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It's strange how divided the community is on Aquarian. I think a lot of it comes from what map settings people generally play on.
There are a lot of people who only play tiny/small/1v1 maps, and a lot of people who play only single player perfection. There are also people who like larger maps and more variety. These people all experience the game very differently, such that they can feel incredulous about the other groups' opinions. I personally play every map setting and don't really discriminate on what pops up when I feel like starting a game.
Archers suck! Says the person who never plays small maps. Cymanti is OP! Says the person who only plays tiny/small 1v1 drylands. And, Aquarian is the worst tribe in the game! Says the person who never plays huge+ 1v1 on drylands and archipelago.
Cymanti on tiny drylands is very strong, and to newer or lower ELO players can feel unbeatable. But they are beatable. Aquarian on 1v1 massive drylands is not beatable. Not if your opponent is competent. They are much better than Cymanti on tiny drylands. They are OP to the point of breaking the game. You can have map control, a sizeable economy advantage, and a respectable army, but by the time you are pushing them into a corner they have a swarm of tridentions and you lose. I challenge anyone here to post a replay of you beating Aquarian on 1v1 massive drylands.
Now, you may say, who cares? Who plays massive 1v1 drylands or archipelago? Well, I don't entirely disagree, even though I like massive drylands with any number of players. But they are in the game, and no strategy game should have a map setting that can't realistically be won against a particular species/tribe/race/whatever.
The problem with Aquarian is that they are objectively terrible (decent on arch), until the moment they are completely and utterly unstoppable, and on some map settings they are guaranteed to get there. This concept is an interesting thought experiment, but in practice it is not a good design. The current beta form of Aquarian is not a good end point either and could certainly be done better, but we know that a rework is coming eventually. I know this is not a popular opinion, but I personally believe that nerfing them like this until the rework is better than leaving them how they were from a game design perspective.
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