CDP: Mermail Atlantean with Deep Sea, Ice Barrier, Icejade; ft. ROTA Support

The WATER Pile is back with new support!

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Welcome back for another aquatic CDP as we dive into the Deep Seas of the Atlantean and Mermail archetypes. These paired WATER themes have always played well together, with the Mermail offering various effects that require sending another WATER monster to the GY while the Atlantean trigger off of being sent to the GY to activate a WATER monster effect. Take for example Atlantean Dragoons, which tutors any Sea Serpent when sent to the GY to activate a WATER effect. On the flip side, you have Mermail Abyssteus, a Level 7 that can discard another WATER monster to Special Summon itself from the hand and tutor a Level 4 or lower Mermail. Combine the two, and that's where the profit of this strategy lies. Given that this has been a strategy for so long, I'm going to cut to the chase and just cover the new cards from the upcoming Rage of the Abyss core set, as that's probably where I'll hold your interest the most.

First up is Abyssrhine the Atlantean Spirit. This dual Atlantean/Mermail card can tribute itself and another Atlantean or Mermail to add a Level 7 Fish/Sea Serpent/Aqua and add it to the hand or Special Summon it. This pairs extremely well things like Abyssteus, or even Icejade Ran Aegirine. Next up, Mermail Shadow Bodyguards carries an effect when sent to the GY to activate a WATER effect: it Special Summons any Level 4 or lower Atlantean or Mermail from your Deck. This gives the theme unparalleled access to the best monster it has, Neptabyss, the Atlantean Prince, without requiring the Normal Summon. This also means we can finally cut Deep Sea Diva down to one copy, although it still remains quite a strong card. The next new card making its debut is a Link Monster, Neptabyss the Royal Mermail. This LINK-3 triggers whenever another WATER monster is sent to the GY to activate any card effect - it adds to hand or equips an 'Abyss-' Equip Spell from your Deck or GY. If you need a refresher, these Equip Spells are Mermail support that can negate a monster, Spell, or Trap effect during the resolution of a chain, making this LINK-3 very potent for an endboard. Finally, there's a brand new boss monster in Poseidra Abyss, the Atlantean Dragon Deity. This R7NK WATER monster gets to detach two materials and send a WATER monster from the Deck to the GY to return 3 cards your opponent controls to the hand. That's right - it triggers your Atlantean effects even if they're in the Deck!

Alright, now that we've met the core players, let's talk about the core win condition and why there's other engines in the deck in the first place. You see, the Mermail/Atlantean strategy has always been one that makes the most of the hand it is dealt. Any WATER monster can realistically serve as the cost for your other WATER effects, and the deck is extremely explosive and consistent at making the most of any combination of cards. But it also has innate access to so many powerful things. Just take the Ice Barrier engine I'm using, for example. Lancea, Ancestral Dragon of the Ice Mountain is just so easy to make when you have so many WATER Tuners at your disposal. Even the non-theme stuff has an impact: take Eria the Water Channeler for example, which gives you access to any WATER in your deck. Then there's the endboard options, whether it is Bahamut Shark into Toadally Awesome or even Mermail Abyssgaios to disrupt the opponent. Then there's the hand control elements, with Moulinglacia the Elemental Lord or Deep Sea Minstrel ripping card(s) out of the opponent's hand. That's the power of this deck - it just has so many tools in its toolbox that you can meet the needs of any situation. Or, in other words, Plenty of Fish in the Sea...

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