Kye Murphy of Iowa placed 3rd in the Sealed Deck category at the 2018 National Tournament, and shares his story as well as strategic tips to help other players in future tournaments.
Every Lost Soul Matters – 2018 Nationals Sealed Deck 3rd Place
Strategy
My First Team Event
My Redemption hiatus started with college and ended when this adult wanted to be “like a kid again!” I had so many fond memories of Redemption: going to Alive with Doug, playing Chris Bany at Nationals, but most importantly doing all of this with my cousin: Aaron Williams. He tricked me into playing this game at his birthday party! He spent countless hours helping me refine and test play decks. On our drive to Minnesota, he was helping build my ten decks (yes that’s right, I ruined deck registration for everyone – sorry), so I could rip Haman’s Plot every round if need be. He has truly been an “Aaron” to me.
Tackling Type 2 Diversity Pt. 5
Welcome back everyone! Hopefully we’ve all made it past the hiatus from Redemption that typically happens after Nats. 2018 has begun and with it many of us are trying to start the New Year with various resolutions or other New Beginnings. With that in mind (if you didn’t guess already) I thought I could discuss an (in)famous archetype for Type 2– A New Beginning Reset.
Justin Can’t Get to 7 if He Doesn’t Get to 1 – Part 2
Justin Can’t Get to 7 if He Doesn’t Get to 1 – Part 1
Tackling Type 2 Diversity Pt. 4
With Nationals over and the new tournament season not yet into full swing now is a great time to reflect on the past season and explore new ideas for the next one. This past season I used a bit of a dark horse theme nearly all season which ended up taking me to a RNRS 2nd in T2-MP. For Nationals itself it was a bit of a mixed bag, but ultimately the potential behind the deck is clear to see. So, without further ado let’s look at my current favorite theme/color in Redemption in TEAL.
Tackling Type 2 Diversity Pt. 3
**Editors note: This article was submitted prior to Nationals but did not get published before the fun and festivities of Nationals began.
With the tournament season starting to come to close and Nationals upcoming here in a few weeks I thought I would go over an archetype that I used for most of the competitive season last year, including the offense that I used at Nationals last year: O.T. red. So, let’s get straight into it.
Kony/Coney – The Blinding Children of Light!
Everyone saw Children of Light and thought.. Wow, what a cool card! But did everyone realize how powerful Children of Light could truly become? Especially in T1?
The Road to Nationals!
Are you ready for the tournament season? Seen anything you like in Revelation of John?
The meta is certainly sizzling with options and variety as Revelation of John has delivered many great offensive and defensive compliments with all seven of The Bowls of Wrath cards and versatile Seals.
RoJ Playtest Deck Review #2 – Seals and Bowls
As the title suggests, this deck was based around the Seals and Bowls of Wrath cards. These cards are going to be among the most versatile cards in the game so I wanted to see how strong it would be to use all of them in a deck.
RoJ Playtest Deck Review #1
Hey guys, in preparation for the coming release of Revelation of John, I wanted to share a couple playtest decks and strategies that I used during the playtest process.
Nationals 2016 – Remastered Video from Top Cut – Final
Featuring on Land of Redemption are the digitally remastered and commentated videos from top cut of T1 2P at Nationals 2016.
Today’s video is from the third round of top cut, the Top 2.
Nationals 2016 – Remastered Video from Top Cut – Top 4
Featuring on Land of Redemption are the digitally remastered and commentated videos from top cut of T1 2P at Nationals 2016.
Today’s video is from the second round of top cut, the Top 4.
Nationals 2016 – Remastered Video from Top Cut – Top 8
Featuring on Land of Redemption are the digitally remastered and commentated videos from top cut of T1 2P at Nationals 2016.
Today’s video is from the first round of top cut, the Top 8.
The BoM Deck
Is the “Because of Moses” (BoM) deck really that good or is it all just hype? I’m sure plenty of people have asked this question. I know I was wondering the same thing just a few short months ago. Now that the State, Regional and National tournaments are behind us, I think we have our answer. BoM is for real!
While I’ve dropped the names of some cards and alluded to others, the deck list wasn’t published in my State, Regional or even National reports. The time has come. First I’ll share the list, then give a detailed explanation of card choices below. Without further ado, here it is:
What to Expect (When You’re Expecting)
There are a number of people traveling to Ohio for the Redemption National Tournament this week. In fact, by the time you’re reading this I’ll probably be on the road with my family. For all you procrastinators out there who haven’t nailed down your deck list yet, I’m going to give some last minute thoughts on what I expect to see in the Type 1 events.
