We are pleased to present a revision of an LoR classic: the Brigade Basics series by Zac Cornell! This series now includes cards from Prophecies of Christ and Lineage of Christ. We are starting with the good brigades. This week blue and green will be covered.
Editor’s Note: We encourage you to use the Redemption Card Viewer as you read this article: https://thejambi.github.io/RedemptionCCGViewer/. Enter N: followed by the card name into the search to view the cards Zac is talking about.
Introduction:
These articles are meant for beginner players looking for a good place to start deck building or intermediate players looking to broaden their Redemption knowledge. This series of articles is a jumping off point to give less experienced players a manageable list of cards for each brigade and theme out there so they can have a place to start in their own research and experimentation.
There are many powerful cards in Redemption that are staples in most every deck that you won’t see mentioned here. They weren’t forgotten, but are only mentioned in decks that have specific synergy with them, otherwise every article would need to include most every dominant and useful site, artifact, and fortress in the game.
If I missed something, please let me know in the comments below! This article will be updated with each new set, so your comments could very well make it into the next update.
Blue:
Blue is all about Genesis (and Job). There are five basic cores to Blue brigade. The first two cores are the Abraham core and Jacob and Sons core. The Abraham core uses Abraham (CoW) and The Three Visitors (or Angel at Shur Promo) to search out your heroes, Lot for drawing, Issac (CoW) for protection or a banded-in win condition, and Faith of Abraham for initiative. A really nifty setup can be Faith of Abraham with Abraham and then a Three Visitors exchange to Benjamin or Joseph (FooF) for a play first cannot be negated set up. If Benjamin or Joseph (FooF) are in play then Jacob, Follower of God (LoC) can be a great exchange off of the Faith of Abraham, Abraham, and The Three Visitors set up to grab an enhancement from deck and band to Benjamin or Joseph from territory. It can be very powerful, but relies heavily on Abraham and Faith of Abraham.
The next core is the Jacob and Sons core. This uses Rachel and The Three Visitors to get out Joseph and Benjamin to play cannot be negated kill cards, as well as having her band to Jacob to play pre-battle enhancements and band to Captain of the Host. This is a much more enhancement-reliant offense than the other cores, but it packs a lot more direct power because of it. I mean, you have 1/1 and 2/2 heroes that can play cannot be negated enhancements, what’s not to love. Both the Abraham and Jacob and Sons cores work with most defenses, but share many enhancements with Egyptians, can easily run a hand-control strategy to pair with Romans, and can easily be mixed and matched to make the deck you want.
The next core we will talk about is one of the best decks in the game, Flood Survivors. It centers around using Noah to get out all of your Flood Survivors and blitz your opponents with banding and negates, and maybe even a few kill cards if you can ever get initiative. If your opponent finds a way to stop you, you play A New Beginning to start it all over again. This deck relies heavily on getting out early and fast and can be very powerful when played correctly. Flood Survivors also has one of the best end game offenses as well, as Noah’s Ark gives you hero and enhancement recursion. It pairs well with animals and antediluvians defenses, as they share many enhancements. There is a reason it has remained a dominant presence in the meta after all these years.
The newest theme for Blue is the Genesis Meek offense. This is kind of an overview of all the Genesis cores, just with reprinted heroes Meek heroes. There are a ton of different ways you can build this offense, but it will probably center around the patriarchs or antediluvians and powerful banding and drawing abilities on heroes rather than enhancements. Genesis Meek heroes also lean heavily into the Meek side, with lots of abilities that band them into battle, so don’t be afraid the go that direction. Top heroes include (but are not limited to) Father Abraham, Jacob, Follower of God, Noah, the Righteous, Enosh, the Worshiper, Isaac, Willing Sacrifice, Judah, the Leader, Adam, the Exile, Leah, Weary-Eyed, Kenan, the Acquirer, Mahalalel, the Interpreter, Nahor, the Scorched, Rebekah, the Bride, Shem, Covenant Keeper, Seth, Son of Adam, Serug, the Branch and Reu, the Shepherd. Naturally this offense pairs well with tools like Root of Jesse, The Lord Provides, Book of the Law, and of course Matthew’s Begats. Threshing Floor can provide some nice speed and Goshen (LoC) can make for a nice toss offense with cards like Bless The Nations.
