Lonely Tylenol here, back from a brief hiatus (with a new computer!) to talk to you about an old standby: Wetlands.
All Aqua-Type/WATER/Level 2 or lower monsters gain 1200 ATK.
As a general rule, ATK-boosting field spells (or Continuous Spells in general, such as Equip Spells) have gotten a lot of flak for being inconsistent because they are unable to generate immediate advantage, and are also difficult to maintain due to the large amount of field destruction prevalent in most meta decks, and for the longest time Wetlands was no exception. Originally designed as support for the fledgling Frog archetype, when it first came out in Light of Destruction, Wetlands' only use was to make Unifrog a 1600-ATK direct attacker; of the other Frog-themed cards, only Treeborn Frog (whose effect was blocked), Substitoad (which is a toad, not a Frog) and Frog the Jam (which is also not a frog, according to the OCG spelling) benefited from Wetlands' effect, and none were capable of becoming competent attackers.
Wetlands would come to see some play in Frog beat decks later, however, with the creation of Dupe Frog and Flip Flop Frog in Crimson Crisis, One for One in Raging Battle, Aegis of the Ocean Dragon Lord in Ancient Prophecy, and Swap Frog in Stardust Overdrive giving Frogs a steady stream of helpful support for the deck type. It wasn't until Ronintoadin's release in The Shining Darkness that Wetlands fell to the wayside for Frog users, and only because of the rise of newer Frog users who were focused only on the FTK and Synchro Spam elements that Ronintoadin enabled, as well as the Frog Monarch players bolstered by Treeborn Frog's Semi-Limit.
The Frog engine is dead with the banning of Substitoad, as well as many popular tactics that Frog players would desire to employ; however, Wetlands still lives on in the local circuits, thanks to the ever-expanding array of level 2 or lower WATER/Aqua monsters with useful stats and effects that help to complete the deck.
Of course, the ATK gain is substantive on its own, and Wetlands being a Field Spell Card makes it Terraforming-searchable, but it's the monsters that make it worth the while. There are three types of monsters that make a Wetlands deck possible at all in today's meta - the Beaters, the Direct Attackers, and the Lockdown monsters - and I intend to give you an overview of each.
THE BEATERS
The first (and most obvious) use of Wetlands' ATK gain ability would be the Beaters. The implications of this are simple: With Wetlands, these formerly wimpy monsters become formidable beatsticks with the 1200 ATK gain. What's more, almost all of these monsters can do without their effects, meaning you can combine the ATK gain of Wetlands with, say, Skill Drain to turn the field into a battle of beatsticks - one that you will most surely win! All of these monsters benefit from Solidarity when Solidarity is around, making the ATK gain that these monsters gets from the two combined essentially 2000.
These five monsters (and Cannonball Spear Shellfish) will have the the following ATK:
(In order: Natural ATK / With Solidarity / With Wetlands / With Wetlands + Solidarity / With Wetlands + Solidarity + Star Boy)
Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier: 1300 / 2100 / 2500 / 3300 / 3800
Dewdark of the Ice Barrier: 1200 / 2000 / 2400 / 3200 / 3700
Submarine Frog: 1200 / 2000 / 2400 / 3200 / 3700
Swap Frog: 1000 / 1800 / 2200 / 3000 / 3500
Cannonball Spear Shellfish: 1000 / 1800 / 2200 / 3000 / 3500
Star Boy*: 550 / 1350 / 1750 / 2550 / 3050
*Since Star Boy always benefits from his own effect unless Skill Drain is active or his effect is negated, you can assume for the sake of argument that his base ATK is 1050 and apply it accordingly. Just don't apply it twice for the last number!
The best thing about these monsters is that, not unlike other low-level, low-ATK monsters, these monsters all have beneficial effects! Swap Frog has an inherent Special Summon mechanism, which instantly feeds Solidarity, and a dump, which you can use with Salvage to both tutor a level 2 or lower Aqua-Type monster and recover lost advantage from the Special Summon. Under Wetlands, Submarine Frog is a 2400-ATK monster with a Trample effect, which you can use to punish Quickdraw and other Set-heavy decks. Aside from being a 2500 beatstick, Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier has a Gravity Bind-like effect that goes into effect when combined with another Ice Barrier monster (including other copies of itself), allowing you to effectively stop anything stronger than Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier from being able to attack. Dewdark of the Ice Barrier, its companion, is a 2400-ATK direct attacker under Wetlands. Lastly, Star Boy is a 2250-ATK monster under Wetlands that boosts the ATK of its companions, making Cryomancer a 3000-ATK beatstick with Wetlands and Star Boy combined! Cannonball Spear Shellfish is essentially a 2200-ATK vanilla (since its effect requires Umi, a Field Spell Card other than Wetlands), and is thus not worth mentioning.
THE DIRECT ATTACKERS
The Direct Attack monsters are, simply put, monsters that have a direct attacking ability. Those who have been playing since the game's inception are used to monsters like Leghul, who have direct attacking abilities but negligible ATK, and are thus not really worth mentioning in the grand scheme of things. Direct attackers have come a long way since then, including monsters that have higher base ATK but a condition for being able to attack directly, and monsters that benefit from ATK-gaining spells like Solidarity and... Well, Wetlands!
Currently, there are three level 2 or lower WATER/Aqua monsters with direct attacking abilities. This means that you can run up to nine Direct Attackers, allowing you to run a combination of direct attackers and tech to make a deck capable of running Solidarity.
