Review : Blue Storm Supreme Dragon, Glory Maelstrom

Blue Storm Supreme Dragon, Glory Maelstrom



Card Infos: 

Power: 11000
Grade 3
Clan: Aqua Force
Race: Tear Dragon

Card Skills:

[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

Review:

So it's about time we get to mention this one. Aside from having the longest name of all the new Crossrides, Glory Maelstrom has probably one of the more crippling effects I've seen from them all. While being at a base 13,000 once Crossridden, it's Ultimate Break is what should be noted. At a cost of only ONE Counterblast, it gains +5,000 power and the opponent can't guard with Grade 1 or higher units. In the late stage of the game, most players are usually holding a Sentinel unit in their hand to have a safety net against their Vanguard, but Glory Maelstrom says otherwise as it makes Sentineling against it useless, which leaves only Grade 0's to guard, and if this is being boosted by a Dorothea, then Glory can be potentially attacking for a stunning 28,000 power before Twin Drive, which makes guarding a bit hard as you will have to put down 20,000 shield or higher of pure Grade 0's. the only gripe I have about this is while this is an excellent effect, it really doesn't fit the Aqua Force clan. While the average Aqua Force deck will utilize Stand Triggers, Glory Maelstrom seems to work better with Critical Triggers. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it basically forces you to rebuild your deck to really unleash the full potential of this one ace.

Aside from that, this card is still very good and can't be looked past.

Glory Maelstrom is one of three units to be released with a limit break five skill. When attacking the vanguard, you can counterblast one, and Glory Maelstrom will gain 5k power, and your opponent cannot guard with grade one or greater units for that battle. This is a decent skill, especially if you are nearing the endgame. No guarding with grade ones or higher means no perfect guards and no intercepts. This can put tremendous pressure on an ill prepared opponent. The problem with this skill is that it does not mesh at all with the Aqua Force gimmick of benefits for larger number of attacks. Glory Maelstrom can be the first attack that turn and still gain the skill. There is nothing inherently wrong with that on its own, but if you consider that the rest of the deck is built to benefit from increasing the number of attacks, and that you are likely running cards like Tear Knight Valeria and Algos, who gain their skills on the fourth attack, by riding to this unit, you could be short changing the benefits of your build.

Glory Maelstrom is a good finisher, and is by no means a bad card. Given his lack of synchronicity with the rest of the Aqua Force gimmick, he probably should only see a collateral role in the deck, as opposed to a focus.

Ratings:

7/10