It's time for another post, and today I'm going to step back a bit form the abstractions I've been posting lately. Rather than discuss theory, let's look at a deck I've been using recently. It's 10-4, but probably should be 11-3 except that I can't play it right! I used it to a 3-1 record at PA states.
You will quickly notice it's a heavy defensive deck, but it's built a little bit more complex than that. The goal is for the deck to set up as quickly as possible - specifically to begin taking souls as soon as I possibly can. You'll notice some unique choices because of that.
Cards in deck: 56
Lost Souls: 7
Lost Soul (can't be prevented)
Lost Soul (deck discard)
Lost Soul (female only)
Lost Soul (N.T. only)
Lost Soul (Site Discard)
Lost Soul (site doubler)
Lost Soul (Wanderer)
Dominants: 7
Angel of the Lord
Grapes of Wrath
Son of God
Christian Martyr
Destruction of Nehushtan
Mayhem
Vain Philosophy
Fortresses: 3
Herod's Temple
High Places
The Garden Tomb
Sites: 4
Golgotha
Caesarea Philippi
Lystra
Chorazin
Artifacts: 6
Chariot of Fire
Darius' Decree
Gifts of the Magi
Holy Grail
Lampstand of the Sanctuary
Magic Charms
Heroes: 7
Jephthah
The Generous Widow
Watchful Servant
Hur
Ethiopian Treasurer
John
The Magi
Hero Enhancements: 3
Feast of Trumpets
Meeting the Messiah
Authority of Christ
Evil Characters: 12
User of Curious Arts
Lot's Wife
Simon the Magician
Emperor Galba
Emperor Tiberius
Emperor Vitellius
Foreign Wives
Scribe
Antiochus Epiphanes IV
The Winged Leopard
The Goat with Horn
Evil Enhancements: 8
Ashtaroth Worship
Abomination of Desolation
Joseph in Prison
Stone of Thebez
Wrath of Satan
Balaam's Disobedience
Heavy Taxes
Namaan's Chariot and Horses
Let's start with my offense. Obviously in this style of deck, Watchful Servant is the main hero and champion of soul rescuing, but if you look deeply, he's actually not even my best hero. That distinction lies with The Generous Widow. If she rescues with Abomination of Desolation active, I get to discard 3 resources of my opponent at the cost of 2 of my own (which are usually recurable with Chariots of Fire in my case), plus some times I get to draw 4 resources with Gifts of the Magi. She also helps my opponent deck out faster so I can use the glory of the Watchful Servant.
Another interesting choice is The Magi. My thoughts are simple - I need to keep up, and Gifts of the Magi does that for me, and The Magi give me a second out to Gifts. Playing AoC for an early rescue isn't bad either. Hur acts as a way to draw with Gifts and triggers Abomination, so that seems like a good add too. Feast of Trumpets is more nuanced though - it's the only way to discard a Nazareth if my opponent has decked, which matters in some strange circumstances if my opponent has some rare cards that could ruin my win conditions.
Jepthah, Holy Grail, Meeting the Messiah, Ethiopian Treasurer, and John are simple - I want souls fast, and The Garden Tomb is usually good at that.
This doesn't really fit in any category, but the overall focus of the defense is a lockout. This can occur several ways. I have a soft hand lock out (Galba, Heavy Taxes, Generous Widow), a soft Abomination lock via discarding everything, a soft site lock out (4 sites, 2 in neverused Red + limiting souls), and a harder hero lock (tons of discard/removal + Asheroth Worship). The many options I have let me react accordingly to the game and offer both long and short term solutions.
I'll just address some of the uniqueness of the defense. If you have questions about a general Greek subset for Abomination, comment and I can explain that more. I chose Romans as the primary subset of the defense because of several factors 1) they are protected by Caesarea Philippi/Chorazin/Golgotha 2) Heavy Taxes is absurdly good 3) they let me play NHC (which is primary super broke on Antiochus). The rest of the defense is primarily just the best characters that fit in the NT theme in my brigades. Scribe can play every enhancement, Simon can hold a Charms protected from discard as well as mess with Disciples/TGT, and Users is Simon 2.0 and can play any enhancement in the deck. If I play this deck again, I would try to fit in a Proud Pharisee, but I'm not quite sure what I'd cut. Disbelieving Sadducees isn't bad either but I'd never be able to find space for him.
Enhancement choices were simple. Effectively destroy all my opponents heroes. There isn't really a ton to say here. I don't feel like I was missing anything. Scattered is ok but I'd rather kill heroes than underdeck them, so it wasn't worth a slot.
The last area of substantive discussion is the dominant selection. I would love to have New Jerusalem in here, but I couldn't figure out what to take out. Angel and Grapes are too clutch with TGT, Mayhem and CM help me lock players out, Vain helps me block super well, and Destruction of Nehushtan solves too many problems. I just couldn't figure out where the NJ belonged.
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