Messiah Play Guide - Genesis Dragon of Creation Part 2 Strides

Messiah has many cards  that are able to deal with various types of situations and often hold multiple usage. Being a combo deck it has different category for different cards. To name a few this would includes, Enablers, Benefiters, Resource, and Win Condition Cards. However before we dive into this long archive , we have to look at the important core of the Messiah deck that will be its more Prominent Strides.

THE STRIDES

1) Genesis Dragon , Amnesty Messiah

Amnesty Messiah is the first boss card of the Messiah deck , as such it it will contain many

traits , that will be seen in many of the Messiah's down the road. Amnesty Messiah has the ability to unlock any number of lock cards on attack , then adding power to itself for every card unlocked with this ability.Unlocking Rearguards allow them to then attack and create a series of attacks but they do not gain any power which can be a problem if your opponent opens a damage trigger. 

Also if you reach the Unlock Threshold of 3 , you will have it gain an extra critical.Creating Strong Center Columns Pressure easily breaking the 35000 power mark with 2 Critical,  even in the current day this usually demands a sentinel or G Guard. As this was the original version of a true Messiah Boss Card, it does not have many restriction,  No Hearts,  No Generation Break Needed,  just a simple On Attack Unlock and center Column, While this card has mostly been replaced as a main stay  the Messiah Deck,  it can still be included for surprising scenarios and potential game ending on First Stride, or after Perfect Guards and G Guards for a finisher from to threaten to end the game off immediately when your opponent 3-4 Damage. As of this time,  it is still the only Messiah Unit that is able to gain a Critical on First Stride immediately.

2) Genesis Dragon , Excelics Messiah

Excelics is second Messiah , being one of the very few Cross Strides in the Game, it requires copies of Amnesty Messiah to be used.While similar this unit does have some changes from Amnesty. First of all the ability to gain power is now given to the RGs you unlock allowing you to form better numbers to hit the opponent aa guarding in now more spread out,  rather than Amnesty who would only demand a Sentinel most of the time, in addition it has a skill to also retire any cards that are unlocked on your opponent's field,  making It ideal for mid game .However as of recent times it has been phased out as it requires 3/16 of your G zone and the already solid line ups

3) Genesis Dragon, Transelse Messiah

This Messiah is unlike the others. Unlike the others which work on attack , this one activates on place the Vanguard Circle, where at Generation Break 2 , it has the ability to switch the states of locked cards and rearguards. This ability allows for an easy mass lock of your opponents field even ignoring resist. However it is now without its flaws , the effect activates on your field as well and can weaken your own columns if not used when your field is full. The Stride skill of your G3s can be used to play around this restriction , however there are some cards that work very well with it in partcular, mostly used as a stall card to prepare the deck for its later stages of the game. If a Resist Meta increases , this will continue to increase.

4) Genesis Dragon, Flageolet Messiah

The Messiah that has the ability to Omega Lock .Being a Messiah that is able to flip a g zone on first stride makes it a possible first stride target to activate your G3s Generation break 2 to get the core of the deck working. This cards Omegalock are unrestricted so long the user unlock at least one card. This makes it reliant on the stride skill to get the omega locks going. You can even Omega Lock your own units for plays with Destiny guardian. On second stride and above this unit is also able to gain a critical simillar to Amnesty before it , however it requires that you run at least 3 copies of it. This unit may need to be revisited as more oppurtunities against popular decks such as Zodiac and Domination are beginning to arise. A useful stride to have and may return.

5) Genesis Dragon, Harmonics Neo Messiah

The cover of the deck , and the Messiah unit that could be said to be the strongest amongst the main 7 available . This units grants a full field power up of 5000 to the unit it unlocks on your field , while it too gaining power for itself , easily making it cross the 56 000 mark . Combined with its Guard Restrict of g1 and higher this is one of the strongest cards in Messiah's arsenal and can win games, prematurely due to its power and ability to comeout on Second Stride ( GB3). It is howver not without flaws, this unit requires you to unlock all rearguards, including your opponents , so if you do not end the game that turn , you have to be sure to prepare some defense to then clinch it in the next turn as your resources may begin to slowly fade away. Unlocking all your rearguards might also affect specfic combinations that Messiah has access too.

