Spotlight: Messenger of Peace

(Shining the light on the hidden gems within the game)

Messenger of Peace

(Click the pictures to see bigger cards and read the text easier)

With the lack of spell and trap removal in our last and our current metagame, Messenger of Peace gets a lot of time alive.

It's a card that's not as hard to find and that a good number of people are familiar with.
It was originally printed back in the old Magic Ruler set, where it created the art of stall.
It was then reprinted in Dark Beginning 1 and the newer Dark Legends which was recently released.

When it first came out, it was a bit more balanced because many monsters were being played with 1400 attack, so a lot of people still got attacks in.

Now that 1500 ATK point barrier is truly a wall; a barrier that got more devastating as time passed and more sets were released.

Now it's time to bring the card back though, and give it some more playtime.
Lets blow up the card text again, so we can examine exactly what it does and how it does it:

You must pay 100 Life Points at each of your Standby Phases. If you cannot pay, this card is destroyed. All monsters with an ATK of 1500 points or more cannot attack.

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Key points to remember

• Your monsters with 1500 attack or more can't attack either, so it affects you and your opponent.

• 1500 attack does not mean original attack. If your monster ever hits 1500 attack, he will not be able to declare an attack that turn.

• Increasing attack during the Damage step is o.k.

Choosing when to strike

The greatest part of this card is you get to choose when you want to strike back. When you're being hit on all sides and you have to recover, Messenger is the barrier you need.

The greatest thing about this barrier though is that you can take it down WHENEVER you like!!
It's completely flexible and the price you pay for keeping it up is next to nothing.

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A small price to pay

With 1000 life points you can keep this thing up for 10 turns, which should be more than enough time to get what you need.

When you're low on life points a mere 400 will stall for 4 turns, which should again be more than enough for you during the late game.

The cost is low, if not meaningless and the time you wait is completely up to you! What else can a duelist ask for?

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When to stop paying

In certain situations, it'll be obvious to you that you need to stop paying and go for the win.

In other situations, it won't be so obvious, so here are some tips I've learned from playing the card:

1) If their card advantage is 2-3 cards more than you, be cautious about removing your messenger.

2) If they have defenses set in the back, and you're not sure you'll overcome them, be cautious about removing your messenger, and probably wait out a turn or two to take care of their back field.

3) If you have no backup plan, to regaining control by removing messenger, and then loosing control again, and it's early to mid game, DO NOT REMOVE the messenger.

Backup plans include:
Your own defensive traps or spells
Another stall card
Or another way to regain field control

4) If your card advantage is at least 3 or more, and you can go for game without using all your card advantage up, GO FOR GAME!

These are just a few tips and you'll generate many more as you play test this card out in your deck. The main theme here though is to be cautious, we're not in Las Vegas and you don't have to gamble if you don't want to.

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Being destroyed

It's true that most people will be worried about this being destroyed. In actual play testing though, this is a rare occurrence.

Most decks will have a Heavy, possibly a Mystical, and sometimes those pesky twisters or Dust tornadoes.

The problem is holding those cards, or drawing into them, SPECIFICALLY when messenger is on the field.

90% of the time:

• Your opponent already used the card
• Your opponent hasn't drawn it yet
• Your opponent ended up getting it later in the game but by that time you had already destroyed it and gone on the offensive.

10% of the time:

• They will draw into the destructive card
• They already had it in their hand

With those kinds of odds we can afford to gamble a little bit here.
You will have your Messenger destroyed from time to time but it won't happen the vast majority of the time.

You can lesson the chance of destruction by keeping Messenger active for 2 or 3 turns max, the fewer the turns, the less chance they draw into something good.
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Verdict

So should we main it or side it?

Field spell decks:
The less defense you have (defensive spells and traps) the more you need this card. It acts like a defensive spell or trap each turn.

This is especially crucial in decks with Field spells, who have less room to beef up their defense.
For those decks, 1 Messenger is a must.

Decree Decks:
In a few Royal Decree decks, the spell line up is pretty focused and centered on a number of goals, which leads to the inability to play a lot of defensive spells.

As for defensive traps, with decree decks you can only play 2 or 3 at most, so that option is limited to Mirror force and torrential.

For those decks I recommend Messenger as well.


OTK decks or Rush decks:
If you're going for the quick win, then go for it.
Thin the number of defensive spells and traps you play, and splash in 2 or 3 Messengers.

If you get an early victory, you've succeeded, if not, build up your wall and go for another rush or another attempt at game.

I've built a deck very similar to this that Explodes, then stalls, then explodes, and stalls again if necessary.

Again in those decks you want consistency, so cut those defensive spells and traps, and MAIN Messenger in duplicate or triplicate.


Other Decks:
For everyone else I'd recommend trying it in their decks and seeing how it works.
Try not to assume instantly that it's side material in your particular deck.
Play test it a bit and see how it does, it may help your specific deck more than anyone else's.

If you don't try it out though you'll never know exactly how it meshes in with the rest of your deck and how efficient it is for you.

The best test is where the rubber meets the road (or how something actually performs versus the theory behind how it might).

There have been a lot of times I thought a particular card might be good, I teched it in, and then it became a staple. Try Messenger of Peace out and see how he does for your specific deck. He'll be different in each deck you put him in.