That’s right amigos, they announced the new Encounter cards and one of them is Maelstrom! Let’s dive into some thoughts and speculation!
Why Maelstrom?!
As we can see 3 of the Encounter cards were Luquier, Maelstrom, and Minerva. Everyone that has played the game from the early days and even V Era, appreciates the nostalgia! But then it begs the question why Maelstrom?
Early on they revealed that the original Chronojet is also coming to overDress format and created the possibility of other Strides becoming possible Ride Line cards. My speculation was that it was possible since a card like Lambros is of the 3822nd generation. Which is around the 3000 year gap.
Not only that, but we already have a Ride Line card such as Flagburg which literally is the essence of OG Maelstrom! Flagburg has also received support from multiple sets and even a promo. So what gives?
I have 2 thoughts. The first is that they will have returning units that somehow made it 3000 years later. My hope is that the Lore itself will connect with these units and perhaps lead to a big Era impacting event in overDress.
The second thought is something that I noticed about the art with Maelstrom.
Notice there are figures that are shaped similarly to Maelstrom! The origin of Maelstrom is that he himself was the Admiral of the armada, which implies he was unique. Are there possible more Maelstroms? How? Are they clones or even replicas of the original Maelstrom but then later revived like they were a Pokemon fossil?
I know that seems dramatic but it would be cool if there was a twist like that.
Speculation of Maelstrom’s Skill
So now that we got the reveal, the next question that we have is what skill(s) will it have? From what we know from history, there are many forms of Maelstrom technically which yield different skills:
- OG Maelstrom: 4th battle on hit, retire and draw
- V Maelstrom: Restands if RG hits 3rd/4th battle
- Glory Maelstroms: Guard restriction and potential power up
- Reverse Maelstroms: Locking as cost, gains a Crit while drawing and retiring
- Lordly Maelstrom (who lol jk?): On break Stride, call a Blue Storm unit and make it a restander
Furthermore, considering what Stoicheia currently has available:
- Magnolia: Enables attacking from the back row
- Zorga: Achemagic and abuse Prison Dragons
- Flagburg: Better OG Maelstrom
- Lianorn: Boosters restand and VG gains benefits
As mentioned before, Flagburg is literally a better OG Maelstrom. So I would think they wouldn’t repeat that skill. Magnolia already covers the back row attackers, but there’s room for maybe swapping instead?
Zorga and Lianorn are pretty unique, so I don’t think Maelstrom would piggy back from them at all.
My hope is that it can restand like V Series Maelstrom. Stoicheia would have a good addition in where a VG can restand while somehow multiattacking/swapping RGs. It would be similar yet different from Flagburg.
Keep in mind that a lot of the good support that Flagburg is already restricted to the name. So Maelstrom can’t use cards like Ascendance Assault, Inlet Pulse’s restanding skill, etc. The only way around it is if it gains the name of Flagburg.
Also, I would rather have Maelstrom become its own deck and not have to mesh with current Flagburg support. It would feel clunky with the current good support that Flagburg has available.
A Few Concerns
One main concern I have is that unless we are able to generate an additional circle, then we’ll have to rely on possibly new restanding RGs. Flagburg and old Aqua Force has this issue where if you don’t have a restander or two, then your turn is really lack luster. Furthermore, if swappers are introduced, then it’ll run to the Magnolia issue where you need to fill up your field with RGs that can hit the VG.
The last concern I have is that they give it okay support but then it doesn’t receive enough good support for it to become a viable deck. Some of the Encounter decks have a power gap difference and it feels better to play the new Ride Lines. Perhaps that’s on purpose to have players use more of the new Ride Lines instead of always relying on the old nolstagic units.
Extra!! Extra!! Flash Ripple, Odysseus is banned for Japan!
Just a small mention that in Premium there was a problem card in the name of Flash Ripple Odysseus! Thanks to the retraining of the Ripple cards from the recent V Clan Collection, the Ripple deck was able to generate easily 4+ Accel circles, build a field, and draw cards. While an opponent could be still at G2!
I’ve mentioned that Odysseus should have been limited to 1 or errata to a HARD 1/Turn skill. So at least the Ripple deck and other variants could use 1. But they nuked it ha. It was for the best. I’m sure the English banlist will be similar as well.
Feel free to see my videos on how it can generate Accel circles and even create an Infinite Loop too!
Final Thoughts
To wrap things up, the overall news presentation had a lot of good news and an effective banlist. Bushiroad really did great on this and I’m happily moving forward!
I’m excited to see old familiar Aqua Force units come into Stoicheia. I can’t wait to see the rest of the Ride Line and the support around it. Perhaps we’ll see other nostalgic units such as Tidal Assault, Lazarus, etc. or even the latest V Era Maelstrom support such as Radiate Assault, Elpida, Flow Fencer, etc.
Are you excited? Do you have speculations? Let me know in the comments! Til the next time amigos, see ya!
Rogue of the Seven Seas 