Summary:
After Nationals I evaluated my results with Starstruck 2.0. The deck build performed as expected by consistently getting to around 20 cards or less on turn 1 via getting to Mayhem turn 1 through the turn 0 consistency package and then trying to go to Resurrection band that draws 4 off Zechariah/John and then playing Star of Bethlehem for further card draw.
One problem with the deck build I realized is that while it is a very fast and powerful deck build it does little to hamper the opponents game plan. This led to me considering how I could utilize the turn 0 consistency package better. As I was thinking about other powerful things this turn 0 consistency package could tutor for I realized Numerous as the Stars would be a great card to aim to acquire turn 1 with the star/soul based consistency package by top decking Crowd’s Choice and getting it to hand and going from it to Numerous.
In considering what heroes to try and tutor for with Numerous as the Stars I decided Judas, Enosh, and Matthew would all be excellent targets.
Further I decided going for The Woman with Child to set up a turn 1 Nazareth via The Resurrection would be great as well. Having Judas, Nazareth, and Enosh to hamper the opponents ability to draw, search, and use neutrals feels quite good for hampering their game plan and then using Matthew to set up my own offensive game plan feels good. Zacchaeus is great in this offense banded in alongside John the Fisherman in a capacity to remove the lone blocker.
This deck build features all the same key consistency tools for turn 0 as the other Starstruck builds but also has Saint Patrick who can top deck Numerous as the Stars directly for one of the several ways to get it to hand turn 0 to do so. Moses (PoC) helps with having another character to play Numerous on but also his star ability adds further consistency in getting things set up as well as aiming to get more star cards in hand for a big Numerous play. Bless the Nations also is a nice consistency piece in this build due to its star ability. Matthew due to his draw is a nice tool as well to get the card I I top decked to hand if I happen to have him in hand.
This deck build is close to as fast as Starstruck 2.0 with much draw power. The offense seeks in addition to the aforementioned John/Zaccheus rescues to band in Judas to draw an additional two cards. I utilize Simon the Zealous Authority of Christ and then Ascension or Bless the Nations to band in John/Judas/Zaccheus for strong rescues. Fishing Boat is important for add to battle and Saint Patrick offers utility against Glory of the Lord.
The defense is a chump defense. My evil characters in Reserve are both tutorable if the opponent gets around Nazareth with Send the Helper, Virgin Birth, or No Need for Spices making them accessibly with not running The Deceiver (more on that later).
Wall of Protection is important since I really do not want my opponent banding to my John, the Fisherman, Judas, and Zaccheus to draw 4 and win a battle with Zaccheus as this is a great way for them to get caught up while I have Judas/Nazareth/Enosh live. Wall of Protection puts the kabosh on this.
Off Numerous as the Stars at a minimum I want to get Judas/Matthew/The Woman with Child and if possible Enosh. My goal is then to rescue with The Woman with Child to play Nazareth from my deck, John the Fisherman, and band to Matthew/Judas to draw cards.
Overall I seek to have deck build function seamlessly with Nazareth live since it impacts me as well. One thing I noticed about a lot of Nazareth builds I saw last season is the often at some point wanted to turn their own Nazareth off to be able to execute certain abilities.
I think this is not the right approach. To run a counter that hits both players effectively I think the deck really needs to be built so that counter never needs to be turned off. I do think for a build seeking to turbo to Nazareth than New Jerusalem is the right choice over The Second Coming.
This means you can play the Big 2 without needing to turn Nazareth off. The New Covenant after turn 1 is a dead card with Nazareth live so I would rather have Bless the Nations which has a helpful star ability for accelerating turn 0 consistency and is a key card for banding in John/Judas/Zaccheus for my value/cheese rescue stuff.
Book of the Covenant will not do much turn 2 with Nazareth live so Send the Helper is needed better main deck as bounce utility for my heroes. Also if the opponent turns off Nazareth it is good for getting a resource from Reserve for a rescue. The other changes in Reserve just add more battle winners for if Nazareth is turned off that can help the offense in a pinch. I do not run The Deceiver because with Nazareth live he is a dead card.
Maybeboard:
Here are cards I have considered for this deck build-
Angel of the Lord, Glory of the Lord (winner promo), Generous Giving, TSC, Blood of the Lamb, YWR main deck, Good Seed main deck, Ride On Victoriously/Awesome Things, The New Covenant, Noah’s Ark (Ark of Salvation), Herod’s Temple, Patmos, Twenty Shekels, and Achim over Enosh.
Conclusion
Overall I think this is perhaps the best build in the format for Nazareth since the deck generates so many resources prior to playing Nazareth and draws so many cards each turn on the banding rescues after putting Nazareth down.
If the deck goes first and gets set up it will be hard for other builds to catch up. It has its weaknesses and is definitely a combo type deck but I think it is viable in the meta. I have more versions of Starstruck built, but they cannot be shared yet due to a ruling matter that the elders have not made an official ruling on yet. Stay tuned for the 3.2 version once that matter is ruled on officially!