I’ve seen and heard from a lot of players that they’re just getting back into the game after a hiatus. If you’ve been keeping tabs on things here at Land of Redemption then you probably have an idea of what’s good right now. Let’s recap what’s strongest in Type 1.
Dominate!
The best players win games by gaining every advantage possible over an opponent. One way to do that is by finding not so obvious ways to use your cards. Today we’re going to look at some “pro plays” using the most powerful card type in the game – Dominants.
Cloud of Witnesses Musings – Combos: Part 4
Hello everyone and welcome to our fourth installment of Cloud of Witnesses Combo Musings! It’s time for “the talk”.
Cloud of Witnesses Musings – Combos: Part 3
Hello everyone and welcome to our third installment of Cloud of Witnesses Combo Musings! As before, I will be commenting on more combos with the new CoW cards. Well, CoW card. This article will be brief as it just focuses on 1 new CoW card.
Cloud of Witnesses Musings – Combos: Part 2
Hello everyone and welcome to our second installment of Cloud of Witnesses Combo Musings! (view Part 1 here) As before, I will be commenting on more combos with the new CoW cards. These combos are supersized. Extra Cloudy, made from the finest CoWs. Don’t hold the fries.
High Level Play – #3 Game and Commentary (play testing Cloud of Witnesses)
Join John Early and I as we play out game 2 between our play test decks shortly before Cloud of Witnesses went to print. Does the Haman’s Plot get ripped this game? Watch and see!
High Level Play – #2 Game and Commentary (play testing Cloud of Witnesses)
Join John Early and I as we play out a game between two of our play test decks shortly before Cloud of Witnesses went to print. We explain our decks and walk you through some of our thinking as the game progresses.
CoW Booster Draft Recap
CoW Booster Draft Intro
Listen to advice and suggestions for drafting with Cloud of Witnesses from one of Redemption’s top players!
Cloud of Witnesses Musings – Combos: Part 1
Hello everyone and welcome to the next installment of Cloud of Witnesses Musings! Today I will be commenting on some combos I’ve noticed with the new CoW cards. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. But when life gives you 129 new Redemption cards 3 months before Nationals, you make combos!
Cloud of Witnesses Musings – Ultra Rares: Part 2
If you haven’t read Part 1, please check there first for the introduction and discussion of the first CoW ultra-rare!
Cloud of Witnesses Musings – Ultra Rares: Part 1
Hello everyone! Now that the Cloud of Witnesses expansion has been spoiled in whole, it’s time to consider what this means for Redemption. If you are like me, you are extremely excited yet feeling somewhat overwhelmed right now! Cloud of Witnesses is giving us 129 new cards that we need to incorporate into our thought process as we build our tournament decks. Nationals is less than 3 months away! So where do we start? What do we focus on? What are the implications and considerations needing to be addressed when an expansion is released 2 months before Nationals? That’s what I’ll be discussing in what I plan on being a multi-part “blog-like” series of articles. I’ll just be talking about whatever comes to mind and we’ll see where it leads!
Countering Clay
If you’ve been playing Redemption regularly over the past year or so chances are you have played with or against a deck using a clay offense. The Persecuted Church expansion increased the clay card pool, including some new churches, and added some powerful options for clay offenses. A few months ago, around Christmas, one of the best Redemption players said “clay is meta.” Based on my opponents in ROOT tournaments since the PC release, I have to agree. Not everyone is playing clay but your odds of seeing a clay deck are higher than other decks right now.
Building a Better Mousetrap – Jeepers Creepers Part 2
Jeepers Creepers: How a Rules Clarification Helped Create a Dominant Defense – Part 2
And, I’m back…see? It’s not May yet. If you have no idea what that means, then make sure you read Part 1. Because what’s there is rather important to what I will be writing about here. As most things labeled Part 2 are I suppose.
Hidden Gems of Gold
In today’s article, I’ll explore the good Gold brigade and discuss some enhancements that I consider “hidden gems.” My goal is not to say “These cards are ones you have to use.” Rather, I want to bring into the light a few cards that don’t see play as often and some players may have forgotten about (or newer players might not be aware of). Redemption’s history goes back over 20 years now; the tendency of Redemption players is often to focus more heavily on the new cards each year. But sometimes old cards can find new niches. Finding these “hidden gems” is one of many things that makes this game exciting!
