Steam Machine
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Contents
Overview
For 4 
quanta (or 5 upgraded), Steam Machine is a creature that combines two opposite elements (in this case, Water and Fire) to increase its damage. However, its ability has a slight drawback; every turn, it always loses 1 ATK from the Steam ability, until it reaches 0.
General Use
Quick Facts:
- Steam Machine’s ability, ‘Steam’, uses 2
quanta to raise its ATK temporarily by 5, but will decrease by one at the end of every turn, even when stunned. - Lobotomizing the Steam Machine will make it unable to lose any attack.
- The Steam ability’s ATK reduction will not bring the Steam Machine below 0 (even when afflicted by Antimatter); it will also not be reduced below the Full attack when stat-buffs are applied to the creature
- Adrenaline triggers the Steam Machine’s ability multiple times.
The Steam Machine is an odd creature; aside from the Anubis, no other creature requires quanta of the opposite element to utilize its ability on the field, which makes Steam Machine somewhat tricky to use in any deck that has emphasis on Water cards. The ability, ‘Steam’, grants counters (which is equivalent to ATK) to the creature, gaining 5 ATK upon use. However, these counters fall off one at a time (the Steam Machine loses 1 ATK at the end of the turn). The reason for this is that Steam increases its Current attack, rather than the Full attack, meaning that unless the Full attack is raised (via stat buffing cards) to the Current amount, the ATK drops. Without a constant source of steam (or 2 quanta, to be specific), the Steam Machine will slowly lose its entire offensive prowess and become pacified. However, because of its high growth potential, a player who has a steady flow of quanta can increase the Steam Machine’s offense to levels that will bypass many shields (including the infamous 23-damage reduction shield, Hope).
There are several important facts about the Steam Machine: one of which is that special buffs that increase its ATK will not be diminished by the Steam ability. For example, if Blessing was applied to the Steam Machine (before or after the ability was used), the Steam Machine will always retain the +3 ATK boost (as Blessing affects the Full and Current Attack), making it impossible for the ‘counters’ to reach ‘0’ (they’ll stop at 3 ATK). Also, applying Antimatter to a Steam Machine will cause its counters to be unable to drop any further (a Steam Machine with a -7 ATK will only gain counters until it reaches above 0, where the counters will be removed one at a time like normal). Also, stunning effects will still cause the Steam Machine to lose counters.
If the steam ability is removed from being lobotomized, the Steam Machine will retain its current ATK (without the Steam ability, ‘counters’ won’t be removed). Finally, Adrenaline causes it to lose its counters at a rapid pace. The following tables provide the general growth-rate of Steam Machine (given constant quanta and that it always attacks that turn without being delayed), as well as a fluctuating ATK when Adrenaline is applied to Steam Machine (given different ATK values):
| Turn # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | X |
| Attack Upon
using Steam |
5 | 9 | 13 | 17 | 21 | 25 | 5x - (x - 1) (where x is the # of turns) |
| Attack
afterward |
4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 4x (where x is # of turns) |
| Total damage
(cumulative) |
5 | 14 | 27 | 44 | 65 | 90 | Σ(5 + 4(x-1)) [where x is # of turns] |
One can also read more about the effects of Adrenaline here: Adrenaline
Synergies
While main buffs can grant the Steam Machine a ‘permanent’ amount of attack, Rage Potion | Rage Elixir combines well with this creature, especially the upgraded version. Unupped, Steam Machine only has 6 HP, which allows it to survive most attacks. In its upgraded form though, the mechanical beast has a whopping 15 HP; given the apparently synergy of and , Rage Potion can act as an opening boost to the Steam Machine. Although it’s generally advised to only use one Rage Potion on the machine to avoid being killed by the alchemy spell, certain defensive cards may prompt players to use additional Rage Potions (i.e. - as a way to bypass Gravity Shield’s effect by decreasing the Steam Machine’s HP).
One main creature that helps the Steam Machine is the rare Arctic Squid | Arctic Octopus. In some Water-oriented decks, the Arctic Squid provides cheap CC in the form of Freeze (Congeal in its upgraded form), locking the opponent’s field down while the offense is continuously being boosted. While it has little offensive prowess, the Squid’s ability can greatly increase one's chance of survival against hard-hitters and creatures with nasty abilities, all the while improving usage of both and quanta in a deck.
And for those who don’t enjoy the idea of having to use the Steam Machine’s ability due to the Fire-combo restriction, Shard of Readiness | Shard of Readiness can offer an alternative. For 3 
Shard of Readiness (or ‘SoR’) will remove the cost of Steam, making it free to use without any quanta. Because of this, SoR can be used in water-time decks as a great way to bypass the opposite-element requirement, allowing Steam Machine to easily be paired up with other water and time cards, or fueled by just a time mark.
Other Cards With Synergy
Players who plan on using other Fire cards with the Steam Machine should also consider Deflagration, which can remove stalling shields (Phase Shield and Fog, for example) that can block major damage, or Brimstone Eater, to help generate extra quanta for other cards. Liquid Shadow and Acceleration are two cards that can also give Steam Machine different functions; Liquid Shadow can provide healing towards an Elemental Mastery when it has decent ATK, while the latter can be immediately used on the machine for slow growing damage without the regressing ATK power.
Conclusion
Despite its somewhat clunky nature, Steam Machine can be a brutal powerhouse if left alone, and is one of the most unique growth creatures (or technically, machines) found in game. With the various effects that can alter or stabilize its eccentric ATK stat, players should try their best to remember when and what cards can cripple or strengthen the Steam Machine.
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