From Lord to Legend, A Pirate's Tale
FC2015W Spoiled Card; One Who is Loved by the Seven Seas, Nightmist
It's been rough sailing, being a supporter of Granblue all these years.
I find it difficult not to get sentimental over this clan. We go a long way back, the pirates and I. When I first joined the game of Vanguard it was my desire to play Megacolony. But since they were not fully supported at the time (and indeed, still struggle for it now) my eyes turned to the rest of the assembled clans. The moment Granblue were brought to my attention, not only as seafaring pirates but necromancers and spirits, I immediately found myself enamored with their aesthetic.
Their playstyle proved even more to my liking. The units worked together. Everything in the deck could combo with something else. The drop zone became my secondary hand, and having my units retired was a matter I could simply laugh away with glee. No two games were ever quite the same. There was such a wealth of different options and ways everything could play out that I knew I would never be short of something to do with my turn. In a way, we bonded, the clan and I.
Regrettably, it was with a heavy heart that I was forced to watch them fade into obscurity.
I tried to hold on for as long as I could. But suffering repeated defeats, with what support they did receive being miles behind many other clans in power, my enthusiasm was deflated slowly. What was the point in creating creative and elaborate combinations, investing so much time and tactics in planning them out, when in the end it would lose out to raw power and advantage? I grew disillusioned with the game itself. Hanging up my deck, and going so far as to quit Vanguard entirely.
It wasn't until another ocean-based clan was released that I got back into the game. Aqua Force were the kind of clan that, had they existed in the very beginning, they would have been my first choice. Joining their ranks let me enjoy the kind of intricate combo play I thrive upon the most while still allowing me to play aggressively and maintain a competitive threat. I was happy playing Vanguard again... however, I did not abandon the happy memories I had created with Granblue. Though they were no longer my main clan following my wholehearted defection to Aqua Force, you never truly forget the first deck you play with. So I watched them. And I waited patiently.
Within the deep dark places of the ocean, Granblue bode their time. Gradually rebuilding.
They received little pockets of support, here and there. Never enough to make them a metagame threat in the eyes of players, but enough to give them the resources to make their necromantic art pay off the effort required to master it. Sea Strolling Banshee - Dragon Corrode, Corrupt Dragon - Boatswain Arman. All units that were useful individually, but could combine together fluidly to achieve different results depending on what you needed for a specific turn.
With G support on the horizon, Granblue still has a long way to go before they receive the fame and glory they are due. But for now, a fleeting glimpse of their future potential has been gifted to them.
Let me introduce you to an old friend wearing a new face.
[Stride]-Stride Step-[Choose one or more cards with the sum of their grades being 3 or greater from your hand, and discard them] Stride this card on your (VC) from face down.
[ACT](VC)1/Turn:[Counter Blast (1)] If you have a heart card with "Seven Seas" in its card name, choose up to two cards from your drop zone, call them to separate (RC), and at the end of that turn, retire the units called with this effect.
Nightmist has been with Granblue since the very beginning, just like myself. And was the first unit I oh-so-naively declared my Avatar. He started as a Grade 2 captain, then ascended to the title of Lord at Grade 3 in order to combat the emergence of Link Joker. Now, he has risen higher yet again, becoming a Grade 4 stride at the advent of a new era. His ability being very similar to his breakride self's power, and also bearing some resemblance to the secondary stride we received in the previous Fighter's Collection 2015 release.
[Stride] (Released when both players' vanguards are grade 3 or greater!)-Stride Step-[Choose one or more cards with the sum of their grades being 3 or greater from your hand, and discard them] Stride this card on your (VC) from face down.
[ACT](VC)1/Turn:[Counter Blast (1)] Choose up to two cards from your drop zone, call them to separate (RC) with a unit.
On the surface, they seem like similar cards. Both have the overall effect of pulling two units out of the drop zone for a measly cost of 1CB. The difference being that Blueheart must call them over existing units while Nightmist retires the units he calls at the end of the turn. It may not seem like much of a difference but in fact it's a dramatic one. Nightmist retiring the units he calls can actually work out to be in his advantage, while Blueheart can be considered extremely situational at best.
The symmetry in their skills even extends to their art. See, how they adopt the same pose, but facing in opposite directions? Blueheart is from the dusty, cobweb-ridden past; while Nightmist looks towards the shining future.
Nightmist is not inhibited by a generation break limitation. Nor does he require a copy of himself to be flipped in order to activate his skill. His sole prerequisite is that the Heart card have 'Seven Seas' in the name, which only one card currently does - that being his former self. Since you want to be riding Lord Nightmist anyway as your G3 in most cases, with him being quite possibly the best unit Granblue currently has going for it, this is no terrible price to pay to enable his ability. Which, in turn, can serve to enable your entire deck for a very affordable cost.
As I mentioned earlier, Granblue is a deck all about combos. Your drop zone is as much your hand as the one you hold at all times. It is a toolbox from which you accumulate resources, just as the Pale Moon clan use their soul. Like their talented performers, you want specific units to be in there, so that you have a catalog of effects to choose from as your needs demand. You can build the drop zone through random milling cards that Granblue has, but I strongly discourage such cards. With the amount you draw coupled with so much milling, it inevitably results in a quick deckout. Units like Chappie the Ghostie and Performing Zombie allow you to choose specific targets. Making them much more effective at getting what you need into the drop zone instead of milling away your own triggers by freak accident.
Several of these that spring to mind include, but are not limited to;
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Sea Strolling Banshee + Any 10k or higher attacker.
Forms at least a 16k column for the turn and allows you to SB1 to draw a card on entry.
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Boatswain, Arman + Dragon Corrode, Corrupt Dragon.
A 10k booster and a 12k attacker create a 22k column for the turn at almost no cost.
Due to the transient nature of these units, the advantage gained from their calling is only temporary. But this brings it's own set of benefits too. For one thing, save for the likes of Cold Death Dragon, Link Joker cannot target a column empty of units. Kagero's retiring prowess is all but wasted when presented with a lack of targets. And Megacolony are unable to gigaparalyze you either. Despite evading the majority of these control playstyles, your ability to attack and pressure your opponent each turn is unhindered. In many ways it actually plays a lot like Murakumo. Only instead of requiring your rear guards to be on the field in order to summon copies, you are plucking them rotting and decayed out of the same zone you use as a dump for anything you guard with from hand. If an attack only requires a 5k shield to block, don't hesitate to lay down a Banshee to take the hit. You'll only be setting things up for her eventual return later.
While Nightmist is no Excelics Messiah or Lambros class finisher card for Granblue, he is instead a very valuable first stride and the enabler of multiple formations. A possible glimpse into a future where temporarily reviving units and retiring them at the end of the turn may be the direction Granblue takes. He gives us our first look at 'Seven Seas' support, and with the cards the clan will be getting in G-BT06, which will include a PGG to make his cost even easier to manage, he could be just the start of true resurrection for the clan I started with.
For now, as I have always done, I will watch, and I will wait. Patiently with baited breath.
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