Building a Better Mousetrap – Jeepers Creepers Part 1
Jeepers Creepers: How a Rules Clarification Helped Create a Dominant Defense – Part 1
To those of you who read my last issue and expected to see the cliffhanger resolved as to what it was that made the Jeepers Creepers defense dominant, I apologize. Life has a way of getting in the way of even some of our favorite past times, as it has been for me the last few months or so. But the wait is over! So without further ado, I present to you this next issue of Building a Better Mousetrap.
A Journey Through ROOT – Part 3
Welcome back to A Journey Through ROOT! Part 2 walked through my ROOT game with JD (kariusvega on the boards). With Part 3, I’ll be reflecting on the game: what worked, what didn’t work, and how I’d change my deck for the future. My goal is to help less-experienced Redemption players use their own game experiences to craft better decks – to know what to change, and to know what to keep the same.
A Journey Through ROOT – Part 2
Welcome back to A Journey Through ROOT! Part 1 left off right before my January ROOT game against kariusvega. I included the deck list for the deck I was testing in ROOT which was tweaked after my first ROOT test game (a 5-0 win for me). With Part 2, I’ll be doing a play-by-play walk-through of our game. Without further ado…
A Journey Through ROOT – Part 1
Today I would like to talk about ROOT, the Redemption Official Online Tournaments that run about 1.5 months each throughout the year. This will be the first of 3 articles during which I’ll walk through a recent ROOT experience.
Do You Wanna Build a Type 2? – Fixer Upper
Today’s article comes from one of the lesser known songs from Frozen, “Fixer Upper,” and we will explore the concept of tweaking one’s deck.
Redemption Strategy – Using Dominants – Part 2
This is a follow-up to the previous article on using Dominants, which discussed Good Dominants.
Drafting with Drrek – Patriarchs
Welcome back once again to Drafting with Drrek. A crazy school semester had left this article series on hiatus, but now I have a shiny piece of paper that says I went to school for several years and am back to satisfy your draft advice needs. This time we’ll be taking a look at a pack with a lot of strong cards: Patriarchs.
Not Your Parents’ Disciples
First I want to say it is good to be back. I know it has been awhile since I’ve been able to contribute to Land of Redemption but I am excited to be in a situation that will allow me to be involved again.
Redemption Strategy – Using Dominants
Dominants are the most powerful cards in Redemption. There are very few times they cannot be played and very few counters that can stop them. From the staples (Son of God) to the specialized (supporting a certain deck strategy), selection of Dominants in deck-building is critically important. Josiah Beers recently shared a great article in which he ranked all the Dominants and gave some comments on each. In this article, I will try to add to the discussion with some suggestions regarding strategic use of good Dominants. A follow-up article will focus on evil Dominants. Please comment below with additional strategies you have found regarding Dominants!
Call My Bluff
Several years ago I started watching Texas Hold ‘Em tournaments on TV. I was fascinated with the decision-making process that the poker pros went through. I loved to watch players try and bluff. There was nothing quite as satisfying as watching someone with 7-2 offsuit (statistically, the worst poker hand in Texas Hold ‘Em) bluff his way through a hand and cause players with better hands to fold.
Mr. Utility
Music Leader is one of my favorite cards from The Persecuted Church set. I find myself wanting to incorporate him into several of the decks I build. He’s likely to have a big impact on the way people build decks for a long time to come.
T1 Meta 2015-2016 Season
When preparing to attend a Redemption tournament, it’s good to have an idea of what cards and deck types you might go up against. While there are almost unlimited options available, there are some which are popular, powerful, and commonly played. We call this the “meta” for those unfamiliar with the term. Lets take a look at what we expect in the current meta in Type 1.
Nebuchadnezzar
Today I will share a defense that has been very successful for me in T1. It has morphed a bit over the last 2 ½ years, but the key parts have stayed the same. One of the key parts is a Babylonian from the TexP expansion that I pretty much never run into in opposing decks. There are certainly a lot of viable defenses in Redemption right now, so I shouldn’t be surprised that a specific character isn’t used frequently. Nonetheless, I think bringing the character to light to remind readers of his usefulness is warranted. The character I am talking about is Nebuchadnezzar.
Do You Wanna Build a Type 2? – Let it Go!
