Introduction
Attention! Hello all I am Don and I am the creator of the Dragon’s Forge YouTube channel. Welcome to my first article as a new writer for Rogue of the Seven Seas. In this article we are going to cover Flagship Dragon, Flagburg Dragon and his allies. Come aboard and see what the new Aqua Force has for us!
Past & Present
As in the past Aqua Force has retained a focus on rear-guards and attacking in waves. One must ask themselves has anything changed over these multiple millennia? Yes, in fact at this time the Flagburg deck does not have much of an early rush, where the Aqua Force of the past did at times. With less of a focus on an early game we must plan for the late game. With this new focus we have to be smart with our attacks in order to gain victory.
Deck Builds
First up let’s look at the three common builds that are currently being used. Across all builds that you can see below there are commonly used cards. Also, if you’re not familiar to the Ride Line’s skills, check out this article first!
At this time there is very little variation, but in general all of these builds are trying to maintain consistency in their own ways. The primary differences are centered around Inroad Shooter, Spiritual Body Condensation, Blooming Petal, Caryophyllus, and Sylvan Horned Beast, Agleo. Each of these cards have their own advantages. Inroad Shooter provides more attackers and boosters, which enables more consistent field presence. Spiritual Body Condensation provides effectively extra copies of cards for the cost of a soul. Blooming Petal, Caryophyllus provides us with additional soul that we need very badly. Sylvan Horned Beast, Agleo increases the availability of successful attacks towards the opposing Vanguard. The question comes down to which is the right card, but it comes down to your own playstyle.
Considerations
With very similar builds with only one flexpoint the strength of the deck comes down to playstyle. Any deck that requires forethought, resource management, and field setup can be quite a task to pilot properly. This is what will separate Flagburg pilots from each other more than anything.
Forethought
One of the first things a Flagburg pilot must consider is where to place Inroad Shooter when it exits the soul. Do you place it behind the Vanguard, in the back right or left circles, or the front circles? This is very much dependent on your playstyle and opponent. If you place Inroad Shooter in the back right or left circles you are setting up future attacks, which will enable your multi-attack units to be more threatening. In the front circles it will be an excellent early attacker, but it will become vulnerable to attack. Then lastly behind the Vanguard is likely the most conservative option providing the security of the back row and increasing the threat of your Vanguard’s attacks. Just this single decision carries so much weight with it.
Resource Management
As you review the cards in our first round of support you will find significant requirements to use both counterblasts and soul blasts. With this Stoicheia was graciously given the card Prized Trident, which provides us with both a counter charge and soul charge. The caveat is that we must hit the fifth attack, which requires said resources to be spent. Unless multiple Prized Tridents are used in tandem there won’t be any significant gains as these gains are brought about with loss. First off we have the need of counterblasts so we can’t guard too much, especially considering we can use as many as four counterblasts in a turn. Next we could use as many as two soul blasts in a turn, but this is difficult to handle as we are emptying our soul as we ride up. Under ideal conditions we will only have one soul at the point of riding into Flagburg Dragon. Unless we refill the soul we won’t last very long. Again this is where Prized Trident and Blooming Petal, Caryophyllus come in handy. With how resource hungry Flagburg is, every spent resource must be considered carefully, which returns us to forethought.
Field Setup
I have always been a firm believer that one of the most important skills for an Aqua Force player is field setup. Just one until out of place can mess up your whole plan. For example a common mistake I see is placing Prized Trident behind the unit that will attack fifth. With this you will lose your booster and now possibly any chance to hit. With this you must think before you place your cards. In the case of Prized Trident I recommend placing him behind the card you intend to conclude all attacks with first, which for me is generally my first attacker. Another tip is to place your first attacker near the deck. For example the image below shows an example of an ideal field setup with corresponding attack pattern. With this pattern you can maximize your attacks and apply a large amount of pressure.
Battle Plan
In the previous sections we covered forethought, resource management, and field setup; however, how does this play into our overall battle plan? The basic battle plan that has always been present in Aqua Force is several attacks to deplete your opponent’s resources. With this, how many attacks can we achieve? In an all one turn we can hit as many as six attacks, but this comes at the cost of possibly not having resources left. Then how many attacks can we do without being a detriment? We can very easily hit four to five attacks consistently with very little repercussions. With all of these attacks we also have the flexibility to attack beyond the opponent’s Vanguard, meaning we can attack the front row in its entirety. By attacking the opponent’s rear-guards we can reduce available resources and offensive capabilities. In order to do all of this we must expend cards from our hand to fill the field with rear-guards, which will result in a diminished defensive capability. In order to mitigate this weakness we must be aggressive and interrupt our opponent’s game plan through attacking and using Flagburg’s effect.
Conclusion
To sum things up Flagship Dragon, Flagburg Dragon and his allies seem to be simple on the surface, however if you give them the attention deserved you will find that their complexity is as deep as the ocean.
Rogue of the Seven Seas 