The final core is Job, the only non-Genesis core in Blue. Job is super powerful and nearly impossible to kill with Dust and Ashes up. The whole idea is to outlast your opponent. Job’s Faith and Unthwarted are your main enhancements, and Job’s ability lets you get them back over and over. You can also run Coliseum and/or Peace (EC) and toss Job’s Faith and Leviathan to great effect. This is always run with a Brown Job defense. Job is about the slowest deck out there, but almost always catches your opponent off guard.
Notable other cards that can work across most of these decks include: Covenant with Philistia, The First Sacrifice, Covenant with Noah (PoC), Covenant with Adam (PoC), Offering Your Son, Forbidden Fruit, Abraham’s Servant to Ur, I Am Holy, Answer to Prayer, Bless the Nations, Numerous as the Stars, Seven Years of Plenty, Seven Years of Famine, Stone Pillar at Bethel, Abraham’s Descendant (Di and LoC), Peace (EC), Faith Among Corruption, Obedience of Noah, Forgiveness of Joseph, Joseph Before Pharaoh, Land Dispute (LoC), and Deceit & Vengeance.
Green:
Green brigade centers around two main themes: Prophets and Exodus. Prophets are the most common, so we will start there first. There is technically a major and minor prophets theme, but they are almost always combined so we will be doing that here as well. Prophets lack speed, but make up for it with enormous power. Isaiah, Elisha, and Ezekiel (FooF) make their enhancements cannot be negated. Jeremiah’s toss ability is amazing and Zechariah is the highest fight by the numbers hero in the game. Jonah and Habakkuk are some top notch search and draw control. Micah gives you drawing and Malachi (PoC) is some great recursion. The Watchman gets them all on the table and is especially strong with Ezekiel, the Vindicator for a draw two and then a band to Cherubim wiping out opponents evil dominants in hand and offering unique band opportunities like Paul (Promo) for another draw two or Moses (CoW) for fight by the numbers. Don’t even get me started on Elijah’s protection and choose the blocker ability! You also have amazing kill cards like His Name, The Great Fish, The First Sacrifice (which Malachi (PoC) can recur and play off of Hidden Treasures for a 2x play pre-battle!), Tested by Fire, Light in the Darkness, all 3 of the New Covenants, Day of the Lord, The Emmaus Road, and Spirit of Elijah. Other amazing enhancements include Search, Two Bears, Provisions, Faith of Samuel, Potter and the Clay, Delivered, Offering Your Son, Triumphal Entry, Bearing our Sins, The Suffering Servant, God’s Mercy (Jonah’s Anger), Plague of Frogs (G), and tons more. Also don’t forget you get to use the Chariots of Fire instead of Son of God (how cool is that?) along with Obadiah’s Cave, Hidden Treasures, The Angel of His Presence, Imprisoned Prophet, and Fullness of Time for support cards as well. If Prophets ever get some real speed, they will be a total powerhouse.
Another way to run Green prophets is a Faith of our Fathers Isaiah deck, using the Isaiah Angels, King Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat, the Seeker (he can band to Isaiah since FooF Isaiah is a Musician in the rule book), and Mighty Warrior on the offense, along with an Assyrian defense. Using Wheel within a Wheel and Isaiah’s Call to get out your main heroes then abusing Live Coal, Siegeworks, Capture and Seize, and Razor with Isaiah’s drawing and recursion. This can work in T1 but works better in T2 where you can have out more Angels.
Exodus is an offense split between Green and White, but White has enough themes to keep them busy, so we will talk about them here. This offense centers around deck discard, making it pair especially well with an Exodus Egyptian defense (go figure). The new plagues that have been printed are all pretty powerful, and The Exodus is simply amazing, but it’s still a new theme and lacks depth. Top heroes include Moses, Friend of God, Moses’ Parents, Aaron (Di or PoC), The Destroyer, Miriam, Hur, Shiphrah, Pharaoh’s Daughter, and Indentured Servant. Other notable cards include Covenant with Moses, Moses’ Staff, Brass Serpent, Manna, and “I AM” Has Sent Me. A viable build of this offense is definitely possible and would definitely catch your opponent off guard, but the lack of speed and depth will keep it out of the top tiers for a while.
Also, it has to be noted, because it’s one of my favorite combos in the game, that the Hur/Philip’s Daughter/Feast of Trumpets and Gifts of the Magi combos exist in Green brigade. You want to see a magical look on your opponent’s face? Draw seven cards in one turn using cards they haven’t seen in a deck in ten years, it’s a wonderful thing and still totally viable in my opinion.
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