Welcome back to our Frozen themed series of T2 deck building strategy! Today’s article comes from perhaps the most well-known song of the movie, Let it Go!
Learning From Our Peers – The King of Beatdown
Many years ago when I played MTG a favorite quote from one of my favorite players went something like this “There are no wrong threats, only wrong answers”. The quote comes from a guy named David Price who was given titles such as “The People’s Champion” and “The King of Beatdown”. But what does it mean?
The Judean Mediums – Strategy for Forgotten Cards
When a new set of Redemption cards is released, I like to see if I can find clever or potentially powerful combos with older Redemption cards. The constant release of new cards and the shifting of the Redemption “meta” as it adapts to trends in popular deckbuilding tends to leave a lot of once-useful cards in binders collecting dust.
Building a Better Mousetrap – The Glory Days of an Under-Appreciated Dominant: A Deck that Countered Everything
This article is probably going to be one of my shorter ones, not really because I don’t have the time or energy to do a longer write-up, but more because I don’t necessarily remember the full story. After all, it was 11 years ago that the story takes place. That’s right, this edition of BaBM will take you way back: to a time before AUtO, Thaddeus, and The Garden Tomb; before the Dominant Cap and Rescue Rule; and probably, for most of you reading this, a time before you even knew there was such a thing as Redemption.
Do You Wanna Build a Type 2? – Building a T2 Deck…For the First Time in Forever – Part 2
In Part 1 of this article we looked at Dominants, Lost Souls and Sites from a T2 perspective. (If you haven’t already, check out Part 1 here.) In Part 2 we will now focus on Artifacts, character/enhancement ratios and a quick word on Fortresses.
Got a Counter? Site-lock
Building a Better Mousetrap – From Chumps to Champs: How the Tiny, Little Panic Demons Became the Focus of a Nationals Winner Part 2
Back to the Drawing Board
When we last left the chumps, they had been overwhelmed by some of the offenses they faced at the T2 Only. But while the overall performance at the T2 Only was somewhat of a disappointment I did learn some valuable lessons there.
Building a Better Mousetrap – From Chumps to Champs: How the Tiny, Little Panic Demons Became the Focus of a Nationals Winner Part 1
When it comes to Redemption sets, Angel Wars is not high on most players’ rankings. From varying opinions on the artwork to a lot of concepts that may have been before their time, there are several things about the set that make players largely avoid most of the set when it comes to deckbuilding.
Building a Better Mousetrap – The Heroless of the North: From 2007 Until Today
I’ve always liked defense. I’m not sure what it is, but ever since I started playing Redemption competitively, I’ve always favored decks that rely more on the defense to stop your opponents from winning than on the offense (of course I also like to win, so I do put some thought into my offense, but I just don’t enjoy it as much. Who knows, maybe I have a good twin running around somewhere…).
Do You Wanna Build a Type 2? – Building a T2 Deck…For the First Time in Forever – Part 1
Welcome to the second installment of our Frozen-themed T2 deck-building series, “Do You Wanna Build a Type 2?”! If you haven’t already, check out the first article here and things will make a lot more sense…
Building a Better Mousetrap
This series will be devoted to one of my favorite parts of Redemption: Deck building. Each article will describe a deck concept that I have used in the past, and how that deck concept developed over time to be successful (or in some cases, not so much).
Drafting with Drrek – Apostles
Welcome back finally to Drafting with Drrek after our long hiatus as we look at my least favorite pack, Apostles. Still there are a few diamonds in this pack and you want to be sure that you can recognize them if they come to you.
Learning From Our Peers – Counting the Cost
If you’re familiar with other CCGs then you’re aware that most use some kind of cost system as a way to build up resources as the game progresses and to balance the power level of cards. Some use energy, mana, or coins as a means of paying a cost to play your cards. One of the things I liked about Redemption when I was first introduced is that you could just play your cards. The game doesn’t have a cost system. Or does it?
Got a Counter? Toss
Offensive toss is dangerous for opposing defenses. Most effective evil Enhancements have little to no strength resulting in poor use in a toss battle so it is best to utilize other methods when attempting to block.
Do You Wanna Build a Type 2?
(To the tune of “Do You Wanna Build a Snowman”)
Do you wanna build a Type Two?
They are so fun to play
Wasn’t sure it could be so
I tried it though
And I’ve never gone away
If you want a challenge
And something new
Then why not give it a try!