These three monsters will have the the following ATK:
(In order: Natural ATK / With Solidarity / With Wetlands / With Wetlands + Solidarity / With Wetlands + Solidarity + Star Boy)
Dewdark of the Ice Barrier: 1200 / 2000 / 2400 / 3200 / 3700
Unifrog: 400 / 1200 / 1600 / 2400 / 2900
Ooguchi: 350 / 1150 / 1550 / 2350 / 2850
This may not seem like a particularly advantage-generating strategy, but summoning Dewdark of the Ice Barrier, then activating Wetlands will allow you to win in four turns - not including other Summons!
LOCKDOWN MONSTERS
The Lockdown monsters of Wetlands beat are few in number, but are in fact quite effective. Their focus is on controlling your opponent's space and locking down their capabilities. But first, their ATK values.
These five monsters will have the the following ATK:
(In order: Natural ATK / With Solidarity / With Wetlands / With Wetlands + Solidarity / With Wetlands + Solidarity + Star Boy)
Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier: 1300 / 2100 / 2500 / 3300 / 3800
Penguin Soldier: 750 / 1550 / 1950 / 2750 / 3250
Flip Flop Frog: 500 / 1300 / 1700 / 2500 / 3000
Dupe Frog: 100 / 900 / 1300 / 2100 / 2600
Testudo Erat Numen: 100 / 900 / 1300 / 2100 / 2600
These monsters' effects have little in common, but they all work toward a common goal: Stunning your opponent. Flip Flop Frog and Penguin Soldier have effects that activate when they are flipped face-up (either by an attack or by Flip Summon) that return monsters on the field to their owners' hand. This allows you to manipulate your opponent's field by bouncing monsters (thus returning Synchro and Fusion monsters to the extra deck completely). Testudo Erat Numen will stop the Special Summoning of anything with 1900 or more ATK completely, allowing you to stop anything that could kill it while it is in Defense Position before it even hits the field. You can also combine this effect with the ATK gained from Wetlands and Solidarity (giving it 2100 ATK with both), allowing you to kill everything your opponent is still allowed to Special Summon! Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier and Dupe Frog both lock down your opponent's attacking abilities in different ways: Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier, when combined with another, creates a Gravity Bind-like effect that prevents monsters level 4 and higher from attacking. A single Dupe Frog prevents your opponent from attacking any other monsters you control, forcing your opponent to first remove the Dupe Frog before attacking anything else you control. Two Dupe Frogs create a complete battle lock by bouncing attacks off each other, making it impossible for your opponent to select an attack target. This means that your opponent will almost definitely be unable to attack... Unless they're playing Wetlands Beat!
There are also a number of other cards that are capable of supporting a Wetlands-style deck, including a few specifically designed to support WATER monsters that are low level and low ATK. A few such cards:
There are a handful of cards that act as an engine for the Wetlands deck. Salvage is a key advantage-generating card in WATER decks that are capable of supporting it. Salvage allows you to return two WATER monsters with 1500 or less ATK from your Graveyard to the hand at the cost of one card. This can help to mitigate the -1 of a Swap Frog Special Summon, as well as to enable one by adding Swap Frog and an eligible discard target to your hand, or to act as a pseudo-tutor by adding to your hand a card you dumped from the deck with Swap Frog's second effect. If nothing else, you can use the card to ensure you two Normal Summons in future turns, pay the cost for Moray of Greed, or to help pay the discard cost for other effects (such as One for One). Moray of Greed is another simple card with a simple effect: Return two WATER monsters from your hand to the deck to draw three cards. This isn't an advantage-generating card like Salvage is, but it does allow you to mitigate dead, monster-heavy hands by refreshing these cards with more suitable control cards. Medallion of the Ice Barrier adds Ice Barrier monsters such as Blizzed, Cyromancer and Dewdark to your hand, allowing you to add consistency to your draws and get monsters in your hand when you need them, and also to make paying the cost of Moray of Greed easier. Lastly, One for One allows you to Special Summon cards like Testudo erat Numen directly from your Deck - in Defense Position to boot! - to invoke the Special Summon lockdown.
Aegis of the Ocean Dragon Lord will act as your key protection card. Aegis of the Ocean Dragon Lord is a Normal Trap Card, meaning that it is chainable, and its effect lasts from the moment it is activated until the end of the turn. What Aegis does is effectively changes the game state; after Aegis is activated, your opponent cannot destroy level 3 or lower WATER monsters. Since your entire arsenal of monsters is level 2 or lower WATER monsters, they all fall soundly under the protection of Aegis of the Ocean Dragon Lord. Chain it to your opponent's Smashing Ground to redirect the destruction effect and prevent future destruction; to an attack to prevent Battle Phase destruction; or to your opponent's Dark Hole, Judgment Dragon or Black Rose Dragon to turn your opponent's nuke against them!
Attack-preventing cards like Gravity Bind, Level Limit - Area B and Swords of Revealing Light are also possibilities in Wetlands beat. In particular, Gravity Bind and Level Limit - Area B are capable of stopping all of your opponent's attacks for as long as it takes them to get rid of the cards, all the while allowing you to attack under it, since your monsters are all below level 4! Level Limit - Area B in particular allows you to switch formerly strong monsters to Defense Position, where they are weaker and (possibly) vulnerable to battle destruction by your powered-up Frogs and Ice Barriers!
In addition to this, Frogs are able to benefit from stun cards like Skill Drain and Royal Oppression to lock down your opponent's effects. Since your opponent will most definitely be relying on Special Summoning and monster effects to get their more powerful monsters onto the field, whereas you will be relying on a Field Spell Card to power up your existing Normal Summoned monsters, you can use Skill Drain and Royal Oppression to halt your opponent's momentum without severely hindering yours!
Using Wetlands to power up your already-helpful WATER monsters and backing them up with some of the most powerful Spell and Trap support available, Wetlands decks can indeed be incredibly impactful on the right meta!
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