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Pojo's Duel Masters Card of the Day
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Image from
Wizards Duel Master site
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Aqua Hulcus Base Set
Date Reviewed: 4.05.04
Constructed
Average Rating: 3
Limited Average Rating: 3
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ... average.
5 is the highest rating. |
Scott
Gerhardt
* Game Store owner in
CA, ShuffleAndCut
Multiple M:TG Pro Tour Appearances |
I guess I can see
this guy seeing some constructed play if you need a
body since it does replace itself. I'm just
not a big fan of a 2000 for 3 that can't stop an
attack and can rarely pose a serious threat at
making one, even if it does draw a card.
In limited, drawing a
card helps find your fattie bomb faster. I
still don't like it there, but I will definitely
play it. Never know when you need to simply
outnumber your opponent to win.
 Constructed:
1.5
Limited: 2.5 |
Christine
Gerhardt
* game store
owner in CA, ShuffleAndCut |
I like this guy... I
really, really like him. One key to most any TCG is
this: Card Advantage wins games. Repeat that over
and over. The more cards you have available to you,
the better the choices available to you are. This
guy gives you card economy as you only need the one
card to give you 2 things: Card Draw and a Creature.
The cost is very good. I figure a cards casting cost
on average should be equal to its power x1000. So 2
of the 3 mana go toward the 2000, leaving you 1 mana
towards drawing a card... definitely worth it. The
one thing I've noticed as I've played Duel Masters
is that it is easy to get to a point where you feel
very low on cards, sometimes to the point that you
think twice about dropping mana because you don't
want to waste the cards in your hand. But ideally,
you would always drop mana every turn, giving you
the best casting opportunities as you draw cards.
Using cards like Aqua Hulcus to draw helps to fill
that needy hand, and if you have enough drawing
sources, you will always feel free to drop mana
every turn.
In draft, card draw is also important, and Hulcus is
one of my higher picks. Blue is a high pick for me
anyway, as besides card draw, Blue affords you
evasion, which can make a big difference in a
limited game.
Constructed: 4
Limited: 4.5
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Dimension Gate
I'm not so sure about this guy. Since I've been
playing a lot of limited, I know he isn't too hot
there. I tried using him for a while with little
advantage. But of course, constructed is another
beast all together. Green as a whole isn't a great
color so far, and this kind of lumps in there. If
there was a creature key to my deck, though, it
might be worth a spot. As a shield trigger, good
times. But using 3 to cast it from your hand
decrades your drop for the turn, so eh. It's not
that the ability is bad, just that its cost hurts
you too much when played from your hand.
Constructed: 2.5
Limited: 1.5
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Ruby Grass
A solid blocker with 2 solid abilities for it's
cost. It's an early caster that gives you 3000. It's
first advantage is that it's a blocker that can
attack other creatures. This is really so much
better than blockers that can't attack at all. You
at least have the oppotunity to take out a creature
with it. It's next advantage is built in evasion. At
the end of your turn, you can untap it, keeping it
from becoming vulnerable to an attack by your
opponent. This is a really nice ability.
Ruby Grass is a nice early creature, and will carry
it's share in the early game by holding off a few
small creatures. Of course, it becomes more useful
as a blocker in the later game. All in all, it's a
solid though small blocker with a good cost for it's
abilities. Sure he's not a huge one, but you can't
wait until turn 6 to start casting. Ruby is a good
mid caster until then.
In limited, it's a nice mid to late pick. You'll
want to scoop up bigger guys first, but don't miss
this one after that. He's solid, solid, solid.
Constructed: 3
Limited: 3.5
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DeQuan
Watson
*
game store owner (The Game Closet - Waco,TX)
* Scrye writer since 2002
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Aqua
Hulcus
I REALLY like Aqua Hulcus. I know that several
people might want to down talk this card, but it's
is really good. There are a lot of combos that will
allow you to replay this card which will build or
hand up at a ridiculous rate. If you haven't tried
it, you should definitely give him a shot.
Rating: 3.5
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Hydromorph |
Aqua Hulcus is one
of those cards that isn’t overly flashy, but will
probably find it’s way into a lot of water decks for
a long time. First
off, a 2000 body for 3 mana isn’t much of a deal,
but it lets you draw a
card when you play it. This means it automatically
replaces itself, even if
it dies. In most card games, this ability would be
rather important, and
this remains true for Duel Masters.