Do you wanna build a Type Two?
Then please give me a chance to help you!
High Level Play – #1 Game and Commentary (with Persecuted Church)
Join John Early and I as we play out a game between two new decks featuring Persecuted Church. We explain our decks and walk you through some of our thinking as the game progresses.
T2-2P Nationals 2015 1st Place – Return of the Widow: Part 2
EDITORS NOTE: If you haven’t already read it, be sure to check out Return of the Widow: Part 1.
Round 1 vs Marcus Parker
The last time I played Marcus was at my very first Nationals in 2004. We played in the final round of T2-2P and he beat me pretty good (7-2). This game started a bit slow as neither of us had much going right away. Despite us both using Judges, the first couple of turns were uneventful.
Got a Counter? Fully Armored Spiritual Warriors
When fully armored with the Armor of God a Hero can become nearly unstoppable. A fully armored Hero is protected from all evil brigades, capture abilities and Dominants, negates Evil Characters from 6 evil brigades, prevents Enhancements with a toughness less than 6, protects 6 souls from opponent’s cards, possibly plays an Enhancement after your opponent blocks, generates Lost Souls, has Site access, increases 6/6, and adds a card to hand each battle. How can you possibly stop a Hero like that from rescuing souls?
T1-2P Nationals 2015 4th Place – “Ruthless Stuff”: Part 2
In “Ruthless Stuff”: Part 1 I explained how the deck came to be and shared a summary of the performance at Nationals. I’d like to take some time to explain some of the fun interactions you get from the deck, then talk about which cards from Persecuted Church might be good to include.
T2-2P Nationals 2015 1st Place – Return of the Widow: Part 1
After using the same deck for Type 2 2-player at Nationals 2013 (1st place) and 2014 (2nd place) I figured I would find something new for the 2014-2015 season.
T2-2P Nationals 2015 2nd Place – “Judge Judah”
Nationals record: 3-0 (1 timeout win)
Record in other tournaments: 8-0. Won T2 Only (6-0, 1 timeount) and 1 district (2-0)
Inspiration and Analysis
The inspiration for this deck came about by observing the meta in T2. Many decks that I had seen had at least 3-4 brigades on offense. For example, the ever-popular Judges offenses (including mine!) had Gold, Silver, Green, and often a Teal splash. Disciples always have purple (obviously) and sometimes Red (with Simon the Zealot or perhaps a red Peter and a few centurions) or Green (with Simeon able to band to Peter and John). With the addition of the new set, Clay and Silver made an appearance as well. Then there were Prophets decks with Isaiah, angels and Daniel, and Genesis decks with Captain and Joseph adding colors to the standard blue.
Everywhere I looked, I saw colors aplenty. Which is why when I was looking through my collection, and stumbled upon Broken Cisterns, I thought that it would make a nice counter to the wide-open meta.
Champion Advice – How to Maximize Your Sealed Deck
At 2015 Nationals, I ended up winning the Sealed Deck category with a slightly unconventional deck (relied on defense and lasting to end-game for a close win). I ended up with a 6-0 record, but only a +8 Lost Soul differential (won 2 games 5-3 and 4 games 5-4). As such, I could not afford to make a single mistake, and I was going to have to do so against the top player left in each round, who I could not rely upon to make mistakes either. After a lot of thought, I put together a list of things that I would say to players wondering how to avoid mistakes in Sealed, though a lot of this applies to constructed categories as well.
T1-2P Nationals 2015 1st Place – “Greek gods”
Seek and Ye Shall Find
The Parable of the Lost Sheep –
“No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier” II Timothy 2:4
That doesn’t look correct does it? That’s the verse on the promo version of Seeker of the Lost.
Nationals Booster Draft Primer: Part 2 – Rares
Do you plan to play in the booster draft at Nationals? Will you be drafting with the new Persecuted Church cards anytime in the near future? Are you just curious about the new cards and can’t wait to hear more?
Join us for this two part podcast where three of the Redemption play testers discuss their thoughts on drafting with the new cards!
Click one of the links below to listen to part 2 – rares
Nationals Booster Draft Primer: Part 1 – Commons
Do you plan to play in the booster draft at Nationals? Will you be drafting with the new Persecuted Church cards anytime in the near future? Are you just curious about the new cards and can’t wait to hear more?