The card is generally costless meaning it is a great card to go when you are low on counterblast due to your opponent refusing to give you damage or you having overextended the previous turn. Trueto its name and role as the Dragon Deity of Creation in the lores, it trully is a powerful game ender espcially when combined with Messiah's usual tactics.

6) Genesis Dragon, Basaltis Messiah 

This unit offers a wide range of  uses . This includes locking both front rows down with the stride skill, an overall field control while enabling multiattacks , and is generally the most solid Messiah Stride that could be used for almost any situation. It allows you to pick up to one rearguard and locked card and allow you to choose to manipulate their states, by doing so , it enables combos such as the Metallia / Awakening chain to deal heavy amounts of damage. On top of that this card even nets you a free card when it unlocks at least one. It is able to find a middle ground between 2 of the above strides as it is able to provide first stride utility and control like Flageolet and also full field lockdown like Transcels , all while not affecting your own plays.


7) Genesis Dragon , Integral Messiah

Following the theme of Harmony and Rebirth , Integral Messiah appears as the final stride for the Messiah deck in the G Era. Integral boast 2 skills that are highly strong in the deck , the first skill , is the one that follows the Rebirth aspect, as when he enters as the Third Messiah Stride ( 3 Messiah in G zone face up), he is able to reset both player's hand back to 5 cards.These 5 cards are at random which can benefit or ruin the situation , however with the stride skill of Alter Ego Neo or Ideal Ego  you are able to place down cards before the shuffle to make sure you get the most out of the turn. When using this skill it is advise you do a quick count of the cards in your deck , as this will give you a good idea of wat cards you will likely draw. This oppurtunity can also be used to reill the deck with triggers by guarding excessively the turn before you go into this. This can be risky if your deck is particularly thin. Due to Messiah's amount of calling and filtering and drawing , it is not uncommon to see 15 or less cards after second stride. If used right , or just as a gamble to your opponents huge handsize. Games can be reversed by this ability. While this skill is deadly , it may not always be the right answer as a single damage trigger can ruin turns with this card. So do calculate the risk to choose between this and Harmonics.

Its second skill is reminiscene of a lot of the previous Messiah skills , first of all it is the first Messiah that can Unlock all your RGs as well as flipping a G zone face up. This makes it at times even an ideal first stride as it allows you to be very aggressive , especially against decks where unlock is inevitable. Next up if 3 or more locked cards are unlocked you SC1, Draw 1 and it gets+10000 power making him a 36000 attack easily demanding sentinels when your opponent is at high damage, the resource recovery is nice as well, however do remember to do a deck count if you are using this skill later into the game , as after shuffling back you hand with Integral , you will effectively go through 10 cards from your deck meaning you may run out your deck.


( to be finalised and images to be added)

Zeroth Dragon of Zenith Peak, Ultima

Zeroth Dragon of Zenith Peak , Ultima

Ultimate Stride

[AUTO]:[Counter Blast (2)] When this unit is placed on (VC), you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for four cards, shuffle your deck, call two cards from among them to separate (RC), and put the rest on the top of your deck in any order. Until end of turn, chose all of your units for your trigger effects.

Ultima is the Zeroth Dragon of the United Sanctuary, the Nation representing Light,  Hope,  Divinity,  Unity and Courage. Despite the Zeroth Dragons all being inherently evil, Ultima does represent this characteristics well in its skill. Don't let it's name of Eventual Pole or it's stubby looking legs fool you. This card can be  pretty scary.