The ability to cycle through your deck while putting
a threat out there is a
good deal, and while 2000 attack may not seem like
much of a threat, it
still breaks a shield if it gets through, so I’d
take it for what it’s
worth. In the few Water decks I’ve played, this
little dude actually ended
up punching through for the win. If you’re running
heavy board removal, run
4, otherwise keep it in heavy consideration for
you’re looking for early
game plays.
On a sidenote, when Aqua Hulcus takes out a shield
or attacks for the win,
it's attack is adequately nicknamed "Hulk Smash"
Aqua Hulcus - 3.5/5
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Otaku |
Name:
Aqua Hulcus
Type:
Creature
Civilization:
Water
Race:
Liquid People
Cost:
3
Power:
2000
Effect:
When you put this creature into the battle zone,
you may draw a card.
Flavor Text:
Liquid People freely control the liquid. For
them, water is armor and shield.
Mana#:
1
Set/Card#/Rarity:
Base Set, #23/110, Common
Attributes:
Aqua Hulcus is on of
the Liquid People. For now, this is just a cool
theme as no effects refer to their race. It is of
the Water Civilization, which means fairly little,
as usual: I don’t think I’ve seen anything by mana
cost reference Civilization. This creature costs
3 mana to summon, but has a Power of 2000-one less
than we paid for. Fortunately, it also has an
effect, and 2000 Power is decent for a Creature
that should see play fairly early in the game.
Abilities:
When you put this creature into the battle zone,
you may draw a card. This is a fairly solid
ability, and seems worth a mana to me. It is an
optional effect, and that is important, as I will
explain in the next section.
Uses/Combinations:
I would probably only use this for Water decks.
Draw power doesn’t seem as great in this game as
it does in games like Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokémon, since
you will rarely be able to use everything you
draw. Also, this game is over the instant you
draw your last card, making it a hair easier to
deck out than most other games, where you usually
lose when you can’t draw any more and have to.
Still, more cards means more options, and while
draw power isn’t as useful, in most other games
its essential, here it’s just a “strong
advantage”. I also might mix it with Light, as
Light seems to be the “baseline” Civilization that
is well-balanced.
Ratings
Newbie Format:
3/5-New players, in my experience, have larger
decks, and can definitely use the draw power.
Unfortunately, they are also more apt (again, in
my experience) to go overboard and draw too much.
Standard:
3/5-Same rating, different reason-decks are
slimmer here, so while the players can handle it,
as stated, it’s useful, but the mana acceleration
of Nature cards, the speed of Fire, and the
creature removal of Darkness seem better. As I
stated, if you use a lot of Water, go for it.
Limited:
3.5/5-Draw power will probably be better here
since you will have a lot of “filler” in the deck.
Summary
It’s a solid card that has a place in certain
decks, but not all of them, and that’s fine with
me. ;)
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Ray "Monk"
Powers
*DCI
Tournament Organizer
*Game Store Owner (Gamer's
Edge) |
Aqua Hulcus
I love this guy. He’s a bit wimpy for his cost, but
I like to play control decks, and control decks
thrive on card advantage. When you are playing a
control deck in this game, the way you win is by
simply eventually overwhelming your opponent with
creatures, and the fact that these creatures are
1000’s or 9000’s is largely irrelevant. So this guy
fills a great slot, adding a creature to your count
while continuing to draw you cards to control the
game.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4
Limited: 4
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Stegyman |
Drawing is
important, and Aqua Hulcus provides that.
Aqua Hulcus: Water Creature, 3-Mana, 2000 attack.
Kind of eh, huh? The text says that when you put
[Aqua Hulcus] into battle, draw a card. Hmm..
What's good about this card? Well, you get to draw a
card, but that's the thing: you only get one card.
Water also has Brain Serum and Crystal Memory to
draw cards, and they both cost 4-Mana. So, along
with the previously mentioned spell cards, you can
be drawing cards using Water faster than your
opponent, and you get to set up faster.
Pros: cheap creature, draw one card
Cons: sub-average attack power, ONLY one card
Would I play this card? Probably only in a
Mono-Water deck. Why? Well, I would use the extra
space for something else, but in Mono-Water this
card is good. In Limited, however, card
drawing=good. An early pick.
Tournament: 3/5
Limited: 4.5/5
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