Join us for this two part podcast where three of the Redemption play testers discuss their thoughts on drafting with the new cards!
Click one of the links below to listen to part 1 – commons
Got a Counter? King David
A consistent challenge for many decks including royalty Evil Characters has been blocking King David. I’ve seen many players single handedly lose games due to King David keeping the Evil Characters sitting helplessly in territories due to King David’s ignore ability. What can royalty defenses due to counters this threat?
Got a Counter? A Domination
Abomination of Desolation has seen an increase in play since the release of The Early Church expansion. The release of quality greek characters (Epicurean Philosophers, Stoic Philosophers, The Priest of Zeus, Demetrius the Silversmith), strong search options (Demetrius the Silversmith, Worldly Wisdom, Shrine of Artemis), quality battle winners (Adjourn, Seized by Rioters), and new forced draw options (Kindness, Titus, Areopagus, and Hellenistic Jews) have push the themed to a level where it has seen of tournament success this season winning and placing at many tournaments in T1 and T2.
Learning From Our Peers – I Am Second
I am second. If you haven’t heard of this before, it’s a really cool movement meant to inspire people to live for God and others. They’ve put together powerful video testimonies of lives transformed by the Gospel, including people from pop culture. While I find these testimonies of God’s awesomeness inspiring, that’s not the focus of our discussion today. We’re going to venture back into the deep end of the pool to talk about why it’s good to go second in a two-player game of Redemption.
Got a Counter?
What is a counter? A counter is an effect which cancels another effect or card directly. There are two types of counters in games of strategy. Hard counters and soft counters. With hard counter the opposing strategy has no chance and is completely dominated. For example in rock-paper-scissors: rock hard counters scissors, scissors hard counters paper, etc. Soft-counters include situation where a card has an advantage over another card, but not an overwhelming one. A soft counter will usually beat the card it is opposing if it is able to get into play.
Teams OH State 2015 1st place
These decks are variants of the deck I played at 2013 SE Regionals. I haven’t played much since then, and I had a lot of success with it both at the tournament and in 2013 ROOT. So I decided to tweak it for TEAMS.
Learning From Our Peers – Know Your Role: Part 3
In preparation for the State, Regional and National tournament season this summer, we’re going to jump head first into some deep waters. We’re going far beyond the basics to talk about the subtle differences that separate an average player from an elite player. Understanding and applying these principles will greatly improve your game. If playing competitively is your thing, take a deep breath and jump in with me…
Combo Corner – The Devastator
A long long time ago at a kitchen table at 11pm, I was introduced to my first combo deck. It was a brutal 7-0 shellacking during which my opponent took a 40 minute turn while I sat there helpless to do anything.
How did he do that you ask? Infinite loops of side battles. Perhaps the most famous combo deck in Redemption History is ‘The Devastator’. A deck so brutal, so efficient, so not fun to play against, that it spawned, not one, but multiple rule changes that neutered its ability to function. Keep in mind that this combo deck was played during the 2003-2004 tournament season. Kings was the newest set, and contained all of the important cards for the combo. It’s worth noting that this is a time before Darius’ Decree, before Covenant with Death, before a whole host of counters to this concept were printed.
Learning From Our Peers – Know Your Role: Part 2
In preparation for the State, Regional and National tournament season this summer, we’re going to jump head first into some deep waters. We’re going far beyond the basics to talk about the subtle differences that separate an average player from an elite player. Understanding and applying these principles will greatly improve your game. If playing competitively is your thing, take a deep breath and jump in with me…
Browa’s Budget Bazaar – In the Beginning…
Hello and welcome to Browa’s Budget Bazaar!
This article series is designed to provide quick and simple deck ideas in general, as well as for specific themes, that won’t be hard on your wallet! There will also be suggestions for those with more available funds on how to spruce up the deck.
Learning From Our Peers – Know Your Role: Part 1
In preparation for the State, Regional and National tournament season this summer, we’re going to jump head-first into some deep waters. We’re going far beyond the basics to talk about the subtle differences that separate an average player from an elite player. Understanding and applying these principles will greatly improve your game. If playing competitively is your thing, take a deep breath and jump in with me…
The Power of a Battle Winner
Battle winners are an extremely important part of Redemption. Without them it is rare that you will be able to get a block or redeem a Lost Soul. There are many forms battle winners and sometimes it can be confusing as to which ones you should play in your deck. To help us decide, it is necessary for us to understand which battle winning abilities are the strongest. For this article I will not be addressing specific cards but rather general abilities. Battle winning abilities include ignore, discard, convert, underdeck, withdraw, remove, capture, end the battle, set-aside and protect. Each of these abilities can win you a battle but, are some of them more consistent or powerful than others?