Ultima allows the user to search the entire  deck for any 4 cards,  leaving 2 art the top and calling 2 of them. This alone helps to fill up the board with combo pieces that you may be lacking for the final push that you are going with on the turn. It is noted that like all Zeroth Dragons this on place happens when it enters the Vanguard Circle at such,  you may want to use the stride skill of your hearts before Resolving Ultima. This activates any on call skills that happens,  including on deck specific on call skills that are common in retro Gold Paladin is well as Activating Unite. Allowing you to fill the ranks with allies. This also boost up many Shadow Paladin power up skills.

The other 2 cards are then placed on the top of your deck. Yes this is the divinity aspect of the United Sanctuary that lies with primarily OTT and with Genesis Revelation. This part of skill is even akin to a super Vanargandr, allowing you to create your own hope.

It's final ability , it gives all Units on the Field Trigger Effects. To prevent further confusion here is a short description of how trigger effects interact with Ultima :

5000+  -  All Units Gain 5000 Power
Critical - All Units Gain Critical + 1
Stand - All RGs will be selected and Stood
Draw and Heal - NIL

This ability just continues to push the limits of the the ability of the United sanctuary mechanics. On a normal turns this pretty much guarantees all your units to gain 10000+ Power,  a card truly being able to change the tied of the game when played well. This effectively if this unit is boosted,makes your opponent needing to 5 pass this monster, at minimum

Alongside giving all RGs Criticals and Stands can provide an intense turns to seal games fast , considering what the clans in this nation already do. This can create a huge momentum shift in the game if used after an early game push with Royal Paladins early game such as Blasters and Brave. Imagine following Gancelot 4 Drive early pressure followed immediately by this card with Floral Knights flogal just waiting on.

A great follow up to Dragabyss Plays to end the game easily,  alongside Luard's already consistent deck thinning, and provides as a final become of hope,  for Gold Paladin to end the game with when resources are low. As they do tend to lose their threat after 2 pairs of Helios. For Oracle Think Tank and Genesis it serves mostly as a mixup after exhausting your opponent from guarding Huge Numbers like the likes of Genesis and the whole field G Guard of Oracle Think Tank,  both types of deckw usually demanding a lot of sentinels in particular to be guarded against effectively, making this 5 pass Dragon a really strong game ender. Something to note,  is that this skill is not restricted to its Vanguard drive checks but also Damage checks making this cards synergy with Rescue very Strong with stands.

This card trully is wonderful, with its flexible applications and uses throughout each clan. United Sanctuary too due to their deck thinning often is able to get the copy of their Vanguard easier than most nations in general with the exceptions of Great Nature and certain builds like Overlords

( With the obvious mentions being Dragfall Luard as well as Blaster Blade Exceed)

A must buy in my opinion and has the potential to get better as the game progresses.It is important to know this cards flaws such as its trigger skill resolving on attack for most decks, this will leave you open to cards like Carina / Defeat Flare so take note.

Messiah Play Guide - The Genesis Dragon of Creation PART 1 Introduction

      MESSIAH - GENESIS DRAGON OF CREATION   PART 1

Introduction 

What is even the Messiah deck? Messiah is the Flagship of Link Joker created in the G Era, appearing first in 2015 with its most recent support being in Star Gate. Unlike previous Link Joker decks which give of the villainous vibe of oppression, Messiah is rather different as it is, in fact, Genesis Dragon of Creation, one of the higher deity-like being of the Vanguard World of Cray. As such to fit this new image, a new playstyle was then created to further build on Link Joker's original mechanic Lock, that being Unlock. Something more symbolic of being the act of giving salvation to others. Which in turn, will also activate more skills to create this symphony of plays of each other, that in essence is the crux of the Messiah Decks.

1. Oppressing the Enemy 
2. Releasing and Powering its Allies
3. Achieving more Power 

Deck Overview 

Messiah, since its debut, has always shown potential in the competitive scene. Its primary strategy revolves around using a Lock and Unlock in succession to create creative and very interactions that not many decks are able to. It uses this 2 mechanics like a rondeau in music. Black and White to reach a final symphony.Often ending the game in a series of attacks accompanied with the Vanguard activating the final trigger. It can be a rather flashy playstyle which is a factor why some people, myself included decided to pick up the deck in the first place.

