Tidal Wave

Most entities in today’s decks cost 3 or less: 223 of 297 in the nine community lists posted on The Gate. Against Fire, Lightning and Water lists, Tidal Wave clears nearly the whole Garden, untapped entities and Defenders included. Foamback Crab goes too, since displace isn’t damage. Earth lists keep more: Shroom Tender and Warding Totem cost 4, and Cat’s Bobu list has only 12 entities costing 3 or less out of 33.

Displaced entities stay on the field, in your opponent’s Alley, and come back slowly: their Gate portals one untapped entity per turn, and it arrives with cooldown. Unlike a return to hand, they don’t pay for them again, but their On Play effects don’t replay either, which matters against Shao lists that reuse Hayabusa Itto and Fumiko.

Cast it before you attack. With Foamback Crab, Penny and every other Defender costing 3 or less in the Alley, only a Defender costing 4 or more can redirect your attacks on the leader. On their next turn, only their entities costing 4 or more, anything with Charge and their leader with a weapon can attack you.

It empties the Garden for Joon: with their last entities displaced, a Joon portaled from your Alley untaps with +2 and hits the leader for 5. Tidal Wave plus Joon from hand is 11 IKZ, one too many.

Our read, pending a ruling: the Alley still holds 5 entities at most. If displaced entities would overflow it, your opponent replaces entities there, and replaced cards go to the discard pile, so against a full Alley some of them are gone for good.

Water’s only other one-sided sweeper is Shao’s Perseverance: 6 IKZ, only under a Shao Leader (The Sisters should count), returning entities with cost 4 or less to hand. Tidal Wave costs 1 less and works for any Water Leader, Hei Lian, Benzai the Sly and The Sisters included.

With The Sisters, the displace should trigger their ability once, for one weapon costing up to a displaced entity’s base cost: usually 3, like Lightning Kanabō or Tenraku, or more if Rainworn Gate cut a bigger entity’s cost first. Riven Flashborne and Stormcaller Tenkichi can then attack the displaced entities in the Alley.

Afterward your opponent has 2 or more entities in their Alley, so Gathering Tide, Rowan costs 2: 7 IKZ plays both. Sentinel of Passage, Usui needs their Alley empty, so it is off.

Each entity it displaces also fills their Alley, which turns on Relic Runner Shao, Flow of Fortune, Blue Haze, Kai and Ninpō: Healing Stream. Back Alley Punk gets its +1 only once per turn, however many it displaces.