Blue Brigade Genesis Offense
By the perfect authority of His Word, the Holy Bible, we know that about 6,000 years ago, God created the heavens and the earth over six 24-hour days. Humanity was uniquely created on the sixth day in God’s image to live forever in face-to-face loving relationship with Him amongst the rest of Creation (yes even including the then-peaceful dinosaurs!) in the perfect universe God made and called “very good” (Genesis 1:31).
Unloved Brigades: The Red-only Offense
Back in the day, red was on the receiving end of many Redemption jokes, due to its lack of viability as a single-color offense. It didn’t have cannot-be-negated (CBN) battlewinners, it didn’t have high-quality Heroes that could win battles by themselves, it didn’t have enough “speed” (searching and drawing), it didn’t have high-quality support cards, etc. I remember reading the Redemption boards once a year to see Bryon once again ask the Redemption community what the game needed to see in its upcoming expansion. Red was always receiving a large number of recommendations, but still couldn’t find its way into top decks after receiving targeted support year after year. Even after receiving a big boost in the 2011 expansion, red is still seen primarily as a brigade that needs secondary support.
Drafting with Drrek – Women
Welcome again to Drafting with Drrek. This week we’ll be taking a look at the Women pack.
Browa’s Budget Bazaar – Justifying the Judges
Hello and welcome to Browa’s Budget Bazaar!
This article series is designed to provide quick and simple deck ideas in general, as well as for specific themes, that won’t be hard on your wallet! There will also be suggestions for those with more available funds on how to spruce up the deck.
~||~
Today’s Topic: Upgrading our Ruth/Judges deck from the very first article.
Today we’ll be using the I/J and G/H starter decks found in the 4th edition and 10th anniversary boxes respectively as well as Faith of our Fathers tin 2 and Rock of Ages tins 18 and 23.
Hearkening all the way back to the very first article in the Bazaar, which you can look at here, today we’re going to update our white/gold deck with some tins. As mentioned in the upgrade section for that deck, there isn’t much Ruth support outside the I/J decks so we’re going to remove the white part of our deck and make it a solid Judges offense. We’ll lose the recurring utility of the Ruth cards but we’ll gain access to several powerful cards including an awesome Fortress!
Combo Corner – The Winds of Change
Have you ever wondered why we have so many errata’s? Why we’ve changed rules year after year? Why I can discard a hand of 0 cards? Here in Combo Corner, I’m going to attempt to answer those questions to the best of my ability, using my knowledge of the history of the game to fuel those discussions.
Healing? Why Not? – Part 1
With the release of The Serpent and his paralyze ability, I believe we might begin to see a new defensive strategy emerge as a viable option. In The Early Church set we gained a card in Adjourn that paralyzes Heroes and can win a battle by causing a stalemate. It stands to reason that more are on the way in future sets.
Lost Soul Rankings
Ranking Lost Souls is a daunting challenge. There are currently 39 different Lost Soul abilities if you count the 2 and 3-liner separately. You might ask, “How can you possibly rank such an array of abilities when they interact so differently in different decks?” The honest answer is that you can’t. Understanding how souls interact with each individualized deck is a crucial part of Redemption and a crucial part of upping your skill level. Sense ranking souls is so particular, I am going to create 7 tiers of Lost Souls and place each soul in a tier with a small explanation.
Theme Overview: Babylonians
Throughout the Bible, Babylon is the primary city representative of the world of sin and Satan’s kingdom. Indeed, in Isaiah 14, the chapter describing Lucifer’s fall, he is referred to as “The king of Babylon” (v.4)! From Genesis 10-11 (Nimrod and the Tower of Babel) to Revelation 17-18 (the Harlot Babylon), Babylon is the city of organized, corporate revolt against God and His Kingdom.
In Redemption, the main focus of Babylonian cards is on the exile of Judah in 586 B.C. by the Babylonian forces led by King Nebuchadnezzar. Because of the Israelites’ unrepentant rebellion against God, the Lord allowed Babylon to destroy the magnificent Solomon’s Temple and capture the Israelites in the southern kingdom (the northern kingdom of Israel had already been exiled by the Assyrians in 721 B.C.).
