Dark Sanctuary

This card is fun… I guess? Talk about late to the party. And while I guess you could argue Dark Sanctuary helps the archetype, it still suffers from the same misery that Destiny Board does: it’s easily snuffed out by a run-of-the-mill MST. Game over. You tried, though, and that’s what counts. Oh wait, no it doesn’t, because this is a competitive card game.

This was released purely for nostalgia, because it stinks. And it will always stink without real support that can protect both this and Destiny Board.

Advanced: 1/5

Future Potential: 1/5

Wow!  It's finally here, and it's... good.  I guess. 

Immediately, one can note that the cost of sending a monster to the graveyard each turn is gone.  Especially since power creep has happened over the years, this change is appreciated.  It would've been a constant -1 had they kept it, or overpowered if they let you send from the deck to the graveyard.   

As far as Destiny Board support goes, it does protect your Spirit Message cards and enables you more room for Spells and traps.  But the Destiny Board deck still lacks speed, searching and card advantage.  It doesn't even come close to making the deck viable.  Good news is that you don't need Destiny Board to use this card for its second effect. 

A coin flip was probably the best way to handle the randomness of it.  Anything else may have been over-complicated or would have required more text space than available on the card.  On the pro side, attack negation is defensive and this card can deal damage.  If the opponent is low on life points, this card is a good way to scare them into not attacking.   

On the con side, this card is slow.  You activate it and it does nothing until your opponent's next Battle Phase.  You can compare this to Ordeal of a traveler.  It seems like a good card on the surface until you realize that speed matters.  It's victim to Spell and trap removal.  Also, the direct damage is halved, so a 2000 Atk monster would only penalize the opponent by 1000 life points.  I'm not sure if this card is any better than Magic Cylinder.  Just different.   

Lastly, it does nothing to help your card advantage, so even with it's potential benefits in mind, it will often be a -1.  Maybe this card would've been more competitive 10 years ago.
As for what I'd do differently:

• Remove the Destiny Board effects.  It's a lost cause.  
• Allow you to discard a DARK Fiend-type monster (as a cost) and add a DARK Fiend-type monster to your hand during your Main Phase.

2/5

How do I review a good Field Spell Card for a bad deck? Dark Sanctuary almost perfectly protects Spirit Messages placed on the field by Destiny Board. I say almost because since those spells turn into monsters, those monsters can be tributed. That means Kaijus walk all over them regardless of their protection. Or, that Twin Twister can just target Destiny Board and Dark Sanctuary itself and ruin the whole strategy of the deck. So this card tries really hard to solely bring a dead deck back to life, but it's never going to happen. 5 turns is too long for the opponent to not have any answer to a bad alternate win condition. 
 
Score: 1/5
Art: 5/5