Card Spotlight: Upstream Swim

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Card Spotlight: Upstream Swim

In this article, I’ll be putting the spotlight on the Aqua card, “Upstream Swim.”

As of October 2021, this card has 110 base damage, 30 shields, and costs 1 energy. It also grants the user a stack of Speed+ for 2 rounds if comboed with another Aqua card.

You can check out all of Axie Infinity’s cards here:

Axie Infinity Card List

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How Is Upstream Swim Used?

This card is used mainly to speed up and overtake your opponents in the turn order. It could also be effective against enemies that inflict Speed-.

I mainly use this card to outspeed faster Axies like enemy Aquas and Birds. You can also use this card to dance around Axies with high healing capabilities and prevent them from landing their attacks.

IMPORTANT: Never buy an Aqua that has only one Aquatic body part other than Koi (Upstream Swim). You need to combo it with another Aquatic card to proc the effect, so always make sure you have a lot of Aquatic body parts to ensure that you always speed up!

What Kind of Axies/Teams Use Upstream Swim?

Most of the Axies that use this card are Aqua Axies in Aqua-Aqua Plant (AAP) team compositions. Either Aqua could have Upstream Swim, but it’s mostly common in backline damage-dealer Aquas.

It’s recommended to have this card on one Aqua and Tail Slap on the other, in the event that your opponent has faster Axies and the turn order can dictate who gets to win the match.

Pros and Cons of the Upstream Swim Card

Pros

deals high damage and gives decent shields
grants the user Speed+

Cons

needs to be comboed with an Aqua card for the effect to activate.
needs high mastery to be used effectively

Upstream Swim Card Synergies

Swift Escape
a standard card to have on a backline Aqua, pairing it with Upstream Swim creates a speedy Axie that could outspeed opponents and prevent the turn order from tilting in the opponent’s favor

Hero’s Bane, Star Shuriken, Crimson Water, Scale Dart
high-damage Aqua cards that can be used to take enemies down are great to have on a damage-dealer

Aquaponics, Aqua Vitality
having Upstream Swim alongside these cards creates a potentially fast Axie that has great healing capabilities

Fish Hook
Attack+ is a good buff on Axies that can dish out high damage and it could help Aquas take down tanks easily

You can check out these articles to view more on this card’s Axie body parts:

Axie Infinity ALL Body Parts List

Axie Infinity Tail Body Parts List

Updated On : Nov 11, 2021 Written By : Dale Mercurio

Dale is a student by day, writer by night, but an all-day gamer since birth. He is extremely passionate about video games and started playing before he could even read. His favorite games include: TES5: Skyrim, God of War, the Monster Hunter Franchise, and recently, Axie Infinity.