Browa’s Budget Bazaar – Tins that Try to Tussle
Hello and welcome to Browa’s Budget Bazaar!
This article series is designed to provide quick and simple deck ideas in general, as well as for specific themes, that won’t be hard on your wallet! There will also be suggestions for those with more available funds on how to spruce up the deck.
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Today’s Topic: Creating a deck with only tin cards (and generic Souls)
Today we’ll be using 6 tins from the Faith of Our Fathers and Rock of Ages sets.
-Faith of our Fathers tins 3, 20, and 21
-Rock of Ages tins 11, 13, and 17
Old Cards, New Ideas: Watchful Servant
Today, we will be taking a look at Watchful Servant (WS). This card was printed in 2010 with the Disciples expansion. His ability:
“Protected from capture and conversion. Ignores Evil Characters with toughness greater than X.”
His identifier “X” is equal to the number of cards in opponent’s deck. Therefore, when your opponent has no cards in deck, WS ignores all of opponent’s Evil Characters (ignoring any tricks you can do with Crown of Thorns and protect Fortresses…). A few players, myself included, used WS decks from time to time following the Disciples release. A WS deck would include a large defense, and in my case, Sites as well. The goal was to survive your opponent’s offensive attack until he/she decked out, and then you could walk in for free rescues.
Resurrecting Old Treasures – Robbing Peter to Pay Paul
That’s right, boys and girls, we’re back after a brief hiatus! This week’s Resurrecting Old Treasures looks at Paul. Obviously a large portion of the new set helps Paul out. Honestly, quite a few people were expecting a Paul reprint after we started revealing cards – Paul’s Disciples, Blinding Light, Annanias of Damascus are all obvious cards that help Paul.
Brigades & Themes Overview
The intention of this article is to give an overview of Redemption’s Brigades (colors) and Themes, for good and evil cards.
There are 9 Good (used for offense) Brigades in Redemption, with 27 Good Themes or Sub-Themes dispersed among them:
Browa’s Budget Bazaar – Tuning with a Tin
Hello and welcome to Browa’s Budget Bazaar!
This article series is designed to provide quick and simple deck ideas in general, as well as for specific themes, that won’t be hard on your wallet! There will also be suggestions for those with more available funds on how to spruce up the deck.
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Today’s Topic: Customizing our deck from last time with a tin.
Today we’ll be using the I/J and G/H starter decks found in the 4th edition and 10th anniversary boxes respectively as well as Rock of Ages tin 19.
Type 1 Dominant Rankings
Here are our dominant rankings for Type-1 format!
This is the ranking list Jerome and I compiled awhile back. If you’re up for an explanation of why we rated each Dominant where we did, keep reading.
Drafting with Drrek – Prophets
Welcome back to Drafting with Drrek. This week we will be looking at the Prophets expansion.
Old Cards, New Ideas: Sapphira
One of my favorite things to do with each new expansion is try to find older cards that become more valuable, based on interactions with newer cards. Sapphira (from the Women’s expansion, and also later in the G/H decks) is one such card. Crimson received several new single-color evil Enhancements in The Early Church (TEC) expansion I’d like to highlight.
Real Rulings – Side Battles
In this episode, Redoubter tackles the complex side battle special ability to help our viewers understand how it works.
To buy singles, sealed product, and other gaming supplies mentioned, please visit Three Lions Gaming!
Browa’s Budget Bazaar – Starting with Starters, Part 2 of 2
Hello and welcome to Browa’s Budget Bazaar!
This article series is designed to provide quick and simple deck ideas in general, as well as for specific themes, that won’t be hard on your wallet! There will also be suggestions for those with more available funds on how to spruce up the deck.
Booster Draft Walkthrough
Join us at a recent District Tournament for a step by step walkthrough of the Redemption booster draft.
To buy singles, sealed product, and other gaming supplies mentioned, please visit Three Lions Gaming!
Resurrecting Old Treasures – A Literal Treasure
This week in Resurrecting Old Treasures we’re looking at a literal Treasure: Hidden Treasures. The Early Church set has given this card more application. There are a number of cards that we printed that make this card very useful – chiefly Barnabas, Silas and Agabus – wait, sorry, we didn’t reprint him, maybe next year. It is very easy to splash these guys into a deck and take advantage of some pre-block goodies.