Harmonics Neo Messiah the main finisher of the Messiah Deck
, giving itself and its allies a huge power boost 

With this in mind here are the main characteristics of the decks

1) Control

2) ‎Multiattack

3) Vanguard Threats

4) Good Recovery

Gameplay wise

As a Link Joker deck, it too has access to LOCK,  which helps to slow down the opponent and restrict movement, in the long run, every lock you deal saves you one card,  which will add up over time putting you in a more favorable situation. Locks, in this case, should be seen as a way to prevent a problem and protect yourself mostly and never as an End Goal.

The Original Boss Card for Messiah

Messiah also uses lock on its own RGs, sometimes during the battle phase, to put itself back into a dormant state, where they await being released for a cost or skill. This brings us to the next point which is Messiah's Signature Trait,  Unlock aka Despell,  this ability when first introduced was used as a direct counter against the Link Joker's in the era. Providing Salvation to allies to fight on in the face of despair, lore-wise. Messiah uses unlock in similar ways, liberating their allies,  but this time also rejuvenating them with Energy as they are able to stand up once more. Yes,  Cards that are unlocked are always in the Stand State. Meaning any Self Locking that occurs during Battle Phase can be then Unlocked to create multiple attacks.This a defining trait of the deck's playstyle.These combos can be heavily extended with specific cards like Dunames and Sacrifice.

Messiah's current engine and core

It is by far one of the decks with the fastest recovery time , in the game having multiple cards that net you extra cards for little or minuscule cost , usually with many being intervals of counterblast and soul blast of one all of this usually kept within the 1st stride of the game This helps the deck to set up main winning combinations,  which all require a minimum of 8 cards to defense fully against, some turns even demanding guard restrict. 

With all this tools and promise why is it this deck is not as popular as its other Link Joker Counterparts?

Its weaknesses are also, unfortunately, the easiest to exploit. Being a deck that was created in the G era it suffers the faults of many Early G era decks , it's reliance on achieving generation break one,  this makes the deck prone to being rushed and many card choices in Messiah that are often played often rely on this factor, with the exception of 2 cards which I will get to a while later. This deck is it focuses on Lock and Unlock,  also suffers from fighting against " Mirage " decks,  where RGs are able to remove themselves from the field at the end of the turn,  this allows counterplay to Messiah's control aspect. Messiah, unlike Chaos Breaker, doesn't have cards that force locks to be placed, this characteristic now being the specialty of Star Vaders.

Link Joker when unable to establish proper field control, which is something that can happen while playing Messiah, does not really have many amazing G Guardians in terms of shield values especially with the dominance of the pushing powers of most decks coming from the front row. G guardians like Darkness Lacrina and Cosmo Wreath are unable to sufficiently, defend against the likes of Alexandros, Domination as well as Restanders, as the only Link Joker G Guard that reaches any higher is Torn Healer only reaching 25000 shield and Destiny Guardian which needs you to unlock 2 rearguards. Because of this while it is able to gain a lot of advantage, it really does not have real answers to decks like Hell Hard Eight and Wiseman. 

While playing the deck it is important to note this factors, as an experienced player will exploit them preventing you from sealing the game and even deck out due to its amount of draw power. 

The Overlooked Factor

With all the drawing and specific combos, we mentioned what could I be referring to? This is something I am sure most players should know by now, but it is not often brought out in Messiah. That is to always know the contents of your decks at all times. One of Messiah's demands in that you have to continuously play new units on to the field every turn after stride, as many cards may get removed due to not having any answer to field removal. Knowing your likelihood of drawing cards to replace whats on your board, and also your choices when guarding can make or break in the later stages of the game. Remember Messiah gets through its deck pretty fast meaning there will be games you will end up close to deck out. Getting your winning condition in time will be the decisive factor. Mastering this skill is very important in this deck in particular due to its heavy combo nature. They are however ways you can manipulate this when the games are reaching the end.