid point of our discussion which is combos and tricks.  Before that though lets cover another card key to this role and that card is purple trapezist.  Before set 7 pale moon was a straight beatdown deck with combos only made possible by hitting an opposing unit which caused the deck to be easily stopped by simply guarding those units.  The release of this monstrosity is all it took to make the deck hit the competitive scene due to its ability to loop combos and fully utilize the soul.  The other card that makes this card amazing is none other than the girl who crossed the gap which is the clans best choice for a starting vanguard.  Counterblast 1 to swap itself for a card in soul.  Purple trapezist is an awesome choice for that cards effect allowing you to swap in a useless card for a better one and also is great to set up a row that hits a magic number.  Like I said before soul is power in this deck and without the right soul the deck wont work.  So to setup these combos I would suggest using dancing princess of the night sky to precisely soul charge the cards needed.  Counter blasting 1 for a precise soul charge isn't much to guarantee you have what you need to make your opponent suffer.  So now that you are aware of the engine that the deck uses and how to utilize if to its fullest we can move on to the last part which is Grade 3 and essentially choosing the variant of deck to use.

So now we come to the fork in the road which is what deck to choose.  Lets look at our options you have 3 of them which are...

-Luquier (Aggressive and controlling Beatdown with alot of combos)
-Sarah (Grade 3 checker abuses alice has potential to attack 6x)
-Robert (cheap build for the casual player easy to use)

So there are the 3 options available to us in order of effectiveness and competitiveness.  Luquier recently placed 2nd in the Manchester World Championship Qualifier.  Luquier is for those who dare to challenge their skill level and if skilled enough are rewarded with combos and rows that tear into an opponents vanguard with ease.  Sarah isn't quite as effective but is still a fan favorite due to its ability to possible attack a bunch of times and abuse nightmare doll alice which is still a favorite card to pale moon fans and some don't want to play without it.  The issue with Sarah is consistency since it requires you to have a grade 3 on the field and then to drive check another when most likely your running 8 total leaving 6 in deck if something hasn't already happened to them. Last is Robert who really is just a mention for those who wanna play casual of lack the money to afford the good stuff.

In closing this clan is simply amazing and given you take the time to learn it properly you will love it.  My experiences with the deck have been nothing less than great.  The deck building and options are kind of annoying since in this deck its really easy to throw the deck off track but once you find the balance and get past the learning curve its a powerful choice in any tournament setting at this time.  So what are you waiting for get out there and try it.  Right now the deck ill estimate to cost anywhere from 150+ for the competitive variants and robert will cost next to nothing minus the price of perfect guards.  I hope you all enjoyed the article and best of luck in your endeavors with the clan.  Ill post below my list that has been doing very well for me so enjoy.

Luquier Tamer Beat

Silver Thorn Dragon Tamer Luquier x3

Midnight Invader x4

Barking Cerberus x4

Crimson Beast Tamer x4

Dancing Princess Of The Night Sky x4

Skull juggler x3

Hades Hypnotist x4

Turquoise Beast Tamer x4

Purple Trapezist x3

Dynamite Juggler (crit) x4

Poison Juggler (Crit) x4

Rainbow Magician (Draw) x4

Popcorn Boy (Heal) x4

The Girl Who Crossed The Gap (Starter) x1